The Ripper

The Last Night

Erik's father knocked on his bedroom door. "Can I come in?"

When Erik didn't answer, his father entered anyway. He sat down at the foot of his son's bed, which creaked under the added weight. Even though Erik felt bad for ignoring his father, he couldn't think of anything to say. What could he say? What could he do?

"Rein is here to talk to you," Erik's father said. "But if you're not feeling well, I'll tell him to come back some other time."

Erik froze. Rein was his uncle, one of the captains of the guard. Erik wriggled out of his covers and sat up to gauge his father's expression. Aside from the worry on his face, Erik's father gave no indication that Erik was in any trouble.

"Why is he here?" Erik asked.

"He's come to talk about your Imperis, your sword," he replied. "The Ripper attacked again last night."

Erik forced his breathing to stay calm. Jean must have attacked the lady at the brothel while Erik was knocked out.

"The Ripper left another message. 'All evil must pay with their blood,' it said," Erik's father continued. "The guards don't have any idea how to stop him, so Rein wants to study your sword to figure out a way to reverse the memory loss."

"Who died last night?" Erik asked.

"A harlot," Erik's father said. "Another harlot was attacked too, a young girl, but she was left alive. A guard was attacked as well. He's been in jail for the day though. Shouldn't have been at the brothel, and they're trying to figure out why he were there."

To Erik, it seemed it should have been obvious why a man would be at a brothel. Then again, he and Jean went to the same brothel, and they didn't have any nefarious intentions, at least not those kinds.

"Erik, are you well? You still look a bit pale," Erik's father said.

"I just feel sick."

"Alright. I'll go tell Rein you're not feeling well then," Erik's father said. After he stood up to leave, he stopped at the door. "By the way, Jean stopped by a few minutes ago with some bread for you. He left you this note."

Erik's father handed him the note then walked downstairs. Erik stared at the piece of paper in his hands without reading the words. This was normal. Whenever Jean or Erik or their little siblings were sick, the other family would stop by and leave a gift, maybe a few kind words. This version of Jean and his version of The Ripper just couldn't coexist in Erik's mind. Jean was both and neither at the same time.

Erik read the note.

"You were sleeping when I stopped by, and I had to go. Hope you feel better. Sera sends you good-luck kisses."

Without walking downstairs, Erik knew he would find a basket of bread, their daily order, along with a few pieces of the butter bread that was Erik's favorite.

Erik folded the note and placed it on his nightstand. Jean, despite having been hurt enough to want to lash out and become The Ripper, was still looking out for Erik and his family. He had enough sense left in him to leave the innocent alive and only condemn the guilty, even if Jean's version of justice had twisted into something evil.

Something clicked in Erik's mind. The guard was still alive.

Jean had the strongest look of hatred in his eyes when he attacked the guard. There was no way Jean decided to show him mercy, not to a guard who had broken his oath, which meant Jean would be attacking the guard tonight.

Erik rushed to the window and looked outside. It was sunset. The Ripper usually attacked at night, which made sense since Jean was usually the one to clean and close up the bakery. Erik still had time. His uncle and father were downstairs. They, of all people, would be able to help him stop Jean.