Robert Jekyll awoke in the large armchair next to the fire, head pounding, a faint sound of Hyde chuckling darkly in the back of his mind. Robert cursed Hyde, for going out to the Empire, to see Bella, cause chaos and drink. Then he came back home, flopped into the armchair and slept, leaving Jekyll to wake up and face the hangover in the morning. He couldn't remember quite how much Hyde drank, but it must have been a lot, for his head felt like someone was constantly hitting it with a hammer, and as he opened his eyes he squinted in pain, the bright light of daylight being a shock to the system. Robert's stomach churned uncomfortably, not quite handling the amount of alcohol that Hyde had consumed the night before.
Just as Robert closed his eyes again to sleep through the hangover, someone bashed loudly on the front door, at least that's what it sounded like to Robert. 'That has to be Lily, who else would it be?' Jekyll thought, with Hyde groaning with exasperation from his cage in the back of Jekyll's mind. Reluctantly, he forced himself up and shuffled to the door, once again wincing at the bright light of the outside world as it flooded his face and the room behind him. He looked down at the person on his doorstep and was surprised to find that it wasn't Lily who stood before him.
The person in front of him was a man of average height, muscular build and rather large hands and feet. He had a strong angular jawline, which drew down to a pointed chin and up to prominent cheekbones. His lower jaw was covered in a short but shaggy beard, giving him a rough and rural look to him. His mouth was average in size and his nose was long and pointed, along with deep-set, rich, hazel eyes that shone with life under thick brown eyebrows. The man's hair was a rich, dark brown with a hint of chestnut that caught the light of the sun and flowed up and back around his head. It was thick and contained many layers of different lengths, all of the layers curling upwards slightly at the end. He grinned a welcoming grin showing brilliant white teeth and had one of his large hands held out to Robert, inviting him to shake it. Hyde was suddenly alert in the back of his mind.
"Is it me, or does this man have abnormally long and pointed canines?" Hyde commented, a tone of concern in his voice.
'Hyde be quiet, you're not helping' Robert thought, but this comment from his other side did invite him to have a second look at the man's teeth, as he wearily lifted an arm and shook the man's hand. 'I don't see much wrong with them' Robert replied. Hyde made a noise to show that he still wasn't sure, he could sense something odd about this man, Hyde just wasn't sure what.
"Hello! I'm Dr Harry Mann, I've just moved in a few houses down from you and I thought I'd come and make friends with my neighbours" the man greeted warmly, after shaking Robert's hand firmly.
"Uh, hello, well I'm Dr Robert Jekyll, pleased to meet you" Robert said, flashing a fake smile to hide how rotten he was feeling. The man, as Robert now knew him as Harry, grinned his stunning grin once more.
"Oh so you're a doctor too, eh?" Harry beamed, his face lighting up. Obviously Robert was the first of his neighbours that he had something in common with.
"Yes I am" Robert answered back, smiling falsely and begging the man to leave him in peace. The sound of Hyde laughing echoed from his cage at the back of Jekyll's mind.
"Excellent! Well I shall leave you. Oh! By the way, I have a very loud dog who likes to howl at night sometimes…n-not often though, so if you hear any howling…i-it's my dog" Harry's striking grin also seemed to turn slightly forced, and both Jekyll and Hyde sensed an uneasiness about Dr Mann all of a sudden. "Well…goodbye!" Harry said hurriedly, and he spun around and quickly walked away.
"Bye" Robert called half-heartedly after him, closing the door and shuffling back to the armchair by the fireplace.
"What a strange man" Hyde said, ponderingly, as Jekyll flopped down into the comfortable armchair.
A week later, one night when a brightly shinning full moon was in the sky, Robert heard the howling that Harry Mann had told him about. It could be heard coming from a distance, but it was still loud. The dog howled three times, long, loud and low, sounding more like a wolf than a dog. The long moaning howls sounded lonely and seemed to be crying out for help, for someone to keep the dog company, echoing a voice of an outcast. Robert wasn't too concerned; his only thoughts were 'why is nobody keeping that dog company?' And 'how big is Dr Mann's dog?' Hyde on the other hand was thinking much more extreme ideas.
"That Harry whatsit is a werewolf" Hyde declared in the back of Jekyll's mind. "I'm sure of it."
'Rubbish, he wouldn't come and live in a populated area, introduce himself to all of the people living around him and point out that there will be howling coming from his house if he was' Jekyll argued back, wanting to banish the idea from his mind; Robert had had enough of monsters.
"It's staring at you in the face just accept it already! I bet MIO will call us up in the morning wanting my help to deal with it, just watch" Hyde growled, bashing his fists against the cage he was imprisoned in. Jekyll twisted his head slightly in a flinch. Unfortunately for Robert, Hyde was right.
TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 2