The Scientist's Cultist

v - luna.

- - - - - - AUGUST 31, 2023 - - - - -

Whitechapel, London 4:30 a.m.

DAMMIT, THEO THOUGHT. Maybe this black cat in particular was bad luck, or it was working for Jack the Ripper. Either way, it had alerted both Jack and his companion, who had fallen silent abruptly.

"Luna?" Jack asked. "Is that you?"

Double dammit. Theo needed to get June out of here fast. They were not in a position to face Jack right now, especially since it was obvious they'd been following him. Something told him that Jack wouldn't take too kindly to eavesdropping either.

Theo squeezed June's hand hard, feeling her pulse through where their clammy skin connected. Then he quickly inched down the alley, pulling June alongside him and praying that her heels wouldn't make noise against the cobblestones. Thankfully, June moved along with him.

The demonic cat—Luna—hissed again. The light in the alcove flickered as Jack and Edward moved into the alley. Theo froze flat against the wall and June bumped into his shoulder. In the silence, he could hear her staggering breaths. Please let them be far enough away that he couldn't see them in the dark.

"Luna?" Jack asked. "Do you see something?"

Theo held his breath. The silence that followed Jack's question could cut the tension like a knife. In the shadows, Theo could make out the shape of Luna rubbing up against Jack's shoes and then stalking off. Straight in their direction.

Instantly, Theo began moving again, pulling June along even quicker. Unfortunately, the speed of their shuffling hardly mattered. The alley's exit was too far away to reach before Jack caught up to them.

Theo stumbled as his back suddenly met empty space. June fell into the space along with him, letting out a cute little grunt as she bumped into his chest. While it was pretty much impossible to see anything, they must have been standing in a similar alcove to the one Jack and Edward were in earlier.

Light flickered down the alley and Theo searched his mind for anything that would keep suspicion off of them, which would be considered normal in this period. June tugged her hand free and grabbed Theo's shoulders, searching for his eyes in the dark.

"Kiss me," she whispered.

"What?" Theo asked.

"Just trust me, okay?"

Unable to come up with any plausible reason not to, Theo leaned forward and pressed his lips to June's right as the light from Jack's gas lamp passed over the alcove. To his surprise, June's lips fit like a glove between his, soft with just the right amount of innocence.

"Oh, my," what sounded like Edward's voice said. "It seems Luna has made quite a habit of stalking lovers."

"Yes, quite interesting indeed," added Jack. "Let us move along, Luna."

Theo kept up the ruse until he was confident Jack and Edward had vacated the alleyway. If there was any useful information passed between them that would have been helpful to know, Theo was focused on absolutely none of it.

By the time he finally came up for air, he instantly felt that something between them had changed. Theo had always found June to be beautiful, with her thick blonde hair and wide-rimmed glasses that she wore when she was too lazy for contacts. Or, in this case, when contacts were too high-tech for this century. However, he'd always kind of admired her from a distance. Whether that admiration came from friendship or something more... Theo couldn't really tell.

As he examined June's expression, he could instantly tell that the kiss had affected her too. She took a dazed step backward until her back was pressed against the brick wall behind her, touching her lips gently with her fingertips.