7 Death in Scotland

Chapter 7 Death in Scotland The monster's words rang in Victor's ears: I will be with you on your wedding night. "So I'm going to die," he thought. "I'm not afraid." Then he thought of Elizabeth and the grief she would feel. "But I won't go without a struggle." He stared at the mangled remains of his half-finished creature. It was as if he had murdered a living being. He swept the remains into an old basket, packed up and left the island

Out at sea, he weighted the basket with stones and flung it overboard. There was a horrid gurgling as it sank -and then nothing but the stillness of the pure, cold night air. Despite the monster's threats, Victor felt a huge sense of relief. "I'm sure I've done the right thing," he thought.

When Victor landed on the mainland, a crowd gathered around his boat, frowning and muttering. Then a policeman appeared. "Come with me, sir," he said sternly, gripping Victor's arm. "You have some questions to answer." "What have I done?" pleaded Victor. "A man has been strangled," came the reply. "And the murderer was seen making a getaway in a boat like yours."

The crowd parted to let them pass, revealing something lying on the shore beyond. It was a body, and its face was horribly familiar... "Henry!" Victor gasped. "So it has begun," he thought despairingly. "The monster is taking his revenge, and I must live, while those I love die."

"I didn't kill anyone," he wailed. "It was the monster... the monster I made." "Really, sir?" replied the policeman, tightening his grip. "Perhaps you'd like to tell the doctor about that." "He thinks I'm a lunatic," realized Victor. And the rest of what he had been going to say died on his lips.

Victor spent that night in a jail cell, feverishly imagining the monster's next move. "What if it goes back to Geneva?" he muttered. "I've got to protect my family." Luckily for Victor, a local fisherman had seen him on the island at the time of the murder, proving him innocent. He was released the next morning, and set off for Geneva at once. His father and Elizabeth greeted him with tears in their eyes. "Thank goodness you're all right," he sighed. It was a miserable homecoming without Henry. His death, added to William's and Justine's, left a gap that could not be filled. "But we must get on with our lives," insisted Elizabeth bravely. "Let's set a date for the wedding." Victor thought again of the monster's threat: I will be with you on your wedding night. "Can I really get married now?" he agonized.