Myth War | Book II

Chapter XV

Chapter XV

"Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future,"

—Corrie Ten Boom

Andrea tightened her grip on the steering wheel. With everything she had just learned, her mind was buzzing.

I'm a Horseman of the Apocalypse...I'm evil...

She stifled a sob. Aristide was in the car, after all. He sat in the passengers seat, sipping from one of the coffee to-go cups he brought. He brought five of them, all filled to the brim. Andrea had no idea how he wasn't dead yet. Or was he technically dead? She knew Frankenstein, at least in the books, had been the combination of corpses of many different people, so did that mean...?

"Hey, Aristide?"

"Yes?" He said, a bit of coffee dribbling out of his mouth. Aristide's eyes widened a she wiped it off wit his sleeves. At least be put an actual shirt on, even if it was poorly buttoned.

"How accurate is Frankenstein?"

Aristide put the cup down in his lap. "Accurate. Mary Shelley had been a friend of my father's. It's a biography, told from the point of view of Dr. Frankenstein."

Andrea sighed. "How terrible. Your poor father."

"Yes, well, he's better now."

"I never asked, but where's your mother?" Andrea asked, looking at him.

Aristide smiled. "I don't have one. See, my father created me like he was created. I'll never look any older or age a bit."

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. It's okay. I've been alive for over a century, so I've gotten used to it. Besides, my father will always be with me."

"What if you fall in love, though?"

Aristide stopped. He sighed. "That's the exact reason why I won't. I won't let myself love another."

Andrea frowned as she remembered his reaction when she told him Rayna was sick. He definitely cared for her. Sighing, Andrea tapped the steering wheel. "Well, at least you have your father."

He nodded. "Yes. At least I have him."

She sighed again as she turned down the forest road. They'd be there in a few minutes. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and saw him take a large gulp of his coffee. "So, what's this whole recharging thing you have tomorrow?"

Aristide choked on his coffee. Andrea's eyes widened. After a few moments he managed to calm himself. "Sorry, I forgot you were here."

Andrea frowned. "Oh."

Aristide sighed, adjusting the glasses he still wore, for some reason. "Well, we need to have energy to move. Like a battery. So, we use electricity. In the beginning of the month I need to be recharged, and at the end my father has to be. It's nice that way."

"So it's like, that scene in all the movies during the lightning storm and the mad scientist cries 'It's Alive'!" Andrea said, momentarily letting go of the wheel to throw her arms in the air and make insane faces as she laughed maniacally.

Aristide laughed as she grabbed ahold of he wheel again. "Yeah, I guess so. My dad always yelled that back when I first was created. But since I've matured more he doesn't do it anymore."

"Your dad is nice."

"He's cool. Not as philosophical as he was back during Mary Shelley's time. He's gotten weirder. More like the 'cool' dad."