Ok, this fic is set in 1888, the year of the Ripper.
The people on it are Jean, Scott, Rogue, the Prof., Logan, Kitty, Storm, Evan, B'Hood boys (Lance, Toad, Blob, Pietro) and…..Duncan, lol
The Autumn of Terror
By: ME I TELLS YA!!!! MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!
Lady Marrienne tittered behind her fan, which was very inappropriate for her dress, "I mean, really! Could you imagine! She had her throat slit! The poor thing, an unfortunate already, only to be butchered in such a way-"
"Marrienne, please! I've been having such a delightful time, I do not need to hear such things! They're not for a lady's ears, even if it's the talk of the ton."
Marrienne looked at her out of the corner of her eye, "Alright then, shall we talk of that handsome young Lord that keeps sending looks your way?"
She looked around before catching and composing herself, "Oh? I hadn't known he had arrived already-"
"Already? Darling, Lord Duncan of Errol has been here all evening! My…does that mean…oh dear, you must tell me! Who is it you fancy? That dashing young Lord Corwin? Or perhaps the dangerous rake Lord Mallory?"
She shook her head, "No one, I swear it! I just…didn't remember that Lord Duncan was here already, just a small slight, it is rather late you know-"
The room hushed for a moment, then went back to its murmured roar. Bits and pieces of many conversations could be heard from where the two women were standing, enjoying one of their first adult parties.
"…such a scandal! Both parents dead…"
"…a sailor! Really! Must be the mother's influence…"
"…the highest marks, I'm telling you! A relative genius…"
"…where did he get them, red spectacles, could you imagine!? I'm betting they're from the orient…look at the design!"
She blinked, only catching the last of what her companion had said…yes, those glasses were quite odd, but…they suited him.
"Yes, perhaps…but…they don't look bad on him, I believe that's all that matters."
Marrienne nodded, then smiled softly, "D'you think he'll talk to me? I know…I'm only the daughter of an Earl, but it's still rather high for him! Only a Baron, quite a waste really."
She smiled as well as she saw his brown/red head moving through the crowd, "If he has any taste, he will, Marri."
She giggled, then sighed looking at her companion, "Yes, I'm sure, especially standing to such a raving beauty! My brother still talks about you. It's rather annoying hearing such things from a fourteen-year old."
She rolled her eyes, thinking of young Andrew and his silly crush, "Well-"
"Good Evening, Ladies."
They both jumped and looked to their right, Marrienne coming to herself first, "Oh! Lord Tenwhestle, how good it is to see you again."
He smiled, glad that his glasses hid that his eyes were for only one girl there, "Hello to you too, Lady. And you as well…I believe I've forgotten your name, do forgive me."
She almost rolled her eyes…this sort of setting was not to her liking at all, what she wouldn't give to be back home right no in bed with a good book, "We only met last week, but yes, I shall forgive you. Lady Jean Greyson."
She held out her hand, which he promptly kissed, "Well, I must say it is an honor to be in your presence once again."
Marrienne almost laughed, not in the least bit bitter. Most of the men who look once at Jean and never at her again are only interested in her beauty…but this one, quite the genuine catch, but still…only a Baron.
Jean gave the barest hint of a smile, "And I as well, Lord-"
"Please, do call me Scott, my mother gave me it and I don't think it's a horrible name."
She laughed, which caught the attention of a Lord who had kept his eye on her from afar, "If you wish, Lord Scott-"
"My Lady, may I have this dance? Your card is not full, is it already?"
She rolled her eyes upward before turning towards Duncan, "No, it is not. And I'd be happy to dance."
Scott looked almost crushed as the heir to the Marquis of Haverston led her off to the floor. Marrienne, who he had met a few weeks before, patted his arm softly, "Don't feel bad, she isn't too fond of him."
Scott turned to her with a smirk and swept her off to the dance floor without asking, "I'm sure she's not, especially with that bloody twit of all people."
Marrienne tittered again, her fan long since lost, "Oh yes, I do know. But that title he has coming his way, quite the catch…"
Scott frowned as he saw the red head weave in and out of the crowd…always the damn titles….
Scott was just getting into his carriage when he heard from a ways off, "Scott!"
He turned around, motioning for his driver to wait, before spotting his favorite teacher, then going over to him, "Hello, Professor Xavier! What are you doing here? I thought you hated parties."
The Professor nodded with a smile, "Yes, I do, I just came to see how you were doing. I do only live next door."
Scott laughed, "Yes, I almost forgot, the humble Oxford Professor really an Earl. Not too many people actually believe that."
The Professor chuckled softly, "Yes, I know, perhaps it is because I forbid anyone to address me so…but Scott, how has everything been going…no accidents?"
Scott shook his head, "No, not at all. This new pair is really rather perfect. I still must sleep with a compress on, but other than that, there have been no problems. And how are you?"
The Professor didn't miss his rather quick change of subject, but allowed it, "Everything is quite alright. Evan has come along quite nicely with his studies. I know I can't do much for them, but a good education-"
The woman who the Professor has push him around laughed and patted his shoulder, "Professor, you have done more for us by setting us free than anything else."
Scott smiled at the statuesque white-haired African woman, "So sorry for ignoring you, Ororo, how is everything?"
Ororo never found being addressed by a Lord humbling, being a princess herself must be the reason, "Everything is fine. Well, everything that can be fine with trying to raise a fifteen-year old boy."
Scott nodded at the mention of her nephew, "And…how is he?"
Ororo smiled, knowing exactly what he was talking about, "We've been coaching him through this. He's getting much better at controlling it."
Scott's driver made an impatient noise and he sighed, "Well, I must be off, business to attend to tomorrow, give him a hello for me, will you?"
The Professor and Ororo waved him good-bye before she wheeled him around back to his own home, where the laughter of all the freed slaves that he employed could be heard from outside. Ororo and Evan were the only…special ones he had happened upon.
As Manny, the only English servant attended to him as he prepared for bed left after his duties, Xavier stopped Ororo as she walked in front of his room, "Ororo?"
She opened the closed door to his room, she was already used to him knowing when she was near, "Yes, Professor?"
"I felt something tonight. There is a new one, close, they seem to already know what they are, but are holding it in."
She nodded, "I will put the word out, I shall know if anything…odd happens, we will find them, Professor."
"And the murders-"
"Yes! I shall get all the information for you, now get to bed!"
He nodded with a smile and settled back down against the pillows, hearing the door click in the dark.
She stumbled a bit as the three men who shoved her out of the pub laughed at the 'stupid boy who don't know nothin'. She rolled her eyes…can't even tell a boy from a girl, and it wasn't even like her disguise was all that clever!
She pulled the cap down more over her red and white hair as she walked the dark back streets of Whitechapel. The three jackets she wore hid her young body from the lustful eyes of the scum that inhabited the streets at night, the baggy trousers hiding her shapely legs and bottom. The boots, were of a manly design, which she preferred actually.
She crossed her arms as she tried to think of a place to sleep. The Church wasn't open for a few more weeks after that bloody fire the Hood Boys had set because the priest wouldn't let them drink the holy water.
She shook her head, her green eyes catching the light, becoming almost emerald. She really needed to decide, Scotland…England…or France? She could find work easy in all places…but here was the most profitable, and the most dangerous.
She stepped over a passed out drunk, then whatever he had thrown up on the way down, heading who knew where. Perhaps the Marleys were feeling guilty for all their sins and would be willing to give her shelter for the night…or she could just rent a room, but she didn't feel like spending the money.
She was walking in front of another of the many pubs in Whitechapel when three men fell out practically, blocking her way. She rolled her eyes, moving to walk past them when one of them, in his drunken state, let one of his sicker pleasures known to his two friends, who wouldn't remember it a'tall in the morning, "Would you look a' that? Qui'e the piece you are, laddie. Care to sit on Daddy's lap?"
She narrowed her eyes and tried to move past him again, but he stepped in her way, "Come now, sweets. You'll like it I promise."
Rogue slipped off one of her gloves and barely touched his bare chest, but he went down just the same. She felt a smidgen woozy from the alcohol in his body, but thanks to her practicing, she could just take him down for a few moments, plenty of time to disappear while his tow friends bitched and whined over his still form.
She slipped into the nearest alleyway and kept moving. She was just out of range so she could rest a bit when something red caught her eye, and she turned to look in one of the smaller, back ways.
She walked in, not the least bit scared of who was in the shadows, and walked only for a moment or two when the ground started to feel sticky, and her oversized shoes were getting a bit hard to pull off the ground, not to mention there was something rather foul down there too. She stepped into the circle of light from a hanging lamp, and gasped as the entire bottom of her shoes were crimson. She looked around, and gave a soft scream as she saw the body.
Her mind couldn't make sense out of anything other than raw red meat, before turning her head away too fast, her cap flying off, revealing what she was.
It was too much for him to refuse.
He grabbed her from behind, and held the knife to her neck.
He was seconds from plunging the knife into her body when she reached behind her and briefly touched his face, then wrenching free. The visions of meat and blood screaming in her head as she ran away, before collapsing…in front of two very confused Bobbies.
Ok…..what you think? It's gonna be sick…twisted…with some humor and romance…good? Bad? TELL ME!!!!!!! ^_^
