|
|
I remember my first visit to the Carew home as vividly as if it had
happened but hours ago. It was last winter. There was a frightful storm
outside, and
temperatures were constantly descending. But Emma was a blossoming
lily despite the bitter cold, and the calm brilliance that shown from her
eyes and her smile was enough to warm even the chilliest of hearts. She
and her father were beyond kind during my stay.
And their dog bit me.
"James didnít mean it," Emma had said, trying to console me as she wrapped a bandage around my forearm. The dog's name is Belvedere James, although she often truncates it to the latter portion. "He simply isn't used to strangers. I really am very sorry, Dr. Jekyll, what an unpleasant first visit for you!"
She had stopped looking at my wound, and was now winding the bandage in a rather careless and sloppy fashion.
"Doctor Jekyll, Miss Carew..." I emphasized, very gently pulling my arm back and re-applying the bandage myself.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, looking as though she felt a little foolish. Her
expression almost made me regret my impulsive action, I didn't mean for
her
embarrassment, but I have dressed more injuries than I'd care to count,
and it was almost instinctual.
"It's quite all right..." I assured her quickly. "And to the contrary, I found my visit quite agreeable."
The delighted smile she gave in response to my remark proved to be contagious, and soon James was the only unhappy individual.
A little terrier, James is, of what breed, I am not entirely sure. An exceedingly feisty one, that much I am aware of. He has, from the very beginning, truly despised me, and although I generally find animals delightful, I have consequently grown to dislike him a great deal. Emma adores him, however, and treats him as a member of her family, so I simply try to avoid him if at all possible, as I do with most sources of conflict ... Or at least, I did previously...
~~~~
It is hard to remember exactly what happened ... It is all a mist, shrouded in shadow...Occasionally a clear phrase or image comes through, but I remember nothing of the majority of the time he has control...
He must have forgotten or misplaced the key I had given him to the laboratory door, for I vaguely remember Poole having to admit him at the front door...
He curtly acknowledged my servant...and then...everything goes out of focus, and soon nothing is visible....but he must have scuttled to the laboratory with some haste...for I was once more myself...albeit completely exhausted, and aching, as I tend to be after a transition from one form to the other.
I made an effort to regain my breath as I reached over the table where I had placed my logbook of events and pulled it down to look through it... He hadn't made any scrawlings in it this time, as he had done twice out of the five transformations I had experienced...Perhaps he was preoccupied with another source of entertainment...? I shudder to think of where he goes and what he does...
I knew he was evil...I knew it, and still I continued...After the first
transformation, I was enthralled that any sort of reaction had occurred
at all, and
performing the experiment multiple times would probably be necessary,
to prove that the original reaction had not been due to any sort of error...But
that seemed highly unlikely to me...
So again and again I mixed the chemicals, prepared the hypodermic needle, and also prepared myself, for the pain, and gave myself the injection...And thus I grew to know him...
I placed my journal aside, and grasping the table, very slowly pulled
myself up. Turning about, I peered in the mirror. I was positively in a
shambles. I
straightened my shirt, and brushed myself off as completely as I could,
but it was rather for naught, I was soaked entirely in perspiration and,
beyond that, the left arm of my shirt was torn and ragged...I was going
to have to change clothes, unquestionably. Still, I tried to improve my
appearance as best I could, sweeping back my terribly unkempt looking mane
and tying it there.
My eyes flicked across the room to spy his coat and hat strewn upon the floor, but as I made a move to retrieve the items, I faltered and nearly fell. I was still trembling, and again leaned against the table for support.
I put a hand to my head and closed my eyes...Tea, tea would help settle my shattered nerves...Tea, and a fresh change of clothes, that was what I needed...
I rang for Poole and slid down against the table to the floor, to wait...
And wait I did. I rang for my man a total of eight times, and he had not once responded, which was unlike him. After roughly the sixth time, my concern for the damn tea had evaporated, I had undone the top button of my shirt (in reality, however, it was the top two buttons; the second had been lost in one manner or another during his escapade), rolled up my sleeves, and I prepared to plunge into my labour once more. The last two times I summoned him, I merely wanted to see if he would respond.
At which point, I concluded he was not about to. I had waited long enough.
I snatched my crimson jacket and departed from the lab as Jekyll for the first time in days....I nearly hurtled down the passageway.
"POOLE!" I barked, enraged, "Poole, I have been ringing for over a quarter of an hour!"
To my slight surprise, it was not Poole that greeted me, but rather, Mr. John Utterson.
~~~~~~
"You, my dear Henry, need to re-examine your priorities!"
"Miss Carew wished me to reiterate the existence of things outside of your work....She did mention herself as a prime example of such..."
I stared at the lilies Emma had brought, after Poole had placed them in a vase and, and noticed how the beams of sunlight streamed down upon them, and trickled through them, leaving shadows dancing upon the table....Then I glanced back to the laboratory door.
I had turned away my fiancée and my closest companion -- who was rapidly becoming one of my only companions. What was this force driving me into the unknown? Obsession for finding a remedy for my fatherís ailment....A need for the truth...or perhaps even the desire know more of my other self....I know not. At any rate, I was still determined to continue.
But that was before she arrived.