Disclaimer: Read Ch. 1
"At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are, and you know what you want." – Lao Tzu
Ch. 20: The Search
"Henry believed that the experiment could be successful. When the Board declined him, I didn't connect that the recent deaths could correlate with him…or I was in denial and being selfish…I didn't realize he would try to complete the experiment on his own."
Hyde glanced up to see the gobble stone to see Dani walking along the streets. "Street names coming to you," Regina inquired, seeing if Hyde recognized anything. They shook their head then their eyes darted toward something. "What," Regina noticed immediately.
Unsure how the spell or everything in general was supposed to work, Hyde approached the lamp post. "Danielle is blocking out the memory," Hyde pointed out. They then gestured toward the light, "I think I have an idea what memory we landed on but, she's suppressing."
"It's her subconscious," Maura informed as she checked Dani's vitals. "This might be a memory that she doesn't want to remember for a reason."
"What date was the entry?"
"November 16th," Maura looked at the journal page.
Hyde pressed their lips together; it was odd to see Dani and Hyde in the same space somewhat for they looked the same in one aspect but different in another. Hair styles, eyes, body language, and their speech were different and noticeable, but it still took Maura by surprise. Suddenly, her phone vibrated with a text.
Jane: Got them.
Maura listened to her phone until she heard Jane say, "Hey, these blueprints are old. We were able to take some photos but most of the writing has faded."
"Damn it," Regina sighed. "I was hoping that it was preserved better."
"Frost took a scan and hopefully, we can pull some of the street names," Jane retorted.
"Henry, are you insane," Regina heard, prompting Maura, Adam, Nina, and herself to look up at the portal.
Danielle stood across from another figure and Maura recognized it as a laboratory. The room was so dark, leaving only so little light.
"I told you that I was going to do this, Danielle," they heard. A young man stood in front of them with messed up brown hair, his light brown skin was paler, sweating. Maura could tell that this man was in a medical crisis and yet, he was holding himself up. She then noticed the blood on the button shirt, and he continued, "This was the choice I made, and you walked away, remember?"
"Henry, what did you do," Dani questioned, trying to move closer but Henry stepped back causing Hyde to look away. The confidence and smugness that she seen earlier disappeared to and it seemed that Hyde didn't wish to see this.
"The only way to help Father."
"By doing this to yourself?" Danielle gestured toward the lab table covered in vials and beakers.
Henry pushed back his hair and retorted, "You haven't been around."
"Her pulse spiked," Adam announced as Dani's face scrunched a bit then the hand raised up as if trying to reach. Regina touched Dani's hand, giving it a light squeeze and lowered the hand.
Dani's expression softened and shook her head, "There could have been another way."
"There wasn't and, even now, there isn't."
"A cure for their father," Maura took in the words.
"It will…. always be…about Father," Dani mumbled and suddenly the memory shifted abruptly where Hyde did not stand inside the lab but were standing in the middle of a cobblestone street. Hyde glanced up, trying to find a street name, "Kennington or Kensington…at least, what looks like that."
"Streets change," Adam pointed out.
Jane peered at Frost who was looking at old Kennington. "I have two Kennigton lanes," Frost informed then he typed 'Kensington' and sighed, "Well that's a bigger problem."
"What?" She scrunched her eyebrows then noticed the long list of various 'Kensington' roads. "There's more than two Kensington," she commented. She looked around the area they stood with unfamiliar buildings hovered and cars moved on the opposite of the road. "Is there any other identifiable way to locate the mansion."
Maura glanced up at Hyde who shrugged as they watched Dani walk through the faded memory streets. Then they heard an echo; a ringing almost like a gong which prompted the doctor to say aloud, "That was a distinct sound."
"That had to be a church bell right," Regina asked.
"That's a good start for us," Jane commented from the phone. "Frost, let's start looking into churches in the two areas we have."
"Jane, we're being watched," Maura heard Korsak noted to Jane.
Maura can hear, though it's not exactly possible, Jane's change of demeanor. Silence was on one end and the only sound was Dani's pulse beating loudly on the monitor.
"Jane," the detective heard her lover call to her.
"I'm still here, Maura," Jane assured with her gaze still locked toward the distance. Korsak, with his trained military eyes, noticed that one individual had not stopped staring at them from a specific spot. An individual was sitting at a café, sitting behind a newspaper but their sunglass covered eyes were directly toward them and had been that way for the last couple minutes.
"Do we walk over," Frankie inquired, trying not to bring attention toward the observation.
Jane shook her head, "We'll be showing our hand if we do that, and we don't know who that is."
"Or their relationship to this investigation," Korsak added.
"I see you don't listen to rules, young Danielle," a low and deep voice spoke aloud.
It was a voice that Jane didn't know and immediately, she heard loud beeping loudly in succession. "Maura," Jane snapped her attention back to the phone, "what's happening?"
"Who are you and what you have done to my brother?"
Dani's hand gripped tightly on the chair suddenly, prompting Maura to glance over at the blood pressure measurement. "It's getting too high," Maura said to Regina.
"I need to break her from the trance. It's too much," Regina announced.
"No," Hyde commanded. "We need to find the journal." Regina shook her head and Hyde glanced back to see the scalpel that Dani grabbed and pointed toward the intruder. Then, out of nowhere, a longer sharper edge appeared and from the shadows came the face of a bloodied Edward Hyde.
He took his blade and pointed it toward Dani's chest. "I'm not scared of you," Dani mustered.
Edward gave a twisted smile and lowered his sword, "You should be. This is what has become your brother." He then sheathed the sword back into the walking stick. The coat that covered the bloodstains dropped to the ground and Edward laughed as he dropped to the ground.
"Damn it, Henry," Dani mumbled as she gripped the chair.
A new memory formed and immediately, Hyde looked around. "I know this place," they stated, gesturing toward the bridge that they stood on now. "This is the Thames," Hyde pointed out. "Danielle used to walk on this bridge all the time and…there."
"What," Hyde heard Jane asked.
Jane took out a notepad and pen. "What do you see," she questioned, trying to get Hyde to give some sort of lead to follow.
"She forgot about that day," they said.
"What day, Hyde? You need to give me something to go with."
"It's in a graveyard…a funeral is happening."
"Actually, it's two," Maura corrected. "Dani is holding an umbrella to protect another woman. She's weeping on her shoulder as Dani speaks softly to her."
"Can you hear them," Jane inquired.
"No," Hyde spoke, "but, I recognized the woman."
"Who is she?"
"Henry's fiancée' and this funeral is for her father."
Jane gave a confused look, "But why are you seeing two?"
"Jane," she heard and looked at Frankie. He gestured toward the individual who was watching them had stood up, took off their hat as if to greet them or acknowledge that they knew about Jane and the others watching.
She inwardly cussed but heard Hyde, "It's also showing Danielle's father and there's something in her hand; it's a brown leather book."
"Can you see the name?"
"Highgate…"
Jane wrote the name quickly with her eyes darting over to the individual who walked to a lamppost leaning against it. "I don't like the fact that we're being watched," Korsak mumbled.
"As long as they don't read lips, we should be okay."
"Got it," Frost announced. "Highgate Graveyard. It's a drive from where we are."
"But is that where Dani's brother buried," Frankie asked.
"It's somewhere to start," Jane answered. She then returned her attention to see their observer giving a small bow then a car drove by, making him disappear.
"That's not good," Korsak uttered.
Maura disconnected the phone call and looked back at Dani's vitals. "She's stable but a bit of rest for her and Hyde would be good for both of them," she briefed to Regina. The witch touched her lover's forehead, trying to massage out the worried lines that were mixed with angst.
"I shouldn't have let her do this," Regina confessed to Maura. She kissed Dani's forehead then began to run her fingers through Dani's hair. "I could have snapped her out of this trance. To take the hurt away."
"Danielle understood what this could entail," Maura reminded. "I…also believe that she did this out of guilt."
Regina sighed, "For Henry." She then glanced up at Hyde who was pacing back and forth in the other realm. Despite the discontinuation, the group was still able to peer into Dani's mind and connection to Hyde.
Maura approached Hyde, "How are you feeling?"
Hyde stopped moving; red eyes darted toward Maura and a soft sigh was released; they then took a seat on the floor. "All I remember was the fire and the dirt in my hands. There was blood too," Hyde remembered, glancing down at their hands.
"Nothing else," Maura asked.
Hyde closed their eyes and the scene changed. Dani was alone in a room with a chemistry set, her eyes darting over at a leather notebook. "Hopefully with this slight change of Henry's formula, the potence has been reduced and the antidote will be more tolerable," she said to herself. She placed her pen down, "In theory and only in theory until this is applied." She looked over at her Bunsen burner, "No one can stop Edward without knowing the truth about Henry and if anyone knew…" She then turned the Bunsen burner off and grabbed the vile with some tongs and placed it in a small bath of ice to cool it.
Maura took in the sight of the dark green vile and how the color began to change from dark green to a light red color. "The original was a deep red like blood," Hyde informed.
"Almost like a poison."
"For Danielle, it was."
She grabbed the syringe that was on the table and placed the needle into the vial. As the syringe began to take in the liquid, Maura could hear Dani said aloud, "Henry wrote that he injected about six centiliters of the HYD-3, or HY3D, into his arm."
"It's faster to take it through the blood stream," Maura noted. "She knew that if she ingested the formula that the effects wouldn't occur immediately." Dani lifted the syringe and shined it in a light as Dani's pointer tapped the side then it was placed down. A shaky hand grabbed the tourniquet, tightening it on her other arm; her hand gave several squeezes before she injected the formula.
"It's the only way…"
The memory faded and Maura could only hear a piercing, painful cry.
It's like normal driving but, I'm driving on the opposite side, Jane thought. They were driving to Highgate Cemetery, taking roads that sounds like they were from a book about etiquette. If I didn't have to drive around this town for a case, Maura and I could enjoy this place. She would be going to the biggest tourist attractions while Maura would know certain spots that only a person who like her would know. She might drag me to a fancy dinner or two, a stroll, then a nice room and bed with Maura's-
"Jane." The detective turned her head and Frost gave a confused expression, "You okay, partner?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Jane answered sheepishly.
Frost narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Uh huh. Okay…we need to make a right turn soon."
"Got it." She made the turn and as they pulled up to the cemetery, Jane took in the sight. "Definitely different than Boston," Jane stepped out of the car.
"Beautiful architecture," Korsak commented.
Frankie raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you comment on architecture?"
"Kiki is trying to expand my horizons and she thought architecture would be good for me."
"Do you even know what that," Frankie pointed to the building behind him, "even is?"
Korsak looked up at the building, taking in the style of the roof and the windows. "Um Gothic," the older man surmised unsurely.
"That's a no," Frost chortled.
Korsak shook his head and waved his hand to shoo Frankie and Frost away. He then looked back at Jane who was looking around. "Not sure which way to go," Korsak asked.
Jane nodded, "It's a huge place and we are going to pay for admission."
"Luckily, Dani was able to get some money converted for us," Frankie said in a sing-song tone.
Jane turned, "When did she do that?"
Frankie shrugged. He then pulled the money out his wallet and handed it to Jane, "Told me that some of the cemeteries have fees due to historical reasons, tourism, and just randoms."
"One problem solved. Now, we got to figure out which way to go since we have plenty of daylight."
"Split up," Frost suggested.
Korsak nodded, "You and I take one side of the cemetery, Jane and Frankie take another side."
"Then let's go."
Quietly, each detective paid their entrance fee and paid their respects.
Upon going the two directions, they began to look for the Jekyll family grave. Jane and Frankie each took a side of the row but as they were walking through, Jane noticed a figure trying to push pass a couple other guests. This individual looked like the same person from the café and that made Jane a bit hyper aware.
Her eyes took a brief glance at the person whose attention went toward the graves. It prompted Jane to do the same but, she kept her hand near her cell phone, opening the camera to take a couple pictures since the place is a tourist spot. However, she did have ulterior motives.
The design of the grave was focused on different architecture; some even going as far as looking like sarcophagus. Jane took in the sight of each one and noted that some graves didn't have the name, most likely due to erosion. "This is going to take longer than expected," Jane stated to her brother.
Frankie nodded in agreement. "We don't even know if the journal is here," Frankie pointed out. The comment caused Jane to turn to her brother and shush him, "What? Why are you shushing me?" Jane's hand made a small gesture toward the individual whose attention was back on them but upon, Frankie glancing up, the individual looked away quickly. "How long has that been happening," Frankie mumbled.
"For a bit," Jane muttered. "They were at the café and now they are here."
"We're being followed."
"Yeah, but by who?"
Jane glanced down at her phone, "Going to find out right now."
"Damn it, Danielle," Adam huffed, standing up from the sofa. "We cannot get through and her journal cuts off before the fire. It just mentions that she handed Robert Louis Stevenson some exerts of her brother's tale, and she left for Stonehenge. Nothing about hiding the journal."
"This is the only way though especially she locked it away deep in her mind," Regina reminded.
Adam let a frustrated groan and rubbed his temples. "How did we not see all of this," he inquired aloud.
"You thought that Dorian was on our side," Maura pointed out. "He tricked everyone."
"He knew every step of the investigation."
"The question is how long has he been planning this or even why he decided to start this now?"
"Does it matter," Regina commented curtly. Adam stood up and touched her shoulder in comfort. Regina sighed and touched his hand to acknowledge him. "I'm sorry. I just don't like this spell-"
"I get it," Adam assured.
"We all do," Maura agreed. "But I'm confident that she'll be okay."
"Guys, we have a problem," Nina announced. She stepped back from her laptop and approached Adam, handing her phone to him.
He looked down at the phone and scarred eyebrow. Maura looked over his shoulder to see a figure that wasn't familiar; they kept hiding their face and it was noticeable. "What is Jane saying," Maura requested.
"Janes said that this person has been following them since the café that was by the Hall of Records." He handed the phone to Maura and continued, "They're at Highgate Cemetery and this person popped up, making this not a coincidence."
"Any idea who that might be?"
Adam shook his head. "If Dorian sent this person, he's using his own resources. He did always emphasize that he got connections everywhere. Not to mention, he grew up during Victorian England."
"Like Dani," Regina realized.
"However, he's been back to England over the years and that means he's been expanding his connections in Europe's supernatural world."
"Then what do we do," Maura inquired.
Adam glanced over at the closed eye Dani, "We need to find the journal first and be cautious."
Maura nodded then took Dani's journal from Nina, running her fingers through the pages until she reached a specific page. "I don't remember much of the night before except the pain but somehow, I was able to return to my hotel room. But I need to get to Henry now that I know that the formula works," Maura read.
Regina turned to Hyde. "Do you remember that day," the witch inquired.
Hyde crossed their arms over their chest. "That's the day I woke up," Hyde hummed.
"Woke up," Nina repeated.
"The formula brings the other half forward. Remember, I am part of Danielle; I am the part that lays deep in the recess of the mind that holds part of certain emotions. However, as time moved, I don't know if I'm feelings or something else."
"Something else," Maura inquired.
"I used to be pain," Hyde explained. "I used to be the anger and hate. Everything to make a volatile person but I don't know…"
Does the formula pull out those emotions or bring something else, Maura pondered. "We need to start again," Maura told Regina and Hyde.
Regina let out a heavy sigh. Her eyes went straight to the vitals monitor, seeing that they seemed normal. "Are you sure," Regina worried.
The medical examiner gave Regina a sympathetic smile and gave her a comforting squeeze on her shoulder. She then looked down at Dani as she began to place the leads on her once more, "We have no choice."
Two hours later…
"Bingo," Jane said aloud as she approached a mausoleum. Frankie and herself, somehow found their way further into the cemetery until they crossed paths with Frost and Korsak. She approached the beautiful marble that was covered in some dirt and a bit of leaves.
"Jane, there's a bunch of mausoleums. You cannot be sure that this is the family one," Frost argued.
"Gut feeling," Jane answered. "But I also feel drawn to this. Like…I don't know."
Frankie nodded, "Alright…let's check it out."
As they approached, a fog appeared out of nowhere and darkness fell over them, isolating the team from the rest of the world it seemed. "Um, it got foggy," Frost pointed out, waving his hand a bit to clear his sight.
"It's a cemetery in London," Frankie reminded.
Frost rolled his eyes, "I know that Francesco but, this came suddenly."
"I agree," Jane acknowledged. Her eyes tried to reexamine their surroundings once more until they heard a low chanting. It was one voice but, Jane could tell that one voice was enough to cause something. Her senses went into overdrive, trying to look around the area to locate the chanter.
"What is happening.," Korsak questioned.
"Don't ask! Huddle," Jane ordered as the group moved together with theirs backs all touching each other.
"How are we going to defend ourselves," Frankie questioned, trying to see through the darkness.
"I don't know…" Jane answered, knowing that they weren't armed. Her eyes darted around the area, looking for the source of the chanting. "Frost, call-"
"Already ahead of you," Frost acknowledged.
The weird chanting started to get louder. Suddenly, a fireball flew across the area making the others to disburse from their positions but leaving a scorch mark in its wake.
His cell phone started to ring until they heard, "In the middle of something."
"Adam, we have a problem," Jane shouted, taking cover behind a headstone as another fireball flew and exploded.
"What was that?"
"YOU CANNOT HIDE! I WILL BRING YOUR HEADS TO DORIAN AND GET THE JOURNAL," a voice shrieked as gravestone that Jane was hiding began to shake.
Jane tried to keep her grip on the gravestone as the ground shook until she had to let go, rolling down a slope that had been created. "Fuck," Jane landed against another gravestone, hitting her shoulder in pain.
"Hold on, Janie," Frankie shouted as he popped out from his hiding spot. He attempted to run across to reach his sister until he dropped to the ground. "Shit," he cussed as he looked down to see a root of a tree branch pulling his leg down.
"Frankie!"
"Jane, you need to tell me what's happening," Adam shouted.
"Someone with magic is attacking us that's what's happening," Korsak shouted, trying to get visual of their attacker.
"COME OUT! COME OUT!" Frost looked over at Frankie who body was being pulled into the ground. He knew he had to be swift but, he also knew that this magical being was out for blood. He took in a deep breath and started to run across to rescue Frankie.
"There you are."
"Hey," Jane jumped out, giving Frost a chance to reach Frankie, "come out and fight face to face."
"Jane, be careful," the detective heard Regina shout.
Despite being far from them, Regina could sense that there was a danger that was beyond Jane and the others' resources. But, if she left, Dani would have to handle the remaining memories on her own. It scared her to leave her in this state but, Jane needed help especially if they were being attacked with magic. She could hear the fight and they weren't armed at all; she needed to go.
"I'll watch out for her," Maura assured as she heard Jane. She gripped the chair arm and wanted to be there to help Jane, but she knew that she was needed here.
Regina nodded; gave Dani's forehead a quick kiss then ran down the staircase. Adam stood up and shouted, "I should come with you."
"You need to stay," Regina retorted with satchel over her shoulder. "I'm going to attach Maura to my spell to help guide Dani through the memory with Hyde."
"Why Maura? No offense," Adam argued.
Regina sighed, "Adam, your condition can't let you out."
"But-"
"Some help will be great now," they could hear Jane shout.
"Adam, I know magic and the person that they may be fighting is using intense magic. They need me out there and Dani needs you. You can bring her back out of her state with Maura and Nina."
Adam frowned but nodded, "Go! Hurry."
With a wave of her hand, Regina created a circle around her. She mouthed a couple words and large glow enveloped her, making her disappear into thin air. Maura brought her attention back to the phone and shouted, "Jane, Regina is coming!"
Jane dove to the ground as a fireball missed her once more as Frost attempted to pull Frankie from the sinkhole. Seeing that Jane was doing her best to distract, Korsak ran over to Frost and Frankie.
The sinkhole was strong, starting to pull Frost down with Frankie whose head and arm was still up in the surface. Korsak looked around for something to grab ahold of but without any leverage, all he could do was to take Frost's legs and attempt to pull them both back up.
However, Jane was in her own predicament as their magical assailant continued to hide away. I got to goad this person out, Jane thought, someone like that who just wants our heads is going to act hasty.
"You act all powerful, but you can't even look at me in the eye to kill me," Jane shouted.
"A mortal better than me," their attacker laughed; the first time not screaming, "I doubt highly."
"Then come and face me." Jane looked around with her hands up, preparing to fight. She knew that she had no chance, but she was going to make her stand right there.
That's when their observer appeared with dark glowing fingers. Eyes were pure onyx black as they approached Jane with a smirk. With a quick wave of her hand, Jane landed on her back with a thud then was being lifted by her ankle. "I see that I have the advantage," the attacker claimed.
"Not quite." Jane dropped to the ground suddenly then looked up to see Regina running toward her while the attacker cried out in pain from a fireball in the face. They took cover behind a gravestone. "Here," Regina pulled a handgun out of the bag with two magazine clips and a vest.
Jane placed the vest on then glanced back at their attacker who let out a screech, causing the ground to shake once more. "Fuck," Jane cussed, feeling her ears ringing. She shook her head then looked at Regina, "I'll cover you."
"Those are silver bullets so it should stop her," Regina shouted back.
Regina waved her glowing hands then she disappeared and reappeared by Korsak and Frost. The witch turned around, lifting her hands up from the ground to lift some gravestones and sending them toward Korsak, Frost, and Frankie. Jane shot a couple bullets with one nicking the witch's shoulder.
"You will all die," she screamed in anger; the graves flying across toward Jane.
Regina waved her hand on the root and with the help of her magic, she helped Frost and Korsak pull Frankie back to the surface. She then handed the bag to the men, brought her attention toward Jane and their attacker. Regina looked down at the roots and quickly, said a spell causing the roots to wrap around the attacker's arms. She began to pull the attacker down, stopping the melee of gravestones that were flying at Jane.
"You will pay for your betrayal of our kind!"
"There's some rope in the bag," Regina informed.
Jane holstered her gun, rushing over as Korsak started to create a lasso with each rope. The older detective then stood up, twirling the lasso until he launched it at a leg. It caught hold of the foot enough for him to tighten it and he began to fall backwards to pull the screaming fighter. As their attacker reached the ground, Frankie and Frost tackled their attacker to the ground then pulled down the hood to reveal an old, wrinkled woman with piercing black eyes. "Release me," she hissed.
"What…is…she," Jane questioned.
"Solitary witch," Regina answered. "They don't believe in being in a coven or following a specific magical path. Very isolated." The witch lunged at Frankie causing him to fall back startled. Her voice became gritty as she spat some sort of language causing Regina to retort, "Now that's vulgar."
"What," Frost asked, trying to not stare at the angry woman.
"You don't want to know." She crouched down to the witch, "However, I am curious about why you left isolation to attack humans?"
The witch attempted to lunge again but Korsak pulled her back. "No, you don't, scary lady."
"Blood traitor," the witch shouted. "I will give Dorian your heads!"
Jane placed one of her hands against her ear then noticed that something was popping out from under the cloak. As quick as possible, she snatched the item out causing the witch to gasp then release another scream. Annoyed, Regina snapped her fingers, and the witch was silent; her mouth moving but no sound being uttered.
Jane let out a sigh of relief then looked at Frankie, "You okay?"
"Yeah, remind me to water my house plants more often," Frankie joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Jane nudged her brother with a small smile. As everyone was trying to calm their nerves, Regina looked around the area. The fog was starting to clear, and they needed to leave quickly to avoid mortal eyes. "Jane, what did you grab from her," she asked.
Jane shrugged then took the paper in her hands and opened it. Her eyes squinted at first but soon widened before announcing, "Um guys, we might have a bigger problem."
Frost, Frankie, Korsak and Regina moved closer to paper, and each stepped back with an expression that only can be explained as a mix of panic and worry.
It was a bounty.
Hi readers! You made it to the bottom of the chapter, yay! So sorry for this long, awaited update. Life has been hectic with a family loss, lots of work, and just only so much time to write with a mix of writer's block. But thanks for sticking with me! More to come soon! Please review! See you in the next update.
P. S. To all my British readers, I literally looked through maps of England to give an idea of the layout of our adventure. Hopefully, I did ok and if I didn't, I'm sorry!