{buffyverse} inspriation
Title: Inspiration
Author: aaronlisa
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing/Characters: Maggie Walsh
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and company.
Prompts: Written for snickfic for round four at genfic_minis for the prompts of Maggie Walsh, resolve, after dark and an illicit encyclopedia.
Notes: AU, set pre-series.
Summary: Long before Adam or Sunnydale, Maggie finds the inspiration to become a modern day Victor Frankenstein.
Word Count: 912
Maggie Walsh has always loved Frankenstein when she was growing up. Her father had read her the book over the years and he had always told her that as a scientist his goal was to conquer death just like Victor Frankenstein had. He had told her that Victor Frankenstein was a misunderstood hero that Hollywood had destroyed. It was her father that had set her on her path when she was young and still idealistic.
* * *
She is twenty-one and holidaying near Lake Geneva, something that Maggie’s mother had been against but her father had insisted on. In two weeks’ time she will return to the United States where she will enter the Masters program in science at the university her father teaches at.
Ever since she was a little girl, he had promised to show her his work when she grew up and she can barely wait for her holidays to end. Still she relaxes in the bathtub enjoying the steaming hot water as she drinks from a glass of wine. Her battered copy of Shelley’s masterpiece lies upon her bed as Maggie daydreams about what the future holds for her.
She smiles as the sun finishes it’s descent bathing her room and the bathroom in a rosy-golden glow for a few brief moments until the rooms are suddenly dark as the night finally sets in. Maggie lies in the tub for a few more moments, before finally standing up and stepping out of the tub. She wraps the soft cotton towel around her body and then drains the water from the tub. Maggie glides from the bathroom to the main room. She turns on the lamp on the bedside table before getting dressed.
Tonight she is to attend an invite-only dinner that is supposed to recreate the feel of Lord Byron’s infamous evening of ghost story telling. Although she doubts that it’ll even come close, Maggie is excited as she slips on the dark-coloured silk gown that her mother had insisted on packing for her before she had left home.
* * *
The evening was fast becoming a complete waste of her time. It had started promising enough with most of the guests appearing to be equally fascinated in Frankenstein but she quickly learned that most of the guests were enthused about the Hollywood versions of the tale and of painting Victor Frankenstein as a monster. Maggie sips at her wine and wonders if anyone would notice if she left. Just as she is about to leave, a dark-haired man captures her elbow.
She looks at him and she feels an illicit thrill run up and down her spine. Although she knows that she shouldn’t follow him, Maggie does.
“I saw that you were bored with those fools.”
His words are lightly accented and she can’t quite place the accent. Maggie nods in response. There’s something about him that makes her want to run away as quickly as she can but she resolves herself to stay. He’s far more interesting than those fools in the main parlour. He smiles at her.
“Why are you so interested in the tale of Frankenstein?”
“My father read me the book when I was a child. He always told me that Victor was a great scientist.”
The man laughs at her and Maggie’s lips thin as she waits for him to finish. He notices her anger and he tries to soothe her with his words.
“You mistake my merriment. I was not laughing at you but at the fact that your father is one of the very few who believe this to be true.”
She nods in response but still folds her arms across her chest. He is suddenly no longer attractive to her.
“I have something for you.”
He turns from her and walks over to one of the shelves that adorn the walls of the library he has brought her to. She quietly watches, as he seems to hesitate before pulling out a book. He slowly walks back to her; he stops in front of her, closer than before. Maggie waits as he sighs as he stares down at the book. She barely casts it a glance but she can tell that it is old.
“I have in my hands a very old book full of very old secrets. Secrets that perhaps Victor knew when he set out to create his Adam.”
“Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character.”
“Ah but what if he wasn’t, what if there had been some truth in Mary Shelley’s words?”
“Impossible.”
He laughs before he pushes the book into her cold hands. “How little you know, but how much you will learn is your choice.”
He walks out of the room and Maggie looks down at the book. She feels a thrill run through her body that is far more intense than the one he had caused. She sits down in one of the leather wing chairs and opens the book. It is an encyclopedia but like none other that she has seen before.
Hours have passed as she read page after page. The caretaker discovers her in the library and rushes her out of the house, the book tight in her hand. It’s long past midnight as Maggie makes her way back to the hotel. The encyclopedia is just a start but she suspects that it will lead her to other books that will guide her in her new life’s work. She will succeed where Victor had failed.
((END))
Author: aaronlisa
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing/Characters: Maggie Walsh
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and company.
Prompts: Written for snickfic for round four at genfic_minis for the prompts of Maggie Walsh, resolve, after dark and an illicit encyclopedia.
Notes: AU, set pre-series.
Summary: Long before Adam or Sunnydale, Maggie finds the inspiration to become a modern day Victor Frankenstein.
Word Count: 912
Maggie Walsh has always loved Frankenstein when she was growing up. Her father had read her the book over the years and he had always told her that as a scientist his goal was to conquer death just like Victor Frankenstein had. He had told her that Victor Frankenstein was a misunderstood hero that Hollywood had destroyed. It was her father that had set her on her path when she was young and still idealistic.
* * *
She is twenty-one and holidaying near Lake Geneva, something that Maggie’s mother had been against but her father had insisted on. In two weeks’ time she will return to the United States where she will enter the Masters program in science at the university her father teaches at.
Ever since she was a little girl, he had promised to show her his work when she grew up and she can barely wait for her holidays to end. Still she relaxes in the bathtub enjoying the steaming hot water as she drinks from a glass of wine. Her battered copy of Shelley’s masterpiece lies upon her bed as Maggie daydreams about what the future holds for her.
She smiles as the sun finishes it’s descent bathing her room and the bathroom in a rosy-golden glow for a few brief moments until the rooms are suddenly dark as the night finally sets in. Maggie lies in the tub for a few more moments, before finally standing up and stepping out of the tub. She wraps the soft cotton towel around her body and then drains the water from the tub. Maggie glides from the bathroom to the main room. She turns on the lamp on the bedside table before getting dressed.
Tonight she is to attend an invite-only dinner that is supposed to recreate the feel of Lord Byron’s infamous evening of ghost story telling. Although she doubts that it’ll even come close, Maggie is excited as she slips on the dark-coloured silk gown that her mother had insisted on packing for her before she had left home.
* * *
The evening was fast becoming a complete waste of her time. It had started promising enough with most of the guests appearing to be equally fascinated in Frankenstein but she quickly learned that most of the guests were enthused about the Hollywood versions of the tale and of painting Victor Frankenstein as a monster. Maggie sips at her wine and wonders if anyone would notice if she left. Just as she is about to leave, a dark-haired man captures her elbow.
She looks at him and she feels an illicit thrill run up and down her spine. Although she knows that she shouldn’t follow him, Maggie does.
“I saw that you were bored with those fools.”
His words are lightly accented and she can’t quite place the accent. Maggie nods in response. There’s something about him that makes her want to run away as quickly as she can but she resolves herself to stay. He’s far more interesting than those fools in the main parlour. He smiles at her.
“Why are you so interested in the tale of Frankenstein?”
“My father read me the book when I was a child. He always told me that Victor was a great scientist.”
The man laughs at her and Maggie’s lips thin as she waits for him to finish. He notices her anger and he tries to soothe her with his words.
“You mistake my merriment. I was not laughing at you but at the fact that your father is one of the very few who believe this to be true.”
She nods in response but still folds her arms across her chest. He is suddenly no longer attractive to her.
“I have something for you.”
He turns from her and walks over to one of the shelves that adorn the walls of the library he has brought her to. She quietly watches, as he seems to hesitate before pulling out a book. He slowly walks back to her; he stops in front of her, closer than before. Maggie waits as he sighs as he stares down at the book. She barely casts it a glance but she can tell that it is old.
“I have in my hands a very old book full of very old secrets. Secrets that perhaps Victor knew when he set out to create his Adam.”
“Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character.”
“Ah but what if he wasn’t, what if there had been some truth in Mary Shelley’s words?”
“Impossible.”
He laughs before he pushes the book into her cold hands. “How little you know, but how much you will learn is your choice.”
He walks out of the room and Maggie looks down at the book. She feels a thrill run through her body that is far more intense than the one he had caused. She sits down in one of the leather wing chairs and opens the book. It is an encyclopedia but like none other that she has seen before.
Hours have passed as she read page after page. The caretaker discovers her in the library and rushes her out of the house, the book tight in her hand. It’s long past midnight as Maggie makes her way back to the hotel. The encyclopedia is just a start but she suspects that it will lead her to other books that will guide her in her new life’s work. She will succeed where Victor had failed.
((END))