Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Death swirled all around me. Ripper’s murders, Benny’s torturing of corpses, and my brother’s departure from earth. Goose bumps spread across my skin. My bottom lip quivered, yet my heart stayed solid. My insides thickened to rock hard.
Bowler hat stopped us at a regular building, nothing too special. It was dark tan with no light in the many windows. It must’ve been at least three floors. A black iron gate surrounded it.
“We’re entering White Chapel, which is a very swanky area now. Lots of celebrities hang around here along with trendy people.” Bowler hat made a point of spreading his arms around to showcase the building. “But let’s go back to 1888, when times proved to be harder in this area. One example is that sanitation in the area was non-existent. Residents simply threw their trash into the street. The whole district held an unbearable stench. People had no money. They starved. Think of Oliver Twist and his pick-pocketing ways. Men and women did things for money that they normally wouldn’t. Many mugged. Others ventured into prostitution. Can anybody guess how much it cost to have a bit of fun with a working girl in the alley?”
A man raised his hand. “Two hundred dollars.”
“Sir, this was 1888.” The guide tipped his hat. “We’ll need to go lower.”
With a wicked grin, Benny raised his hand. “Four pennies.”
“It seems we have a time traveling pervert on our tour.” Bowler hat gave him a thumbs up. “Four pennies is correct, and for some women, they offered their bodies for a loaf of bread. And let me tell you, a lot of these women were aged well beyond their years, full of disease, and not the prettiest ladies to walk on the street. In October 1888, police documents reported over twelve hundred prostitutes in the small district.”
Bowler hat pointed to the abandoned building behind us. “This used to be a doss house. Think of several tiny coffin beds full of fleas and disease, cramped with as many people that could fit, all coughing and sleeping in the same space together. Sort of like a Motel 6 in America.”
The crowd roared with laughter.
What’s his hang up with the States?
The guide turned to Benny’s frowning face and cleared his throat. “So anyway. We believe that our first victim slept in this very doss house. Let’s go in.”
“We’re going inside,” Benny whispered to me. “I had no idea we would get to go inside one. I doubt the other tours have gotten to go inside. I wonder if they recreated the doss house.”
The tour guide opened the gate for all of us to follow him toward the sad little building.
It took five minutes to get the small group inside. Benny tried to grab my hand. I stepped aside and let a bulky man get between us.
“Come on in, everyone.” Bowler hat gestured for us to hurry. “Come on. Don’t be shy. Ripper is not here with us.”
Only two small lamps hung in the large room that stunk of mold and depression. Shadows dominated the dim lighting. A hushed silence traveled along the space. Around thirty boxes lay next to each other in three separate rows. It seemed odd that women could be comfortable enough to sleep in them, but I understood firsthand what poverty forced people to do. Scattered blankets sat on top of a few of the boxes, probably more for effect than the actual ones used so long ago.
We all lined the walls, surrounding the coffin beds. One big square room outlined by people.
Bowler hat walked into the center of the space and put his hands together. “And here’s where things get interesting.”
The man between Benny and I drew a gun and pointed it at Benny.
What the fuck? Is this a part of the tour?
A guy yelped from across the other side of the room. As noise of more movement came.
Everything happened so fast.
Gun after gun appeared from tour attendees. Apparently, bowler hat and I were the only ones who hadn’t planned ahead. Every other person in that room pointed their weapons at another person. It looked like a war between two gangs, except that they’d all worn the same casual street clothing. An eerie silence flowed in the air. Everybody must’ve waited on their command because all they did was point and wear scary expressions on their faces.
“Interesting.” Benny laughed and didn’t even grab his own weapon that I was sure he had, though two guns targeted him.
I had no idea what was going on, but I knew for certain, Chase orchestrated it all.
I squinted at the faces in the low lighting and recognized a few of the signature scars that Benny’s guards tended to wear, as if a person couldn’t sign up with him unless he’d been branded by a battle.
A creak sounded behind Bowler hat man. I leaned to the side and realized there was a door behind the guide.