Jekyll & Hyde

Chapter One - The Body of Dr. Jekyll

As Jonathan walked into the once beloved home of his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, he could not help but feel overwhelmed with sadness, sadness and a darkness so... impure, so evil, he could feel it running through his very bones.

The house was dark, even as lights were lit dimly. A small framed portrait of Dr Henry Jekyll sat above the mantel, staring at Jonathan.

There, lifelessly and beautifully youthful, his best friend stood, posed with his father's cane, a young man of no older than forty.

He followed a young police officer, the man as white as a sheet with a stained handkerchief in his hand with a distinct smell of vomit coming from it as he moved it over his mouth. Whatever Jonathan was about to witness, it was not going to be a pleasant experience. It was probably one of the worst and definitely the first time the officer had seen such a thing.

"He is through there, Sir Jonathan" the police officer whispered, still covering his nose and mouth with his handkerchief.

"Why will you not join me?" Jonathan questioned rudely, glaring at the man. "My poor friend, Dr Henry Jekyll should be given a medal of courage if he is staying inside! What the devil has Hyde done?"

"Not Hyde sir, we have been unable to locate him" the officer cryptically tried to explain, choking as Jonathan opened the door.

"For god sake man, pull yourself together!" he snapped before the smell hit him, first the smell, then the sight... Dr Jekyll.

He slowly managed to walk towards the body, sat in his favourite chair, lifeless slouching. His eyes were wide open, his hands clutching a bottle of cyanide.

"He took his own life?" Jonathan questioned.

"Yes sir, Dr Jekyll was found by his butler. At first glance, it appears he has... taken his own life"

"Who else knows about Dr Jekyll's suicide?" Jonathan asked quickly.

"No one, sir, we have not informed the public" a senior police officer responded, his wrinkled skin had seen enough to not force vomit.

Jonathan sat, confused. What happened to Dr Jekyll to make kill himself? It seemed so wrong, out of character. He was a good man, a social man who rarely turned down an event or chance to shine but all of a sudden, he just kills himself? It did not seem right; something was wrong, desperately wrong.

"We found a couple of letters by his body, one addressed to Gabriel Utterson, the other addressed to you, Sir Jonathan"

"Thank you, may I have the letter?"

"Of course sir, it may be about Dr Jekyll's estate or funeral. Do you know if he had any relatives, sir?"

"Not one" Jonathan replied, looking down at his friend. His friend's dark hair was in such a mess, it was all over the place. He would not have intentionally left it in such a state, clearly he felt desperate for some reason.

The poor man, probably believed the public would blame him, tarnish his good name for what Hyde did, the monster who beat the old man Sir Danvers Carew to death. What a sickening man, Hyde was, a monster with no soul or conscience. He did as he pleased, no matter what pleased him, pleasure, drinking masses of alcohol and even murder were on the long list of things Hyde did.

"Are you sure this was not the work of Hyde?" Jonathan asked, throwing out the accusation. It was the only thing that made sense to him. Hyde had murdered before and acted as if it was nothing, he was hardly going to think twice before killing another.

"We are sure he killed himself, Sir Jonathan" the senior police officer replied, standing straight up. "Did you know Hyde personally?"

"I met him once; the very presence of the man disgusted me. He was talking in riddles about, if you will beg my pardon, sir, 'the pleasures of life' while he paid a visit to the local brothel. My wife and I had just come home from the theatre; unfortunately our new coach driver took the wrong turn"

"How despicable" the officer commented.

"Indeed. No gentleman should be in such a place but Hyde was no gentleman, he was a sickening man, a mad man. If I could, I would have had such a man locked up!"

"You will hear no disagreements from myself or Hyde's victims. Why did Dr Jekyll put up with that... monster for so long?"

"Henry did a lot in the name of science. Perhaps he saw Hyde's behaviour as a mere... side-effect. Have you managed to catch that... monster, Hyde, yet?"

"No sir, we are still searching London"

"With any luck, the monster has vanished into thin air" 

"It is our hope too, sir" the officer admitted.

Jonathan left the room, left the house. There was nothing there, the plants Dr Jekyll once loved, cared for were dead and the whole house felt the same. The sanity of Dr Jekyll had clearly left his mind thanks to Hyde, Hyde and his work of pure, sickening evil.

There was nothing good about that man, nothing kind or decent. Hyde was a monster, a pest of the city of London, of the world.

Jonathan was planning to return home, back to Manchester by the end of the two weeks. He promised his wife he would stay with Dr Jekyll, help him through the maddening times after news of Hyde's crime reached even the papers of Manchester. Dr Jekyll did not deserve the backlash, the whipping he would receive from tongues so cruel, tongues that looked for a person to blame for Hyde's evil.

Jonathan roughly opened the letter, peeling off the wax forcing it shut. He opened out the small, badly written letter and slowly tried to read it.

'Dearest Jonathan

If you are reading this then it is true, there is a God for there is an end. It is over, the monstrosity I created is dead and as punishment or payment, I have joined the monster, Hyde in death.

You once said I would be the one to change the world, open the doors to things we could not possibly believe or understand and I do believe you were right, old friend.

I had come too far, struggled for too long. Hyde was there to stay, he would not leave. I hoped my memory would hide him, I hoped he would be a figment of everyone's memory however it seems I was wrong.

If there is a god, the monster Hyde is the devil himself.

I am only grateful for the life I had, the brief moments of life I had, old friend.

I have written no will however if my estate goes to auction, I ask you to do one thing for me, to buy my research, no matter the cost and burn it, set it on fire so the flames may take it to hell along with the monstrosity that I created.

I crossed the line, old friend. I thought I was doing good, I thought I was doing something good for life, for science however now when I look back, I see it staring at me, facing me in the mirror. All I have done is created a monstrosity, that was all the serum did and all the things Hyde did, all the things I allowed him to do... it is all because of it.

I wanted to control the evil deeds we could do, to prove that it is possible to separate good and evil. I wanted to separate the two, I wanted to control our evil side but I fear I made it stronger.

Please put away the research, burn it or hide it but never speak of it again. As your friend, I beg of you to never speak of it again, to never show it to anyone else.

Do not allow it to be continued, please. I beg of you, as your friend, do not allow it become public, do not let others follow my path and repeat my mistakes.

Goodbye, old friend.

Dr Henry Jekyll'