Chapter 13

Emily's POV…

When Mr. Utterson first started to speak his voice shook. Not one word seemed to be laced together but separate somehow. He was scared of what he knew. It made me wonder if he had seen the same transformation that I had seen, and yet as I looked at him, I somehow knew that he had not. He looked at me as if still unsure whether to trust me or not, but his choices were small even I could see that.

"Henry Jekyll and I have known each other a great long while. He was a brilliant doctor, absolutely ahead of his time, but that was also his downfall" whispered Utterson a haunted look coming to his face.

"Henry began secret experiments, ones beyond what man was meant to know, and from this sprang the visage of Edward Hyde. One day he was simply there and whenever he was, my friend Henry seemed to disappear, and in that I know very little. It wasn't until a few days ago that Henry sent me a letter asking me to come to him" said Utterson, always looking at me as he continued his story. I was growing quite bored of it as he went on.

My reason for listening to him at all had nothing to do with Henry Jekyll. The man was a lunatic who had frightened me more then Edward ever had.

"What was in this letter, sir, and what have I to do with it. I had nothing to do with Dr. Jekyll and I've severed all ties with Edward Hyde. I have no idea as to the location of either of them" I exclaimed the words hot as they went from my lips to the air around us. My words seemed to make him speechless. To stall his whole reason for having me there, but then he was reaching into his coat. He removed two folded letters that were thick with some sort of knowledge that I did not yet possess. I immediately knew that they were my reason for being there as my eyes settled on them my heart seeming to stop of its own accord.

"Henry explained everything in his letter. Everything about his experiments and his success that led to the creation of Edward Hyde. He told me all of it and in his letter, he included not just his will, but the will of Edward Hyde. In bringing you here, I am following those documents to the letter…and you are in both documents" whispered Utterson laying each document along with the letter before us as he spoke.

"The letter I'm going to read to you was written by Edward Hyde. I found it pinned to the door of Jekyll's lab and inside were the makings of what I can only guess were what created the man in the first place" whispered Utterson, looking away from me and at the words before him. I found myself at the edge of my seat then as I knew that anything from Edward had to be for me. I needed to know what he had said, so much so that as I leaned forward, I was tempted to snatch the letter from his hands to read it myself. Utterson was reading it before I could move to do so and the second, I heard my name in the opening line, I knew there was no way I could move until he had brought it to a close, and the more he read the more I felt as my heart started to pound.

Emily,

When last we saw each other, you asked me how we could ever be together while Jekyll and I were one in the same, and I must admit the question has no answer as I write this. Protecting you from Jekyll is as you spoke it, I would be protecting you from myself, and so I find I must find the answer to this question that could in the end leave us forever separated. Somehow, I will make it possible for the two of us to be separated, and after I will come back to you. Only then can we be together. I won't make you any promises, but simply tell you what I've gone off to achieve.

Yours, always

Edward Hyde

Utterson remained quiet for a long time then and as he did it was welcome.

"What does he mean by any of it?" I thought, the single thought seeming to smack me in the center of the head. How could Edward even begin to separate himself from Jekyll? It was impossible. To destroy Jekyll would be to destroy himself, surely, he had to know that, but then I knew that Edward was in love with me. And in that love, he was willing to sacrifice his own existence. I knew that was what this was even as I looked at this man hopelessly asking the same question, I had let take shape in my mind. Edward, it seemed, had lost his mind. That or he had fallen under the cusp of Jekyll's own delusions for what he posed was truly an impossibility and yet as I stared back at Utterson, I didn't falter in my defense of that man even as I didn't understand his actions.

"Edward Hyde has gone away, and I suspect, he's taken an unwilling Henry with him, and I don't try to think about where or what might be in store for them" said Utterson it was the only accusation he ever came close to.

"I can't begin to know where they are or what Edward is doing. I didn't know about any of this until just now" I whispered finding they were the only words that would leave my mouth as my throat seemed to be suddenly dry.

"Yes, well, you are the one left here for me to read the contents of my friends will, so I presume to think that you know more then I do" said Utterson picking up more of the papers that he had retrieved from his pocket.

"I just told you I don't know anything, so please, let us continue with whatever this is" I exclaimed in that moment finding that my patience had truly been used up by him. Our minds can change quickly though, especially mine, and especially when Edward Hyde was involved.

"Henry leaves everything he had, everything he knew about his magic concerning Hyde to Hyde himself, but in this situation, Hyde is also gone, so we must look to his will. In it, Mr. Hyde leaves his apartment and everything that he owned solely to you. This means that both men's possessions, both monetary and of property value go to you. You are a very wealthy woman now" whispered Utterson, there was a stillness in his voice that startled me as I stared at him.

"What did you mean when you said I was in both wills" I whispered my eyes on the papers that lay in front of him.

For the first time, I was the one who had caught him off guard. Utterson seemed to become visibly pale his eyes receding downward. He was unwilling to answer as his eyes bounced from me to the papers then back again until his eyes stilled on me altogether.

"Henry recently added a clause in his will that is immediately voided based on the situation at hand" whispered Utterson as if that were supposed to end any discussion of it, but I knew it couldn't be the end.

"What was it?" I exclaimed the tone of my voice rising leaving no room for him to object. The question made him uncomfortable, I could see it, but I didn't have the luck of living without ever knowing what Jekyll had tried to do.

"Speak up, Mr. Utterson, whatever you're attempting to hide, I know it must be something meant to hurt me and Edward Hyde" I whispered my eyes seeming to narrow on him.

"He put a clause in his will that said that if Edward Hyde attempted to keep seeing you after his death that he would inherit nothing. In that event, he was prepared to give it all to the church" whispered Utterson, I wanted to be surprised by his words, but in truth it was what I had expected of Jekyll. I rose as if to leave unsure of what to do with my new wealth when Utterson continued to speak.

"Your new wealth will do you good, I suppose, especially in your present condition" said Utterson moving to open the door for me, but my hand closed it just as quickly.

"What condition…what are you talking about?" I exclaimed suddenly trying to breathe.

"Ms. Tyler, you are with child" said Utterson and this time, my shock made me completely black out.