Ghosts and Frankenstein, oh my!
HsuanNing Yang
When Florian Grendel walked into the kitchen, he was greeted with the smell of burnt coffee and the sound of children screeching.
Truly, those who say they enjoy hearing the sound of children’s voices are the ones with no children at all, he mused to himself. He could already feel a headache coming, something that had become quite more common ever since he had taken in two rowdy teenagers from the streets.
Sylvia sat upon the countertop while Leon leaned against the kitchen island with arms crossed. The overboiled coffee was completely forgotten as they focused their attention on yelling incoherently at each other.
Walking over to the countertop–but not before giving Leon a firm ruffle on the hair–Florian patted Sylvia’s shoulder, gesturing her to jump down as he poured out the burnt coffee and rinsed the pot. He tuned the kid’s argument out, just like he had done hundreds of times before, instead focusing his energy on brewing a fresh pot of coffee.
Before he even managed to pour the coffee grounds into the pot, Leon stopped arguing, looked over, and scrunched up his nose.
“Hey, Old man! I told you we should have added more lights during the renovation. This mansion is too damn big, those tiny lamps lining the hallways barely light up anything!”
“Exactly,” Sylvia nodded in agreement. “The mansion is literally haunted!”
Haunted? Florian thought with amusement. He could see their point. The appearance of the manor did have rather Victorian-esque vibes, but he had been living here for decades before adopting the two ruffians. Surely he would know if supernatural entities lived here.
“How did you come to that conclusion?” He asked, taking out eggs from the fridge. Occasions where Sylvia and Leon agreed on something were quite rare, after all.
“Yesterday, I saw a ghost!”
“There’s a literal Frankenstein monster!”
They said at the same time. It was a rather amusing quirk, Florian found, but it also led to more petty arguments. Sylvia and Leon glared at each other before their yelling erupted once more.
“Are you stupid? The creature was literally completely pale white, and it was fluttering around! Frankenstein monsters don’t look like that!”
Sylvia scowled, eyes blazing. “You must be going colorblind, how in the world did you see white? The creature was an ugly shade of green, and it was super tall with some weird gait!”
Florian sighed as he scrambled the eggs in the pan. Moments of peace were fleeting in this household. After thinking for a few seconds, he turned around and held up a hand. The kids quieted down, looking towards him.
“How about you two explain your side one by one?” He turned towards Sylvia. “You first.” Twirling her hair, Sylvia started.
“Well…”
______________________________________________________________________________
Sylvia twirled in front of the mirror in her room, admiring the way the pale robe fluttered around her as she moved. The silky bathrobe had been a bargain she found at the local thrift shop. She was quite proud of her find, with the robe being almost new and in impeccable condition.
Suddenly, the loud clock struck.
Bong!
Bong!
Bong!
She counted eleven strikes, then sighed. Eleven o’clock already?
Sliding on her slippers, Sylvia stepped into the hallway, making her way to the bathroom. She had to take off her face mask and dry her hair–which was currently cocooned into a white towel on her head– before going to sleep.
She shivered as she walked, rubbing her arms. It was always unsettling to be awake alone, especially late at night. Hurrying along the way, she turned at the corridor and stopped dead in her tracks.
A strange creature, with green skin and a strange silver contraction upon its head, towered before her, letting out guttural moans. There was a red trail behind them that could only be blood, and Sylvia couldn’t help but let out a loud gasp.
She hurriedly clamped her hand over her mouth, but she was too late.
The Frankenstein-esque monster turned around and stared deep into her eyes. Scared out of her mind, Sylvia let out a guttural scream. Time seemed to freeze in place, and it took quite a few seconds before she regained her composure and ran back to her room.
______________________________________________________________________________
Florian raised an eyebrow. “I see. So you saw some green monster down the hallway.”
Sylvia nodded fervently. “Yes, I’m telling you it was right there!” She shuddered. “The creature looked so freakish, and the strangest part is, even though it was trailing blood, there were no stains when I checked the hallway this morning.”
Florian pursed his lips, deep in thought. Somehow, he had an inkling of what had happened last night, but he still wanted to hear both sides of the story before coming to a conclusion.
Turning towards Leon, he asked. “Well, what happened to you?”
Leon sighed, slouching forward. “Last night…”
______________________________________________________________________________ Bong!
Bong!
Bong!
Leon grimaced as the clock struck, stopping his pottery wheel. The music coming from his headphones wasnn’t quite loud enough to drown out the noise of the antique clock. The vase he had been making hadn’t turned out the way he wanted, likely due to him wearing gloves, but he didn’t want to dig clay out of his nails, especially so late at night.
After standing up and stretching, he scraped off some of the excess clay from his green latex gloves before heading to the bathroom to wash everything. As he walked down the hallway, he hummed, music still blasting while holding his clay-stained gloves in front of him
Unaware of his surroundings, he took a turn around the corridor only to bang his ankle on the
corner, nearly tripping.
Letting out a groan of pain, he looked behind himself and realized a piece of red plastic had accidentally gotten stuck on his shoe.
Sighing, he turned around, resolving to fix the issue when his hands were freed, only to freeze in place.
In front of him was a ghost, pale as the moon. The entirety of the creature was covered in thin, silvery slips of silky white, from where its head is supposed to be to its bottom, only three dark holes marking where the creature’s eyes and mouth were.
The ghost stood there, staring at him before letting out a blood-curdling scream.
Leon yelped, stumbling backward, and nearly collided with the wall. His mind blanked. Fight or flight, it said. He chose the latter.
He sprinted down the hall, socks sliding on the polished wooden floor, not daring to look back. Only when he slammed his bedroom door shut and dove under the covers did he realize his headphones were still blasting music.
______________________________________________________________________________
“I’m telling you,” Leon muttered, wide-eyed at the memory, “I saw a ghost. Floating or whatever. And it screamed at me like it wanted to rip my soul out.”
Florian slid the eggs onto a plate, chuckling lightly. The children stared at him indigently, one still dressed in white robes and the other’s silver headphones lay around their neck.
“So,” he began, “Sylvia, your green Frankenstein monster had some metallic contraption on his head, right?”
Sylvia nodded cautiously.
“And Leon,” he continued, “your ghost wore a silky white robe and screamed when she saw you?”
Leon blinked. “…Yeah?”
Florian placed his mug down with a quiet clink.
“Well,” he said, “it seems last night, the ghost met the monster, and both of them ran screaming in opposite directions.”
There was a moment of silence. Then realization dawned on their faces.
Sylvia’s eyes went wide. “Wait. You’re saying—”
“Yes,” Florian said evenly. “You two terrified each other.”
Leon groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Oh, for—”
Sylvia gasped, indignant. “How was I supposed to know it was him? He looked like a radioactive-”
“Radioactive? You were the one dressed like a flying bedsheet!”
“I’ll let you know that my robe is perfectly beautiful; it was a huge bargain! Your simple brain just can’t comprehend beauty!”
Florian took another sip of coffee, unbothered by the chaos returning to the kitchen. “Next time,” he said dryly, “we’ll install brighter lights. Or perhaps just earlier bedtimes. Who knows, I might need to get you two some eye doctor appointments as well.”