Bite of Story Thursday

Night Children: Dark Threats

Chapter Four : 1899 How To Catch An Invisible Man

The shed was small and contained various gardening supplies and a stack of old bricks.  She could smell his perspiration coming from the back wall.  His heart thundered.

As if these things weren’t enough to give him away, the hovering shovel that threatened her safety moved dangerously close to her chest.  Its metal could pierce her skin, allowing the long wooden handle to act like a stake to her heart.  She needed to calm him down quickly.

Mesmerization was not an option thanks to the man’s lack of eyes.  Annabelle wasn’t as skilled as Roxanna or Fenroth.  She couldn’t transfix someone she couldn’t see.  She spoke very calmly, “Please Doctor Griffin.  Listen to me.  You must be a reasonable man.  It’s obvious you’re a brilliant scientist.  You mastered the art of invisibility.  No one else can do that.”

The shovel shook slightly, revealing how cold the man must’ve been.  It lowered an inch.  “They’re all fools.  They know nothing of the potential I’ve discovered.”

“Of course.  They were wrong to hunt you.  They don’t understand the miracles you have wrought.”

The shovel lowered, its sharp tip touched the floor.  “Exactly.  Those superstitious buffoons, they’d rather run brilliant men out of town than embrace science and all its wonder.”  The shovel now leaned against the back wall.

A long pause followed.  The kind of silence that would make a normal person wonder if he still stood there.  Annabelle could tell by his heartbeat that Griffin began to calm.

Finally he spoke again, “I must admit it’s comforting to hear a familiar accent.  I take it you’re from London?”

“Spent the first ten years of my life there and moved back for a while years later.  Some nights I miss it.”

“Years later?  You don’t look very old.”  He sounded surprised. 

After so many years of the same reaction, Annabelle was used to it.  “As you know looks can be deceiving.  Come with me Doctor Griffin.  I can take you someplace private.  Someplace warm, where you won’t have to hide.”

His invisible feet shuffled as he stepped closer.  “That would be nice.  I just want to be left alone.  I’ve been on the run for so long.  I can’t imagine what solitude would be like.  Time to study and plan.”

“Plan?”

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