Cruel and Unusual - serialised novel EXCLUSIVE to Steemit Part 64

Here are the links to catch-up, read again or start from the beginning

Episode List From 1 – 52
Then: 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63

Images below from Google, Getty Images, and Pixabay

Please read the start of the story using the link above. I promise, it’s well-worth the time to check it all out. At least then, this excerpt will make more sense)

---

At last he had finished his pantomime and found that a discarded bedsheet made for a convenient towel to remove the majority of the gore from his body. He threw the sheet onto the fire in the hearth where it caught light almost immediately.

When Jack left Mary Kelly, she was no longer concerned with the money she had been promised - he left her eviscerated remains for the Police to deal with.

Jack dressed and before he hefted Keme onto his shoulder, he made one last gesture, perhaps to draw attention away from his escape – “Murder!” Jack yelled out of the front door and scurried back to lock the door.

Then he took up the body of his captive and left by the back door. He had to put down Keme’s form for a moment as he reached through the broken window and locked that door too. His escape to his laboratory, where everything was prepared for his final experiment was unhindered and uneventful.

As it happened, no-one came to investigate the shout of alarm and he made his way to his lair. He dumped the still unconscious Keme in the largest cage and then busied himself with preparations as he waited for his prisoner to awaken.

Keme did not take much longer to regain his senses. He came to and looked about him before moving about. He did not try to grasp the bars – a fact that disappointed Jack who was observing from the shadows of one corner.

Jack thought that he was invisible in the gloom, but Keme took but a few moments to lock onto his position and glare at him in silence. The two men regarded each other for a time, Keme reclined upon the dirt floor of the cage and Jack standing, still swathed in darkness. Then Jack left the gloomy corner and walked around the cage with an obvious thirst for knowledge about his captive.

“You must be wondering why you are here.” Jack said at last. Keme remained silent, only his eyes moving, following Jack’s movements around the cage.

“Did you hear me?” Jack tried again to engage Keme in conversation but Keme only watched the other as he paced around his prison.

After more than thirty minutes, Jack tried once more. “Are you ready to talk with me? I know that you understand my language, I have heard you converse with others.”

But Keme remained mute and, with anger growing, Jack left the building. He made certain that everywhere was secured and then made for home. He avoided the direct route back home, and therefore, his latest work-area, but the buzz had already spread. His latest victim had been discovered and he took great care to avoid drawing attention.

His heart almost stopped when he saw a policeman in his path. Should he avoid or ignore?

As he was distracted, concentrating on this dilemma, his arm was taken hold of. He was pulled with firm and insistent gentleness, into a doorway.

“I would not go past that policeman if I were you. Your hair is dark and stiffened with blood and you stink like a slaughterhouse.”

Jack did not dare turn to see who his advisor could be, yet he dare not ignore the advice.

“What is it to you?” he asked, trying to cover his surprise with a belligerence that he had noticed other East End residents use with frightening regularity.

“Nothing whatsoever to me, son.”
Jack recognised David’s voice at last and turned around with caution.

“What on earth have you been up to, Jack? The whole of the East End is again up in arms about the latest atrocity you have committed – it was you that killed that woman this morning, wasn’t it?”

“Atrocity? Me? I have not the slightest idea of what you mean.”

“Jack, I have something to tell you, something that can help…”

But David did not get to finish what he was about to tell Jack, for Jack saw the look in his father’s eye and he realised that he was about to be trapped.

Jack pulled his arm from David’s grip and moved backwards. He glanced to the side, in the direction that he had seen the policeman and with relief, saw that the policeman had gone. Then Jack ducked down, below his father’s attempt to grab him again and as he dodged backwards, he fished something from his pocket.

He waved the bag at David and said, “Do not follow me!” then ran in the direction that he had seen the policeman.

Hazel gave the command to follow Jack and also advised caution for she saw David’s expression. She delayed her pursuit to question David.

“What was in the bag?” but before David could answer with his opinion, they heard a terrible screech as three Wolves voiced their distress almost as one being.

Hazel and David caught up with the Wolves that had chased Jack and were dumbfounded at their agonies. The Wolves – all of those that set off to chase Jack – were writhing on the ground in anguish. Their flesh was sizzling; the stench was terrible, their hands clawed at their eyes and as Hazel and David watched, unable to do anything, two of her comrades died of their injuries. The one remaining managed to grunt the warning “Silver particles… breathing impossible… eyes…” before she too expired.

David was in shock at the sight of the dead Wolves. These Wolves had been his captors and his wardens, but for all that, had not been cruel or unreasonable toward him. He felt a genuine sorrow for their deaths and an absolute horror for having been witness to them.