Title: Shades of Blood and Gray
Genre: Adventure/Drama
Character Focus: Dorian Gray and Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde, pure hatred
Rating: T for coarse language and violence
Summary: Dorian returns from the dead and he wants revenge. He kidnaps Mina's son to exchange for his portrait. With nothing to lose and no outside connections, Jekyll takes on the mission, even if it means sacrificing himself.
Disclaimer: LXG is copyright to 20th Century Fox, based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neil. All characters of literature are copyright to their own creators. Only some characters are made from my imagination.
Author's Commentary: Whoever voted for this story, I thank you very much. I want to admit that I think this story was somewhat easy to think up and I've already got most of the plot sorted out. I thought that Black Summons was too cheesy, so I'm going to have Quincey Harker brought into the LXG universe differently. This was somewhat inspired by Clez's story Ghosts of Old, but there will be a lot of differences such as characters and Dorian's motives. Speaking of characters, they are all listed below so we can track down who's who and their creators.
Cast of Characters
Dorian Gray, the vain immortal who was sent by M to collect samples of the League. He is back and will take his revenge. Created by Oscar Wilde.
Mina Harker, a vampire woman who is now in charge of the League. Will do what it takes to protect her family and friends. Created by Bram Stoker.
Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde, the two personalities in one body, but still capable of what needs to be done. Created by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Tom Sawyer, an American spy who would do what he can to help. Created by Mark Twain.
Captain Nemo, captain of the Nautilus, an excellent fighter. Created by Jules Vern.
Rodney Skinner, a thief who became invisible after stealing the formula by Hawley Griffin who was created by H.G. Wells.
Quincey Harker, son of Mina Harker, a little naive, but quite unique. Created by Bram Stoker.
John Seward, a doctor and one of Mina's old friends. Created by Bram Stoker.
Helen Seward, John's wife and a very motherly woman. She was mentioned in Dracula the Un-Dead by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt, since she didn't have a name, I picked one for her.
Mary Seward, daughter of John and Helen Seward, friend of Quincey's. Created by Kate Cary, author of the Bloodline series. Only difference is that Mary is a child in this story.
Emil Crowe, a scientist who had collaborated with M previously, skilled at experiments with poisons. Created from my own imagination.
Parker, Walsh and Fielding, a bunch of goons hired by Dorian and Emil. Created from my own imagination.
Chapter 1: Resurrection
M's Fortress
Somewhere in Mongolia
"That miserable minx," thought Dorian Gray when he could not find his portrait. He had returned to life by a force beyond his understanding. Perhaps seeing the painting only had a temporary effect on his body.
When he had resurrected, the first thing he did was remove the sword that still pinned him to the wall, he quickly dressed into clean clothing because the outfit he wore when he died was filthy and damaged from the fight. The fight he remembered immediately when he recovered. Mina Harker, the attractive vampire woman Dorian once shared a relationship with, the woman who had killed him.
Dorian could not locate his portrait in the shambled mess that was his well furnished room in M's Fortress. It was possible that Mina had taken it after she had killed him by making him face the grotesque image of the painting. Did she take it as a reminder of what they shared? Or did she take it out of spite?
He saw himself in the mirror that was broken from the explosions that shook the fortress. Dorian looked the same as he did before seeing the painting, the light skin, dark hair that curled at his shoulders, the dark eyes, black mustache and goatee on his angular face. At least he did not resurrect looking hideous as the painting had been.
Searching the other places of the fortress, much damage had been done from the League. The explosions caused some walls to collapse and expose the machinery to the harsh elements outdoors. The floor was littered with corpses of M's men, already in a state of decay.
He did not care for the men who were wiped out from the League's raid on the fortress. Dorian had more important matters to him, first he was going to return to England, then he was going to get his portrait back and his revenge on Mina Harker.
The Nautilus
Somewhere at Sea
She was in her cabin, writing in her diary. When she was done, she stood up and paced around her room, her black skirt swishing around her ankles. Mina had been anxious the last few weeks, perhaps it had been a while since she last fed on human blood, or she was just home sick.
The vampire went to her wardrobe and opened it. The wardrobe was full of clothes such as skirts, blouses, her coats, and combat outfit. She was not interested in her clothes but the object wrapped in burlap on the bottom of her wardrobe.
She knew what it was, the rectangular object that she had stashed in her cabin. Mina would not dare look upon it, for the memories were too painful. The vampire could not leave it lying around, but the longer she kept it close by, the more she kept thinking about it. Perhaps she could hide it away in her house back in England, where no one would find it and it could collect dust and cobwebs for all she cared.
It seemed like a good plan, she would have to make a request to the captain to make a stop in London, England. Once the Nautilus reached land, Mina could take the dreaded painting to her house and hide it away where she would never have to see it again.
There was something else she could do when she returned to London, Mina had not seen her son Quincey for a long time. The boy was living with Dr. John Seward, a close friend of Mina Harker and her husband Jonathan. Mina decided that she would write a letter to her friend John that she would like to visit Quincey while she was in England.
Returning to her desk, Mina got out an envelope and sheet of paper. She was going to write a letter that would be sent to Dr. Seward when the League arrived in London. Combing a loose strand of auburn hair away from her forehead, Mina focused her bright blue eyes on her writing.
On the conning tower of the ship, Nemo, Rodney Skinner, Tom Sawyer and Henry Jekyll were getting fresh air and sunlight. The ship had been at sea for several days and the League had not decided what their destination would be.
Tom Sawyer, the blond American in a uniform of black, gray and white, was busy practicing his shot on one side of the platform. His hazel eyes focusing on the floating red targets on the water before pulling the rifle trigger.
The invisible thief, Rodney Skinner, watched Tom practice. Skinner kept himself covered with his black coat and hat.
Nemo, in his blue outfit and matching turban, stared out over the ocean. The Indian captain was keeping his dark eyes sharp for any change in the weather.
Henry Jekyll stood away from the others, his black clad form hidden in the shade. He was fidgeting with his pocket watch while he argued with his alter-ego, Edward Hyde.
"Are you going to tell her what you saw that night?" Edward asked.
"I don't know how," responded Henry silently, "Mrs. Harker might accuse me of eavesdropping and invading her privacy."
"You are a coward, it's not that you were doing it on purpose, the door was open! Don't you want to tell her that you saw what that bastard did? We both saw it happen, what Gray did to her!"
"I know that, but we were unaware of his intention at the time. How can I explain that to her? Telling her why I was wondering near her door at night would be so difficult to do!"
"That doesn't make a difference! You and I know now that he took advantage of her emotions, that he tricked her! Stop being a fool and just tell her already!"
Jekyll stared from his watch to the ocean. He could not forget what he saw that night before he found a vial of potion missing. Even though he had no intention of eavesdropping, Jekyll just watched and listened from outside Mina's door. The shy doctor was only waiting for Dorian Gray to finish speaking with Mina. Jekyll had been meaning to get an opportunity to speak with Mina but didn't get to do so earlier because of his meekness. When the vampire and the immortal began kissing, Henry Jekyll felt disappointed and frustrated before storming down the corridor while arguing with his alter-ego.
"Dr. Jekyll," said Nemo, snapping Jekyll out of his deep thoughts, "we'll be going under now." The captain gestured to the door that lead inside the ship.
"Captain," Jekyll responded softly before going inside.
The House of Dr. John Seward
Whitby, England
Helen Seward was watching her daughter and the boy walking in the garden from the back door. It was early spring, the flowers still had yet to bloom, but the children had been studying the plants that were beginning to grow. She noticed how Mary, her daughter, and Quincey Harker, the boy, had been growing themselves. Quincey was at the age of ten and getting quite tall, he would eventually outgrow his clothing and his auburn hair would soon need to be trimmed. Mary, who had honey blond hair like her mother's, was also becoming tall for a girl of eight years.
"Good afternoon dear," said Dr. John Seward when he entered the house from the front entrance. John was a tall man with brown hair, a small beard, and grey eyes, he wore the formal clothing of a doctor with the coat, starched collar and waist coat.
"Good afternoon," Helen returned. "The children are just getting some fresh air from their studies. Mary seems eager about the flowers."
"How is Quincey?" asked John.
"He seems to do well with his studies, but I think he really misses his mother. It has been a long time since she had visited him." Even though Helen had raised Quincey as if he was her own alongside Mary, Quincey still had his own mother to visit him on occasions.
"She was called away last summer to do some work for the government. It is unfortunate that she was unable to visit during his tenth birthday." John and his wife remembered that Mina had gone away for some important duty to the government and that it was top secret. Before leaving, Mina sent a letter that she would be gone for a long time and would not be sure when she might return.
"Hello Father," said Mary's chirping voice when she and Quincey came inside.
"Dr. Seward," said Quincey quietly.
"Good afternoon to the both of you," said Dr. Seward to the children. "Quincey, how have you been feeling lately?"
"I'm okay," the boy replied, "I just... miss my mother."
"It's alright," John said to reassure the boy, "she probably will visit you when she gets the opportunity. That business with the government might soon be over."
"I hope she comes to see our pretty flowers," said Mary, who had met Quincey's mother several times before.
"Come along," Helen said to the children, "let's finish up with your studies." She gestured for the children to head upstairs for their home schooling.
As John watched them go upstairs, he hoped that Mina would come and visit her son eventually.
Somewhere at Sea from France to England
Dorian stood on the deck of the steamer, anticipating reaching the shores of Great Britain. Since Nemo had reclaimed the Nautiloid, Dorian had to gather what he could carry and venture on foot over the frozen desert to the nearest civilization. When he did, he got transportation by carriage, boat, and train across Asia and eastern Europe. For weeks he traveled until he came to France where he got onto the latest steamer heading to England.
The ocean breeze caused his dark gray coat and his dark hair to flutter gently. It was chilly for early spring, but Dorian didn't seem to notice the chill. All of his thoughts were bent on revenge.
Leaning on his cane, Dorian thought of how he could get his portrait back. Since the painting was important to him and Mina had it, Dorian had to take something important of Mina's. It had to be something that she would do anything to protect.
A smile twitched on his face, Dorian knew exactly what was important to Mina the most. The woman was foolish enough to let Dorian know that she had a son back in England.
When he returned to England, Dorian was going to kidnap Quincey Harker and Mina was going to exchange the painting for the boy.
To be continued.
End Note: What do you readers think? How do you like the references to the other books like Bloodline and Dracula the Un-Dead? Please be very honest, I appreciate honest feedback but insults I will ignore.