The Strangers of Precedent

“Excellent work, Mr. Chandry, on your comparison of The Monster’s plight and desire for nonexistent affection to name him Inigo. I’m sure that had nothing to do with the showings of The Princess Bride at the cinema this past week. Next week, we will finally move on from this horrid thing to some Charles Dickens.”

The class groaned. Frank laughed.

“Don’t worry, it’s A Christmas Carol, you can read it in one night and still be alive in the morning. Class dismissed.”

Franklin watched his students, especially the one that paused, holding only a notebook and pen. He’d seen the young lady plenty of times through Drake, but this might have been their first private conversation.

“Professor Monstro?” she asked, watching the other students leave.

“Yes, Ms. Fayner?”

She looked to and fro as if suffering an internal debate.

“This is going to sound rude.”

Frank grinned, leaning in.

“I like rude.”

“Okay,” Bobbi backed up, hands in front of her, “I know there’s a lot going on that the public at large doesn’t know about, or at least doesn’t know is real, and you seem very focused on Frankenstein…” Bobbi dropped her train of thought.

“Keep going,” Frank whispered.

“You’re very pale, even for academia, and your name is Franklin Monstro, so I have to ask,” she rubbed the back of her neck, “Have any students accused you of being Frankenstein’s…”

“Creation?” Franklin supplemented.

“Yeah, that.”

Frank pulled his glasses off, allowing Bobbi an unobscured view of his yellow eyes. She took a step back.

“Only the observant ones, Ms. Fayner, though I suppose you have the advantage spending so much time among our little circle.”

The girl stayed frozen.

“What circle?” she asked.

“That is a question that can only be answered through experience, I’m afraid.”

Bobbi nodded, looking around now that there weren’t any more students, then waved at Drake through the window.

“Thank you, Professor Monstro. That was my only question.”

She shuffled awkwardly to the hall as Frank collated his notes.

Frank glared at the chessboard, trying to think of anything but. His game with Thoth was at a standstill until he could plan a move, but right now he was in check.

Pulling him from his stupor was Drake’s laughter, a fact Frank refused to believe until he caught that Bobbi was stepping in with him.

“I’ll get changed,” Vlad announced, “Then we can head back out.”

“Maybe take a shower as well,” Bobbi said. “It got all over you.”

Franklin finally looked up at the carnage all over his assistant. It looked like some sort of milky substance had been tossed on Drake’s hoodie.

“Who did you piss off this time, Drake?” Frank asked.

“Syren tripped me, then I tried to take her cereal away, but was a little too forceful.” he pulled a piece of something out of his hoodie and flicked it into the trash.

“Off to the shower then with you!” Frank declared.

Drake turned to Bobbi.

“Play nice.”

“Never,” Bobbi replied, taking the seat across from Frank, balancing on a pile of laundry.

“Playing a game against yourself?” she asked.

“No, against Thoth. Drake takes the messages between us.”

“I didn’t realize you two could stand each other,” Bobbi replied. “You seem to avoid each other if you can help it.”

He had called her observant. Strange how he knew he could trust Bobbi with fantastical secrets, but not his mundane ones.

“Thoth and I had a disagreement several months ago, which has made in-person communication awkward, but our chess games cannot be abandoned.”

Bobbi stared at the board.

“So which color are you?”

“The losing one. Thoth usually takes black, says it’s more appropriate for our skin tones.”

“Yeah, I thought the monster’s skin was supposed to be yellow.”

Clever segue, she’d probably been aware of the games from Thoth keeping a board in his desk. Thoth’s lessons were going well.

“I grew out of it, and Victor was prone to exaggeration.”

“Including all the murder?”

Bobbi was either intensely nervous, or unbelievably serene to ask her host if he was a murderer. Either way Frank was impressed.

“There was death, some of it intentional, most of it not. I wasn’t the one who placed the necklace though.”

Bobbi gasped.

“Who did?”

It had been some time since Frank had been allowed to clear the record. Like his creator, he appreciated an audience.

“Just as my evil was exaggerated, so too was Elizabeth’s perfection.”

Bobbi’s eyes widened.

“So she—”

“She saw me. She knew Victor was hiding something. She wanted to see if her husband-to-be would be honest or not. Justine was a high price to pay for the failure of that test.”

Bobbi’s gaze flicked to and fro.

“Did you…?”

“She offered to help me. I was naive, believing a woman of her appearance would have no desire to harm anyone. She offered what I couldn’t refuse: someone to care about me.”

“Wait, you and Elizabeth—”

He quickly shook his head.

“No, not that kind of care. More like a mother or sister. She wanted me to come at a specific time on their wedding night, and I found a severely injured woman with a satisfied look in her eyes.”

“What?”

“She wanted us to pay for William and Justine. She knew we’d blame one another. I survived.”

Bobbi’s gaze had now turned haunted.

“I apologize if I’ve ruined the book for you now.”

“The book is what you’re worried about in this scenario?”

Frank nodded.

“I’m the only one left to be haunted by the events. It may as well be fiction.”

“Why do you teach it every year if you know it’s inaccurate?”

“Because, Ms. Fayner, I am not particularly fond of myself, but I refuse to die, so I torture myself by watching college students pick me apart.”

Bobbi placed a comforting hand on his arm.

“You shouldn’t be doing that.”

“So everyone tells me.”

Bobbi just shook her head.

“May I ask you a question now?” Frank asked, “Since I’ve bared a piece of myself to you.”

Bobbi had pulled her legs up, holding herself in a ball.

“Sure, why not? No promises though.”

“Do you know what you are?”

“No,” Bobbi admitted, “Drake says I’m not human, and I already know I’m… weird, so I have no clue what I am. Do you?”

Frank shook his head.

“I don’t know much about the races. I only mildly count as human myself. I know Drake keeps talking about a tree in relation to you.”

Bobbi rolled her eyes, finally letting her legs back down.

“I was in a tree that attacked some Vampires, and Drake is positive it was me, but killer trees aren’t in my typical repertoire, far as I’m aware.”

“Then what is, if I may ask?”

“You can ask,” Bobbi answered.

Frank laughed a bit at that.

“You should talk with Ms. Carson some time. She’s well practiced in the art of not answering. It would be nice to see her suffer some of it for herself.”

“I’ll consider it.”

Drake stepped down in a new hoodie. Hair still damp, he looked not unlike a wet kitten.

“My ride’s here.” Bobbi bounced off the couch, moving to Drake’s side.

“Enjoy the rest of your evening,” Frank said, “And should you see Thoth, tell him I cede.”

“Bishop to D5,” Bobbi said as Frank was putting his papers together, “Thoth asked me to pass the message.” she handed Frank a small piece of paper that confirmed the direction with an added image of a crow.

“So soon?” Frank asked aloud. With the board in his mind’s eye, he could tell Thoth was already setting up the end.

“Does the move mean something?” Bobbi asked.

“It means I’m not winning this round. Once Thoth starts on something there’s no escape.”

“Is that why you’re still here after the disagreement between you two?”

Frank crumpled the piece of paper, putting it in his jacket pocket for later.

“I’m free to leave at any point of course, but I like staying where there’s tenure, and no amount of disagreement would be worth leaving him.”

“Why not, what’s so special about him? Aside from the single name, no titles thing?”

Frank let the thought sit for a moment. He wasn’t sure he should let Bobbi know anything, but the problem was he wanted to know about her, and revealing himself seemed to be the best method.

“Everything I have, I owe to two people. The first is the one that made me live, not like Victor had, I mean forced me to have a life beyond survival. The second is Thoth. He recruited me, in so many words, told me strangers like us had to look out for each other, or we’d end up getting nowhere.”

“And who exactly are strangers like you?”

“Look around this school and you’ll see plenty, even yourself. We’re the people who don’t belong where we’re supposed to, if we have anywhere at all. Apart, we are a blemishes, but together, we are art.”

“Sounds like he gave a pretty good speech to keep you around,” Bobbi said.

Frank nodded.

“While I have you: you mentioned killer trees aren’t your usual repertoire. What is your usual repertoire?”

Bobbi crossed her arms.

“You already asked that question.”

“I asked if I could ask it, yes.”

They stood at a standstill for a moment. Bobbi flicked her eyes out the window before dropping her posture.

“Like you said before, I’m observant. I notice things people don’t. It’s not exactly super senses, just better anxiety,” she kept her attention on the window again, “I also get animals.”

“Get animals?”

“I understand them, sort of. We get each other. I don’t mess with them, they don’t mess with me; sometimes they’ll mess with people I don’t like. We get each other.”

Frank chuckled to himself.

“Bobbi the extra-aware animal whisperer.”

She nodded. Frank leaned in.

“I think there’s more.”

“And I think I need to get to my next class.” she backed away, still focused on the window.

Frank wrote down an approximation of what she said. He’d have to get it to Thoth directly because anyone else would share too much about it, and Frank wanted to respect Bobbi’s privacy.

“Your file will just have to stay empty for a little longer.”

“I owe you an apology,” Thoth said as he sat down on Frank’s lonely bench.

“Still lying I see,” Frank said, “Why are you here?”

“Because I want to apologize. I miss our games being in person.”

“And you were unaware of my conversations with Ms. Fayner?”

Thoth said nothing, the most damning evidence possible.

“If you’ve found something out—” he began.

“It’s her business. I understand your need for knowledge, but I also understand Bobbi’s need for privacy.”

“If Bobbi’s dangerous—”

“Then it hangs on your head, Thoth. As much I’d like to relieve your burdens, Bobbi will not trust me if I tell you anything about her.”

Thoth sighed, the loud one that made Frank feel awful.

“I miss our games being in-person as well,” Frank admitted.

“Can you forgive what I said?” Thoth asked, “Go back as we were before?”

“It’s not forgiveness that is needed, not from me.” Frank watched his old friend, “But if you’d be willing to deny your declaration…”

“No, I’m sorry if it hurts you Frank, but I will not lie to you, not about this.”

“Then things can’t go back to how they were, ever.”

He groaned as he stood up, watching Thoth’s response.

“Rook to C5,” he goodbyed, returning to his home.

Thoth would hand him another swift defeat, and Frank would gladly take it.

“Okay, this is going to sound awkward,” Bobbi said, waiting on Frank’s couch for Drake to finally wake up, “But were you sewn up and electrocuted like in the movies? Because the book never actually describes the process.”

Frank blew out some air.

“I remember as much of my birth as you probably do yours. I did have stitches holding me together once, but I’ve long since grown past them. Why do you ask, Ms. Fayner?”

Bobbi shrugged.

“Curiosity. Drake’s kind of judgey every time I ask about vampires, which gets annoying after awhile. You’re nicer about it.”

“Unlike my young companion,” Frank said, “I am the only thing like me in the universe, which means I am only aware of what I have already discovered about myself.”

Bobbi nodded along.

“I lost you, didn’t I?”

“No,” Bobbi shook her head, “I get it. Even here I seem to be the only one like me. It’s probably not as bad as you, though.”

Frank nodded.

“If you aren’t human, then you are probably like whoever made you, and they are probably among more like them. Perhaps you should confide in Thoth. He has books on more subjects than you could imagine.”

Bobbi bit her lip, looking down.

“You don’t trust Thoth,” Frank observed. Wise plan.

Bobbi shook her head. “Not with this. Everyone acts like he’s in charge of whatever conspiracy all of you are in on, and I don’t know if I want in on it.”

“You’ll need friends at some point, Bobbi, more than just Drake and your companions around your age.”

Bobbi sat with his advice in silence, looking out the window. This seemed to be a habit.

“Would you be my friend?” she asked.

“I’d be honored. What would you like to talk about?”

“There’s—”

“I’m sorry, Bobbi, have I kept you waiting?” Drake asked, for once not in baggy clothes. Bobbi watched his emaciated body with concern.

“Don’t worry, it looks worse than it actually is.”

“Should I have asked Singe to—”

“No, no. Just give me a minute, I’ll be ready momentarily.”

Bobbi watched Drake return to his room.

“Has he always looked like that?”

“No, but his access to blood is few and far between. Most in our circle can’t actually feed him without harming him more.”

“But not all,” Bobbi said.

“No, not all, but those that can have good reasons not to.”

“He’s starving!”

“He doesn’t want anyone to know that. His kind can endure starvation for much longer. He’s the one pushing his limits on this.”

Bobbi scowled.

“I look forward to your lecture,” Frank told her as Drake came down in loose clothes that hid his state.

Frank watched Bobbi’s seat in his classroom for the whole lecture, and during the Q&A portion, but she didn’t show. He found himself looking out the window to try finding her more than once.

He asked some of the other students if they knew where she was, and most of them didn’t even recognize her name. The girl needed more friends.

“She doesn’t miss classes,” he told the empty classroom as he abandoned it.

He headed to the library to make sure Thoth wasn’t holding the girl captive with labor. The door was awkward to maneuver into, which made his entrance obvious. Thoth smiled as he spotted him.

“Franklin, what are you doing here?” he asked.

“Is Ms. Fayner here?” Frank asked, “She wasn’t in class.”

Thoth’s expression quickly turned to concern as he called the Eves.

“Hello, Samson, is Bobbi in? No?”

Samson’s response sounded concerned.

“It’s probably just Drake occupying her time too much. Professor Monstro and I will have a talk with him, don’t worry.”

Thoth quickly hung up.

“We have lost our scholarship student,” he seethed, “Have Charmer find her while I search the grounds.”

“She doesn’t listen to me,” Frank said incredulously.

“She listens to you better than me. She’ll help if you ask. Please, Frank.”

Frank looked at the pleading hand on top of his.

“Of course.”

He awkwardly left the library, bumping into Drake immediately.

“Have you seen Bobbi?” Frank asked.

“No. I came here to check if she was in the library.”

“Thoth called the Eves when I asked after her. She isn’t at the mansion either.”

Drake began looking on top of buildings.

“What are you looking for?”

“The brotherhood’s still skulking around. Their numbers are lowered after the cave incident, but that just makes them more vindictive. They don’t just want to drink Bobbi anymore, they want vengeance for bringing a demon to their doorstep.”

All those times looking out the window. She wasn’t talking to him out of interest. She was afraid, and needed an excuse to stay later.

“How are you sure of this?”

“They told us. They weren’t going to attack while I was there, but they gave warning.”

They could solve this. They had some experience with vampires.

“You find her, I’ll get the demon to their doorstep again.”

As Drake ran back the way he came, Frank ran into a nearby alley, only catching his breath to ensure the pronunciation was correct.

“Hecate,” he invoked, “Bobbi may have been taken. Can you find her?”

He felt a headache coming on as the red-haired woman left his mind and entered the space next to him.

“This is a small task to invoke my name for, darling.” she took his hand in both of hers, barely covering it, “Why is this so important?”

“I worry for her safety. I have come to see Bobbi as a friend, and I need to see her safe.”

Maybe she was looking out the window because she was afraid. Maybe everything she told him about herself was lies to buy more time safe inside. Frank didn’t care at the moment.

“And Thoth asked you to invoke me,” she added, “That—”

“Dear,” Frank interrupted, “I chose to invoke you. Will you help us save her?”

She sighed, closing her eyes. As she opened them moments later she stepped out of the alley.

“Follow me. She’s in grave danger.”

Hecate placed him near the edge of a building, whose roof had some sort of motion on it.

“Stay here in case she falls,” Hecate said, running up a stairway.

Drake rushed past Frank moments later.

“Get away from me, assholes!” Bobbi yelled from above. Whatever the assholes’ response, Frank couldn’t make it out.

The yelling was reassuring in that it meant Bobbi wasn’t too scared to form words. Though maybe she should be.

Frank’s mind swirled with thoughts of what revenge could mean from the Brotherhood of the Confederacy when one of the vampires fell next to him, crumpled on the ground. When the vampire recovered, he glared at Frank.

“I’ve been told I smell rancid. I’d apologize if you weren’t intending to hurt my friend.”

He wasn’t a fast man, but he was able to grab the creature by the neck.

“Your Brotherhood is unwelcome here. Leave.” It was a simple motion to crush the thing’s neck. He’d done it accidentally many a time. He threw him to the side and continued to watch.

Then Bobbi was thrown over the side. She seemed less concerned than the vampire, making no noise, and even turning over in midair with some shimmer on her back before falling into Frank’s arms. She gave an awkward smile.

“Thanks.”

Frank let her down, and she saw the vampire with a clearly crushed windpipe, though it was already recovering.

“I didn’t think falling would hurt him.”

“Did you make him fall?” Frank asked.

“No, but…”

“The man was going to wreak his vengeance upon you. His pain is not your fault. Besides, this won’t kill him. I feel more sorry for whoever threw you over.”

Bobbi reached into the pocket of her skirt, and pulled out a rose.

“You’ve had that the whole time?” Frank asked.

Bobbi ignored him, pulling petals off before placing one in the Vampire’s agape mouth.

“This removes most of their power, right?”

“Not for long, but that’s what I’ve been told.”

“Good.”

She must have seen something off in Frank’s expression when she turned around, because something in her softened.

“I’ll probably be staying late for class more often, considering these guys don’t seem to stop.”

“You are more than welcome.”

“Thanks.”

She placed the rose back in her pocket, and Frank had the sneaking suspicion nobody else would be able to remove it.

“I think you know more of yourself than you let on.”

Bobbi shrugged.

“Isn’t that true of everyone?”

Drake skid down the wall, holding himself up with the claws of his hand. Frank and Bobbi shared a wince. The moment he landed, Drake hugged Bobbi.

“That’s a little bit tight,” Bobbi said.

“Apologies. I was just worried you…”

“I’m okay, Frank caught me.”

“Still,” Drake said, looking up, “It had to hurt falling from that high, even if Frank had any give.”

Frank thought back to the shimmer, and Bobbi’s calmness in the air.

“I already told you about the time I fell off a building without breaking a bone. Freaked out every other kid in my year after that.”

“I would like to hear that story,” Frank said.

“Honestly that’s most of the story there. The rest is doctors, x-rays, and getting the DSR called on me.”

“Well we’re certainly not going to call them,” Frank assured.

Bobbi sat in the hospital room, fiddling with her fingers just to make sure she could still use them.

“What are you in for?” the kid in the other bed asked.

“I fell off a building,” she said, “Doctors say I’m okay though.”

“How tall was the building?”

Bobbi shrugged.

“About two stories.”

“No wonder they put you in the power ward,” the other kid said, “Even if you couldn’t hurt anybody, you’re clearly not normal.”

“And why are you here?” Bobbi asked, defensive. She hadn’t realized this was the ward for superhumans. She had nothing against superhumans, but she couldn’t be one. She wasn’t sure why.

“Power development,” they showed a burn scar on their arm, “The institute needs a place to keep me, and for some reason they never invested in hospital beds.”

“What does the institute do?” she asked.

“They study you until they figure you out, then they make a file with your name on it saying what all you can and can’t do. Some people even go back to get as good as they can. The institute’s stupid enough to trust they won’t try to take over the world.”

“Has anyone tried to take over the world?”

“Well,” the kid squirmed, “Not with powers yet, but plenty of people have tried.”

“Right…”

This kid was ridiculous. Bobbi watched whoever her doctor was talking to in the nice suit.

“What happens if they decide you’re dangerous?” she asked.

“Then your name gets put on a watchlist and the police arrest you within the year. My cousin told me that’s why he got arrested last year. That’s why I’ll never let them know what all I can do.

She didn’t know if she trusted the kid’s cousin, but knew she couldn’t trust whoever was in the suit.

She looked at the mirror in front of her bed.

“How did you survive a fall like that anyways?” the kid asked.

“I don’t know.”

She felt a twitch in her back prove her wrong. Barely visible in the mirror was a pair of what Bobbi guessed were wings. They looked like thin panes of glass. She couldn’t help remembering the fairy books her foster mom had for design inspiration

With a swallow the wings slid back behind her back, too thin for anyone else to realize they were there.

Never let them know. That was the rule.