๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ข๐
Rendezvous: an arrangement to meet someone, especially secretly, at a particular place and time, or the place itself
๐. ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ณ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ (๐งช)
It has been a few minutes since I arrived at the same door where I last saw Edward Hyde. The same place where he went after he trampled that little girl...the same place where he waved at me with that vicious smile. He was just trying to scare me, that's for sure.
The night wasn't getting any younger as my only company were the sound of crickets and the light from the lamp posts. I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting...Oh, how boring it was I couldn't help but yawn, uninterested out of my mind for the waiting. Poor Oliver, he must have been waiting for me for so long. I'm not sure if I can come back home this evening... And if I do, it will be quite late, that he'd be asleep.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps in the distance. I was hidden behind a wall of the house, still close enough to where the door was, so that I wouldn't be seen, attentively listening to the sound of footsteps coming from the direction that was behind me. This must be him.
As I heard the rattle of keys, I immediately made my presence noticeable. Before me stood the same man which I saw that night. Still clad in gentlemanly attire, he looked at me, his freakish face looking directly at me. I don't understand how a human could even look like him. He wasn't ugly, but he did look like something that wasn't human in the first place, trying to disguise itself as a human. Especially those eyes. They were staring directly into my soul.
"Oh, it's you." He simply said, looking at me with an offhand expression plastered on his face. He stopped rattling the keys as he put them in his pocket and stared at me.
"Hello, Hyde," I said, trying to think of what I should do next. I wanted to confront him, but I didn't know what to say. How should I act? Maybe I should try being polite to him at first. "We didn't meet on a high note, and I greatly apologize for that. To introduce myself, my name is (Y/N) Utterson. I've known Jekyll for a long time, and I assume you're under his care, am I right?"
Hyde smiled at me, but not in a cheery manner that you'd see on an old friend, but more in a nasty way, like the one of a rival who's trying to mock you. "Yes, indeed."
"If you wouldn't mind, could I join you inside? I haven't seen him in a while, and I miss him." I said, trying to seem unaware of who he was. His expression... surprised me. Instead of looking at me with malicious intent or with annoyance, he looked at me with genuine confusion, as if I told him an unsolvable riddle.
"You want to..see him?...he's not here...it would be of no use to come inside." He mumbled, loud enough so I could hear.
"What a shame. Well, I can always come back another day. By the way, do you always go out at night like this?" I asked, trying to not seem more suspicious than I already am. I mean, who in their right mind would think that a random person waiting outside your backdoor wouldn't be suspicious?
"...Why do you ask?" Now he seemed suspicious of me. Damn it! I have to think of a response quickly...
"I am...quite curious about you, actually." I finally blurted out, sweating a bit, this coat I was wearing not helping one bit.
Hyde looked at me surprised for one second, before he began smirking at me cunningly. "Oh, looks like someone has quite a soft spot for me, huh?"
...Why did I think telling him that was the best response!? At least he's buying it I guess...Wait, if he's buying it...Maybe I could pretend to sympathize with him, and then I wouldn't have to worry about him that much, though I can guess that he'll try to use me as a lapdog for him if I continue like this. But at the same time... I could use this faรงade to promote a more naive personality, which might be of my use, as well as my humiliation... You know something, I'll continue like this. If he thinks I'm dumb, I could backstab him at any point.
"And if I did, what would you do?" I imitated his cunning smirk. His smirk got even wider...what was I getting myself into?
"Well, I've always needed a friend. Maybe you aren't a vermin after all." He said. Ok, wow. Rude much, but I continued smiling, even chuckling to seem as if I found his "joke" funny.
I began looking through my pockets to find my business card, so that this simple child's play could actually fool Hyde into believing I was by his side.
"Please call me if you ever need a lawyer. My address is right up there if you ever need help." I responded, smiling at him innocently, and giving him a business card.
Hyde looked dumbfounded. He was really buying into this simple roleplay I was creating. But knowing him from our last meeting, he'll eventually stop believing me.
"Ah, you're a lawyer as well. I knew you were a smart one, Utterson." He chuckled, which just sent shivers down my spine. The way he said my "name" was...oddly provocative...ew.
"Well, I have to go home now, see you another-" "I thought we were buddies, what happened? Don't you want to speak more to your new friend, Edward Hyde?" He gripped my hand before I could leave. Oh great...
"I would love to talk to you more, but somebody is waiting for me back home. I'm sorry." I said, hiding my annoyance behind a contrite face, trying to get out of his grip by facing the other direction, but he wouldn't shift.
"But you've piqued my interest too, sir/miss/mx Utterson," He chuckled once more. "why end this encounter so soon?"
I rolled my eyes and faced him once more. He still had that smile with ill intent. "Would you be amused if I were to stay with you a few more minutes?" I asked him.
Hyde began chuckling and clapping his hands as if I made the correct decision. "That would be perfect! I knew tonight would be special."
"Yeah...haha." I laughed awkwardly, trying to think of what I should ask him. Anything I'd say could change the entire plot of the book. Right now, I'm trying to somehow save the "good" doctor from turning into this weirdo once more by the end of the story.
The silence was making this situation more awkward as Hyde unnervingly kept staring at me. "Well, why did you decide now that you want to have my acquaintance, friend?" He smiled once more. Just the way he said "friend" really unnerved me.
"I already explained, I am curious about you," I responded directly.
"That is very vague, dear friend. Could you try to be more specific about what really interested you?" The man asked, a mocking grin on his face.
Finally getting annoyed with him, I simply responded. "Look, you just interested me with the way you act. No man would even dare do the things you did, and that's what I find interesting."
"Is that for a good or bad cause?" The man asked, looking prideful this time with what I was saying.
Trying to play along and not get him mad, I said: "I don't know either, Mr Hyde. You are a peculiar man, an enigma even."
"You're such a charmer." He smiled at me, his sharp teeth showing, before he entered back inside the backdoor, leaving me alone. Was that the only reason he kept me longer than I expected?! So that I could boost his ego? Wow...just wow.
With that, I just began walking away to find a carriage so that I could go back home, feeling like I wasted my time idiotically on that man.
Somewhere in a laboratory, away from our protagonist, stood the man whom we learned the name was Hyde, looking in the mirror, mockingly, at the figure that appeared before him. "Well, Jekyll, you were right all along. Utterson wasn't a pest."
"Please don't even try to hurt (Y/N). Don't betray their trust even the slightest bit." The good doctor said from the mirror. Hyde began laughing once more.
"I wasn't even planning to. They might seem stupid, but I know that they're only trying to trick me. I find their attempt at trying to charm me adorable. Well, it did work, I am smitten by them, as much as you are, but it was obvious that they were only trying to get to our core, exactly like a a rodent." Hyde chuckled, sitting on a chair.
"Don't call them a rodent! They're just trying to get to the bottom of everything you did!" Jekyll yelled in defence.
"Everything I did? But Jekyll, you're the mastermind of everything. The great doctor himself!" Hyde laughed mockingly.
Jekyll became defensive once more. "A man can't control himself! That's why I created you."
"But aren't you happy? Happy that no one is after you, not even that bloke/blokette who came up to me, worried about where sweet Jekyll went?" Hyde satirised Jekyll, by using a slightly higher-pitched voice to sound as if he were talking to a baby.
Jekyll remained quiet, not even looking at Hyde anymore. This caused Hyde to smile.
"Of course the subject of precious (Y/N) would keep you quiet. I know you like the back of my hand, Jekyll."
"...Hyde, go take a rest. One of the servants might come here soon. You wouldn't want them to catch you, right?" Jekyll said calmly.
"It seems I'm not the only one who knows the other like the back of their hand. You caught me, Henry. After all, we are one and the same." Hyde said in a mocking tone, which angered Jekyll slightly. "Fine then, I'm going now. ร tout ร l'heure."
With that, Hyde drank a bit of a brown substance, the one that parted Jekyll from Hyde in the first place. He crouched down in pain as Hyde began morphing once more into Jekyll.
As if nothing happened, Jekyll exited the laboratory. Not even looking back.
"Master, are you alright?" Poole, Jekyll's loyal butler asks as Jekyll walks back to his room.
"Yes, Poole. Everything's fine."
"...And so, The ships reach home!" Oliver has been explaining to me about "Treasure Island" ever since I came back home. I smiled at the young blond, as I helped him put the book back on its shelf.
"You really have been busy while I was gone, Ollie! I'm sorry for taking so long to come home. You must've gotten bored." I sighed as I took his left hand into mine and began walking to the room which I assigned to him.
"If I may be impolite and ask, where did you go?" The young boy asked.
"I went to meet an old friend. Nothing much." I lied, trying to not worry the poor boy further.
"But Mr/miss/mx (Y/N)...you said yourself that a lie has no legs...Did something bad happen to you?" Oliver asked, genuine worry in his voice.
"Not really. It's just that some individuals can be quite...kooky, to put it nicely. You shouldn't worry your head with my problems, you are after all in my care," I responded. "Now, please go take a nap. Tomorrow we can play chess if you'd like!"
"But sir/miss/mx...even if I am under your care, I should repay your kindness somehow. I am after all just a no-one who can't do anything useful. I need to do something helpful for once." The boy said.
"You already are being helpful just by being here. Oliver...you shouldn't treat yourself with so much loathing." I responded while tucking the boy in the bed. He seemed really sad at this moment. "Oliver... why do you abhor yourself so much? You're a wonderful boy! I've never met someone who is as polite and smart as you. You shouldn't downplay yourself so much!"
The boy remained silent, just looking at the window. I sighed in defeat, and tried getting up from the bed, before I was tackled into a hug.
"Thank you very much for everything, Mr/miss/mx (Y/N)!" The culprit of the hug was none other than Oliver, who began crying on my shoulder.
"Oh, Oliver...you shouldn't thank me. I'm just doing what any normal person would do to such a sweet and compassionate boy like you!" I hugged him back, feeling a little melancholic.
And with that, he fell asleep once again in my embrace. I smiled at the young boy as I tucked him in bed once more, before closing the door slowly so as to not wake him up.
Even if Hyde might've made my day bad, just these simple moments with Oliver could always brighten me up.
(A/N): Hello everyone! Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it! Sorry for the long wait once more, I was busy with school and barely entered the winter holiday just two days ago. I'm also trying to re-read Frankenstein once more to try and find a suitable role for our dear (Y/N) and also to write more blurbs for what will happen in future chapters. (I have entire notes on notion with facts about the characters that I slowly add throughout this story and chapter descriptions for storytelling ๐ญ). Anyways, please have a lovely day!~Luce
