𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝒩𝑜𝓌 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝐹𝑜𝓇𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 - 𝙸𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚍 𝙲𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚎

Chapter 9

The lid of the three soiled coffins are peeled open, Containing a severed body and two either side  of it. all three a clean sweep along the neck no jagged cuts.

walking along the side of the coffin until i reach the top where the severed bodies lay. casting my gaze along the victims, whispering their names as in recognition. "Peter Van Garrett...Dirk Van Garrett..Jonathon Masbeth"

  locking my eyes upon the three coffins that laid before me, murmuring thoughtfully. "Five victims..Four graves"

hearing groaning and huffing, turning  my head to see where the source of noise was coming from. a little ways up the hill where four men heaving the fourth coffin, pulling away from the graves i stand back as the dragged the last coffin over to me.

Mr Killian kneels at the coffin's side and pries it open with a crowbar, popping the lid off.

Young Masbeth hold the lantern close to the coffin providing me some light. after the night before, i couldn't let him be by himself. It would only make the grief worse, i know he has Victoria but even at times she can't always be around to look after him, glancing up at the boy infront of me i notice he has his nose scrunched up in disgust, his eyes holding uneasiness. 'at least i'm not the only one unnerved by grotesque sights'

standing over the opened coffins wearily, pulling out my handkerchief i looked down at the headless woman within the wooden cell. "The..The Widow Winship"

pausing, i kneeled down beside the coffin, to get a closer look at the body in search of anything that was out of the ordinary, groaning and holding back a gag at the foul smell that was invading my senses.

my eyes land on a small red mark near the gut, it looks like it came from beneath the clothing. frowning my brows, i gently lift up the piece of material only to be greeted by a large gash on the woman's abdomen. 'oh this is bad'

shooting my eyes towards the men in desperation "Bring the widow to the Doctors, Quickly!" standing up and dusting my hands off, riding the dirt that lingered on me.

                                                                                             ⎯

Banging the door open, ordering the men to bring the paled, soiled woman in.

i notice out of the corner of my eye, the Horror that decorated Doctor Lancasters face, seeing the beads of sweat that started to form of his forehead. he glances at the woman then at me, alarmed by the sight. "This is most irregular, Constable!" he states.

looking at him fully my gaze wondering on his facial expression "i would hope so, Doctor. but in this case i'm afraid, it's completely necessary.

i look at the men that brought the woman in, noticing that they have already put the woman on the table before me, walking over to my satchel which was positioned next to the table, on a little bench.

"We need to operate quickly!" i announce, only to receive odd glances

"Operate?" Doctor Lancaster repeats, i open the mouth of the satchel with a soft click, "She's dead!" he stated bluntly. rolling my eyes at the man behind me.

swiftly turning  on my heel to look at the man in the eyes, i squint at him "When we say Operate, we mean of course i will need the operating table.." i declare gesturing my hand at the table that held the woman. 'honestly'

i begin to take out several surgical tools and placed them neatly in a line next to the table. striding around the table, taking note of the body that laid before me.  and explaining the autopsy to the men in the room. "Once more, the neck wound is ...cauterised, the sword...thrust towards the stomach" closing the eyes for only a moment,

feeling the strangest thing come over me. i gently pressed my fingers across the woman's abdomen.

"but to what purpose.." i murmur.

hearing the Doctor next to me mutter bitterly "To what is your purpose is the question."

i look at Lancaster with irritation sprawled across my features.standing up, my mind begins to wonder if he knows something. raking my eyes over the man, i study his body language and his behaviour.

The Doctor walks over to my equipment and picks one of my tools up, looking at it in amazement. "What manner of instruments are these?" 

a deep line forms between my brows, annoyed at his nosiness, swiftly i snatch the tool out of his hand and clean it with my shirt. "Some of my own designs" i answer, placing the tool back in its rightful place.  

glancing at all my tools laid out on the table, then at the corpus. taking a deep breath i glance at the small boy who stood in the corner of the room, his completion whiting each passing second. gliding over to the boy, bending down to meet his eyes i smile softly at him.

"Young Masbeth can you do me a favour?" i whisper to the boy, who's eyes lit up like a roaring fire, but his skin still a sickly shade of white.

"Of course sir!"

"Can you deliver these to Miss Victoria? " i ask, pulling out beautiful crocuses from my coat pocket,  the light purple flower's twirled in my hand as the little white dots gleamed.

"yes sir." the boy took the flowers with great care, looking at them in wonder. "Sir can i ask something?"  hearing a gruffly voice coming from behind me, i turned only to see Mr Killian. "After, okay" i replied to the boy turning around and pushing him gently on his back towards the door. making sure he was gone i turned to the rest of them.

"thank you Mr Killian for your help.." he nods in my direction and smiles at me. making his way towards the door where young Masbeth left only seconds ago. walking around the table, i make my way to the Doctor putting my hand on his shoulder and leading him to the door " and if you don't mind, Doctor. I can't concentrate when i am being observed." i smile cheekily at him before i shut the door behind him with a soft thud.

sighing, i look back at the corpus that waited my presence. remembering the flowers i gave to Masbeth, my cheeks grew a deep shade of red 'i wonder if she'll like them...' i saw them on my way to the grave yard and wanted to give them myself, but i suppose i wont get that privilege. pushing the thoughts to the back of my mind i made my way over to the table.

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Victoria's Pov

a rapid knock came from the front door, and a small voice shouting for me. quickly making my way over to the double oak doors, swinging them open only to reveal Young Masbeth.

"Victoria! Oh my...hang on.." the boy leaned on his knees for support as he tried to catch his breath back.

"Darling did you run here?" i questioned, taking in his appearance. his mousy brown hair was messier then usual, and his cheeks where flushed a bright red. his chest rose at a rapid pace.

"Yea..Mr Crane wanted me to give these to you" he declared searching his pockets, Feeling my heart slightly skip a beat when Masbeth mentioned his name.

The young boy pulled out beautiful purple flowers, with small white dots littering the petals, and a vibrant orange centre. it was defiantly a contrast to the dull and gloomy area.

"Oh my, there beautiful" taking them gently from the young boy, i held them up, taking in the beauty of them, feeling my cheeks heat up with the action the constable had done. 

i always loved crocuses since i was a little girl. but i never got the opportunity to see one in real life, the main reason was because i was always locked in my room. the story you hear my father spread is a bunch of lies. i've never personally locked myself in my own room, no i was forced, threatened. my sister was the only one to show her face at big events or gatherings, since she will inherit everything. while me on the other hand...i was a mistake.

looking at the beautiful flower infront of me a single tear rolled down my cheek.

"Thank you Ichbod..."

A/N

Thank you so much for all the love and support you've been giving me, I honestly love each and every one of you so much! It makes me smile every single day knowing that your enjoying the book! Thank you from the bottom of my heart Xx