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Chapter 23
“See, I told you it stinks,” Vicky muttered as the team made their way down an alley, clinging to the shadows, hoping to ferret out a Vampire who might be willing to talk. Though most were not willing to work with “the enemy” occasionally they’d find one who was willing to provide information for the promise of safety.
“Smells like flowers to me,” Edmund, a Guardian who was born and raised in London and was fairly new to the team remarked, flashing his charming British smile at her.
“Nah, that’s just me you’re smelling,” Vicky replied with that delightful grin, and Aaron felt the muscles in his stomach tighten.
“Let’s just focus on the task at hand and put the odors out of our minds, shall we?” he asked, though the rest of the team would take it as an order. Technically, he was only in charge because Ward had given him the file, and he took it upon himself to organize the explora
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Aaron Chapter 24
Ward was back in the office the next day, and he had a bit more information to share, though not much. He called the entire staff into the conference room to meet at nine o’clock sharp, and despite the fact that they hadn’t gotten in until nearly 3:00, the time was no problem for the teammates who rarely slept anyway.There was a total of ten individuals on the London Team as it was referred to. Over the last forty years, Aaron had watched as the two good Passels, the Hunters and Guardians, began to organize themselves to better fight the evil Vampires. Though technically, the job of the Guardian was to protect whichever of the other two Passels needed protecting, Aaron could never even fathom a situation where he’d need to protect a Vampire.With better organization came a more concentrated battle effort, which also required funding. Several sources supplied the money to operate their organization, but the primary sources were governments that realiz
Aaron Chapter 25
London England, 1889The January wind was bitter and unforgiving, biting through the coats and scarves of the humans who quickly made their way from one building to the next, careful not to slip on the sheen of ice left in spots on the surface of the sidewalks and streets. The stars were out, and the sky was clear, but few of them lingered long enough to marvel at the wonder as they rushed to get out of the cold.Aaron and Vicky had no such reason to take cover. Cold no longer affected them the same way once they had gone through the Transformation process. Aaron could easily stand outside in subzero temperatures without a coat for hours before he became even the slightest bit uncomfortable. Likewise, the summer sun was no longer a bother.Tonight, he did wear a long coat, hat, and scarf—as did Vicky—not because they needed them for warmth but because otherwise, they might not quite fit in with their surrounding should any humans pay them an
Aaron Chapter 26
Aaron found the Vampire’s comment that the Ripper wouldn’t be outside on a night like this interesting but didn’t pursue why that might be. He had more important questions to ask. “Did he do that job before Christmas? The strangulation?”“Nah,” came the reply. “That drunk done herself in. Not his callin’ card.”That was just as his team had suspected, and Aaron moved on before the answers stopped coming. “What about the day after Christmas?”“Yeah, that’s him. Papers ain’t think so, though. Neither do the coppers much. He’s switchin’ it up now. You’ll have a hard time tellin’ the difference.”“Why?” Aaron asked. “Why switch it up?”“Why not?” he giggled, and for a moment Aaron thought the maniacal, highly disturbing laugh might be back, but he reined it in. “Coppers is too close. Gotta put
Aaron Chapter 27
Dr. Joplin seemed nervous as he surveyed the group at the table, preparing to answer Ward’s question. “Well,” he began after some consideration, “there could be a number of reasons why the Ripper might take such actions, but, in my opinion, he’s doing it to prevent blood loss from the wounds he inflicts after death.”“How’s that?” Ward asked, leaning forward in concentration. He was clearly interested in hearing more about the doctor’s theory. Aaron listened as well, but he was also trying to read the physician to see if he was legitimate or some sort of a fake looking to advance his own agenda.“So… if you think of the heart as a pump, driving blood to the various parts of the body, if one were to make an incision, particularly the large slashing cuts the Ripper uses in the neck and torso areas, while the heart is still pumping blood, there will be a splattering effect, far beyond what we are see
Aaron Chapter 28
While the rest of the team continued to pound the pavement of Whitechapel, Aaron and Vicky volunteered to go through the paperwork supplied to them by the local police documenting each of the nearly one hundred suspects they took seriously. There were a few hundred more that were dismissed, and while Aaron was a bit apprehensive of taking anyone’s word for it, he did trust the members of their own team who also worked for the police department to make accurate recommendations.The job was simple at this point; look at each suspect and add medical practitioners to a narrowed list which the team would then more closely examine. However, as Aaron and Vicky began to go through the pile of documentation, they realized the task wouldn’t be as simple as first imagined. Some of the suspects had no career noted or the information was so incomplete, it wasn’t clear whether or not they could potentially have a background involving some sort of medical experience.
Aaron Chapter 29
New York City, New York, America, 1891They had been a few minutes too late; that had been evident in the hurried evacuation of the East River Hotel their suspect made as Aaron and Ward rounded the corner of the poorly lit Manhattan street. After years of investigation, deduction, conversation, and a near miss back in Whitechapel last winter, they had watched the Jack the Ripper case go silent in London. For months, there was nothing, not a peep. It wasn’t until Aaron had finally stumbled into his old informant friend one night about a month ago that he learned Jack was quiet because Jack was gone. Fearing he could not escape their clutches next time, he had taken off for America, New York to be exact, and with permission from the Guardian Leader, Aaron, Ward, Vicky, and Frank had followed.Aaron had discovered teams operated quite differently here in America, and while it took some getting used to, he appreciated the new experience. From the beginning,
Aaron Chapter 30
Aaron didn’t give up. He knew he was faster than most Vampires, and there was still a chance he could catch the Ripper. Without another thought, he gave chase, tearing down Water Street as fast as he could.Soon, it became quite certain where Jack was headed. Even though he zigged and zagged a few times and was still a good block and a half ahead of him, Aaron could tell he was headed for the bridge. Toward what end, he wasn’t certain. Perhaps if Jack knew he was still being followed, he thought he could lose him in the water. Thoughts of plunging into the East River were not particularly inviting, but after three years, this needed to end tonight.It was past 2:00 in the morning and there were very few people in sight as he followed behind Jack who, despite constantly checking over his shoulder, had given no indication that he was aware that Aaron was still behind him. He seemed to have slowed his pace a bit, as if he was calculating what to do next. The f
Aaron Chapter 31
Jack saw the attack coming, and stepping out of the way, he used his forearm to block the stake, hitting Frank’s arm with his, jarring the weapon free, and in one smooth motion, he spun Frank around so that his back was pressed against Jack’s chest, the knife poised against his neck.“Take me in without harming me?” Jack screeched. “I knew that was not true!”“Calm down, Jack,” Aaron said, hoping his own voice sounded as tranquil as it needed to. “We can still work this out. There’s no reason for anyone to get hurt.”Aaron heard the sound of footsteps behind him and turned to see Ward had finally managed to find their location. Having the leader on sight now, Aaron gestured for him to take over, but Ward shook his head, an indication that he wanted Aaron to continue to run the situation. At this point, it didn’t seem to matter which Guardian did the talking; Jack was in control.&ldqu
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