IT WAS A TERRIFYING NAME, JACK THE RIPPER, but terrifying or not it did not good.

As his coat tails cought the breeze he chuckled to himself about it. People were so stupid, they never learn, do they? No matter how scared they were or what the problem was, they paid no attention. They would do their thing anyway. e almost felt honored that they had bestowed a

nickname on him, and he felt a rush as he thought of the terror it inspired. They lived in fear, day and night, they talked and thought of him through the day, and it haunted them that they could get no closer than they had. !et to him it was a game. is boots made dull thuds on the ground as he walked, but he was not worried about making noise in the curling fog of the night, shrouding the city streets in a phantom palor that was most frightening as it was illuminated by the moon. e could hear a few noises, the sounds of late night shop keepers in their shops filling shelves and doing the things they did behind the scenes. e would stop in front of a window here and there and watch them, his hulking figure filling the window frame without them even knowing he was there, then he would be gone again. "very now and again he thought of his sister, who had been over#oyed to read the news prints about the people, writing something new every day about them. aving a twin sister made it most confusing because they both mad the effort to keep their appearances matching, only adding to the confusion of those around them. Their hair fell to their shoulder blades and from time to time he grew his chops out but he would trim them back when they decided to go out and entertain themselves with their audiences again.

$inally one of the police had suggested that they might be twins, but they were very confused even so, and it only added to the terror. e could smell their blood, delicious and aromatic, often touched with their fear when he had selected one and taken her aside. $ear added to it, and he might let them scream a little, but by the time he was detected he would be long done with the deed and leave them the remains, happy to hear about the discovery as the police tore the erea apart looking for more clues and trying to pacify a public that lived in fear...well many of them, but not all of them. e turned down %onwell street and he could hear the chitter chatter as three of them talked e&citedly and flitted their dresses. 't was a chilly night and business was not so good. e ducked into the shadow of a doorway across from the church and waited, watching, as they tittered away, their voices rising and falling in the night, unaware of him. e waited patiently, then one of them strode away, popping her umbrella open as she moved, and left the other one who then took out her bottle and warmed herself with a bit of brew. e then stepped out and felt the surge as he moved in upon her. (he regarded him as he came close and he smiled. (he then began to talk in her chittery little voice and charm him

as he moved toward her. (he was definately giving her best, showing him skin and smiling and flirting more than many of them had done. e took her arm and they began walking down the street toward the little common erea where trees choked the outter edges as if they were standing there waiting for something rank and file. 'nto the trees they went, strolling along as she made her usual small talk to try and pretend she wanted to be friendly and he seemed to be taken in by it. e held the tiny arm and she chittered incessantly as they walked, then finally they came to the place. 't was slightly damp, but the dampness became the least of her concerns as she realized his intentions and she began to struggle to escape, terror filling her eyes and her voice. e laughed as she struggled uselessly as they all did, dancing like a fish on a hook, knowing that within a moment or two she would e&perience the bite of his razor, the terror of the life draining out of her as " did his thing, hours before she would be another story for the news media. (he cried, she screamed, and all she did was add to the moment as they had done all through the years when he had done it with his twin sister laughing at their terror, before... e bared his razor and she struggled as none had before, sobbing and begging for her life as he looked at her, his

prey, his helpless sub#ect, soon to be... )'t really is demented you know.) The voice came through the dark and the ripper turned to see the shadowy figure step close to him in the fog. )*ut of course, you don+t care about that, you vile creature because you relish being demented.) The ripper snarled and threw the woman to the ground and turned around, anger flashing through him as he began to roar in rage. At that moment a blade flashed and a razor sharp cut went through his flesh, and he had the smallest instant to attempt to react as the knife shattered through bone, came out the other side and his head flew into the grass. The body stood for a moment, as if not knowing what to do then crumpled like an empty sack. e saw the vision of the man with the sword, then it was over. The woman sat on the ground, dirty, tears staining her face as the shadow reached out a gloved hand to her. (he hesitated and he said calmly )'f ' wanted to kill you, ' could have waited another five minutes to deal with him and let him save me the effort. %ome along then, and let+s get you out of here and see if we can save one tarnished soul tonight.) (he reached out to take his hand and he bowed for a moment. )Allow me to introduce myself, my name is ,mar. And you are?)

)Allyson.) (he replied, drying her tears. )(hall we then, Allyson?) )-here are you taking me?) )-ell that depends on you. ' will either take you back to that cess pit you dwell in or ' shall offer you something better to do with the life you have upon this earth. The choice is yours.) )' see.) Allyson took his arm and with the other hand he took the head and they strolled out of the common into the night. )' must ask you to bear with me Allyson, and wait on the bench by the police building while ' take care of a bit of unpleasantness.) They walked a bit farther and he sat her to rest on the bench then strode across the street and into the police building where officers regarding him stood suddenly in shock. e hurled the head onto the ground in front of the desk and wiped his hand as he spoke loudly. )' told you that the .ipper was a vampire well over one hundred years old. ' also told you where he would go ne&t and yet you scorned me. There is your ripper, done to and you may find the rest of him in the park. *est get to him before the sunlight does or he will disintegrate because the e replied.

older they are the worse it is.) -ith that ,mar vanished out of the office and while some of the police went for the head, two of them went out to find emptiness where ,mar should have been.

A//!(,N ate hungrily as ,mar sat and paged through a book. is dwelling was neat and clean, but very old and he had anti0ues everywhere. Allyson watched him paging through the book. )'t seems you have not had a decent meal in some time. ' can smell the tasteless gruel that you had earlier, ' must admit ' would not want to touch it.) )-hy did you take the head of that man to the police?) ),h, we have had a running discussion over the ripper for some time. ' told them, but they didn+t want to believe me. 't did take a bit of time for me to locate him, but it was neccesary to move swiftly when ' did. !ou can+t give a vampire time to react. /eft to them he would never have been caught) )A vampire?) ,mar poured himself a drink and sat back in a chair. )"veryone thinks thats such an ugly word. -hat they don+t realize is that vampires are human beings, and human

beings are both good and evil. 1ampirism is a state of e&istence, not a person. )The ripper was originally born a twin with a sister who looked identical when he shaved. They remained together for many years, attending medical school together and spending their spare time writing books, mostly rather horrid material for people with such taste. They invented the ideas of one or two killers and began doing it themselves. )There is a master vampire named Adrias who has been around since the time of the bible. The ripper became his desciple with his sister, and at some point villagers got to her and she was destroyed. e+s been in /ondon for a bit, taking a handfull of identities and descriptions, then he settled on this one but you can imagine the mentalities of the (cottland !ard ninnies when you try to tell them that their most dreaded night time murderer is a bedtime story.) )-ho are you? Allyson said as she continued eating. )' am a vampire also.) ,mar replied. Alyson stopped eating and stared. ),h yes.) ,mar continued. ' know what you have been taught, that demonic corpses rise from the grave at night and roam the earth in search of blood. (ome of that is true, some of it is pure superstiion.)

,mar picked up another book and e&amined it as he spoke. )*ack when the turks were invading 1lad Tepe+s territory he had a few allies who were dedicated to preventing their beliefs and lands from being con0uered. Among those allies was *artok, who had raised an army to help fight off the ,ttoman Turks. e was my brother. To get to the part where you are curious, we were captured and this same Adrias ' mentioned earlier ha us #ailed in a castle he was controlling. e was polite enough to contaminate our blood and starve us which lasted a few months till *artok escaped and freed the rest of us. )-e have been in a nasty little conflict with that bunch for a long time. There is a cure out there for the curse of the vampire, an ancient legend, and ' am trying to find it. *een trying for about two centuries now.) )2o you drink blood?) )' prefer rum...#ust a #oke. 3y circle of brethren prefer to find people, to 0uietly make them fall asleep, e&tract what we need and let them awake and go their way. The human body holds a certain ammount of blood and if a vampire wishes to survive he only needs a portion of it, unless he simply likes to kill, as did the ripper. 3e and mine respect human life. -e do not kill unless it has to be done.) )' see. ow old are you?)

)' prefer the term mature.) ,mar laughed a little. )-hen you hit one hundred or more years it really starts to sound bad when you say '+m two hundred plus years old.) )(o where are the others? Are there many?) )3y my.) ,mar smiled. )(o many 0uestions. There is a small group of vampires in the world at any given time, not a huge share. !ou must rememer that if you have another who will be around for centuries...you had best like the company.) Allyson smiled. ' guess so. 2o you have someone?) )!ou mean a woman at home?) )!es.) )This is home, for now. ' have been close to a few women over the years but the living cannot come to terms with the dead, and eventually all mortals whither and die and one day you find yourself standing over yet another grave.) ,mar poured another drink and gave it to Allyson. e then sat down ne&t to her. )(o tell me what motivates a young lady like you, probably no more than twenty four, to have to allow men lu&uries with you?) )' don+t allow anything. They pay. And if you are going to be my #udge then perhaps you must have a suggestion or two yourself?)

)$irst of all ' must ask if you are interested in making a better 0uality life for yourself or are you content with how things are.) Allyson took a drink and began to look dreamy and far away. (he then loked back at ,mar, who was sitting with his fingertips touching watching her. )No madame, ' do not believe you are happy. ' suspect you were raised in poverty or near so, with one single parent, more than likely your mother, you ended up on the streets in your teens and after a few failures in various attempts at caring for yourself you were offered a chance to make money with the ladies down the street and now you have resigned yourself to the idea that this is the best life has to offer.) Allyson+s face brightened. )!ou are very close, it was actually my father, a drinker, and he was the one who introduced me to the ladies. *ut you are right, ' do dream of something else but in the eyes of society ' am...trash.) ,mar leaned forward. )!ou aren+t trash to me and ' am prepared to make you a proposition.) Allyson+s face brightened instantly and ,mar smiled. )' must make a trip to the Americas, and ' need someone who will manage my affairs who is free to walk in daylight. !ou will be well paid for your services.) )-hat do you seek in the Americas?)

)There is a book in which has been written secret information which is of great value to me and it has been brought to my attention after searching for it some time that those who had it in their posession all this time sold it to a dealer in anti0uities who has taken it back to the states.) ),h.) Allyson said, intrigued. )!es, this book has some information in it including a very old ritual that can take the living dead and remove the curse of the vampire from them. 't has been long in the hands of a collecttor from 4ermany, but about the time he sold it to an American "ngineer named 5eremiah /orren, the engineer returned to the states from whence he came and took his collection of book with him. 't has been there since.) ).ather than go all the way over there, why not try and purchase the book? -ould this not be much less trouble?) )The man is dead. e was a 4eneral in the American civil war and he was killed during a suicidal charge against the confederates. is belongings have been stored away and his grand children are working some deals with the "uropean trade unions. ' want to go and personally get the book rather than have it run the risk of crossing the sea and ending in a ship that never makes it here.) )-ow. This book means much to you.)

Amos stood up. !es, and now it means much to you because ' will pay you double what you currently earn in a day to escort me across the sead and ' will do this to assist you in begining a new life. $rom you ' desire a promise that you will not only assist me till we reach our destination but will follow up by leaving the life of a woman of the evening.) )' would be glad to, but what would ' be doing for you?) ,mar looked at her hard. )' must spend time aboard a ship and must feed in that time. ' will need someone willing to manage my belongings as well. 'f you do not wish to do this ' understand.) Allyson sat thoughtfully. )-hen are you planning this trip?) Amos looked out the window. )' was planning on doing this as soon as ' dealt with the ripper. 't seems the police have been chasing rainbows trying to find him and when ' informed them of his vampirism and where to look they were too busy claiming ' was an ignorant fool. Now they will have an interesting time at the morgue.) Allyson stood. )' will go and consider your offer. 3ay ' get back to you...) )Tomorrow night would be fine.) Allyson departed with a smile and ,mar looked out the

window at the rising sun and closed his curtains.

T " (6N burned off the morning fog as the police escorted the body into the morgue. The mortician, an aging man bent over with infirmity, saw the large sheet on the body and the head that was placed at the head of the table. The cheif inspector tore the sheet off. *ehind him was another officer with a very large moustache. )-e must not let this information out, is that clear? 't is imp".AT'1" that no one gets the chance to spread rumors about the ripper having his head cut off and being a suspected vampire, my word we would all be locked in the crazy house.) The moustache man nodded. )' aggree. No one knows of this matter e&cept the si& of us and the mortician, perhaps we should simply say nothing at all and get him destroyed as soon as possible.) )' concur. emediately.) 3ake certain this body is cremated

)Absolutely) The mortician replied. The inspector walked to the door and returned down the street to the station. e stood in his office and looked through a small bag of items retrieved from the site that the ripper had been carrying on him, the tools that had been

used for his ghastly work all of this time. 't almost sickened him to look at them, the toys of this inhuman monster. *ack at the morgue the mortician looked at the body of the man in front of him. e fired up the cremation oven and looked at it. e then turned and looked at the body of the man again. e went to the parlor room and got the body of "dna, the local librarian who+s funeral had had two guests, both of whom had been there simply to make certain she was dead. e then brought her in and shoved her into the oven. (he was a bit late to go in but no one was going to care. The mortician then took a needle and thread and carefully stitched the head back on the ripper and covered him with a sheet. e then pushed him into the waiting erea and went to put his proper suit on for the two funerals scheduled for that day. The sun coursed through the sky and inside the darkness of his room, ,mar lay with his eyes wide and inside of his mind he recalled the days of his captivity in his home land. e recalled being in the cell, deep in the heart of the old stone castle and the door, shut and locked for so long. Then there were the steps. e heard the heavy bootfalls of Adrias. The lock clinked and in came the towering, evil form of Adrias, looking down at ,mar.

)' must admit ' admire your fighting spirit, ,mar, as ' admire the fury with which your brothers *artok and Phaetheus fought. !ou are so dedicated to your faith...sickeningly admirable.) ,mar looked up, his face dark with months of dirt and his hair matted and stuck to his face. )-hat would you know of faith, you who claim to have been a .oman %enturion at the time of 5esus.) Adrias smiled. )Ah yes. ' did en#oy listening to him preach. e spoke with authority and strength. is sermons brought many from far reaching places. ' never engaged the man in conversation.) )' guess as a follower of ,rem you didn+t have much to talk about. ' seem to recall he was not fond of idolators.) )That won+t do you any good now. !ou have been in this cell for a long time, and tonight ' am going to sentence you to a long long time of walking this earth, and turn you into the thing you hate the most.) Adrias grabbed ,mar, weak from starvation and bared his fangs. ,mar looked at the ugly face of Adrias and felt his body bent painfully as Adrias sliced a wound in his own hand and his blackish blood oozed. Adrias then bit into ,mar aggressively and he thrashed and cried out. 't hurt with a searing pain, or perhaps that was what Adrias wanted.

Adrias forced his hand onto the wound and ,mar could feel the burn as he was contaminated by Adrias. -hen he was done, Adrias dropped ,mar on the ground and slowly walked toward the door. e turned for a moment to regard ,mar then departed. ,mar felt the changes over time, and he lay sick and weak until he heard a conflict in the hall and the lock was opened again and *artok came in with a struggling guard and threw the guard down. ,mar fed with a vengeance, fueled by his lengthy captivity in this place. is strength took time to return, but by that time he was fully recovered from being a prisoner of these heathens he and his brethren had vowed they would turn on Adrias and his and that they would never know peace as long as those they had forcibly turned were on earth. The time passed and ,mar saw the shadows grow deep as the sun went down. e then got up and straightened his clothing. e was about to get ready to go out when there was a soft knock on the door and he opened it to find Allyson on the other sid with another young woman. ),mar, ' have much considered your proposition and would like to #oin you on your trip to the Americas, if it might be possible for my dearest friend to #oin us. %hloe would be more than willing to leave her situation behind and start over. -e have heard good things baout the colonies.)

,mar smiled. )"&cellent and welcome. ' will be glad to have you two as my associates. %ome in so ' may discuss what mst be done.) The night turned the inside of the morgue black and thee was the sound of a match and lamps set the room aglow. The old, crippled mortician removed the sheet from the ripper and went to a bucket where he had bled out his charges for the day. e then walked toward the body of the ripper and looked at him. e smiled as he did his ghastly deed, and when there was no response, the old mortician threw down the bucket and cursed. 4oing to the window of the mortuary the old man looked out at the moon and shook his head. e looked at his hands and cursed again. )2ay in and day out, nothing but the dead, good and evil, large and small, every terrible thing imaginable and ' get to send them all to the great beyond and never a reprieve, never another way.) The old man suddenly heard a sound behind him and he slowly turned. *ehind him, hulking int he dark stood a black figure with it+s eyes glowing in the darkness like a dog. 't was the ripper. As the old man looked at him, the ripper moved his head and his neck bones crackled. is head stayed on and he looked disgusted as the lamps lit his face. )(o what did they tell you, to cremate me?)

The old mortician fell to his knees. )They wanted me to put you in the oven. ' have given you back your e&istence. ' have seen vampires before and ' ask only the one thing of you that they denied to give me...to make me as you and relieve me of this tired, sick body that is more of a burden each day.) The ripper tried to laugh. e sat down. )' am in a terrible state now, my head has been ripped from me by that damnable shadow walker and it will take time for me to regenerate my bones and flesh. Are you not going to whine to me about the harlots of the city whom have fallen before me?) )-hy would ' care about those stinking pieces of meat from the street. They openly mock me as ' pass them by because ' am old and infirm and take care of people they could not be in the presence of without losing their sanity. 7ill them ' say, kill them all8 They are good for nothing more than shameful giving to men that which should be sacred and yet they assume to #udge me8) The ripper tried again to laugh. )' need time. *ut if you can be patient, ' shall give you this wish you have. ' wonder how long you will like walking the night and feeding off the living.) The ripper walked stood up straight. )' will need to wash and perhaps get some clothes that are not so blood stained.)

The old mortician, happy to have made a friend of the ripper. went to get clothing from his stock from customers. The ripper glared at him from behind. -ater was warmed and the ripper cleaned himself up and found his growing strong again. e dressed again and the old man admired his handy work and cleaned up the embalming room so nicely the ripper almost admired it. ,mar discussed the work that had to be done for the trip to the states and alas it was night, and his ladies became tired. e stretched out blankets and the ladies rela&ed on his bed as ,mar put on his coat and stepped out into the light chill of the night. e had every intention of taking the two ladies to the states at once in the hope that they would not either converse with their old mates or change their own minds and go back to their comfortable life styles as the doormats of vile men. ,mar wanted to take the trip soon anyway. After having found out that the collection of books he wanted had been placed in the parcel shipped across the sea, he wished to get the entire collection as fast as he could. 't had taken a while to raise enough to make such a purchase and it would take more time to find the collection of books bought by 5erremiah /orren, and the secrets kept in the volume he sought after needed not only to be usefuel but protected from monsters who would destroy them like Adrias.

,mar felt the thirst and he walked among the night people on the street, their chatter filling the air. e went down a narrow street and saw one of the bar ladies, rather drunk, and he followed her. (he went toward a small clothing store and was oggling a dress in the window. ,mar began to draw her energy and she commented )wow, thats good stuff, ' gotta get a whole bottle ne&t time.) (he then fell into ,mar+s arms and he took her to an alley. 'n seconds he had fed and sat her down, then vanished into the night to take care of other business. ,mar went to the docks and purchased a large chest and a few small ones. e then located his dock broker and paid passage on the ne&t ship sailing for the colonies for his baggage and for his two ladies. This paperwork in hand, ,mar secured a young man to come at dawn and bring his heavy items to secure below decks in the ship. 't had been a long time since he had done this and e&cept for the dangers involved he en#oyed the trips. The moon shown through the light fog and illuminated the town as the many figures of people moved through the night on their way to the pubs and the shows and ,mar moved among them. 'n the mortuary the old undertaker was smoothing out his bed to lay down and let the pain in his back subside. At the bottom of the stairs the ripper was fle&ing his muscles and glowering angrily, thinking of ,mar. The mortician came

down the stairs and smiled at him. )'+m going to feed myself. This old back barely keeps me standing anymore.) e said. The ripper stepped lightly behind him.) )' discovered something when ' had a wife once. ' found that it is rarely a good thing to have anyone subserviant to you. They become a liability and they irritate and at some point you regret their company.) ' was married once, and at first it was fine, but after about three years...) )Then you will understand.) The ripper tore into the old morticians vain with a vengeance and drained him to the point where he became weak then threw him on the floor. The old man cursed the ripper violently. )!ou evil monster from the bowell pits of hell8 ' was told to cremate you and what do you do when ' set you up to recover, but attack me8 !ou ungentlemanly swine, have you no humanity?) The ripper laughed. !ou know who ' am and what my reputation is and you foolishly ask me if ' am a gentleman.) -ith a kick, he dropped the old man dead and walked out the front door of the mortuary. The old man adtually thought that his crippled, whining presence would be

welcome around him as if he was a genie in a bottle to grant the gift of sweet immortality, then crawl as a servant for who knew how long, giving him no peace. The ripper walked down the road and felt the discomfort in his neck and stepped down an alley to work his head. 't was most unpleasant to endure. e turned around to walk out of the alley and came face to face with ,mar. The ripper hissed angrily. ,mar commented )$oolish me to think the police could handle the most mundane procedure.) The ripper was about to respond when ,mar struck him hard in the head and he felt his neck bones crackle again. The ripper was furious instantly. e struck out at ,mar and cursed him but in his weakened state he was not fast enough and ,mar grabbed his head and began to try to tear it off. The ripper struggled violently against ,mar but felt himself slowly losing. At that moment a policeman came around the corner, one of the men from last night. e was about to blow his police whistle when he dropped it in shock and stared for a moment. )4,,2 "A1"N(, 'T+( T " .'PP".8 -" T ,64 T " -A( *"'N4 %."3AT"28 e came closer, as if confused about what to do ne&t and ,mar looked at him angrily. )!ou fool, are you going to stand there, this is bloody 5ack the ripper, and by now you know he is an infernal vampire8 2o you have a blade or anything of use?)

The police officer drew a cross from beneath his #acket, kissed it and said something then came forward. The ripper roared in fury, and the few people around doubled away from the scene 0uickly. ,mar was holding the ripper tight as he pressed with unbelievable strength to escape and the policeman pressed the cross to his face and beseeched the almighty for his help. The ripper cried out in rage as smoke rose and ,mar gave a last sharp pull and tore his head free. The policeman stood and looked as the body fell to the ground again. ,mar e&changed looks with the officer, then straightened his clothes.

T " 3,.N'N4 (6N rose over the city and wamred the air, illuminated the colors of the trees and flowers, and struck the body of the ripper, stuck through with poles and standing prominenty in a field. is head was seperate and as the morning sun hit him smoke began to rise, then belch forth and the body melted away, the flesh peeling from the bones, and smoking away on the ground. (everal policeman stood by and watched that nothing stopped the destruction of this evil man again till there was nothing but ash, which they kicked with their boots. The officer who had assisted ,mar clapped the dirt from

his hands. )And that will be the end of 5ack The .ipper.) A short time later two fine looking ladies were loading some small bo&es and a large trunk onto a ship bound for the states. The officer walked up to the trunk, tapped it lightly with his knuckles and said )-e shall miss your presence here keeping down the evil ones, shadow walker.) e then doubled away into the morning.
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