A Monster Inside - Book of the Amulet - ITV's Jekyll and Hyde

26 - Epilogue: Let the Stars Shine

'Just like fire, burning up the way/If I can light the world up for just one day/Watch this madness, colourful charade/No one can be just like me any way/Just like magic, I'll be flying free/I'mma disappear when they come for me/I kick that ceiling, what you gonna say?/No one can be just like me any way/Just like fire, fire'

-Just Like Fire

:/:

If any one person had set their eyes on the town of Thwaite at such a time, they would have said it was the most beautiful they had seen. The green hills seemed to roll, peppered with white wild flowers, and patchwork fields of beige and yellow were as far as the eye could see. But for Olalla, it was a responsibility. And one she had been putting off for a while. Maggie had been rather reluctant to let her go, but after some persuasion from Garson, did.
The Black Dog public house sat at the foot of steep downland, a nice enough place to stop. It was an old-aged pub, with greying walls and misted up windows that were difficult to see through, and inside it was the same story. The floors were laminated with dark wood, and a few stout tables was where drunkards sat, lolling about with pints of beer. The already quiet conversation that was underlined by the creaking of a signpost outside, inscribed with a beastly looking wolf, quietened when she entered. The locals weren't exactly used to new arrivals.

"Pint of your best", Olalla said to the landlord. He was a man of his twenties, dressed in scruffy clothes and was obviously new to this job given his nervous attitude.

"You're new", he replied, grabbing a tankard from the shelf behind him. "Aren't ya'?"

"I'm a relative of the late Renata Jezequel, and I've... inherited their house. So, I'm going to be staying here for a while", Olalla lilted, taking the glass from the bar and taking a sip of the amber liquid. "You're pretty, what's your name?"

"James. And I've never been called 'pretty' before", the landlord replied with a raised eyebrow. "Especially not by a Jezequel".

"Well, first time for everything", Olalla lulled, seeing a tiny, glowing opportunity to make a perfect first impression, perhaps it would come in handy when she needed a favour. Sometimes fear was the best motivator, trepidation, well, that was even better. "And I wouldn't think any of you miserable lowlifes has ever decided to go and experience anything yourselves". The landlord looked at her, slightly taken aback by what she said, and Olalla could feel evil looks being shot her way. She didn't care though.

"You better hold your tongue, girl", he said, lifting a hand to someone just behind her. "I'll let it pass, but I don't think anyone else here will again". The Hyde just smirked, rolling the glass around in her hand.

"Is that a threat?", she asked, almost whispering. "Because I don't deal well with threats". James was noticing now: the ice-blue that tinged her eyes, the way she was clenching the tankard so tight that a long crack appeared down the side of it. He cast alarmed looks around the room, and went to take the glass from her hand. Olalla didn't move a muscle, just replied with a raised eyebrow.

"There was a story, ya' know? My father used to tell it to me. 'Bout the Black Dog, Old Shuck", James said in a quiet voice, starting to put two and two together. "That's yous, ain't it? You've brought the curse back to us".

"I'm not 'Old Shuck', darling, and if you call me a curse again, I'll put that pretty face six feet under".

"Then what are ya? Who are ya?" James asked, and Olalla laughed. She had been Hyde ever since she arrived here, just had been hiding it better than usual. But the façade was beginning to break.

"Olalla Hyde", she lilted, throwing the tankard on the floor so it smashed into fragments. Swaggering out, she pulled her hair away from her eyes, and blew the landlord a sarcastic kiss. "At your service".