Chapter Text
“Well, Mr Seek, here we are.”
It was a Friday evening, and a taxicab slowed to a stop next to the front gates of a very large and majestic house that looked like it had come straight from a fantasy story. It was a large Georgian-style mansion, with many windows embedded into the bright red brickwork, with light blazing from the majority of these windows. Some were open, revealing the highly excitable sounds of many drunken guests having a fun time, acting as an echo to the main bulk of the noise that came flooding from the back and the ground floor of the huge house. Ivy had begun to creep up one side of the building, bright green and trickling its way around the many windows and up to the roof. Along the roof there sat many stone gargoyles which looked incredibly out of place and did not fit the aesthetic of the building at all; they would have fitted an old gothic church better than this Georgian mansion. They also were fairly clean for stone structures atop a roof, indicating that they were recent additions to the building. White marble pillars lined the front of the building, which also contrasted the aesthetic of the building, looking like they came straight from Ancient Greece. However, like the gargoyles, these pillars looked impeccably clean and indicated that they were relatively new additions to the building.
Many cars of various sizes and shapes were parked in the gigantic driveway inside the front gates. Some were parked perfectly straight where the driver clearly had used extreme precision to position their car as perfectly as possible. Others were parked wonkily, or directly in the middle of the driveway causing an obstruction, indicating that the drivers of these cars were clearly under the influence of something which meant that they did not care for exactness or the impact their shoddy parking had on others, they were just eager to have a good time. There were still a few more cars arriving, driving past the taxicab that was sat outside the front gates and squeezing into the already quite packed driveway to find a spot to park in.
“Thank you.” Utterson paid the taxi driver before climbing out of the cab and looking nervously up at the imposing building. He briefly observed the people who were climbing out of the cars that had just arrived and instantly regretted his choice of clothing. The women were all wearing either flamboyant flapper dresses or more basic silk gowns, and the men were just wearing ordinary three-piece suits. There were exceptions of a few more eccentric outfits, such as one man who appeared to be wearing a large black cape along with a porcelain white mask that covered a part of his face. Either way, this clearly was a different kind of party to what Utterson was anticipating. He took one of the tails of his black tail coat with a gloved hand and looked at it nervously before letting it go and turning to look anxiously up at the mansion again. He took a deep breath, fixed a calm but pleasant expression onto his face, and walked through the gates and up the driveway to the front door of the building, making an effort to blend in a much as possible as he climbed up the few stone steps leading to the large double doors. He hadn’t even gotten to the front door when he heard a sly voice speak to him from among the bustle.
“Well, who is this fancy fellow that I find at my front door?” Utterson turned his head, looking for who spoke when he saw a short man in a purple pinstripe suit looking at him with intrigue, his hands in his trouser pockets. Utterson pieced together that he had come across the very man he wanted to investigate. He smiled politely and held out a hand for the other to shake.
“The name’s Mr Seek. I assume you are the host of this magnificent party?” he asked, as calmly and politely as possible. Utterson wasn’t super nervous, but the knowledge that he was talking to one of the most powerful and dangerous crime lords in all of New York city was constantly in the back of his mind.
“Mr Seek, eh?” Hyde said, not moving his hands from his pockets to take Utterson’s hand. He looked Utterson up and down as his sly expression shifted a little, almost as if he saw right through Utterson’s guise and found it comical, but it was unclear. After this slight pause Hyde continued, “Well yes this is my house, making me the host! I’m just out here waiting for certain guests, but of course you don’t need to know anything about that.” Hyde looked Utterson straight in the eye as he finished his sentence, almost as if he was daring Utterson to ask him about it. Despite the calm tone and the smile, the last statement had a threatening aura about it, and this combined with the harsh eye contact caused Utterson to feel a little uncomfortable. He chuckled nervously.
“No! Of course not! I won’t intrude on your business,” Utterson said, smiling politely once again. Hyde’s head jerked in a short nod in response, before looking out to the driveway.
“Anyway, it was nice to meet you, Mr Seek. Go on in and enjoy yourself!” Hyde said, not looking back at Utterson. He articulated the name ‘Mr Seek’ in a way that once again insinuated that he could see through Utterson’s guise, but Utterson decided that it was best if he didn’t say anything about it.
“Yes! Thank you! I will!” Utterson replied, pausing briefly before turning around and following the crowds through the large front doors. He was hoping that he would have maybe talked to Hyde a little more, but it was clear that Hyde wasn’t in the mood for casual conversation.
Utterson was greeted with a tall and wide hallway, with the floor made of marble and more of those white pillars running parallel down the hallway. The pillars created a direct pathway down the middle to the end of the hallway, leading to the doorway of a huge great hall where the main part of the party was taking place. Down the sides of the hallway there were large paintings, along with doorways that led into the maze of rooms and corridors that the mansion held. All of them were open and had people moving in and out of them, laughing, crying, screaming, participating in many drunken hilarities that they were sure to forget the next morning. At the end of the hallway, in the back corners, there were two staircases that both lead up to a balcony above the entrance to the great hall. People were leaning casually on the banisters, chatting and playfully flirting with one another, while others moved in and out of the doors that were accessible from the balcony; doors that provided extra entrances to the jungle of rooms on the higher floors. Utterson was, understandably, intensely overwhelmed.
Unsure of where to begin his investigation, Utterson took some hesitant steps forward, thinking about where to go. As he slowly walked down the hallway, there was a shout from one of the doors to his right before two people came sprinting out of it. One was tall in stature, with dark, curly hair atop a head that was carrying an expression of chaotic glee. He let out a triumphant laugh as he ran from one side of the hallway to the other, long black coat billowing out behind him. He was followed by someone shorter, who had wavy blonde hair and carried a similar expression. A man angrily chased after them, clearly bothered by some trouble that the pair had caused. Utterson watched them sprint past him, wondering what kind of lair of chaos he had walked into.
He decided to start his investigation in the great hall and began to stride with more confidence down to the other end of the hallway. He wondered to himself what he might find, if he found anything at all, but he hoped that whatever he did find would give him more of an insight into Hyde and his activities; he also hoped to find out how Jekyll could have possibly gotten mixed up in Hyde’s illegal mess.
The noise, already at quite a high volume, got louder and louder as Utterson approached the great hall, and when he reached the doorway, he saw why. At the far end of the hall, a large band was set up on a makeshift stage, blasting out high energy music that many people were dancing to in the centre of the hall. Their feet thundered on the wooden floor as they stomped and leapt, doing anything to move along to the music, from energetic Charleston dances to drunken flailing. Along the sides of the hall stretched large tables filled with refreshments of both the edible and the drinkable kind. Utterson suspected that there was not a single drink there that didn’t contain alcohol of some amount, and he didn’t plan on confirming his suspicions. He looked around with an unapproving expression; this really was a den of chaos and debauchery, and completely something that he would never want to take part in, and yet, here he was.
Utterson started to make his way through the packed crowds when he bumped into a man who seemed a little unsteady on his feet, a drink in hand.
“Oh! My goodness I’m terribly sorry! Are you alright?” Utterson yelped, before holding out an arm to help the other get himself more stable. The man spun to see who was speaking to him, stumbling slightly. He had long ginger hair that was tied back in a loose ponytail, soft green eyes, pale skin and freckles dotted over his nose and cheeks. He had at some point lost his suit jacket and his dark waistcoat hung loosely on his thin frame. It had a stain on it, like he had already spilt his drink. He looked at Utterson shakily.
“Hey! Have you seen my friend? He’s like, really tall, very handsome but don’t tell him that I said that!” the man blubbered. Utterson frowned.
“No, I don’t think I have, I’m afraid. What’s your friend’s name?” he asked, innocently.
“Clerval! That’s his name! Have you seen him? He came with me to this party, but I haven’t seen him for an hour or so. Has it been an hour? I don’t know,” the man replied, quickly, slurring his words and alternating from looking at Utterson and swinging his head around as he looked for his friend. Utterson opened his mouth to speak before the man interrupted and continued to talk, “oh my! I hope I find Clerval soon! I have this nasty enemy, who I built myself, WITH MY OWN HANDS, and he’s coming to ruin my life! Kill my friends and family! I haven’t seen him at this party, but I wouldn’t put it past him to be here!” In the middle of his rambling, the man’s eyes grew wide and he gripped Utterson’s arm tightly with his spare hand, seeming frantic. He continued, “DO NOT TRUST HIM! He’s very very tall, grey, very strong! I intended for him to be beautiful but oh what a mistake I have made! I have ruined my life by creating this monstrosity!” he yelled, barely pronouncing some words clearly. Utterson gently pulled the man’s hand off of his arm and took a step back, grimacing slightly.
“Okay, well I’m sorry that I can’t help you, and I’m sorry… that your life is how it is… but I really must be going. If I see your friend, Clerval, I’ll tell him that you were looking for him,” Utterson faltered, unsure of how to respond to the strange things that this man was jabbering on about. Luckily, he seemed to get distracted by something else in his sad state, turning away from Utterson. Seeing his chance to escape this awkward encounter, Utterson spied a pair of double doors at the back of the hall, leading outside. With the man’s head turned away from him, Utterson spun round and quickly headed towards the back doors, weaving his way through the crowd and getting away from this strange drunk man as quick as he possibly could.
After walking out the doors in the back corner of the hall, Utterson found himself on the large lawn of the garden. Lots of circular tables had been set up, all with white tablecloths and a few small candles flickering in the centre of the tables. White metal chairs surrounded each table, some tables had more than others where people had moved them around so they could sit and talk with all of their friends. The atmosphere out here appeared to be still chaotic, but in a much calmer and more collected fashion. The loud music from the hall echoed across the garden as people laughed and chatted together, drinks in hand, gossip on the tips of their tongues. Further down the garden, down some stone steps, there was a large rectangular pool. The shimmering, crisp blue water and the surrounding tiling was full of people being just as chaotic as those who were inside the mansion, splashing and pushing in their friends while cackling heartily. Feather boas lay strewn about the pool, floating sadly in the water as their owners had the time of their lives. Suit jackets and shoes of all kinds littered the grass surrounding the pool, collecting together with the empty drink’s glasses and the variety of other belongings that people had abandoned.
Utterson scanned across the garden, spying a couple of interesting-looking characters but nobody that seemed like they’d be able to help him with his task. Some particular characters that his gaze lingered on were a pair of gentlemen sat at one of the further tables, sitting closely next to each other and talking intimately with one another. They both looked fairly young, maybe early 30s, and one was strikingly handsome, with neatly combed back and styled golden blond hair, his bright blue eyes alive with hope as he talked enthusiastically. He was taller and had a slightly larger build than the man he was sat next to, who was thinner, had short and neat dark brown hair with soft hazel eyes that were looking at their companion in awe, as if he were the most beautiful man they had ever seen. Utterson couldn’t help but smile a little when watching the pair.
As he turned back around to walk back into the hall, Utterson decided that the most likely place for secrets to find would be in the large collection of rooms and corridors that made up the rest of the mansion; places that the guests of the party wouldn’t be able to find so easily. As he wove through the crowd filling the hall once again, Utterson remembered about the guests that Hyde had said he was waiting for, and he wondered if one of the many rooms he was going to explore would enlighten him on who exactly these guests were. A thought popped into his head as he finally made it out of the hall and up one of the two staircases in the main hallway: what if Jekyll was one of these guests that Hyde was waiting for?
Reaching the balcony, Utterson was about to walk through one of the two doors when he saw a figure at the end of the narrow corridor sprinting towards him at full speed. He looked determined as he ran, adding to his intimidating aura along with his tall stature, fairly muscular frame, and chiselled facial features. His long, collarbone-length brown hair fanned out behind him as he ran, matching the motion of the large floor-length coat that he wore. Utterson managed to catch a glimpse at a few things on the man’s belt, a pointed piece of wood that was about twelve inches long, a small rack of silver bullets, a small silver cross, before he aggressively yelled ‘move!’ at Utterson. Jumping out of the way, Utterson watched as the man hopped up onto the railing, sprang off of it, and grabbed onto the closest expensive chandelier that was dangling from the hallway ceiling in one fluid motion. The crowd of people in the hallway gasped and screamed as they watched such a daring stunt, eyes fixed on the man as he swung the chandelier forwards, let go and allowed the momentum to carry him forwards through the air. Everyone stared with bated breath, unsure if he was going to stick the landing or horrifically injure himself. With wide eyes, Utterson saw in awe the man tuck into a roll as he reached the floor, before rolling forwards into an upright standing position. Instantly, every person in the room began to furiously clap and cheer as they crowded around him, infatuated with him and looking up at him in starry admiration. Utterson blinked a couple of times, not quite believing what he saw; what a wild party this was! He couldn’t help but question to himself if all of Hyde’s parties were this lawless and turbulent.
Now free to walk through the doorway and down the corridor, Utterson continued his exploration into the depths of the mansion. He looked at the contents behind every door he came across, beholding grand bedrooms, offices, game rooms, and bathrooms, all decorated in incredibly grandiose ways. Occasionally, Utterson stumbled across other party guests, some were exploring, some were having quiet and private conversations, and some were doing things that Utterson really wished he had not seen.
Eventually, after getting fairly deep into the house, Utterson came across a door that had a sign hanging on the handle that read: ‘Do Not Enter’ in block capitals, scribbled in red ink. He raised an eyebrow and stretched out a hand to turn the door handle; finally, Utterson had found something interesting! He went to push the handle down, but it didn’t budge, locked, causing Utterson to frown and scrunch up his nose. After he rattled the handle, Utterson heard some muffled voice from behind the door, causing his eyes to widen before he crouched down to put an ear to the keyhole.
“What was that?”
“Ah, don’t worry about that, there’s a lot of very drunk people crawlin’ all over this house right now. That was probably one of them.” Utterson recognised this voice as the same sly and smooth one that had addressed him on the stone steps at the front of the house, the voice of Hyde.
“Are you sure?”
“Oh, don’t you worry Mr Carew, the door is locked and I’ll always have two of my boys in here with you at all times. Don’t want any drunkards to interrupt you guys’ good time now!” Hyde replied, in an almost sickly-sweet tone of voice. There was a murmur of multiple voices in response before Hyde continued, “great! Well I’ll leave you guys to it! If you need more drinks of any kind just tell one of my boys here and he’ll get them for you,” he said cheerily. At this point Utterson’s eyes were wide with shock over what he was hearing: Danvers Carew? Along with some other respected members of society meeting with a criminal like Hyde just so they could quietly have some drinks! These were the guests that Hyde had been waiting for at the front! Utterson couldn’t believe his ears.
At the sound of Hyde’s footsteps approaching the door, Utterson quietly scrambled back into an upright position and took a few quick steps down the corridor, acting as if he had just been calmly walking down the hallway by the time Hyde opened the door. Facing forwards, he dared not to look back as he heard Hyde close the door behind him. There was a jangle of keys being taken out of a pocket, and then a pause.
“Well, if it isn’t my fancy friend, Mr Seek, from earlier,” Hyde said slowly, smirking slightly through his usual sly smile. Utterson paused to hide the fear in his face with a polite smile before turning around. Hyde had said the name ‘Mr Seek’ with the same extra articulation as earlier, and his tone of voice, while at a surface level appeared to be calm and friendly, had undertones of mild aggression. Utterson couldn’t help but let out a slight nervous laugh.
“Ah! Mr Hyde! What a coincidence, bumping into you once again out of the many people that are attending this party,” Utterson replied, raising his eyebrows in false shock. Hyde exhaled sharply through his nose as he locked the door and put the keys back into his pocket.
“Yes, what a coincidence indeed,” he said, turning his body and fixing Utterson with another one of those intense stares like he did when they met earlier. “How did you find yourself all the way up here? Why are you not downstairs partying with most of the other guests?” Hyde inquired, tilting his head to a slight angle and walking slowly over to Utterson. His eyebrows furrowed and his eyes softened in an expression of sad confusion that was painfully false and patronising, like he was talking to a lost child. Utterson hesitated.
“Ah, well I’m not usually the best at parties, I’m afraid. I just decided to go on a walk to get away from the noise for a short while,” Utterson answered as flatly as possible. A knowing smile slid up Hyde’s face as his eyebrows arched and his head tipped back in a slow nod, not taking his eyes off of Utterson, pinning him once again with that same intense stare. He paused before slapping Utterson hard on the upper back, causing Utterson to jolt in fright, the smile spreading into a grin.
“Well that’s alright! Perfectly understandable! Not everyone is cut out for constant partying,” Hyde said intensely, the mild aggressive undertones not leaving his voice. Utterson laughed, trying to hide his nervousness. He really did not feel comfortable around this man at all, and Utterson wasn’t sure whether it was because he felt afraid of the power that Hyde had or something else entirely. He started to slowly walk backwards away from Hyde.
“Yes! Unfortunately so! Well, I better return back downstairs, I don’t want to miss to much of the fun,” he reasoned, gesturing with his thumb over his shoulder. Hyde returned his hands to his pockets.
“Naturally! Until we meet again, Mr Seek,” Hyde said calmly, raising one hand to the brim of his hat and giving Utterson a single nod. He continued to stare intensely at Utterson, sly smile fixed upon his face. Utterson waved goodbye before spinning around and walking quickly back down the corridor.
A little bit shaken up by the encounter, Utterson decided to quit while he was ahead and leave, making a beeline for the front door, not stopping to interact with or watch anymore of the crazy shenanigans that were going on in the party. He paced quickly down the stone steps, across the driveway, weaving in and out of parked cars, before getting in one of the many taxicabs that were parked outside. During the journey home he stared out of the window, wondering how on earth Jekyll had managed to get himself tangled up with such a wild and lawless man like Hyde.