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Victor’s Body Shop: Ghouls and Gals Series

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact loretta@lorettakendall.com.

The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

Book Cover and Graphic Design by LK Creative

Prologue

Meet Victor Frankenstein VI

I was on top of the world until the explosion in my lab caused a catastrophic rip in the timeline. Yeah, it’s all my fault, but who am I to complain? I’m a rich, handsome silver fox, and the ladies love me. That’s something, right? Humans and monsters alike come calling on my services, and I have made my laboratory and businesses a household name. Maybe not for the most upstanding reasons, but here I am, living the life of luxury as a billionaire bachelor.

Few humans in the past knew about monsters living among us, and lucky for me, my family had firsthand experience of being part of monster history dating back to the 1800s. I’m not only what their kind call a beater (heart beater), but my family held the cornerstone of monster creation and innovation. I was just the lucky guy who managed to bring it to the mainstream. We live in a new time, and nothing is too taboo for a multi-dimensional world.

Okay, I really shouldn’t be proud of the mess I made, considering I ruined a lot of lives on my quest for fame and fortune. But it worked out, right?

No… I’m a screwup.

Truth be known, I’m not that great of a scientist, but no one needs to know that. Certainly not the feds. If they knew I caused the rift in time, I’d be a dead man. If it wasn’t for my assistant helping me cover up what happened, I’d be spending my days in prison, and I don’t look good in stripes. I’m man enough to admit it. After all, I’m the reason the monster and human realms collided in the first place. When the Horror Wars broke out soon after, the realization of what I’d done hit hard. I did it all for love, and I regret it to this day.

While traveling back and forth through dimensions, selling my monster creations to the elites, I didn’t plan for the explosion that would change life as we know it. Maybe I took one trip too many between the void. You see, I’m a sixth-generation scientist, and things sometimes don’t go as planned when you’re dealing with radioactive materials. Things were going great. Then one day, boom. Monsters of all kinds were thrown into the human world forever. It was like every monster in retro films and stories showed up on this rock, and I still haven’t figured out how I got into this mess.

There are no more scaring humans, spooking the streets on Halloween, or hiding under a bed at night to scare little kids. Nope. Humans know the truth now, and there’s no turning back. I got to give it to them. They’ve settled in nicely in their new life. The wars only lasted a little over a year before they were proven not to be any real threat, but I still have a load of guilt weighing on me.

So, I guess you would be wondering what exactly I could have been doing that caused this chaos. Several years ago, I was a budding scientist looking to make my mark and on my way to marrying the love of my life. That was, of course, until my uncle passed away. I inherited his vast fortune and an old, musty castle that I didn’t want due to its disrepair. The Frankenstein castle was an icon, and was only known in legends and storybooks. To our family, it held dark secrets that should have stayed hidden.

The one thing that convinced me to keep it was the legends that came from there and the original stories of the Frankenstein monster. I’m a Chicago native, but my family hails from Geneva, Switzerland, and even as a kid, I was fascinated with science and the stories my family had passed on. Even in the monster world, they passed the Frankenstein story down for generations and thought of as an iconic time in history.

With the legends of my family, it was only natural to be curious. After weeks of searching the old castle grounds, I found my ancestor’s biological studies in a hidden room located in the basement. When I saw what my great-great-whatever-grandfather had discovered, I knew at first glance I would make a mint from this information.

With a couple of years of study, I found a way to bring the dead to life, without all his scary repercussions. With my family’s money, a background in physics and nuclear science, and my ancestor’s knowledge of anatomy, I had the world at my fingertips.

With the original Frankenstein reanimation studies and one of my biggest business ventures being a widely known sex toy operation, I got an idea of a lifetime. Sex sells, and boy, did it ever. My company makes reanimated, real-life sex dolls for the wealthy and social elite. You would call them Frankenstein monsters or brides. Some people pay big money to have a wife or husband who will bow to their every whim. Hollywood pays even more.

I was doing well, too, until that damn explosion in the dimensional travel machine I created. Then all hell broke loose. I was just going to take an innocent trip to the monster realm to grab a few supplies when my lab exploded from a radiation leak. Now, everything we once knew is turned upside down. Did I make billions with my discoveries? Hell yeah. But at what costs?

Despite the protestors who are always on my doorstep saying I’m building abominations and something about being a grave robber, I’m still the top-renowned scientist in the world, and no one can take that away.

Sure, I sound like a jerk by continuing my work after all that’s happened, but what else do I have to live for? The day of that explosion was a nightmare, and I lost everything. Including any chance at love.

Let me go back to the beginning and tell you how this came to be. In the words of my ex-girlfriend, hold on, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Chapter 1

Ten years ago…

“Make it rain, baby. Lolli’s here for my big man all night long. Maybe later I can give you a private dance, daddy.”

Sitting in a gentlemen’s club in downtown Chicago, Victor Frankenstein VI watched as the dark-skinned stripper with pink hair rolled her ass up to him on the platform before him. The ebony beauty was sexy, but he wasn’t as entertained as she’d liked for a patron of the club to be. Slipping another twenty in her G-string, the wealthy scientist and businessman was just biding his time while he waited for his girlfriend to get off work.

Most men of his caliber wouldn’t think of dating an exotic dancer. Since one of his business endeavors was the biggest sex toy company in the US, it was fitting with the billionaire’s destructive nature to do something off the wall and unexpected. He was a playboy with old money, and what Victor wanted, he got.

“I told you, Lolli, it’s just one dance. Shake that ass good for me tonight, and I’ll give you a little extra for your time. You know I always make it worth your while.”

“Worth my while? You’re not even paying attention. You didn’t even notice my new stilettos, and I know your freaky ass has a foot fetish. What’s in your head tonight, Vic? Why don’t we head to the back room and have some fun while you’re here? You look like you need to relax.”

“No. I just want to get home and rest. The only girl here who is getting me alone in that champagne room is Speed. And she doesn’t seem as interested in my money as the rest of you do. Where is she, anyway?”

Turning to spread her legs for him to hopefully entice the billionaire into her striptease, she could tell he wasn’t interested. “She’s finishing up on the main stage. She’ll be around. You know, Vic, they say to never fall in love with a stripper. You’re in too deep, rich boy. You’re too classy to hang out with the likes of us. I never figured out why you even come here. Why don’t you head back to your side of town and find yourself one of those snobby Michigan Avenue types? Speed is never going to marry you until you get out of the sex game, anyway,” she noted, referring to her friend’s stage name.

“Ironic, since sex is what pays her bills right now. Hell, we met when she was doing some modeling for a new line of toys at one of the trade conventions. She’ll come around. She loves me.”

“Yeah,” she said, kneeling in front of him while wrapping her fingers around his tie, “but do you really love her? What sacrifice would you make for her happiness? She’s not like the rest of us. She’s got real street smarts, and one day that girl is going to go be a famous race car driver and leave your sorry ass. She wants to spend her life fixing up old beaters and getting her nails dirty, not a housewife for a kinky fucker who owns a sex doll empire.” With a wink, she added, “But I’ll take you up on being Miss Suzy-homemaker and make daddy proud. Momma needs a new pair of shoes. And maybe a nice sports car.”

Victor just laughed as the woman reached over and booped his nose. Lolli was just teasing, as always. He knew Speed, aka Georgina Grace, loved him, and Lolli would never think of messing with her best friend’s guy. She was one of the few women in the place who had any respect or even an ounce of honor for her peers.

Victor might have been from old money, but Georgina Grace Grimes, known to her friends as Gigi, didn’t care about that. All she cared about was becoming a drag racer. And since that wasn’t exactly paying the bills as of late, she landed herself in a strip club until street and drag racing started paying off. She was a small-town girl in a big city and was just there biding her time until she made it big.

Despite her older boyfriend’s money, she had too much pride to ask for his help. She would never allow being kept by a sugar daddy. Raised in the bible belt, Gigi was a southern girl with a lot of sass and didn’t take any of his crap. She didn’t need him or anyone else to make it in this world, and he knew it.

With a faint smile, he watched as the exotic dancer stood to swing around the stage pole. He respected Lolli. After all, she watched out for his girl. Despite both their protests, Gigi wouldn’t take his money or his ring until he was willing to step away from making high-tech sex toys to make a proper life for her. Her goals were on the racetrack, and no matter how much money he threw at her, she wasn’t changing her rowdy tomboy ways for a billionaire playboy.

Shaken from his thoughts, a commotion across the club brought Lolli’s attention toward the main part of the venue. From the higher elevation above him, he saw the terrified look in the dancer’s eyes as she leaped from the platform. Then the sounds of screams and people running from the building made the whole room shake, and he knew that meant trouble. A shooter? A gang banger?

No. Worse. A horror film turned into reality right before their eyes.

“Speed!” she yelled, sending a shiver down the man’s spine. “What the hell is that? Vic, what is that?”

Hearing those words, Victor jumped to his feet, trying his best to see over the crowd. Something told him that he knew exactly what it was. He was right, too. Suddenly, before him was the nightmare he had created, and it was walking out of the club with his soon-to-be fiancée on his shoulders. Yes, Frank N. Stein had come calling, and he was making good on his past threats. If Victor didn’t make him a mate, he’d kill everyone he loved, starting with Gigi.

“Victor, help!” Gigi screamed, trying to break free from the grasp of a large green-skinned man with bolts sticking out of his neck.

But Victor couldn’t move. Frozen in place, he saw the man whom he thought to be dead, or at least unanimated. Was it true? Did his science experiment reanimate itself? But how?

Victor found himself running out of the club to free her from this monster, but nothing he could do would save her if Frank was ready to make good on his threats. His raven-haired love was being taken, just as Frank had warned weeks before.

As soon as he made his way outside, he watched as Gigi managed to break free from the greenish grip of her captor, right before he tried to push her into Victor’s own sports car, which he must have stolen from the penthouse garage. Just as Victor was about to run to protect her, the large monster looked him in the eye as he knocked Gigi out cold. It was as if he had no remorse for hitting the woman. Why would he? His soul was dark. Maybe even void.

It was warned in his ancestors’ research notes about the dangers of reanimating a soul. It either came back as a mindless drone or a ruthless killer. He had yet to find a way to make his creations with compassion, and he hated himself at that moment for not working harder to fix them. Others he controlled with microchips, but this one giant stitched-together monster, he allowed free will. It proved to be the biggest mistake he’d ever made in his budding scientific career.

The only words he heard from the giant man while he lugged her over his shoulder were, “Meet me at the lab. I have work for you.”

“Frank… I-I can’t. I thought you were dead. I de-animated you.”

“Well, I guess you were wrong. Now you’re going to have to pay for betraying my trust, Victor. A bride for a bride… or stripper, in your case.”

As the man slid into his luxury sports car, Victor was livid. This monster was his property. He wouldn’t allow Frank to reveal himself to the public just yet, as he had just done. Nor allow him to defy his rules. They had plans for the future. Big plans. Yet here was Frank, screwing it all up.

Stepping beside him and gripping his bicep, Lolli was frantic. “Are you just going to stand there? Stop him! He just bodied his way through three big-ass security guards. We need to call the police.”

Victor was completely stone-faced as he watched the car drive away. “Don’t worry about him. I know where he’s going. Tell the people inside I have it under control and get back to work.”

“But Victor… What was that thing? It looked… dead. People inside are saying it’s a monster, and it looks like—”

“A Frankenstein monster. I know. Lolli. I said, get back to work. It’s all a hoax, okay,” he lied. “My business partner is playing a prank. Gigi’s probably in on it. I’ll take care of it.” Throwing her a wad of cash, he seemed unaffected. “Go tell the owner to call me. I’ll take care of any damages they caused.”

“Okay,” she said, calming down. “Have Speed… I mean, Gigi, text me to let me know she’s okay.”

“I will. Have the attendant pull my car around. I have to have a long talk with my business partner.”

Chapter 2

“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” Victor yelled as he entered his private lab in the Chicago suburbs, pulling to loosen his tie before slamming his fist on the laboratory workbench. “You couldn’t wait, could you? You had to go and fuck everything up. Everyone in that damn club saw you! Ever heard of a camera phone, moron? This is going to be all over social media.”

Frank was leaning on the examination table nearby, picking his teeth with a scalpel. The smug bastard was the crudest creature Victor had ever come across. When he saw Gigi gagged and tied in a chair in front of the monster, with his big boot resting on her leg, the scientist was furious. Her dancer’s bikini top had been ripped off, lying on the floor next to her, and a scratch across her chest from what he knew was his Frankenstein monster’s nails digging into her soft flesh was still red.

“You son of a bitch! Did you touch her?”

“Relax, Daddy Warbucks, she’s fine. I just wanted a little peek at my new property. You can’t make a deal on the land without knowing what the real estate is worth.”

“I told you she’s off limits. Let her go.”

Gigi squirmed, terrified for her life. She’d never seen anything like this and had no idea of Victor’s underground dealings. Nor did she have any idea of his secret lab in the suburbs. Whatever was going on here was an abomination, and in her heart, she knew it was wrong.

Across the room, lights flashed, and a machine groaned as a portal between the human and monster world connected. Frank had flipped it on just before Victor arrived. He knew if the monster got mad enough, he’d take her into the monster realm, and he’d lose her forever, so he had to keep Gigi away from that vortex.

“What are you doing with my machine?”

“Here’s the deal, Vic. You didn’t make good on your promises. I was told I was getting a bride, and if I don’t get mine, yours will be going with me.” Pulling the gag from Gigi’s mouth, he added, “Oh, and she still doesn’t want to marry you. Maybe she needs a real man to fulfill her needs. That scrawny little human dick just isn’t doing the trick for a dirty girl like her.”

“Victor, what’s happening? Who… What is this… thing?”

“Gigi, don’t worry. I got it under control. Just stay calm.” Holding his hands up to show he was no threat, Victor stepped over to check on his girlfriend. “Sweetheart, are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“No, he just ripped my top to piss you off. I’m scared. What’s going on?”

“This creature is what I’ve been working on. It’s the special project I told you about that would make us billions. I did it, Gigi. I uncovered the secrets of my ancestors’ experiments. Frank is a—”

“Monster?” she gasped. “I thought you were just pulling my leg when you told me stories about that. How could you do this?”

As she looked up at the large green-skinned man, Frank gave her a wink. “Cool, isn’t it, sweet cheeks? Oh, and my height isn’t the only thing that’s big, in case you just want to run away with me right now. Old Vic made me anatomically correct. Didn’t ya, old man? I can take care of you like he never could. I think he gave me a little extra to compensate for what he lacks.”

“Frank, leave her alone,” Victor admonished. “I’ll do whatever you say. Just let Gigi go.”

“You know how this works. I get what I want, and I’ll leave you and this stripper alone. I want my bride exactly to my specifications. No memory of her past. No qualms about sex. And someone who cooks and cleans. Body-wise… Well, you know what I like.”

“All right. I just need a viable body.”

Nodding, Frank stepped away from Gigi, admiring her. As his fingers rubbed his chin, he looked her over like she was a meal. Despite their deal, he’d have her for himself. “In the end, you’ll be mine. This so-called scientist will screw something up. He always does.”

He watched as Victor untied the woman, pulling her into his arms, seemingly ready to give in. But Frank knew it wouldn’t be this easy. Victor had already betrayed him once and tried to de-animate him.

“If you’re wondering, rich boy, I knew what you were planning. I know exactly why you killed me off again. You were going to try to bow out of our deal. I told you not to cross me, yet here we are again, doing the same old shit you always do. Lie.”

Victor’s head turned to him with a scowl. “What about the reanimation trick you pulled? I’m your creator, Frank. You are supposed to listen to me and only me.”

“Well, I guess maybe you shouldn’t have allowed me to have free will. I was always curious why you did since all the others are like walking mindless sex zombies or dancing monkeys for those Hollywood execs.”

“How did you do it? How did you come back?”

“Black magic,” he said as he lifted a vial of potion from the table and gave it a sniff, then took a little taste. “Uck. That tastes like piss. It needs more formaldehyde. Anyway, you really should be more careful about the books you leave around this place. It seems my host was a smart guy. I learned to read before I could even get this walking thing down right.”

“You mixed something to keep your heart beating. Even though I pulled you out of animation, it was just an illusion.”

“Yep.” Walking around the room, Frank laughed to himself at his own sly ability to manipulate his maker. “Vic, you and I need to have a serious talk about my future. I think it’s time I go mainstream as we discussed. I want it all. Fame, fortune, money. And you’re going to give it to me.”

“I can’t do that yet, Frank. You know that. If humans know monsters are real, they’ll hunt your kind like vermin. It’s not like fooling those Hollywood people into thinking it was makeup when I got you that gig. The general public won’t understand that this is real. We must be careful how we do this. Just give me more time.”

With a raised brow, the man was in no way believing that. “What about those rich tycoons and billionaires you make creatures for? Does your girl know what you’re really making in that factory for them?”

Gigi looked at Victor in shock, pulling his face to meet her once the ropes were free of her wrist. “What is he talking about?”

“Nothing. It’s just business.”

He wouldn’t even look her in the eye when he answered. He knew being a stripper wasn’t her choice in life. The sex operations he was involved in made her feel as if he was more concerned with money and his own perversions than with her. Not to mention the fact that he had only recently suggested he was a BDSM Master and wanted her as his sex slave. Not that she had a problem with sex or his kinks. She enjoyed their time in the bedroom very much, but in her current situation, it made her feel like Victor saw her as nothing more than a glorified sex toy. A stripper that he was just keeping on his payroll and nothing more.

“What business, Victor? Answer me,” she yelled.

“He’s selling ghouls like me on the black market. Underground sex toys. Real-life animation from monsters and the undead. He found a naughty little monster under his bed a while back and figured out a way to get to the other side with him. He used the little guy for his own gain then…” He tapped his finger on his chin. “Hum? Now I think about it, I haven’t seen him around. Vic, what did you do to that little fella? Poor guy was just learning to spook when you caught him. Just a teen in the prime of his monster crawl.”

“What? Did you hurt that boy?” she screamed, somehow knowing he did. “Victor, how could you? What is he talking about, and where are these body parts coming from to create these things? I know what a Frankenstein monster is. I’m not an idiot. Wait… Oh, God. Don’t tell me. You’ve been using dead humans. Is that why you have been hanging out with those men from the mortuary? You sick pervert.”

“Gigi, you don’t understand. These people are alive now, but the human body was just a vessel. I brought them from the dead, and they are completely new beings. Sure, some are for sex, but others are made for people who just need a companion. Like Frank. He wants a wife and my Hollywood connections to be a star. We all have needs. We made a deal that he would get me bodies from the other side in exchange for making him famous. There are humans on their side, too, but they’re not like us. In that world, they just turn into zombies when they die, so this is better for them. Baby, it’s really not as bad as it seems. They are used to this sort of thing. It’s like a real-life horror movie world, and they have different rules than we do there.”

“You have got to be kidding me. This is insane. You’re talking about bringing the dead to life. It’s wrong!”

“Babe, some are created for love alone. So, that’s special, right?”

“You think that makes this better? Do you even ask these people what they want? Maybe they just want to be left alone to rest in peace.”

“They don’t remember their past. Just what they are experiencing at the moment. I’ve found ways to program them, too. So, each one is specific to the owners’ needs.”

“Like a fucking Stepford wife? You’re crazy.”

Frank laughed. “Hell, she’s right. That’s exactly what it is.”

“Shut up, Frank.” He huffed. “Gigi, please, understand. This could change the world. Not only through sex. We could help live people who are hurt or have lost limbs with my discoveries. I can create anything. I’m like a god.”

That was all it took. How could he refer to himself as a god? He was a monster himself. With that, Gigi slapped him so hard across the face that he felt his teeth rattle. “You’re a disgusting pig. I’m telling everyone. I’ll go to the press. You’ll go to prison for this.”

Quickly, Frank grabbed her, concerned she would mess up all their plans. “The hell you will. You won’t tell anyone, understand? I’ll fucking kill you both if I have to.”

Biting his hand to make him let go, Gigi pulled back and kicked Frank right in the undead family jewels, but it didn’t even faze him. She was too weak to hurt him.

“Fuck you, you freak! Victor, you need to fix this.”

“I can, darling. All I must do is reanimate one more woman, for him. Then I’ll stop. I swear.”

Frank let out a chuckle. “You actually think this mad scientist is going to stop? It’s in his DNA to be an asshole.”

“Frank, I said shut up and let me take care of this.”

“Fine, as long as I get my bride, I don’t care what you do with this bitch. She’s too mouthy for me, anyway.”

Taking a slow breath to control his nerves, Victor thought for a moment about his options. Stop the production, or lose Gigi on the very night he had officially planned to ask her hand in marriage and announce the potential sale of his sex toy business.

“I’ll stop everything. I love you, Gigi. I’ll do anything for you.”

Looking back and forth between the men, she wasn’t convinced. “And him?”

“He lives, but he goes away. Back to the monster realm to his cabin until I find a way to reveal him to the mainstream. That device he turned on is for dimensional travel. Monsters can go between dimensions, but we can’t. After I got transported by the monster kid, I met another scientist on the other side who has been helping me. M-My grandfather from the 1800s. He’s still alive.”

“What? How?”

“Once you create a monster, you become one of them and are sent there when you die. He showed me how I can jump between worlds by building my machine. I’ve been selling to the monster realm as well.” Dropping his head, he added, “I’m sorry I got you into this, Gigi. I love you, and I’ll let it all go if it means you’ll stay with me.”

Stepping to him, Gigi placed a soft kiss on his lips, knowing him well enough to see he was just blind to his ambition. Resting her forehead against his, she could feel the pain of losing her would hurt him as much as it would her. Maybe it was her toxic trait to love him, but she did. Forgiving was in her nature, and she believed him. Her heart almost had to.

With a soft sigh, she yielded. “I believe you. Stop this, and I’ll finally agree to marry you. I love you, Victor.”

“I love you, too. I’m so sorry I lied all this time.”

Frank just rolled his eyes at the loving display, making gagging sounds from across the room. “Boo hoo. Play all that lovey-dovey shit on your own time. I need a bride because my monster soul can’t survive long without a mate in this realm. You have one week, Vic. Make my bride, or I’ll have yours.”

“Agreed. I’ll have her ready.”

“Good.” Stepping to Gigi, the big monster leaned to whisper in her ear. “I’ll be seeing you soon, sweet cheeks. We both know he can’t keep a promise to save his life, or yours.”

Gigi shivered as she pulled away, clinging to her boyfriend. “You’re getting what you wanted. Now leave.”

“Oh, I will. I think I’ll take a little trip back to my realm. Maybe I’ll pay ol’ gramps a visit. I’m sure he’d love to see me and find out the Frankenstein heir is doing the work of his forefathers. Hell, the old monster will be thrilled to find out he has some family.”

Just as Victor was about to stop him, Frank stepped into the portal and was gone. A fast track to his new world.

Turning off the device, Victor leaned his head on the cold titanium casing, feeling as if his whole life was turned on end.

“What have you done, Victor? He’s deranged. How do you know you can trust him?”

“I can’t. I have to find a way to keep him at bay. Whatever he has done to reanimate himself, it means he’s found a way to some sort of pseudo-immortality. I can’t stop him without knowing how it did it if that’s the case.”

“So, what does that mean?”

Turning his head to her, he was so disgusted with himself that he wanted to be sick. “It means eventually he’s going to want to go public to get the fame he seeks. What that will do to humankind, I’m pained to find out. His host brain was a celebrity actor and a former amateur race car driver. The man had a colossal ego, and maybe I did too, thinking it was a good idea to use him and allow Frank free will. He believes the people think he’s a star and worship him like some kind of god in his own right. The worst part of this is that I thought of you when I made him. All the wonderful things about you, I put into him. Your talents are what make you so special to me, and I thought using someone with similar talents would make him special.”

Shaking her head, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing as she went to find a lab coat to cover her bare body. “I’m nothing like that monster.”

“You’re right. I learned that there’s only one Georgina Grace, and I’m blessed to have her in my life. Unfortunately, he craves the attention and glory that one day I know you’ll achieve. I thought I was paying homage to you. But in reality, I created a monster straight from the pits of hell.”

“Victor, you have to make him a mate and this fame thing to happen. It’s the only way he’s going to stop.”

“I know. Go home and wait for me. I’ll be there soon. And don’t go back to the club. Call Lolli and tell her you quit. I can’t risk it if he returns for you there.”

Gigi stomped across the room, furious at what he was suggesting. “You are not going to force me into hiding. I’m not going to be your kept woman. I can take care of myself.”

With a soft smile, Victor nodded before he stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the top of her head. She was the strongest and most headstrong woman he knew, and that was one reason he loved her so much. She never backed down from him for a second, always giving him a challenge.

“I know, love. You’re tough. I just need to know you’re safe.”

“I won’t stop racing. You can’t make me,” she sobbed.

“I could never take away something you love so much. Just promise me. If I sell my sex toy company, you’ll stop stripping.”

At least she was getting that much.

“Fine, deal. But I want to know everything. You better not be hiding anything from me, or I’ll leave, and you will never see me again. So, start talking.”

“All right… You see, it all started when I found that room in the Frankenstein castle on my trip overseas…”

Chapter 3

As Victor stepped into his penthouse late that night, Gigi rushed into his arms, kissing him with more passion than she’d ever shown. It was clear to him she was worried, and for good reason. Frank was a dangerous being, and he wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted. Pulling her into his arms, all he wanted was to protect her from the madness he had created.

“Are you all right? I was getting worried that something happened when you didn’t get home right away.”

“I’m fine. I just took a drive around the city to think. I’m so sorry I got you into this mess. Please say you forgive me.”

“I do, but this needs to stop. You can’t play God, Victor. Your ego about this science experiment—it’s psychotic.”

Resting her head against his chest, he let out a soft sigh, petting her hair and hoping to soothe her worries. How could he tell her it had been going on for well over a year, and Frank was just one of many he was planning to turn over to reach celebrity status? His billions seemed to get him everything he wanted, but the one thing he couldn’t buy was her. He had to show Gigi she was what meant most to him in his life above all perversion and greed.

“I need you right now,” he breathed as his hand slipped down her back.

“Damn you,” she scolded, pushing him away. “It’s always about sex with you. What is it this time? A flog, anal beads, or maybe choke me until I pass out again? Maybe something sicker and more sinister.”

“No. None of that. I’m done with it all. All I need is you. I want to make love to you and show you how much you mean to me.”

Turning back to him, Gigi put her hands on her hips, looking at him as if he were completely full of himself. Standing there in her black silk robe with her hair falling over her shoulders made his heart leap in his chest. Even when she looked so angry that he thought she could kill him, she was the loveliest woman he’d ever laid eyes upon.

“What exactly do you want from me? Because I can’t be what you seem to think is most important in this life. Money and your sexual addictions are destroying our relationship, and I’ve begged you to get help. And now I find out you’re doing these experiments on the dead. I don’t even know how to process this.” Taking a slow breath, she shook her head, trying to understand before she continued. “I want you to know something right now. Just because I take my clothes off to pay my bills doesn’t make me your whore. Truth be told, I hate it, and you know that. I wasn’t raised like this. If my parents knew what I’d done, they’d never speak to me again. I hate that because I love my family with all my heart.”

“Baby, you don’t understand. I’m trying to change for you. For us. I want to make a good life for you.”

Trying to stop her rant, he stepped closer before she gave him one good shove, knocking him onto the couch.

“Good life? You mean the one where you refuse to let me have children because you said it was too much of a burden on your lifestyle?” Reaching for her again, she slapped his hand away. “No! Don’t you dare touch me. It wasn’t until I heard that monster say what you have been making that I realized who you really are. I’m not your sex doll or some mindless clone. I’m a real woman with feelings and emotions. If you want one of those types of women, it seems you can make any one of them to your specifications. Maybe make yourself a good girl who will lick your boots and let you do any disgusting thing you can think of. And at the end of the day, just turn her off and stick the brainwashed whore in the closet.”

Victor’s head dropped in shame after hearing her talk to him that way. It was at that moment that he realized that he had pushed his sexual depravity onto her without so much as asking her feelings about it. Hell, it was he who convinced her to start stripping to make extra money. The truth was, he just wanted to see how far he could push her. Her convention modeling was honest work, and he turned it into something vulgar and repulsive.

At that moment, standing before him was a vulnerable woman whom he had grown beyond the physical and truly learned to love. Yet all that was left in her sad eyes was a lack of trust in the man who promised to give her the world.

There was only one way to show her his love for her was real. One way to prove he could submit to her the way she had for him so many times before. He said nothing as he slid from the couch to his knees, pulling his jacket, tie, and shirt off. Positioning himself in a submissive kneel, he let his head fall to face the floor, and his hands outstretched to her with wrists firmly placed together; a sign of total submission.

With a gasp, she stepped back, watching the man who had asked her to submit this way. He was doing the one thing he swore he’d never do himself as a master in dominant play. “What are you doing? Get up.”

Shaking his head, he had no words that would ever express how sorry he was for the man he had become. Consumed by greed, he let his need for knowledge and sexual desire consume him.

“I’m not the man I was, Gigi. I’m not even the man I was before I walked into this room. I betrayed the trust of the one woman in my life who truly does everything to make me happy. I know now what a monster I have become. I pray you to forgive me, and,” pulling a ring box from his pocket, he added, “I want to ask you one last time. Georgina Grace, will you marry me? From this point forward, I submit to you. I’ll give you everything you want if you will just give me this one thing. I can buy anything in this world, but no money will ever compare to how much I love you.”

Kneeling before him, Gigi took his hands in hers, kissing each knuckle as tears trailed down her cheeks. “You must get help, Victor. Promise me.”

“I promise. Please, say yes, and let me make love to you the way you’ve always deserved.”

“Yes, I’ll marry you. I love you, Victor. Forever.”

But would forever come too soon? He wondered if that would be true. He still had Frank to deal with, and if he didn’t make him a bride, Victor would never have his own.

Pulling Gigi into his arms, he snuggled her into his embrace. Slowly, her hands laced into his silver locks, making a soft moan escape him. In return, letting her fingers roam over his scalp with tender care. When she pulled back to take his lips to hers, her tongue parted his lips with a delightful moan, inviting him to explore her mouth with velvet tenderness.

Never before had he made love to anyone, and his sexual needs had never been like this. But tonight, he would show her just how much he loved her with every kiss and every caress. A play of passion that would make her know he was hers like no other ever could.

As his hand slid down her body, he pulled away her robe to massage her pert breast, taking her hardened nipples between his fingertips. Each curve and swell of her body was like a sculpture built only for him. Every pant of her breath, a whisper to his delight.

He would pepper her with kisses, from her cherry lips to her needy core, lapping up her juices like berry wine they shared on many a night. Taking her to bed down the hall, he quickly found his way to remove every stitch of her clothing and rest between her legs as he lay her gently on the silken comforter. On his knees before her wanting body, it was like bowing to his goddess. Parting the slick folds between her thighs, Victor’s tongue danced across her sex, making her buck in response, pleading for more. And more is what he would give her until her ecstasy exploded over his lips and her legs quaked for him.

As he made his delicious attack on her sex, she needed more to curb her craving. Pulling him to meet her gaze, he made his way over her body, finding her lovely eyes shining brightly up at him, and her cherry red lips, breathed, “Take my heart, Victor. Take all of me.”

Crashing his lips down upon her, he slowly entered her inch by glorious inch. His throbbing need, pulsating with want, buried within her. Slipping inside was like baring his soul, and to no other woman would he ever be able to be so open again. Whimpers from her seductive cries were heaven to his ears while he made work of her body like a potter molding his clay, each thrust more desperate than the last.

When Gigi’s nails dig into his back, scratching at the flesh, she let out a growl that he wanted to burn in his brain forever. The sound of her orgasm escaping her was like a drug, and she was his fix. As her walls tightened around him, he let out a groan from deep within as he released into her. Their bodies shook before he fell rigid, and the ecstasy took over. As his release exploded, he laid his claim. Collapsed into her, Victor resting his lips on her neck before giving her one last tender kiss in the one place he knew drove her wild.

“I love you,” is all he could pant out.

The hum of joy that followed from her was all he needed to know that she felt the same.

Lying together in the afterglow, her hand stroked the soft hairs on his chest, while Victor played with her hair.

“Victor?”

“Yes, my love.”

“You have to make him a bride. I won’t be with another man. It’s you I love. Please, promise me.”

Resting his head on the headboard, he thought about the monster he had created, remembering the words he said about how he couldn’t live in the human realm for long without having a mate. Then it was clear what Frank was saying. Yes, the black magic had worked, but for how long? If he refused to make him a mate, Frank would die, and they would be safe again. His monster was too greedy. Too much like him. There was no way he would refrain from being in the human world.

If Victor’s plan worked, they’d be free from the turmoil such a monster could put in their lives. He knew there was no stopping Frank’s evil unless he was dead once and for all.

Thinking he would do anything to keep his vow to stop the madness, he lied to her once more, saying, “I promise.”

Chapter 4

A month later, from behind the bleachers where the fans cheered for their favorite drag racers, a dark figure loomed, waiting for what was to transpire on the track that hot July night. The late evening summer rain had held off the race, but once the track was dry, things would be underway again in just moments.

This was Gigi’s big night. If she won, she’d make it to the big leagues and become a professional muscle car drag racer once and for all. Her cherry red 1955 Chevy Belair was the hottest car on the track, and she had built the custom rod from the ground up. Her matching signature lipstick just showed everyone this wasn’t a girl to be reckoned with. She was a bad girl with a need for speed.

Leaning into the car, before she headed to the track, Victor gave her a peck on the lips. “Leave um’ in the dust out there, baby. Win tonight, and you’re going to the national circuit. This will make sure you get those sponsors you’ve been needing.”

“I’m nervous. What if I lose? This race means everything,” pouted, looking at the track as if she wasn’t so sure anymore that she could pull it off.

Waving her to slide out of the window of the car, onto the window frame, Victor cuddled his sweet rockabilly girl in his arms as her legs dangled inside. There was something about Gigi that was nothing like other girls. Women in his circles were pristine, well-dressed, and manicured to perfection. Gigi was a natural beauty with a style all her own. A little of old-school glam with a touch of sass, she was perfect for him in every way. He never liked the frilly woman from the country clubs and elite parties, and Gigi was like a breath of fresh air who walked to the beat of her own drum.

“No matter what, I’m your biggest fan. You got this. There’s not a racer on this track that can beat you in this car.”

“Thanks. I’m just worried. This means so much to me, and I’ve just had this weird feeling all day. I feel like I’m being watched.”

“It’s just nerves, babe. You’ve been so keyed up over this race, you’re psyching yourself out. Just take a few deep breaths and relax.”

Resting her head on his shoulder, she asked, “Did you take care of it?”

“Gigi, damn it—” he huffed, helping her back into the car.

“Victor, did you make her?”

“Yes, okay. Now stop worrying. Frank doesn’t even know where we are. So, get in that car and stop worrying. I got it under control.”

“Promise?”

Kissing the tip of her nose, he lied to her once again, “I promise. Frank Stein is nowhere near here. He’s probably back in the monster realm by now.”

“Okay.” Nodding to the tool rack behind him, she asked for her helmet. “Well, here goes nothing.”

“Just hit the throttle and don’t look back. Good luck out there.”

Ready to get into position, she rolled her car up to the gate. This was her chance, and she was ready to make her mark on the racing world. As she stretched her neck to watch the fans cheer on the last race, she saw a figure lurking in the shadows by the bleachers. When a reflection of light from the cars before her took off, she caught a glimpse of a nightmare in green skin that had been haunting her nightmares for weeks.

His fingers twisted at the bolt on his neck that almost made her stomach turn. And the devilish smirk on his face made a chill run down her spine while the race staff waved her into the start position. Everything about it seemed like a warning sign, but she couldn’t turn back. She needed to focus on the track. Yet something about it still made her think maybe she needed to take one last look over her car to be sure.

“I-I can’t. He—” she stammered, looking to get another glimpse of the man who had fallen back into the shadows.

“Are you forfeiting the race, Gigi?” yelled the man who was bringing her in. “Roll up to the start or forfeit.”

“What? No… Uh… I’m fine. Let’s race.”

“All right. Remember. No false starts and keep it on the track.”

Giving a nod, she tightened her helmet strap before she took a glance at the man who was racing in the next car. In a quarter of a mile, her dreams of being a pro drag racer would come true. Even if she didn’t win, she would still qualify, so all she had to do was finish. But second, was never on the mind of the woman who struggled to make a name for herself in the racing world. First place was her only option to prove she had what it takes.

Revving her engine, Gigi took a moment to take it all in. The smell of gas and motor oil was like a fine perfume to the drag race queen, and the pavement was her kingdom.

From the car next to her, the man nodded in her direction as a show of respect for a fair fight. “May the best man win!”

“Or woman,” she giggled. “Eat my dust, pretty boy.”

And that was the cue for the race staff to get things rolling. Motors revving was music to her ears as she watched what they called the Christmas tree lights on the track that lit up, cueing them when to go. Eyes fixed on the gauges, then the track, her peripheral vision watched three amber lights flash simultaneously, followed a second later by the green light.

“Go!” she heard yells from those around her.

Smoking tires and the sound of the fans echoed in her ears, and just a moment later, her car took traction, and she was off. Zero to a hundred, in point eight seconds flat.

Meanwhile, Victor was standing by, watching proudly as his girl sped down the strip. As his eyes glanced over the fans, they fell on a greenish shadow that made his stomach turn in knots. He knew what he had done, and now the devil had come calling.

Just as he realized what was about to happen, he looked up, finding the custom car his fiancée was driving spinning out of control and tires squealing across the hot track, until it hit the side of the barricades, flipping it end over end in the air.

The screams that came from Victor’s mouth didn’t even feel like his own when his world seemed to come to a blinding halt. The sound of twisted metal and the cries from the crowd were deafening, making it all the more real. Trying his best to run to her, several men did all they could to hold him back.

“Let me go! I have to get to her! Gigi! Nooo! Frank, what have you done?”

As her car rolled to a halt, everything went silent except for Victor’s pleas for help. As he watched the emergency staff rush to her aid, the billionaire fell to his knees, breaking down in a fit of tears. The wreck was like nothing anyone on the track had ever seen. There was no chance she could have survived, and Victor knew what would become of it.

As he saw her body being lifted from the car, he pushed the men away as he stumbled to his feet, then ran to her aid. As she was being treated by the EMT, it was clear from the look in their eyes that she was already gone, despite her still barely breathing. Making his way through the crowd of people, he pulled her into his arms as Gigi looked up at him, her body broken and bloody. She gasped for air that never seemed to enter her lungs while she choked on the blood that pooled on her lips. The EMTs didn’t even try to stop him as they continued to stop the bleeding from her mangled body.

With the last bit of strength that she had left, Gigi looked into his eyes before a tear trailed down her cheek. “You lied to me.”

“I’m so sorry Gi… Gigi… Georgina… Answer me! No! No, don’t leave me! Not like this.”

And in his arms, she took her last breath. From that moment on, his life would never be the same. Taking his hand to close her eyes, he wept with her lifeless body in his arms, knowing who was responsible and what he’d be forced to do in the coming days. The idea of it—pure horror.

Chapter 5

Victor watched as the dirty casket carrying the love of his life was pulled into his lab. It was a month after the funeral, and seeing that they had dug her up to be reanimated made him sick to his very core. The overwhelming sadness and loss were too much to bear, and the fact that Frank was forcing him to perform this surgery was like ripping his heart out all over again. When he rushed to the nearby waste can to dump his stomach contents in heaves of distraught, the villainous monster across the room just gave a satisfied smirk, pleased with his creator’s torment.

As Theo, his assistant, placed the body on the table, Victor closed his eyes, praying that when he opened them, this nightmare would have been just a dream. But it wasn’t. He created this, and he’d have to live with the cost of playing God. He had hell to pay, and the devil came calling.

After Victor wiped his mouth, Frank grabbed him by the throat before pulling the scientist to the table, forcing his head close to Gigi’s face. Trying to struggle free, he couldn’t stand to look at her this way, and her cold, dead skin against his cheek made all this more of a reality.

“Look! Open your eyes and look, you son of a bitch! See what you have done? This is the penance you will pay for your crimes against humanity, Victor. Your evil holds no bounds. You think I’m the evil monster? Well, take a good look at yourself because you did this to her. You killed Georgina Grace through the exploration of your own wicked perversions. Now, it’s time to pay the devil his dues. Your assistant has brought the parts from the hospital morgue to repair her. You have my specifications. Now get to work.”

Giving him a shove into the table. Victor fell over, gripping Gigi’s body like a lifeline as he fell to her chest, weeping in despair. Regardless of not wanting to turn her into the monsters he had prided his work on, he had no choice. He was seeing firsthand the repercussions for his life’s work, and the still body that his cheek rested upon was a cold reminder.

Frank and several monsters from the other realm surrounded him, dressed in black cloaks like a witch’s coven, including the ancestor of the monster who killed his fiancée. The original Frankenstein monster looked the same as he did in the photos Victor had seen in his forefather’s lab. When the man stepped to him with a snaggletooth grin, he laughed, sending a wave of fear through Victor like he’d never known.

“Blame your ancestor for this, boy. Had he never made me, you wouldn’t be facing your own mortality right now. Now, do as my heir says and make him a bride. Do for him what your predecessors couldn’t do for me.”

As a tear trailed down his cheek, Victor kissed her lips one last time, whispering one last and true promise, “I’m sorry, Gigi. I failed you, but I won’t do it again. He can take your body, but I won’t give him your soul. Like him, I’ll give you free will. May God carry you into the new world with peace and understanding. I will always remember you, my love. Even though you will forget me. Farewell.”

With that, Victor and his lab assistant worked through the night to repair the battered body of the woman he once loved. Her lifeless corpse grew a shade of green with every jolt of electricity and radiation pumped through her veins. Then, with one last stitch, it was time.

Taking a step back, he looked at her. Unlike any monster he created, man or woman, Gigi was as lovely as she had always been. Looking to Frank, who glared at him with brute force, he gave the word. “Pull the switch.”

As the machine turned on, it was nothing like when his ancestor took his claim on humanity. This time, it was pure modern science. No flashing lights or lightning strikes. Just electric and radioactive power and the soft, eerie hum of the mechanisms turning.

It took only moments for the reanimation machine to pump the toxins through her veins and rush in new synthetic blood. As her body reanimated, slow ticks of her body’s nervous system came to life and made her fingers move, then her toes, a twitch of her cheek, and a gasp of air that sucked into her new lungs. When her lips regained the cherry red of the day that he had met her, everyone watching was in awe. She was a beauty in raw form, and his racing queen was alive again.

When her eyes flickered open, Victor had a moment of hope while pulling the cords and tubes from her body. “Gigi, you’re alive! Baby, speak to me. It’s me, Victor. Your—”

“You’re nothing,” Frank yelled, pulling him away. “Don’t speak to her. She must only answer to me for this to work.”

Grabbing Gigi up, Frank didn’t waste time as his disgusting monster lips ascended onto her. Struggling to pull free, everyone could hear the cries of the reanimated woman, begging him to stop.

When the woman bit down hard on his lip, Frank screamed out in pain, pushing her off the table with a thud. “Fucking bitch bit me!”

The shock in his eyes that anyone hurt him was like nothing Victor had ever seen. Frank was afraid of no one, and his pain receptors were virtually nonexistent. Somehow, in her Frank-n-woman state, Gigi took the upper hand and forced Frank to feel pain.

Slowly, the scared monster pulled herself from the floor, nude and unsure of her surroundings. She shivered while she tried to hold herself upright as tears stained her now rosy cheeks. Her green skin, which had now brightened, made her even more lovely than she had been before. It was as if this form was meant for her.

“Who… are….y-y-you?” she stammered.

“Gigi?” Victor said softly, going to her side and trying to help her to her feet. “It’s okay.”

“W-who is G-g-g-gi-gi?”

“Oh, God. No.”

Stepping to them, Theo pulled a lap coat around Gigi’s cold body. “Victor, she doesn’t know you. You need to let her go. She’s not your Georgina anymore.”

“No, I can’t. Let me have her. Please,” he begged as the group of monsters descended on them, pulling her from his grip. “I love her. Please, don’t take her.”

Frank laughed maniacally as he headed to the dimensional travel machine. Holding Gigi to his side, he laughed, swelled with pride at the pain of the pathetic scientist. With devilish animosity, he said, “You reap what you sow, Frankenstein. Say goodbye to your little whore. She’s mine now. See you soon. I still plan to make you make good on that other deal. I want my fame and money, Vic. Make right by me, or the next one on the chopping block is you.”

Falling into his assistants’ arms, overwhelmed by grief and heartbreak, Victor wept as the monsters led Gigi into the vortex that would forever take her to her new home in the monster realm.

His cries echoed down the halls as he pleaded with him not to take her. In a moment, she was gone forever. In his pain, he knew it was his own doing. He would have to live with her death and her introduction to the undead as a slave to his own creation.

***

The days and nights passed. Days went into months. Months into years. After a few years of going completely mad with grief, Victor tried to use his machine to go back in time to fix everything to get Gigi back, but it never worked. Time travel wasn’t at all what he had thought. He could change a lot of things, but time was untouchable, even to a genius like him.

After hiring a scientist involved in cloning, he had a new plan. They worked together to try to clone her, but each attempt failed. It was as if Gigi herself were a once-in-a-lifetime treasure.

“Let’s try this. I think I have it right now,” Jacob said as he swirled a vial of liquid in his hand.

Theo, who was growing sick of this, just rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his office chair. “It’s not going to work. It never works.”

“Shut up, Igor. Mad scientists are working here.”

“Fuck you, Jacob. I’m not a fucking hunchback office tech. Call me that one more time and I’ll floor you.”

“Pipe down,” Victor laughed as he took the liquid and inspected it. “We have to make this work. Igor… I mean, Theo, write this down. Subject trial 251. Cloning of G-1.”

As he emptied the contents into the machine, he looked at Theo, who didn’t seem pleased. He had been trying for months to get Victor to give up and just move on, but he could never admit defeat. He’d find a way to bring Gigi back. If he could reanimate a body, he could surely bring her soul back to him through his advanced technique of cloning. They had already found a way to clone her to the exact age and time she died, but the bodies wouldn’t last more than a few minutes or hours before they would die again.

Turning to check on the dimensional machine, Jacob noticed a light on in the radioactive scanner. “Boss, I think this thing is messed up again,” he said, tapping on the monitor as if that would help.

“Eh, it’s just the light. It needs a new fuse or something.”

“I wasn’t asking you, Igor.”

“You son of a bitch! I told you to stop calling me that. I don’t have a fucking hump, you four-eyed freak. I’ll—”

“I said stop it, you two. Jacob, call in the maintenance tech and have him look at it. You two need to help me get this set up and stop bickering.”

As the orange luminescent goo dripped through the tubes entering the cryogenic chamber, Victor smiled. “Come back to me, baby. One more time. This has to be it.”

“Okay, ready.”

Just as Jacob said that, Theo noticed something seemed wrong with the dimensional device. “Boss, why is that light flashing? It’s never done this before.”

As it started to smoke, Theo rushed over, trying to turn it off, bumping Victor and making him crash into the chamber. With the tumble, Theo’s arm caught the tube that was leading into the chamber, pulling it free and spilling the neon liquid, making it pool on the tile floor. As it led a stream toward the dimensional device, a spark ignited from the machine, making the goo smoke a bit.

“Hold this and don’t go,” Victor said to his assistant as he handed the tube while he tried to reattach it.

But over the sound of the chamber, it sounded like, “Give it a go.”

“Charging!”

“No, I said wait!” Victor yelled, but it was too late.

Thinking Victor was ready, Jacob didn’t notice the spill and turned on the chamber at that false start. The pool of liquid that streamed from one machine to the next seemed to almost radiate and hum, and Victor saw it happen before his eyes.

“Turn it off!” he yelled, now hearing the radiation sirens sounding around him. “Turn it off, damn it!”

“I can’t. It’s frozen. The computer locked up. Pull the plug,” Jacob yelled back.

Just as Victor ran to pull the plug from the dimensional device, something, or someone, was trying to come through.

Frank.

As the vortex swirled, the ooze reached the portal machine, sending sparks flying everywhere. In frantic chaos, the scientist rushed, trying to stop it. Just as Frank was about to exit the portal, Victor looked up, knowing the last bit of power was the strongest in the last second of a dimensional transfer.

“No! Frank! Stop!”

Just as his big boot hit the floor and into the toxic goo, an explosion blew him from the portal and across the room, sweeping him into Victor. Both men landed in a huddle on the floor, and when they looked up, they found Jacob dead, hunched over a lab desk. Theo was curled in a ball under his desk, hiding from whatever was to come next.

Hearing a buzzing coming from the portal, Frank looked at the scientist beside him in shock. “What did you do?”

And with those words, the portal collapsed. Within moments, a catastrophic boom sounded across the room. Flashes of light and time passed before them, so intense that Frank passed out in the midst of it.

Trying to get to his machines to turn them off, Victor knew what was happening as all hell broke loose in the lab, while beakers and lab equipment seemed to levitate. Just as he was about to pull the plug, a flash of light burst from the portal, knocking him out cold.

What happened? He had no idea. But the repercussions of this night, he would never forget.

***

A few days later, Victor awoke with a pounding headache and found himself lying on a makeshift cot in the back of the lab. Theo was standing over him, shaking him awake, and saying something Victor couldn’t quite understand.

Through the haze, he heard, “Dr. Frankenstein. Wake up. You have to see this.”

As his eyes flickered, seeing his assistant standing over him, he took a moment to regain his thoughts. “What happened?”

“An explosion. But look.”

When Victor’s eyes traced the room, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He was looking at not only his own lab, but his forefathers as well. It was as if they had combined. As he stood, he saw a man behind Theo glaring at him.

“I told you not to play around with that cloning shit. Now, look what you’ve done.”

“Great Grandfather? How are you here?”

“Your stupid ass brought me here,” he said, walking over with his cane and hitting him with it. “I was living my life, retired from this bullshit. Then you come along fucking it all up. Moron.”

“Ouch! Stop hitting me. What’s going on?”

“Go outside and look for yourself, you idiot. And don’t say I didn’t warn ya.”

Theo agreed, as he helped his boss to his feet. “You’ve been out a few days, but everything has gone crazy. The whole world is turned upside down.”

“I don’t understand.”

As they exited the lab into the street, Victor couldn’t believe his eyes. It was like the apocalypse. Monsters and humans alike fought in the streets, burning buildings, rioting, and causing utter chaos. Above him, a dark sky swirled as if they had entered a new world.

“Are we dead? Is this hell?”

“No, worse. We’ve entered the multiverse. Victor, that man in your lab said we merged timelines with the monster realm. The lab explosion has brought the human and monster world to be one. A great war between humans and monsters has broken out, and Frank is missing. He took off in search of Gigi.”

“We have to find her,” he said, rushing to his car before Theo stopped him.

“It’s no use. We have to wait this out. We need to go to your underground bunker and stay there. It’s our only hope right now. When the feds get to this lab, they’re going to need someone to blame. Victor Sr. helped me stage everything. They will think Jacob did this. We have to leave.”

“But—”

“But nothing. If you ever want to find Gigi again, we need to wait this out. If she’s out there, she’ll be fine.”

“How do you know?”

“Frank. He left after this happened a few days ago. He left a warning. Don’t follow him. His new wife is in his cabin. He knows that you know where that is. If you go looking for them, she’ll kill you. He’ll force her to do it while he watches. Don’t make her have to live with your mistakes.”

As rioters ran past him, Theo pulled him to safety. “I have a car waiting. Let’s go.”

Just as they were about to flee, a vintage mustang with Gigi and Victor pulled up, blocking the path down the alley. There in that car was Gigi, with Frank’s big arm wrapped over her shoulder like a psychobilly nightmare. Frank didn’t have to say anything. The smirk on his face said it all. He had messed with the machine, and the radiation leak was no accident.

“Hey, Vic. I knew you could never keep a promise. Now, you’ll see what I’m capable of. Have a nice life, human. Now you’ll see what a real monster is. Come on, Gigi. Let’s ride.”

When Frank leaned in to kiss his bride, Victor screamed out for mercy, breaking down in tears before the car sped away. And with it, Victor’s past, present, and future.

~Short Story End…~

To be continued in the Ghouls and Gals Series

Want to find out more about what happened to Gigi and Victor? Enjoy this excerpt from Book One of the Ghouls and Gals Series Book 1.

Gigi’s Monster Garage

***

I can’t believe he brought his ugly green monster ass into my shop!

The smell of motor oil mixed with overbearing musky men’s cologne suddenly filled the room, and it was utterly revolting. The pungent odor that was wafting through the space almost made the custom car garage owner gag, while she wished the oil smell was a little stronger to cover up the stench. When she grabbed the WD-40 to spray in the air, it was only so she could breathe a little better. Odd, since the smell of the lubricant wasn’t exactly so great itself.

When she gagged again, it was not only because she hated that cheap fragrance, but the man wearing it made her want to go into a full-on monster rage. And a monster she was. It was in her horror instincts to get a little violent, after all. Being a modern-day Bride of Frankenstein, it only seemed natural to want to go off the rails and tear shit up on occasion. A green-skinned, pinup, rockabilly beauty with a bad temper. That’s who Gigi Stein was, and her monster side was as feisty as they came. The top racer in the drag circuit was also a monster woman stuck in the human world, making her way the best she could. Yet here was her ex, making life miserable, as usual.

It didn’t help matters when the sound of his overpriced leather boots made a frustrating dragging sound as they scraped on the cement floor. If he’d just picked his feet up when he walked, maybe she could at least not grit her teeth so hard. Frank N. Stein was the bane of her existence, and she loathed him to the core. He was a lying, cheating, abuser, and the fact that Victor created her for him made her wish the lab had never reanimated her.

Frank wasn’t the original Frankenstein monster, but he sure used his creator’s namesake to his advantage. He was rich, powerful, and famous, only because he allowed himself to be used by humans for entertainment. A deadly combination of ego and money. Humans loved him, but Gigi saw him as nothing more than the man who she wished the scientist would have left his rotting corpse in the graveyard to decompose. Since they had been in the human world, he made her life a living-dead hell.

As Gigi Stein stepped from under the car lift, she saw her ex-husband pull off his black framed sunglasses with his other arm slung over his now girlfriend’s shoulder. Cleopatra, aka Cleo, the Egyptian mummy, was the epitome stereotype of a daddy’s little rich girl. Reaching for a nearby tire iron, Gigi wasn’t going to let Frank stand in her shop without something to defend herself. She’d learned that mistake too many times to mention.

His tall, wide frame blocked the sun as he stepped in, while Cleo smiled devilishly with a sway to her hips, chomping on bubblegum like some 1950s greaser movie. There was a trend with the rockabilly style in the monster community, but this mummy woman took it to the extreme. Adorned with mummy wrapping draped like a tube top, matched with a wiggle skirt to make her hourglass figure stand out, she looked like one of those horror calendar pinup models Gigi’s employee hung up in the break room. The fake way the woman talked was even worse, making Gigi want to rip Cleo’s tongue out and feed it to her Venus flytrap, Poe.

Her lip snarled as she saw the mummy woman who Frank had cheated on her with. Not that she cared, she just didn’t like to be lied to. It wasn’t until he met Cleo that the abuse started, and once Gigi took a stand for herself, Frank dumped her like a bad habit, taking the Stein fortune with him. Thus, leaving the ex-bride of Frank N. Stein to fend for herself in a strange new world.

When he went over to lean on her chopped, black-cherry red 1955 Chevy Belair with a high-rise intake, Gigi was ready to claw his eyes out.

“Get your pimpled green ass off my ride!”

To be continued…

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