Chapter 1: Henry Silas Hale, 1889
The dense fog spanned the streets, the smell of wet dirt filled the air. I walked with caution, watching the people around us as we walked. Utterson continued on with his thoughts, rambling on about the legal work he had dealt with during the day. I barely paid attention to his words, and more so on the hushed whispers of those around us. Abe Utterson was a renowned lawyer in London, known to be gentle with his words but cold and precise when it came to his legal cases and clients. I knew him as my friend. We continued down the street as I finally started to focus on the words Abe spoke.
“Ah, are you finally paying attention, Mr. Hale?” he said, his gaze locking onto me.
“Utterson, why do you deal with these clients of yours so much? It’s all you seem to talk of,” I said as I continued to scan the street in front of us. We were walking through a wealthy district, the manors grand and sparkling, even with all the fog.
“Mr. Hale, I wish to help humanity as I can, instead of hiding from the light as you do.” He tapped on his black leather bound book. I rolled my eyes. I pointed at the gray 2 story manor in front of us. All of the manors were identical except their doors. Each front door of the manors were identified with their unique color. This manor’s door was red.
“Mr. Utterson, is that not the house of one of your clients?” I taunted with a smirk. “I believe you have an appointment with them?” I said in a mocking tone.
Utterson sighed, clearly weary of the appointment, as his hands began to shake as they often did before each of his appointments. I scoffed. He nodded, a sign for me to wait for him on the street. The truth was, I wasn’t protecting Abe, and he wasn’t protecting me. We were playing the roles of employee and employer, a facade to make others believe what we wanted them to. They thought I was his dog, a wild beast on his leash that could snap someone’s neck if given the command. He wanted them to think he was weak. It was how we tried to appear normal in the public eye.I may have been wild, but Abe was anything but weak.
