by Eric Vall
“There’s blood here,” Edony gulped as she pointed toward the door with a shaking hand. “And the glass is cracked.”
“Yes,” I chuckled as I came forward, leaned against compartment C, and crossed my arms over my chest. “The last patient was… exceptionally violent, smashed his head against the window four or five times before I could start up my machine.”
“I can assume that test failed?” the Duchess complained as her lips curled against her pointed teeth. “As all of them have, of course.”
“Yeah, that one, he was burnt to a crisp,” I nonchalantly told her, and the Duchess’ eyes widened. “If you look through the window, you can probably see the ashes, I haven’t had the chance to clean up in there yet.”
The Duchess’ violet eyes sparkled, and to my disgust, her lips twitched at their corners, but thankfully, she stayed in place.
“So, what other repairs need to be made?” Edony sighed as she reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a small checkbook and pen. “And how much will it cost?”
“The glass in the door and the flooring in compartment B needs to be replaced,” I uttered as I ticked each item off on my fingers. “The bell jar of compartment A will need to be replaced, it’s much too small I’ve found. Two of the side panels need replacing and need new bolts, so altogether, I believe it’ll cost a hundred republic-ducats.”
Edony’s violet eyes rose from the paper and stabbed into me as she scratched the amount out. She slid the pen back into her pocket, ripped the check off with a loud tear, and then offered it to me in one swift movement.
“Take this to Vallantine Mercantile,” the Duchess simpered as her cheeks flushed happily. “When you’ve paid, place the receipt directly into the hands of Delphine Vallantine, she’ll get it back to me, so I know that you aren’t lying about what you need.”
“Or, you could simply trust me,” I grumbled, and the Duchess pulled her hand away from mine with the check tucked between her pointer and middle fingers.
“Trust?” Edony snarled as she took a half step away from me. “Trust you? A man? I’d never. You may be a scientist, Charles, but you’re still a man. You may be a tamed, civilized beast, but you still possess the teeth to bite. Your sex needs guidance and stewardship or you’d be nothing more than animals. That is why the gods gifted us superior women with these powers.”
The Duchess shoved the thin paper into my hands with a revolted expression and then brushed past me without a word. I held the check close to my chest as I turned to watch her leave, but Edony paused with her gloved hand against the door.
“Your cells are empty,” the blonde stated offhandedly, and I glanced toward the darkened bars. “You’ll need more patients, I assume.”
“Yes, I will.” I nodded as I crumpled the paper in my fist and stuffed it into my pocket.
“When will my machine work, Charles?” the Duchess snapped as she craned her head in my direction, and her perfectly curled hair shifted down her back. “When will I have what I want? I’ve paid you, I’ve housed you, I’ve practically let you eat out of the palm of my hand like a baby bird. What more do I have to do to get what I want?”
Her voice rose in tone until she was screaming, and her tiny gloved hands curled into fists at her sides. She looked like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum, and I had to stop myself from cackling with laughter. Her tantrum could, after all, in the blink of an eye turn into a magical attack that left me as nothing more than a charred corpse.
“I need to run more experiments, Edony,” I forced out through gritted teeth, and finally, the tall blonde calmed herself as she brushed off her wrinkled skirt. “That’s the only way that I’ll get results, you know that. I’ve told you hundreds of times, I need more funding, and most importantly, more time.”
“Your time is almost up, Rayburn,” the Duchess barked as she jabbed her pointer finger in my direction. “Do you remember what your life was like before me? Peddling your pathetic inventions on the street while your betters called you ‘alchemist, wizard, pseudoscientist,’ do you remember those days? You weren’t a scientist or a doctor! You were a hack before I graciously gave you this life! No one looked at you with respect, I gave you that!”
“Thank you,” I said as I dropped into a low bow. “Thank you so much for giving my life meaning, my dear Duchess.”
“Listen to me, Charles,” Edony commanded, and her voice dropped a few octaves. “My money is not an incentive for you to work, it’s a guarantee that you will succeed. I didn’t pay you to fuck around in your little lab all day, I paid you because I expect results. Your deadline is approaching, and if I don’t have the soldiers I want by then, it’s your head. You understand, don’t you? This isn’t a game, quit fucking with me and get back to work.”
Edony snapped her mouth closed, whipped around, stomped up the stairs, and shut the door to the basement as silence filled my laboratory. My arms dropped limply to my sides, and my fingertips brushed against the crumpled piece of paper in my pocket.
“You shouldn’t have done that, Charles.” A.B. whimpered from across the room, and I rolled my head forward and nodded.
“I know, I know,” I groaned as I ran my fingers through my hair and tugged at it. “But the shit she kept saying, I couldn’t take it anymore.”
“So, that was the Duchess,” Valerie’s voice came clearly from behind me, and I whipped around with wide, shocked eyes. “I’ll take care of her sooner or later, don’t worry, Charlie.”
“V-Val?” I whispered as I desperately searched for her around the lab. “I thought I told you to stay inside the cabinet… where are you?”
“I’m right in front of you, silly!” the cat-girl giggled, and my fingers tingled with the sensation of another pair of hands grasping them.
“W-What the hell?” I croaked as the tiny, familiar hands tightened on my own. “What is happening?”
I blinked rapidly as Valerie slowly but surely phased into view right in front of me. I felt all of the blood leave my arms as my mouth dropped open, and small, unformed words squeaked out.
“Uh-oh,” A.B. chuckled. “I think you broke him.”
“Charles?” the cat-girl sang as she lifted onto her tippy-toes and gazed into my blurry eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“What… what was that?” I finally managed to blurt out, and the blonde wriggled with excitement.
“My power!” Valerie giggled as she threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly to her voluptuous chest. “We were just talking about it, and it finally appeared while I was in that cabinet! I snuck out before you, and the Duchess came downstairs! Isn’t it cool? I can sneak around without anyone seeing me!”
“By the science!” I finally snapped out of it and gripped the blonde by the shoulders. “It finally happened! Congratulations, Valerie! Do it again!”
The blonde cat-girl wriggled out of my grasp and stood a few feet away from me with her hands pressed together palm to palm. Her eyes fluttered closed as she took a deep breath, and for a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, just as I was about to give up hope, the feline’s outline warbled, and her entire body shifted out of sight like that of a chameleon shifting in the fog. I stepped around the place where I knew she stood and looked for any sign that she was still there.
“Whoa,” I exhaled as I reached out for her, and my fingertips brushed against the warm skin of her back. “This is amazing. Can you take a few steps forward?”
“Sure,” Valerie’s voice giggled. “I’ve noticed if I move too much, the space where my body is supposed to be gets distorted, but if I remain perfectly still, it’s like I’m not even there!”
“This is fantastic,” I snorted as I cupped my chin. “I wonder if we create a second monster girl will she have the same powers as the woman we use?”
“Women don’t have those kinds of powers, Charles,” A.B. pointed out.
“Of course,” I muttered. “They only have elemental powers. I’ve never heard of a woman being able to camouflage themse
lves in such a way.”
“So I’m unique?” Valerie gushed as she phased into view a few feet away.
“Of course, my dear,” I said. “Or at least, I’ve never heard of a creature as beautiful as you who could also use magic like that.”
“It’s because you made me,” Val proclaimed proudly. “You are a genius, and I love you. I think the next woman that you make will have different powers. Or at least, I hope they do.”
“Charles,” A.B. interrupted from behind us, and I glanced at him over my shoulder. “Aren’t you going to go get the supplies that the Duchess gave you money for?”
“To hell with the Duchess for today,” I grinned as I opened my arms wide to Valerie, and she rushed into them. “I’ll go to get the supplies tomorrow morning. Tonight, we celebrate since Valerie finally discovered her powers.”
“But shouldn’t you get them as soon as possible, Charles?” Valerie asked with a tilt of her head. “Don’t you want to work on your machine and make a new monster girl?”
“Oh, man, not you too,” I snickered and shook my head as I let my arms drop from her waist. “Fine, I’ll go get the supplies, and then we’ll celebrate, okay? I’m not working for the rest of the night after this, understood?”
“Sure,” Valerie grinned as she clasped her hands together. “Pretty soon, I’ll have a little sister, and I’ll be so happy. Oh, Charles, I can’t wait!”
“I’m excited too, Valerie,” I murmured as I stroked her smooth, round cheek, and then dropped the hand to my side. “I’ll be back in a little bit with all of the supplies.”
“Can I come too?” the cat-girl quipped as she danced from foot to foot. “I can use my new power and everything!”
“Absolutely not.” I chuckled as I rested my hand on my laboratory’s door. “No way in hell, my dear.”
Chapter Six
I hitched two horses to a large wooden cart and set off for town. From where my manor sat, I could look out over all of Edenhart, and I had to admit, it was a gorgeous place despite its vile ideologies. Shingled church towers reached up into the sky and almost seemed to brush at the wispy white clouds. Carts pulled by horses raced through the brick streets, and from this distance away, they resembled something like ants.
“It’s a beautiful day,” I sighed into the clean, open air as I hoisted myself up into the driver’s seat and took the reins. “Now… off to see Vallantine.”
I should’ve known that the Duchess would send me directly into the clutches of Delphine. She must’ve noticed how the toad followed after me like a lost puppy at the party. I’d never been to Vallantine Mercantile since I preferred to buy my supplies from smaller shops with better quality. Still, Edony wanted proof that I wasn’t using her money on things unrelated to the project.
“Yah!” I cried as I cracked the reins, and both of the horses trotted forward.
The plan was to waltz in with my head down, get the stuff that I needed, and hopefully keep my interaction with Delphine to the minimum. The way she looked at me as if I were a tasty piece of meat made me sick to my stomach, and I didn’t want to put myself in that type of situation for the second time.
“I wish Valerie could see all of this,” I breathed to myself as I looked out over the rolling hills billowing with wildflowers. “She’d love it.”
The words echoed in my mind for a bit as I realized that my darling cat-woman creation would never be able to leave my property, or be seen in public. My chest felt heavy, and I wondered if there was anything more I could do to give the beautiful woman joy and the freedom of exploration without the fear of persecution by the wretched matriarchy that ruled my world. I knew there must be a way, so I vowed to think about it some more.
The road to the city was bumpy and narrow, but I made it there within an hour and pulled out onto the brick avenue. The white-washed houses and businesses that lined the street were larger than most for such a small town, and high-class women bustled in and out of their open doors.
Men rarely worked in the businesses that lined the street, and if they did, it was in the backrooms where no one could see them. If I weren’t a doctor and scientist, I would’ve probably held a similar slave-labor job, and it made my stomach twist into knots. I’d heard plenty of times that the men employed at the small salons and shops were often beaten with canes or whips if they didn’t do as they were told.
I had to admit, in that perspective, I was luckier than most with my ‘boss’. Edony treated me better than other employers, but there were times where she hooked me by the shoulder with the crook of her cane and brought me to my knees in front of her like a dirty slave.
I kept my eyes on the road like I’d been taught my entire life, so I couldn’t gawk or stare at the female aristocrats as they went about their daily lives, it was more than just a rule, it was the law. A man out on the street that wasn’t employed by one of the women or a consort couldn’t look a female in the eyes for more than ten seconds or else he’d be carted off by the warden and put in a cell for the night.
“Ah, look,” a woman called out as she leaned against the pristine side of a business and pointed toward me. “It’s the Alchemist. Finally scurried out of your hole? The Duchess allowed you out?”
Alchemist, wizard, pseudoscientist, and warlock. Those were the most popular words hurled at me when I passed by. They haunted me, but it was something I had to live with. Men were rarely scientists and doctors, and I just happened to be both.
“Alchemist? Hello?” the woman shouted as she pushed off the wall. “I’m fucking talking to you, respond like a good little boy, and then be on your way!”
“Good Morning!” I plastered on a fake smile, squared my shoulders, and nodded in the woman’s direction, and then turned toward the road again.
“That’s what I thought, Alchemist,” the woman scoffed and then disappeared into the open door of her shop with a flurry of petticoats.
I heard shit like this every time I came into the small city, and I honestly was surprised I hadn’t heard it as soon as I pulled onto the smaller side streets. I didn’t have time for her or her cruel remarks, I had bigger fish to fry as the Vallantine Mercantile came into view down the road.
The brick building owned by Delphine was massive and sprawled out across two street blocks. Enormous glass windows glared out over the street, and it felt as if the whole building were a monument to the awful aristocrat. Massive white columns lined the entrance and towered up to the black, shingled roof. I had to admit that the building was pretty despite its enormous size and the oppressive aura that hung around it. The mercantile looked modeled after the wealthy aristocrats’ manors but on a much larger and detailed scale.
I’d known that Delphine was almost as wealthy and powerful as the Duchess, but now it was clear to me from the sheer size of this place.
“By the science,” I breathed as I pulled into the gravel plot just outside the front and tied off my horses and wagon. “This place is fucking huge.”
I already knew the things that I needed for my machine’s improvements, but I would’ve preferred to have gone to the shops I was familiar with. Vallantine’s Mercantile looked huge from the outside, and there was no doubt in my mind that I could easily get lost inside.
I reached into my pocket for the check, held it tightly in my palm, stepped through the large open front doors, and took in the whole of the store for a few passing moments.
Heavy farming machinery hung from the ceilings by silver metal chains, and I only vaguely recognized a few. Male workers in pristine uniforms moved up and down the aisles of wooden shelves as they put away smaller products, and they glanced at me every once in a while out of the corners of their eyes.
“Can I help you, Sir?” a young man who looked about seventeen asked as he shuffled forward with his arms behind his back.
“Yes,” I nodded as I ran through the list in my head from earlier, but the young man cut me off as I opened my mouth to spout them off.
“I’m sorry, S
ir,” he apologized with a low bow, and my brows furrowed out of confusion. “But I have to ask if you have a work order or list from your mistress. The regulations have changed, and we can’t approve sales from males without a signed work order or in the presence of your mistress.”
“I don’t have a mistress,” I shook my head as my lips pressed into a hard line. “Or a work order, I just need a few things. I have a republic credit check from my employer if you would like to see it, it has her signature on it.”
I stuffed my hand into my pocket, retrieved the crumpled check, and offered it to him, but the young man took a step away from me.
“My mistress won’t approve that, Sir,” the young black-haired man stated as he feebly raised both hands into the air as if to say, ‘I can’t help you.’ “You could’ve easily forged the signature yourself.”
I dropped my hand to my side with the check in my palm and rolled my eyes up toward the ceiling with a loud groan. The aristocrats were always changing the rules and regulations of things like this, and it was so fucking stupid. The Duchess gave me the check specifically for this task, and now, I couldn’t even get my supplies because I didn’t have a signed work order.
“Think about this logically for a second,” I instructed as I slapped the thin paper of the check. “You say you need a signed work order, I have a signed check from the Duchess of Edenhart. I don’t think she’d be very pleased to hear I was denied service. I’m on an important mission from Edony, and if you turn me away, I’ll tell her exactly who sent me. You can guess who will pay the price and what the price will be.”
“T-The Duchess of E-Edenhart?” the boy squeaked as his dark brown eyes snapped open, and he gawked at me. “Now, I really need to see a work order, do you know how many times people come in here and say they work for her when they don’t?”
“If you have previous work orders of hers on files,” I groaned as I leaned my head back in annoyance. “You can compare it to the one on the check. I assure you, I work for the Duchess. This is bullshit, I just want my supplies!”