“I still don’t see why mother couldn’t have picked these up herself, she was out with Phillis just this afternoon”, Allison muttered to herself as she made her way through the damp and vacant alleys of Whitechapel. Her mother had sent her out on an evening errand to retrieve her new petticoat and gown from Mcnaught’s needle works. It was half-past seven when she departed, and by now she assumed it was getting upon twelve or so. It wasn’t her fault she was this late. No, not her’s but her sister’s. Phillis had told their mother that Mr. Mcnaught would have her order ready at six. Allison had expected to be there and back in perhaps an hour, but her dear sister was mistaken about the time. As it turned out Mr. Mcnaught would not have the order completed until ten-thirty and had planned to deliver it to the Collingwood estate in the morning. Allison could not return to her mother without fulfilling her request, and so she waited inside Mcnaught’s needle works until they had finished her mother’s gown.

    With the time being what it was there would be no cabs out. She set off for home quickly, not wanting to upset her mother more than she most likely had. It has always been the same since she was a child, nothing she ever did was good enough for Mrs. Abigail Collingwood. But, her sister, Phillis, could do no wrong. Phillis was the favorite, at least in the eyes of their mother. Mr. Collingwood saw things in a more rational light. He saw things for what they were and made sure Allison and Phillis were treated equally. As long was her father was around, Allison felt safe. Things changed when Allison was fourteen, however. Mr.Collingwood fell ill with some type of disease of the lungs. He had been a smoker since he was a child, his parent’s not the strict type. The disease rendered him nearly immobile and as a result he spent the remainder of his days confined to his bed. Mr. Collingwood’s illness was accompanied with a most horrendous host of symptoms. Chief amongst these were his numerous and nearly unbearable coughing fits.  While Allison was in her room or in the den, she could hear his continuous and terrible coughing. Coughing that had the sound of a man desperately trying to take in air as he drowns helpless in a pool of water. One day Allison made up her mind that she needed to see her father again, before the inevitable happened. The sight of it all was almost too much to handle. The once jovial and portly man had  turned saddened and willowy, a mere shell of what was once her father.
    Allison’s wistful thoughts were cut short as she turned the corner down an alley. The street was shrouded by the looming buildings above. Only small slivers of  pale moonlight pushed through the gaps left between the buildings. A sudden feeling of dismay flooded over Allison that brought her to pick up pace. Each footstep echoed across the seemingly infinite expanse of the darkness before her.. Each shadow seemed to be lurching towards her, grasping for her with outstretched limbs and warped claws. Allison could keep her calm no longer, she broke into a full sprint down the alley.
    She could see the end of the alley, and the street it branched into. The excitement coupled with relief took hold of her and caused a misstep. In one crushing movement Allison collapsed to the ground. As she tried to pull herself from the pavement she heard the faint sound of footsteps behind her. And, just like that, the wave of hope that had taken her was washed away by the dread of that unknown darkness creeping behind her. The footsteps became louder and louder. Allison tried to move but her ankle was twisted and her kneecap shattered. She realized now that her entire leg was smeared with blood. She was lying in a pool of crimson. Tears ran down her face as the panic set in. The footsteps had now ceased and were replaced by a far more horrifying sight. Allison could see the large silhouette of a faceless figure slowly begin to approach.
“ Wh- Who is there?”
No reply.
“ Please if you could just help me up.”
No reply.
“I am Allison Collingwood, my father was Aleister Collingwood.
No reply.
“ My family would surely reward you if you were..”
Allison’s pleas were cut off as the mysterious figure descended upon her. There was no more begging, there were no screams, there was only silence.

XAVIER

    He awoke at the sound of his alarm the same way he did every morning. He slid his feet into his slippers and put on his robe the same way he did every morning. He took his newspaper in hand and prepared coffee the same way he did every morning. He sat down in his study with his paper and coffee the same way he did every morning, only this wasn’t like every morning. He could feel that there was something wrong, something awful had happened. He had these feelings quite often, but never this strong. Scanning through the paper revealed that it wasn’t anything local, or national for that matter. Whatever happened had happened in another country, at least if his instincts were right. And, they were always right. After finishing off his coffee and taking in all of the news, he went off to shower and dress for the day.
    He emerged from his room to the sound of the phone downstairs. Without having to think about who was on the other line, he picked up the phone and said, “I’ll be right over” and hung it up. The drive over to the agency was one of no incidence and was rather calming. He pulled in to his accustomed space and saw that there were several familiar vehicles already there. He walked into the building and went straight toward Captain Haller’s office. He passed by a few friendly faces and offered them simple pleasantries. He could see from the hallway that there were a number of people already in the captain’s office. He pulled open the door and made his way to his regular seat. Captain Haller finished whatever business he had and escorted the other’s out of the room. “ I assume you have a lot of questions about what’s going on, considering you didn't wait for an explanation on the phone?”, the captain asked while making his way back to his desk.
“ Yes, I suppose I should have some questions for you. In what country did this “something” happen?”
“Country? How did you know it wasn’t domestic?”
“ I’m surprised you would even need to ask, Captain. I thought you knew me better than that.”
“ Forgive me, but it’s just that after working with these amateurs around here for so long I forgot what it was like to be around a real detective.”
Haller pulled a file from one of his desk drawers and slide it forward. “This is everything we have on the case, not much I know.”, Haller explained as he poured himself a drink.
“They asked for you specifically Xavier, they said it was a job only you could do.”
“Who asked for me?”
“Scotland Yard.”
“The Yard you say? Well, then this does seem interesting.”
Xavier finished thumbing through the field and placed it back on the desk. He rose from his seat and began pacing across the office. “I understand that you might still be uncertain about going back to England, but..”, the captain was cut off when Xavier asked, “ What time is it, I seem to have left my watch at home?”
“Eh- well it looks like it’s eight-thirty.”
“Hm, alright I had better get on a plane by noon if I want to arrive tonight.”
“Wh- what? You mean you’ll actually go?”
“You did say they asked for me personally? I’m not one to turn down a personal request.”
“I hope you don’t mind if I take this as well, I’ll need to study it more carefully on the trip.”
Xavier collected the file and left the office. Captain Haller was left there with his mouth agape and his mind spinning.
    Xavier emerged from the office with only one thought, “ This time, I’m coming for you.”