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Good morning Hexers!

I for my part am on the last scene of Chapter three. This is a major set piece, so it’s taking me a while, but I will give you a clue as to the location:

and Ooh so intriguing!

Morning supporters and readers! 
with 94 pre-orders we are closing in on a milestone 100 soon. I shall upload another teaser chapter in the coming days - stay tuned!

As per some requests - i will make available a PDF version of the already uploaded chapters , as people have asked to read them on kindle/Ipad and not through Inkshares. This will be available on http://www.jondbooks.com later today.

Finally - a HUGE THANKS to anyone who ordered and supports the project. It means the world to me.
Would be also great if when you have a second, you each email ONE person you think may be interested, in order to keep the momentum rolling.

thanks
x
Jonathan

Thanks everybody, your responses were really great!  It seems that a whole bunch of you are into the horror angle so here’s a little treat. Another scene where our dastardly slice and dicers are up to their elbows in the governments dirty work...the birth of Jack The Ripper!

As ever, if you want to boost me over the quill Frontier that’s great...I’m only a few pre-orders away from 50% funded.  HIT HERE TO HELP

Also a good friend of mine is racing to climb higher in the Nerdist Space Opera contest with SPACE TRIPPING, so if you have any credits burning a hole in your spacesuits why not give him a boost! HERE

Okay...put on your butchers aprons to avoid blood splatter on your souls!

“And so it was, the plan unfolded and the bodies were dumped... “

LONDON STREET

Inside a dark carriage swathed with dark blue velvet a knife slashes at a hanging body inflicting mutilations...blood drips from the corpse...

The body that will be identified as Dark Annie, is taken from the carriage and placed stealthily in Hanbury Street. Whistles are blown. Across London a carriage waits outside an Ice Factory. Inside a body is taken from a room wreathed in cold vapour.

Another body, to be identified as Long Liz is dumped in Berner Street.

A boy sells newspapers on the corner of the street Their lurid headlines chart the spread of fear, and the arrival of the Letter From Hell...signed by Jack The Ripper...and so history is forged in the crucible of their lies.

                                                                                     ***

She lay in his arms. For the first time in a long while she felt safe. She’d listened to his story, the corruption and the plans he’d heard them discussing. She knew that sooner or later they would come for her. It was only a matter of time. She’d been with many men in her short life, some of them kind, a lot of them cruel and some of them so disgusting in their demands she sometimes felt she would never be able to wash herself clean again. But lying there in the dark, naked and enveloped in Edwards gentle arms, for the first time in her life she realised the love she had been missing. 

She found it hard to believe that even amongst the terror in this dark time, love could find the necessary sustenance to bloom like a rose in the night. Amongst the flickering shadows thrown by candlelight Kelly’s eyes sparkled with love for Edward, her feelings for him surged through her. “It came as a shock to me...that after all the bad times that I’d had with men...I was able to love again...and with such passion...but we both knew that time was running out...”

                                                                                       ***

Kelly and Edward hurriedly pack some things, getting ready to leave. He gives her a lingering kiss. “I won’t be long. We’ll be on the boat tonight bound for Ireland. Your friends in Limerick will meet us when we dock and we can stay with them till we sort ourselves out.

Edward opened the door, gave her a last look and left. She watched him go. In her hand she held a pocket watch, a silver half hunter that he’d given her so she would know when to be ready for his return. She ran her finger over the initials E.D, engraved into the back of the watch before sitting down on the edge of the bed to await his return.

                                                                                         ***

The carriage stood in the shadows. The horses snorting vapour into the cold air...eyes rolling, hooves shivering against the cobbles, as if they were aware of what was taking place inside.

He bent over the body that lay slumped inside the carriage. The unyielding flesh already stiffening. His knife was sharp and sure as he hacked through the pale flesh beneath him. His eyes black and dead, face a mask of madness Tumblety becomes more violent with each sweep of the knife...his hands stroking the dead flesh, caressing the wetness beneath his fingers like a lover. Then the knife goes back to work. He reached into the cavern he had created in the body. His mouth a grim slit. 

This was the part he loved the most. The level of intimacy with another human that could never be achieved while they were alive…that’s what made this special for him. He reached in and swiftly identified the organ by touch alone. He lifted it up, cut the skeins of fibrous muscle that held it fast. Dropped it into the glass jar he held ready. It slid inside with a glutinous sucking sound. He sealed the lid shut. Now he just needed to place the remains for maximum effect. He rapped twice on the roof and he heard the coachman snap the whip. The carriage lurched and soon the wheels clattered on the cobbles and they headed into the night.

Mitre Square was deserted at that time of the morning. Even the women of the night had long since given up their trade. The dank grey fog that swept across the slick cobblestones served to hide the coach that stood waiting. Tumblety carried the shapeless lump over his shoulder as he moved quickly over to the opposite side of the street and laid the corpse down against the brick wall of the house. 

He had to be quick, and set the scene for the luckless person that would stumble on the ghoulish sight. He arranged her skirts, exposing bloodied flesh and draping the gleaming entrails around her neck like some grotesque wet necklace. Pleased with his work he moved quickly across the street and climbed back into the carriage. The coach clattered through the fog leaving swirling curtains of vapour behind as it disappeared from sight.

Kelly sat on the edge of the bed with her hand resting on her packed case. She didn’t need to look at the watch to realise something was wrong. Edward should have been there by now. Something was happening outside. She stood up…the door was kicked in. A group of men burst into the room. Two of them are Dr Tumblety and Dr Neil Cream. A burly man grabs her and clamps a hand over her mouth. She could smell the whisky on his breath as he leaned over her. “Just keep quiet and don’t struggle and everything will be just fine.” Two more men carry a body in and place it on the bed. Kelly stares at it with horror. Her eyes darting to and fro between the Doctors as they unroll a leather tool pouch packed with surgical instruments. 

Her eyes widened as Tumblety hacked into the body’s face…blood sprayed across the wall. She’s dragged out into the street by two men and bundled into a waiting carriage and driven off at speed.

                                                                                       ***

Cream and Tumblety hack at the meat on the bed. No longer human, the corpse has become an anatomical specimen. Cream halts for a moment breathing heavily. He looks around and back down at their handiwork. The shadowy candle light reveals blood splatters gleaming on the wall...light reflects off the glistening organs strewn around the bed. He covers his mouth, dry retching before he brings it under control. He turns to Tumblety. “Jesus! Isn’t this enough?” Tumblety stares at him...all human expression gone, eyes black sockets devoid of expression. “This is the last one...it has to be spectacular...and unrecognisable ...I want it so her own mother won’t recognise her...”

He leans forwards and slices deliberately, his tongue licking at his dry lips...he looks reptilian in the light from the fire and the candles... Cream turns away and throws up.

                                                                                        ***

Here it is...the final three days of the contest! Now is the time to act if you haven’t supported "The Madness of Mr. Butler" with a pre-order yet!