Aaron didn\u2019t give up. He knew he was faster than most Vampires, and there was still a chance he could catch the Ripper. Without another thought, he gave chase, tearing down Water Street as fast as he could.
Soon, it became quite certain where Jack was headed. Even though he zigged and zagged a few times and was still a good block and a half ahead of him, Aaron could tell he was headed for the bridge. Toward what end, he wasn\u2019t certain. Perhaps if Jack knew he was still being followed, he thought he could lose him in the water. Thoughts of plunging into the East River were not particularly inviting, but after three years, this needed to end tonight.
It was past 2:00 in the morning and there were very few people in sight as he followed behind Jack who, despite constantly checking over his shoulder, had given no indication that he was aware that Aaron was still behind him. He seemed to have slowed his pace a bit, as if he was calculating what to do next. The few pedestrians they passed seemed to pay them no mind. There was no automobile traffic to speak of either, and before long, Jack had reached his destination and began to hoof it across the bridge.
There would be little room to hide now, and so, once Jack was firmly on the bridge without any other options other than the East River, Aaron increased his speed. If Jack hadn\u2019t seen him before, he certainly knew he was there now and took off at a speed greater than Aaron had ever seen him run before.
He used an automobile lane, not the narrow footpath, which gave him more room to navigate around obstacles, including the occasional car. Aaron began to narrow the distance, but Jack was nearly halfway across the bridge now. If he reached the other side, Aaron could potentially lose him again. He had to prevent that from happening.
Just over the crest of the midpoint, Aaron looked past Jack to see they were not alone. Three figures stood spread out across the termination of the bridge in the distance, and they were slowly advancing. Jack saw them, too, which caused him to slow up. He realized he was trapped now between Aaron and his teammates, and the only place to escape was over the side of the bridge.
\u201cJack!\u201d Aaron shouted as he watched the man seem to weigh his options. \u201cPut your hands up and come with us, and you won\u2019t be harmed.\u201d
The man began to laugh as he continued to back toward the far lane behind him. \u201cIf you truly think you know who I am, there\u2019s no way you\u2019re taking me in without harming me.\u201d
They had no weapons that worked at this range, only silver-tipped stakes and Holy Water. Aaron found the Holy Water almost worthless. Sprinkling it at the Vampire only slightly burned and dazed them. In order to actually do any damage, they had to be close enough to land the stake, decapitate, or bludgeon the beast to death. He\u2019d been researching alternate weapons, but so far nothing he\u2019d come up with had been approved, so he stood in the middle of the East River suspension bridge eyeing Jack the Ripper, knowing he was cornered, and a gun would do him in, with nothing but a wooden stake and his bare hands to end the life of the worst criminal he\u2019d ever pursued.
They were close enough together now that Aaron could see the eyes of his teammates. Jamie had been covering the far right path, but since Jack was backing toward the one to Aaron\u2019s left, he leapt over the railing and stepped into the automobile lane where Vicky was also closing in on Jack.
Frank had a stake in his pocket; Aaron could tell by how he was fingering it, and he seemed to be signaling to Aaron that if he could back Jack that direction, he would get him.
Aaron was fairly certain that plan would not work.
\u201cJack, you have my word,\u201d Aaron assured him. \u201cDrop your weapons and slowly walk this direction.\u201d
\u201cMy weapons?\u201d the tall man in the hat replied. \u201cYou mean like this?\u201d He produced a long surgical knife from his coat pocket.
\u201cDrop it!\u201d Frank shouted. He was a mere five feet away now at best, and Jack\u2019s back was nearly touching the outside railing of the bridge.
\u201cYou don\u2019t understand!\u201d the Ripper shouted. \u201cNone of you see the importance in what I have given you. The science. The art. The restitution! How can you possibly see?\u201d
Aaron had no idea what he was blathering on about, and it didn\u2019t really matter at this point. He knew the knife Jack clutched could not hurt him or Jamie, but if he turned it on Vicky or Frank\u2014whose actions showed perhaps he had forgotten this\u2014it could be deadly.\u201d
\u201cI know you want to be heard,\u201d Aaron said cautiously, \u201cand we will hear you. But you must drop the knife first.\u201d
\u201cHave you any idea the skill it takes to remove a kidney?\u201d Jack continued to wax. \u201cTo remove a uterus?\u201d
Before Aaron could answer, Jamie replied, \u201cI do. You\u2019re a talented surgeon. Of that, there\u2019s no doubt.\u201d
Jack looked at the Guardian who was only about ten yards away and nearly directly in front of him, the pedestrian walkway railing between them. \u201cAre you a physician?\u201d he asked.
\u201cI am. Not as capable as you, but a surgeon nonetheless.\u201d
Jack sniggered at the compliment, and Aaron could see Jamie\u2019s attempt at conversation and accolades was working. Jack was starting to relax. If he could get a few steps closer, he could launch himself at the Ripper, planning to land between him and the outside railing, pushing him forward. If Jamie went at the same time, he should be able to get him before Jack managed to escape or harm one of the Hunters.
He would never have the opportunity to find out if his plan would work. Before he could carry it out, Frank rushed forward, stake in hand, and attempted to plunge it into Jack\u2019s chest before he could swing the knife around.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Aaron didn\u2019t give up. He knew he was faster than most Vampires, and there was still a chance he could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shadows-bargain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}