Chapter 3

A knocking at her door woke her up the next morning. Her head rose drowsily from her pillow and it took her a few moments to realize what was going on. Looking down at herself, she realized she had slept in her clothes and Edward Hyde's coat was still wrapped around her body. She swung her legs over the bed and shrugged off the heavy black coat, letting it fall to the floor beside her bed as she hurried to open the door.

A young man stood in the hallway with a knit cap and winter coat.

"Jareth? What are you doing here?" Jareth lived one floor beneath her; he was a nice man, and Lilly considered him a friend, but that didn't explain why he was knocking on her door this early in the morning. He sold newspapers on the street and by all rights that is where he should be at the moment.

"Look at this." he said urgently holding up a newspaper. The headline read, Double Murder Has Scotland Yard Baffled! Lilly took the paper from Jareth's hand and read it over quickly. The picture on the front page was that same crime she had seen the night before. According to the article, the victim had been a high ranking city official; a governor on the board at St. Jude's Hospital. The article stated that this was the second board member to be found slain, only two days after the first.

"They say the bloke's head was split right down the middle." said Jareth, with a somber tone to his voice. Lilly shuddered at his words. She remembered the sight of all the blood only too well.

"Poor chap, bloody shame." she said trying her best to cover up her uneasiness as she folded the newspaper and handed it back to him.

"Scotland Yard says it's a madman what done it. Of course, they don't know for sure, they don't have any clues or even witnesses."

"But, why are you showing me this, Jareth?" She was growing impatient. The last thing she wanted to do was discuss what she had seen last night. All she wanted was to retreat back to bed.

Jareth's face remained dark and he looked at her quite seriously. She had never seen his face set in such an expression of concern. "Lilly, I know you've been coming home late in the evenings; I can hear you come in as you pass by my door. I'm worried about you; all alone at night walking in the dark all the way from London Square? It isn't safe anymore. It never was safe to begin with and now with this madman on the loose, you've got to be crazy."

"I read the papers everyday and I've been watching this story from the beginning and every day it gets grander and more dangerous. He has Scotland Yard running scared and…" He trailed off and he looked at her quite hard.

It was clear that he was waiting for her to agree with him and promise to come home at a reasonable time and to admit how frightened and dreadful it all was. But, Lilly simply matched the intensity of his gaze and assured him that she was quite aware of the risks. Then, she excused herself stating that she had to prepare for work, and closed the door leaving him in the hallway.

As the door closed, she let some of her composure fall away; yet, she was still quite calm . . . calmer than she had any right to be. She could still see the crime scene in her mind, the crowd of panicked on-lookers, and the blood! There'd been so much blood! The picture in the paper didn't even begin to cover it. And, of course, there had been him.

She walked to the window of her tiny, one room flat and opened it, letting the cool morning air in. She looked out over the roof tops with their washing lines hung with white linens and in the distance, the factory pipes had already begun to release clouds of black smoke in neat, round puffs.

A brisk wind rustled against her form and she retrieved Hyde's coat and pulled it tightly around her. A scent rose up from the deep velvet fabric and caressed her nose like a gentle finger. A smell that soothing and pleasing should not be connected with such a man; yet, there it was. He was a murderer and one that apparently took great pride in the atrocities he committed. Why else would he have stayed so close by and risked being caught? But, he had seemed so composed and calm. Then again, Lilly had never known any madmen and had to assume that not all of them must be raving lunatics or else Scotland Yard would never have a problem spotting them.

No, he seemed to know exactly what he was doing, but she couldn't understand why she should be shown such favor with him. Ever since she had bumped into him on the street, he seemed to be everywhere. Every encounter seemed to be some sort of trial for which she was rewarded. Each meeting had a vague pattern. He would surprise her, then he would threaten her in some horrible way or insult her. If she managed to not run or scream or if she showed a bit of courage, he would become almost friendly and give her something - the coins, the cloak, even her own life.

He was like some strange John, the kind that would pay handsomely to have his sick fantasies and desires acted out for him. It was the only way she could think of to describe it, but it put her in a very dangerous position. She could let this game go on and enjoy the benefits of it, but did that make her any better than a common whore? What would happen if she decided to stop playing? The thought made her shiver as she thought of Jareth hawking newspapers with her body on the front page, covered in a sheet. He was too dangerous to resist and there didn't seem to be any way out.

The church bells struck the hour and Lilly closed the window with resolve. She would have to get to work soon or all the decent flowers would be gone. She readied herself for the day, trying to put her hair up using an old tarnished mirror. Her hands shook and it took several deep breaths to keep them steady enough to affix the pins. She just had to think that, no matter what, Scotland Yard was at this moment tracking him down and had been for quite some time. They must be getting close by now; they might even be closing in to make an arrest soon. If she could just hold out until then and pacify him, play his game and prove that she was too amusing and useful to kill, she would be alright. But, what about all the others?

She tried to push that from her mind quickly. Finishing her hair, she grabbed her basket and set out to the flower district, wearing her new coat.