Frankenstein: The Wedding Night

At the inn, the wind grew stronger, and a heavy rain began to fall over the dark lake.I held a pistol hidden in my coat, and every sound made me jump.“What is it that frightens you, Victor?” Elizabeth asked quietly, watching my face.

“Oh, peace, my love,” I answered. “After tonight, everything will be safe; but this night is dreadful, very dreadful.”I asked her to go to bed, because I did not want her to see the fight that I expected.Then I walked up and down the halls of the inn, searching every corner where the monster might hide.

Suddenly I heard a terrible scream from the room where Elizabeth had gone.In that moment the truth flashed into my mind: the monster had never meant to kill me, but her.I ran into the room and found her lying across the bed, lifeless, her pale face half covered by her hair.

When I looked up, I saw the monster at the open window, grinning and pointing at the body of my wife.I pulled out my pistol and fired, but he escaped, ran toward the lake, and jumped into the water.People from the inn searched the lake with boats for hours, but they found nothing.

I hurried back to Geneva, afraid that the monster might attack my father and Ernest too.They were alive, but when my father heard what had happened to Elizabeth, his heart broke, and a few days later he died in my arms.After that I lost my mind, and for many months I was kept alone in a small cell.

When I was well enough to leave, I went to a judge and told him the whole story of the creature I had made.He listened politely, but I could see that he did not really believe me, and he said that no one could catch such a creature.“Then I will hunt him myself,” I said, “and I will not rest until one of us is dead.”