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When he had left the note, of course he hadn’t expected Dan to show up within the week, or even the month, but he really was taking his time.
The house they used to live in together was far too large without him, and most of it was currently collecting dust, as the scientist had no use for it. The place was in utter disarray. His assistant had always done a great job of keeping the place tidy, and he realised only now that he had taken it for granted.
All of his and Dan’s belongings had been gone when Herbert bought the house. He had come expecting to find his treacherous assistant, but had found the building empty. The man was running, trying in vain to escape his past. Luckily, he was terrible at it, and it hadn’t been hard to track him down. For some odd reason, West decided he didn’t want to talk to him in person. He simply left a note, and waited just long enough to see him find it, though not long enough to see his reaction.
The note simply read:
‘My dear assistant,
If you wish to work with me once more, I would not refuse your help.
I’m sure you will find me.’
Now, It had been nearly a year since he had left the note. Herbert had not sought out Dan after that, and he had no plan to. At this point, many would have given up, assuming the man had simply moved on, that he had no desire to return.
But West was smarter than that.
He knew Dan would come crawling back. He knew the pull of what he had seen, what he had done, would gnaw away at him until he could no longer resist. It had happened to Herbert, a lifetime ago, and he had no doubt it would happen to his assistant. Dan may believe he was better than him, that he had some kind of morality that prevented him from doing the things Herbert did, but he had seen him. He knew his assistant was not nearly as righteous as he believed himself to be.
No, Dan would be back. Even if it took years and years, he would come running back to Herbert, as he always had.
And when he did? West would be waiting with open arms.