Lucy no Tomoe

Disclaimer:  As few characters as are present in this fic-poem, I must confess that none of them are mine.  The character of "Lucy", as well as "The Dregs" and "The Red Rat", are creations of the brilliant Frank Wildhorn for his equally wonderful "Jekyll & Hyde:  The Musical".  The character(s) of Jekyll and Hyde, of course, is/are a creation of Robert Louis Stevenson's from the original novella upon which the musical is based.  Now, without further ado, on with the fic-poem!  R&R, please.

The night is pitch-black

The streets of London are foggy

Yet somehow I find myself wandering;

Lost amongst the countless rats and owls

Alone I walk the streets; friendless

My world devoid of sympathy, tenderness…

Such is the story of a lady of the night

Trying to start her life anew…

Yearning for some sort of comfort,

I pull the tear-streaked letter from my pocket.

He had been the first, and only, one to treat me as a friend –

Not simply an object to satisfy lust –

Yet his writing – delivered to me not by his own person,

But by a friend – told me to leave London.

I was to leave tonight,

For it warned of imminent danger.

Enclosed in the note were fifty pounds

"With which to begin a new life".

I would love a new start for myself…

However as I creep through the night,

I have my doubts…

I pass a brothel, The Dregs…

Not so different from the Red Rat,

Where I once entertained men

In the barroom and the bedroom…

The windows are brightly lit still, the place abuzz with activity.

I move swiftly past the establishment, but with some caution.

Suddenly, an uneasy feeling washes over me –

As if I'm being watched; followed.  "Lucy!"

I hear the voice suddenly, and am taken aback.

Actually, I am overjoyed to hear this voice –

The man who offered so much kindness before!

He must have come back for me, to offer protection –

Or something similar…

But I am snapped away from my joyful thoughts

By a very different voice;

A voice that chills me to the core,

Yet also entices seductively…

"My dear…", it growls…"Oh", I say,

"For a moment I thought it was someone else…"

"For a moment, it nearly was."

What could he have meant by that?

"What's that you're holding?", he inquires, pointing directly at

The letter that remains firmly in my grip.  His dark, frigid blue

Eyes penetrate my soul.  He snatches

For the letter, wrestling it away easily.

"So, the good doctor wants you to leave me, does he?

I believe he's trying to steal you from me, my dear –"

Here he snarls, baring frighteningly sharp teeth –

"You love HIM, don't you, Lucy?"

"N…no, Edward, I love only you!"

I can see the embers of rage ignite within him.

"Please…", I cry, abandoned by all other words, "NO!"

Seemingly in response, I am thrown into the

Madman's arms, his long, wet ravel hair

And sensuous hands caressing

My face.  It seems that the beast is

Calm at last.  I begin to cry.

"Sympathy…tenderness…", singsongs the cold,

Rasping voice of Edward Hyde…the voice of death…

I feel something scraping against my back,

And somehow I'm aware that

My remaining minutes on Earth are numbered.

The demon who has taken me into his arms

Now scrapes my throat with something large and silver…a knife!

I know it won't be long now…

This playfulness will leave him before too long.

Why, oh why, can I not be near Henry Jekyll right now?

Suddenly, a hard, sharp pain!

Unlike anything I've felt before!

I feel my breath escaping…

He's knifed me in the back.

Another piercing pain, this one

Drawing a flurry of blood and bile from my mouth.

This one will be fatal…I can sense it.

I feel myself fading…slipping.

Before my eyes close, never to reopen,

I take a final look at the cackling lunatic

Hovering over me.  His dark blue eyes,

Ruffled black hair, perfect nose…

Almost as if he were…

No, it can't be.

Suddenly, Hyde falls to the ground,

Screaming and convulsing as if HE had been stabbed.

He looks at my prone form, and

Sobs uncontrollably.  "LUCY!  NO!"

It's my beloved Doctor Jekyll.  

They're the same –

Blackness.