Frankenstein's Monster: A Short Story from the Prophecy Universe

Slight childhood background for the main character, Alden.

I was the Frankenstein's monster of my world. Not in the sense that, I too was pieced together from varying corpses, nor was I brought to life with a surge of electricity, and despite my loneliness I had not yet gone on a murderous rampage- at the most basic and literal interpretation I immensely differed. But, just like the monster, I too had no family of my own, for I was a child of war. But, in that sense, I was just like any other Deitteran child in the military school I attended. Despite that similarity, though, I was set apart from an early age, for I was not a full Deitteran. My father was actually of the rival country, Nocterra. But sadly, I was only able to connect my parents to storybook legends, therefore I knew barely anything of who they actually were. Their names and personal pasts had been erased from history within the twelve years I had been alive, and it seemed as if the more I grew, the more they were buried.

I may not have been a collage of people like Frankenstein’s monster was, but my existence had sewn together the opposing sides of war. So due to my Nocterran and Deitteran parents, I was seen as an unnatural monster to many. I was no more than an unneeded onus to those ordered to protect my life. My past and future were immutable. The person I was, as well as the person I was to become, was no more than a calculated measure by the Deitterran government- just another precious piece in their political chess game. Even at one point, supposedly, there was to be a small sedition in the regards of my debatable humanity, and whether the government was wrong to put so much in the small hands of a frail child. But no word of this opposition of government was ever reported again, and the supposed problem was taken care of for good.

After that original reporting, the school never talked much of the world past the gates of our military school. But, then again, not much was actually beyond those iron wrought gates. The school was in a bucolic area, and the only sign of a prosperous land beyond our fences, was a railroad that grazed the far edges of the horizon. Sometimes I couldn’t help but foolishly dream of leaving that miserably lonely school and following those very tracks until I found my own life- not one that was mapped by the government.

Even those of my same grade level steered away, much as those who fled from Frankenstein’s creature. It was no secret who I was, and it both disgusted and terrified those around me. And due to this lack of friendship, I tended to have an excess amount of time in my day in which I’d usually find myself wreaking havoc and causing a general stir. The severity of my mischief achieved heights some could not fathom, but I was never removed from the school. I was a “special case”. It was an order by the Deiterran ruler to make sure I was never expelled. It’s not as if it was a regular school, like those students in the story books I read would attend, for we did not have classes such as literature, and arithmetic.

We were not taught to be scholars…

we were taught to be weapons.

Every one of those names that were engraved on the plaques placed on dormitory doors would eventually find themselves in the war casualty listings. And if someone, for whatever reason, chose to leave the army once they were of age, they’d find themselves living as destitutes with not but a copper to their name. That’s not to say we didn’t learn the alphabet and how to pronounce and scribe each symbol to form them into concise written words. On the contrary, we just learned the practicalities for such subjects in war. We didn’t count blocks on a desk or subtract cake pieces in simple word problems. Instead we counted bullets and learned to subtract to find how many more lives we could take. Despite it being a military school, though, we did have a library that contained outdated donated textbooks and stories, so if one wanted to perpetuate their own learning, they could in their freetime. So, for me, when I wasn’t causing mischief, I was studying the books I had taken from the library.

The book that had actually empowered me to learn more of who I was and who my parents were was, in fact, Frankenstein. I could place myself with too much ease within the monsters steps, and I no longer wanted to be the nameless creature of Deiterra. So that night I made sure to appear as if I had retired to bed early, and made sure to sneak down into the library without being seen. Once curfew approached, I hid within the scattered piles of books and once I heard the click of the outside lock of the library doors, I released a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding and began to search through every book for any useful information. Every few books I would glance to the clock and angle my flashlight to shine upon its face to see the time. I made note of how much time was left until I was supposed to be first waking up for breakfast and morning training.

As I searched through each page of each book I couldn’t help but stop on the famous prophecy-

A child born of the day and night,

Will be the force to unite,

The fighting ends of gleam and gloom,

Or else all life will be sealed in their tomb.

The kin of the opposing sides,

Will be the one to turn the tides,

Or chaos will be forever more,

And the lands will be filled with war.

I held back a snicker as I read the familiar foretold coming of “the chosen one”. But as I read it over once more, my mind couldn’t help but wander to the fact that I was almost thirteen, and soon I would be forced to join the war. In Deiterran society, if you had no other special skills or talents, and if your family could not afford to send you to a normal school, you’re only choice was to join the army or live your life as a destitute. Due to the fact I was property of the government, I had no choice but to be in the army. As I searched, I pondered on why I even wanted to know my parents. It’s not as if anything of my set-out future would change. Perhaps I naively thought it would make me feel more human, more whole, and less like property and weapon.

I was immediately pulled out of my thoughts when I heard heavy footsteps emanate from underneath the heavy wooden door. My gaze shot up from the book I was thumbing through and I could see the shadow of army boots stretch out underneath the door from the hallway light. My head snapped towards the window in which I could see the sun barely starting to graze the horizon, and looked in horror at the clock. The thunderous footsteps were not even enough of a caveat for me to hide, for I almost immediately afterwards heard the click of the lock as the door creaked open. My dark brown eyes locked with those of a tall woman whose eyes were a shimmering shade of gold. From the doorway she beckoned me to come closer. I peered at her with a confused expression. I had never seen her walking the halls of the school, and the lack of jewels on her broach that fastened her knee-length snow white cloak explained that she was nothing more than a captain. Her tan skin contrasted both her white apparel and light blonde hair (which was pulled into a neat bun held together with shimmering gold pins and had tactfully placed strands of hair framing her thin face).

As I walked hesitantly closer in an act of sheer curiosity and confusion, she motioned for me to follow her as she walked out of the library and down the hall to the front doors. I looked around as I closely followed the unnamed captain, and couldn’t help but notice the wave of whispers and murmurs that creeped behind me at my heels. As we exited out the doors, I couldn’t help but hesitate once we reached the now, surprisingly open, rusty gates.

“Who are you? Why are you here? Where are we going? How did you know I was in the library?” all of my questions tumbled out of my gaping mouth. The captain looked at me with a stone-cold expression, and sighed.

She crouched down so we were at eye level, and answered each question concisely, “I’m Captain Damian Wagner. I’m here to retrieve you by orders of the ruler. We are going to visit the ruler, and after that is over I am to bring you to my army camp. I could see you through the window.” I flushed when she said that last statement.

“But I’m not of age to be in the ar-”

“But in a month you will be.” the captain cut me off. She then stood back up and made her way to the railroad tracks in which a train was waiting for us, obviously expecting me to obediently follow which i begrudgingly did. As soon as we boarded the train and sat down, the train pulled away and I watched as the school I called home for the past approximate six years grew smaller and smaller and eventually vanished out of view through the window.

“Can the ruler tell me anything of my family?” I blurted out.

Captain Wagner gave me a small sad smile and replied, “No one knows much of your parents. Please do not preoccupy yourself with frivolous facts of the past. You are a child of Deiterra. You’re the one in which the famous prophesier Futurae foretold. You’re what many liked to call ‘The Chosen One’.” I couldn’t help but peer down at my hands in disappointment. Whenever I asked of the past, I was told to look to the future for I’m supposed to be the savior of two war stricken lands. I was supposed to be the seam between the opposing sides.

I was but a sloppily sewn together government puppet stitched of light and dark in hopes of a better future.

I was nothing more than the Frankenstein’s monster of my world.

Author's Note

This is just another short story from my original universe which still doesn't have an original name and has been dubbed 'The Prophecy Universe' for the time being. The short story 'The Prophecy Foretold' takes place before this in the timeline.