My Dearest Josephine

Prologue

A man loomed out of the darkness; Mary Ann Nichols jumped at the sight. A tall, dark, menacing shadow was coming from all directions. He seemed to be on her right, then would vanish, and appear on her left. The woman was somewhat intoxicated, but she had a gut feeling that this wasn't her mind playing tricks on her.

"This- This your idea of some practical joke? Well it ain't funny, I tell you!" Polly's cracking voice called out, breaking the frightening silence of the night. She stumbled around, trying to stay balanced and focus on the disappearing shadow at the same time.

As she held out her arms to keep her balance, she felt a deep, warm breath on her sweating neck, and didn't have a chance to protest before her mouth was covered by a gloved hand. He restrained the rest of her body with his other arm. She tried to yell, beg, and plead desperately, but only a soft, muffled whimper was heard. Tears that hadn't escaped her eyes since childhood were now rolling down her cheeks and dripped down her chin. They made their way down her neck. She felt them travel all the way down the middle of her chest. Polly sobbed helplessly as she came to the realization that today was the day she would die. She couldn't speak, couldn't punch, and couldn't fight.

"It's only me, Polly. I knew you'd scream, so I had to cover your mouth y'see." An all too familiar voice chuckled.

As he let her go, she was filled with relief, joy, and rage, all at once.

"You- You- What the hell's wrong with you Derek?" Polly laughed. She found herself crying after she finished laughing. Then, she cried again, and finally spat in his face angrily.

"Just wanted to talk." He shrugged, wiping the spit off of his face.

"At three in the morn', you did?"

"Yes, I needed to talk to you, I suppose. Something's happened." His voice was terribly serious; it gave her a chill she felt travel down her spine. Polly didn't feel too comfortable around him, for guilt was slowly rising within her.

"Maybe you can- How's this? I'll meet you by the railroad in a few hours, sound nice? I'll meet you there when the sun actually shines these streets. Oh, it's much too dark. I can hardly see the hand in front of me." Polly held out her hand for comic relief. Derek's body was tensing, obviously not amused. His gloved hands clenched into fists as his anger rose.

She tried to walk away with a smile, and a curt bow, but Derek took no second thoughts before holding onto her left arm. Firmly, but gently. Her heart still dropped, no matter how gentle his touch was. This could only mean one thing: She was trapped.

"I need to talk to you. Now." Derek said in a low whisper.

"You're scarin' me, mate. Say what you gotta say, now! Out with it! Out, out!"

"I think Josephine is going to leave me."

This was the reason behind his suspicious behavior. Josephine was the love of his life. Derek was terrified and heartbroken. Polly knew this. In fact, she knew Josephine had already left. And the reason for this was Polly's decisions. She had told Josephine something she knew she would regret later. And, here it was, regret showing up before her!

"Oh no," she whispered, feigning surprise and dread. "Now, that can't be. What happened? She couldn't Derek! That's so terrible."

Still, he did not release her arm.

"She could, and she will. Actually, I think she already has- Know she has. I'm scared to go home and see what I keep seeing in my head: An empty bed. Empty chairs. An empty table. I haven't slept for days, mortified of not seeing her there," his voice broke. "She's my sweetheart. My dearest." It was obvious how distraught he was.