Beloved Monster (3 page)

Shivering, she curled her lip in distaste. On a metal table, something lay under a heavy canvas. She shook her head in amusement. Leave it to Reed to catch a nap on the most uncomfortable surface he could find. Glenna clasped a handful of the cloth and pulled. “Honestly, Cousin, you could not sleep on the sof…” The words died in her throat. It was not Reed. It wasn’t anything living. The lantern slipped from her fingers and clattered at her feet, the flame blowing out.

Ravenswood. Dead.

A scream clawed its way up her throat, but a hand clamped over her mouth with a gentle firmness. “Do not scream, my dear. We do not want to attract the attention of the servants. Now, I am going to remove my hand. You will not cry out, correct?” Glenna nodded vigorously, her gaze riveted on the corpse. Reed let go one finger at a time.

“It… It’s Ravenswood!” she gasped in shock.

“Yes. It is,” he replied softly. “I had planned to keep all of this secret, but since you are here I can use a witness to my greatest achievement.”

“He’s…dead? Are you sure?” she whispered, still disbelieving what lay before her. Why she asked the question, she could not guess. After all, she attended the man’s funeral. What further proof did she require?

“Quite dead.”

Glenna took three tentative steps forward. It was then she noticed Ravenswood was naked.
Good God.
Recoiling, she stepped back. Reed must have noticed her shocked reaction because he hurried forward and tossed the canvas across the corpse’s hips. “I am sorry. I did not expect anyone else to come into the laboratory.” Reed shook his head. “You should not have been exposed to such, as Ravenswood is quite the beast. Seems all the tattle was true.”

What tattle?
About Ravenswood’s prowess? If so, she’d heard it more than once and in great detail, or did Reed speak of the corpse’s privates--
Good heavens
. Glenna took another step forward. “Where are his clothes?”

“There.” Reed pointed to a neatly folded black suit and a pair of lace-up ankle boots on a nearby table. “I needed to examine the cadaver. I will redress it later when I have concluded my tests.”

Later?
When later? Glenna gulped and forced herself to look at the--corpse. The skin had turned a light shade of gray, the pale color of a snowy, overcast sky. It was then she noticed the scar, just as Susan described. It ran along the top of his hairline, down his left temple and the side of his face, and spread out across his cheek like three large tentacles. She recognized Samuel’s meticulously neat and still-fresh stitchwork. On the left side of his head, the hair was chopped away and a metal plate attached to the skull with small screws. Must be the grievous head wound Susan mentioned. How horrible.

Curiosity aside, at last complete shock and horror settled in and she shuddered once again. “Let me try and understand what is going on. You dug up a dead body to what purpose? What ghoulish experiments are you conducting? This is…is…inhumane. I’ve read about doctors robbing graves to dissect bodies. Is that what you are doing? Oh, Reed, this is ghastly!” Her words ended on a wail, and she covered her face with her hands, her body still trembling. How she wished she’d never come down here. Glenna would never be able to banish the image of a dead, naked Ravenswood from her mind.

Reed led her to a chair and gently encouraged her to sit. A good thing as her legs seemed not to possess bones. “I assure you my work has nothing to do with vivisection or dissection.” Reed paused. “Life is nothing but a spark, quite easy to snuff out. It doesn’t take much. An infection, a lingering illness”--his arm swept toward the table--“or perhaps an unfortunate carriage accident. But does it not make logical sense that if life’s flame can be extinguished, it also can be relit? It should be as effortless as sparking flint to tinder.”

Glenna let his words sink in.
He is mad.
Bringing the dead back to life was the stuff of intense and otherworldly nightmares and a horror story written by Mary Shelley at the turn of the century. It held no basis in reality. “Listen to yourself, Reed. You sound like a mad scientist from Gothic fiction.” It took all her intestinal fortitude to try and keep her voice steady.

He waved his hand dismissively. “Please, no comparisons to Victor Frankenstein. All that nonsense is merely an imaginary tale. What is happening here?
This
is reality. Though, I will concede the book has its merits. Electricity
is
the key. Hence the spark I spoke of. There are other more complicated factors, but I do not have the time to go into them. I acquired a large generator that will send direct current into the body. I will be using a combination of this and power from the sky.” His voice grew more animated as he hurried about the room. He held up a pole. “A lightning rod. Attached to the corpse in combination with the DC current should suffice. The barometric pressure is dropping. We will have a storm tonight, and I will be ready.”

All that was missing from Reed’s narrative was the maniacal laugh. Her mouth hung open in utter astonishment. Struggling to keep calm, Glenna took a moment to absorb what Reed said. “Reed. What you are proposing is against the laws of nature, of man, and of God.”

“Bah. You no more believe in God than I do, and nature is what we are here to overcome. Besides, it is not as if I haven’t done it before.” He picked up a notebook from the table and flipped through the tattered pages. “I started with mice and rats. There are enough around here to use. Then, a vole. Not two weeks ago, I reanimated a ginger tabby I found dead in a ditch not far from here. The animal must have been hit by a wagon not long before I arrived as he was barely cold. For eight minutes and twelve seconds--he lived.” Reed read from the book. “He blinked three times and swished his tail five times. He did not utter a sound, but still…success. A major success!”

Glenna bit her lower lip. Could she make her way upstairs and call for assistance? Mrs. Grampton or Anna could send for the parish constable, and Reed would be taken away in order to receive the help he needed. Digging up bodies
must
be against the law. Would he go to prison? As insane as he seemed and sounded, she would loathe having him incarcerated for it would be quite the scandal.
Poor Reed.
A wave of compassion moved through her.

Her cousin must have seen the changeable emotions playing out on her face because he hunched down by her chair and patted her hand with gentle, slow strokes. “There, there, my dear. I must endeavor to reanimate a human corpse and make it live longer than the cat. There is no possible way the cadaver will survive for any length of time. I should know as I am a trained scientist. After I make my observations and catalogue them, I will see Ravenswood is promptly and properly re-buried with no harm done.”

He made it sound simple. Glenna turned to face him. “Consider this possibility. What if the dead viscount comes to life and stays that way? What then?”

Reed laughed, an indulgent chuckle as if she spoke utter nonsense. “It will not happen, my dear. Brains were pouring out of its head, hence the reason I bolted the small piece of metal to its skull. Its wits would be pudding, and as a result it would not stay reanimated for long, I assure you. All my previous tests show continued and permanent life is not sustainable.”

But those conclusions were drawn by using animals, she thought worriedly to herself. “Why use him at all? My God, if the earl ever found out you used his dead son for an experiment, he would have the constables descend on this house, and they would carry you away never to be heard from again!”

“Such overwrought drama, and what an imagination you possess. I had no idea. The earl will not know because neither you nor I will tell him. Nor will the men I paid to dig up the corpse. They do this to earn extra coin and I paid them well. And I used the viscount because the man was the only recent death. It was Ravenswood or no one.”

What to do?
Glenna wrung her hands in nervous agitation. Enough of this. She stood suddenly and headed for the door. Someone in authority must deal with this. There was nothing else for it.

“Where are you going, Glenna?” The voice did not sound like Reed. It was cold, firm, with a touch of menace.

For the first time since coming to live with him, a fearful chill washed over her. “Reed, I have to get help, you cannot…”

“You will not leave this room. You owe me, Cousin. I am fond of you, but do not push me.” He slipped his arm around her waist and escorted her back to the chair. In a gentle voice, he said, “Please sit and remain calm. Now, I want you to listen to me. In your hour of need I took you in, cared for you, let you have the run of my house and finances. I appreciate you left me to my own devices and am pleased we get on well together.”

He crossed his arms, staring at her intently. “I am asking payment for my generosity. You’re to keep this secret. There will be no life for you here if I am taken to prison or to an asylum. All I ask is you keep the servants away and assist me tonight with my experiment; then I will return the dead heir to its final resting place, and we shall go on as before.” He glanced toward the table. “No one will be the wiser, nothing ever said. No evidence will exist that this even happened.”

It was true; she did owe him. With both parents deceased, Glenna had no other family to turn to until her fifteen-years-older eccentric cousin agreed to take her in. What choice did she have but to accept his generous offer? It was either Reed or two rooms in a boarding house where she would rusticate, shrivel, age, and live all alone with nothing for company but cobwebs and a few moldering books.

At least here in Charlwood she’d acquired more of a standing in society. She made friends with prominent members of the community, and Reed, for all his foibles and strange ways, was generous with his more than adequate fortune allowing her the run of his Gothic, rambling home on the outskirts of the village.

Oh, they were friendly enough, but Reed kept his distance both emotionally and physically, preferring to cloister himself away in the dark, dank cellar performing scientific experiments of one sort or another. Out of respect, she did not inquire as to his doings. Besides, science did not spark her interest, at least not to the level of Reed’s obsession. Though he might share a meal with her once or twice a week, he nonetheless was content to leave the running of the house and the servants in her care. The sense of responsibility gave new meaning to her life, and she enjoyed being needed.

Glenna studied her cousin, looking for any outward signs of insanity. She could find none. Reed was not classically handsome, but a pleasant enough looking man for one well into his forties. Though at the moment his unkempt clothes and unshaven face did nothing to enhance his appearance. Since they possessed the same shade of golden-brown hair and eyes, they were often mistaken for siblings. Did she see insanity swimming in his eyes? Perhaps it was always there and she chose not to notice it. What sane man performs experiments on--dead things? Mulling over what he said, there was no choice
but
to do as he asked. Her life was inexorably tied to his since she he had no means to live on her own in the long-term.
Blast.
Glenna hated to be placed in such a situation, but a woman alone had few options.

Clearing her throat, she met his gaze. “On one condition. You will promise me to abandon this line of experimentation and find something else to fill your time. No more attempts to resurrect the dead.” Perhaps she was as insane as Reed for she could not believe she spoke those words. A mad scientist for a cousin. Well, life certainly wasn’t dull.

He frowned, his brows furrowing. “I do not like that particular condition. If the viscount manages to stay reanimated longer than the tabby, how can I not pursue such a discovery? You are asking too much of me.” He folded his arms again in annoyance.

Good Lord.
“Fine. If by some remote chance the viscount stays reanimated longer than the tabby cat, then you will agree to experiment on dead animals only. No more humans. At all. Under any circumstance. Promise me, Reed. I must have your word on this matter.”

He threw his hands in the air in surrender. “Very well, I promise. Now, go and placate the housekeeper and the maid. In fact, give them the afternoon and evening off. Tell them not to return until the day after tomorrow, but not until they fix me a tray. Suddenly I am feeling peckish. You bring it down, not them.” He hesitated, and rubbed his chin. “Remove the key from the ring before you give it back to Mrs. Grampton. In future, I do not wish them to have any kind of access to the laboratory or other rooms below stairs.”

Glenna made her way toward the door, keeping her gaze from Ravenswood. As she scurried up the stairs, she began to wonder if she had made a deal with the devil.

After much convincing on Glenna’s part, the maid and housekeeper agreed to take paid time off. Anna did not need much coaxing; she grabbed her cloak and scampered off to her parents’ home on the other side of the village. Mrs. Grampton was a harder nut to crack. Grudgingly, after preparing a pot of beef stew, which would see Glenna and Reed through the next several meals, the housekeeper departed for the village to visit her sister. Glenna locked all the doors, changed into a simple brown wool dress she often wore to work in the garden, then hurried back downstairs and locked the door behind her. She slipped the key into the side pocket of her gown and steeled herself for seeing Ravenswood’s corpse again.

Glenna entered the laboratory, which was ablaze in bright illumination. The gas lamps overhead hissed loudly and bathed Ravenswood in a ghastly light. Reed had folded the canvas across the viscount’s hips, hiding his male parts, yet the rest of his body lay on full display. The light gray cast to his skin was quite evident, and then a thought struck her. More than three days passed since he--passed--wouldn’t he have started to rot? Raising her chin in the air, she flared her nostrils noticeably. Well, perhaps it was too soon. What did she know about dead bodies and their rate of decomposition? Thankfully, not a blessed thing.