The Reckoning

Jacob jerked the reins back, sending the horse-drawn carriage skidding along the cobblestones until it came to an abrupt stop. He scanned the mostly vacant streets - save for the occasional vagrant - expecting an attack at any moment. There was no sign of the monster terrorizing London but Jacob knew he wasn't far behind. His icy breaths hung in the chilled air and a dim halo of light from a nearby streetlamp cast an eerie glow across the foggy London street. In the distance, a single crow cawed in warning.

Jacob's heart pounded in his ears as he hopped down from the carriage and continued on foot, peering over his shoulder as he hurried through the alleyways towards his lodgings. He jumped when nearby church bells rang midnight. Every draw of cold air burned his lungs but he didn't dare stop to catch his breath. His numbing fingers fumbled in a pocket for a key, finding it just as he reached the door. He jammed the key into the lock and shoved the door open, stumbling over the threshold. He fell back against the door, slamming it shut and double-checking as he relocked it.

He let out a deep breath that he'd been holding in and allowed himself a quick moment to regain his composure. He hissed through gritted teeth and threw his head back against the door when a sharp pang flared from his side. Hot, wet blood seeped through his clothes and dribbled down towards the floor. He pressed his gloved hand against the wound to stymie some of the unceasing flow. He needed to get to a hospital but it would have to wait. He didn't have much time left.

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and staggered over to his wardrobe, bumping into an end table on the way and tensing as a clay pot shattered across the floor. He threw the doors open and tossed whatever clothes were within arm's reach into a leather suitcase, wasting no time to sort or fold them first. He had to hurry if he wanted any chance of making it out of the city alive. Once outside London, he would wait for Evie. Together perhaps they stood a chance.

He slammed the overfilled suitcase shut and latched the straps as fast as his shaking hands allowed. His usually dexterous fingers felt cumbersome and slow and he struggled to fasten the last buckle, eventually giving up. He dragged it next to the entryway table, ready to go when he was.

He groaned and gripped his side as another spasm coursed through his abdomen. Drops of blood now made their way down his coat and fell to the floor, creating a small puddle at his feet. His vision started to blur around the edges as he bled out and his stomach sank as he realized the direness of his situation. Jacob sighed and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes and for a moment wishing this was all some horrible nightmare he could wake from. His eyes snapped open when a horse whinnied in the darkness and cut his reverie short. Jack was close now. The haunting realization that he wasn't going to make it out alive sent a shiver down his spine.

Jacob's focus snapped back in place and he, realizing his time grew shorter every moment, carried out his final plan. He stumbled towards the desk and took a large swig from the nearest liquor bottle to quench his growing thirst. He picked up the nearest pen and shuffled through the papers on the desk to find a blank page to write down his last clue, his one last hope to stop Jack. He found a small piece and placed it on top of the rest, his shaking fingertips leaving bloody prints along the edges. Jacob's heart pounded as the pen scratched out the beginning of the note:

Evie,

The Brotherhood has been compromised, but there's a woman who can help.

He paused, wondering how to continue. He needed to lead Evie to Nellie but without tipping off Jack, should he find the letter first. He thought hard for a moment, an old woman's face he hadn't seen in decades appearing in his mind. Of course, he thought, knowing exactly how to steer Evie into Nellie's direction. His pen flew across the paper once more as he finished the note:

Unfortunately, she'll remind you of our childhood neighbor…

Jacob

Satisfied that the note would lead Evie to Nellie, he folded the paper in half and surveyed the room for a place to hide the letter. From the corner of his eye he saw the statuette of Kali the Destroyer sitting on the mantel, giving him an idea. He stuck the paper to the underside of Kali and set the statuette back on the mantel, ensuring that the note couldn't be seen by Jack. The only thing left to do was point Evie in the right direction.

Still bleeding and getting dizzier by the minute, he staggered into the front room and grabbed a spike from the tool crate sitting by the front door. He limped towards the back room again, this time moving towards the bookshelf over his bed. Sitting between two dusty volumes sat a photograph that Jacob hadn't laid eyes on in years.

Though taken nearly fifteen years ago, he still remembered the day well. After a long day of training, Evie took Jacob to see the Temple of Kali and, seeing how entranced he was by her intimidating form, had the statuette made to commemorate the trip. While they stood admiring the Temple, one of the Indian brothers snapped the photograph. Jacob looked more closely at the figures in the picture and almost smiled when he looked at his sister's hooded figure. Henry stood between them, his face - like hers - shrouded by a hood. In front of him stood a much younger Jack, only just a boy then, still young and impressionable. Nothing like the monster that hunted Jacob tonight.

A knot formed deep in his stomach as he yearned for the days where he and his sister roamed the city together, only one Templar Grandmaster in the way of a liberated London. Those were simpler times. But he didn't have time to dwell on that for long. Hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he didn't need to use his Vision to tell that Jack was drawing nearer.

He took the spike and drove it through the picture and into the wall harder than was necessary, releasing a yell of frustration that had been building inside him for months now and shook the walls.

Satisfied that Evie would be able to follow his clues, he hobbled back to the desk, his hand clutching his side again, and collected the rest of the papers quickly, smearing fresh swaths of blood along the edges of the documents. In his adrenaline-fueled haste he was so focused on the task at hand that he didn't hear the soft clicking of the lock to his front door as it was picked open. He turned to leave as a chilling voice behind him sent shivers up his spine.

"Going somewhere, Jacob?" His stomach dropped. It was too late. The towering masked figure of Jack the Ripper stood in the doorway, blocking Jacob's only way out.

"Jack," Jacob pleaded. "You're sick." Jack looked down at the jagged knife in his hand, moonlight from the window glinting off the steel blade. He adjusted his grip and approached Jacob with purposeful deliberation, backing the Assassin against the desk. If I could only get to the door, he thought, dropping the papers to the floor. With two small shinks, Jacob released his blades in anticipation.

Jack lunged at him, slashing left and right. Jacob twisted out of the way of the first two blows that would've otherwise been fatal, but the third sliced him across his upper arm sending a searing pain into his shoulder. The strike forced Jacob backwards, knocking him into a chair, toppling it over. He regained his footing as Jack came at him again. Ignoring the mounting pain, he dodged and parried attacks in quick succession. He swung his own blades around, wildly missing their mark.

The Ripper evaded all his attacks with ease and replied in kind by slashing across Jacob's abdomen again. His coat took the brunt of the damage, saving him from spilling his guts on the floor, but this fresh wound still stung and his situation was quickly becoming more dire. He needed to end this quickly.

But Jack was relentless, coming at him again and again: slashing, hacking, slicing at Jacob with unceasing determination. He elbowed Jacob in the face, sending blood spraying across the floor and Jacob stumbling backwards. Jack saw his opportunity and beat down on him again and again, finally knocking him to the ground. Jacob cried out as he scurried backwards, his arm clutching his abdomen as blood poured out his multiple wounds. He backed into the entryway table, knocking a candelabra to the floor beside him.

Jack towered over the wounded man. "Don't you see the irony, brother?"

"Jack," Jacob begged. He raised his hands to surrender as the looming figure inched closer.

"Only you know who the Ripper is, but you can't tell a living soul because it would destroy you and the Assassins," Jack taunted, kneeling inches from his face now.

Jacob swallowed hard. His heart raced. This was it. Jack had him cornered and he was too exhausted to fight back. He'd tried to reason, tried to fight, tried to run. Now it was all up to Evie.

From the corner of his eye he saw a pistol sitting on the bookshelf across the room and a small glimmer of hope was restored. He grabbed the candelabra next to him and smashed it against Jack's head, sending Jack tumbling backwards in a howl of rage.

"No, no, no, NO!" Jack shouted. Jacob clambered for the gun, but before he could get completely on his feet his suitcase struck the back of his head. He collapsed to the floor in a daze and rolled over just as Jack leapt on top of him, pinning him helplessly to the floor. Jack held the Assassin down by his throat, knife raised above his head.

"Jack," Jacob choked through the grip around his neck, pleading one last time. He scrambled to come up with one last plea. "We can fix you." The Ripper tightened his grip. "Fix ME?" he shouted back at the powerless man beneath him. "I am the solution!"

Jacob's eyes widened as Jack plunged the knife down at his head. Jacob turned his head away instinctively as the knife sliced across his eye. A searing pain erupted across his face. Hot blood poured from the wound and pooled beneath his head. His agonizing scream echoed throughout the room, cut short by a small crack as Jack slammed his head against the floor, and his mind plunged into darkness.