No Control (Chris Motionless)

Chapter 17 - An Almost

I snuck past a cluster of densely packed trees, wondering what might be inside of their pitch-black foliage. My breath was coming out in thick visible puffs at this point as the temperature continued to drop even lower as I quickly looked away from the menacing looking branches. As I went further, the closer the tombstones seemed to be to each other to the point I had to weave in between them. The age of this graveyard could be felt in the air, along with the feeling that I truly wasn't welcome in this part. Then, something caught my eye a short distance away.

An old square tombstone that was covered with several bouquets, along with a random gin bottle that was propped up against the flower's stems. I crouched down in front of it when I reached the spot, I moved aside some of the flowers to read the writing etched onto the stone.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF MARIE JEANETTE KELLY

Along with the quote.

NONE BUT THE LONELY HEARTS CAN KNOW MY SADNESS. LOVE LIVES FOREVER.

It quickly dawned on me why her name seemed to sound familiar and why she had so many gifts. She had been the last victim of Jack the Ripper and the most gruesome one. I found it somewhat morbid that they had put a quote about hearts on her grave, considering what had been done to hers.

A letter that was leaning against her stone caught my interest. Even though it felt invasive of me, my curiosity won me over and I picked it up. I unfolded the paper, expecting to find a note expressing the writer's condolences, but it was something else entirely.

Marie,

I know you must have felt wronged by that night your heart was stolen, but it was meant to serve a greater purpose outside of your chest. If the man that had claimed to love you truly did, that purpose would have come to fruition. Love is such a fickle thing, isn't it? Alas, I've found another and her heart will burn in ways the world rarely understands. Wish me luck my dear, the dream is about to come true and I hope you'll be watching. The new world order will finally be upon us.

Yours truly,

Jack

An uncomfortable shiver ran up my spine when I put the letter back where I had found it. People can be truly sick sometimes. What sort of joy could a person receive by harassing a murdered woman? Despite my moment of fear, I gained a sense of irritation from it as well.

The thought that Hudson might have been the one to write the note suddenly crossed my mind, but it didn't really matter to me if he hadn't. I was going to do all that I could to put a stop to this, no matter who is the cause, for the sake of women like Marie Kelly. I read the quote on her grave one more time and decided to slip that letter into my pocket, doubting that it would be missed.

There was no way to be sure that this was what we were looking for, so I rose to my feet and continued combing the grounds for anything odd. I begin to worry that this whole thing might have been a mistake the more I creep around and still I don't see anything else that sticks out to me. The night had truly set in, making it hard to see more than a foot in front of me.

The sound of a small bell ringing caused me to freeze as my mind recalled that a long time ago the dead would be buried with a string attached to a bell above ground. It was to alert the caretakers that the person residing in the grave wasn't dead after all. Another round of tinkling bells brought me out of my frozen state as I realized what the sound actually was.

I retrieved my cellphone out of my pocket while I rolled my eyes over my ridiculous moment of panic. I had just gotten two text messages from Chris.

'I think I might have found something.'