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It was during the long dreary weeks of March that I next has leisure to think about magic, and the grimoire.
While London is hardly a hotbed of Catholics, it was still affected by Lent. The entire city was trapped in a gloomy grey world in between winter and spring, with nothing to leaven it. Most theatre and other entertainment stopped, and with that, my meager income. Being an actor did not allow a young man much in the way of savings, and I eked out what I had by playing instruments and even teaching the rudiments at a local pawn shop. At the same time, I spent as much time as could be considered polite with Henry. His heating budget was much higher than mine, even if he was still in a dorm block at the college, and the warmth made it easier to suppress the coughing fits that I was still having from time to time.

It was there that I heard about the odd attacks. The boys that he spent time with didn't really care, because the murders were all taking place in the lower quarters, though one did complain that to avoid the effected areas, his budget for 'entertainment' had doubled- which is to say he'd had to switch to a higher class of whore house. But the deaths of a few people in the lower quarters were nothing more to them but a reason to complain about the ineffectiveness of Scotland Yard. Personally, I marveled that I had not heard about it, as one of the attacks had happened not three city blocks from my apartment. But then, other than the actors that held a few other apartments in the building, I'd never spoken much to my neighbours. The location caught my attention but what held it was the type of attacks. They were quite vicious, and yet curiously bloodless. One of the boys had a friend who was a detective in the police force- much the same kind of friend I was to Henry, I suppose; not 'our kind' but still a good solid person. I was as accepted as I was I suspect, because Henry had put forth that I was simply a victim of circumstance, and no one ever challenged the polite fiction. But he had gotten more details about the murders than anyone should have, and gleefully shared them all.

Later, when studies had called them away, I brought them up to Henry.
"How long have these attacks been going on?"
"You couldn't ask Dunsdale that?" he laughed. "He'd know. I can't say."
"It's just- I've been thinking about Edward."
Henry looked at me seriously. "You don't think they're related. I mean, it was a tragedy what happened to Edward, but I don't think..."
""Henry- they're too much alike for it to be a coincidence. They must be related."
"And what do you think it is? A vampire, like some penny dreadful?"
Cross at this dismissal I challenged him. "And why not? We've summoned demons. Why not vampires?"
Henry laughed. "I'll give you more on heaven and earth, but don't' be silly Xander."
"Are you afraid to admit the possibility because it means that there are forces outside your control?" I demanded.
"What's with that tone?" he retorted. "Why are you so egar to have a monster out there in the night? Aren't the lowlives that are already out there bad enough that you must invoke fairy tale demons?"
"OH never mind." I threw myself back into the embrace of my chair with such force, I started coughing.
"That's a nasty cough cuz."
"It'll go away" I managed to get out. "It's just the cold and damp."
"You should see a doctor at least." Henry seemed genuinely concerned. "I could set up an appointment with my old quack..."
"No no that's not necessary!" I held up a warding hand. Henry was a good fellow and I loved him, but he seemed to forget that not everyone had the deep pockets of his family. Any doctor he went to would be well beyond my means. "I'll do something." Eyes watering, I got my coughs under what control I could.
"Besides" He said, trying to finish our argument. "They caught the man who killed Edward."
"Did they? They caught someone, but that doesn't mean he was responsible. I was at that 'trial'. He would have confessed anything; there was no brain left in his mind, just a load of rot."
"Let's not argue, cuz." Henry asked earnestly. "Please."
For his sake, I dropped it. besides, my chest ached dully, and I was sure that if I kept arguing, it would only get worse.