It was eight o’clock when we reached the shore. We walked along the water for a little while, enjoying the last traces of daylight, then returned to the inn.
From there, we watched the beautiful lake, forests, and mountains slowly disappear into darkness. Even after the light was gone, their dark outlines could still be seen against the sky.
The wind had died down earlier, but now it suddenly rose from the west with great force.
The moon was high above us and had just begun its descent. Clouds raced across it, moving faster than a flying bird, repeatedly blocking its light. The lake reflected the restless sky, while waves began to rise and disturb the water.
Then, without warning, a heavy rainstorm broke over us.
I had been calm throughout the day.
But as darkness covered everything around me, a thousand fears suddenly returned.
I became tense and watchful. My right hand held a pistol hidden inside my coat.
Every sound frightened me.
Still, I was determined not to run. If the creature came for me, I would fight him to the death. One of us would have to die.
Elizabeth watched my growing anxiety in silence.
She seemed frightened by the expression on my face.
Finally, trembling, she asked, “What is troubling you, my dear Victor? What are you afraid of?”
“Oh, be at peace, my love,” I replied. “This night will decide everything, and after tonight we will be safe.
“But tonight… tonight is terrible.”
For another hour I remained in that state of fear and expectation.
Then I suddenly thought about Elizabeth.
If the creature attacked me while she was nearby, she would be terrified.
I begged her to go to her room and remain there.
I told myself that I would not join her until I had discovered where my enemy was hiding.
She left me alone.
I walked up and down the corridors of the inn, examining every corner and every dark place where the creature might be hiding.
But I found nothing.
After some time, I began to think that perhaps something unexpected had prevented him from carrying out his threat.
Then I heard a scream.
It was high, sharp, and filled with terror.
It came from Elizabeth’s room.
In that instant, I understood everything.
My arms fell helplessly at my sides.
Every muscle in my body seemed to freeze.
For one brief moment, I could almost feel the blood moving through my veins.
Then the scream came again.
I rushed toward her room.
My God!
Why did I not die at that moment?
Why was I left alive to tell the story of the destruction of the woman I loved most in the world?
Elizabeth lay across the bed, completely still.
Her head hung over the side, and her pale, distorted face was partly hidden beneath her hair.
Even now, wherever I turn in my memory, I see the same terrible image: her lifeless body lying where the murderer had thrown her, as though the bed itself had become her wedding coffin.
How could I see such a thing and continue living?
Yet life clings to us most stubbornly when we hate it most.
For a moment, I lost consciousness and collapsed to the floor.
When I came to, several people from the inn were standing around me.
Their faces were filled with terror.
But their fear meant nothing compared with what was happening inside me.
I pushed past them and returned to the room where Elizabeth lay.
My Elizabeth.
My wife.
Only moments earlier, she had been alive.
Now she was gone.
Someone had moved her from the position in which I had first found her. She was lying with her head resting on one arm, while a cloth covered part of her face and neck.
For a moment, she almost looked as though she were sleeping.
I rushed to her and pulled her into my arms.
But her body was terribly cold and completely still.
There was no life left in the woman I had loved and protected.
The marks of the creature’s hands were clearly visible around her neck.
No breath came from her lips.
I remained bent over her, lost in unbearable despair.
Then I happened to look toward the window.
The room had been dark before, but now a pale yellow moonlight suddenly entered.
The shutters had been thrown open.
And there, standing at the open window, I saw the most horrifying creature I had ever seen.
It was him.
The monster was grinning.
He seemed to be mocking me.
Then he raised one terrible finger and pointed directly at Elizabeth’s dead body.
I rushed toward the window.
I pulled out my pistol and fired.
But the creature moved with incredible speed.
He jumped away from the window and ran toward the lake.
Before I could fire again, he plunged into the water and disappeared.
The sound of the gun brought everyone running into the room.
I pointed toward the place where the creature had vanished.
Several men took boats onto the lake and followed his path. They threw nets into the water and searched everywhere.
But they found nothing.
After several hours, we finally gave up and returned to shore.
Some of the men were convinced that I had imagined the creature—that the horror I had seen had been nothing more than a product of my broken mind.
Once we reached land, they divided into groups and searched the surrounding countryside, moving through the woods and vineyards in different directions.
I tried to go with them.
But I could barely walk.
My head spun.
My steps were unsteady, like those of a drunk man.
Finally, I collapsed completely.
My vision became cloudy, and my skin burned with fever.
The others carried me back to the inn and placed me in bed.
I was barely aware of what was happening.
My eyes moved restlessly around the room, as though I were searching for something I had lost.
After some time, I managed to get up.
Almost without knowing what I was doing, I crawled into the room where Elizabeth’s body lay.
Several women were gathered around her, crying.
I knelt beside her and began to weep with them.
My mind could not hold a single clear thought.
Everything was confused.
I thought about my suffering and the terrible events that had caused it, but I could not fully understand what was happening.
William.
Justine.
Henry.
And now Elizabeth.
They had all been taken from me.
And at that moment, I did not even know whether my remaining loved ones were safe.
The creature might already have reached my father.
Perhaps he was even killing Ernest at that very moment.
The thought filled me with horror.
Suddenly I forced myself to act.
I had to return to Geneva.
I had to find out whether my father and Ernest were still alive.
There were no horses available, so I had no choice but to travel back across the lake.
The wind was against us, and heavy rain poured down.
But it was still very early in the morning, and I believed that we might reach Geneva by nightfall.
I hired several men to row the boat and took an oar myself.
Physical activity had often helped me escape my mental suffering.
But this time I was too overwhelmed.
My grief and agitation were too powerful.
I could not row.
I dropped the oar and buried my head in my hands, allowing every dark thought to take control of me.
Whenever I looked up, I saw places that had been beautiful to me only a day earlier.
I had seen them with Elizabeth.
Now she was nothing more than a memory.
Tears streamed down my face.
For a brief moment, the rain stopped.
I saw fish moving through the clear water, just as they had done the day before when Elizabeth had watched them.
Nothing is more painful to the human mind than a sudden and terrible change.
The same sun could shine.
The same clouds could cover the sky.
The same mountains could stand before me.
But nothing looked the way it had the day before.
The creature had stolen every hope I had for the future.
No human being, I believed, had ever suffered as I had.
But why should I describe everything that happened after that terrible night?
My story had already reached the worst point imaginable.
One by one, everyone I loved had been taken from me.
I was completely alone.
I have little strength left even now, so I will tell the rest as briefly as I can.
I eventually reached Geneva.
My father and Ernest were still alive.
But when my father heard what had happened, the news destroyed him.
I can still see him.
He had been such a kind and dignified old man.
Now his eyes seemed empty.
They had lost the happiness that once filled them.
Elizabeth had been more than a daughter to him. He had loved her deeply, and because he had so few people left to care about in his old age, he had held her even closer to his heart.
And now she was gone.
Cursed be the creature who had brought such misery upon his final years!
My father could not survive the pain.
His strength suddenly failed.
He could no longer rise from his bed.
Within a few days, he died in my arms.
What happened to me after that, I cannot clearly remember.
I lost all awareness of myself.
For a long time, I knew only darkness and the feeling of chains around me.
Sometimes I dreamed that I was walking through beautiful fields and peaceful valleys with the friends of my youth.
Then I would wake and discover that I was actually lying in a prison cell.
For months, I had been kept alone because people believed I was insane.
Eventually, however, my mind began to clear.
I understood what had happened to me and where I was.
And finally, I was released.
Freedom would have meant nothing to me if I had not also awakened to another feeling.
Revenge.
As my memories returned, I began to think about the cause of all my suffering.
The monster.
The miserable creature I had created and released into the world.
The being who had destroyed everyone I loved.
Whenever I thought of him, rage consumed me.
I desperately wished that I could find him.
I wanted him within my reach so that I could finally make him pay for everything he had done.
My hatred did not remain a mere wish for long.
I began thinking about how I could find him.
About a month after my release, I went to a criminal magistrate in the town.
“I have an accusation to make,” I told him. “I know who destroyed my family. I know who murdered them. I need you to use all your authority to find him and bring him to justice.”
The magistrate listened carefully and treated me with kindness.
“Be assured, sir,” he said, “I will spare no effort to discover this criminal.”
“Thank you,” I replied. “Then listen to the statement I have to make.
“It is an extraordinary story, and I am afraid you may not believe me. But there is a truth in it so powerful that even the most unbelievable parts cannot be dismissed.
“My story is too detailed and connected to be mistaken for a dream, and I have no reason to lie.”
I spoke calmly and seriously.
I had already made a decision in my heart.
I would pursue the creature until one of us was dead.
That determination brought a strange peace to my mind. For the first time in a long while, I felt that I had a reason to keep living.
I then told the magistrate my story.
I kept it brief but precise.
I gave him the dates and described what had happened without exaggeration, insults, or emotional outbursts.
At first, the magistrate clearly did not believe me.
But as I continued, he became more and more attentive.
Sometimes I saw horror appear on his face.
At other times, he looked deeply surprised, yet he did not seem to think that I was deliberately lying.
When I finished, I looked directly at him.
“This is the creature I accuse.
“I ask you to use all the power of your office to find and punish him.
“That is your duty as a magistrate. And I hope that, as a human being, you will also understand why this must be done.”
My words changed his expression.
Until then, he had listened to my story with the kind of half-belief people sometimes give to tales of ghosts and supernatural events.
But now I was asking him to take official action.
His doubts returned.
He answered gently.
“I would gladly help you, but this creature seems to possess abilities that could defeat every effort I make.
“How could we possibly track something that can cross frozen seas and hide in caves and remote places where no ordinary man could survive?
“Besides, months have passed since these crimes were committed.
“No one knows where he has gone or where he may be hiding now.”
“I have no doubt that he is still somewhere near me,” I replied.
“If he has taken refuge in the Alps, then he can be hunted just like a wild animal.
“But I understand what you are thinking.
“You do not believe my story, and you have no intention of pursuing my enemy or giving him the punishment he deserves.”
My anger showed clearly in my eyes.
The magistrate seemed frightened by my intensity.
“You are mistaken,” he said. “I will do everything I can.
“If it is within my power to capture this creature, I promise he will be punished according to his crimes.
“But from everything you have told me about him, I fear that catching him may be impossible.
“I will take every reasonable step, but you must prepare yourself for the possibility that we will fail.”
“That is impossible,” I said.
“But I know that anything I say will probably make no difference.
“My revenge may mean nothing to you. I know revenge is a terrible weakness, but it is the only passion left in my soul.
“I cannot describe the rage I feel when I remember that the murderer I released upon the world is still alive.
“You refuse to give me the justice I demand.
“Then I have only one choice.
“I will devote the rest of my life—or my death—to destroying him.”
I was trembling violently as I spoke.
There was something almost wild in my manner, something fierce and desperate.
But the magistrate saw only madness in it.
He tried to calm me as though I were a frightened child.
Once again, he treated my story as nothing more than the result of delirium.
“Man!” I cried. “How blind you are, despite all your confidence in your own wisdom!
“Stop. You have no idea what you are saying.”
I stormed out of the magistrate’s house, furious and deeply disturbed.
If the law would not help me, I would have to find another way.
I withdrew to think about what I could do next.
The hunt for the creature had begun.