Jekyll and Hyde: Duality

Monsters set in stone

Prelude

The walls felt thick around him. They left him minimum space and he could see nothing. Suddenly a cracking sound. Light, that fell through slits. He struggled as he forced the walls open, angrily hissing to himself. His body felt long and slippy. Feathers that were wet from the liquid of his egg.

He looked around. He was in a narrow street. A few damp cartons and a toad that looked at him with big, brown eyes, squawking. He licked his lips and growled. Slowly slithering over the ground, he made his way through the street. Night spread over London. Lamps send strays of orange light every now and then. But he kept himself in the shadows. His head twitched around, scanning for a possible prey.

He finally found what he was looking for. A woman was slowly walking down the street. She wore a small hat and had locks. His feathers bristled and his long body slide towards her. He sneaked out of the shadows, made her turn around saw her eyes widen and heard her scream.

But there was also another scream. Higher, younger and more boy like. It was coming out of his mouth as he was Ravi Najaran who jumped upwards in his bed, jerked out of his sleep.

~Jekyll & Hyde~

"This better be important." Bulstrode slowly moved his glasses upwards. He was scratching notes on his notepaper. The chief sat at his massive desk, the stylized sun in his back. The golden emblem spread across the wall, giving the place the air of a throne room. Bulstrode was a prideful man and it showed. He saw himself as a saivour and MIO was his tool. Without him, they would be nothing! "You do know how much I hate mondays."

The old chief looked up. In front of him stood Hannigan. The man was a bit fat, had a bushy mustache and wore a small, black hat. Even with his suit, Bulstrode was reminded of a walrus. It was not that he disliked this agent. In fact Hannigan was like his second hand. He was reliable and did his job with the same heart Bulstrode did.

"What is it, Hannigan?", asked the man. The agent grunted: "You might want to take a look at this, Bulstrode." Bulstrode rose and followed Hannigan in the lift. It too was encased in gold. No true gold, but this fake, cheap gold that got cased over iron and other metals. The whole place was as fake and rotten as the organization it inhabited.

Hannigan brought Bulstrode to a corpse that laid on the table. Rannigan, the scientist, stood before it. He stated: "I am sorry, sir, but we have no idea what killed it." On Bulstrode's command, he removed the plastic blanket which hide the dead man from curious eyes. Oh dear lord...

The corpse seemed to be in perfect health on first sight. There was no wound, no blood, no gap in the throat or anything else that made it look like someone had re thorn it. (A rather unnormal view for Bulstrode as most monsters were rather brutal and created quite a mess). However the person's face was pale, her body seemed rigid and stiff and her eyes were widened in terror.

"This looks odd", stated Bulstrode and tilted his head. He crossed his arms behind his back. "Is she really dead?" "Well, she is motionless", responded Hannigan, "Looks kinda dead to me." Rannigan lifted a brow and asked: "Are you suggesting she is not dead? But petrified or something?" The chief nodded as he bent over the body. "The possibility is there."

Rannigan, Sackler and Hannigan looked at one another. Sackler asked: "But what monster does this?" "A gorgon", guessed Hannigan. Bulstrode shook his head. "That does not make sense", he stated, "Gorgons turn people into stone. This woman is petrified."

"Is there a difference between being turned into stone and being petrified?", asked Sackler in confusion. The blonde agent lifted a brow. "Yes, there is, Sackler", responded Bulstrode, "After all a penguin and a pigeon is not the same, even if they are both birds. We do not have a stature in the house after all."