Notes:
New story! We'll see how it goes. Let me know if you want more. This takes place in "The Glass Scientist" AU. If you haven't read this awesome web-comic by Sabrina Cotugno, go do it!
So we are starting off right at the end of chapter 7, but from Hyde's POV. So, if the narration comes off as harsh or goofy at times blame Hyde. He is a bad influence.
Okay with that said, here is the show!
I floated up, up, up, the spiral staircase blurring at the edges of my vision, its steps unused and unneeded. Somewhere down below I could feel them, my new friends, those delightfully twisted shadows, following me out of the depths. It was only right that I should be the one to lead them. After all, wasn't I nightmare incarnate, the deepest dread that lurked within Jekyll's soul given life? Of course, I was, and as such,
I remained unfazed by the hideous creatures. Quite the opposite, in fact upon discovering them I felt nothing but pride...and a bit of bile. Pride and bile, but I had swallowed both for the time being. I had a job to do, a mission to complete. I planned to lead these poor garish beasties out of the hidden depths of my and Jekyll's shared mind. It was high time that I reintroduced them to the good doctor. Then, I was sure, we'd all have a bit of fun.
I decelerated as I reached the top level and, with a cocky grin, pulled myself over the banister. Here, hovering in the eerie blue light, I was essentially skimming just below the surface of Jekyll's mind. Of course, I could press closer if I wanted to, bring myself near enough to Jekyll's consciousness that I could see everything Jekyll saw, feel what he felt. But that may alert the doctor to my presence and, besides, it wasn't my style. I preferred to live life fully whenever the opportunity arose. Jekyll was the one constantly pressing forward during my time. Yes, Jekyll may bemoan me for my "over-exuberance" my "lack of control" during the morning hours, but you could bet your arse that I had felt the man lurking over my metaphorical shoulder during all of our nightly activities, drinking in our dark adventures. The man was a terrible hypocrite. 'Course, Jekyll did do most of his berating while nursing a splitting headache, but hey, pleasure has its consequences...for some.
I glanced over the railing of the stairwell. The others were still many floors below having to round one flight after another in their dizzying climb upward. No matter. They would be here soon enough.
A voice rang out over the mindscape, seeming to come from everywhere at once.
"...same time tomorrow?" It was Jekyll's voice. I could hear him yawning. I stretched and let loose a yawn of my own, then turned scowling. Damn it! Even while trying to keep at arm's length from Jekyll's influence his weariness was beginning to affect me. I couldn't have that. Not right now. I shook my head like a wet dog. I needed to be alert for all of the excitement that was to come.
I focused my attention and carefully peered out of Jekyll's eyes. We seemed to be leaving the wooflet's room. The little pup was thanking Jekyll profusely as we put on our coat and Jekyll was encouraging him and blah-de-blah-blah-blah...I rolled my eyes. I was not sure what disgusted me more, the pup's undying loyalty or the way Jekyll drank it all up. I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head as Jekyll exited the society, locked the door behind him, and, with another yawn, began his trek home. I waited, biting my lip to keep my thoughts at bay. Monologuing right now would ruin the surprise. And oh, did I ever have a surprise.
I glanced back into the mindscape as a dark tentacle lazily swung up and over the banister of the staircase. It seemed that my monstrosities had finally caught up. Good. We were almost home. I rushed over and pressed a finger to my grinning lips. I was unsure of how sentient the beings were, but they seemed to slow and several eyes blinked down at me. Excellent. Everything was going according to plan.
Jekyll reached for the doorknob and twisted it open.
"DOCTOOOORRRR…" I crooned in my most terrifying voice.
"God, Hyde, I thought we were over this," Jekyll said wearily as he pushed the door open. While he was distracted I waved frantically to the shadowed creatures. Giving them the equivalent of a mental shove, I brought them all into the forefront of Jekyll's mind at once. "Can you give it a rest for just one-"
I could feel our heart skip a beat as Jekyll beheld the horror before him. A menagerie of fragmented memories, twisted nightmares, and dark curiosities. At the forefront a ghostly version of Moreau, bandages hung off of a still sizzling form and ghostly bones shined through a mess of burnt flesh.
A moment of silence, then a blood-curdling scream.
I remained hidden, relishing in the moment as the nightmares slinked forward, closing in on Jekyll. Jekyll face floundered as he began gasping for breath. I could feel Jekyll's terror, within me yet also separate. I delighted in it, and, feeding on its delicious undertones, I manifested myself behind the creatures as an eerily glowing smile, full of sharp teeth and dripping with green goo. Now Jekyll would see that Hyde was a force to be reckoned with. This would prove once and for all that I was not a pet to be tamed, nor a prisoner to be locked away. No! I was evil incarnate, the very spirit of London at night, and I would reign free!
My smile glowed brighter as two eyes blinked into existence to glare down on the doctor. Here it was! My big moment!
–aaaaand Jeykll was not looking at me. That was...inconvenient. My evil green smile started to waver and, as it did, a face began to form. Suddenly I had two unsure human hands. I used them to brush back the wild hair from my eyes. Jekyll had backed himself against the door, his eyes transfixed on Moreau's ghostly form.
"No I-I didn't...I can't," he gasped for breath, " – I tried to stop him!" Jekyll babbled, his head swerving away only to land on another dark creature and another. A black tendril suddenly swung out from one side dripping an oily substance as it wrapped around his wrist. Another tightened around his ankle.
My smile was completely gone now, replaced with a grimace. This confrontation wasn't going the way I planned all. Well, 'planned' may not be the right word as my great plot mainly consisted of letting the beasties free and seeing what happened. What? I am not exactly one for the fine details. Playing things by ear had always worked for me in the past. Well...more or less. I had imagined that what followed would be Jekyll quaking in his boots, followed by him admitting that I was always right about everything. Then, we would clear my name and have a parade in my honor, and Laynon wouldn't be invited because his nose was too big, and–
–And none of that was happening because these stupid jerks were stealing my show! A wave of nausea rushed over me and my projection flickered and suddenly dropped several inches. Great. Bloody Brilliant! And to top it all off they were going knockout Jekyll, and, more importantly, me flat on our collective face! I quietly fumed. Now it was going to be my job to screw Jekyll's freakin' head back on so that it could properly admire my brilliance!
I floated, tilting from side to side, trying to see Jekyll through the gory tangle of dark limbs. His chest heaved as more black threads twisted around him. Okay, it was time to wrap this party up.
I cleared my throat. I was in human form at the moment, which may not give me as dramatic of an introduction as I had hoped for, but with Jekyll in his current state, it seemed to be the best I could do.
I stretched my arms out, gesturing with a flourish to the scene at large. "Soooooo Jekyll, what do you think? Do you like my nightmarish friends? 'Course I could probably call them back..." I gave him a sly glance and paused for dramatic effect, "That is if you promise to fix the mess you've made of my life," I finished venomously before switching unnervingly quick to a sickly sweet concoction. "So, what do you say?" I looked up.
….Aaaaaand for all the attention the nightmares and Jekyll had paid to my performance, I might as well have been invisible, a mere figment of the mind! Okay, so I was those things at the moment, but still!
I leered, my specter rising with my voice. "Okay boys, I think the Doc has had enough." The monsters continued to ensare Jekyll. "I SAID ENOUGH!", I boomed.
"Nonononoonononon-I-I-can't-I-I-didn't-It-It-wasn't me-I-IT WASN'T MEEEE!" Jekyll screamed just as his mouth disappeared behind the inky blackness. His eyes were all that were left visible, gazing out as two terrified orbs. They swung around the room wildly and finally land on me. In that moment Jekyll gazed at me like I was the only one in the world who could save him, and that is when I knew something was terribly wrong because this is me we are talking about.
Then, everything happened at once.
I saw the shadows merge in one horrifying mass around Jekyll. With a giant pull,
Jekyll's body suddenly snapped backward as a ghostly image of him, still entangled in monsters' snare, was whisked away. The creatures moved faster than I could imagine. They swept by me in a flurry of tentacles and grotesque limbs descending into what seemed to be a tunnel previously unseen. Come to think of it, everywhere I looked the tunnel followed. Light was fading and all I could think was–
"But if Jekyll is over there than who–?"
My vision shrank to a pinprick and darkness swallowed me whole. The sudden sensation of falling backward. Down, down, down. My consciousness fought against the pull as a drowning man fights for air. I am pushed into the abyss, and just when I feel like I've reached the bottom of the void it is like a switch has been flipped. My consciousness scrabbles as it is yanked back up again. An unpleasant sensation like that of being forced into a wet pair of ill-fitting gloves. The feeling extends inward from my extremities and the weight of a body comes into focus just in time for it to painfully hit the floor. Peace, for a millisecond, then racking pains. I found my voice just in time to use it liberally.
" –AAaaaaaaaaah–huh? " I gasped. I was lying on my back, the polished wood of Jekyll's foyer cool against my feverish neck. I rubbed at my face and saw the pale outlines of two small hands shaking in overly large dark sleeves.
My heart hammered to life as I sat bolt upright, my ears ringing in protest. No, no, no! This couldn't be right! My hands frantically tugged at my hair. I grabbed a fistful of the stuff and held it before my eyes, squinting in the dim light on the moon that streamed through the front windows.
Blonde.
I froze as an icy panic filled my chest. But we hadn't–I didn't….We hadn't taken the potion. This –this was not possible.
But wasn't this what I wanted?
Ker-Clack
My head swiveled fast– aaargh! –too fast. Ow! I might have kinked my neck. I blearily opened his eyes…
And found myself staring down the barrel of a gun, looking up to see Poole's face, grey and severe in the moonlight.