The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde

Streak of Madness

Dr. Jekyll woke up the morning following the previous evening. She groaned and was in her bed, a headache plaguing her senses, along with dread and nausea. She got out of her bed in sadness. She felt unsure about her previous actions, although she recalled nothing from the previous evening. She threw on a robe and went down the flights of stairs into her laboratory, pulling her journal from the shelf. She began to document her thoughts.

'September 14th, 5 AM. This is a strange, new, sweet sensation. I am younger, lighter, happier in body and soul. Twice as alive and tenfold more wicked, which intoxicates and delights me like wine, adding fearful, new hardships to my desperate battle for success...'

The week after the following week she documented more in her journal, having dealt with her new project for two weeks.

'September 20th, 10.50 AM. The experiments are now in their second week. The transformations are beyond imagining. Unspeakable nightmares besiege my senses, the most racking pains and the horror of the spirit that exceeds all dreams of death...'

In the third week, her feelings began to change about this project she had started. Her experiment began to terrify her. She had found a way to contain and suppress Hyde. She frantically began to write.

'September 25th, 8 PM. I have radically altered the balance of the formula to contain and overcome the powerful and darker forces at work inside me. I am aware of my peril and the need to control Hyde's evil influence, which disappears within me like a stain of breath upon a mirror.'

"She has found the perfect hiding place." she said, sighing and closing her journal with force.

"What streak of madness lies inside of me? What is the truth my fears conceal? What evil force makes Elizabeth Hyde of me? What darker side of me does this reveal?"

She took a sharp breath in, trembling as she looked in the mirror.

"Am I the woman that I appear to be? Or am I someone I don't know? Is there some monster drawing near to me? Becoming clear to see? Will what I fear to be... be so?"

She felt more frantic at this point. She nervously hugged herself. "What is this strange obsession? That is tearing me apart?"

She saw the reflection of Elizabeth smile at her from within the mirror. "Some strange, deranged expression... of what's in my heart!"

She glared at her reflection, feeling confident in herself.

"This is a deadly game I have to win. This is a fight I dare not lose. I have an adversary steeped in sin. Who wages war within. In ways I can't begin to use..."

She left her laboratory in a hurry, not bothering to put anything back into its place. Poole passed by the doors of her laboratory, knowing better than to cross the threshold. Dr. Jekyll had retreated to her room, hiding from everything.