I'm not too sure yet if I'm going to make this into a full story, or leave it as a one shot. For now it's just a fun little dive into the job Katherine took for herself and its drawbacks. (Though I'm not sure I'd call them such)
If you haven't seen Jekyll with James Nesbit yet, you are sorely missing out. Cuz mm-mmh! Was that a freaky, strangely-appealing man.
If you have seen it, try to catch the lines thrown in from the movie.
Hope you enjoy, and feedback, for this, would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. I hope to write an Original Jekyll and Hyde story soon, based on a few different version of the stories/movies It'll be interesting at least...I'm sure you can guess which of the boys I'll favor ;D
-Calamity-
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She went stiff when the front door opened. Hunched over the desk at the back of the apartment, she glanced at the clock then to the sliding doors. It was only 6:30, which meant it couldn't be Dr. Jackman, as she'd hoped. Katherine closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Don't start shaking, now. You've done this a dozen times. She told herself this while pulling the whiskey from its drawer. But that was the thing, wasn't it. No matter how many times she spoke with him, the fear never went away.
He would have killed her that night. She was not so naive anymore that she thought he wouldn't. Their deal had been simple. Lights and cameras on meant "Daddy" could see him and she was safe. Lights off and she was dinner. His words; and now she believed them. She straitened her spine with the glass tumbler full of amber liquid in hand, and opened the sliding doors. She'd found that a tiny peace offering first off made him more keen to play nice, but it was never a real guarantee.
"Oh, Mary Poppins, you smell lovely today." The voice came from behind her, and despite her forced calm, she jumped. He'd somehow gotten passed the only door in the hallway without her noticing. Moving in the time it took her to blink.
Clearing her throat, she gave a close-lipped smile and held out the tumbler. "Thank you, Mr. Hyde." Black, soulless eyes, like a shark. They caught the overhead florescent lights and glistened maliciously. "You're back early."
"Hoping I'd stay out all night, Katherine?" He took a small step closer, towering over her. She could feel the heat that radiated from him. (He always ran a few degrees higher than normal men) "Hoping you wouldn't have to see me? Careful, Kitty-Kat, I'm might get my feelings hurt."
Katherine stood her ground. Running from a predator only made it chase you. Food ran, and she didn't want him getting ideas.
"I've no idea what you're talking about, Mr. Hyde." She did her best reserved-bitch tone (perfected over the years) "I merely meant that you said you were staying out tonight."
Hyde tossed back the whiskey, draining the whole tumbler in a gulp. When he spun on his heel to put distance back between them, she felt the tension ease slightly from her body.
"Got bored." He sighed heavily, twirling to face her again, tumbler discarded. "Figured, why not? A night in could be fun." She gasped when he was suddenly right in front of her again. No moving, he was just there. "I'm sure there are plenty of fun things to do here." There was that damn smile. It would terrify her if it weren't so bloody sexy.
Dr. Jackman never smiled at her like that. Hell, he rarely smiled.
"I'll remind you Mr. Hyde, that I am here on a purely professional level, and I-"
But he wasn't listening. Like the child he was, he rolled his eyes. His hand rested on the wall beside her head, bringing him that much closer. She pressed back against the paneling as he tilted his head, eyes locked with hers. The monster had a way of looking right through you. He could dig deep inside and grasp the one thing you didn't want to hear. Tonight however, it seemed the game wasn't about cruelty, but se..something else.
The dog hadn't gotten his normal run tonight and he was feeling frisky.
"Mr. Hyde.." Katherine's voice wavered slightly, widening his wicked smile. Those oil-black eyes slid down over her outfit and he growled low in approval.
"You were hopein' for him, weren't you Katherine? All dressed up for Daddy, you naughty nanny; but he'd never notice in a hundred years. Not with Mrs. Jackman to totter home to. Me on the other hand," he took a deep breath near her hair, eyes rolling back a moment as he caught her scent before looking her dead in the face. "I'm very observant."
"Step back Mr. Hyde." Suddenly she was recalling some of his first words to her.
"Is he doing you?"
"No." She'd been indignant about it.
"Can I?" The childlike tone he'd used had thrown her off, as had the playfully batted lashes, but she was quick to reply.
"No." As if it weren't even a possibility. He'd lost his smile then, looking sullen and uninterested.
"Then what are you for?"
The animal pressed his other hand against the wall, caging her between his arms. Her pulse spiked, and he heard it. He could smell her fear.
"Oh! Mary Poppins, listen to that heart! Pitter-patter, pitter-patter, boom, boom, boom." He shook his body like a dog, ducking to catch her eyes. "Methinks she doth protest too mu-uch."
Katherine's jaw clenched, but she didn't look away from him. In fact, she drew the remnants of her courage and made with the hostility.
"I won't ask again."
Hyde rolled his eyes again, shoving away from the wall to lean against the opposite one. He crossed his arms and gazed at her like a cat at a battered toy. One he'd already ripped apart and finished playing with, and now he was wondering what to do with the tiny carcass. She was so small to him. So insignificant. Here stood the product of evolution. The next step for the human race. She was awed by him, and terrified.
"What am I to do then, Miss Poppins, if you're going to be such a wet blanket?"
"I suppose you could try something productive. Read a book, exercise." She busied herself by straitening her suit jacket. The blouse beneath was peach silk, trimmed in lace. His eyes followed the material a moment then popped back up to her.
"Mmm. I can think of a few exercises, but it takes two to tango."He grinned. "Wanna be my personal trainer? I might like it when you tell me what to do."
Bloody Hell. This was getting ridicules!
"You're being excessively fresh this evening, Mr. Hyde. Any reason why?"
"Just offering what you can't ask for. Poor repressed thing."
Her jaw dropped at that. Repressed?! She was the farthest thing from…And what did he know anyway? She'd been on dates. Maybe not recently and maybe she'd been without sex for a while, but that didn't mean she was bloody repressed.
"Not everyone in this world wants to sleep with you, Mr. Hyde." She gave a sour smile. "You may be attractive, but there are those of us with better sense."
This made him chuckle. "You're not one of them." Hyde stood strait then, smiling like he'd won a prize. "See, I can smell it, Katherine. You're afraid of me, sure, but you know what else you are?"
She gave him a 'do continue' look, arching a brow, then stiffened when he leaned in close enough that his breath warmed the curve of her ear.
"Aroused."
And with that, he pulled back, gave her a big amiable smile, and clapped. "Time for a bit of telly, yeah?"
Katherine remained in that hallway long after he'd disappeared in the living room with a few beers. Her heart refused to stop pounding on her ribs. She'd even started shaking. Sometimes it seemed he did this on purpose, the infuriating part was that she never knew when he meant the things he said. Was he just saying it to rib her?
That was what she'd like to believe, but here recently it had been getting harder and harder to come away from their little chats unflustered. The man was a monster, he'd threatened to eat her for Christ's sake, but he was also alluring. But evil was seductive, wasn't it. It always had been.
She didn't stop to check on him as she passed the living room, but she felt his eyes on her all the same. He tracked her with a slight smile as she hurried to her room, titling back his bottle. The program on the television was something violent. The woman on screen shrieked as she stumbled away from the murderer, her white shirt damp and torn. It was her opinion that such programs only gave him ideas, but it wasn't her place to mother him.
"Good night Mr. Hyde." She didn't look at him, unable to stand the knowing glint that she'd find in his eyes. "Your next scheduled shift if 7:00, Thursday. I'll see you then."
"Can't wait." He half growled, though the response was almost playful. She didn't reply, instead closing her bedroom door and turning the lock. Then came the three deadbolts at the top, middle, and bottom of the thing. She'd had a nightmare once that he'd exploded through the door and pounced on her in bed. She woken up before anything could happen to her dream-self, but since then she'd had that playing in her head every time she tried to sleep.
It wasn't half as bad as the nightmares of her suicidal mistake the first week of the job. When she'd drugged Jackman and cut the power, only to find Hyde had awoken. No lights and no cameras had meant dinner bells and he'd chased her into the back room and under her desk. Sobbing, she'd begged he turn the lights back on and not hurt her in exchange for admitting her real agenda in taking the job. It had made him laugh, which saved her life.
Those nightmares she would have the rest of her life.
Deep in the apartment, the woman on the television screamed again. Hyde's laughter covering the end of the sound, and a chill passed down her spine. She changed quickly, eager to shed the outfit Hyde had found so amusing, and stuffed it in the back of her dresser. She'd sit in bed for at least an hour, trying to relax enough to sleep, but it wasn't really possible with him awake. It never was. One of these days, she'd need to find a new bloody job, before this one killed her.
And something told her he'd really enjoy it.