For Now and Forever

A Short Story About Jack the Ripper

January 5, 1894
I won't answer the obvious question you most likely want to ask. 'What's you real identity?', perhaps? Don't even bother. For now and forever, I'll be known to you as Jack the Ripper. I'm even known to myself as that now. Quite sad, actually.

Contrary to popular belief, I did not kill those prostitutes for the 'fun of it'. You see, I'm a vampire. You must be shocked. You must think I really am crazy. But in all actuality, I am not. I am a 'creature of the night', a 'blood-sucking fiend'. I am forever trapped at the age of twenty-seven. The reason why I killed those prostitutes is because I was thirsty. Except one in particular. She was indeed on purpose. I also killed many other women, but not so extravagantly.

Vampires do not grow or have fangs of any fashion. Our teeth are quite thin, making it easier to bite. Meaning I can smile at whoever I please and they won't cringe in fear or run for the nearest church. I did all that slashing because I was a doctor before I was turned (a surgeon to be exact), and I figured it would be much easier to hide the bites if I sliced the neck wide open. The opening of the abdomens was also my work, to make sure the murdered women stayed dead and didn't become Undead. What a messy business that would have been.

I did not wish to be what I am. I had wealth, a good home, and a beautiful, loving wife whom I adored. What else could a man ask for? It was on a business trip to Paris when I was attacked. It was brutal. A whole group of them swarmed upon me while I was waiting for my carriage outside one night. They thought they had killed me for sure. The police discovered my body a few hours later (my carriage failed to arrive at all) and they sent a letter to my wife...saying I was dead.

She lost all of the money to greedy relatives. She was forced to move to a much more violent and dark part of London. For a while, my dearest tried to sell flowers and dresses she had made. But business was bad, and in her desperation for funds and a recomendation from a certain Mary Jane Kelly, she turned to prostitution. My one and only love died at the age of twenty-four, three years after my own supposed death.

I, on the other hand, woke up in a hospital morgue, escaping with the help of a fellow vampire who helped me learn the ways. I will not disclose his name either. I spent five years with him. I was too late to save my dear wife. But I was ready for revenge. I killed the prostitutes much more brutally than my other victims. I hated them, was completely and utterly disgusted with them.

And then one night I happened upon Mary Jane. I led her along, got a room, and then ripped her apart. I wanted her to suffer for what she did to my beloved. It was much more violent and unmerciful than my previous killings as you probably know.

After I killed Mary, I left London. From time to time I find myself wandering back. My old house still stands. Kind of funny seeing as how everything that was once associated with it has fallen. I avoid it at all costs though. Too many painful memories lie within it. I couldn't bear to go in that house again, not after everything that has happened.

So again, I won't give you my name. But at least you have my story so don't think too poorly of me. If I could change your opinion of me then this last letter has served it's purpose. Thank you, whoever you are, for taking the time to read this account. My final and only true biography. The last shred of old Jack.

Yours truly,
Jack the Ripper