The Fall

The room was buzzing. My eyes were glazed over and unmoving as I stared meaninglessly at a woven bird in the carpet's design. I was not listening to the sounds around me, merely hearing them. I could hear Aunt's frantic voice as she explained the situation to the sheriff. I could hear the sobs of one of the maids Hannah had befriended. Then, there was the sound of investigators as they disgust evidence. All this blended together in one ominous hum that rung in my ears as I thought about how horrific this morning had become.

Hannah was missing. She had been since this morning; at least that's what the evidence declared. I was still in shock. It was unsettling that Hannah was gone, but there was a deeper disturbance that toiled within. Hannah was my maid, yes. But she was also my friend. She had talked to me when I was nervous and felt out of place. She made me feel more at rest.

"Ma'am, we are going to search upstairs." One of the detectives announced to my Aunt in a soft tone. She nodded weakly.

"Are you okay, my dear?" My uncle asked with great concern. He placed a warm hand over m folded hands in my lap.

"Yes, thank you." My voice didn't sound as stable as I wanted it to be.

He leaned over, wrapping a fatherly arm around me. I instinctively hugged back. It felt so good to be comforted like that. I felt a sliver of that long awaited peace I was searching for last night.

"Detective, we found something!" And just like that, my peace of mind was forgotten.

We traveled upstairs and followed the discoverer of the evidence. I dropped my skirt as I stepped on the second floor. The first thing I noticed was that my door was open.

"In here." The man said pointing my room.

My heart skipped a beat.

"Excuse me sir, that's my quarters." I said in surprise. He just looked at me. How could have anything happened in there? I was in there last night and this morning. Wouldn't I have noticed something?

As we entered the room, a sense of fear took hold. It didn't feel like my room anymore. It was different.

"There, right there." He knelt down pointing to the floor.

We crowded around the kneeling investigator. He looked up at us annoyed. It seemed like he was going to warn us off, but he never spoke.

I peered over everyone's head with hesitation. I did not want to confirm my fear.

There, smeared on across the floor was a line of blood.

I gasped, stepping away. My hand flew up to my mouth, like I was muffling my own screams.

"It looks like someone had tried to wipe it up. There, on the lower wall, is some as well. I believe we are lucky. There must have been much more blood before…"

I felt the bitter, familiar tears sting my eyes. A scream welled up in my throat, but it was too much. I was sick of holding back my screams. I could not hear it, but I felt the air drain my lungs and my shrill voice making my throat raw.

The nightmare I had last night about my mother, was not a nightmare. It was real. And indeed that was not my mother, it was Hannah. I had been awoken from my peaceful dream by the sound of Hannah being murdered. I had witnessed her being killed and then drifted of back into sleep.

The utmost powerful feeling of loneliness stabbed me. I yearned for my uncle's comforting touch and for Emmett's ignorant love. He did not know me. He did not know my past and he did not know what I had down last night. I wanted ignorance right now. I wanted to believe it was a nightmare, merely a nightmare. I wanted to not be Ro.

I fell to my knees, hugging myself in replace of my uncle's, Emmett's, or even my Aunt's arms.

"Madam, are you alright?" The detective asked, bending down beside me.

"I saw it all!" I cried into my arm. "I thought I was just dreaming… b-but it was real, it was real!"

"What are you talking about, you poor thing?" My aunt gasped as she rushed towards me.

"Ms. Hatton, will you give us an account of what you witnessed?"

That morning was enough to make me drop dead. It was the soul definition of hell. I had humiliated myself in front of the authorities when I broke down in my chambers, and then I furthered it when I tried to explain what I saw through my sobs. It was exhausting and I found that by noon, I was begging for limbo again. I lay on the couch, wrapped in a thin blanket, staring at the ceiling with drying tears on my cheeks and chin.

The authorities had just made their exit. Aunt was talking to Uncle in the study. They were mighty worried about me and had made sure that the servants were checking up on me every fifteen minutes.

The story would make headlines by tomorrow and I would have to deal with the fresh gossip. Not to mention Aunt. Well, she was a heeder of hearsay, so she might not have had a problem with being the steed of it.

My thoughts returned to last night. I couldn't stop. Every time that I reminded myself a murderer had been not but six feet from me, cold, sharp shivers encase my body. Why hadn't he touched me? What had Hannah done to deserve such a brutal death?

"Ms. Hatton?" came one f the Servant's voice.

I rolled my head to the side to look at Mr. Winter.

"Are you well? Perhaps another blanket, you look frightfully cold."

"You are to kind, Mr. Winter. Worry not. I am fine." I reassured him.

"We are almost done with your new quarters, madam."

I was asked to move out of that room as to keep it for further investigation. They were to come by either this evening or tomorrow morning to gather more plausible clues. I was to inhabit our guest room, on the opposite wing. That made me rather glad to know I was far from that room. I knew that now my nights would be even longer and the shadows even more prominent.

"Thank you, Mr. Winter. You've been good to me." I dismissed him with a half smile, not yet capable of a full one.

He gave a small bow and exited the room to finish with the task upstairs.

I sat up, holding the blanket around me so it would not fall. The blood rushed out of my head and for a moment the room was spinning. When the room stilled, I found enough balance to rise the rest of the way. I did not want to be alone anymore, even Mr. Winter's company had been most rewarding and when he left and the silence overtook the room again, I realized how much I desired a fellow soul. I did not, however want to keep Mr. Winter or any other servant from their jobs, for they would fall behind and not earn their pay. So, I decided to seek companionship with my Aunt and Uncle. I wearily traveled down the hall and another corridor to the Study. I knocked once and without a reply, I opened the door, keeping my eyes on the wood flooring. The room was cold despite the flames that lit up the fireplace. Uncle Andy was sitting at his mahogany desk, hand folded on the table in front of him. Aunt was sitting in the high backed, forest green chair in front of him. They looked at me as I came in, stopping mid conversation.

"Oh, Ro!" Aunt greeted with sadness. She stood, arms outstretched for me to walk into.

That's what I had been wanting. I let the blanket drop from my shoulders so I was able to move more freely. I enclosed the distance between us and let her embrace me.

"You have impeccable timing, my dear. We were just about to send word for you." She whispered pulling away. She showed me to her former chair and motioned for me to sit. I heeded her implications. The chair was stiff and it forced me, as it was supposed to, to sit up straight like the lady I had become.

"We need to talk about a few things." Uncle Andy said.

"Of course," I said, letting him know that I was listening.

"We are exceedingly troubled by the events that have now taken place in this house. We understand how greatly disturbed you must be, ergo, we have come up with a suggestion. If you want, we understand if you would like to live with the Kentons for a while. They are good family friends and they have already agreed, if you agree of course." Aunt explained with deep distress. Uncle nodded with approval as his wife recited the plan.

"No! No, I am fine, I assure you." The last thing that I wanted would be being taken away from my only family.

"Rochelle, are you sure?" Uncle Andy pressed.

"I am, sir."

"And this brings us to another point of discussion." Aunt continued. "I was just discussing with your Uncle something of grave concern. I happened to have overheard the policemen discussing the matter, and they compared their findings to the infamous Ripper case. They believe he has returned. Fortunately, this is only a theory. They can't be sure of it, but still, we have reason to fret."

I had read about Jack in the old papers that I found. Father was too lazy to rid the house of all newspapers since mother's death. I would read them late at night. The tabloids spoke with the utmost fearful words of him. I was two when his murderous rampage occurred, but the stories of him never aged. Jack the Ripper had taken five lives, each more brutally done than the other. By the fifth victim, intestines had been strewn everywhere, her abdomen exposed from the inside, and her face carved up almost beyond recognition.

"Wait, that was fifteen years ago, the Ripper would be well into his thirties by now." I protested coming back to reality.

"Well, let's let the professionals take of it." Uncle said dismissing the issue and looking at his wife with warning.

"The point is that if it is, he no longer is bound to the Whitechapel district. Even if it isn't him, we have no reason to not suspect he won't kill again." Aunt continued, ignoring her husband. I waited for her to finish. I did not know where she was going with this.

"We need to minimize our vulnerability. We cannot allow you to be absent so late, like the other night, Ro. It's too dangerous to be wondering the streets at night."

I wasn't devastated to learn this. It was not my worst fear; it just meant that these walls were going to be even more of a prison to me. I would not be able to completely escape the haunting memory of the events that happened in my prior room.

"Yes, ma'am," I said obediently.

"Now, what say you about getting some lunch? Maybe that can get our minds of such morbid thoughts." Aunt said optimistically.

That night had been the worst of every night combined. I would be lucky to be accurate on my assumption that I got not but five hours of light sleep. The room was so much different, ergo all the shadows were very unfamiliar and twice as menacing as before. I kept thinking there was someone else in the room with me. Not to mention that the images that painted themselves on the back of my eyelids were more terrifying than my usual ones tenfold. At one point in the night when my claustrophobia kicked in and the familiar feeling of being suffocated occurred, I was too miserable to retreat to the window. The worst part was that the suffocation had not put an end to my existence, the ultimate peace.

The next morning Ms. King, my new maid, woke me. She was fraught with worry. She told me I looked direly ill. She helped me out of the bed and to the unfamiliar mirror. She was right. My eyes were lined by dark circles and bags, my skin a sickly color and my lips were not their healthy shade of pink but rather pale.

She laid me back in bed and summoned my Aunt. When she saw me, her face darkened.

"Ro, what is ailing you?" She inquired.

"It is nothing more than a night's sleep interrupted by my own foolish thoughts." I smiled trying to comfort her.

"I'm not going to leave you by your lonesome. You need to be with others. Come downstairs. Ms. King, help her."

We migrated downstairs, where Aunt laid me back on the couch in the front room. She lit a fire and covered me with another blanket. She promised her return and left to go arrange breakfast to be brought to me, even though I told her I was not hungry.

Aunt returned with Mr. Winter who was carrying a platter with a much too large meal for me. She sat next to me, like any mother would have. She told me she wouldn't leave.

I shoved the food down just so she wouldn't be worried and I forced myself to keep it down. She moved to the chair next to the fire place and began to read her book.

The fire set my face aglow and its warmth was like none other. I basked, like a bird, in its comforting light. It coaxed me into a sleep and it was too tempting to protest.

Three abrupt knocks woke me. I sat up slowly as to not cause a light head. Looking over at the chair by the fire, I noticed Aunt was no longer occupying it. The fire was still in full bloom and setting a homey glow to the room.

Knock, knock, knock.

I cursed under my breath, damning the soul who woke me. I was still under sleep's spell as I opened the door, not fully aware of what I was doing. If I had my wits about me, I would not have answered the door in my present condition. I looked ridiculous and in no way did I look presentable as a lady or a human being.

"H-hullo?" I asked opening the door. I was surprised that something even came out of my mouth, even if it was broken.

"Good God, Ro. What in the devil's name happened to you?" Emmett's eyes studied my heinous condition.

I was taken by surprise that Emmett was at my door that I could only stare, my mouth open slightly.

"Ro? Can you even hear me?" He tried again.

It was so good to see him. I haven't a clue why though since we ended on such foul terms.

"Yes, of course I can." I said straightened my posture so at least I didn't look so weak that I couldn't hold myself up.

"Ro, as soon as I read the papers I came here. What happened?" He looked so different when he was desperate. He was so troubled.

I had forgotten about the papers… so the story had made headlines. Damn it, just another reason to stay indoors.

"That's… so kind of you, but I can assure you, everything is well."

"The hell it is. Ro, have you looked at yourself? Aside from not being dead, you look the furthest thing from well."

"Thank you for your concern, Emmett, but despite what you think, I am fine." I smiled.

"What happened?" he asked again placing a hand on my shoulder.

I looked at his hand. His touch gave me the warm shivers I had forgotten about.

"Emmett…" I whispered, suddenly aware that people could very well be listening.

"God damn it, Ro. Why won't you tell me?" He asked getting frustrated.

"Because I can't! It's not like I'm telling you about a beautiful picnic in the park!" I half yelled, forgetting about my cautious voice.

"What do you mean?"

I just glared at him, hating him for probing me. He should know better. Suddenly, the images I fought to forget, even for a moment, came rushing back to me with clarity. And, again, I betrayed myself as tears threatened to fall. I looked up at him, loathing his very being.

"Have you no compassion? You are digging at wounds that have not healed!" I warned.

That silenced him. He looked down at me, empathy in his eyes. He gently pulled me into his chest.

"I'm so sorry. I was too worried to think. Forgive me?" He whispered into my ear.

"Of course." I whispered back into his chest.

It felt so good to be held like that. It was different than Aunt's or Uncle's embraces. They were gentle, almost cautious, like they were going to hurt me. But Emmett, while being gentle, was also confident and strong. I could let every muscle relax in my body, going limp, and he could hold me up as if I were still standing on my own two feet. He was like my structure, a support beam.

"Let's get you back to bed. You're freezing." He suggested, pushing me inside.

The moment we stepped foot into the house, I felt uneasy. He should not be in here.

"It's fine. I can put myself to bed. In fact, I was just sleeping here on the sofa."

He looked at the couch and then at me. He ignored my hint and pulled me towards the couch. He helped me sit and despite my protesting, he drooped the blanket back over me.

"You should go now." I said trying hard not to sound desperate.

"Alright. Please, get some rest." He begged.

I smiled at him, silently reassuring him. He bent down and kissed my forehead and then made his leave.

When the door closed, I sighed in relief. If my Aunt Becky had caught him in her home, she would be shrouded in suspicion. I would never be able to leave the house even after this ordeal was over. I'd be on house arrest.

The fire was still strong and warm, just like Emmett's embrace had been. I smiled. Maybe he wasn't so selfish. He had been genuinely concerned for another living soul… I was damned and I knew it…

A/N: Ok so now here comes the mystery, so watch out! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, I know the last one was really long… sorry about that. Anywho, thanks to those of you who left reviews! I know I say that every time, but it really means that much to me. Thanks again!!