Josephine
The Curiosity
1862, England
It was looking to be a harsh Winter. But there were harsher things to come.
This particular night, I was to go to a party of a quite influential man in this city. I can not remember his title or his privilege anymore. Maybe he was a rich doctor, maybe a lawyer, something. But I had been invited as an escort by a handsome gentleman, and of course I did not refuse. He was a frequent customer, and my foolish heart had hoped there would be something more.
It was at this time I was figuring out interesting things. I had befriended a few folk who were not the norm. A large city is good for this purpose, and my sad heart was figuring out how to identify people like myself. That is to say, those whose gender does not match their sex. Strange flowers without a place in society. I found comfort in them and they with me. Two such individuals lived with me in a small flat above a seamstress shop in which we worked. This was a cover for our true operation, of course. We were not seamstresses.
In a new blue and white dress which my friend had finished creating for me just that afternoon, I waited at the window for the gentleman. My friends were already out for the evening, with their own clients. Earlier that evening, my friend had patted me on the back and told me "make money" with a wink.
I heard the sounds of horses' hooves on the cobbles, and rushed quickly down the stairs. The stairs led to a door at the side of the shop, and as I opened the door, I realized something was very wrong.
My eyes examined and stared at a young stranger holding the door of the coach open. He wore a long black coat and black top hat. He looked particularly bored and perhaps a little agitated. Not at all how I wanted to start an evening. But this man. Who was this man? Why was he here? And above all...
"You're Asian," I stated plainly, not moving a muscle from the top of the stairs.
"No, I am not," he said.
That voice. What was wrong with his voice?
"Where is your master? Why did he send his servant?" I asked.
This caused a nasty gleam in the man's eye. But as I stared at it, I realized something with a sudden gasp, which he saw. Very quickly, he started to blink and then turned his face away.
Because of this, I had to go with him. There was no way. No way!
"I shall go with you," I said, my amazement showing in my voice with a breathy way.
He was eyeing me with bitter curiosity. His silver grey eyes were searching me, and still there was that shine in them. They luminesced in the darkness of the cab. We were silent, lest the driver hear us outside this shell. But we stared at eachother, and it was readily apparent how we both could see eachother still clearly in the dark.
But I could not help but utter, some minutes into the ride, some words to him in my still shock. "Where...did you come from?"
He just did not break his intense gaze.
When we arrived at the party, he took my hand in a gentlemanly elegant way in his own white gloved hand. His hand was small in mine. The fingers fine and like a bird's bones almost. I stole a glance upon feeling them. He was still staring at me with that bitter look, his eyebrows almost creased. But I was becoming more sure of two things the more time we spent together.
It became more apparent once we were greeted by the lady of the house, the hostess of this party. "Let Eve take your coat, Mr. Crane!" she chirped, gesturing for us to come inside. A maid bobbed a quick curtsy to us and this man whom was Mr. Crane gave her his coat rudely by shoving it into her hands and causing her to lose her balance a little bit.
"Who is joining you this evening? Is this Mrs. Crane?" the lady of the house asked pleasantly, not caring to see the rudeness he had displayed to her help.
He looked at her with that bitterness which I was soon beginning to assume was his manner all the time. "No," he said firmly and rudely, and pulled me along to the dining room like he knew the house.
That voice again. With this I knew.
Once in the dining room, he shook hands with the master of the house. I surveyed the room. We were the last to arrive. It looked like these were close friends of this couple. Such parties I was not accustomed to, and wished dearly for the man I was close to and not this angry stranger. This stranger, who was quickly becoming curiouser and curiouser to me.
Dinner had not started yet, so we stood around the sitting room making small chat with the various guests. Mr. Crane did not offer to explain who I was, and no one asked. Still, they were nice people, so we spoke freely. I did not tell them what my cover job was, for it was a working class job and these were not working class people. I was read up on literature and the like, so we spoke of that. All the while, I was aware Mr. Crane spoke to no one and appeared to be looking around at the ornaments of the room, mostly the mirrors. And in all of these, I noticed he was staring at me with those bird sharp silver eyes, and that he knew I was staring back at him.
I knew why he wasn't speaking. There are things you can not cover when your gender does not match your sex. As a singer, I had trained for years to cause my voice to be able to pass into a feminine way, but I betted for him it was different. His voice was feminine through and through, even when he was trying to speak low in his throat to show different. I couldn't help but begin to feel bad for him. And fearful for him, for I knew how our society worked for women who tried to pass as men. If he were to be found out, he would be thrown into some place for hysterical women and never let out again. He would be mutilated. Horrible things. Immediately I felt a sad connection with him. I wanted to be his friend, to help him.
He did not feel the same way. And the strange things about this evening were only beginning.
The lady of the house announced dinner was about to be served in her cheery way. I was pleased to note how she was kind to her staff, complimenting the cook on the delicious meal we were about to enjoy. I felt happy for her lucky servants. Though, her display earlier with her maid, Eve, made me slightly confused. She hadn't seemed to care about the mistreatment then. Had she not seen it?
At this moment, I happened to catch Mr. Crane in the mirror. He was staring at the lady of the house with a searingly enraged look. It sent shivers up my spine. It was this look which had me certain of the other strange thing about him.
He was a demon. And this lead to a further question. Did he know I was a demon, too?
His return gaze, quick as an owl's eye and just as unsettling, let me know. Yes, he did know. In fact, he probably knew the second he laid eyes on me. His manner let me know one other thing, as well. He was old. Older than me, and who knew how much older. But I knew it was centuries. There was just something about the very way he moved which let me know. The sureness of his walk. How nothing could touch him, and he knew it. Any earlier worries about him evaporated as we stared at eachother for that slight second. He knew exactly what he was doing, and the humans could not see who he truly was. To them, they were seeing a well-to-do white man. He could pass a veil over their eyes like this, a power which I desired so much even into my very bones. But in some ways I didn't want it. Then again...my heart...
Here I knew, in order to maybe be able to learn how he did this, I had to stay with him. Convince him. Let me know his secret, for to someone such as myself who desired to look as a woman does, I needed it. He was so lucky. So very lucky.
As the other guests walked into the next room with jovial chatter, I slid up to him and he did not look at me. But as I opened my mouth to tell him of my desire, he quickly spoke and I shut my mouth.
"Do not get in my way," he declared in a whisper which only we two could hear.
"What are you planning?!" I whispered back in surprise. My previous thoughts were silenced by his words. These people...what he was planning to do to these people? And why?!
"Don't drink the wine," he whispered back.
Then I knew. I put my hand over my mouth in fear for them, and he took that hand and steered me after the disappearing people into the dining room.
We were seated side by side, him sitting across from the lady of the house who was seated at the right side of the head of the table where the master of the house was. It seemed Mr. Crane had infiltrated these people well, as this was a very important seat. In fact, it almost seemed as if this party...were for him...in a sadistic kind of way.
The master of the house stood up. The lady of the house clinked the crystal with her small silver spoon gently to get their guests' attentions. The chatter died down in an instant, and all of them, maybe ten or twelve people, looked up towards the head of the table with smiles on their faces.
"We are here today to introduce to you my new associate, Mr. Crane. He was recommended to me by the grand fellow you all know who retired quite recently from my practice."
There were a few bits of laughter here. My eyes snapped to Mr. Crane with quiet despair and disbelief. He couldn't have. He didn't. He just stared back at me, but this time with a slightly different kind of expression, almost with a guilt. I knew what a sudden disappearance meant when a demon was involved. I knew why Mr. Crane was here with me and not the man I loved. Thinking slowly, I could piece together what had happened. My heart was descending to my toes. I wanted to put my head down and weep, but I had to keep my composure. And yet I wondered. Just what was so important that he had to do this? Why had he taken my man away?
"Mr. Crane comes to us on such high recommendation. 'Introduce him to everyone! He wanted to meet everyone!' he said. It is because of our friend we are gathered here tonight. I'm sure Mr. Crane will be a delightful addition to my practice, and your investments will not be in vain!"
I eyed the wine on the table. It was a deep red wine. And inside each crystal cup I could tell was something evil. My head turned and I looked sadly at Mr. Crane. He gave the most creepy smile I have ever seen, his eyes still intense as ever, glowing a little bit like the moon outside. He raised a hand to his mouth, and pressed a finger to his lips. "Shh," he smiled. And I just stared at him, my eyes with a growing horror. Here was the moment he had been eagerly waiting for. Right here.
But what was there in this for me anymore? I did not need these people anymore. Whatever mystery as to why he was doing this did not matter. All there was to do now was to watch.
The master of the house thrust his crystal cup into the air. "To Mr. Crane!" he proclaimed.
"To Mr. Crane!" everyone but us two cheered, their crystal cups in the air.
They drank.
We were into the soup course when they started to feel the effects. Blood. So much blood. They foamed and fell off their seats, some just keeled into their soup in front of them.
Mr. Crane was looking around, smiling to himself. Silently pleased. I couldn't take this. Even though I had not known them previously, they were the close friends of the man who had shown me such kindness. Who had treated me so well.
I stood up, lifting my skirts slightly to step over a woman who had fallen onto the floor along our side of the table, and I left the room. I saw maids fallen on the floor about the house as I made my way out. It looked like they had been poisoned earlier. How no one noticed this I attributed to Mr. Crane's genius and just walked around them without a word or an emotion.
Mr. Crane. What was his name really? Who the hell was he? Now it was I who was turned bitter. What the hell were his motives?
I exited the house but did not leave. My intuition would not let me leave even though I had begun to hate Mr. Crane so awfully. It knew still what I had felt in the sitting room. It perched on my heart and told me I needed Mr. Crane. And I felt trapped.
It was perhaps an hour later when I heard the heavy footsteps of his mens shoes on the good wood flooring. I knew he was following my scent, because he found me on the back steps. He could only have known I was there by his demon way. I didn't look at him as he sat next to me. But my nose perked at a familiar smell, and my heart started race, my mouth to salvate in a rush of liquid.
He thrust a large goblet full of fresh blood under my face.
Such a warm gesture for one so cold. What was with this demon? Why was he doing these things? Why had he done those things inside? Why was he doing this now?
"Drink it," he said with his strangely feminine voice. "It will not be good soon. That is your payment. Nothing more."
It made sense. My hopeful eyes downcast in bitterness for him again. He was paying me because I was an escort. No cash. Just this.
"I hate you," I said, full of my hatred towards him, taking the goblet with force and drinking it down.
"Yes, I know," he sighed, and leaned back on the stone stairs, supporting his weight with his arms as he looked up into the night sky.
"Why," I asked, throwing the goblet into the garden.
"They were not good people," he just said plainly and nothing more. He looked at me with his intense look, and I could not help but be drawn to look at him, his demon prowess working on me as one younger than he. "Do you need me to take you home?" he asked.
I was silent, staring at him as he stared at me. Burning questions swirled in my head, and finally I could not take it anymore. They burst out of my mouth.
But it was almost as if he were expecting them.
"Who are you--" I began.
"No," he said firmly, stopping them silent.
"What?" I asked, shocked.
"I am nobody and nothing," he just sighed, standing up. He offered a blood stained gloved hand to help me up as a gentleman would.
I took his hand, surprised again by just how small his bones were. Just from his bones, my curiosity was peaked. Judging from this small, fine hand, I knew he must have been someone important in his former life. A woman with such small, fine hands had to have been someone important. There was no question. Who was this person?
But silently he led me to his coach which had appeared at the front. From this I knew further he was someone important, not only in our society of this city, but also in our demon world. He was powerful, in all respects. It was here that my heart went the most sad, and the most desperate, but I could not open my mouth again to him. I could not bear to ask.
I wanted to know if he knew the man who had created me. If he could tell him how his Josephine loved him and wanted to see him again, how it had been too long. But this was too personal a message to relay to a stranger demon I did not know at all. If only we could become friends. Then...maybe then...
But it was not to be.
After an entirely silent ride again, he saw me to the front of my place of residence. He took my hand and kissed it elegantly as a thank you for the evening as was custom, but in my hand I felt something hard and familiar.
As he turned his mysterious back to me and walked towards his ride, I opened my hand and revealed some large denominations of coinage.
So he was not entirely bad after all. This curiously strange demon who had turned my life upside down in a single evening.
Who was this demon and how had he done all of those mysterious things? And why? But these were not the only questions I would have about him. And this was not the last time I would see this man. This demon, who I would later learn was the curious master with a single and fear stirring name: Cheol.