Unhallowed Metropolis - The Curious Cases of Dr Bartlebee

Prologue: Case File LW24B ??? Lady in White, City in Grey - part 3

?????????? In the dead of night, having sneaked past the remaining Death Watch troops that were still on the streets, Sir Arthur, Dr Edward, Lottie and Ophelia made their way along the docks towards the Stalzen Leather Goods factory. Quickly Lottie found a side entrance and unlocked the door. With the group inside the factory they started to look for where this clone had disappeared to. Edward turned on his lamp and he and Arthur checked the vats used for preparing the leather, Edward almost losing his lamp in the container of tanning agents as his nerves got the better of him. Meanwhile Ophelia stood on guard at the door, stay as quiet as a statue, and Lottie, in the dark, searched about the shelves and crates. Bumping into a stack of containers Lottie, startled she thought she could hear some one moving about in the dark. Creeping back towards the others she signaled for Edward to swing the lamp in her direction, and after a few moments they found that there was nothing there.
?????????? Once they were sure that the factory floor was clear they all made their way to the stairwell, moving down into the dark, stepping down on filthly stone steps and almost tripping on rats scurrying under foot. With Edward in front, followed by Ophelia they found that the stairs went further down past the underground entrance to the subway network. As they descended down into the dark they found a large steel door that was open, and beyond it a long corridor, dark except for the dim sickly green glow from the other end of the tunnel. On either side of the corridor there were three large steel doors, doors not unlike those used in asylums. From within they could hear the wails and moans of people or creatures. Slowly they crept forward and they past each of the doors until they were almost at the entrance to the room from where the green light eminated. From within they could hear an argument between a woman and an older man. The older man was shouting, dictating that Josephine should not leave the labs again, and that their patron was interested in her development. But soon she became angry, angry at how she had been used and how she had killed her real father. Soon her anger flared and there was a scream and a crash of glass. The scream rippled through the tunnel, shaking the nerves of Edward.
?????????? Then there was the cries, the shouts and the moans. Hands crashing against the doors. Soon all the steel cell doors swung open, their locks broken, and naked figures emerged. Not zombies but also not humans, but other things, their eyes cold and hungry. Picking up his shovel Edward looked up into the face of Josephine, her young face contorted with rage. Lunching forward Edward kicked out at the clone, pushing her back, but she would not be stopped so easily and thrust forward with her iron talons, her finger tips puncturing through Edwards coat and into his chest. Edward stumbled back, blood welling up from the holes in his chest, barely dodging the swipe of the clone, her steel like claws raking the stone wall. Behind Edward, Arthur levelled his pistol at the approaching anathema, firing shots at the mutants. Likewise Lottie drew her two knives and lashed out, making for killing strikes at eyes and throats. Ophelia, seeing the danger that this clone, Josephine, presented, stepped forward, her exculpus ready and lunged forward, her sword striking the target and cleaving through the clones neck. Blood erupted from the neck of the abomination and in turn the remaining clones fled in terror.
?????????? In the undeground lab, though injured, Edward and the others picked over the crumpled body of the scientist, and found papers and notes. It seemed that the man was working for two people. The first were more than likely the Smithsonian company, rivals of Haughtons own company. The other letters Edward figured must be from the Lux ex Morte. Whatever was going on here was just the tip of the iceberg, but for now the mystery of the murder of Mathew Haughton was over.