Journal entry of Josephine Utterson.
12 / September / 1874. Yesterday was a really tiring day! I even forgot to write that at the end of our day, it was a true miracle that Henry and I managed to finish breakfast on time. Of course, I was much more careful handling the knives, hehe. I didn't want another similar accident to happen! So, when the situation calmed down a bit more, we no longer had work to do and we both wrote in our respective journals; we go to bed early.
At first Henry didn't want to talk about what had happened, and I didn't want to pressure him to talk about it, so that night ended early for us.
But today! In our drawing lesson taken from 3 weeks ago, he dared to tell me everything! Or well, everything he understood about himself, which... If I'm honest, it wasn't much.
- "I don't know when or how it started, I only know that one day I saw the blood fall near me and at that moment everything began, I felt fear, very afraid. Kind of like a lock on myself, just like what happened to me in the kitchen yesterday. Since then, I have tried to "get over it," to get rid of this annoyance. "
- "Well, how about we start tomorrow? I am going to help you overcome this fear so that you fulfill your dream! "
It was what I told him, completely excited because I wanted to be useful to him.
- "It's useless, I tried everything and nothing worked!"
- "Exactly! You tried everything ALONE. Now I am here to give you a hand. "
I interrupted him at that moment. He just looked at me and I can swear he smiled slightly, yes; he did not seem very convinced of my plan ... So, I patted him on the back to try to give him a little confidence and go to sleep with a little less of uncertainty than the day before.
September 13, 1874. It's already morning, today I woke up earlier than usual to write this. I'm going to ask our boss if Henry will be able to help me with the kitchen again today. This week with Mrs. Miracle sick I have the perfect opportunities to help Henry! But first, I think that, in order to get started with this, I have to figure out the "Why?" of this phobia.
Henry Jekyll's journal entry.
September 13, 1874. It is already evening, and Josephine asked me today if I could assist her again as a helper.
I accepted, although with a little difficulty, the proposal that she had made me. Which honestly, I didn't even know why she had asked me, because I'm not as skilled in the kitchen as she is, so I just said yes because I saw her as a friend who didn't want to disappoint.
That happened in the morning, so when evening came, I went to the smelly, dirty, and damp kitchen, where I found Josephine cutting several pieces of a pig so fresh that its blood splattered on the table.
When she saw her, she said to me in surprise:
- "Oh! Henry! How timely that you are here! Come help me cut this, please. "
When she finished speaking, she handed me the knife she was using. Which had a few drops of blood on the handle, which I quickly wiped off with a cloth.
- "Josephine, I don't think, uhm, I really don't think I can do it ..."
I told her, and I even remember I stuttered a little while doing it.
- "It's animal blood! Maybe it works differently ... We can try, well, only if you agree too ... "
- "Yeah...Maybe ... I can try ..."
At that moment I took a deep breath, gripped the handle tightly with both hands, looked directly at my reflection in the knife and cut the first piece ... Nothing had happened, so I continued with the next, then the next, then the next, until I stopped when I noticed how the knife I was using had been almost completely crushed from the animal's blood, and as a result of that disaster, my hands also ended up somewhat stained.
And that's how I lost all the hope that I had gained in just a few seconds, because after watching the blood run through my hands the same "symptoms" of all the previous times occurred again.
- "I think ... Animal blood does affect a bit after all."
That was the last I heard from Josephine before she ran out into the garden to vomit again.
Journal entry of Josephine Utterson.
September 14, 1874. Yes, yesterday was not a very lucky day, but today we're sure to advance a little more!
Well, first of all, I must clarify that I finally found a more useful use for this diary than just writing my absurd thoughts of the day. I'm going to turn it into a small writing space to write down the changes I see, in Henry... As if this were some kind of medical journal! But with less tuberculosis and no death, or so I hope ...
Bad thoughts aside, me and Henry are not doing so well at the moment ...
-Animal blood affected her in the same way as if it were from a person (God, I feel like an important scientist writing this).
So today I'm going to start our second try. Please Henry! I hope you're not going to hate me for what I'm going to do!
September 14, 1874. Now is later, the plan is done.
I grabbed one of his shirts and put a little blood on it, not enough to go over the fabric, staining the skin, but I did add enough to unleash his recognizable scent. I hope with this I can prove a point ...
September 14, 1874. I'm writing this at midnight, knowing that I could have waited to write it in the morning... I'm still doing it the same day this discovery was made.
Henry, as I already guessed, got mad at me. He complained to me that those blood stains are not easily removed, that the soap is very expensive, that it smelled bad, blah blah blah, a lot of complaints basically.
However, the important thing was not these complaints, but that he wore that shirt all day! There was no fainting, no panic, no vomiting, or anything scary; he acted completely normal.
Well, almost, because throughout the day he was a bit in a bad mood because of the smell and that it ruined one of his shirts, which in itself already has few ...
But hey! This I can consider as our first little victory.
- The smell doesn't seem to affect him.
Henry Jekyll's journal entry.
September 14, 1874. Damn it, Josephine. I don't have that many shirts, I mean, I understand what you did it for and yes, I must admit it was helpful to find out a little more about my "situation", but heck, I don't have the money to even try to replace this one.
Journal entry of Josephine Utterson.
September 15, 1874. Yes, yesterday was not a very lucky day, but today we are sure to advance a little more!
After all, it is a new morning, a new opportunity to try different things. Things like for example using the handkerchief that I used to cover my wound. It was a fortune that I kept it after hand stopped bleeding.
And I know I've tried doing this before, but this time I want to do it more specifically; I think I have a new idea that may work.
Henry Jekyll's journal entry.
September 15, 1874. Today, Josephine continued in her strange ways to try to "help me." Between the two of us I'm supposed to be the doctor student, and yet I swear she's taking it more seriously.
The madness that happened today?
I was gathering straw in the stables when she approached me with her typical mischievous smile, and clearly holding something behind her back.
I was going to ask her what she was holding, but she beat me to it and literally held that object in front of my face; It was the still bloody handkerchief with which she used to cover her hand.
- "Look"
She told me without even blinking.
- "W-Wait what? Why should I do it?
I replied very confused.
- "Just look at it, without looking away. Do you feel something? Something good, something bad?
- "Uhm... Nothing?? Wait, it's true, I don't feel anything!
- "Well well; It seems that looking at the blood on non-human surfaces has no effect, now we just have to hope that it will be the same when the blood leaves the body, because... I accidentally cut my finger again B-But this time it was a little!
She told me with shame, and at first, I thought she was joking until she showed me her finger with the small cut, that indeed, it was bleeding a little. The difference between this wound and the other was enormous, however that hadn't changed the fact that I was a little startled looking at it.
I tried to just look, just like Josephine had told me to do, although the moment I did I started to feel fear when my heart raced for a few seconds, but those seconds passed ... And the fear dispersed, as if I had been waiting for a great reaction that when seeing that it did not happen simply vanished, coming the relief to replace the terror.
- "Please be more careful from now on."
I told him, unconsciously covering his finger with a piece of cloth that was nearby, and then telling him that:
- "We should go back to work."
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