Chattanooga, Tennessee – Present Day
Is there something we missed? Jasper asked himself. We looked at thousands of variables and undesired effects and narrowed them down by the likeliness that each would actually occur. What did we miss?
He was concerned about his friend. His diagnosis was that Jack just needed more sleep; and while it was possible that was simply what was wrong with Jack, he was concerned there was more.
Jasper reassessed the recorded sessions before and after Jack traveled through time. He compared Jack’s personality pre and post operation. He seemed fine. The only difference Jasper could detect was that Jack now seemed very distracted.
“Of course,” he said aloud, “that could be because of the anesthetics.” He paused and realized he had spoken to an empty room. He shrugged it off and turned and looked at the clock: 3:15am. I’ll look for a few more minutes and then go to bed.
He watched with droopy eyes and within a few minutes, he was asleep.
It was time to make another trip. Jack had displayed no further signs of complications. Jasper looked for signs of an underlying aggression but found none.
“You’re ready?” Jasper asked.
“I’m ready.”
Over the past two weeks, they had merged several medications to procure a pill that battled both the dull, throbbing headache that Jack was experiencing and the nausea.
They also studied additional methods of self-hypnosis. Through much reading, they found an Old World European method that created instant hypnosis. Jack didn’t believe the process would actually work but decided to give it a try. The first few times it didn’t work. Then, as Jack practiced, he actually hypnotized himself. After more practice, he found that he could hypnotize himself very quickly. It wasn’t much longer afterwards that he found he could hypnotize himself instantly.
They intentionally waited until a day after it rained for the next trip so that the ground was muddy. Jack stripped down completely naked and rolled in the mud, covering his body. Once the mud dried, he used a towel to wipe off as much as he could. This left his skin and hair coated in dirty streaks that was caked in some places. Next, Jack used a chewable non-toxic dye tablet to discolor his teeth.
When he was thoroughly filthy, he opened the bag that contained his reeking clothes from his last trip. He finished dressing and looked at Jasper. “Do I look ready for the ball?”
Jasper nodded while holding his nose and doing the best he could to hold his breath.
“Come on, Jasper, it’s not that bad. Just one dance? Please?”
Jasper laughed and regretted it as soon as he did. He inhaled the aroma of Jack and almost gagged.
“Are you gonna make it?” Jack asked.
“Barely. Now, shall we get started?”
Jack nodded.
“Okay,” Jasper said, “first you need to take your pill. In fact, I’ll be surprised if you even feel dizzy after you arrive.”
“That will be a welcome change.”
As Jasper spoke, Jack studied him. Jack wondered if he actually had Jasper fooled. Over the past few weeks, he worked to control the anger that he felt deep within. He learned he could coexist with the rage. He also learned he could hide the rage from his face when it took over. But one thing he couldn’t hide was his eyes; if Jasper had actually studied Jack’s eyes, he would have seen someone possible of great violence.
“Jack, are you listening to me?” Jasper asked and Jack snapped his focus back to the man before him.
“Sorry, I was thinking about my arrival.”
“You’re sure you’re ready?” Jasper’s voice was filled with concern.
Jack nodded.
“Okay, then,” Jasper continued. “You’re going back to 1888 London. The first murder of Jack the Ripper happened on Friday, August 31 of that year. The first victim was found dead at 3:45am and was last seen alive around two that morning. The body was found on Buck’s Row just off Brady Street.”
“So that’s where I’ll go,” Jack agreed.
“Just remember what we talked about. You are there to observe and nothing else. The last thing you want to do is be a suspect in a murder.”
Jack nodded. “I’m ready.”
“All right. Relax your mind and do as we rehearsed.”
Jack closed his eyes. For a moment, he concentrated on the location of where he wanted to go. Then, he focused on the year, then the month and date and the time. Coming home was easy; a specific corner of two streets in 19th Century London was not.
A moment later he was gone.
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
London, England – August 1888
Jack took in the view along Whitechapel Road. There was only a smattering of windows that showed light and outside of that, everything was dark.
He felt no nausea.
He was not sure of the time or date but by the gloom and lack of movement along the street, he was sure that it was late.
A sign revealed he was on Brady Street which meant that Buck’s Row was one block north. He slouched as he traveled the road, trying to blend in; he was alone but did not want to draw attention to himself to anyone who happened by because of his prevalent height, especially this late at night.
He also kept a watchful eye for patrolling officers. Beats tended to be a few blocks which took an office roughly fifteen minutes to complete. He could not know at what stage of that round an officer might be.
Jack took a left at the corner and was faced with a wall of a warehouses that spanned the entire length of the block. At the far end of the street, a single gas lamp revealed several houses in low light. Jack moved towards them in the eerie ambiance and discovered a gate that marked an unlit path.
Jack entered
