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Jekyll didn’t hear Hyde enter the laboratory at first. His ears were ringing, and that’s all he could focus on. For how long it had been happening, he had nearly convinced himself he had tinnitus. Doctors, however, should not diagnose themselves. He only noticed somebody else was present when he felt a faint shift in the air. There was something pressing against his back, and he turned around at such a rate that he had spilled the ink next to him on his desk, the notes he had been scribbling now ruined and stained with a deep blue. As his eyes met the red ones of the creature behind him, his heart seemed as though it had almost stopped.
“You’ve been busy,” was the first thing Hyde said, his speech slurred and his voice deep, raspy, and seemingly flat. The sound made Jekyll stand taller—not to seem prouder or bigger (even though he was clearly taller than the other man), but because it felt natural to accommodate to the rigid feeling his back experienced. “Busy trying to find ways to get rid of me, hm?”
A shaky exhale escaped from Jekyll’s lips and he turned around, gripping a scalpel between his fingers. It felt smaller than it should have, and he tried to hold it delicately in a way he wouldn’t drop it, especially with how his gloved hand was trembling like there was a tumor causing such a horribly obvious tremor. Of course, when Hyde caught sight of this, he smiled—not a typical smile, no. Certainly not. It was a smirk, really.
“Oh, cute. You’re going to attempt to make this interesting.”
Jekyll lunged out of desperation, yet Hyde moved aside with irritating ease. The only thing Jekyll’s blade had managed to catch was the edge of Hyde’s sleeve, tearing a small piece of the white fabric. It had meant something to Jekyll, even if the victory was, in essence, pointless. Hyde, however, didn’t take the retaliation lightly. His expression darkened as if the cut had been aimed at his pride.
“You have infected my body like a parasite,” Jekyll spat out, his throat straining as that last word spilt out louder than he intended, the consonants emphasised like he was biting. “You have ruined my life. You do not get to take everything. I will not allow it.” He slashed again, less controlled this time, yet Hyde caught him by the wrist mid-swing. It felt like there was a cuff made of forged steel around him, tight enough to the point it could almost cut off his circulation. Jekyll attempted to get out of the iron grip, twisting anyway. When it was of no avail, he drove his knee towards Hyde’s stomach. It barely bought him a moment, but it was enough to slip free and stagger towards the cabinet.
He scattered the contents across the floor, looking for anything to slow this down. From behind, Hyde grabbed the collar of Jekyll’s coat and pulled him back with such force that Jekyll’s heels skidded across the floor, his glasses nearly falling off his face. Jekyll swung his elbow blindly backward. It connected with Hyde’s jaw, and there was a sudden sound of a crack that made both of them freeze for a moment out of shock. Hyde stumbled backwards and let go to cover his mouth, a thin line of blood seeping through his fingers from where his lip had split. Jekyll gasped and rushed towards the door, vision blurring with panic.
He almost reached it.
Hyde slammed into him from behind, and Jekyll’s body collided with the door so hard it dented. His breath left him in a thin, broken gasp. Stars flickered at the edges of his sight. Jekyll clawed at him weakly, then turning to the door, on his knees in pain. “You…won’t win,” he muttered. “You can’t—”
Hyde grabbed his hair and pulled on it, quickly and sharply, so he would have looked at him from below. “I don’t mean to sound cliché, as it can be so boring, but I already have.”
Jekyll twisted again, his whole body in agony moving on instinct. He attempted to throw his fist to Hyde’s face while still facing him. It was a clumsy, desperate swing. Needless to say, the punch barely just grazed Hyde. He blinked, staring at the man, and then let out a sharp laugh, letting go.
“Hit me again. I dare you. Show me there’s something in you that can actually kill without a disguise.” Jekyll struck him once more. It was slightly harder, though his hand still trembled and caused no damage. In fact, Hyde barely reacted at all. His grin spread, and wrapped his hand around Jekyll’s throat.
The contents of the counter by them clattered violently as Hyde slammed Jekyll onto it. There was the sound of glass shattering under him, piercing his skin in several areas. He kicked and clawed with shallow breathing, vision swimming. He managed to drive his knee upward into Hyde’s ribs, yet the man barely felt any pain from it. It only earned a harsh and irritated snarl.
“You fight like a man who wants to live,” Hyde barked, tightening his grip with slow deliberation. “It’s truly a shame you only decided that just now.”
Jekyll’s limbs quivered. His head felt too light. He tried to breathe and hold onto something, anything, but everything slipped through his fingers like sand. As he felt the last of his strength dissolve, his body went still.
Hyde held him until he stopped struggling. Until he could let go.
Jekyll collapsed to the floor, his glasses gliding a short distance away, the lens cracking quietly when they landed.
Hyde stood over him, breathing slowly as he looked down at the lifeless body. He nudged Jekyll’s shoulder with the tip of his shoe. No movement. No response at all. He pressed his lips together, ignoring the pain from the cut that had recently appeared. He crouched beside the spectacles, snapping the frame cleanly in half. “You were... weak,” he said as if speaking to the corpse. Deep down, however, he was only attempting to convince himself that Henry Jekyll “had to go.”
He stood up and shoved the broken frame and lenses into his pocket, blowing out the final candle and turning towards the door. It creaked as he slowly pushed it open, then closed it just as deliberately with a faint click. Nothing was left of Henry Jekyll except for a silent, inanimate body.