by Lee Swift
“That’s a good thing, Doc. I’d like to be long gone before one of David Bell’s friends shows up.”
In a shaky voice, as if suddenly dealing with the fact that his love had been lost, Doc asked, “Would you mind helping me get Gita into her bed?”
“Sure thing.” As they headed down the stairs, he turned to Angelique. She was consumed with fear for Michael. Hoping to keep her from worrying, he said, “I’ve got to hand it to you. That elbow jab was sheer perfection and could not have come at a better time. Maybe you should sign up for the SEALs.”
She smiled weakly. “Maybe I should.”
They reached the bottom of the stairs and Doc walked over to Gita’s body. Austin saw the man’s shoulders sag. The vitality seemed to have gone out of him. For the first time since they’d met him, Doc looked truly old. “I can’t leave her like this. I want to put her in her bed.”
“Of course not, Doc.” He bent down and was a little surprised to see Gita’s hand was no longer on her stomach as it had been when they’d found her. But he’d seen dead men’s limbs jerk on the battlefield long after their hearts had stopped beating. Just to be sure, he pressed his fingers to her neck. Still no pulse. He lifted her into his arms. “Where’s her bed?”
Doc Wilson led them to the door closest to the entrance. They walked into Gita’s flat.
“Ultra modern?” Angelique’s surprise mirrored his own.
“I would have thought her tastes would run to the more traditional.” Austin glanced around the space. Two white leather sofas with metal legs faced each other. Between them sat a glass coffee table. The pillows and two paintings had the only splashes of color, a deep red.
“Not my Gita,” Doc choked out, wiping his eyes. “Sleek lines and minimalism spoke to her esthetic. Her bedroom is through here.”
Austin carried Gita to the bed.
Doc pulled the sheet up to her neck. He fluffed her pillow. “Sleep well, my dear Gita. I’m so sorry.” With tears in his eyes, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.
Angelique wiped her eyes, and Austin squeezed her hand.
Doc turned to them. “Gita would want us to finish this work.”
“Let’s go,” he said.
Angelique nodded.
Austin went out to the car and got the three packages he and Angelique had retrieved. Returning, he saw Angelique and Doc Wilson holding the other two that Doc had found.
Back in the lab, they opened the boxes.
Besides the foot and ear, there was a heart, a kidney, and a liver, as usual, packed in dry ice. The other two Ripper letters were just as bizarre as the three he and Angelique had found.
Doc read the one from Henriques Street.
To my dearest Angelique,
Long Liz died here, my love. Like the other two, she was only human.
The liver enclosed is for Dr. Wilson. Once his work is done and published, our oppressors will be exposed to the world. The foundations of their power will crumble.
Out of the ashes you and I will rise as king and queen, Adam and Eve, god and goddess. Austin will be our general, enforcing our will on the lesser. Perhaps Michael could be a servant in our home. Would you like that?
Go to Mitre Square, my angel. Each step you take brings you closer to my arms.
With all my love,
Jack
“Damn him to hell,” Angelique cursed. “If he hurts Michael I will kill him myself.”
“Be sure to cut off his head if you do, as The Ripper has done with his targets the past few weeks,” Doc said. “Even in 1888, the killer always cut his victims throats nearly severing their heads.”
“And Walt Turner’s head was removed from his body.” Austin recalled how he had discovered him on Murphy Street.
“And the mummy of the mother my team found in Guatemala had been decapitated long ago. When the masked man arrived at the site he had made sure to behead the mummified baby.”
Angelique nodded. “And Kelsi Vicker’s Egyptian mummies’ heads were severed during a looting a few years back.”
“Alleged looting,” Doc said. “There are ancient superstitions that say to kill monsters and demons you must cut off their heads. If my hypothesis is correct, that would be the only way to permanently end the life of a member of this unknown species.”
“If that’s true, then what about Bell?” she asked. “He might be one of them, but I don’t want to cut off his head.”
“A good point, and I am in total agreement,” Doc said.
Before this morning, Austin wouldn’t have believed anyone could come back from the bullets the bastard had taken. But now, after everything he’d witnessed, he realized it was possible.
Hell, I came back from the dead.
“We need to secure him. Doc, do you have any rope I could tie the bastard up with?”
“I don’t believe so.” Doc opened a cabinet. “Will this work?” he asked, pulling out a roll of duct tape.
He nodded, taking the roll. He used all of the tape on Bell, who didn’t appear to him to have any chance of breathing again. Better safe than sorry, though it still seems very strange to be tying up a dead man.
“Bell won’t be moving a muscle even if his heart somehow starts beating again.” He turned to Doc. “So which do you think Bell and The Ripper are—zombies or ghouls?”
“Neither. More like vampires.”
“Thomas, you can’t mean you think I’m half vampire, do you?” Angelique asked. “I don’t like to see blood and I certainly don’t want to taste it.”
“My dear, I’m not talking about the kind of vampires in movies and books.” Doc grinned. “What if the myths of vampires have a biological explanation? If an unknown hominid group has been living in secret among humanity for eons, certainly some witnessed them going into a state of hyper-hibernation.”
“Like me, Doc?” Austin asked.
“Yes, just like you. Even today, people would be stunned seeing a person thought dead come back to life. Imagine how unsettling it would have been centuries ago.”
“You can’t imagine how shocked I was when Austin showed up at my door this morning.”
“If we have any chance of surviving this night, I need to test both of you more thoroughly. But I can’t run the tests on my own. They are quite precise, and with my Parkinson’s, I need an assistant.” He paused for a moment as fresh tears rolled down his cheeks. “Gita always helped me, but I guess I will have to call one of my techs. They are young and love to party this time of night. I hope I can reach at least one of them.”
“We can clean up the lab. Gita is in her bed. Bell is in the cold storage room. But what will your techs think of The Ripper’s samples?” Angelique asked. “How will you explain them?”
“Difficult, but leave that to me, Angelique,” Doc said. “Though we have never tested severed body parts, the lab has tested cadavers. I will come up with something that will sound plausible. Besides, we do not have much of a choice. And my techs know that I run a tight ship here.”
“I have no doubt about that,” Austin said.
Doc brought out his phone and began scrolling through his contacts. “I can’t call Johnson. His wife just had a baby. This one is on holiday in Greece.”
“Maybe we could assist you,” Angelique offered.
“If I can’t get a tech, you may have to, but it wouldn’t be ideal. Unless one of you has worked in a lab before?”
“Not me,” Austin answered.
Angelique shrugged. “Me either.”
“Keep your fingers crossed then.” He dialed two numbers. Both went to voicemail. The next one connected. “Hi Rachel, this is Dr. Wilson. No, I’m fine. I know this is late notice but I was hoping you could come to the lab tonight to assist me with something very important. You can’t? I understand. Thank you.”
“How many techs work for you?”
“Only ten. Five more to go.” Two more calls. No answers. “I have an idea who might be willing to drop everything to come help m
e tonight. It’s ringing. ‘Hello, Mr. Reeves. This is Dr. Wilson. Yes, I was very happy you came to the lab today. I have a favor to ask.’ ” Doc smiled and held up his thumb. “ ‘Can you come to the lab tonight and help me? You can. Excellent. How long before you can be here? That is perfect. Thank you so much, John. I appreciate it.’ ” Doc clicked off the phone. “He will be here shortly.”
“Good,” Austin said. “I know we can use the results of those tests as leverage against whoever is behind this.”
Angelique nodded. “It’s also going to help us learn where we came from and why our bodies react the way they do.”
“You both told me about your eidetic memories and how quickly you heal. I have no doubt your other senses are superior to most. In ages past, you would have appeared as gods.”
“Or monsters,” Angelique added. “I still don’t understand what blood has to do with it.”
“I was hooked up to a bag of blood, Sis. It has to mean something.”
“I believe it does,” Doc said. “Let me explain. Humans’ ability to digest milk beyond infancy and into adulthood came around the time people were beginning to domesticate cattle, approximately 7,000 years ago. Europeans developed the ability to digest milk because the calcium made their bones stronger in climates where there was less sunlight, which is a natural source of vitamin D. The further south you travel in Europe, the lower the percentage of people that can consume lactose. Necessity adapted our bodies. The other hominid’s populations dwindled. They needed fuel to live, so their bodies evolved. Humanity eventually became their food source, or at least our blood did.”
“I may never drink milk again,” Angelique said. “And I know I will never drink blood. So barbaric.”
“Doc, this sounds way out there to me.”
“I know it may be hard to accept, but I believe this killer is no imposter or copycat. He’s the actual Ripper of 1888. He might have been in hyper-hibernation for over a century, his body healing itself.”
“Immortal or not, he better give me back my husband.”
Austin put his arm around his sister. “Michael is still alive. That’s what I took away from the letters.”
“I know, but I keep wondering what he’s going through. What that monster is doing to him.”
“Don’t. Michael was a SEAL. He knows how to survive the worst situations, Sis. He’s going to get through this. We all are.” He turned to Doc. “Would you mind reading the last letter?”
“Certainly.”
To my dearest Angelique,
A whore named Kate, whose palms were not violet like yours and mine, died here. Mortal blood flowed through her veins.
I was almost discovered by one of our oppressors. They walked among the masses back then as they do now, in positions of human authority but serving only the needs of their kind. With the aid of my human student, James, I evaded detection. Jim went on to continue my work, ridding the world of worthless whores. A good study, Jim.
The arrogance of the Morvicti, for that is what our persecutors call themselves, is their downfall. Can you imagine my shock when I found Austin imprisoned by them this very morning? You don’t know how overjoyed I was that my brother was alive. When I entered the dungeon, I hadn’t expected him to be there. When I saw the photo of you and Austin as children beside his sleeping form I knew I had to liberate him.
The dungeon with Austin and the others had no guard. But there must have been a silent alarm, for one of their soldiers took me by surprise and shot me. The ear I left you on Durward Street is from that man. He went by the name Walt Turner, but his real name was Romulus Drake.
I had to leave quickly and find blood to heal. It’s so easy to find humans who need to be taken out of their miserable existence. Feeling so good now.
The kidney is another sample for Dr. Wilson.
One final stop, my sweet. Go to White’s Row. At the top of the car park you’ll find my final gift.
Love,
Jack
Doc reread the line aloud, “ ‘A whore named Kate, whose palms were not violet like yours and mine, died here.’ His victim’s palms were not violet.” Doc looked up from the page. “Would you two mind showing me the palms of your hands?”
Austin held them up, knowing what he was looking for. “Pale violet.”
“Mine, too,” Angelique said. “That seems to be an indicator of some kind, at least according to The Ripper.”
Doc took a drag on his pipe. “Gita’s hands look just like yours.”
Angelique nodded. “She said it had something to do with being Polish.”
“I ran a DNA test on her several years ago. That test might have been compromised.” Doc sighed, no doubt wondering if the species he’d been searching for his entire life had been living under his roof in the form of his housekeeper. “I need to get a sample from Gita. I just want to double check it.”
All three of them went back down to Gita’s flat.
Doc held her hands and stared at her palms for a few moments.
“We need to take a look at Bell’s palms, too,” Angelique said.
Doc nodded. “Good idea.”
While Doc Wilson got Gita’s sample, Austin decided to check the windows and doors leading into the building. They were all locked.
So far so good, but we need to hurry.
Back in the lab, Doc took blood samples from him and Angelique.
Despite being so sad about Gita, Doc brightened a little, describing his process to identify DNA. “First, we isolate the cells, purifying them in a series of washes inside the centrifuge. This will suspend the cells, which I’ll purify even more using buffers. My method, which is strictly confidential, eliminates the need for multiple purification steps, saving precious hours. What most laboratories require for sequencing DNA, this lab only needs a fraction of the time.”
“How much longer before your tech arrives?”
“Not long.” Doc spread out The Ripper’s letters on one of the tables.
“It’s a pretty clear picture The Ripper is painting for us,” Angelique said. “His claim is that Mary Jane Kelly was only half human and half some unknown species he calls the ‘Morvicti.’ The other four were just casualties in his search for Mary Jane.”
“She was buried in a pauper’s grave so it is impossible to exhume her body,” Doc Wilson said. “The madman also believes that you two are the same as him and Mary Jane.”
As Angelique and Doc continued studying the letters for clues, Austin spotted something that seemed out of place to him. A mobile phone plugged into a socket. He walked over and looked at the screen. There was a call in progress. Had been for several hours.
Someone is listening.
CHAPTER 62
10:11 PM
Octavian went to the room in his house where the weapons were stored. He grabbed a knife and two pistols. He wasn’t sure what he was going to find at Dr. Wilson’s home, but he wanted to be prepared for anything. His children needed him.
Running for the garage where the limo was parked, he bumped into Duke Turellek, causing the old man to stumble.
Grabbing the man’s hand, he helped steady him. “Sorry, Duke Turellek. I’m in a hurry.”
“I’m going with you, Your Majesty.” The old man straightened up. “I’ll help you find that killer. I want to be the one who cuts off the bastard’s head.”
“My task is something else, my lord.”
“Majesty? Something else?” Duke Turellek’s face turned red and his bloodshot eyes narrowed to slivers. “What is so important to the king that would take him away from the nightmare that has befallen the Morvicti? The Ripper walks again in London. He killed my beautiful wife and her two innocent sisters.”
“I cannot imagine what you’re going through.”
“Of course you can’t. I know you lost your brother but that is not like losing your wife.”
He placed his hand on Turellek’s shoulder. “No it isn’t, but I will do everything I can to help you.” I coul
dn’t have survived losing Katherine without Rom.
After Katherine died everything changed. The light she had brought him vanished, and all he wanted to do was die. Thanks to his brother he found a way through the darkness. Now how am I going to survive without him?
“Even though we tried for years we never conceived,” Duke Turellek continued. “Jessenia never gave up hope. I offered to end our marriage so she could pursue someone younger. She told me I was being silly and that I was the love of her life. Jessenia was my true love, Octavian. She made me so happy. We both were happy. I fought back my slumber with every ounce of strength I had, praying we would have a child before I went underground.” Lost to his grief, Duke Turellek’s voice grew louder and louder. “I wanted to hold my child before I slept. Now the only thing I crave is the head of the monster. You’re my king. The head of all the bloodlines. You dare run away from your duty?”
“I am not running, my lord. The council and I are doing everything we can to find the monster and the one who freed him.”
With the fresh blood charging his body, Turellek pounded on the wall, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Whatever task you think is so important, you are wrong, Octavian. I deserve justice. I demand it.”
“And you will get it, my lord. I swear.”
Turellek swung his fist at him.
He ducked and grabbed him by the arm. “My Lord, compose yourself.”
Duke Turellek sobbed. “I-I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Your will is my duty. Always.”
With that vow, the man collapsed in his arms.
CHAPTER 63
10:55 PM
Angelique saw Austin motion for her and Dr. Wilson to be quiet.
Austin pointed to a mobile phone on a table near them, and in a very low tone, he said, “There’s a call in progress. Doc, do you recognize that phone?”
Dr. Wilson shook his head, and whispered, “Should we end the call?”
“No. Whoever is listening already knows we took out Bell. Hopefully, they haven’t sent another yet. A little misinformation might buy us some time. Keep talking.” He raised his voice slightly in an obvious attempt to ensure the phone would pick up what he said. “Doc, how many hours do you really expect these tests to take?”