Preys and Predator Part II; the monster and witches' prelude

 Frankenstein

The original novel of Frankenstein, was narrated by Robert Walton, the captain of a ship encounters Victor Frankenstein, who has been traveling by dog-drawn sledge across the ice and is weakened by the cold. Walton takes him aboard ship, helps nurse him back to health, and hears the fantastic tale of the monster that Frankenstein created.

The narration spoke of Victor’s early life, spent in the company of Elizabeth Lavenza and friend Henry Clerval, At the Uni, Victor study natural philosophy and chemistry and was consumed by the desire to discover the secret of life and, after several years of research, becomes convinced that he has found it.

Soon, Victor created a creature out of old body parts, but when he looked at the monstrosity that he has created, the sight horrified him. He ran out to the streets, and met Henry, who had come to study at the university. They went back and the monster was gone. Soon after, Victor returned home. On his way home, he receives a letter that William was strangled. Upon visiting the location of his brother’s death, Victor caught sight of the monster, but Justine Moritz has been accused. She is tried, condemned, and executed, despite her assertions of innocence. Victor grows despondent, guilty with the knowledge that the monster he has created bears responsibility for the death of two innocent loved ones.

Victor took a vacation to the mountains and met the monster. The monster admits to the murder of William but begs for understanding. The monster begs Victor to create a mate for him, a monster equally grotesque to serve as his sole companion. Victor refuses at first, horrified by the prospect of creating a second monster, but was persuaded. He began to gather information for the creation of a female monster. He did but destroy his new creation. The monster, enraged, vows revenge, swearing that he will be with Victor on Victor’s wedding night.

Victor dumps the remains of the second creature in the water. Upon landing, he is arrested and informed that he will be tried for a murder discovered the previous night. Victor denies any knowledge of the murder, but when shown the body, he is shocked to behold his friend Henry Clerval, with the mark of the monster’s fingers on his neck. Victor falls ill, raving, and feverish, and is kept in prison until his recovery, but he was acquitted of the crime.

Soon, Victor marries Elizabeth. He fears the monster’s warning and suspects that he will be murdered on his wedding night. He awaited the monster, and upon hearing Elizabeth scream, and realized that the monster had been hinting at killing his new bride, not himself. He tracked the monster ever northward into the ice. He was rescued by Walton. Victor died shortly, and was visited by the monster, who said it was lonely without its creator. The monster then departs for the northernmost ice to die.

 

Carmilla or Karmilla

Laura, the teenaged protagonist, narrates, her childhood in a "picturesque and solitary" castle amid an extensive forest in Styria, where she lives with her father, a wealthy English widower retired from service to the Austrian Empire. When she was six, Laura had a vision of a very beautiful visitor in her bedchamber. She later claims to have been punctured in her breast, although no wound was found. All the household assure Laura that it was just a dream, but they step up security as well, and there is no subsequent vision or visitation.

Twelve years later, Laura and her father are admiring the sunset in front of the castle when her father tells her of a letter from his friend, General Spielsdorf. The General was supposed to visit them with his niece, Bertha Reinfeldt, but Bertha suddenly died under mysterious circumstances. The general ambiguously concludes that he will discuss the circumstances in detail when they meet later.

Laura, saddened by the loss of a potential friend, longs for a companion. A carriage accident outside Laura's home unexpectedly brings a girl of Laura's age into the family's care. Her name is Carmilla. Both girls instantly recognize each other from the "dream" they both had when they were young.

Carmilla appears injured after her carriage accident, but her mysterious mother informs Laura's father that her journey is urgent and cannot be delayed. She arranges to leave her daughter with Laura and her father until she can return in three months. Carmilla was to not disclose any information whatsoever about her family, her past, or herself, and that Carmilla is of sound mind. Laura comments that this information seems, and her father laughs it off.

Carmilla and Laura grow to be very close friends, but occasionally Carmilla's mood abruptly changes. She sometimes makes romantic advances towards Laura. Carmilla refuses to tell anything about herself, despite questioning by Laura. Her secrecy is not the only mysterious thing about Carmilla; she never joins the household in its prayers, she sleeps much of the day, and she seems to sleepwalk outside at night.

Meanwhile, young women and girls in the nearby towns have begun dying from an unknown malady. When the funeral procession of one such victim passes by the two girls, Laura joins in the funeral hymn. Carmilla bursts out in rage and scolds Laura, complaining that the hymn hurts her ears.

When a shipment of restored heirloom paintings arrives, Laura finds a portrait of her ancestor, Countess Mircalla Karnstein, dated 1698. The portrait resembles Carmilla exactly, down to the mole on her neck. Carmilla suggests that she might be descended from the Karnsteins, though the family died out centuries before.

During Carmilla's stay, Laura has nightmares of a large, cat-like beast entering her chamber. The beast springs onto the bed and Laura feels something like two needles, an inch or two apart, darting deep into her breast. The beast then takes the form of a female figure and disappears through the door without opening it.

In another nightmare, Laura hears a voice say, "Your mother warns you to beware of the assassin," and a sudden light reveals Carmilla standing at the foot of her bed, her nightdress drenched in blood. Laura's health declines, and her father has a doctor examine her. He finds a small, blue spot, an inch or two below her collar, where the creature in her dream bit her, and speaks privately with her father, only asking that Laura never be unattended.

Her father sets out with Laura, in a carriage, for the ruined village of Karnstein, three miles distant. They leave a message behind asking Carmilla and one of the governesses to follow once the perpetually late-sleeping Carmilla awakes. En route to Karnstein, Laura and her father encounter General Spielsdorf. He tells them his own ghastly meeting with one named Millarca and her enigmatic mother. Soon after, Bertha fell mysteriously ill, suffering the same symptoms as Laura.

After consulting with a specially ordered priestly doctor, the General realized that Bertha was being visited by a vampire. He hid with a sword and waited until a large, black creature of undefined shape crawled onto his niece's bed and spread itself onto her throat. He leapt from his hiding place and attacked the creature, which had then taken the form of Millarca. She fled through the locked door, unharmed. Bertha died before the morning dawned.

Soon, they arrived at the ruined chapel, Carmilla appears. The General and Carmilla both fly into a rage upon seeing each other, and the General attacks her with an axe. Carmilla disarms the general and disappears. The General explains that Carmilla is also Millarca, both anagrams for the original name of the vampire Mircalla, Countess Karnstein. It was then Baron Vordenburg, an authority on vampires, who met the General.

They discovered Mircalla's hidden tomb. An imperial commission exhumes the body of Mircalla. Immersed in blood, it seems to be breathing faintly, its heart beating, its eyes open. A stake is driven through its heart, and it gives a corresponding shriek; then, the head is struck off. The body and head are burned to ashes, which are thrown into a river.

Afterwards, Laura's father takes his daughter on a year-long tour through Italy to regain her health and recover from the trauma, but she never fully does.