THE MISTAKE....THE BLADE...

His hands were shaking….He curled his fist into a ball. The bottle, full of brandy a few minutes ago was almost empty now….Streaks of liquor stained the sides of his mouth and colored his spotless white shirt a shade of deep brown. His eyes were straining out of their sockets… His nerves were failing him…..He remained glued to his wicker chair as if he had been struck down by apoplexy.

The shrouded body which lay beside him now was moist with tears from his eyes….His hands wandered of their own accord from his side and removed part of the shroud to uncover the face…It was an angelic face…pale and fair with wisps of golden and curly hair peeping out from under the head……..

He remembered the day very clearly…This very girl had rushed into his arms…She was so full of life with her bright blue eyes twinkling and her petite frame warm and full of youth’s blessed energy. She had told him that she loved him dearly and he was taken by surprise….How could somebody love a sinner like him???? She clearly was not aware of his alter ego…his demonic other self…. But her face captivated him and her concern warmed his cold heart….Maybe… he thought in his mind, he was beginning to fall in love…..

He shook himself out of his reverie and knelt beside the girl’s body and spoke in a trance like state:

“Please oblige me this once my angel,

Please make me lonely once more,

Without you I cannot live,

I can now never tell you about my love for you…

Please oblige me this once,

Make me the lonely person I used to be…

Why did we break apart my princess??

Why did our love come to an end??

Sleepless nights and unanswered questions now haunt me…

Everything is incomplete without you…

I cannot bear this loneliness…

I cannot live without you….

Please oblige me this once my angel,

Please make me lonely once more…

Now that you are not here,

Your memories are in my mind and heart,

Your absence drives my tears,

Give me an excuse to forget you…..

I cannot bear this loneliness…

I cannot live without you….

Please oblige me this once my angel,

Please make me lonely once more.”

He broke into heartrending and piteous sobs as he buried his face into her cold shoulder……

He suddenly tore himself away from her body and strode across the dimly lit room and grasped the bloodstained surgical knife kept on the dressing table…Fever seared through his body as he recalled the horrible incident….

It had been as easy as ever….He had hid himself in the dark alleyway…He wanted to get this night’s exercise over with quickly… He had spotted a young lass skipping down the alleyway with bubbly energy and zest… In one fluid motion, he had grasped her by her hood and slit her throat using his knife…The exercise was over within a few seconds…He felt warm with delight as he stood shrouded in the London fog…With his toe he rolled his victim over to look at her face and slowly his blood turned to ice in his veins…. It was her…. He had sunk down to his knees tearing his hair out in desperation……. What a mistake he had committed!!!! How was he to know that she would come skipping into his cold arms where he lay waiting like an agent of hell??

The church bell chimes aroused him from his painful thoughts…… He looked at himself in the mirror and wiped his face clean…The hands had stopped shivering…He slipped on his gloves and cleaned the knife blade…He shrugged on his long black overcoat and breezed out of the room….. Jack the Ripper was out again….