You sat up in you bed; rubbing the sleep from your eyes. You looked out the window, it was dark and still inside and outside the guest bedroom with only a sliver of moonlight illuminating a small part of the floor.
You were restless, waking up almost every hour just to toss, turn and sweat. You never slept well anywhere that wasn't your own bed, and right now you were in the most curious of places.
Your Uncle, Herr Harlander had funded a younger man's science project. His name was Victor Frankenstein, and his project was something about raising the dead. It was an intriguing concept, if you had no morals maybe. 'Let the dead rest' they say, and you thought so too. Your cousin Elisabeth had asked you to accompany her and her fiancé William (who was actually the brother of the aforementioned scientist) to check the whereabouts of your Uncle, as no one had heard from him in a bit. You were not so concerned, but you went to support Elisabeth. Elisabeth seemed to be one of the only people in this world that understood you and the odd ways in which you functioned. You weren't engaged and hadn't planned to be either. Both of your parents passed leaving you in your twenties with a full estate and more money you could ever dream of. Leaving these kinds of things to a person was unheard of at the time. You spent most of your hours painting what most would consider to be the macabre. You focused on the beauty of death, often being hired to paint the final moments of people before they passed, or beautiful elaborate death masks. In your spare time, you chose to paint bones, flowers, and animals. You preferred solitude, with only your staff and maids living alongside you in your estate, but you frequently had Elisabeth and William over for dinners.
Victor Frankenstein told them he had not seen any sign of Herr Harlander, but asked them all to stay a few days in his tower. And there you were. With no choice but to stay as well. They were told his experiment had worked, but no one was to go near it as it could be dangerous.
Well. You were bored and you couldn't sleep, what better things to do than exactly what you were told not to do.
You rose to your feet, stepping into the sliver of moonlight. You wore a sheer nightgown which you covered with a black silk robe to protect your modesty. You lit a match and took the light to the candles on the ornate candelabra sitting on your table. You lifted the now flaming candles, using that as her source of light and your way into the dark corridors of the underground.
You exited the guest room you had been staying in, stepping carefully as to not make even a creak as you made her way to the end of the hall and to the steps. The hallway smelled damp and musky, Victor clearly did not take much care of the place. You supposed he had bigger things to worry about. The stone stairs were cold under your feet, but this was the most excitement you'd had in a while, and you could deal with some cold toes for a bit. You used your other hand to trace the stone blocks as you went, feeling the cracks and grooves of the grey stone. You descended the stairs, your chest rose and fell gently. Every step further quickened your heartbeat. You swore you could hear the sway of the tower and the whispers of the wind telling you to turn back now. You wouldn't listen. What could the wind know?
You reached the foyer and turned the corner to the rusted metal gate blocking your path to the underground area of the tower. The gate was looming, and behind the bars seemed to be only darkness. The entire area smelled of old rust and mold. You ran your fingers across the keyhole, collecting rust on your fingertips that you gently dusted to the ground. Putting your fingers back to the keyhole, you applied little pressure, but there was a loud creak. Your heart jumped in your chest. Victor must've forgotten to lock the gate. You pushed the gate with purpose now and it opened with a creak. You looked around, swearing you could feel your heart all the way in your throat. When you realized no one was around to stop you, you began your descent into the underground..