American Horror Story: Ripper [ON HOLD]

The Baker Part 3

Present Day

August 31st, 2014. 3:30 am.

Jessie Mitchell stood in the front of a quiet, candle-lit room. His back was turned to the people behind him. Jessie began to prepare the ritual for the newcomers. They had picked the perfect time to be admitted. He turned around.

A teenage girl was layed out in front of him on a wide stone altar. Her clothes had been switched out with those of a prostitute from 1888. Her hands and feet were tied down, but she didn't struggle. The girl's sobs were muffled by a gag and her tears slid down her face slowly.

Jessie checked his watch. "3:36 am. The time has come to stand!" There were rows of benches past the altar, and 7 hooded men stood up in the front rows. The 2 new recruits were already standing by the altar.

Jessie began his speech with, "On this autumn morning in 1888, the body of Mary Ann Nichols was found at 3:40 am. Her throat had been cut twice, and her abdomen was also sliced open. Her death was one of the Canonical Five, which were the killings that are largely agreed to have all been carried out by our elder, our creator, Jack the Ripper."

Jessie checked his watch again. "It is now 3:38, and I, Jessie Mitchell, head of The Cult of Ripper, present these two knives to our two initiates." The two boys kneeled and raised their hands for the knives.

Jessie counted the seconds until 3:40. "10, 9, 8, 7...." As he hit 0, the two boys quickly slashed their knives across the girl's throat. They moved down to her abdomen and cut it open, but left the insides untouched.

"You boys, no, you men, have achieved admittance. Your wings are not made of wax," Jack boomed while smiling wide. He finished by saying, "You will be named soon."

***

Past

August 31st, 1888. 10:00 am.

Charles Warren was utterly exhausted. His eyes felt heavy and his words came out slow. He couldn't keep going like this. "Johnson, come in here please," Charles said slowly. A man in his late twenties stepped into the room. "Yes, Commissioner Warren?" "I need to go home. This case is drilling into my brain and I had just barely laid down when I was brought in this morning. Get William to take over for a few hours. Oh, and make sure Detective Commander Stewart is working as hard as possible; we pay him good money." No problem, sir," Johnson replied.

The case Charles meant was that of Mary Ann Nichols' murder. She had been found early in the morning with two slices on her throat and a deep cut in her abdomen.

Johnson left the room as Charles put his coat on and grabbed his watch. Charles exited the Metropolitan Police Service's station and went home.

***

Sebtember 1st, 1888. 12:35 pm.

"That witch! That dirty old hag!" Shouts rang out from a large building. "Mom..I mean, Mrs. Forrest, please calm down," Lavender pleaded. Rose Forrest looked at her daughter. "Why? She stole them! She stole the best girls from me. Dahlia can burn at the stake," Rose spit out. Lavender rolled her eyes. Her mother, owner of The Rose Petal, was always agitated. Dahlia Shepherd ran the rival brothel, and they despised each other.

"Mrs. Forrest," Lavender started, "you didn't even know the girls. She found them on the streets!" "It doesn't matter. Don't you see all the business they're getting? Three girls in two weeks!" Lavender rolled her eyes for the second time. "They're new, of course they're getting a lot of business. You just need some new girls, too."

Lavender had always been the level-headed one in a hurricane of anger. Her mother was constantly frustrated, her friends were mad at their poor lives, and her father....he was an abusive tumor in her life.

"Thank god bruises go away."

"Just go to your room, Lavender. I'll take care of this." Lavender left her mom's office and slowly climbed the stairs to the second floor. This was where the women brought their clients to do 'business'. The noises emanating from the rooms disgusted Lavender as she climbed up to the third floor. This is where she lived. It was more of an attic than an actual third floor, but it was home.

The ceiling slanted up from both sides to create a pointed arch. Both her and her mother lived up here, but Rose almost always ended up sleeping in her office. The first part by the stairs was divided by a cloth in the middle to create a second part towards the back. That was Lavender's room.

BANG! Something heavy hit the floor behind the sheet and Lavender jumped. Her eyes grew wide and she slowly stepped towards the partition. It opened quickly and she was grabbed by someone. A hand was put over her mouth to muffle her voice. Lavender looked up and saw him. She slapped his arms and he let go.

"Icarus! I hate you right now." He smiled and sat on her bed. Lavender rolled her eyes, which she noticed she did for the third time that day. "Come sit with me," he said. Lavender walked to her bed and sat down next to Icarus. She noticed the pile of books he knocked over when he came through her small window.

"I can't believe you can fit through my window." "Yeah, well I can't believe your mom didn't notice," Icarus joked, "she would probably kill me."