Fear Of The Dark

[[SARAH]]

I was sat in the living room of the house, reading one of the few books we had here, when three sharp knocks resounded from the door. I waited a moment, not hearing anyone come, and so assumed everyone was out of the house, and walked to the door.

Opening the door I smiled at the two policemen stood in front of me. "Hello miss, is there a Miss Sarah Elizabeth Drayton currently residing here?" They asked, nodding at me slightly. I gulped and nodded. "Yes, I'm her. Why? What is it you need?" They nodded to each other.

"Sarah Elizabeth Drayton you are arrested under the suspicion of the murders of Mary Ann Nichols and Annie Chapman," they said, turning me around and handcuffing my hands together. My eyes widened and I couldn't speak. What?

They walked me out of the house, closing the door behind me, and into the wooden carriage. Two black police horses harnessed in, heads tossing impatiently as their hooves hit the cobbled floor. I looked down the street and saw Kirsty and Johnny staring at me, jaws dropped.

I lowered my head as I sat in the dark carriage, looking back out at the street at my two best friends, terror rushing through my body. I wasn't the murderer, he was a man. But they didn't know that.

The horses snorted as they strained against the leather, pulling the carriage forward towards the police station. I sat in silence, trying to figure out why on earth I had been arrested. It wasn't long before the carriage stopped shaking, and the door opened, bright light flooding the dark corners.

I was pulled out, and walked into the police station, and straight into a stone room. Sat in the seat, I looked around me warily, a policeman stood on guard in front of the door, which soon opened and two men walked in. Both sat at the table, one taking out paper, pen and ink and scribbling down information at the top of the page.

"Miss Drayton, I assume you know why you are here," the man asked me. I nodded, silent. "Okay Miss, can you tell me where you where the night Mary Ann Nichols was murdered?" I thought back to the night. It had happened in the early morning. I would've most certainly been in bed.

"I was in bed, it was too early for me to wake up," I answered politely.

He pursed his lips as the other wrote the information down.

"And when Annie Chapman died, the bartender at your local pub stated that you and a Kirsty Victoria Grace de Farrars were talking to Annie, along with Jonathan Seward. And you all left at the same time. Can you tell me what happened after that?"

I nodded.

"Yes, Johnny walked both me and Kirsty home, but Kirsty got lost, and so we waited for her, both me and Johnny in my house. Are you questioning those two?" I asked. He looked at me.

"Thank you for answering our questions Miss Drayton. And no, we aren't questioning them. The bartender told us that Mr Seward wasn't capable of doing something like this, because he was too compassionate and kind to be capable of killing. And he denied Miss de Farrars being capable also, because of her upbringing. However he did state that you would be the most likely suspect due to your heritage and the temper you can acquire."

I stared at the table, trying my hardest not to let the tears rise. "You are free to go at the moment Miss Drayton, but you are still under suspicion," he stated, gesturing to the door. I got up quickly and rushed through the doors. I headed towards the Thames, keeping my emotions under control.

Upon seeing the dirty water, I leant against the wall, staring blankly at the greyness. Tears rose to my eyes, but I willed them away again. I heard voices coming towards me, but refused to turn around.

"Sarah? Are you okay?" Kirsty asked, rubbing my back softly. From the other voice I could tell Johnny was here. I nodded, not wanting to speak. "What happened?" Johnny asked quietly. I didn't answer.

Silence enveloped us for the next five minutes, until a new set of voices were heard.

"What happened?" I heard Brian say quietly to Johnny. The next few moments were just mumbles, as my mind blanked out everything. I stared down the Thames, seeing the great Houses of Parliament in the distance.

"Sarah, why were you arrested?" Kirsty asked quietly, trying to get the answer out of me. I heard silence, obviously everyone was waiting. I swallowed hard, and opened my mouth. "I-I, I'm under suspicion of murder. Of, Mary Ann and Annie," I said quietly.

"But, you didn't kill them. Why did they arrest you?" Johnny asked, confusion evident in his voice.

"Because I was seen with Annie before she died," I whispered. "But so were we. Why weren't we questioned?" I scoffed quietly.

"Because the bartender saw me with her. And according to him, Johnny isn't possibly capable of murdering someone. And neither are you. The only reason I was even taken in was because of my 'heritage and temper'. Those were his exact words. I suppose you can both be thankful you weren't born into poverty," I said, my words quiet and sad.

A tear finally rolled down my cheek.

"You were arrested just because you're from the slums?" Brian asked, his voice laced with surprise. I shrugged. "Everyone thinks the slums are below them. The people are different, especially to the police. It's much easier to blame someone from poverty who doesn't matter than someone who's rich," I spat, my voice laced with unintentional venom.

"It's times like this I wish you'd just let the Ripper get me, who wants to be under suspicion just because you're poor? There's no point to my life, this is no way to live," I pointed to the dirt ridden houses, the wooden buildings looking like they could fall down at any minute.

"You don't mean that," Johnny said, his voice slightly panicked. I scoffed once again. "Johnny, you don't belong here, you belong with them," I pointed to the four men. "So do you Kirsty, even now after living here for so long, you don't fit in here. You'd fit right in up their street," I whispered, wiping away a tear.

"Sarah don't say that," Kirsty whispered. I shook my head and walked further down the river, leaving them behind.

Leaning against the wall again, I looked out, wishing that for once in my life, something would go right. My parents hadn't brought up the talk of marriage; they weren't believers of marriages of convenience. They believed in marrying for love. Too bad I couldn't find anyone.

"You're wrong you know," I heard from my left. I jumped, and looked into the green eyes of Zacky. I saw the others still standing where they'd been left, talking amongst themselves. I frowned at Zack. The other day we'd been at each other's throats.

"What do you mean?" I asked, staring back out, trying not to look at him. I could love him. He was handsome, rich, and protective too, and I know he can be nice. But that's like trying to plait fog.

"You could fit in our 'street', as you like to call it," he said, smiling at me softly. I raised an eyebrow at this. "Really you could, you're very well spoken for a, poor girl," he chose his words carefully I noted. "And you're very intelligent, which is unusual, and a plus. Plus you're exceptionally pretty. I bet you could get any man you wanted," he said, with a slight smirk.

I blushed slightly at his words. He didn't know the effect he had on me. Sure I could get any man I wanted. But not you.

"I can't get any man. Some are just out of my reach," I sighed, looking out across the river. Zack frowned. I didn't know whether it was because he figured out the hidden meaning to my words, or whether he didn't like me putting myself down.

"I'm sure you could if you tried hard enough. Besides, you've got to remember. Everyone was poor once, and there's always that chance to find your own riches."

I sighed softly, nodding. My way was to marry into riches, but it was highly unlikely.

"Why are you being all nice? You where foul to me the other day," I asked, staring at him. He shrugged. "You where being foul to me." I frowned, "I'm sorry about that," I said quietly. He shrugged once again.

"It's nothing to be worried about. And I forgive you. And don't worry about this whole arrest thing. You know it's not you, evidently. But don't listen to them okay?" He said, smiling at me. I nodded.

"Now I think you should go back over there, Johnny and Kirsty are worried about you," I smiled and nodded, walking back towards the group.

I was right, he can be nice.