Fear Of The Dark

[[SARAH]]

Kirsty and I both sat at our usual table at the pub, water in front of both of us, neither really in the mood for beer tonight. We were discussing the recent events, and how in a matter of weeks our lives had been flipped upside down.

"So you really went to their house and shouted at them?" I giggled at her, holding my hand over my mouth as she nodded, her elbows on top of the table as she leant against it.

"Oh yes, it was quite embarrassing afterwards to be perfectly honest, I cannot believe I did that. It was so bad, I made quite the scene," she said, holding her hand over her eyes in shame, causing me to chuckle at her misfortune. "I even started crying when that green-eyed man told me about you nearly being murdered," she groaned.

I smirked at her, resulting in her eyes rolling to the ceiling. "I recognised one of the voices in the house though, it was most definitely the man who saved me from Annie's fate," she said, staring at the table as she pondered.

I nodded for a moment, frowning in thought. "Yes, and now I think about it. How strange was it that my saviour just happened to be in the area? I mean, they're all men of wealth, so what on earth was he doing there? Especially so late at night!" I exclaimed in surprise, she raised her eyebrows at me, as she contemplated this.

"You know, as silly as it sounds, I think we're being followed by them. Because he did mention that Johnny wasn't looking after you right, and remember when we first saw them? You said you heard them talking about something along those lines. And they just appear and save us," she said, tapping her chin.

I nodded along though, it did fit. Although the question was why. I looked up as the door opened, and watched the four men enter. My eyebrow arched as I whispered to Kirsty.

"Speak of the devil and he shall arise," she shot me a confused look, but I nodded my head to the door, she looked and her eyes widened. "Tell me that's not coincidence," she frowned. "That's not coincidence," I answered, smartly, resulting in a glare.

"Shut up," she hissed at me. As they approached I noticed them talking quietly, and noted one of them point to my saviour, and speak his name. Of course, from here I couldn't hear, but thankfully, I was quite talented in lip reading. "Zachary Baker," the largest man, as in strength wise, hissed at him, causing him to wince slightly.

I noted the longhaired man laugh at this 'Zachary'. Resulting in Zachary turning round and telling him off, and I smirked, noting him use the mans name. 'Brian Elwin Haner Junior'. I noted 'Brian's' glare at Zachary at the use of this name. I gave out a laugh at this and turned to Kirsty quickly.

"Oh my Lord, the longhaired man, his name is Brian Elwin Haner Junior," I sniggered. She stared at me incredulously. "Elwin?" I nodded and she bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. Even in England that name was absurd.

I looked up as the men approached our table, stopping in front of us and staring down. I could see the unimpressed look in their faces, and I knew this was where we belonged. Below them. I frowned and looked down at my water, taking a sip.

"Where is Johnny?" The tall one asked, an unimpressed look adorned his face. I sighed softly and merely shrugged my shoulders. A very un-ladylike thing to do I know, but if they were going to be like this with us, I was would be like this to them.

"Don't know, haven't seen him at all today. Why? He doesn't need another beating," I hissed at them, the venom in my voice surprising myself as well as them. They all frowned, and I saw anger flickered across all of their faces.

"He's left you alone?" The muscular one asked. I scoffed slightly, not noticing Kirsty's apprehensive look. "Unless he has managed to master the art of invisibility which is highly unlikely in this era, then yes, I would suspect that we are in fact alone. I am glad to see that you're eyesight is not impeded by your ego."

Kirsty stared at me wide-eyed, not because of how sharp my tongue was, but simply because, well to put it honestly, I'd used quite complex vocabulary, and judging from the men's faces and expressions, they evidently didn't expect a mere slum girl to even be able to comprehend such words.

As such, they seemed to have been swayed from their original mission, standing bewildered for a few moments as they got their head around this startling revelation.

"You've got quite the mouth on you haven't you?" Zachary asked, staring at me. I stared straight back into his eyes. "Just because you saved me from near death does not mean I shall start grovelling at your feet or bowing to you. You may be far richer than we are, but still, a little manner's and respect gets you a very long way," I exclaimed in frustration.

"Fine then. Do any of you two ladies know where our dear friend Jonathon may have gotten to? We seem to have misplaced him," Brian asked, smiling sweetly at us causing me to sneer in disgust. I wasn't normally like this; I was normally nice and polite. Something about them brought out the wilder side in me, the more animalistic side.

"No, we do not where he is. The last time I saw him was last night when he walked me home from the Thames. After that, I'm afraid, you're stuck on the same boat as us," Kirsty said, saving them from yet another tongue lashing from me. They nodded gratefully at her.

"Well then we shall go find him shan't we?" The tall one stated, heading towards the door. They all did until suddenly they stopped, discussing something to themselves. After a few minutes, Brian and Zachary sat themselves at our table, looking rather disgruntled at something.

"Erm, why are you back here?" Kirsty asked quietly, not wanting to cause anything. The tension was thick enough. "They need to go look for Johnny, we need to stay here," I frowned at them.

"Lovely, babysitters. Just what we need," I groaned, rolling my eyes and looking at Kirsty, who was fighting off a smile. "Oh well sorry, how about you go home alone tonight then darling? And if the Ripper comes after you again, you can take care of it if you want," Brian hissed at me. I rolled my eyes.

They sat there, in silence for a while, looking around themselves in disgust. They were attracting quite a few stares from everyone, their garments causing them to stand out like a Thoroughbred racehorse amongst Draft workhorses. After around half an hour of the disgusted stares and expressions that literally screamed 'what the hell are we doing here'. I snapped.

"If you really don't want to be here, you can go. I'd much rather face the Ripper than watch you're faces much longer," I said, staring at them pointedly. "I'm sorry it's not up to you're expectations, but you're in the slums. You're sitting with slum girls. We're not exactly royalty okay?" I frowned, looking at Kirsty.

I suddenly felt left out.

Insecure, the two men had riches I could never even dream of. For a point in Kirsty's life, she'd been rich too; her family had been rich, even living in the same house these men now occupied.

And yet the closest I had seen to rich was selling the puppies our dog had and earning more than we normally do in a month. My family had never seen the rich end of town, not once. Not even my grandparents had.

And even though I told everyone I wasn't interested in getting married, that I'd be happy marrying someone from the slums. But honestly. Who wants that? Who really aspires to live in some dirt-ridden place all their lives?

Everyone said we could get somewhere in the social ladder with our looks, and our knowledge added to our appeal. And yet I could never find a man who was rich and handsome whom I actually wanted to marry. Or rather, I had. He was sat in front of me, but as stated, I'm sure he would much rather marry a horse than me.

After all, no rich men marry slums girls, because we don't belong there. I don't belong there.

I noted the guy's awkward expressions suddenly, as they realised they'd unintentionally insulted us in a way. "Err, sorry. We're not used to be being round here," they mumbled, apologising. I nodded my head; all fire and brimstone run out of me now, not willing to fight anymore.

"So...do either of you two work then?" Zachary asked, causing me to stare at him in amusement. He evidently didn't remember that I was walking home from work when he saved me. I smiled though, my lips curving slightly, and I noted the relieved expression on his face when I didn't bite his head off.

"Yes, we do. I'm a classroom assistant," Kirsty said, smiling. I smiled at her, she loved children. "I'm too young to be a teacher, but I hope one day I can be good enough to be one," she said, beaming, her eyes filled with hope that she would get her job.

I noted the smile on their faces as they saw her determination. They looked at me. "And you?" Brian asked.

"I work in my uncles surgery, as his secretary. I have to write all the patients details down," they both looked at us in surprise. "Don't you have to know medical terms to do that then?" I nodded and shrugged. "You pick up on it after a while," they nodded.

"So what about you Zachary? Do you have a job?" I stated, using his name. I noted them both freeze at the use of his name, and suspicion clouded their persona.

"How do you know my name?" Zachary asked me, causing me to smirk at him. "Well Zack, I'm going to call you that, and Brian, by the way, you're middle name is absurd. Highly amusing. Anyway, as I said before, I work as a doctors secretary," they stared at me in confusion; panic clearly etched into their eyes.

"Patients come in sick, and sometimes, I have to give brief notes to the doctor. You pick up on things, you learn to look for certain attributes. It comes in handy for...other things," I said, smirking at them. I looked at Kirsty and she smirked back, we knew we had the upper hand here.

"What, kind of things?" Brian whispered, his voice strained.

"Oh everything, I've learnt to pick up on unusual things rather quickly."

They both visibly gulped, and stared at us their jaws tight. That was when both Kirsty and me knew that there was something strange about them, how they visibly tensed at this startling revelation.

"I think we should get you home now," Zack said, staring ahead of us.