Season 1, Episode 9

Masquerade

Content Warnings: 
-Mention of suicidal ideology
-Choking/suffocating
-Cancer

[The Frankenstein house. Very early morning. Victor is flipping through the pages of Caroline’s journal]

VICTOR

There has to be something I’m missing here. Some… key or something. The more I look at it, the more languages I’m able to pick out. Gaelic, Italian, German, Latin, Polish. Maybe more I don’t recognize. If there’s a way to accurately translate, mom didn’t leave any clues on it. I didn't even know she knew so many languages. There's something important here, she-- She knew something. If I can just figure out what, that would explain everything, I’m sure of it. I’ve… apparently been at this all night. I’ve noticed that the sunrise feels different depending on whether you’re waking up to it or just haven’t slept. 

VICTOR (Cont.)

I really should try and get an hour or two in. I’m supposed to visit Henry tomorrow. Today? Today, I guess. Old Man Dan gave me some flowers to bring to the hospital for him. And if there’s one unforgivable sin out there, it’s breaking a promise to Old Man Dan. [A small laugh] He's a good guy. When we were kids, he'd always let us play in the woods on his property and leave snacks out for when we were done. He's been checking up on me lately, too. Making sure I'm okay. Sometimes he brings me dinner, if he notices that I haven't left the house in a few days. I really should do something to repay him. 

...Henry is doing well. I'm glad, don't get me wrong. Heck, I'm… ecstatic. The doctors say they've never seen anyone recover from something like that this quickly, even if he is starting to plateau. ...I should be happy. But I can't help but think that something is wrong. A miraculous recovery is just… too good to happen to someone close to me. I wanna believe that it's fine, that he's just… lucky or something. But… we don't exactly have a good track record, now do we?

VICTOR (Cont.)

Then there's Christine. She didn't brutally murder me while we were up in Maine, so I guess I can trust her. Unless she's playing the long game. But… [He sighs, annoyed] Erik doesn't seem like the type. I get the feeling that whatever he's planning for me-- If he's planning something-- it will be done as soon as it's ready. ...Or maybe he's just waiting for me to do it myself. [Beat.] He hasn't tried to make contact. Hasn't come to see how much what he has done has broken me. Or if he has, I haven't noticed him. I suppose that's possible. Guess he couldn't have gotten the reputation of a ghost for nothing.

VICTOR (Cont.)

...I-- I need to do something about… this. Me. I've known that for a while now, but I can't keep putting it off. I can't live like this. Scared, numb…. It's just…. There are only two people who know about everything. And they didn't exactly sign up for hearing me drone on about how miserable I am. Even if they say it's fine, that they want to listen. It's not right. They have their own stuff going on. I mean, from Henry’s perspective, Elliot just died, he-- He can’t be taking that as well as he’s trying to make me believe.

VICTOR (Cont.)

Plus… I'm not even sure what half of this is. I'm not going to sit them down and make them listen to me just try to figure it out. I just…. [Sighs] I just wish things were easy. I wish they never got pulled into this. ...I wish Elliot could hold me and tell me that it's gonna be okay. That I don't need to be afraid, because he'll be there with me every step of the way.

VICTOR (Cont.)

It still doesn't seem real some days. Some mornings, I almost go to knock on his bedroom door to see what he wants for breakfast. Then I remember, and I can hardly manage to make myself a coffee.

[There are a few moments as he gathers himself]

VICTOR (Cont.)

He would have been able to figure this out. He would have already pieced together clues that I haven’t even noticed yet. I… went through his books searching for answers. It was the first time I’ve been in there since he died. It felt wrong, like I was betraying him somehow. Snooping through his things without permission. 

VICTOR (Cont.)

...Every time I think about him, it feels like time slows down. Like there’s nothing else in the world but me and the memories of him. His smile, his laugh. The way he’d always match the color of his braces to whatever holiday was next. Except in July. Then he’d make them my favorite color for my birthday. 

VICTOR (Cont.)

...He was hit hard when mom died, too. He had cancer when he was a kid, before he moved in with us. He told me that seeing that… it really put things into perspective for him. Back then, he didn’t really understand what was going on. Just that he was sick. But when she died, it… it made him realize just how close he might’ve been to death. Back then, I couldn’t imagine what I’d do if I lost him. If I woke up one day and he was gone. Now… I can imagine it pretty well. [He gives an empty laugh] God, he must have been so scared….

[Static begins to fade in as a new figure appears behind him. When she speaks, deep, unnatural noises can be heard under her voice, which sounds raspy and distorted]

WOMAN IN RED

You have no idea what you are part of, do you?

VICTOR

[Overlapping]

B-- Back up! Back the fuck up!

WOMAN IN RED

You have seen what I am capable of. Do you really think that would save you?

VICTOR

Look, I-- I don’t know what the hell is going on, but-- But whatever you were doing outside the bar, and-- and outside my house, and--

WOMAN IN RED

You are a researcher.

VICTOR

What?!

WOMAN IN RED

You are a researcher. You… ask questions.

VICTOR

What the hell are you talking about?!

WOMAN IN RED

I have been closer than you think, Frankenstein. Watching. Listening. You ask so many questions. What I am. What I want. These are impossible to answer. I am a feeling. The tightness in your chest, the throbbing in your temples. The knowledge that something is terribly, terribly wrong, and you are far too late to stop it. I am the last voice your mother heard before my brother dragged her soul into the abyss of Death.

VICTOR

What?

WOMAN IN RED

 If I had my way, you would follow suit. But no. Someday. But not yet. For now…. Just a taste of what is to come.

[Victor takes a sharp inhale. It sounds painful, as though he is struggling to breathe]

WOMAN IN RED

We both know how your story ends. 

[There is a whistle of wind as she vanishes, the static and other sound disappearing with her. At the same time, Victor gasps for air, coughing and breathing heavily for a few moments]

VICTOR

[Still out of breath]

Okay…. Okay, this is bad….