3 Fever

Chapter 3 Fever Victor spent the rest of the night pacing up and down in the darkness, drenched by rain and tortured by nightmares. He imagined he saw his sweetheart, Elizabeth, but when he embraced her, her skin was cold and maggots crawled out of her clothes... By dawn, he was sweating and wretched. "Victor!" called a familiar voice. He turned- and saw his old friend Henry. "How are you?" asked Henry. "Your family and I have been so worried since you stopped writing that I thought I'd better come and see if you were all right."

Henry paused, noticing how pale Victor looked. "You're not well. I'd better get you home to bed." Reluctantly, Victor allowed Henry to help him back to his rooms. Steeling himself, he threw open the workshop door with trembling hands. It was empty! There was nothing left of his experiment but a mess of scattered papers and smashed equipment.

"It's gone!" Victor giggled hysterically. "What's gone?" asked Henry. "Have you been robbed?" Victor didn't answer. From then on, every noise and shadow filled him with fear. In his exhausted state, the strain was too much. Henry watched in horror as his friend collapsed in a fit. Victor sank into a fever which lasted for several months. Henry hardly left his side. And slowly, under Henry's care, Victor began to get better. "A change would do you good," Henry said, when Victor was up and about again. "Let's go away somewhere." Away from the university, Victor at last relaxed. Henry was careful not to ask about his work, and Victor never mentioned it. In fact, Victor had decided the monster was probably dead. "It couldn't survive on its own," he told himself. And he did his best to forget all about it.