Making Monster Girls: For Science! Page 13

  “He’s kind of like a police officer,” I stated as I came around the wagon, petted the horses, and made sure they were strapped in tight. “But he’s allowed to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. His job isn’t as important as the police though, he and his men mainly go around, ruff-up male servants in back-alleys, patrols aristocrats manor’s for them, pretty minor stuff actually.”

  “Are you worried we’ll run into him?” Valerie murmured as she hung her head and twiddled her fingers in her lap.

  “Yeah, I am,” I nodded. “Hopefully, we won’t, but if we do, you have an important part to play in this, Valerie.”

  “I do? Yaaaay!” the cat-girl cried as she pressed her hands to the wooden grain of the seat, lifted her entire body into a handstand, and then flipped off onto the dirt beside me. “What do I get to do? Do I get to do something sneeeaky? You know I love being sneaky!”

  “No, not sneaky.” I laughed. “But if we run into him or his men, you have to pretend that you’re my overseer.”

  “An overseer?” the cat-girl asked, bent her neck, and twitched both of her ears. “Like your bosssss?”

  “Yep,” I snickered. “Like my boss. If they ask, you have to tell them that you were hired by the Duchess to make sure I’m doing my job right, and Valerie, this is very important, so please listen.”

  “I’m listening!” the cat-girl sang as she dropped to her stomach, rolled underneath the wagon, and then popped out from the other side with her arms raised over her head.

  “I need you to be mean to me,” I told her. “You can’t say that you love me in front of the warden or his men. You saw how the Duchess treated me, you need to act like her if they see us.”

  “But Charles,” the feline-woman whined. “I can’t do that, I love you! I could never, ever be mean to you!”

  “I know you can’t, my dear,” I simpered. “Even if you can’t do it, just pretend. Think of it as an act, and you’re really not being mean to me if you’re just playing, right?”

  “Sure!” Valerie grinned, scrambled gracefully up onto the driver’s seat, rested in a crouched position, and stroked the silky fur of her tail. “Charles, if I’m your boss in this situation, does this mean you have to do anything I ask? Annnnything I ask?”

  “Uhhhhh, maybe not anything,” I stammered as heat flooded over my cheeks and then all the up to the tips of my ears. “Within reason, especially around the warden and his men.”

  “Pet my hair, rub my belly, and stroke my taaaail!” the cat-girl cried through a wide grin.

  “Maybe while we are alone later.” I smiled despite my embarrassment.

  “Okay!” Valerie nestled down in the driver’s seat and then stretched out with her oceanic eyes aimed at the darkened sky. The feline-woman had picked out a disguise for herself and changed into it, but the outfit she wanted to wear wasn’t appropriate. Valerie had flounced down the stairs into my laboratory in a hooded cape and nothing else. Not that I didn’t mind seeing her that way, but I couldn’t allow her to go out like that.

  I returned upstairs with her, dug through the closets, and found old, moth-eaten clothes from the manor’s past owner. The clothes were too big, and the cat-girl swam in them every time she moved, but they would do for the task ahead.

  “All ready to go?” I pulled on the folded cage to make sure it wouldn’t come loose, and then turned toward her.

  “Yep!” Valerie nodded, sat up on her side of the driver’s seat, leaned forward, and pressed her hands to her knees. “Let’s go, Scientist! Time’s wasting away, the Duchess needs this task done before daylight!”

  “Alright, alright,” I snorted. “The warden isn’t here yet, Valerie.”

  “I’m just practicing!” the cat-girl giggled. “Should I give you some orders now too, Chaaaarles?”

  My face bloomed even hotter, but I shook my head, dispelled my embarrassment, hopped up into the driver’s seat beside her, and gripped the reins.

  “N-No.” I stammered, whipped the reins, and then jerked forward as the wagon moved. “Don’t do it now, just wait and see if we run into the warden and his men, then you can order me around as much as you want.”

  “Fiiiine,” Valerie grumbled, toppled sideways, and nestled her cheek against my shoulder. “I don’t like the idea of ordering you around anyway, I love you too much.”

  As we pulled out of the manor’s drive, the whole town spread out beneath us. Light twinkled in distant houses, and a few street lamps burned along the busier roads. I could make out the hulking shape of the Duchess’ sprawling manor and kept it in my sight. Though it was one of the busier houses, and the duchy would be crawling with the warden’s lackeys, I knew that’s where we needed to head.

  “Wow.” Valerie breathed, stood from her seat, and perfectly balanced in the bouncing wagon. “It’s so beautiful out here. I’ve only explored the outside of your manor, Charles, I didn’t realize your world was this big.”

  “It’s much bigger than this,” I chuckled. “This is one of the smaller towns in the province, there are even bigger cities in the east, but the west is where the largest ones are. That’s where the capital is, in the city of Frankenchester.”

  “I know we’re going to the Duchess’ manor to trap our next beast, but why?” the cat-girl tilted her head back, stared up at the glittering stars, and swatted at them as if she could catch one.

  “Well, I’ve told you that the Duchess is the most powerful woman in the city,” I reiterated. “But it’s more than just her wealth and prestige. Edony possesses the most magical power in all of Edenhart. Her family has controlled this town basically since the moment the first brick pavement was laid. Magical beasts and other creatures flock to magical power, no one knows why but they’re drawn to it.”

  “What kind of power does the Duchess have?” Valerie flopped back in her seat, whipped her tail out behind her, and tucked her feet up underneath. “From the way you make her sound, it’s like she has limitless abilities or something.”

  “No, women in this society only have the ability to wield a single power,” I told her. “Maybe hundreds of years ago, but selective breeding weened that out. Edony has the power over all electricity.”

  “Electricity?” the cat-girl echoed. “Like the powerful thingy that makes your machine work?”

  “That’s correct,” I grinned. “But it’s more than just the stuff that keeps the lights on, heats our water and makes my machine work. Edony has the ability to harness lightning, she can shoot it from her fingertips, hell, she could probably shoot it out of any part of her body if she wanted to.”

  “So, she’s extra, ultra-powerful?” Valerie tilted her head, twitched her right ear, and then swiveled it behind her head as she listened to something far off in the distance.

  “Yeah, you could say that,” I breathed and guided our horses onto a side path. “I’d like to say things have gotten better for men in the cities, but it hasn’t been by much.”

  “What do you mean, Charles?” the cat-girl murmured, scooted closer, and pressed her body into mine.

  “Well, I want to say that the Duchess is more lenient than her ancestors,” I stated. “But not by much. I was a child when Edony’s mother was still in power, and Duchess Lelore would execute people out in the street with her powers. She’d just burn them to a crisp with a wave of her hand. Now, we have the stocks and jail cells for lesser crimes and hanging, beheading, and the occasional burning at the stake for bigger ones. It’s not exactly humane, but it’s better than it used to be.”

  “Something needs to change.” Valerie declared, pounded her fist into her palm, and bared her teeth. “Men shouldn’t be treated this way, you of all people, Charles. I personally know what a wonderful, handsome, sexy Doctor and Scientist you are, everyone else should think that, too.”

  “You saying that makes me wonder…” I sighed, hung my head back, and gazed up at the star-lit sky. “Will my second creation love me the way you do?”

  “Of course, she will!” V
alerie grappled her arms around me. “I know you just think it’s your blood, or the experiment, but I really do love you, Charles. I feel this warm thingy in my tummy whenever you’re around… sometimes in other places too, like an itch I wanna scratch real bad.”

  “Ohhh.” I jerked forward a little bit as I attempted to distance myself. “I-I… I understand what you mean, Valerie.”

  “Do you?” the cat-girl giggled, leaned in even closer, and kissed my cheek. “Then we should do something about it! Let’s scratch our itches together! I know you want to!”

  “M-Maybe later, okay?” I stuttered.

  “Promise?” she purred.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Good!” she giggled.

  “Alright, we’re heading into the city proper, we can’t speak to each other if we see anyone, okay?” I asked. “You remember what to do if we run into the warden and his men, right?”

  “Yes, yes, Charles, I haven’t forgotten.” Valerie sat up straighter, glared down at me with a grimace, and waggled a single finger. “Get to work, vermin! Shut up, hurry up, the Duchess won’t be happy when she hears about this!”

  I wanted to laugh and make a joke out of it, but I’d been talked to like this my entire life, and the way her words sounded was too believable. Valerie’s serious expression lasted for a few seconds more before it slid off, and she burst into a fit of giggles. I never wanted Valerie to speak to me that way again, not because of my pride or the fact that I’d been the one to create her, but because I loved her. I didn’t see her the same way as the aristocrats, the cat-girl was special, kind, and so very warm-hearted.

  “Don’t make that face,” the feline-woman chided. “I was only pretending as you told me to!”

  “I know, I know,” I snickered to hide the fact that it’d slightly upset me.

  “I’ll never speak to you that way any other time, okay?” the feline-woman simpered, wrapped her hands around my forearm, and rubbed against the fabric of my shirt.

  “Thank you,” I sighed. “Alright, here we go. No more talking unless it’s absolutely necessary, okay?”

  “Got it!” the cat-girl grinned, sat up straighter, and then took the reins from my hands. “To make it more believable, right?”

  “Good thinking, Val.” I praised as I hastily stroked her hand, and then pulled away.

  The city streets were mostly empty except for a few stray aristocrats and their consorts. I could tell from their slurred speech and wobbling steps, they were on their way back to their manors from the taverns. I kept my head down low, hunched my shoulders so as not to be as big of a target, but the drunken women didn’t seem to notice the two of us.

  Valerie kept quiet the entire time but simply moved her wide eyes over the houses and businesses that lined the street. The cat-girl wriggled excitedly in her seat each time we turned a corner or moved onto a different road like this was some sort of grand adventure.

  Despite what we were doing, I was excited that I got to share this memory with her. Just this morning I was wondering if I’d ever be able to show her the town, and here we were.

  Valerie wasn’t allowed to explore off of the property of my manor, and though she pushed the limits a few times, she hadn’t seen the city. I wondered if she thought it was beautiful, or if she thought it was a horrible place because of the things that happened to men here.

  “The Duchess’ manor is down this road,” I whispered, pointed down the long lane, and then dropped my hand. “We’ll be there in a few minutes, we need to be on high alert though just in case it’s swarming with lackeys.”

  “You are so cute when you worry,” Valerie piped as she pulled her hood lower over her ears, turned and made sure her tail was tucked away. “We’ll be fine, Charles. Even if we run into the warden, I play a pretty convincing aristocrat.”

  “That you do.” I breathed as I examined the road ahead of us.

  The road leading to the duchy was lined with flowering trees, and their floral scents tickled my nose as we passed by them. Overgrown grass lazily waved in the soft, midsummer wind and brought forward the fresh smell of the forest beyond the drive. Bobbing lanterns framed the house in the distance, and I could make out the silhouettes of Edony’s servants moving around inside of the gate. Massive, white columns lined the front of the house, sweeping steps led to the towering door and gauzy curtains that blocked the inside from view.

  The last time I’d been here was the night of the party, the night I met Delphine, received my ultimatum, and lastly, created Valerie. It wasn’t that long ago, but it seemed as if hundreds of years had passed during that time. I’d ridden down this road as a man with nothing to lose, a scientist on the verge of execution, and now, I rode down it a second time as a man, doctor, and scientist with a purpose and a woman to protect.

  “Here.” I pointed toward divots in the grass where other carts had veered off the drive. “We need to go this way.”

  The cat-girl tugged on the reins, guided the horses, and we moved from smooth dirt to the thick grass. We bumped along shakily for a few moments, so I reached out and steadied the feline-woman. She leaned her head back underneath the hood, smiled up at me, but didn’t reach out for any more contact.

  “The Duchess’ manor is beautiful,” Valerie whispered, leaned out, and gazed back at the house. “I wonder what it looks like on the inside.”

  “It’s gorgeous,” I replied. “But most of the aristocrats’ houses are like that but… it’s not a home, they’re just spaces to fill up with their useless wealth.”

  “I like our house,” the cat-girl purred. “It’s warm and cozy, and you live there! I could live in a shack, as long as it’s with you… and A.B., of course.”

  “I feel the same way, Valerie.” I chuckled.

  The overgrown grass thickened as we neared the darkened trees, and I kept my eyes sharp for any floating lanterns in the distance. I could make out a few farther up the hill, but thankfully, we weren’t going in that direction. I nudged Valerie with my knee, pointed toward our left, and the cat-girl guided us along.

  The woods were loud with sounds of nighttime animals, the rustling of leaves overhead, and the warden’s men in the distance. No matter how hard I tried to calm myself, each crack of a stick made me jump nearly out of my skin, and I swiveled my eyes in every direction.

  Though we were still on the Duchess’ property, we were pretty far from the duchy proper, and it relieved me the tiniest bit. I glanced at Valerie, and even though I thought she’d been calm the entire time, her shoulders slumped into a relaxed position.

  “Here should be good enough,” I uttered, reached for the reins, and pulled them back. “We’ll set up the trap over there a few yards, and then we’ll wait it out.”

  “There are so many animals here,” Valerie whispered.

  “How can you tell?” I asked as the wagon came to a full stop.

  I hopped from the driver’s seat, offered my hands to Valerie, and then helped her down. The feline-woman stood next to me, turned in place with wide eyes, and then paused as she listened to something in the distance.

  “You can’t see them?” the cat-girl turned and gestured to the trees all around us. “They’re everywhere. When we set up the trap, we may want to hide back a little farther. Otherwise, they won’t come out.”

  “Well, if they don’t come,” I snickered, lifted a heavy bag from the back of the wagon, and rested it on the forest floor. “Then we’ll make them.”

  I knelt down beside the bag, ripped open the strings, and held it open so that she could see inside.

  “Meat?” the cat-girl asked. “It smells delicious, but what’s that for?”

  “We can’t exactly trap something in a cage that doesn’t want to get in the cage to begin with.” I closed the bag, stepped around the wagon, and began loosening the straps on the cage. “We’ll put the meat in the cage, hide out for a bit, and when the cell door snaps shut, we’ll know we’ve got something. Here, come help me with this.”

&
nbsp; “You there!” a voice cried from behind us.

  The sound of galloping hooves reached our ears, so I turned at the last second as the rest of my body froze. Three riders appeared out of the darkness with lanterns raised over their heads, and they peered at us with squinted eyes.

  “Showtime!” Valerie giggled under her breath, strutted forward, and pressed her hands to her hips.

  My heart hammered in my chest as I recognized the squat man in the middle. I’d hoped we’d avoid seeing the warden, and if anything, run into his lackeys, but here he was, in the flesh, Deputy Warden Milton Nenderthaw.

  And he was an asshole.

  The man stood barely over five foot four, weighed roughly around two-hundred and fifty pounds, and was so bald the top of his head shone in the lamp-light. What little hair he did have rustled in the faint wind like dead leaves clinging to branches at the end of fall. His face was like that of a toad, square, bumpy with pockmarks, and had beady little black eyes.

  He wore the telltale warden’s uniform, navy blue slacks with a white pressed shirt tucked into it. His jacket was the same color as his pants but with round, golden buttons across the chest and the end of the sleeves. The warden’s badge was firmly pinned to his wide, chubby chest, and he turned purposefully so that it stuck out for all to see.

  “Well, well, well,” Milton snorted, leaned back in his saddle, and crossed his arms over his flabby chest. “If it isn’t Edenhart’s hermit Alchemist. What are you doing out here, Charles?”

  Though he was a man, I had to react to him the same way I did with the Duchess or any other aristocrat. I scrunched my shoulders in, made myself seem smaller, and played my part as the terrified scientist. I gestured toward Valerie, so she stood up straighter and flounced forward with her head leaned back.

  “We’re here under direct orders of the Duchess,” the cat-girl declared. “I’ve been put in charge of this vermin for the night.”

  “That still doesn’t answer my question,” Milton grumbled. “What are you doing out here? You know that poaching around the duchy is illegal, or has your stupid, little Alchemist brain forgotten?”