Pursuing Heaven

Permission.

The ship finally reached the dock. Uncle, Mrs. Harvey, Liza, Thomas and I all walked out onto the wooden dock. Correction, I couldn't walk, Thomas carried me.

Our carriage was waiting there for us. The beautiful white mare, with fur as white as freshly fallen snow. The driver opened the doors for us, motioning us to sit on the velvet seats. Uncle sat next to Mrs. Harvey, Liza sat across from them, next to Thomas. I had to sit on that fiends' lap! Truly, some days I despised that boy, others, I was head over heels in love. Theoretically, if there was enough space for all of us, I wouldn't oppose to that proposition. I thought about the few moments we had after Brahn Castle. How it felt so right. Unfortunately, this time we had company.

Small, run-down houses came and went. It may have looked like I were cool and collected just by looking at my exterior. Internally, I paced my head. There was a pit at the bottom of my stomach. I've dreaded going back home. Not because I don't want to see Father, but because he will surely have a fit once he sees my leg. And then there's the fact that Nathaniel is dead. Uncle Johnathan will surely request the specifics regarding Nathaniel's death. If Satan himself were to have his way, Uncle would request to do a postmortem, to prevent cases like it in the future.

Although, I doubt Father would allow Uncle to cut up his precious boy. Not after everything we've been through. The memories that came flooding back gave me the chills. For a moment I wondered if Father would tell Uncle Johnathan the truth. The truth that I still had to come to terms with. The truth that my brother, Nathaniel Wadsworth was Jack the Ripper.

My thoughts were interrupted by Thomas's voice. I feared I would appear rude as I want exactly all there. "Pardon?" I stammered. I sat up to face him, my emerald eyes staring into his brown gold flecked ones. He let out a hearty laugh, "I do love when you get all flustered. It's absolutely adorable."
He flashed me a feline grin, "I'm sorry, Wadsworth. It's just so..." He drew on. "...Attractive."

A small gasp had escaped my blood red stained lips, "Thomas!" I jabbed him with my elbow, "Not in front of my Uncle." In unison, both Liza's and Uncle's gaze fell onto the devil himself. Thomas still had his grin plastered on his face, "Am I not permitted to show my affections in public? I don't see what is so inappropriate, seeing as we have two chaperones."

Out of the obvious, Thomas could always deduce, for some reason he couldn't see why it wasn't proper to flirt with me. The thought brought a rare grin to my face, "Thomas, if you excel at deductions, are you unable to see why this is so improper?" The grin on my face grew more contagious, as Liza's lip began to curl, while Uncle rolled his eyes. "Is the Thomas Cresswell, master of deducing the obvious, actually stumped?" Like the virus it was, my grin also spread to Thomas's delicately structured face. "I'm sure I could get you to blush by many other means. Perhaps when we are in privacy, I could give it ago. Such as who's sword do you think is bigger, mine or Mephistopheles?"

I saw Mrs. Harvey and Liza exchange a look that was filled with intrigue. Heat raced up my face, it was getting warm in here. I was sure I'd be less embarrassed I'd ask Father for money to buy some more delicate items. I would be willing to bet a months worth of Uncle's lessons that I was even redder than a garden tomato. I could have sworn I felt Uncle's eyes roll so hard, I cringed at the thought. Finally, regaining my missing sanity, I jabbed him once again, this time with more force. I hated that I loved this man. This man was insufferable. But he was my insufferable man. As long as Father would give us his blessing.

We'd finally made it to the Wadsworth residence. I missed this house, despite the horrors that had taken place there. The many times Father had grown extremely angry, the images of Mother on the brink of death lying in her bed, images of Leather Apron's laboratory. I hadn't been here since Nathaniel's passing. Those few weeks after his end, the house was dead. Servants and cooks were all too quiet, only whispering amongst themselves. I half wondered if they knew that the Ripper's laboratory was in the very house that they spent their days working for. The more emotional side of me wanted to make sure that they never knew what hell was playing on below them. The hell where Nathaniel ties me to the chair. Where he butchered plenty of women for Mother. I wouldn't wish anyone to know that they are the reason for the demise of several people. Nathaniel said this was all for me, that this was his gift. He thought slaughtering those women would make me happy. I wanted to take those memories and push them away, sealing them with a brick wall. I wanted my memories of the house of horrors to die along with the orchestrator of said memories, Nathaniel.