Whitechapel Vengeances

Found Our Man?

"Let go o' me!" Our pretty young murderer shouted as we carried her into an abandoned warehouse.

Our captive kicked and shouted as we threw her down on the ground and she flailed like a fish, all tied up and furious like a bee.

"This is not what I was expecting," Jean whispered to me, and I nodded.

"I know, but I mean, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had his theory that Jack the Ripper might've actually have been Jill the Ripper, but to think that all this time, one of history's most famous serial killer was a woman is really gonna shake the history books." I was scratching my head and practically buzzing with excitement of the discovery.

Rarely was there a day in Chronicler history where actual historical mysteries were solved. There were still scratched heads from Brian Harms from the Machine Age as to where Amelia Earhart was in the South Pacific.

"Who are you?" I couldn't help but go into Chronicler mode and asking the identifying questions necessary to fill out my report.

"Why do you care to know?" The blonde girl spat aggressively.

Lulu went up and slapped our captive hard on the mouth and everyone looked in shock and amazement at the bold actions of the youngest member in the group.

"We care to know, because you've killed a lot of innocent women, and we want to know why!" Lulu was fierce and absolutely not messing around. Vicky laid a hand on the young girl's shoulder to get her to calm down.

"I've seen your face in Whitechapel ain't I?" The woman squinted up at Lulu fearlessly. "You're one of them harlots aren't you? Workin' for Madame Redd?"

"So what if I am?" Lulu asked, unashamed.

"Harlots like you are what really piss me off. Ruinin' lives without a care in the world for us lot. Do you know how many families you ruin?!" Our killer Jill hissed with venom on her words.

"What are you talking about?" Kitty asked delicately. "You're not makin' any sense."

Our captive calmed down a bit before taking deep breaths and looking at us with icy eyes.

"My name's Verity Channing," the girl dropped the false Cockney and revealed a much more refined accent then any of us had been expecting. "I was born in Notting Hill where I've lived my whole life. My father's a doctor and my mother died giving birth to me and so I never met her. Since my father had no sons, just my older sister and myself he taught us human anatomy and we learned all about the human body."

"Hence why you were able to remove the uteruses of your victims and disembowel them with medical accuracy." I made a mental note of this and my fingers itched to be writing this all down.

"Yes, well my sister, Mary, married earlier last year. To a very honorable and distinguished person, a certain Reginald Octavius." Verity said the name with much spite and contempt. "Money aside I found her husband to be a very disagreeable man, but Father was insistent of the match and Mary was eager to please Father. I didn't want my sister to leave me alone at home, but she told me that I'd soon find my own husband."

The girls and I exchanged glances as Verity seemed to get lost in thought.

"My sister was with child all of the summer of 1887. She was eager to be a mother and start a family and I visited her every chance I could to help her in preparation, but her husband... was less then pleased at the prospect of becoming a father." Verity drew her feet to her chest and I saw the anger boiling in her eyes. "Mr. Reginald couldn't keep himself to himself and so he goes off chasing every skirt that he happens across making my sister the laughing stock of the community. They all laughed behind her back at the fact that she couldn't keep her husband. I soon found out that Reginald had been frequenting visits to East Side." Verity looked at all the girls. "To harlots like you!"

"It hardly seems fair that what your brother-in-law did should be taken out on us prostitutes," Kitty crossed her arms.

"My sister died in childbirth hoping for her husband to come home and meet his newborn daughter, and all the while he was in the filthy East End with a harlot like you!" Verity shrieked. "She died of a broken heart because disgusting women like yourselves take men from their husbands and leave broken families in their wake!"

Suddenly Verity jumped to her feet and her ropes fell away. A scalpel visible in her hand and I cursed myself for not thinking to disarm her.

She leapt to Lulu who was the closest and I knew she was going to attack and so I pushed myself in the way and felt the piercing blade press into my stomach.

Falling onto the ground I couldn't believe I'd been so foolish to jump so quickly to take a knife for someone.

"Charlie!" Jean sprang for me as I heard another shriek and the thud of someone fall.

Raising my head I saw Verity on the ground as a dagger lay sticking out of her chest and Lulu stood wide eyed, confounded by what she'd done.

"I... I... didn't think that ah could cut so easily through a person..." Lulu said in shock. "Like butter..."

"You stopped a killer," Kitty said going to hug Lulu comfortingly. "It's all right, you didn't do anythin' wrong."

"Butter..." Lulu murmured as Kitty hugged her.

"Charlie look at me, we're going to get you out of here," Jean said holding an Escape Key in front of my face.

"Jean..." I winced as pain started to flood through me. "Hang on..."

"What is there to hang on about? You're dying!" Jean's eyes were filled with tears as I saw him panicking, but I noticed how he kept looking back at Kitty.

I'd gotten all the information I needed and found out who Jack the Ripper's real identity had been. A bitter woman named Verity Channing who'd let her anger extend to the wrong people. Jean and I didn't need to come back to London 1888.

"I'm not dying, I'm just bleeding out. As soon as you take me back to 2066, emergency services in the sick bay will put me back together, but you know that we won't be coming back here." I grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Then let's go," Jean said in a hurry, and I reached out to touch his face to calm him down.

"You know how you feel about Kitty," I said trying to keep the pain off my mind. "You like her... a lot, and she likes you. Stay here, with her, and get the girlfriend I could never be for you." Jean looked at me with conflicting emotions on his face.

"I can't just stay, I'll be... searched for—"

"Not if you died in 1888," I said firmly.

"Quoi?" Jean asked confused.

"Jean-Pierre Lafaille died protecting me from the murderer known to the world as Jack the Ripper. He laid down his life to protect my own, and for that I am eternally grateful. There's a hundred pounds back at Madame Redd's that I've carefully stashed away in floorboard in Lulu's room. Split the money with the girls and keep the rest for yourself and Kitty." This was goodbye for Jean and I. So many years spent together, and we'd have to finally separate.

Unlike typical goodbyes we weren't merely going to separated by miles in between us, but by centuries of time.

"You don't have to do this for me," Jean kissed my forehead and I smiled.

"Yes I do," I nodded. "Now get the girls out of here, they shouldn't be around the blast from the Escape Key."

Jean nodded and took the girls, taking Kitty by the hand and leading Vicky and Lulu out of the warehouse.

I took a deep breath watching the rafters of the warehouse as I knew I'd made the right decision.

"Good luck, Jean."

I pressed the button the Escape Key, and my world turned bright white.

~~~

A/N (10/5/19): Hey guys, it's spooky month and I really want to get this short story done before I lose all motivation so the uploads are still coming, with the epilogue up next.