|
|
As the mirror shattered before his eyes, Henry dropped to his knees...
"What is happening to me?" he whimpered, as he covered his face with his hands, "This has gone too far..."
Just as Henry spoke those words, he lifted his hands from his face...surrounding
him was a sea of broken glass, glistening from the light given off by
his lamp. His first thought was to clean it up before anyone saw what
he'd done, but then an insane idea entered his mind...he could slit his
wrists..."Yes, I'll do it...I have to end this nightmare now." He picked
one of the larger pieces...he stared at it for a moment...he turned his
wrist
upward and gently pressed the cold edge of the glass against his skin.
Just as he was about to apply enough pressure to complete his task...
"No, this is not right...I can't...Emma..."
"Emma...you know very well this has nothing to do with that child, though she is quite a beauty. You're weak, Henry...face it...you can't do it..."
Hyde...he made two tight fists and pounded the floor, not realizing
that he still held the piece of glass in his left hand or that he was bleeding
from the
open wound it had inflicted upon his palm...
"Why are you doing this to me?"
"Because I can."
"No more...I can control you...I can--"
"Hahaha...no, my dear Henry...I control you."
The door gently swung open...in the doorway stood Poole with a look of concern written upon his face...
"Doctor, Miss Emma mentioned that you were feeling ill as she was leaving." Henry remained in his crouched position on the floor and muttered...
"I'm fine, Poole."
"What has happened in here? Why is there glass on the floor? Doctor?"
"I'm fine, Poole." he shouted as he rose to his feet, "The mirror fell from the wall."
"You're bleeding, Sir." Henry looked down at the palm of his left hand...sure enough, there was blood...
"I was cleaning up this mess and I must've cut myself. I'll take care of it." Poole stood there staring at him...there was an uncomfortable silence...
"Doctor, forgive me, but you should be wearing warmer clothing."
"Yes, I suppose I should" he answered, with a distinct coldness to his
voice. He had been shirtless throughout the mirror fiasco a few minutes
earlier,
"Poole, I have work I must do. I'll be in my laboratory...I am not
to be disturbed." Henry took a towel from his table and wrapped his hand
to stop the
bleeding and grabbed his dressing gown from the hook. He paused a moment
before leaving the room...
"Poole, you're positive Emma is gone?"
"Yes, Sir. I saw her out myself."
"Good, good...oh, please, would you clean the rest of this disaster while I'm gone?"
"Of course."
"Thank you, Poole. Oh, one more thing..."
"Yes, doctor?"
"Before you retire for the evening...lock the door to your room." Poole
looked at him strangely at first and then nodded in acceptance of his master's
order...
Emma was about half way home when she decided she should go back to
make sure her love was feeling alright. It had grown quite dark as she
rode in
the carriage back to her home and she was feeling quite...frightened...of
her surroundings...she could swear she heard faint screaming far off in
the
distance...the loud boisterous roar of the men on the corner of the
street...she was alone...the only other person close by was the gentlemen
sitting up
front...
"Excuse me...I hate to trouble you, but do you think it possible for us to head back to Dr. Jekyll's home?"
"Are you sure, Miss?"
"Yes, I am. I want to make sure he's feeling better."
"Of course." And with that, he turned around and headed back to Harley
Street.
Henry ran down the stairs like a madman, nearly missing steps along
the way. When he finally reached his laboratory door, he was out of breath.
He
leaned against it catching his breath for a moment, but then proceeded
to push the door open and flee inside...forgetting to shut it completely
behind
him...
He reached the most inner room..the room where he had completed each
of his transformations. At some point in the midst of his emotional breakdown
earlier that evening, a thought came to him...his plan for that night
was to make yet another transformation, as crazy as it may sound...but
rather than
injecting himself with a dosage of HJ7, Dr. Jekyll planned to make
an attempt at taunting the hideous creature and seeing if it was physically
possible
for him to emerge on his own. Exactly how long it would take for it
to happen...if at all...was unknown...
Henry stood in the middle of the room...tilted his head back and began screaming...his newest experiment was about to begin...
"Where are you, eh? You animal!!! Why not show me how strong you really are! You evil bastard...show me!!!!!"
Nothing happened...he stood with a menacing grin for a few minutes and still nothing happened...
"So...you control me, do you? Hahaha...you are the coward Edward Hyde!!! You are the coward!! Show me!!!!!!!"
There it was...that agonizing pain which boiled deep down...he felt Hyde pushing out from the inside...
"Hahah...is that all Hyde?!?!? I thought you were stronger than that!!"
Indeed he was...the pain Jekyll had experienced before was nothing compared
to what he was about to feel. It suddenly grew worse...Jekyll's screams
were ear piercing...it were as though a fire were burning inside of
him...his veins were bulging at his temples and neck...sweat was dripping
from him
like a rainstorm...it threw him into convulsions on the icey cold floor...as
he lay there writhing in agony...
"Who is the coward now, Jekyll?!? I'll always control you!!"
The carriage arrived in front of Dr. Jekyll's house. Emma emerged and gracefully went up the front steps, knocking gently on the large oak door...
"Miss Emma...do come in. It's awfully cold."
"Poole, I couldn't make it home with the thought that Henry might be sick. I had to come back."
"I understand completely. But you will be happy to know that Dr. Jekyll
is actually much better. Although, he did suffer a slight abrasion on his
hand
when cleaning up the glass."
"The glass from what?"
"Apparently, his mirror fell from the wall. But I did find his wash basin lying suspiciously close the mess."
"You're not saying he broke it, are you?"
"No, no..of course not."
"Well then...I'll go up and see him."
"Miss, he's not in his room. He said he had work to finish so he ventured down to his laboratory."
"That man never stops working."
"He's not to be disturbed."
"I'm sure he won't mind a little visit from his fiancee."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. I know the way down."
She reached the bottom of the stairs expecting to find the door locked, but to her surprise, it was left wide open...
Emma walked inside slowly...she had always been rather frightened of
the dark and Henry's laboratory was anything but bright. She called his
name a
few times, but received no answer...that is, of course, until she reached
"the room"...
"Henry? Are you down here?" Out from behind her came a rather deep, unfamiliar voice which caused her to jump around...
"No, I'm so sad to say that our dear doctor had to step out for a moment. You must be Emma."
"Who are you?" she snapped at him...
"I can't believe your Henry hasn't spoken of me. I'm his assistant..."
"I wasn't aware of the doctor hiring an assistant."
"Well, he really didn't hire me, you see, I sort of just...showed up one day...rather unexpected." He smiled a rather cold, mocking smile...
"What is your name?"
"Hyde...Edward Hyde. Oh my darling child, you're shaking. Are you cold?"
He moved in closer to her and she flinched at the touch of his hand
against her forearm...
"No, I'm just fine." she whispered, her voice starting to tremble...she had heard this name before...
"Oh, I scare you, don't I...I'm terribly sorry."
"Um...no, you're not scaring me, Mr. Hyde. I'm just startled to find another man down here." He started to chuckle...
"Another man...hahah...you will soon learn, sweetheart, that your Henry and myself are very much alike."
"I doubt that."
"Do you? Come here...now...yes, that's it..." he grabbed her arm tightly
and practically dragged her over to him, "Look in my eyes, Emma..." She
did as she was told...she didn't like what she saw at all...they were
so dark...so cold...so unwelcoming...so intimidating...almost...evil. He
gently
touched her cheek with the back of his hand...
"Such a beautiful young woman, aren't we?" she wouldn't answer, "It's
such a crime to waste such a perfect face...and body...on that ridiculous
man." He ran his right hand down her neck as he held her tight with
his left....
"Mr. Hyde...he is not ridiculous."
"That's funny...I don't recall asking for your opinion." He raised his
hand and struck her right across the face, leaving a mark...she tried to
get away,
but he grabbed her by the neck and pushed her up against the wall..."You
can't get away darling...I have you now." He tore at her dress, exposing
her
bare skin and muffled her attempted cries of distress with his mouth
like an animal. Each time she tried to fight, he would hit her, leaving
bruises on
her face and neck...after struggling with her for a while, the unimaginable
happened...Dr. Jekyll had always managed to control and prohibit Hyde
from having any contact with Emma...but as hard as he tried to break
through, he failed. Hyde raped Emma...he did nothing but laugh as she
cried...when the torture was through, he left her lying on the ground
unconscious...
"Show that to your darling doctor."
Hyde would live on, not only through Henry Jekyll...but through Emma
as well.