Under The Blade {Sequel to 'In Time'}

Chapter 11; Time To Pay A Visit

"... What?" Esther said in a cold tone, shock and impending anger entwined as the word fell from her lips. Jack seized the moment to laugh manically, crouching beside Jacob, who couldn't bring himself to look at Esther.

"Go on, Jacob! Tell her how you fucked that whore behind her back, how she's been sleeping in your bed, by your side!" He snapped like a wolf, teeth bared behind the safety of his mask, as Esther recoiled quickly.

"What!?" She cried, "Jacob!" She added, clearly waiting for him to deny the accusations but truth was... Jacob didn't want to lie to her, infact he wanted her to know the truth, maybe then the years of suffering and unreal love could be put to rest.

"He's not denying it, because he knows I'm telling the truth." The maniacal killer cried out with a laugh, enjoying the sight of watching Jacob and the people around him suffer- it made Jack feel complete for what he believed Jacob had done... Let his mother die.

"How... How could you?" Esther spat, his eyes filling with furious tears, "all of this time I had my doubts you were in love with another... When you wouldn't be as affectionate as I was... " she gasped with the tears that now flowed freely from her eyes. "I knew deep down you'd be unfaithful to me!" She screamed, roughly pulling her wedding ring from her finger and throwing it to the floor and curling into a ball to cry.

Jack didn't stay long; he wanted the last sight for Jacob to have of his wife to be her crying immensely heavily, her heart broken- at his hand.

So, hands with no hope to fight being dragged again, Jacob let himself once more be pulled like some kind of dog all the way back through the dimly lit streets, each oil lamp blending into a single light in his vision, everything becoming distorted with the lack of motivation and exhaustion he felt consume him.

Back to the cell it was- and to more torture that would draw him constantly to and fro the brink of death like a yo-yo.

---

For the previous passing days, yourself and Evie had been out together- but most of the time Evie would go off on her own ventures, asking you to look through Jacob's things to find clues.

It was there you found an image, looking to have been taken in India- when Evie was staying with Henry. You smiled in adoration, your (eye colour) eyes looking over the image of a much younger Jacob- the Jacob you had first fallen in love with. At the side of him was a small lad with a hopeful looking smile, Jacob's hand resting on his shoulder.

"(Name)," you alerted to the sound of Evie entering the apartment, "I've got more clues on Jack-"

"Evie... Apologies," you started, holding the picture to her attention, "who is this young boy?"

"That's Jack." Evie sighed, looking into your eyes until she saw you made the connection to, "he was just a young boy there... One of Jacob's orphan associates, the youngest of three." She smiled sweetly at the memory.

"Jacob saw so much potential in him, he saw Jack as his son, he really cared for him."

"So if Jacob took Jack on, why does Jack hate him now?" You dared to ask, brows furrowing in confusion. At what point did the relationship between the pair turn so sour?

Evie bit her lip in almost hesitation, before she took a deep breath, "Jack was living in a children's home with many others- one of the many in the district that closed down."

"Maybe he knew my daughter." You said, thinking about it for a moment, before Evie nodded softly.

"Perhaps he did," she exclaimed, "but anyway... When those homes closed the children were sent to the workhouses ... But not Jack, he was rescued by one of the matrons who told him she was his mother to protect him." Evie explained, taking a seat as you tried to process all the information.

"See," she sighed as she went on, "Jack wasn't right... In the head, even from a young age. She knew he'd be off the asylum straight away. One day, blighters killed this matron, who Jack thought was his mother- and he was shipped off to Lambeth."

Your heart practically broke at the tragic tale of the story, feeling you were beginning to understand why Jack was such a broken character.

"Jacob had always been in good contact with the orphanages... He went to see the children sometimes and spent time with them, as he looked for potential initiates... He remembered Jack had always struck him as a character;" Evie spoke in a quieter tone as she looked down, "so when he found out he was in the asylum... Jacob went and rescued him straight away, but I think Jack has always hated Jacob because he believes Jacob wasn't around to save his 'mother'."

You felt your throat tighten as you once more inspected the picture grasped in your hand, swallowing back the concern and the confusion of if all.

Jacob had been keeping a lot from you... Clearly he had been afraid that if you really knew the truth about Jack and how Jacob was protecting him... You would've outed the story.

But it led to more clues you needed unearthing, did Jack know your daughter?

But more importantly, had Jacob ever met his daughter, without knowing she was his? Evie had said he was in good contact with the orphanages... So there was a good possibility.

It gave you more hope and determination to want to find Jacob, so you could both get the truth.