Knowing what our next course of action is, we wasted no more time and made our way to the mansion. 'If we are to have any sort of advantage against Jack, this is the way to go about it.' I thought to myself. Lady Owers will be no more after today, just another target to eliminate as part to achieve our end goal.
It wasn't long before we made it to the mansion. As we neared a large terrace built into the mountain that overlooked the manor, we happened to overhear a guard, and a frightened one by the looks of it. His body was on high alert as his eyes were looking all over the place, the look of paranoia could be seen in his eyes.
"Go away!" He yelled out of nowhere, to which I couldn't help but chuckle at, to no one in particular.
"Poor thing. Probably got spooked by nothing more than a shadow." I couldn't help but say out loud, causing a smile of sorts to appear on Evie's face. The cry of the guard caused another guard to come by and calm his companion down, reassuring him that no one is there, after looking around and seeing nothing, specifically not seeing us. While they were chatting with one another, Evie and I left our spots and made our way to a vantage point, where we spotted a gravedigger who seemed to be busy at work.
"Bury her in the garden' he says, like a dog'd bury a bone...it ain't right, I tell ya. What if I'm next...?" The gravedigger muttered to himself. Leaving the gravedigger to his business, though I'm, positively sure that he will have another body to bury by the end of the night, we then spotted some men conversing with one another in a cottage separate from the manor.
"We're expecting Miss Frye, and Mrs. (Name) too..." One of the men, who looked to be a butler of sorts, begins to say. 'Oh, would you look at that, they're expecting us. We were totally not expecting that.' I said as I rolled my eyes at the obvious fact that they would have been warned of our arrival. "Alert the men and be discreet about it--we're still running a business here." Discreet, the man said as if we had not just heard what he said. Nothing more was said as he walked away from the scene. While the butler had moved on, so did Evie and I. We walked closer to the manor and looked inside, seeing Lady Owers husband, Thomas Owers, speaking to a pair of prostitutes.
"Come drain my wine with honeyed lips...and I shall tell you a tale of unrequited love from the Orient..." We overheard him say to one of the girls, to which I couldn't help but be disgusted by his words.
"Ugh, even Jacob comes up with better words than that, and he isn't the most romantic person in the world." I couldn't help but say, though my heart ached at the thought of him.
"We will get him back, do not worry about that, (Name)."
"I wonder what Mr. Owers' wife say if she saw him with those women?"
"I think we are about to find out." Both Evie and I remained out of sight and within the shadows. It is not yet time to make our presence known, not until we come up with a plan to bring the eyes and ears of London down.
"You!" She begins to say as she scolds one of the girls. "Get back to our guests! If Miss Frye or Mrs. (Name) doesn't slit our throats--the Ripper surely will."
"Now that's not a bad idea." I said with a slight grin on my face.
"(Name), I swear my brother has been rubbing off on you, and not in the best way." Evie said as she shook her head side to side.
"And yet I don't hear you disagree nor deny my statement, dear sister. Are we not here to dispose of Lady Owers?"
"Let's just get on with it." I couldn't help but smirk in victory, knowing that I was right. With that out of the way, we then overlooked the mansion's grounds and spotted a couple more guards, who looked to be having a conversation with one another.
"Do we know what these ladies look like?" The first guard said. I couldn't help but scoff at the question, pretending to be offended.
"How could he not know how we look like? I am offended, absolutely offended." I mumbled out as I crossed my arms over my chest, adding to the act.
"Very funny." Evie whispered back before we tuned in again to what was being said.
"Just kill any woman lurking around the manor with a weapon... If she turns out to be one of Lady O's girls trying to flee, we can blame it on the Ripper." The second one said. I glared at the man who said that. 'How dare he. These women are innocent, and he would just kill any one of them thinking that they are either Evie or I.'
"The Ripper?"
"Haven't you noticed? Whenever Lady O puts one of the girls out to pasture, we dig another hole in the garden. Somebody does her dirty work, and it ain't us."
"Why is everyone so afraid of one woman?"
"Rumor has it, she's like some kinda demon--scared our men down in Whitechapel somethin' fierce..." So, the woman has quite the power in London, enough to scare people out of their wits.
"Is it true Lady O's gang controls most of the brothels in London?"
"If she dies, there'll be no more free jam for the likes of us. So, keep your eyes open, lad." Nothing else was said as they begin to disperse. Evie and I begin to make our way towards the manor, finding ourselves close to the gravedigger once again.
"It's bread when I'm hungry, and beer when I'm dry, it's bed when I'm tired and nothing when I die. I am a little collier working underground, the rope will never break when I go up and down. I'm done with this place...no more digging, no more dead bodies. I don't want to die... please, heaven...I ain't done nuffing." He said and I couldn't help but pity the scared man.
"Evie, we must hurry and end Lady Owers terror. Just look at the people here, fear is what's driving them to do these things. Well, that and there are people who are truly terrible to others."
"Lady Owers will not survive the night, I assure you." Nothing more was said as we jumped down, only to accidentally scare the gravedigger.
"Help! I don't want to die! Help me! There's someone in the garden! Guards!" Before we could stop him, he rang the nearby alarm bell, alerting the guards near the area.
"Well that's just great. Let's get out of here before they get here." I said. Evie nodded her head and we bolted out of the area. Thankfully, we were able to get away and manage to stumble upon a butler in a cottage that we have hidden in, who seemed to be talking to a guard. 'There are so many guards. We must have Lady Owers paranoid based on how many guards she has around the place.' I thought to myself, feeling slightly satisfied that the eyes and ears of London is on edge, always looking behind her in fear of her life.
"You heard me. The only way those women get inside is over your dead bodies. If you're not careful, you'll all be dead before any of you see her face... Need I remind you that if something happens to Lady O, it's the end of everything we've worked for? I must go see to the Lady." The butler said as he begins to walk away.
"Well, well, well, looks like it's not only Jack who will suffer from the death of Lady Owers. Though I must say, the guards are doing a terrible job of keeping us away, and they are still alive. Looks like the butler was wrong about us getting inside over the guards' dead bodies." I said with a bit of a cheeky smile. Just because we are assassins, it does not mean everyone we come across dies. Our target is Lady Owers, if we can do that without killing others, then that is what we will do. Plus, sometimes a little discretion is in order.
"Let's follow after the butler." Evie said, and thus we stuck to the shadows and followed after him. From his posture, I could see that he was tense and on edge.
"Who's there? Is that you, Mr. Jack?" I can hear the paranoia in his voice. "Show yourself, Miss Frye, Mrs. (Name)!" We remained in the shadows, putting some distance between us and the butler as he looked around. "Hmmm. It's nothing. Get a hold of yourself, William." He approached a guard and spoke to him. "Stay awake, Mr. James, she'll be as slippery as Master Jack in this darkness." He then continued on and went inside a room, where we saw him activate a mechanism that revealed a hidden stairwell to what, I could only presume, be to another floor. We continued to follow him to what appears to be Lady Owers' chambers, where she was burning documents.
"Damn you Mr. Frye, damn your bloody sister, damn your bloody wife, and to hell with Jack the Ripper! Jack won't let him live either, I suppose. Only a few more to destroy... Perhaps I'll spare a few documents and drag that useless husband of mine down with me..." We heard her mutter as she burned more and more documents.
"I've never been damned before. Now I know what it's like." I said after hearing what Lady Owers just said before turning towards Evie. "Well Evie, what's the plan? Do we confront her now, or should we have a little fun first that involves her husband? It's clear that she doesn't care about her husband one bit, and the poor fool is obviously desperate enough to spend his time with Lady Owers' girls instead of his actual wife."
"Hmmm...if we confront her now, we can get this over and done with." She replied.
"Oh well, and here I was hoping to have a little fun first."
"Do I dare ask what you have in mind?"
"Nope, just be nearby once I am done. And don't worry Evie, it's just a little harmless kidnapping, that's all." With that out of the way, I begin tracking down Thomas Owers, who was not that hard to find, though making sure to remain undetected proved to be a little challenging with guards around every single corner. Thankfully, my skills with the shadows have not failed me.
"Never read the Kama Sutra, you say?" Thomas said to what I can only presume to be a Solicitor. I remained within the shadows, waiting for the moment where he was alone.
"I must confess I have not had the pleasure, Mr. Owers, but I'm told you have an extraordinary collection of 'curious' literature." The Solicitor replied.
"Wait here, my dear boy. No member of our illustrious Club can ignore Sir Richard's exquisite translation! Now where did I put it, I know I have the 1833 edition around here somewhere... Oh dear, I wonder if my wife has absconded with it again." As he moved from the area, I appeared behind him and twisted his arm behind his back as we begin to walk. "I say! That's a bit rough, even for me. I don't think I know you, my dear."
"Call me Atropos." I replied. 'No way I was going to give away my real name.'
"Ah, the oldest of the three fates, how intriguing... And where are you taking me?"
"Someplace private. I hear the Lady has a lovely boudoir upstairs. Perhaps she'd like to join us?"
"The Lady does love a strong, mysterious woman..."
"Why don't we surprise her..." I whispered in his ear as I held him a little tighter.
"Ooh, that hurts my dear... A little tighter, perhaps?" It wasn't long before we arrived at Lady Owers' chambers and Thomas called to his wife. "Darling, I have a most delicious surprise for you..."
"Not now, husband! Can you not see how occupied I am?" Was her reply. Pushing Thomas to the side, I flung my wrist, releasing my Hidden Blade, before plunging it into Lady Owers. She slowly fell to her knees as her breath becomes shallow with each passing second. "I should thank you, Mrs. (Name). I feared death at the Ripper's hands, far more than at yours." She begins to say as Evie joins me not long after. I noticed a photograph that Lady Owers had been holding. I grabbed it from her and said,
"What have you done with these men?"
"The Ripper is entertaining them presently... Mr. Weaversbrook will be joining them soon..."
"Let us hope Jack has not found you yet, Mr. Weaversbrook." Evie said as Lady Owers breathes her last breath. Not wanting to stick around any longer, Evie and I begin making our way out of the mansion, sticking to the shadows and doing our best in avoiding guards along the way. Not long after, we heard one of the guards shout out.
"She's dead! Lady Owers is dead! Lady O is dead! Lock the manor down! Lady O's been murdered! Guard all the doors!"
"Looks like Lady Owers has been found. Pity it wasn't when we were gone. Now the place is on lock down, making it just a little harder to get out of here." I said as we continued running through the mansion.
"Feeling a little out of practice? Surely you and Jacob got into all kinds of mischief all those years ago." Evie said with a smirk on her face.
"Was this before or after we finally managed to work out our damn feelings?" Funny the topic of conversation we are having while escaping the mansion.
"It was truly a blessing when it was all over."
"What can I say? We kept you on your feet."
"You sure did." Nothing more was said about that and we finally managed to escape the mansion. Once outside, we looked around for a carriage to leave this place. Thankfully, we managed to find one and, not wasting anymore time, we climbed aboard and made our way away from the mansion. Along the way, we heard a couple guards speaking to one another.
"Don't be so stingy, mate."
"Are you takin' the piss (kidding me)? It's yer third fag this week!"
"Oi! You!" One of them said as they finally noticed us.
"Huh??"
"Stop!"
"Thief! Come back 'ere!" We drove off, leaving the owners of the carriage behind.
"Bugger (blast)!"
"Go tell Lady O..."
"You tell 'er... I need this job." The guards were the last thing we heard before we were gone.
"Good luck telling a dead woman." I muttered out.