Sex at SIXTY

 

The blend of classics into one..... April 2025 ..... HUGE BANG soon

 The dates spanned from the mid-14th century to the 15th century....

• End of the Hundred Years' War (1453):

  The long conflict between England and France, which had been ongoing for over a century, concluded with the English defeat at the Battle of Castillon, marking a significant turning point in European history.
• Fall of Constantinople (1453):

  The Ottoman Empire, under Sultan Mehmed II, conquered Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire and the rise of the Ottoman Empire as a major power.
• Wars of the Roses (1455-1487):

  A dynastic conflict in England between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, fought over the English throne, began in 1455 and lasted for over three decades.
• Other notable events:

  • 1439: Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press, revolutionizing the spread of knowledge and information.
  • 1469: Marriage between Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, uniting the kingdoms of Spain.

  Boring... Perhaps to some, but to me, it was to explore further in, and I found the HUGE BANG (the Big Bang was taken up then ..... hence my definitive mark here); the works of the classics were said to be of that era.

I was referring to three classics: MERCHANT OF VENICE, ROMEO AND JULIET, and DRACULA. Historically, to be in the same dates era, and one bloody ... excuse my expletive; the porn sites were unappealing.... I explored DRACULA... and did his works some months back... I meant writing about his exploits. It gave me more reasons to feel my neck during dawn.... and heck, my bride remains the same as it was thirty years ago. 

I then wandered off to VENICE and found another bloody event, minus the blood content, and CUPID struck me on the groin; he does miss at times, and I came to read ROMEO (thought then someone called me) and JULIET (she took the fast train to RENO when I was on PADDINGTON). 

Evil thoughts came to me.

If I can blend them and make a new recipe, what of blood and love, and money lenders...how interesting...okay, okay, sex is included in the package there...why not? We are all adults here, I presume. 

Imagine when David Livingstone was asked the now famous words, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" 

And if Livingstone was to respond, "No," and then, "I think they ate him..... Sorry, guvnor. Wrong continent, that one." 

"Thankfully, may I get out of the pot now, please? I think they added too much salt to the soup." 

Sarcasm works well most times.

Anyhow, I crossed my legs and covered my neck. I am taking the voyage to do that... and after three days of stormy weather, I am at 25K words... time flies when you are dying to tell the tale. My new tale will be different as it will start to explain a few matters we were never told, like why the Montagues and Capulets never liked each other but their children did, who Shylock was before he was the flesh-hungry money lender, and Vlad II (I absolutely loved him); his life once more told in words of how he had lived then. 

Those are the ingredients, and moving time and space into one frame, you get a refreshing look at how they knew each other and love binds us, while families destroy it.

Nuff said..... the HUGE BANG is coming. 

Preys and Predator Part II; the monster and witches' Chapter 6

 

6

Henry arrived at the creek and saw Sven was attending to someone near the overturned carriage. There was one other person standing nearby, an elderly lady holding her left arm close to her chest. He rushed over towards Sven.

“Help me with her.” Sven told the younger man. “Hold her gently. She may be hurt on the back.”

Sven held out his arms to assist the injured figure, a young lady with the bonnet still on her head. He had helped Sven before with the farm creatures in need of aid, like the mare when she gave birth to the foal. They lifted the lady to the wagon and gently placed her there.

“May I know where you are taking her?” The elderly lady asked. “She is …”

“To our home. I have sent Parker to get the doctor.” Sven replied. Parker was the one who told Sven about the accident.

“Oh, that poor man. He was by the road when the wheel came off, and we crashed to the side. I hope he is well.”

“He is, my lady. So will she be soon. I am taking her to the home. We have some doctors there.” Sven had directed Henry to pull the horse then.

“Please be gentle with her. And... she disliked noises and prayers. She is rather special.” The elderly lady called out. “I will follow behind soon after…”

“Come along, lady. We have a chamber for you on the wagon.” Sven cleared a space for the elderly lady. “No reason to walk yourself.”

“My …” The elderly lady looked to the carriage.

“Do not worry about the carriage or your belongings. The road is without any strangers. No one will touch your belongings.”

The journey to the mansion was short, and then the injured lady was moved to the spare chamber near the kitchen. The maids were the ones to assist in the moving. Sven went to look for the owner of the mansion.

“Sire,” Sven was careful to address the Общий by the salutations they agreed on when it was not private. “There was an accident at the creek. A carriage overturned, and a lady was hurt. She is in the spare chamber at the left wing.”

“Called the doctor then. The village is not far.” The elderly man seated in front of the fireplace looked towards Sven. “Need I be bothered with such matters?”

“No, Sire. I thought the … either one of the boys with knowledge of the ... body may attend to the lady on her injuries. As the initial checks before the doctor arrives.”

“They are ... biologists, not medical doctors, Sven.” The elderly man looked back to the fireplace. “Do not involve them. And Spielsdorf arrives today. Be discreet, please, there.”

It was said, but the one who attended was the lady who was the tenant there. Justine was returning the morning breakfast tray when she came across the rushing maids from the chamber.

“Good day, Ms. Moritz.” The maid, Emily, was rushing out with the bowl of water, shaded dark brown.

“Was there an accident among the staff?’ Justine asked. “Can I help?”

“No, Ms. Moritz. The staff are fine. It is someone brought in by Sven. Was injured in an accident at the creek. We are just trying to clean her wounds while Doctor Mitchell has been summoned.”

Justine went into the chamber, and being a lady, she was allowed in. The men were all shooed out to wait outside. She saw Maple and Elaine; the two other maids had opened the bodice of the injured lady. The bonnet was removed. An elderly lady was tended to by the kitchen cook, Mary Louise, by the seat near the window. The drapes were pulled shut over the window.

“Be careful with her, please.” The elderly lady called out. The maids were dabbing the wet cloth over the injured lady’s chest when Justine stepped over.

“May I please?” Justine examined the lady’s wounds. There were some bruises but no open cuts on the chest. She helped to push the cloth aside to look at the ribs when her hands were grabbed by the injured lady. It was a tight grip and caused her to pull back.

“Arghh….” Justine pulled her hands back, but the grip was still there. “Please …”

“Carmilla, please ……” The elderly lady called out.

“Nobody touches me!” The injured lady called Carmilla shrieked out. “I …”

“Carmilla! Behave now.” The elderly lady pushed herself towards the bedding. “Behave.”

“I …” Carmilla loosened her grip, and Justine pulled back. She looked at her wrists; they were bruised.

“No sunlight…” Carmilla spoke out while her arms covered her eyes. “No sun…”

“The sunlight is covered. You are ……. Were hurt. They are trying to help.” The elderly lady approached Carmilla. “You will be …”

“I am fine. I will be fine.” Carmilla stared at the elderly lady. “You know of it.”

“Yes … You will be fine.” The elderly lady spoke out in a calm voice. She pushed the maids away and tended to Carmilla. She pulled the bodice closed and then patted Carmilla on the cheek. Justine had then stepped aside and nursed her wrists.

“Are you okay, Ms. Moritz?” It was Emily who stood next to the lady. “Do you want a hot towel?”

“No, Emily. I am fine.” Justine shook her head. She had studied bruises as part of her studies. From her knowledge, a force of around one point five to two times the body weight applied to a small area can often lead to bruising, though lighter impacts can also cause it. The lady, Carmilla, does not look to be a heavy lady.

Bruising due to abusive squeezing also forms along lines of greatest anatomical stress, resulting in a negative imprint of the flexural folds of the hand. That could be it, but again, what was causing Carmilla such stress?

Justine’s thoughts flitted back to when she was younger, back home in Belgium.

“Waterduivels!”

The call went out. It literally means ‘water devil,’ and it’s used both to refer to a specific creature of mythical aquatic monster nature. The waterduivels that supposedly live in the river Maas; the creatures held the humanoid frame with black skin and horns protruding from their heads. Their faces were adorned with curved, wicked tusks, and their large eyes were glowing like burning coals, perhaps the influence of the image of the Devil, but these creatures dwell in the flaming labyrinth.

Some tales said they wielded large, curved metal hooks, which they used to pull people under the water if someone peeked into a well. Somewhere they may incarnate into cats; the victim found themselves being followed by a large herd of cats. One myth was of a beautiful girl named Marieke. She was the lover of a young and handsome bard named Claes. He adored the bard, and one day at the quay next to her house, a wicked waterduivel asked the lady for her wish. She longed to see her lover again.

The waterduivel told her to go to the edge of the water at exactly midnight, for Claes would be there. She did as she was told. At the stroke of midnight, the waterduivel climbed on land and sucked all the blood and the very life force out of her body before disappearing beneath the waves. Claes found her there the next morning, and his heart immediately ceased beating. He fell on top of her, locked in a kiss from which neither of them would ever get up.

There was the creek. Water was there. It was then Justine felt the rush of coldness in her spine.

 

 

Preys and Predator Part II; the monster and witches' Chapter 5

 

5

Victor attached the electrical nodes to the dog that he brought back from the uni. It was a stray there and was taken care of by the staff, feeding it with their leftovers. The dog in turn patrolled the grounds, chasing or scaring off any intruders. There were times before when the library was ransacked, but no one bothered since then. The incident did not warrant a mention in the local news prints.

Victor was intensely working the nodes to the paws of the dog that he had earlier sedated with the meat he fed it. He was trying to do further work by Luigi Galvani, an Italian physician and physicist who investigated the nature and effects of what he conceived to be electricity in animal tissue. It was later challenged by another named Volta, who did similar findings without electricity: contractions by connecting, through a bimetallic arc, two points of the same nerve without any contact with muscle. The two had sent contradictory findings to refute each other.

Other findings on the nervous system did not concur. One finding read in Treatise on Man, written between 1629 and 1633 and then published in 1664, continued to speak of the place for animal spirits to roam throughout the body; the nerves are nothing else but productions of the marrow and slimy substance of the brain, through which the animal spirits do rather beam than are transported. And this substance is indeed more fit for irradiation than a conspicuous or open cavity, which would have made our motions and sensations more sudden, commutative, violent, and disturbed, whereas now the members receiving a gentle and successive illumination are better commanded by our will and moderated by our reason.

As anyone keen on finding the truth, it was to conduct experiments.

Victor had done that with the cadaver’s parts and found no response. He had tried on several parts, and in conclusion, he felt that the dead was truly dead to any effect. He once tried by attaching the nodes to his arm and felt the most excruciating pain then.

Then it was to redo the experiment on the sedated dog.

Victor lowered the voltage, an error he managed to rectify from his own pain. The current surge was kept to the minimum.

“Henry, are we ready?” Victor looked to his co-conspirator, who was holding the dough on the table.

“You need not hold the dog.” Victor looked at Henry Clerval, the assistant of Sven, to work on the stables and the grounds. Henry was adopted by Sven when he found the boy at the estate. He was underfed and dressed in tatters. Sven took the boy to refuge with him and then introduced him to work there. He was always playing with Victor and William; the latter tend to take advantage of the smaller boy.

“He may jump like the cat.” Henry said. The previous experiment with the maid’s cat was blemished by the higher voltage, and the creature was not sedated. When the experiment was underway, it created mayhem in the lab, and unfortunately, the cat died. It was buried at the rear of the lab, in the unmarked grave, and Henry was sworn to secrecy on that. Morgan the cat was mourned for a day or two by the maids and soon forgotten. The mice did celebrate the event, though.

“It is okay, Henry. The dog is sleeping. It will not jump.” Victor explained. “Now remove your hands from the dog, or you will feel pain like I did the last time.”

It was Henry who saved Victor from the electricity jolts when he powered down the generator then. Victor collapsed on the flooring, and after much concern from Henry, he was relieved.

“I am doing it now.” Victor cautioned the other and threw the switch on. He saw the dog twitch in the eyes, and then when he increased the voltage, the creature started twitching in the limbs.

“Stop, please.” Henry pleaded towards Victor. “He is hurting.”

The dog was still sedated, but tears appeared at its eyes, and the mucus slipped at the snout. Victor threw the switch and then approached the dog. It was breathing shallow but unmoving on the limbs.

“Is it dead?” Henry asked.

“No. It is alive.” Victor examined the front paws. There were some dark markings, but the flesh was intact. He was unsure of the results. He had done it on the cadavers, and nothing was seen. There was no twitching at all.

“It cannot be. The dog holds the nerves like we do, and yet it moved, but not the cadavers.” Victor spoke to himself. “Why?”

“I think the dog is bleeding.” Henry raised the left ear of the dog. There were traces of blood there. “Did we kill it too?”

“No…… I am unsure.” Victor looked at the shallow breaths of the dog. “It is breathing.”

“Could it be that? The blood in us. The blood allowed us to … communicate.” Victor was rushing to the desk with all the volumes. “Blood is the … link?”

“Victor, I think I need to go now. Sven is calling for me. We were to do the stables today.” Henry did not wait for the reply and took off. Victor stood there and looked at the notes that he had written.

“Nothing of it makes sense. He had examined the nerves, the bones with the joint structures, and the…”

“The brain.” Victor called out. “It is what differs in us.”

Victor grabbed the saw at the wall. He approached the dog and did the incision to remove the brain. He sawed the scalp and then removed the cut portion. He saw the throbbing brain and the blood that flowed out.

“Blood…” Victor shook his head. “I’ve done it many times.”

Victor had pumped blood into the cadaver parts and tried to reanimate it, but it did not work. The parts did not absorb the blood, and it all seeped out.

“It is dead. It cannot get the blood in. Nothing flows inside of it.” Victor sighed. “What was the missing link?”

Victor looked to the cold chamber where he keeps his collection of body parts. Inside there was his prized specimen; the body parts that he intended to reattach for the body and only left was the brain and part of the torso. He had matched the dimensions to ensure perfection.

Was it?

The body was also dead without the blood inside.

“I must find the link.” Victor's tears welled up in his eyes. “I must do it.”

“Henry, bring the wagon. We have an incident by the creek.” Sven was there holding the horse to attach it to the wagon. Hurry up, boy. We do not have a full day.”

“Do it. I am going to the creek.” Sven took off.

Henry rushed into the stable and pulled the horse out. It was hitched on, and he then led the horse with the wagon. He glanced back at the lab when he passed by it. It was quiet in there.

“Goodbye, doggie.” Victor toom the carcass and tossed it into the furnace he had installed there at the corner. He used the lab to destroy the unneeded body parts. The furnace consisted of cast-iron or riveted-steel heat exchangers built within an outer shell of brick, masonry, or steel. The furnace also served as heat exchangers; vented through brick or masonry chimneys. Air circulation depended on large, upwardly pitched pipes constructed of wood or metal.

Inside the lab, Victor was studying the brain. He prods at it with the needle and watches the blood that seeps out. The microscope was his view of the nerves there. He had the latest model of the microscope designed then. The earlier models were able to magnify the image, but it suffered from what was termed as aberration at the lens: spherical and chromatic aberration. It was recently that the correction was done by Joseph Jackson Lister and William Tulley.

Spherical aberration resulted in a partially blurred image caused by light passing through different areas of the lens. The parts of the image focusing at a different distance between the lens and the eye of the observer may not be clear or out of focus. It was solved by using a certain combination of lenses, one correcting the aberration of the other. The second was the chromatic aberration. This problem results from the fact that the wavelengths of different colors refract to differing degrees, so blue will focus closer to the lens than red. That was corrected, and what was seen was the true shades.

“Nothing unusual there.” Victor adjusted the lens. He was dissatisfied with the results. “It looks the same.”

“How could I be missing the essential here?” Victor was mumbling to himself. During any war then, the wounds inflicted on the limbs were deadly, and if the life of the soldier was to be saved, it was the removal of the affected limb. It was called amputation; over the course of the American Civil War, three out of four surgeries were amputations. Amputations were one of the quickest, most effective ways for surgeons to treat as many patients as possible in a short amount of time; the loss of the limb saved their lives.

When amputation was necessary, the procedure was sophisticated, and like most surgical procedures over the course of the war, it was conducted with patients under anaesthesia in the form of either chloroform or ether; in some cases, the bottle of whiskey was administered. The limb was tightened around the limb to reduce bleeding. when the damaged limb was removed.   The surgeon could do the work depending on the wound. It may be a circular or flap amputation procedure. The former cut through the skin, muscle, and bone all at the same point on the limb, creating an open wound at the stump that healed on its own. The latter was to get the skin from the amputated limb to cover the stump, closing the wound. A scalpel was used to cut through the skin and a Caitlin knife to cut through the muscle. The surgeon then picked up a bone saw to cut the bone until it was severed. The limb was then discarded, and the surgeon tied off the arteries with either horsehair, silk, cotton, or metal threads. The surgeon then scraped the edges of the bone smooth so that they would be forced to work back through the skin before it was sewn close. The surgeon then moved to the next surgery.

Victor was trying to improvise on the procedure to restore the limb.

It was not to work.

Like a structure without its use.

 

Preys and Predator Part II; the monster and witches' Chapter 4

 

4.

Alphonse Frankenstein, an old man from the northern central continent, emigrated there to build his home. He has amassed his wealth accumulated as a member of the dvoryanstvo or the nobility family. He emigrated soon after the death of the old man and built his mansion across the channel. He also changed his name to that used there. His past was to remain as memories then. When he arrived at the new home, he had his young wife, and they raised a family there: William, Victor, and one younger son named Ernest. Life was balanced, and with the two sons inheriting his ambitions in science, he was contented.

“Science will be the new frontier of humanity.”

A vision that was not shared by the youngest son, Ernest. He was into more scholarly subjects like laws. He diverted to the knowledge of laws, and that agitated the father, but the old man recalled his dying love’s words.

“Ernest is more of my son. Let him do what he wants.” Annabelle died shortly after Ernest learned to walk at the age of three. It was a disability from birth; the youngest needed the assistance of the crutches to hobble around, but his brilliant mind was to read the different sets of volumes.

Alphonse had no desire for more lovers in his life, but he held a social circle of friends to indulge in companionship over a glass of wine or tea, as the locals preferred it during the warm hours.

“I am sorry for being late, Tata (Father in Russian).” Victor rushed to his seat at the long dining table, laden with dinner meals. The meals are prepared by the three-kitchen staff and served by the three maids overseen by the butler, Sven.

“You are just in time.” The Tata announced. The family members picked up their cutleries to do dinner, while the maids attended the sons; the Tata was served by the butler. Sven had served the family for many years and was the personal valet of the old man. He stood tall above the heights of the children and was the earliest to wake and the last to rest in the household.

“Children,” Tata set down his fork. It was the signal for the children to do the same and listen to the father.

“I am expecting a guest from the far away. He is an old friend and will be staying with us for a while. I will expect the best from all of you.”

It was not a request but a command as if he was addressing the old regiment back then. The silence was there, with the children looking for the cue to resume dining.

“Who is he, Tata?” Ernest was one who asked.

“Общий, or General the rank you familiar with. His name is Spielsdorf, Rudolf Spielsdorf. He was the major then and my adjutant. After I left, he was promoted to colonel and retired as general,” the old man explained. Sven had then stood at attention to the words of the old man.

“So, he took over your regiment.” Ernest added. The portrait of the general hung over the fireplace, the only remembrance of the past. The old man forbids any other mementos of the past from being seen at the mansion.

“Ernest,” William looked to the youngest one. He knew his father did not like to talk of the past.

“It is okay, William. Ernest is just himself.” The old man picked up the fork once more. He let Ernest speak out while he maintained a tight rein on the other two sons.

“Sven, can I have an extra piece of the meat? I am hungry.” The old man asked his staff. The meat was served while the others were busy with their own plates.

“Spielsdorf will be traveling with his daughter. I could not recall the name now.” The old man sighed. “Sven, do have the chamber prepared for the visit.”

“And William, I do not want you to intrude on the lady’s chamber.” The Tata made it clear to the eldest son. “You will be a gentleman and stay as one throughout the visit.”

Victor sniggered at the remarks made, and William kicked out with his left foot under the table.

“Victor, your lab will be locked at times, and there will be no discussion with anyone here on the works.”

“Can I stay in the lab? I got a few….” Victor was cut off.

“You will sleep in your chamber and eat here. You may go there to the lab during your working hours.”

“The Uni is on a term break, and I have …”

“The matter has been agreed.” Tata snapped out.

“What of me, Tata?” Ernest asked. “I have many…”

“You may discuss, but nothing on politics and government. And above all, to the three of you, nothing on my younger days. I forbid it.”

“Da.” All three nodded.

Soon after the dinner, in the quiet library, the Tata was served his black tea by the butler. He has been drinking that for years and felt that it made him strong. But, alas, his lover, Annabelle, detests the tea.

“Общий, your tea.”

“Speak Sven. I have feared nothing in my life. I was the General.” The General leaned back on the high back chair facing the fireplace. His portrait loomed above on the fire place; painted in the month he was to retire as General. It showed him then in his uniform with his ceremonial sword. the sword held a bejewelled hilt with the dark red piece on the top. Soon after he married Annabelle who was fifteen years younger than him. It was not an arranged marriage but one of love. Annabelle’s father was a merchant and somewhat did not like the suitor but he relented to the marriage. Willaim came soon after, and then there was a lapse of two years, before Victor was born. It was Ernest who was much later after eight years, and it was a forceful event. They had argued on the getting the third child; Annabelle refused for she felt that the realm was not peaceful to raise the children.

“The nation is still in turmoil.” Annabelle spoke out. “The Tsars and the … serfs are two extremes.”

“Konstantin was a fool. He should have been Tsar after Alexander. His foolish act to renounce the throne created the turmoil. Nicholas was not ready yet.” The man defended the realm. It was his responsibility to preserve the nation. “Those Decembrists deserved death.”

A secret society of liberal revolutionaries, nobles, and military officials organized a conspiracy to replace the Russian Empire's autocratic regime with a constitutional monarchy, and they sought to seize control of the government and implement a regime change. It created the threat that Nicholas was usurping the throne from Konstantin. The Society members marched to the Senate Square to prevent the loyalty-swearing ceremony and to rally additional soldiers and officers to their cause.

This group of rebels, although disorganized due to indecision and dissension among its leaders, confronted troops loyal to Nicholas outside the Senate building in the presence of a large civilian crowd. A standoff ensued, and soon the loyalists eventually opened fire with heavy artillery, scattering the rebels. In the aftermath of the coup attempt, rebellion leaders were sentenced to hanging, many other participants were imprisoned, or exiled to Siberia. These individuals became known as the Decembrists or dekabristy.

One of the exiles was Annabelle’s father.

“It is over, Annabelle. I love you. And I want to hold another child in my arms. Ours is my request. I want a girl. Will you give me one?”

“I do not want any more children. I am ashamed.” Annabelle looked at the man she wedded. “If you want one, get it from another. I have enough of childbirth.”

“You must. I am your husband. It is the obligation of the wife to give birth to my children.”

“Then take me and be done. I am tired.” Annabelle looked at him. “Take me like those whores you meet at the clubs. I will not resist.”

“Annabelle, please do not think of me as that. I love you.”

“Get it over now. I am tired.” Annabelle turned her back to her lover. “Give yourself the child you wanted. Be it a girl or a boy, I cared not.”

It was not a girl but another boy, and Annabelle cared for the third child when her health permitted her then. Ernest was not fine then. He could not walk like any others.

“Sven, I do fear the wrath of my lover. She died soon after Ernest, and never a day did she blame me for his legs. She told me she was not ready or willing, but I insisted. I could have stopped, but I did not.”

“You did give the child love and …” Sven stood there.

“I did because I owed it to Annabelle. She disliked me for the fate of her father exiled to Siberia. I saved his life from the execution, but she said that Siberia was hell towards her father. She told me that I will pay in hell for my action, but before that I was to be tormented by my boys. Why am I cursed at that? Was it that that was why Ernest could not walk properly?”

“No, Общий (General in Russian.), you have not been blamed. It was your task to quell the rebellion. Ernest is a... He was... It was fate. You cannot blame yourself.”

“No, I do. It is called the sins of the father. My son must atone for it.”

“It is not fair to Ernest. William and Victor are still your children. They do not ...” Sven held a soft spot for Ernest.

“Not yet, Sven. Not yet. They may one day bear it all. The Frankenstein of their generation will pay for my sins. Grave sins.”

 

 

 

Preys and Predator Part II; the monster and witches' Chapter 3

 

3.

“The adult human body has two hundred and six bones, and except for the hyoid bone in the neck, each bone is connected to at least one other bone. Andrea Vesalius outlined that in the mid-15th century.” Victor held up the spine of the human body. That one was a reconstruction by the Art Department as a model.

“Is that a man or woman? It is missing the groin.” A student raised the question. “How could we know?”

“Horace, just add the flesh and hairs, then you will know.” Another student called out. “If you like the design, it does not matter if it’s a man or a woman. ‘Aut foraminis adhuc fit’ (Either hole can still fit in Latin.)

“Horace, tua plena stercore (Yours full of shit).” Another called out. The roar of laughter rang then.

“Class, if I may. ‘Nos hic focus’ (let us focus).” Victor called out in his sparse words in Latin. “Can I please?”

“The main differences between male and female bones are size, shape, and density.” Victor continued to get their attention on the subject matter. “Male bones tend to have larger, heavier bones, especially in the arms, legs, and shoulders, while female bones are lighter, and their hips are wider to support childbirth.”

“Idiosyncrasies of the typical male that childbirth is for the woman only.” Another student voiced out. She is an advocate for the female.

“That’s why we are the fuckers.” Another male specimen voiced out. It drew mixed approval and rejection from the attendees. A few raised their middle finger to the outburst.

“Okay, please stay focused.” Victor pleaded with the attendees. They all went silent, and Victor continued. “The joints are the location where bones come together. Many joints allow for movement between the bones where they will be joined to each other by connective tissue or cartilage. That design gives us stability in movement.”

Victor searched for Charlene, and she was not there. He heard the faculty heads had removed her from the program after a teacher was caught with her in an improper act. It could have been a suspension, but ‘menage a trois’ with one other teacher, Ms. Franchoise, was an absolute mayhem.

“Joint stability and movement are related to each other.” That came out from Victor with a bad taste in his mouth. “I mean to say stable joints allow for little or no mobility between the adjacent bones. Conversely, joints that provide the most movement between bones are the least stable. Understanding the relationship between joint structure and function will help to explain why particular types of joints are found in certain areas of the body.”

“I know. I told Ellen, No, fuck, that means we are breaking up.”

“Shut up, Steve. She broke up with you because you are vain. Imbecile et idiot (Imbecile and an idiot in French).”

“Steve non parla francese. È italiano. (Steve does not speak French. He’s Italian in Italian.)

That brought up the attendees to go into another round of heckling and squabbles then. Victor was not giving up, but the bell did. The attendees filed out as if nothing had happened before the bell. He saw the person he was looking to meet.

“Come in, Silvus. Did you bring me what I was asking?” Silvius was an extraordinary man in his sixties, sporting the unkempt grey hairline and long white beard. He worked as the janitor at the hospital, and in the evening, he was at the morgue to manage the cadavers.

“John Doe, or Jane; it matters none to me. I am there to bury them deep down in unmarked graves.” Silvus was also the grave digger. “The bad ones, I shoved into the furnace. They might as well burn there than at Hell.”

Bad ones to Silvus were dismembered parts or the decayed body. The latter he sold to the abattoir of the pig farms.

“Waste not when they can be consumed.” Silvus told himself, but he was not a cannibal, or he would have daily meat servings.

“Three bags full, Sire.” Silvus nodded to the bags he brought. “Fresh parts.”

“No lime or whatever you tossed over to prevent the smell.” Victor asked.

“None, Sire. These came in fresh this morning, and I brought them over. Someone did us a good turn.” Silvus smiled. “That will be four pounds. One more extra for the freshness.”

Victor relented but he knew getting the fresh cadavers were rare. The Universities were in the game to acquire them, and there were not many to offer. They were not particular to the condition of the cadaver but the whole physique was a prerequisite. Anatomy study was improving and more students have enrolled. They went for the prisoners but that was a short supply. The distant wars held plenty but too far to deliver them to the Unis, unless embalming was done but formaldehyde was too expensive to preserve so many cadavers. The alternative was arsenic or alcohol, but that its toll on the volume to be used. More to it, the embalmed cadavers could only be preserved for one week or less.

Victor was experimenting with coldness as the means to preserve cadavers, but having to store a whole body was restrictive, and then he decided to keep only parts of it. He got Silvus to work at the hospitals, and in his role as the janitor, he knew where the discarded parts were kept.

“Are you paying, Sire?” Silvus was impatient to receive his fees.

“Yes, I am paying.” Victor drew out the notes and paid the man. “Put the bags into my lab. The usual place. And close the door well.”

“I am goi g there, Sire.” Silvus smiled. His money in the pocket and he was to complete the last errand. Once Silvus had left for the lab, Victor gathered his things. He walked to the open area where he parked his carriage. The horses were in the stables. He saw there the experimental steam engines made by the Unis faculties, but that prototype was from completion. The first steam engine was by James Watt back in 1765, but it did not take on with the people. The horse-driven carriages were still the preferred mode. He had one build next to the lab, as it will allow him uninterrupted power for his lab.

The lab was at the mansion ground, build some distance away, as part of Victor’s instruction. His father had never asked on his works there. The road to access the lab was a path on the side of the mansion, and there was a lock there on the gate.

Victor drove to the lab; the lab chamber was on the ground level and had a doorway facing the yard. Victor loaded the bags from the cold chamber and drove feverishly towards his home. He lived in a huge mansion with his father and brothers, just outside the village.

The lab chamber was not huge, but it held the entrance to the basement, which was huge. It was used to hide the kegs of wine during the late 16th century when the Bill was passed to prohibit the import of French wines, among other things. The Bill engaged the smugglers to build cellars to hide the imported wines. He had refrigeration installed there powered by electricity.

The cellars became Victor’s personal lab. He kept his works there.

Instead of wine kegs, it was designed with long tables and scientific equipment. At the basement, where the wine kegs were kept, the shelves were designed to keep the unused equipment. It was rare then, but the Frankenstein family commanded great wealth and influence. It was one of the rare households to have electricity in the mansion, provided by the thick cabling near the mansion.

Victor took to the lab on his carriage. He walked into his lab with the door unlocked.

“Imbecile.” Victor cursed under his breath. Silvus was never careful with instruction. He went in and then looked around. All was as it was, but the frozen chamber unit’s door was ajar. He had access to it there.

Besides Silvus and Henry.

Henry was his servant at the mansion. He had just stepped out of the cold chamber.

“Master Victor, the man brought some parts for you.” Henry was the only person he entrusted to keep his secret.

 

Preys and Predator Part II; the monster and witches' Chapter 2

 2.

“Your nervous system's main function is to send messages from various parts of your body to your brain and from your brain back out to your body to tell your body what to do.” Victor faced the ensemble of students that were to major in surgery. They must understand the basics of the nervous system, and more in particular, the workings of the nerves there. “The messages are to regulate your thoughts, memories, learning, and feelings. They are transmitted through the nerve’s connectivity, and feedback is processed.”

“Our body movements from the balance and coordination are intercalibrated through it.” The bell rang, and the lecture session was over. The students began to pack and filed out through the exits. He disliked the lecturing but it was part of the grant terms that he had to do it. He was to share his knowledge with the undergraduates.

“The next lecture is…” Victor stopped his words when he saw the hall was emptied by half then. He did ask himself why they even bothered to come to his lecture. He knew some was there to score credits with their fancied partners, and some were stupid but came there to take a nap.

Anatomy studies was at best interesting if you are keen on working on your knowledge to be a medical officer or a surgeon, but the works then was not the glamorous task, when legal profession was more rewarding. Thanks to the works of Shylock, and his pound of flesh.

Speaking of Shylock, he saw Justine stepping up to him from the rear.

“God, awfully boring.” Justine mimics the yawn. “I would have slept through the lecture, but the hunk in front of me was too tempting to ignore.”

“You mean by yourself?” Victor tried his luck there. “I am handsome in the physical attributes.”

“Nope. Your physique denies me of any fantasy unless I am reading Poe in the dark. Or Lord of the Rings. Gollum will form over the image. If you deny that, well, you are impressively bad for any specimen to be included in any fantasy.” Justine dressed in the white frock over her bright orange dress and placed the stack of volumes on the lecture desk.

“You asked for them, and I found it in the archive. No one reads them anymore.” Justine frowned. “Seriously, De Mortu Cordis (The Motion of the Heart), published in 1628 by William Harvey.”

“It was the first accurate description of the human circulatory system.” Victor defended his selection.

“Anatomy and Experimental Physiology, 1672 by Thomas Willis. Details on the anatomy of an oyster, crawfish, and earthworm. I thought we had it with serpents, or was it William’s nighttime stories for you?” Justine smirked at the choice there.”

“I wanted to know more.” Victor explained. “The structure of the anatomy differs, but the nervous system may not. I am keen to know more on that.”

“Kama Sutra was there and I am taking it with me back to the house.” Justine smiled.

“Mana Sutra? What is that?’ Victor asked.

“Get a real life, Victor. Here are your volumes.” Justine was leaving the hall. Victor looked at the volumes handed to him.

“Ah, I have Opuscula Anatomica, 1564 by Eustachius. This book included eight anatomical plates. I have Tabulae Anatomicae Bartholomaei Eustachii, 1714 by Giovanni Maria Lancisi; that book included unpublished illustrations by Eustachius.” Victor was ecstatic about the volumes as if they were his Christmas present

“Hey, Victor. When one speaks alone, it is good to visit the Psychology Section. They may unravel your inner demon there.” Justine stopped at the doorway.

“Do you know how difficult it was dragging these volumes out?” Justine moans on the tasks done. “I had to stop breathing the dust there. And the baths I took with the heavy scrubbing.”

“You survived, and that is the testament of our task.’ Victor smiled. “I could smell you a mile away with the fresh cologne.”

“What is your fixation with these volumes? The newer volumes are more detailed than these.” Justine sighed still standing at the doorway. “Why not the other creatures? We understand the human anatomy well, and not some spineless crawfish.”

“Research is not to be restricted ... or selective in design. These earlier studies may give me an insight into the nervous system unread by others.” Victor took the stance to defend his task.

“Restricted? Was it restricting or “la résistance est vaine?” (Resistance is futile; in French). Justine stares at Victor.

“Pardon me?”

“The blonde at the second row is facing you, eye level, and her bodice is unbuttoned.” Justine fluttered her eyelashes.

“I did not see. Maybe the ventilation was stuffy today.”

“I am sure it was you who was stuffed. She was trying to get your attention.” Justine smiled. “I would if I had her looks.”

“Charming smile, touché on the dimples, and the bosom… Magnifique compared to mine.” Justine did possess a rather flat chesty design on her. William often commented that she was like the forest minus the trees.

“I am their teacher, and above all, I do not interact with the undergraduates for any personal liaison.” Victor was offended then. “If I may, I need to clear the hall for the next teacher.”

“Charming …” Justine turned and walked out of the hall. Victor picked up his notes and bag before he looked at the volumes. I could not manage it all then.

“Doctor Frankenstein, may I help you?” It was the charming lady from the second row. She appeared by the doorway. “Am I interrupting you?”

“I … Uh, your name again, please?”

“Charlene, Charlene Mary Robbins. I have been in your class for two terms now.” The blonde lady was charming at best, with all the curvatures that befit the lady. Her bodice was buttoned up then.

“Can we discuss on the lecture? I am not able to follow some of the passages.”

“Yes, please.” Victor handed her his notes. “I will carry the volumes. My work area…”

Justine have left the hall.

“I know the direction. Shall we?” Charlene took the notes. “Doctor Frankenstein …”

“Call me Victor. It is after class now.” The doctor led the way out.

“Do you like French?” Charlene asked. “Anatomie humaine?”

An hour later, it was noted that resistance was futile.

“Yes, Doctor. I think you are hitting my cervical bones…” Charlene leaned forth onto the desk with her dress drawn to her lower back. Victor was humping furiously from the rear.

“Cervix, Charlene. That is the opening at the base of the uterus, essentially acting as the entrance to the uterine cavity ……. It is located at the top of the vagina and is considered the lower part of the uterus itself.”

“Urgh… whatever. Just do not stop.” The lady commanded the performance like the conductor on the symphony.

Preys and Predator Part II; the monster and witches' Chapter 1

 

Prey and Predators II

 

Monster and Witches

Inspired by the two classics:

FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley, 1818

CARMILLA by Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872

By Jimmy Loong

Feb 24^th 2025 – March 26^th 2025

 

In Greek mythology, Prometheus is best known for defying the Olympian gods by taking fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, knowledge and, more generally, civilization. Others spoke of him of creation of humanity from clay. For his punishment of stealing fire, Prometheus was bound to a rock, and an eagle was sent to eat his liver (in ancient Greece, the liver was thought to be the seat of human emotions). His liver would then grow back overnight, only to be eaten again the next day in an ongoing cycle. Another myth was Prometheus establishes the form of animal sacrifice. To some, Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving in the quest for scientific knowledge, to the extent of unintended consequences. Mary Shelley gave alternate title of the Modern Prometheus to her novel Frankenstein (1818). 

Do vampires exist? Current findings or none, explained (not believed) that vampires do not exists. The myth of vampires was popular with the tale of Dracula, but history tells us that Vlad Dracula may had induced in bloody executions, but there was no evidence that he drank blood. They may be some who may have ingested human blood as part of the ritual that they are feeding off the energy or soul of their enemy. There again, unproven but the myth remains there.

The key words to me are knowledge; fire yet HELL was abounded with it, and blood; made inside as the vitality of life. And fear; the boundary of our soul not to be crossed.

But there is also love; the unbound affection we showered out, and vengeance; the pain of ours displayed.

The creation; all the above are ours.

Let me explore this to create my monster here.

Or that of another living soul that we deemed as a monster.

Deuteronomy 23:2 ESV; No one born of a forbidden union may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord.

This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents in this book are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

 

 

 

1.

“What is a monster? The word monster may be used widely, literally, and in-depth as an entity that is huge, hideous, murderous, or threatening. In a closer view, an undesirable entity. Is a monster as depicted above truly the above? We have read descriptions of the above, but singular in context may not fill up all the definitions. A hideous figure may not be murderous unless provoked, and a huge entity may not be threatening. Or a threatening entity may not be hideous or huge.”

“And Frankie here is not a monster?” The drunken figure had his left arm over my left shoulder. “Och, he is just Frankie the monster.”

“Come on, William.” Frankie, or his full family name, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, leaned forth to avoid the arm grabbing his neck. “And William, do not …”

William is the elder brother of Victor ‘Frankie’ Frankenstein.

“The recalcitrant serpent tangled its body over the neck.” William Frankenstein wormed his body at Frankie, with both arms then encircling the other.

“Frankie will be dead soon.” William laughed. He studied biology, majoring in serpents, at the university. The elder brother mimics the strangulation of the serpent at his brother. Victor tried to pull away, but William was also the university star at bodybuilding.

“Give him a break, William.” That was Justine Moritz, the co-student with Victor at the Department of Science. They were both doing postgraduate studies in advanced biology. They were in the group doing studies on re-engineering the workings of the nerves in the severed limbs.

“Oh, okay. I think I got his neck severed. Justine, do the honour of suturing the nerves. I think he is going to go into a zombie manifestation.” William released his brother and took his seat across from the former. He then had his arms around his friend, Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Muriel.

“Here …. Oops, I forgot our drinks. I knew….” William got up again and staggered towards the bar once more.

“He is such …” Liz sighed. She wondered why she put up with that drunken fool.

“A drunk?” Justine was not one to munch on niceties. “Ever since I knew him, he was and will be. He may be the star of the Uni at the spots, but he is a dumb when it comes to the social circles.”

“His pick-up lines are Hi, I am William. Want to peek at my Winkle? He made the name such a bore. If I am to wank his Winkle, I will have it attached to the rubber hose and pour acid there. That will give him the needed feel.” Justine was plain in her words.

“Be nice, Justine.” Victor looked at the lady.

“I can understand.” Elizabeth laughed.

“And yet you put out with him.”: Justine looked at her best friend.

“Put out, I can attest to that. We have drinks and walks, but put in, may not be the current ‘événement de notre relation’ (event of our relationship in English).

“Je suis belge et je parle néerlandais, français et allemand. Je préfère largement l'anglais avec ces idiots. (I am Belgium, and speaks Dutch, French and German. I much prefer English when witth these idiots.)” Justine looked at the other lady. 

“Les idiots sont peut-être adorables, la plupart du temps. (Idiots, they can be but lovable ones most times.) Elizabeth smile at their switch of the language taken to add credits to their Uni requirements.

“Je maîtrise également la langue française. (I am versed in French language too.)” Victor cut in. 

“Cor Blimey! I thought you only knew French kissing.” Elizabeth laughed at Victor with her lips pouted. 

“No, Liz, It is with the tongue.” Justine her tongue towards Victor. 

“An invitation, Victor. Are you to do it?” Elizabeth asked. Justine had withdrawn her tongue and laughed. 

“He is ‘No es mejor que el toro en la casa de cristal’ (no better than the bull in the glass house in Spanish).” Justine laughed. 

“Glass house? I have not done it there. Was it ……” Elizabeth looked at Victor.

“I think she meant the lab. And no, we had done any at the where and when.” Victor smiled meekly. “We are …... colleagues in the works.” 

“If we are the last survivors of the world, we will remain for distance to survive." Justine laughed. They had once told others, that they were trying to find the ultimate cure to mankind in case of a mass epidemic.

“Did I miss anything? William arrived with the drinks. 

“Nothing that concerns you.” Victor looked at Justine. He was with Justine because he had no one to lean on. More to that, Justine is an exchange student from Belgium who also stays at the Frankenstein’s house as the university dorms were without any chambers for her. It was to be a short stay and was extended to over two years. Justine was a plain-looking lady, but due to a fixation on her studies and research, which included late hours of reading, she was not popular like Liz. They called Justine the ‘Tawny Owl,’ the stocky, medium-sized owl in the family Strigidae. It is commonly found in woodlands across Europe, as well as western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies.

Victor’s nature was not much different; he was always carving up cadavers, so they named him the Butcher.

“It is okay, Justine. I knew him long enough.” Elizabeth Muriel is without a doubt the nicest person in the lives of the Frankenstein’s, or the dumbest one among all the ladies met by William. She was extraordinarily nice to the drunken oaf of a man and braggart of his exploits with other ladies most times. Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Muriel, surprisingly for her nature, is a student of psychology, and her postgraduate studies were on obstinate characterization. Maybe he is the research material, and languages.

“How could you put up with him?” Justine asked. “Hey, I lodged there as a tenant. I am not …”

“No… Liz. Justine is…” Victor cut in as not to embarrass the other.

“Victor Frankenstein, I know you, and I know her. I know you are not a pair.” Liz smiled. “Just good friends there.”

“Wow! I am saved.” Justine remarked. “For a moment, I thought you thought I was who I am not, and if I were to get someone, it may not be him, for he …”

“Stop justifying your actions, Liz. This is not biology. Nothing needs to be connected like those bundles of sinewy nerve.” Liz smiled. “I just … like him.”

“Or you like us more.” Victor snapped in. “I do like … us.”

“Spoken like a …” Justine saw William looking at the others after he had placed the drinks on the table; one extra glass that he said was for his own. He set the drinks down and then took his seat next to Liz.

“As I was telling them,” William went into his tirade of monsters then. “Little Frankie here tried to co-host my topic then, but let me assure you what I had seen in those monsters.”

“As I was saying then, we had these specimens of serpents.” William hiccupped then. “These monsters are various large non-poisonous snakes from Africa, Asia, and Australia. These snakes could squeeze and suffocate their prey and include some of the largest snakes living at the present time … and they eat owls too.”

“Hoot! Hoot!” Justine imitated the call of the owl. “Bet with you, the serpents cannot do that.”

“No, they bite.” William leaned onto Liz and bit her neck. The lady pushed him off and glared at him.

“It hurts,” Liz told William.

“William, do be nice. Or try to be pleased.” Victor cut in. He then shifted the subject. “What is the difference between the snake and serpent?”

“Oh, I do not know. You are the scientist here. However, I do know that serpents are called … serpentes in science.” William tried to find the name in his drunken brain.

“Ophis, they were called in ancient Greek.” Justine added. “I did ancient history during my undergraduate studies as a minor subject. “They are not all giants or deadly as many assumed. Some serpents are not even deadly; they do not bite. The serpent has been misrepresented when the book states that it was he who influenced Eve to get Adam to eat the apple. And voila, we discovered nudity.”

“Strip poker, anyone?” William was the clown then.

“Serpents or snakes do have bones. Snakes need lots of bones so that they can be both strong and flexible. They have a special skull (more on this later!). and they have a very long spine, made up of hundreds of vertebrae (the bones that make up our backbone). They also have hundreds of ribs, almost the whole way down their body, to protect their organs.” Victor cut in, bringing back in the subject.

“I am going back.” Liz got up and was followed by Justine. That was it for the ladies.

“Nightly, boys. Do not have any fantasy on us. We Eve’s will be fine without you in our dreams.” Justine had the last words. “Slither off now.”