Book Ideas.

Horror: Shadow.

So I had a little bit written for this one and while I had the plot decided I couldn't get into the swing of it. I'll post the bit's I already had and then the description/train of thought for the plot.

( story description )

"As swift as shadow she strikes."

There's a killer loose in Victorian London people are dropping dead all over. Bodies left dead in the street with no clue as to who the killer is. The only clue is a scrap of black silk left at every murder scene.

Can the police figure out who the killer is, before it's too late?

( random tidbit. 'Introduction'. )

Society was very particular. The men brought in most of the money no matter what class. The women worked but only as maids and cooks. Lowly jobs. All that women were seen good for was having children, looking after the children, cooking and sewing. There was no way a woman could commit murder.

Which made it the perfect crime.

( the beginnings of a chapter )

"Another one?"

"Yes."

"Cause of death?"

The short stumpy man nodded to a tall thin man in a pristine black jacket and waistcoat. Clearly a man of importance. But by no means a lord. The man in question stepped forward looking towards the man of similar status who had popped the question.

"Swollen eyes, hands, throat and tongue, red skin rash and vomiting are clear signs of anaphylactic shock." he used a finger to circle above each area that displayed the symptom on the corpse that lay upon the cobbelstones.

"What makes you think it was a murder?"

"This." the second man replied turning the corpse onto his right side.

There on the side of his neck was a patch of black silk. The edges were choppy from being cut out quickly. It was attached to the man's flesh by an angular stitched 's' in the middle of the luxurious material, it barely covered a patch of crimson red rash.

"Its the only constant in all of the murder's. We can't find any other link." the member of police, that had been left responsible for the investigation of the most recent attack, continued laying the body back down.

The detective nodded mulling over this new information. He leant over the corpse, he brushed his fingers over the man's eyelids. Shutting out the sight of the man's wide eyes, frozen in horror from his last moments of life, forever.

I watched from the shadows. They were right; it was the same person and it was an anaphylactic shock that Mr Montgomery had suffered from. Too bad they had no clue who the killer was. But I did. The police never thought to accuse a woman, not after the last time.

It was when the murders had first started. The third murder had been Mr Johnson. Out of all the murders, Mrs Johnson was the only person who had shown her relief at the death of her husband. The police believed that, due to her behaviour, she was to blame for the deaths and promptly arrested her. However, after six more bodies dropped dead they released her, realising she was not to blame. After that incident there were few female suspects.

Mrs Johnson's 'strange behaviour' - as they described it - had been caused by her own husband's treatment of her. He was a violent drunk but due to his status his actions were dismissed. Lila suffered the brunt of her husband's anger. Her lip had still been split and swollen from her husband's recent fit when she was arrested.

Few took notice of the bruises and cuts that marred her skin. But I knew better. The constant flinching and the petrified expressions when something caused a loud sound combined with the fear of being touched - by anybody - the way she curled in on herself, kept quiet and couldn't make eye contact told the story loud an clear.

Her husband abused her. Physically and sexually. He'd broken her and now so was he as he lay ten feet under with a broken neck.

( story plot explained )

A horror story set in Victorian london. There's a serial killer on the loose nicknamed 'The Shadow' due to the fact that they keep slipping through the police's clutches and the piece of black fabric that's always sewed into the corpses flesh in a simple 'S' shape.

The police believe the criminal to be male and have stuck to questioning every male associated with the victim. Occasionally the wife of the victim is questioned to due rumours of the abusive/unhealthy relationship between the husband (victim) and wife. But after questioning several of the wife's and finding that they all had healthy alibis and no links to other murders they drop it and continue to question only male's.

The victim's are always male and they die in all manner of ways. The only link between their deaths is the piece of black fabric found on the corpses.

As the story unravels we learn that the murderer is Elizabeth Jenkins the wife of lord Jenkins, who at the start of the story we only know as an unnamed phantom that has more knowledge on the murders than they should. The story is from her point of view and we see how she gets away with the murders and her motives.

Her husband (Lord Henry Jenkins) is a sexist, prejudice pig who's demeaning remarks at her expense drive her to consider murder. However, it isn't until the death of their daughter that she can no longer handle the treatment she endures from society. The mental instability brought on by her daughters death gives her the push she needs to commit the act. And with each murder she declines further into madness.

Elizabeth uses her status as the wife of a lord as an excuse why she's in places she shouldn't and often uses this authority to stifle the questions of the maid's in the house of the soon to be victim. Sometimes, she poses as a maid to get into places she otherwise couldn't access.

Each victim is a sexist male who uses their status in society to do as they please to women. Not all victim's are the husband's of the women they push around. Some are rapists, prostitute owners and other. The victim's are usually white and of higher class as they believe they have more right to treat women as they wish. This information isn't known to the police but only hinted at through out the story through Elizabeth's internal monologue.

It is only when Elizabeth finally kills her own husband we finally receive an explanation. Henry is murdered in his own home and it is one of the maids that calls the police. When the police arrive they find the body and quickly beginning searching the house for any further information. It is only when they get upstairs (Elizabeth's bedroom) do they get their answers. There in the wardrobe is Elizabeth Jenkins dressed in a satin black gown with patches of material missing (the exact same number of holes as victims) with a noose around her neck from which she hangs.

On the bed sits a diary, explaining the motive for the murders. The desire to rid her fellow women from the sexist, abusive pigs that control their lives. It also details how the death of her daughter Susan destroyed her and the lack of understanding but instead disgust she received from her husband did nothing to help her out of the dark pit she had found herself in. Each of the entries are signed with a simple 'Sue' in memory/honour of the daughter she lost. The diary also explains how she was helping rid the world of these disgusting pigs so that a world that she was comfortable would be safe for her daughter (if she had lived) existed.

A/N And there you have it. I hope the explanation wasn't too messy so you understood it. If not comment on any parts confused you. I won't usually detail the plot so much for stories but this was a story I was really eager to write but this has been stuck in my drafts for over a year as I had no idea how to get into started and onto the actual story and the bit I wanted to write. Some details can be changed so such as the names. However the only thing I want to stay the same is the motive. I don't care how you explain how she came to the decision to kill them - I was gonna put something about her already suffering from a mental disorder before she lost her daughter, and that it finally made her lose it - so long as the fact that she is killing these people because of what she is social injustice and in her mind she is freeing these women from their toxic hold, not realising the effect murder can have on ones sanity.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments. Bye :)