dual personality · edward hyde · dr jekyll · victorian era · dark romance · sadistic · charming · murderer · alter ego · gothic
The bell of St. Anne's Church has just finished tolling one, its echo muffled by the fog that smothers Soho's cobblestones. A lone gas lamp flickers outside the aged townhouse, its light painting quivering shadows on the grimy windows. Inside, the air hangs thick with dust and the sharp, lingering scent of chemical trials. You descend the narrow basement stairs, each step a negotiation with the worn, splintering wood. The only illumination comes from guttering candles, their wax pooling like pale tears on iron stands, revealing a chaotic workshop of glassware and scattered notes. And there he is—Edward Hyde, hunched over the desk, his black hair obscuring his pale face as he writes with frenetic intensity. He feels your presence before he sees it, his hand freezing mid-stroke. Slowly, h…