So... I got an idea for a book last night, for the first time in ages, and I am PSYCHED. I won't be putting the entire thing up here, for hopefully obvious reasons, but if you enjoy the chapters I will put up, PLEASE let me know? Thank you.

Here's Chapter 1...

Chapter 1

“It’s always so sad when they run.”

“When they run? Nah, the sad part is when they find out. Worst thing I ever saw, the day I ‘adda take the first one down. Ran like a rabbit, that one did. We couldn’t catch ‘im, so we hadda take ‘im down. I shot ‘im myself. Straight in the ‘ead. Pow. ‘E escaped this time. Next time, they’ll get ‘im.”

“You know, I was pretty scared myself.”

“Not me, man. I knew I weren’t one o’ them.”

“No way ya knew that, man. My niece was the sweetest child you ever did see growing up. None of us even hadda clue she was capable of… of…”

“Aw, quit yr moanin. We all of us ‘ave loved ones what weren’t what we thought they was.”

“I visit her, ya know.”

“Do ya? I didn’t think ‘er kind could ‘ave visitors.”

“Only cuz I’m a Guard. They make exception for me.”

“Why would ya even wanna visit ‘er? I ‘eard she was…”

“I know, I know. Vile. Horribly vile. But… she’s my niece.”

“No she ain’t. You know that.”

“Aye. I know.”

“And yet ya visit her.”

“Aye.”

“Family… no matter what?”

“She is family… now. Even if she weren’t… then.”

“Only by birth. Only this time.”

“Aye.”

She heard them talking. Every vowel, every consonant. Every word. They were so close to her she could hear them breathing. She concentrated hard on making sure the opposite wasn’t true.

“Well, I ‘ear tell this un’s even worse than your niece.”

“True?”

“Aye. Ever ‘ear o’ Jack the Ripper?”

“Aye. And she..?”

“Aye.”

“They’ll certainly Ask her, then.”

“Aye. They’ve been looking for ‘IM for I don’t know ‘OW long.”

She shivered. Jack the Ripper. She had never even considered that. There was no way she could tell them anything about him. But she knew, as every schoolchild did by the age of ten, how they would Ask, and she wasn’t about to let them try.

“How many years have they wanted to know what happened to him?”

“I dunno. But I do know, if ‘e escaped then, ‘e won’t escape now.”

“Where is she?”

“Moron. If I knew that, she’d be ‘ere, not there.”

“Then he may very well escape this time, too.”

There was a silence, then a smack and a sharp cry.

“Don’t be cheeky, ass’ole. Where would she go? Sooner or later they’ll find ‘er. I just wanna be the one to do it.”

“She could go to…”

“There ain’t no such place. You know that. And talking about it is ‘erasy.”

“I know.”

“Then shut your yap and ‘elp me look through this **** ‘fore I turn ya in. ‘Eretics may not ‘ave to serve full time, but they serve a ‘ell of a long time, at that.”

The talking ended then. She heard the Guards rifling around in the dumpster beside the one in which she crouched.

She began to pray very hard to a god she wasn’t sure existed.

Here's Chapter 2. I can't edit the title to the thread, though. Pfft.

Chapter 2

She stared at the clock, hearing it tick-tock-tick-tock, feeling the hard leather of the couch on her bare legs, smelling the burnt cake from the kitchen, tasting the crisp mint of the mouthwash she had
used only moments before.

She wanted to throw up again.

Tick-tock-tick-tock.

Shouldn’t have planned the party before her Trial. Shouldn’t have tried to bake a cake before we knew. But damnit, I thought… I knew… HOW COULD SHE?

Tick-tock-tick-tock.

“Honey?”

Sharp breath.

Steady. Steady.

“In here!”

“Ah, darling. There you are! Where is the birthday girl?”

She looked up at him. Maurice. Her husband for the past twenty-two years. The father of their daughter. Their only daughter. Their only child.

He was so happy, his smile brightening the electric blue of his eyes.
Beautiful eyes. Their daughter’s eyes as well.

She loved him. So much. How could she destroy this joy he had?
She had to. No choice. And the faster the better. She took a deep breath.

“She’s running. I don’t know where she is. Nobody does.”

Instantly, his face fell. The joy in his eyes turning to dark understanding. He knew. Of course he knew. She had gone to Trial today, after all.

But they had been so SURE. Their only child… they had been so sure.
He spoke one word, his voice cracking like old leather. “Who?”

“Jack the Ripper.”

“Oh, GOD.” He fell down beside her on the couch. “They’re sure? They know for certain?”

“Yes.” She stared straight ahead as he took her hand. She couldn’t bear to look at her. “They’re sure. They Tested her three times at my request.”

He sighed heavily, shaking his head at nothing, staring straight ahead.

Silence. Then:

“She ran?”

“You’re surprised?”

“… no.”

“They’ll scour the countryside for her.”

“Which is it? Life or..?”

“Jack the Ripper, honey. What do you think?”

“Oh God.”

“They’ll find her. They always find them.”

“I just can’t believe…”

“Nor can I.”

Suddenly, he took her hand.

“She may find her way to..?”

“Maybe. If it exists. Either way, we have lost our daughter forever.”

They stared off into nothing, hands held tight, in silent mourning.