Jack the Ripper
Aurora stretched her muscles to their fullest extent then with a soft sigh rolled over on her left side. She laid there as the tip of her nose touched something warm and she slowly opened her eyes. They focused quickly and she was staring into a pair of black eyes, unblinking.
“Good morning Edward.” Aurora said flatly and he smiled at her. “Sleep well?” She asked and he chuckled.
“I personally didn’t sleep much.” He stated their noses still touching. “I am surprised you did though.” He said and Aurora blinked.
“If you were going to kill me, you would have by now.” Aurora said in a matter of fact tone.
“How do you know I won’t kill you once you get the Ripper?” Hyde asked his eyes glinting slightly.
“It’ll be worth the fun to find out.” She said then smiled. “Why didn’t you sleep? Afraid I’d actually change my mind about killing you?” Aurora gasped as Hyde quickly rolled her to her back and stared down at her actually startling her.
“The thought never crossed my mind.” He said softly and Aurora swallowed. “You’re quite interesting when you sleep.” He stated moving a stray hair out of her eyes. “Almost like an angel to be more precise. You don’t talk in your sleep, however you do growl.” He said and smiled at Aurora’s discomfort as Hyde’s weight pressed down on her.
“Thank you for that analogy.” Aurora said and pressed her hands against Hyde’s chest. “Do get off.” She was half surprised when he actually rolled off her that she laid there for a moment just staring at the ceiling. She sat up quickly and turned and looked at him as he laid there on her bed with his hands behind his head smiling up at her.
“Something wrong?” He asked and Aurora grunted.
“Too much too list actually.” She said and slid off her bed. Hyde wrinkled his nose for a moment then sat up and slid off the end of her bed stopping her in her tracks as she went around it. “Hyde.” She said with a sigh.
“Does it really bother you to wake up next to me?” He asked smiling and Aurora just looked at him.
“Of course not, it’s only natural for me to wake up next to a known murderer.” Aurora told him flatly and Hyde pretended to pout and hit himself in the chest above the heart.
“Oh. Ouch.” He mocked and she glared at him. He stepped closer to her and looked down into her eyes. “The more you pretend to hate me, the more it shows that you don’t.” He told her and she looked him in the eyes and laughed.
“Like you?” She said and rolled her eyes. “Delusional. That’s what you are.” She told him and walked around him. She was headed towards the bathroom door when he reached out and quickly turned her around and kissed her. She pushed him away from her so hard that she threw herself against the wall. “No.” She growled and they stood there glaring at each other. Aurora’s jaw muscles were working as if she was going to say something else but remained quiet. Suddenly she strode towards him and he braced himself. “Yes.” She said and kissed him taking him completely off guard that he fell back onto the bed with Aurora on top of him.
His body tingled as she touched him and he closed his eyes as her lips caressed his neck. His mind was jumping all over the place and he finally zeroed in on Henry’s chuckle.
“What’s so damn funny?” Hyde thought and Henry coughed. “I suppose you’re going to demand control of your body now.” Edward thought his eyes rolling under his lids.
“No.” Henry’s voice said. “It’s you she wants Edward not me.” Edward’s eyes snapped open and his heart raced. “Calm down Edward.” Henry’s voice said. “I doubt she has plans to kill you at the moment.” Henry chuckled as Aurora nibbled his stomach. “I’d say her mind is far from that thought.” Edward’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the ceiling.
“Why…Uhh...” The last word was spoken out loud as he felt the warmth of Aurora’s tongue around his belly button.
“Why you Edward? Because she knows I won’t hurt her in anyway, and she wants to see just how far you’d go.” Edward sat up and pulled Aurora up to him and slid his hands under her shirt.
“That makes about much sense as…” the rest of his thought was lost as Aurora’s shirt slipped over her head.
“Don’t think about it Edward, just enjoy it. I might not be so generous next time.” Henry said and Edward snorted making Aurora look at him.
Edward blinked at her for a moment then tackled her back against the pillows as Henry’s presence disappeared. His fingers clawed at her belly as he pulled off her pants and slid his tongue up her stomach, between her breasts, in the hollow of her neck and sucked on her lower lip making her smile. He wasn’t sure when he lost his shirt or his pants and he wasn’t going to dwell on it. All he wanted at the moment was to feel her under him and inside her. He slid inside her and felt her warmth surround him. He took a sharp intake of breath and Aurora wound her fingers in the hair at his neck and pulled him down on her. He devoured her mouth and savored the taste of her. He filled his lungs with the scent of her. And he smiled as she arched her back against him and moaned softly. He pushed himself deeper into her and started to chew on her shoulder. Her fingers ran across the back of his left shoulder which made her smile. He could feel the tension mounting in him and he caught her round the throat for a moment before her nails dug themselves into his back and shoulder and this time when she arched her back Edward slid his hands under her crossing them and his fingers latched onto her shoulders and pulled her down on him and he looked her in the eye as he felt the heat spread through him quickly and strongly.
Something flashed in his mind and he blinked. It was red and dim and he looked at Aurora who furrowed her brow. Her eyes widen and her hand went to his neck as she gasped for breath.
“Edward.” She said and closed her eyes and he saw the flash again but this time it was clearer. The red was blood, and a room was covered in it. There were flashes of bodies, all women, all dead, all dressed like prostitutes. Their throats were slit and their petticoats soaked in blood. A knife flashed quickly then disappeared into darkness and a growl could be heard.
It took him a moment to realize he was the one growling but he could feel a soft rumble in Aurora’s chest as well. He opened his eyes and looked at her.
“What was that?” He growled and Aurora’s eyes snapped open and she looked at him. Dark clouds rolled through her eyes and she breathed heavily.
“Give in to your demons.” Aurora growled. “That’s what Albert meant.” Edward glared at her for a moment and Aurora smiled. “Give in to your demons and we’ll be a league of two.” She said and she let her arm fall to the pillow. Edward was still glaring at her and she rolled him and sat on him, thrusting him deeper inside of her. “Have you never sensed evil around you Edward?” She asked moving her hips slightly. “Sensed it like a dog does a stray in its territory?” Edward thought about her words then smiled at her.
“Those were his victims.” Edward said talking about the Ripper and Aurora smiled.
“Apparently Albert knew my senses were more than I let on, or bothered to use. I just had to get back in touch with my evil side.” She said smiling down at Edward.
“Don’t say Albert.” Edward growled and she gave him a look.
“He’s just another notch on my death belt,” She said rocking her hips forward. “While you’re another notch on the bed post.” She teased him and he sat up on his elbows and kissed her.
“Just how many are on that bed post?” He asked falling back and Aurora smiled.
“Four.” She said then leaned down. “Five if I don’t count you and Henry as one.” She whispered and Edward laughed.
“Why would you?” he asked closing his eyes.
“Same body, different personalities.” She said putting her hands on his chest and letting her hair fall back off her shoulders tickling her back.
“And the death belt?” Edward asked and groaned.
“I’ve been through three or four belts.” She told him and he looked at her. Her hands slid off his chest and rested on her thighs. She raised an eyebrow at him and smiled. “Did you expect something else Edward?” She asked her voice soft and husky sending more comforting chills through him then her rocking hips did. He pressed his thumbs into her skin just under her ribs and she reached up and moved his thumb from the left side. He looked at it and smiled. A bruise was slowly disappearing from just around her lowest rib.
“If there’s been so few on the bed post, how come you’re so good at this.” Edward asked through a moan. Aurora smiled softly has his hands slid up to her breasts and cupped them.
“I do a lot of horseback riding.” She said and Edward smiled.
“At a gallop no less?” He said and Aurora looked at him and he softly squeezed her breasts and ran a finger across her left nipple. She leaned forward and kissed him her hair tumbled down around them. He pushed her back up to a sitting position and sat up himself pressing his forehead against her collar bone then taking her left breast into his mouth and sucked on it softly.
Aurora stared into the mirror in the bathroom and glared at herself. She hated the fact that others knew more about her than she did, and that she never even considered the obvious. Edward was right. She enjoyed the hunting, she enjoyed the moment she caught her prey. And she enjoyed watching them squirm. She pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the mirror and sighed.
“I’m no better than most of the evil I kill.” She whispered.
“Actually, you’re a lot better Aurora.” Henry’s voice said from behind her and she jumped at looked at him through the mirror. He was smiling at her as he leaned against the doorframe. “You know the difference. You know when to be naughty and when to be nice.” Henry’s eyes danced at her through the mirror and Aurora inhaled sharply and spun around.
“You knew!” She exclaimed then threw a towel at him. “You bloody knew and you used Edward to tell me!” Henry looked down at the towel smiling.
“Yes, I knew. And yes, I let Edward be the one to tell you.” Henry said then looked up from the towel. “There’s a bit of evil in us all Aurora, and it’s not always a bad thing to let it out every once in awhile.” Aurora rose an eyebrow and walked over to him and smiled.
“I wouldn’t be calling that a bit.” Aurora commented using her hand to softly pat him in the crotch and walked past him into her room. Henry looked into the mirror a moment then turned and looked at her. “I know what you meant.” She said without having to look at him. “And as it seems to be your norm lately, you’re right.” She turned and looked at him. “Sometimes it takes evil to conquer evil.” Then she snorted softly and rolled her eyes. “As if complete evil could be conquered. There will always be evil in the world.” She said more to herself than to Henry but he smiled coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist kissing her ear. “Next time though, you don’t need to use Hyde to tell me.” She stated looking back at him and Henry chuckled.
“What? And ruin Hyde’s fun?” He said and she elbowed him softly. She opened the bedroom door and walked out of it followed by Henry and when she reached the bottom of the stairs Mrs. Graham came around the corner and threw her arms around Aurora’s neck.
“Polly?” Aurora asked returning the woman’s embrace.
“I am so sorry about what I said last night Aurora, I didn’t mean to suggest that you don’t miss Allan, or think about him. It wasn’t really my place to yell at you like that.” She said and Aurora smiled and pushed her back a bit.
“It’s alright Polly.” She said. “And feel free to step out of line every now and again.” Polly laughed but nodded.
“An Inspector Abberline stopped by earlier look for you Dr. Jekyll.” She said with a slight sniff. “I told him that indeed you where here, but wasn’t available.” Henry smiled with a nod.
“Thank you.” He said and Aurora patted Polly’s arm.
“We’re on our way to see him now Polly.” Aurora told her and she smiled. Aurora grabbed her trench off the rack and slipped it on.
“Now?” Polly asked and Aurora nodded. “In the daylight?” Aurora looked over her shoulder at her and nodded.
“Yes Polly in the...” Aurora paused and opened the front door and looked out. The sun was fighting against the London fog, but it was making an appearance. “Daylight.” Aurora finished and looked back at Polly who was smiling.
“Well that’s good, we were beginning to wonder if you had zigged when you should have zagged and gotten bit by one of those blood sucking night creatures you so enjoy to hunt.” Polly informed her and Aurora blinked. Henry looked at Aurora curiously and she smiled.
“Vampires.” Aurora said and Polly shrugged. “Not all of them can’t go out in the daylight.” Aurora said opening the door once again. “Mina walks about freely in the daylight.” Polly gave a small gasp as Aurora walked out the door and Henry smiled at Polly as he was leaving, but paused.
“Yes.” Henry said. “Mina’s a vampire. Although an extraordinary breed of such.” Henry shut the door softly and followed Aurora down the steps to where a couple of horses were waiting for them.
They walked into Scotland Yard about half an hour later and were shown to Inspector Abberline’s office. He was sitting in a chair looking at a board with pictures and other stuff relevant to the Ripper case stuck to it when they walked in. He was of average height, Aurora figured since he was sitting down, with dark brown hair, brown eyes and a kind face. His eyes went from the board to them and he stood, to which Aurora smiled as she guessed him to be about six foot one. He was thin, but from what she could see, had some muscle definition, and was probably in his early thirty’s if that. She could tell the Inspector was doing the same kind of sizing up with her that she was of him.
“Inspector Abberline, this is Aurora Quatermain.” Henry said and the Inspector stepped forward taking Aurora’s hand.
“Yes, I’ve heard a lot about you Miss Quatermain.” The Inspector said and Aurora smiled and looked over at Henry. “Not just from Dr. Jekyll.” The Inspector finished.
“I’ve heard some about you Inspector, She said looking back at him. “Mostly from what I’ve heard and read though, and experience has taught me to take both with a grain of salt.” Abberline smiled and she looked over to the board. “May I?” She asked softly and he nodded. He watched her as she looked over the pictures and came to the sprig of grapes, which had no grapes on it. “Grapes?” She asked and he nodded.
“I believe he gives them grapes and absinthe laced with laudanum.” He said coming up behind her.
“So that their defenses are down and they don’t react to the Lister knife.” Aurora said nodding slowly and Abberline looked at her then over to Henry who was smiling.
“How do you know he uses a Lister knife?” He asked her and she smiled.
“I hear you have visions Inspector.” Aurora said and turned to look at him. “I had one of my own this morning in fact.” She turned back to the board.
“Yes, I do have visions,” Abberline said still looking at her. “What did yours contain?” He asked and Aurora shrugged.
“Nothing of incredible importance.” Aurora said running her fingers along the edge of a coin. “Just his victims, a blood soaked room and the knife.”
“A blood soaked room?” Abberline asked and she nodded.
“I wouldn’t read too much into it Inspector. You of all people should know that not everything in visions or dreams have the same meaning as in the real world.” Aurora stated and Abberline nodded.
“Indeed.” He said and she turned and looked at him.
“How can I help you Inspector?” Aurora asked him and he smiled.
“Well, I’ve heard that you have extremely good senses. And tracking abilities.” Abberline said to which Aurora nodded. “And that you caught Edward Hyde.” Aurora’s eyes glanced over Abberline’s shoulder to Henry then back again.
“Yes, I had my grandfather’s help with that.” Aurora said.
“I’m sorry to hear about your grandfather by the way. I heard he was a great man.” Abberline said politely and Aurora laughed.
“Really? From whom? From what I gathered a lot of people around here thought he was crazy for raising me the way he did. Among other things I am sure.” Aurora stated.
“There are still those who respect him. And think kindly of him.” Abberline told her and she smiled with a slight nod.
“I see.” Was all she could think of to say.
“What do you need to catch the Ripper?” Abberline asked her changing the subject to which Aurora was most grateful.
“His scent.” She said simply and Abberline blinked. “I can’t listen for him. There’s way too much noise in Whitechapel to do so. And mainly, I have no clue what I’m listening for. I could pick out your or Henry’s heartbeat from anywhere in Whitechapel because I know it’s sound and what to zero in on…but I don’t know what to listen for when it comes to the Ripper.” Aurora explained quickly. “And no one knows what the man looks like. No one has ever seen him….hell, they don’t even hear the murders.” Abberline nodded.
“So, how do you get his scent?” He asked and Aurora sighed.
“Previous victims.” She said simply and Abberline raised an eyebrow.
“We’ll have to go to the morgue. And it’s not really a place for women.” Abberline informed her and Aurora laughed softly.
“That’s cute. As if I haven’t sent people to the morgue before.” Aurora said giving Abberline a look. He looked over to Henry who smiled.
They stood outside of the city morgue and Aurora looked at the building. The morgue was in the lower end of town, near the Whitechapel district. They entered a small worn wood door and walked upon fake marble floors to the reception desk. Inspector Abberline talked with a guy for a moment and he nodded. He looked at Aurora as they all walked by and she gave him a small smile. Abberline stopped at a door and turned and looked back at Aurora.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked and she rolled her eyes.
“Not unless you have any other ideas Inspector. Besides, it’s a bunch of dead people, how bad can it be?” She said and Abberline nodded slowly and opened the door. They went down some steps into the bowls of the building and Abberline opened another door and Aurora grabbed her nose and stepped back into Henry. Abberline looked at her and she blinked but walked through the door. She looked around the large room and was amazed at how many bodies there were. All laying on cold slabs of tables, covered by white sheets, some with blood spotting the sheets and men were walking around cleaning up the bodies or the floor. Abberline placed a hand in the middle of Aurora’s back and pointed to a back table and she began to walk down the small aisle running down the center of the room. She glanced to the side from time to time and had let her nose go slowly getting use to the smell. She stopped at one table and looked at the sheet covered body and smiled but said nothing. Abberline looked back at Henry who shrugged. They reached the back table and Abberline looked at the body and stood on one side of the table as Aurora and Henry went to the other side. They all stood there for a moment and then Abberline reached up and pulled the sheet down. Large black stitches closed the cut in her throat and Aurora stared at them.
“You alright?” Henry asked and she nodded.
“Not much care is given to the dead.” She said and Abberline nodded.
“Especially when the dead are unfortunate.” He said and Aurora looked up at him.
“She’s his latest?” Aurora asked and Abberline nodded. Aurora looked back down at her and bit her lip. She leaned a little closer pulling her loose hair back behind her neck. She looked at the woman’s lips and glanced up at Abberline.
“You’re right about the absinthe and laudanum.” She told him then stood up straight. “How did you know that?” She asked him and he looked down. Aurora’s hand slipped from where she was holding her hair to the table and her fingers of her left hand touched the woman’s forearm. Aurora’s eyes suddenly widened and she gasped reaching out with her right hand to grab Henry.
“Aurora?” Henry said gripping her arm so she didn’t fall to the floor. She jerked her left hand back and hit the wall behind her.
“Bad. That was bad. Very bad.” She said staring at the body before her shaking her hand as if she had been burned.
“What happened?” Abberline asked worriedly.
“I saw…” Aurora started but swallowed. “She was still alive when he…” Aurora looked at the sheet. Abberline hadn’t pulled the sheet down very far, just to the top of her chest and Aurora reached out and started to pull it down more but both Abberline and Henry reached out to stop her.
“Trust me; you don’t want to do that.” Abberline told her and she lifted her eyes to his.
“I just saw what happened in real time Inspector.” Aurora whispered and both men reluctantly let her hand go and she pulled the sheet down to her knees and froze. Large black stitches wound their way down the woman’s chest until there was no more body. Aurora’s eyes ran up and down the stitch trail as her mind replayed what she saw when she had touched the dead woman’s arm. “What was her name?” Aurora whispered.
“Annie Chapmen.” Abberline replied. “Dark Annie is what they called her.”
“When was she killed?”
“September 8.” Abberline again answered. Aurora quickly calculated the days in her head. Seventeen days ago.
“What was taken?” She asked her eyes coming to rest between the woman’s legs and the stitches there.
“What makes you think something was taken?” Abberline asked and Aurora looked at him and pointed to Annie’s abdomen.
“The way she’s been ripped open.” Aurora answered.
“Her womb, vagina and part of her bladder were removed.” Henry whispered and Aurora looked over her shoulder at him.
“He doesn’t like women?” Aurora asked and Henry looked at her from the floor.
“What?”
“His victims are not only women, but he has removed what makes a woman, well a woman.” Aurora said. “Her womb and vag…” Aurora stopped mid word as a man walked by, took a look at Annie’s body and fainted. She threw the sheet over Annie’s entire body and softly pushed Henry aside and walked back the way they had came, stepping over the fainted man’s body. Henry and Abberline quickly followed her as she nearly ran up the stairs to the room above and swiftly across the fake marble and out into the open air. She stood on the front step for a moment breathing in the air and sighed. “These aren’t sporadic Inspector.” She said as the men caught up with her outside. “These are deliberate. These killings are being done for a reason, and I think if we find that reason we can predict his next move and catch him.” Abberline listened to her carefully and nodded.
“And his scent?” Abberline asked her and she shook her head.
“It won’t be on her body. Her clothes, what happened to her clothes?” Aurora said and Abberline rubbed a finger behind his right ear.
“I…I don’t know.” He said. “But I’ll find out.” Aurora nodded and stepped off the front step. Her eyes glanced across the street and fell on a man who was watching her with a smile. It was Johnny, the man who had known what she was up to just last night. She gave him a small smile no doubt knowing he knew exactly what she was doing there now.
It wasn’t until they were back at Aurora’s home and sitting in the small dining room just off of the kitchen did Abberline lean forward to her and posed a question in his eyes.
“What…what did you see?” He asked her then looked around at Mrs. Graham and Rosie. “When you touched Annie.” Aurora looked at him and then back to her cup.
“I didn’t see him if that’s what you want.” Aurora said. “Annie didn’t get a clear look at the man. She had grapes, and she was slightly drunk, no doubt from the laudanum laced absinthe. She saw the knife, but it didn’t sink in until it was too late what it was. She was still very much alive and conscious when the Ripper put a knife to her vagina and cut her to her breast bone.”
“Aurora Quatermain!” Mrs. Graham shouted making everyone in the room jump. Everyone except Aurora. She turned and looked at Mrs. Graham who had her hand to her mouth apparently surprised to hear her own voice.
“That was it then?” Abberline asked looking at Mrs. Graham.
“No, she saw him take out her intestines and felt their warmth against her cheek as he laid them over her shoulder.” Aurora trembled for a moment seeing it plainly in her head. “But she never saw his face. He wore white gloves and a top hat, low over his eyes, a black cape, dark clothes.” Aurora had turned to look back down at the table.
“I won’t let you go back to the mortuary again.” Henry whispered and Aurora shook her head.
“No, Henry, that’s…that’s not it.” Aurora said looking at him. “I’ve never been able to see things by touching people, certainly not dead people. Of course I don’t normally touch a lot of dead people that I myself haven’t killed,” Aurora waved her hand in the air for a moment to clear her head. “I could see what she saw, I heard, and smelled what she did. I felt the pain as the knife cut deep into her throat. So very deep Henry, almost to the spine. I could feel the flesh tearing with the knife as if I was the victim not her.” A glass broke and Rosie was pale and sat down quickly in a near-by chair. “It was all very real to me. I felt like if I had held onto her for just a little bit longer I wouldn’t have come back. That I would have died with the…the…” Aurora struggled for a word to describe what she saw.
“Vision.” Mrs. Graham said and Aurora looked at her.
“Vision seems like such a small word Polly.” Aurora whispered and Mrs. Graham smiled.
“It’s what your mother called them.” Mrs. Graham said with a sigh. Aurora stared at Mrs. Graham and she smiled at her. “Yes child, your mother saw people’s futures, and their pasts when they showed it to her. She could control it, and didn’t do it very often herself because like with you, it all seemed very real to her. She didn’t like it at all; it drained her and made her weak. But you,” Here Mrs. Graham pointed to Aurora and stepped over to her. “You have Quatermain blood, which makes you stronger.”
“Not by much.” Aurora said picking at the table. Mrs. Graham grunted looking down at the young woman who she remembered very clearly as a small red-headed child sitting in the very same chair, picking at the very same table, in the very same spot.
“You are a mixture of strength and power Aurora.” Mrs. Graham continued as Aurora made the spot bigger. “Whether or not you use either is up to you.” She reached over and lightly slapped Aurora’s hand. “And do stop picking at that poor table. It’s a wonder you haven’t created a hole there yet.” She scolded and walked back to the kitchen. Aurora stared blankly at the spot and sighed.
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