his right arm.
The man bowed politely. “Good evening, my lady.”
This had to be him. Marina wanted to kill him on the spot but she held herself back and turned on the charm. “Good evening to you, sir. Care for some company?”
“Indeed I do. Is there somewhere we can go to be alone?”
She kept up the act of a desperate prostitute. “Let’s see some money, first.”
His face contorted into a malevolent smile and he pulled some gold coins out of his pocket. “Don’t worry my dear, money is no issue. You will be handsomely rewarded for your services.”
I bet I will, she thought. “Very well, we can go to my place. What’s your name?”
He hesitated for a moment. “I prefer not to use names if that’s all right with you.”
“Whatever you say, you’re the boss. Follow me.”
Marina led him into her apartment, which she no longer had to share thanks to a generous donation from Xavier.
“Make yourself at home. Can I take your bag?”
“Uh, no thank you. I prefer to keep that near me.”
She turned away and smiled. Yeah, I’ll bet you do. “Would you like something to drink?”
“No thank you. Why don’t you have a seat on the bed and start getting undressed?”
“As you wish.” Marina sat down on the bed while the man remained standing. “Aren’t you going to join me?”
“In a moment, after I have made myself more comfortable.”
Marina began to remove her clothes as the man, still holding the bag in his hand, walked to the front door and locked it. “So we’re not disturbed.” He then removed his coat and hung it on a hook while placing his bag on a table. He turned to the bag and zipped it open.
Marina had stripped completely naked, the better to lure him into a false sense of security. “What’s in the bag?”
The man smiled with his back to her. “It’s a surprise.” He walked to the bed with one arm behind his back and stood over Marina. “Lie back.”
Marina complied. “What've you got there? Something kinky?”
He crawled onto the bed over top of her, still fully clothed, straddling her at the hips. “Time to play.”
Suddenly his arm flew from behind his back to reveal a large knife that he slashed at Marina’s throat. Marina grabbed his hand, the knife mere inches from her neck, and squeezed. The knife dropped harmlessly onto her breast while the man screamed in agony as Marina broke every bone in his hand. She then threw him off the bed and sent him flying, still screaming, into the far wall.
Before he could react Marina was on top of him. “We can’t have any more of that screaming.” She bared her fangs and thrust them into his neck.
He sank motionless to the ground as Marina rose to her feet, stalking back and forth over his prone body. “So, you’re the infamous Jack the Ripper. I’ve been waiting for you. You see, the last woman you murdered was my friend Ginger. I’m going to take your knife and carve her name into your chest so you don’t forget.” She walked over and picked up the knife. “In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Jack, you are paralyzed. You can’t move, you can’t scream, nothing. But the good news is that you can still feel pain, and oh the things I’m going to do to you.”
After she finished carving the name into his chest she walked over to his bag. “Let’s see what goodies we have here.” She carried the bag over to his body and dumped the instruments on top of him. Tears streamed down his otherwise blank face. “I’m going to use every single one of these on you before I let you die. And then you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to erase you from this planet. No one will ever know that you were Jack the Ripper, and for you, obscurity would be a fate worse than death. That’s why you write all those letters to the police and the papers. You want to be caught. You want them to know who you are. You want to be famous. Well you can forget it. You will die, in considerable pain, as a nobody . . . and Jack the Ripper will just disappear, never to rip again.”
V
Marina visited Ginger’s grave one last time to say goodbye. “Rest in peace, Mary Jane. I got the bastard for you.”
She then took one last stroll along the streets of Whitechapel on her way to Xavier’s house. In the morning they were leaving for America. He said he had something wonderful to show her there—a whole world of their own where they could rule as king and queen. Part of her was sad to leave behind the only home she had ever known, but there was nothing here for her now. Her old life had ended the day she became Marina. Now, she would embark on a new life of endless possibilities . . . and limitless power.
About the Author
Michael Rappa has been writing stories and poetry since early childhood, eventually parlaying his love of the written word into a Communications degree from Rowan University. The Eyes of Mictlan is his first novel. Michael is also an avid traveler and photographer who blogs about his experiences at rappastudios.wordpress.com. In the real world he works as a web designer in New Jersey, where he lives with his wife Jen and his dog Oliver.
Follow Michael on Twitter and Instagram at @njrappa, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/michaelanthonyrappa, or visit his website at https://www.michaelrappa.net/.
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