I'm back, with the second chapter! As if you hadn't already guessed. Thanks for the reviews!
Black River Witch, I'm glad you liked it!
Sara, thank you for the ideas. I havent decided about her mother yet. Got to read the book first, wich I haven't done. Shame on me!
Graymoon74, I agree, on both. I hate my own spelling mistakes, and try to be as accurate as I can, but English is not my native language (I'm norwegian), and I tend not to see them. I'm not making excuses. It's a fact. I have to get better checking on the words I'm not sure on. I have my dictionary beside me on my desk, an I will make better use of it.
I hope this part is as good as you hope for.
The sun crept over the bedroom floor, and rested on Jacquelines face. She squinted and turned over, but to no use.
"It's summer, it should rain. At least be foggy," she mumbeled and rolled out of bed. She got dressed, and went downstairs, to the mainroom. Only then she remembered what day it was.
"Oh..." It was a year scince she had awoken, shivering and covered in sweat, knowing that her father, Dorian Gray, was dead. After that, she stayed in the house, waiting, not for him, but for someone to confirm what she already knew. It had allways semmed impossible, that Dorian Gray, the immortal, would die. Mabye that was the reason why he said that... 'untill you know I won't come back...' because he felt something, a hint, about his death. Jacqueline shook her head. No, he couldn't be dead. It was some other feeling she had that morning. He would come back, would he not? She lit a candle on the table, and went downstairs, past the blank spot on the wall, and down to the kitchen to get brekfast. She sat in silence, not eating much, but thinking. She searched her mind after memories, mainly about her father. The incident in the main-room, now a year ago, her seventh birthday, when he gave her 'Romeo and Juliet', how he teached her to read when she was two. Things and memories she hadn't thought of in years, stood before her inner eye. Suddenly, the feeling of inner peace was replaced with a sense of danger. She didn't feel alone. Acctually she never felt alone in the house, but now she felt not alone in the wrong way. Someone was in the building with her. She called that sort of people intruders. Or dead, if they didn't run fast enough. The burglar two years ago didn't. When Dorian awoke, the man had no chance.
Jacqueline wasted no more time dwelling in the past, and hurried up the stairs. She briefly touched the space of Dorians portrait, and continued. She stopped outside the mainroom, listening. All she could hear was someone speaking, she heard only the voices, not the words. I hate intruders. The thougth flew through her head, and she opened the door. The woices silented, but she didn't hesitate, and walked into the room. It was empty. Jacqueline slowly turned in the middle of the room, suspicious. The house wasn't haunted, she knew that. Woices didn't come from nowhere, not in the Gray-home. She stopped turning, and stood there, in thoughts. Could she be craving company to the extent that she started to hear voices? Was she losing her mind? A movement behind her made her turn, and suddenly the world turned black.
"Nemo, are we sure she still lives here?" Mina stood outside the home of Dorian Gray, eyeing the building carefully.
"She could have moved for all we know." The 'she' Mina was talking about were a girl named Jacqueline, a girl mentioned in some of Moriarty's papers, papers that Skinner found a week ago. They mentioned a girl, working as a householder for Dorian, a girl he adopted. Mina knew they would visit the girl even before they voted over it.
"This is, by any means, the best place to start, Mina. We can find hints to her whereabouts."
"She still lives her, mister an miss 'the glass is half-empty'. She's waiting for him." Skinner walked past Mina and Nemo, and lead way into the house. They walked in silence, and none of them looked at the empty space on the wall, but they could all see the portrait. Mina had showed it to them when she told them about Dorian's death. Mina stopped.
"There's someone upstairs. Probably intruders." Jekyll looked up.
"What are we going to do?" He wasn't prepared for battle, he had none of his vials with him.
"We'll introduce ourselves as friendes of Dorian. It's not that far of. If they attack, we'll do the same." Skinner looked at Mina.
"Friends of Dorian? How low are we going to sink? We're not going to steal something from a child, are we?" Mina sendt Skinner a look that would kill before she went on.
"Lets go. Jekyll, if you didn't bring your potion, Skinner will fight with you." Ignoring the protests from them both, the rest of the group ventured into the room. The intruders froze. The leader, a hautingly beautiful woman, looked up.
"Who are you?"
"Friends of Dorian Gray. I cannot recall ever to have seen you here, miss." Mina smiled at the womans confusion. A man, big, muscular and soldier-like tapped the woman on the shoulder.
"She's gone, Miss. I think I hit her to hard in the head." Sawyer took a closer look behind the man, and saw a girl, dressed in boys-clothes. She sure looked unconscious. The woman stared at the man.
"Now, you big ape, we will have to fight them." Skinner smiled as the man realized what he had said. Then the man smiled.
"I like fights." Skinner couldn't help it.
"That's because you're stupid." Sawyer laughed at that. He knew the trick, get them mad enough to do a mistake. He had done it before, and seen it before. It didn't work this time.
"What, are your head too thick for you too understand?" That worked, and the man charged at Skinner, howling.
"Ooops..." Skinner dropped his hat and coat, and was nowhere to be seen. The fight was a fact.
Mina found herself defending the girl. She, the girl, not Mina, looked a bit like Dorian. She had the same colour on her hair, and possibly the same eyecolour, but that could not be found out before she woke up. The soldiers were badly trained, but their viciousness made up to that. If Hyde had been there, the Leauge would've won already, but Hyde wasn't here, and Jekyll had trouble avoiding the blows at him as it were. Skinner attacked the soldiers that attacked Jekyll. Nemo just fought to take the foes out. Sawyer couldn't get a clear shot, so he started to hit people with his gun. They were all realizing, in one way or another, that they were losing.
Her head hurt. As she opened her eyes, she saw the woman, Mina, defending her. Jacqueline could'nt remember to have seen her I about a year. She rolled over, and rose from the floor. Her head wasn't too good, and the world seemed a bit unstable, but other than that she felt fine. At that moment, Tom gave up upon hitting people, and found his two pistols. He looked straight at Jacqueline and Mina.
"Down!" They dropped to the floor, and he fired at the soldiers around them, which fell as flies. Mina grabbed Jacquelines arm.
"I have an idea." Mina looked at the lit candle, standing next to a bookcase. The girl nodded.
"Okay." Maina stood up, and bats surrounded her. They flew at the candle, and tipped it at the books. The books were dry, and they quickly caught fire. Smoke spread in the room, and the fight was forgotten. Both soldiers and Leauge-members ran outside. The Leauge continued to run.
They didn't stop until they were by the dock Nautilus laid by. They were all coughing, and breathing heavily fro the running. Skinner tuned around, although no one could see it, and looked at the sky, coloured red from the fire.
"I hate fire. Why did you start it, Mina?" Mina looked up.
"Because we were loosing. We were-"
"Hip-deep in trouble?" The suggestion came from Jacqueline. Tom turned to her.
"How come you followed us? Don't you live there?" Jacqueline smiled.
"Not anymore. Besides, I think our brutal little friends stopped outside." She started to cough again. Jekyll looked at her, worried.
"Are you allright? I can help you." She smiled.
"I am fine, thank you. I'll be better in a few minutes."
"That still doesn't explain why you followed us."
"I knew you. I read the files Dorian got from M about you. And when you wake up in the middle of a fight, and someone stands in front of you, defending you, it doesn't take much thinking to guess which team you join." Tom looked at the others. He saw just as much confusion in their faces, so he decided to ask, but Nemo asked first.
"You know who we are, because you read our files?"
"Yes. Captain Nemo, a brilliant scientist. You built the Nautilus. Rodney Skinner, an invisible thief."
"Gentlemansthief."
"I doubt your victims feel the same way. Wilhelmina Harker, born Murray, a scientist and a vampire. Henry Jekyll, the man with two personalitites, doctor, altso known as Edward Hyde, a good fighter, albeit a brute at times. No offense. The last member of the League, special-agent Sawyer, from America. Don't know much about you. But you were not expected." She smiled again. Then she looked at them, one at the time.
"You're one man short."
"Quartermain died."
"I am truly sorry to hear that. The loss must have been hard." Tom didn't answer. Nor did the rest of them. After a short silence, Tom lifted his head.
"Is it normal that a maid reads her employers papers?"
"To be his maid was nothing more than my cover. That way, and people didn't wonder or ask questions. I am Jacqueline Gray, Dorian Gray's illegimate daughter. You can call me Jack." Nemo looked at her.
"That's impossible."
"I find Jacqueline a long name, at times."
"No, I mean that you are his daughter. It would have been mentioned somewhere, someone would have known."
"And that is why he spread the rumor that I was his maid. So no one would know."
"It's logical. He didn't want anyone to know that he had a child. He was ashamed."
"I do not know how my father felt on that point, Sawyer. I know that he did not feel that it was safe for me, or for him, to live together without an explanation."
"See your point." At this point, Skinner could hear sirens.
"It's not that I want to hurry or something, but we should get going." Nemo nodded.
"Agreed. Let's go." Mina looked at Jacqueline.
"We should bring the girl. It seems that she has nowhere to go, and it's partly our fault." Skinner raised an eyebrow, though, of obvious reasons, no one discovered.
"Our fault? How could this be our fault?"
"We burned her home down."
"The key-word here is you, Mina."
"Skinner. The girl is Dorians daugther." Tom looked up, and the realization was written all over his face. The rest of the Leauge understood too, but they stayed silent, all of them. Jack stood with her back to them, not showing any sign of hearing this. She stared at the water. Her voice was unnaturally flat when she spoke.
"Is that your transportation?" Mina smiled.
"Our transportation, if you are willing to join us." The smiled that spread over the girls face made them realize that they had never seen her smile before, not a real smile. For a brief moment, her eyes, som much like Dorians, sparkeled with life and joy, her face looked the age it was supposed to, and she seemed to forget the world and her problems. But only for a moment. She stared at the water again, her face hardening and her eyes growing colder. Tom spoke before he realized what he said.
"You're afraid of water!"
"I'm not afraid of it. I'm terrified of it. This will doubtless be an... intresting experience." Skinner grinned, glad no one could see. Intresting indeed. Nemo frowned, and the others looked at eachother. Scared of water? That would be a challenge.
"Let us go aboard my Lady. We can talk later." Jacqueline didn't show any emotions as they walked onboard the Nautilus, but if somebody had looked close, too close than a normal person could manage, they would've seen a cold smile on her lips. She felt that life was finally beginning for her. Finally.
Black River Witch, I'm glad you liked it!
Sara, thank you for the ideas. I havent decided about her mother yet. Got to read the book first, wich I haven't done. Shame on me!
Graymoon74, I agree, on both. I hate my own spelling mistakes, and try to be as accurate as I can, but English is not my native language (I'm norwegian), and I tend not to see them. I'm not making excuses. It's a fact. I have to get better checking on the words I'm not sure on. I have my dictionary beside me on my desk, an I will make better use of it.
I hope this part is as good as you hope for.
The sun crept over the bedroom floor, and rested on Jacquelines face. She squinted and turned over, but to no use.
"It's summer, it should rain. At least be foggy," she mumbeled and rolled out of bed. She got dressed, and went downstairs, to the mainroom. Only then she remembered what day it was.
"Oh..." It was a year scince she had awoken, shivering and covered in sweat, knowing that her father, Dorian Gray, was dead. After that, she stayed in the house, waiting, not for him, but for someone to confirm what she already knew. It had allways semmed impossible, that Dorian Gray, the immortal, would die. Mabye that was the reason why he said that... 'untill you know I won't come back...' because he felt something, a hint, about his death. Jacqueline shook her head. No, he couldn't be dead. It was some other feeling she had that morning. He would come back, would he not? She lit a candle on the table, and went downstairs, past the blank spot on the wall, and down to the kitchen to get brekfast. She sat in silence, not eating much, but thinking. She searched her mind after memories, mainly about her father. The incident in the main-room, now a year ago, her seventh birthday, when he gave her 'Romeo and Juliet', how he teached her to read when she was two. Things and memories she hadn't thought of in years, stood before her inner eye. Suddenly, the feeling of inner peace was replaced with a sense of danger. She didn't feel alone. Acctually she never felt alone in the house, but now she felt not alone in the wrong way. Someone was in the building with her. She called that sort of people intruders. Or dead, if they didn't run fast enough. The burglar two years ago didn't. When Dorian awoke, the man had no chance.
Jacqueline wasted no more time dwelling in the past, and hurried up the stairs. She briefly touched the space of Dorians portrait, and continued. She stopped outside the mainroom, listening. All she could hear was someone speaking, she heard only the voices, not the words. I hate intruders. The thougth flew through her head, and she opened the door. The woices silented, but she didn't hesitate, and walked into the room. It was empty. Jacqueline slowly turned in the middle of the room, suspicious. The house wasn't haunted, she knew that. Woices didn't come from nowhere, not in the Gray-home. She stopped turning, and stood there, in thoughts. Could she be craving company to the extent that she started to hear voices? Was she losing her mind? A movement behind her made her turn, and suddenly the world turned black.
"Nemo, are we sure she still lives here?" Mina stood outside the home of Dorian Gray, eyeing the building carefully.
"She could have moved for all we know." The 'she' Mina was talking about were a girl named Jacqueline, a girl mentioned in some of Moriarty's papers, papers that Skinner found a week ago. They mentioned a girl, working as a householder for Dorian, a girl he adopted. Mina knew they would visit the girl even before they voted over it.
"This is, by any means, the best place to start, Mina. We can find hints to her whereabouts."
"She still lives her, mister an miss 'the glass is half-empty'. She's waiting for him." Skinner walked past Mina and Nemo, and lead way into the house. They walked in silence, and none of them looked at the empty space on the wall, but they could all see the portrait. Mina had showed it to them when she told them about Dorian's death. Mina stopped.
"There's someone upstairs. Probably intruders." Jekyll looked up.
"What are we going to do?" He wasn't prepared for battle, he had none of his vials with him.
"We'll introduce ourselves as friendes of Dorian. It's not that far of. If they attack, we'll do the same." Skinner looked at Mina.
"Friends of Dorian? How low are we going to sink? We're not going to steal something from a child, are we?" Mina sendt Skinner a look that would kill before she went on.
"Lets go. Jekyll, if you didn't bring your potion, Skinner will fight with you." Ignoring the protests from them both, the rest of the group ventured into the room. The intruders froze. The leader, a hautingly beautiful woman, looked up.
"Who are you?"
"Friends of Dorian Gray. I cannot recall ever to have seen you here, miss." Mina smiled at the womans confusion. A man, big, muscular and soldier-like tapped the woman on the shoulder.
"She's gone, Miss. I think I hit her to hard in the head." Sawyer took a closer look behind the man, and saw a girl, dressed in boys-clothes. She sure looked unconscious. The woman stared at the man.
"Now, you big ape, we will have to fight them." Skinner smiled as the man realized what he had said. Then the man smiled.
"I like fights." Skinner couldn't help it.
"That's because you're stupid." Sawyer laughed at that. He knew the trick, get them mad enough to do a mistake. He had done it before, and seen it before. It didn't work this time.
"What, are your head too thick for you too understand?" That worked, and the man charged at Skinner, howling.
"Ooops..." Skinner dropped his hat and coat, and was nowhere to be seen. The fight was a fact.
Mina found herself defending the girl. She, the girl, not Mina, looked a bit like Dorian. She had the same colour on her hair, and possibly the same eyecolour, but that could not be found out before she woke up. The soldiers were badly trained, but their viciousness made up to that. If Hyde had been there, the Leauge would've won already, but Hyde wasn't here, and Jekyll had trouble avoiding the blows at him as it were. Skinner attacked the soldiers that attacked Jekyll. Nemo just fought to take the foes out. Sawyer couldn't get a clear shot, so he started to hit people with his gun. They were all realizing, in one way or another, that they were losing.
Her head hurt. As she opened her eyes, she saw the woman, Mina, defending her. Jacqueline could'nt remember to have seen her I about a year. She rolled over, and rose from the floor. Her head wasn't too good, and the world seemed a bit unstable, but other than that she felt fine. At that moment, Tom gave up upon hitting people, and found his two pistols. He looked straight at Jacqueline and Mina.
"Down!" They dropped to the floor, and he fired at the soldiers around them, which fell as flies. Mina grabbed Jacquelines arm.
"I have an idea." Mina looked at the lit candle, standing next to a bookcase. The girl nodded.
"Okay." Maina stood up, and bats surrounded her. They flew at the candle, and tipped it at the books. The books were dry, and they quickly caught fire. Smoke spread in the room, and the fight was forgotten. Both soldiers and Leauge-members ran outside. The Leauge continued to run.
They didn't stop until they were by the dock Nautilus laid by. They were all coughing, and breathing heavily fro the running. Skinner tuned around, although no one could see it, and looked at the sky, coloured red from the fire.
"I hate fire. Why did you start it, Mina?" Mina looked up.
"Because we were loosing. We were-"
"Hip-deep in trouble?" The suggestion came from Jacqueline. Tom turned to her.
"How come you followed us? Don't you live there?" Jacqueline smiled.
"Not anymore. Besides, I think our brutal little friends stopped outside." She started to cough again. Jekyll looked at her, worried.
"Are you allright? I can help you." She smiled.
"I am fine, thank you. I'll be better in a few minutes."
"That still doesn't explain why you followed us."
"I knew you. I read the files Dorian got from M about you. And when you wake up in the middle of a fight, and someone stands in front of you, defending you, it doesn't take much thinking to guess which team you join." Tom looked at the others. He saw just as much confusion in their faces, so he decided to ask, but Nemo asked first.
"You know who we are, because you read our files?"
"Yes. Captain Nemo, a brilliant scientist. You built the Nautilus. Rodney Skinner, an invisible thief."
"Gentlemansthief."
"I doubt your victims feel the same way. Wilhelmina Harker, born Murray, a scientist and a vampire. Henry Jekyll, the man with two personalitites, doctor, altso known as Edward Hyde, a good fighter, albeit a brute at times. No offense. The last member of the League, special-agent Sawyer, from America. Don't know much about you. But you were not expected." She smiled again. Then she looked at them, one at the time.
"You're one man short."
"Quartermain died."
"I am truly sorry to hear that. The loss must have been hard." Tom didn't answer. Nor did the rest of them. After a short silence, Tom lifted his head.
"Is it normal that a maid reads her employers papers?"
"To be his maid was nothing more than my cover. That way, and people didn't wonder or ask questions. I am Jacqueline Gray, Dorian Gray's illegimate daughter. You can call me Jack." Nemo looked at her.
"That's impossible."
"I find Jacqueline a long name, at times."
"No, I mean that you are his daughter. It would have been mentioned somewhere, someone would have known."
"And that is why he spread the rumor that I was his maid. So no one would know."
"It's logical. He didn't want anyone to know that he had a child. He was ashamed."
"I do not know how my father felt on that point, Sawyer. I know that he did not feel that it was safe for me, or for him, to live together without an explanation."
"See your point." At this point, Skinner could hear sirens.
"It's not that I want to hurry or something, but we should get going." Nemo nodded.
"Agreed. Let's go." Mina looked at Jacqueline.
"We should bring the girl. It seems that she has nowhere to go, and it's partly our fault." Skinner raised an eyebrow, though, of obvious reasons, no one discovered.
"Our fault? How could this be our fault?"
"We burned her home down."
"The key-word here is you, Mina."
"Skinner. The girl is Dorians daugther." Tom looked up, and the realization was written all over his face. The rest of the Leauge understood too, but they stayed silent, all of them. Jack stood with her back to them, not showing any sign of hearing this. She stared at the water. Her voice was unnaturally flat when she spoke.
"Is that your transportation?" Mina smiled.
"Our transportation, if you are willing to join us." The smiled that spread over the girls face made them realize that they had never seen her smile before, not a real smile. For a brief moment, her eyes, som much like Dorians, sparkeled with life and joy, her face looked the age it was supposed to, and she seemed to forget the world and her problems. But only for a moment. She stared at the water again, her face hardening and her eyes growing colder. Tom spoke before he realized what he said.
"You're afraid of water!"
"I'm not afraid of it. I'm terrified of it. This will doubtless be an... intresting experience." Skinner grinned, glad no one could see. Intresting indeed. Nemo frowned, and the others looked at eachother. Scared of water? That would be a challenge.
"Let us go aboard my Lady. We can talk later." Jacqueline didn't show any emotions as they walked onboard the Nautilus, but if somebody had looked close, too close than a normal person could manage, they would've seen a cold smile on her lips. She felt that life was finally beginning for her. Finally.