Meanwhile, Igor had returned to the clinic looking a lot sleeker than before. He was now clothed in a custom-made shirt, a nice jacket, a scarf, good trousers and leather shoes. He even managed to tame his wild curls somewhat to make his hair look more decent. 

“I’m surprised you didn’t get flowers and candy.” Agatha half-teased. 

“Should I have?” Igor asked nervously. 

“No, you dolt. Don’t forget of WHY you’re meeting Ms. Mortiz.” she reminded him firmly. 

“I know. I know. This is about William and make no mistake, I want to help that poor boy. I was once abused myself as a boy for... you know... ” Igor discreetly pointed to his hump. 

Agatha sighed in relief with a compassionate expression. 

“She is such a caring lady though, isn’t she? Wanting to save that boy. She’s kind and cute.” Igor smiled blushing. 

Ghost hooted in Igor’s face loudly to bring him back to reality. 

Igor blushed harder “I’ll stay focused on the topic. I promise.” 

The owl gave him a stern look when there was a knock at the door. The hunchback’s face lit up as Agatha answered the door. It was indeed Justine Mortiz dressed in dark clothing and a hat which concealed her nervous face. 

“Is this the clinic of doctors Prometheus and Buckliger?” Justine asked as she removed her hat. 

“Yes. Dr. Igor Buckliger is right here.” Agatha told her and led her into the room. 

“Ms. Mortiz.” Igor stood up and bowed “Come. Take a seat.” 

“A-Alright. You were the ones who helped William to begin with a-and it seems like he trusts you, so the baroness-... Elizabeth and I thought you could help. I’m here on behalf of her too.” Justine sat in the chair. 

“All we want is to help William.” Igor reassured her. 

“Where is he now?” Agatha asked. 

Justine tightened her lip as tears fell from her eyes. 

“There, there. I know this is hard, but we need to know, Ms. Mortiz.” Igor encouraged as he offered her a handkerchief. 

She removed her glasses and wiped her eyes “He’s still at home... and that’s what breaks my heart. No matter what he’s put through, he stays because Victor has convinced him that he must atone for some made up sin.” 

“What do you mean?” Igor asked. 

“I must begin from the start according to everything Elizabeth told me and wanted me to pass onto you, so you may be aware of how much of a danger Victor is to him and her, Dr. Buckliger.” Justine sighed. 

“Of course and please, call me Igor.” he smiled kindly. 

“I warn you... a lot of it is shocking and none of it is pretty.” she warned. 

“I’ve been abused myself. I’ve experienced the shocking and not pretty.” he reassured her. 

Justine took a deep breath “Victor’s mother Caroline fell pregnant with William while she was older. To give you an idea of how much older, Victor was almost an adult himself when it happened, so there was already a high risk of carrying her second child to term. Though she did and at first, she was fine. In fact, despite the timing, her second pregnancy was going even better than her first.... until labor. Caroline’s labor was long and hard. There was no safe way for her to give birth naturally nor was there a way for things to end with her and her baby surviving. Only one could be saved. I’m sure that as a doctor, you are aware of these cases.” 

Igor just nodded. 

“Caroline chose her baby’s life over her own accepting her fate with grace. The whole family was heartbroken, but what came after was even worse. Victor was especially shattered because he adored his mother, so he blamed their mother’s death on William labelling him as her murderer and made several attempts to... avenge their mother. Luckily, their father Alphonse was a large strong man who could easily overpower Victor and was able to protect William. However, Victor’s abuse only subsided. It never completely went away, so every now and then, he would beat, humiliate and do horrid things to William to “punish” him for simply being alive when Alphonse was not around.” Justine winced. 

“That’s horrible...” Agatha shuddered as Ghost puffed, but then looked around the room curiously. 

“Luckily... they got a moment of peace when Victor was sent abroad to study medicine. However, years later, time was kind to Alphonse Frankenstein’s body, but not his mind as dementia caught up with him. The Frankenstein family had spent the last of their funds on the funeral arrangements of Elizabeth’s fiancé who died in an accident, so they couldn’t hire a nurse for the poor old man. They were also at risk of becoming homeless. That was when Victor swept in and played hero as he had quite a bit of money thanks to now being a doctor. He promised to see to it that Alphonse would receive the best care and the family would live comfortably if... Elizabeth agreed to marry him.” Justine’s face twisted in disgust. 

“You mean... Baron Victor Frankenstein’s marriage is just one of convenience?!” Igor was trembling slightly. 

“More like a SCAM! As soon as Victor and Elizabeth exchanged vows, his way of helping Alphonse was sending him off to an institution in Geneva to be discarded and forgotten. As for making the family comfortable, he gave William the bare minimum while making a slave out of him and resuming his abuse towards him worse than ever. Now, that poor boy is convinced that he really is to blame for their mother’s death. Elizabeth has it the worst though. She’s either Victor’s trophy to show off or dolly to play with in... unsavory ways yet she submits constantly because she fears for William’s life.” Justine slammed her fist onto the table making Ghost hop and Igor blush slightly. 

Agatha covered her mouth trembling. 

Igor narrowed his eyes realizing something “Wait... something isn’t adding up... How does Elizabeth know the Frankenstein family’s history so well and why would they use their funds to pay off her late fiancé's funeral?” 

“... Elizabeth is Victor’s adoptive sister.” Justine confessed uncomfortably. 

Igor’s was left with his jaw hanging open and his face as white as a sheet while Ghost strutted around hooting nervously while still looking around. 

“Ghost, please-” Agatha tried to calm the owl down despite being anxious herself. 

The owl hopped up and down looking scared while screeching slightly. 

“Ghost, what’s wrong?” Agatha was surprised. 

“Wait... do you smell that?” Igor suddenly noticed and he jumped “FIRE!!” 

Agatha then noticed the smell too “Oh my Lord! It IS fire and I can hear it!” 

“I can SEE it!!” Igor pointed at the windows as some flames started to rise into view “RUN!!” 

Igor grabbed Justine’s hand and led the way to the nearest exit with Agatha and Ghost following, but when he tried to open it, he could not. 

“Someone barricaded it from the outside!” Igor began slamming himself against the door to open it. 

“This way!” Agatha said as smoke began to creep up inside while pointing to another exit door. 

She put her hand on the knob of another exit door, but it was so hot that it wound up burning her. 

“Argh, that way’s all fire!” Igor coughed and they began crouching “Maybe we can try a window or... or...” 

In that moment, Prometheus bulldozed right through a wall “ALL OF YOU, FOLLOW ME!!” 

The four of them followed Prometheus out through the exit he created coughing all the wayand getting far away from the burning clinic. They all looked back to see the flames outside take hold of the building as the fire brigade came and tried to salvage the situation. However, the fire was too strong and while there were no casualties, the clinic was no more. All that could be done was to tend to Igor, Agatha and Justine while Prometheus tended to Ghost who was just tired and recovering from the shock. 

“I followed the smoke and when I realized it was coming from the clinic, I ran here, but... our clinic...” Prometheus lamented. 

“Hey, you saved us and that’s what counts, Prom.” Igor gratefully reassured him. 

“Are you all alright though? Agatha, your hand!” Prometheus realized that her hand was bandaged. 

“I could say the same thing about both of yours, Prometheus. What happened at the hospital?” Agatha asked. 

“This is nothing. I’ll be as good as new in the morning. I’m more concerned about how the fire happened. From what I saw, it had been started outside.” Prometheus retorted. 

“Outside? How?” Justine asked. 

“Frankenstein....” Prometheus growled while clenching his bandaged fists. 

“Why would he do that? Is it because you all suspect that he’s abusing William? Does this mean he wants to silence me too?!” Justine was now scared. 

“First, let’s focus on going someplace safe and then, we can all share our knowledge with each other.” Prometheus suggested.