Page 24
The man lifts his hand and wiggles his fingers in greeting. “’ello, boys. Sorry to barge in. You have a very strange front door!”
Rubbing the tip of my thumb down the blade of the knife, I glare at the intruder. “You’ve got the wrong place, if you want to burgle this property.” Edward and I begin walking closer.
I point the blade at the stranger as Edward inches closer. The intruder uses his hand to brush off the shoulder of his coat, then has the audacity to stick out his hand, awaiting acknowledgment. Our captive begins hollering for help from the table.
“Incompetent burgle if you ask me. Storming in through a window while we’re still in here. Tell us why you are here, and I won’t slit you from neck to navel.” I gesture with the blade in my hand.
“Why, are you two of the same man? Bloody look like mirror images. I haven’t seen twins since my one stint in the Netherlands. Oh, pardon. I’m scattered in the head. Let me explain. I’m here to get my, my…my brother. If you’d kindly—” The man speaks with his hands with a sly smile upon his face. He has a five-o’clock shadow, shaggy brown hair, and perfect teeth. Strange for someone like him to have such dental hygiene. Before the intruder could finish his statement, the captive yelled out in protest, interrupting his supposed sibling.
“Are you intoxicated? I don’t have a brother, you loon!” the man angrily shouts.
“Yes, I’m quite befuddled. Though I still function under the effects of booze. Hold your tongue before these men hold it for you, or I can’t get you out of this…scuffle.” Then the man winks. Both men looked at one another with awkward disdain as time ticks away through their tense exchange. A pin drop could be heard in the silence that fell, until the intruder fans out his arms and elucidates his strange behavior. I begin maneuvering myself back to the table so this stranger cannot take my party favor.
“Fine, the cat’s out of the bag. Well, chums, that there is the Jack the Ripper you’ve got. And I’d much appreciate it if I could take him off your hands. Please,” the aloof man states with outstretched hands.
My brother and I look back and forth from the intruder to our captive with bewildered eyes as I begin tapping my blade on his thigh. “I knew it. That bag and those knives… We seized Jack the fucking Ripper, holy hell. Then it will be a pleasure to annihilate you.”
Before we could make a move on our prey, the stranger flails out his arms in dismay at us. “Ope! Oh-oh, wait a minute! Wait a bloody minute. I have been tracking him and nearly this close to nabbing him, but he is a tricky bastard. Please may I end his life? I’ve worked so hard.” The man drops to his knees dramatically with outstretched hands and an exaggerated gesture as he begs. “Mate, please. Please! Please, please!”
“Why are you so invested? Hmm?” Edward questions, then eyes him up and down. “By the looks of you, you must be the Slaying Sickle?”
The strange man’s eyebrows shoot to his hairline in confusion. “What gave that away, mate?”
Edward’s gaze turns venomous. “You have a bloody sickle hanging out the back of your trousers.”
The Slaying Sickle lays a reassuring hand on the weapon exposed at his back, then flashes a cheeky grin at us. “Oh, bugger.”
Jack the Ripper exhales dramatically from the metal table. “I was able to avoid being apprehended every time because you are so obnoxious with your movements. Your breathing—your everything—is utterly pathetic and predictable! You drunken imbecile! You tried to speak to me regarding philosophy!”
The Slaying Sickle rises from his knees with clenched fists at his sides. He no longer looks like the friendly drunkard that crashed in from the outside night. His eyes have darkened, shifting to the man on the table, his words laced with venom. “You need to be scrubbed from the face of this earth. You do not cherish how much life is worth.”
The intruder takes one calculated step toward the table, the sound of his trench coat rustling alongside his trousers the only audible sound in the room. A dark aura seeps from the Slaying Sickle’s soul as his hand reaches for his weapon’s handle. With each step, he grows nearer to where his target lies, but my brother and I hold out our hands in caution.
“You do not understand. I need to kill ’um because he keeps killing my girls. Them ladies of the night are beautiful souls and my best companions. I love each and every one of them. You murdered my sister! You murdered my Delphi, you bastard!” With each word, his tone becomes more fierce; anger is etched across his features as his nostrils flare. His chest rises and falls quickly, but he does not cross the threshold of the brother’s hands. His next words are vitriolic. “You snuffed ’um out ’cause you think they aren’t worth a shilling. You think you’re bettah than everyone else. Well, I think you need to be thrown off your bloody pedestal.”
The Slaying Sickle points a finger at the man attached to the table. Rings adorn every finger, and they glint in the light. A solemn understanding settles across the room as Jack the Ripper finally appears to be in fright.
“Agreed,” my brother and I state in unison. All three of us encroach upon the table, and we have come to an unspoken arrangement.
“Please. I must rid the world of their filth. You don’t understand,” Jack pleads as we encircle him. The hunter has now become our prey, and by damn, we will make him pay.
A muffled sound comes from the distance, and I turn my head to try to pay attention. It becomes louder as the sound draws nearer.
Click.
Click.
Click. Click. The rhythm quickens.
High heels echo from the shop hallway. We raise our heads to the doorway as someone walks through. My heart skips a beat. There is a beautiful woman standing in an onyx lace gown, with a decorative cane in one hand. Her long, wavy brown hair is pulled into a low bun, styled with a matching lace hat as she walks in calmly, peering down to the ground.
Edward’s face pales, something I am not accustomed to seeing, as he tells her, “Miss, sorry, but shop’s closed.”
I do my best to shift in front of the tied-up man, but assume our deed has already been observed by the lady in front of us. Jack tries to yell out for help, but I stuff the pocket square back into his orifice.
Jack tries once more to muffle out, “Help! Hmmph! Mmph!”
Edward takes one step toward her as he explains, “Miss, I really think you came at the wrong time. I need you to leave.”
