A Twisted Bakery

[Arthur the Ripper]

Morning again.
It had been late last night - later than usual. Always later than usual, but somehow he managed to wake up at the same time every Monday.
You never quite get rid of routines.
Arthur stepped up from the bed an quickly got dressed - there were lots of things to do before opening hours.
Everything was already prepared, it just needed to be put together nicely and then baked.
Then it was ready for sale.
The bakery he owned wasn't something fancy, or something worldly known, and in the past it had been near-bankrupt. He had been a terrible baker. A horrible baker.
But something had happened earlier in the year - He had sudden got customers that loved him for his pies, and after that people started loving his cakes and soon his shop was filled with happy customers.
It had been a miracle for Arthur.

The day went by fast, and at the end of it all, he had sold more than last week's Monday - the tables seemed to be turning greatly for Arthur's little bakery.
And now that it was closed, cleaning was to do - the kitchen was always such a mess after baking everything.
Today he even had to mop the floor.
Business was indeed going great, and it was all due to the little miracle he had caused himself.
Without that miracle, his bakery would be lost...
And society would be drowning.
His miracle didn't just help himself - it helped everybody!
He was indeed a generous man.

Near midnight, Arthur left his Bakery.
Tonight his miracle would continue.
He had been a little careless with the ingredients for his bakery last week, so he needed to be more focused.
And then Arthur saw her again. That disgrace of a woman.
He immediately started following her, but she quickly noticed and started to walk faster - but that didn't stop Arthur.

A tapping could be heard from the cobblestone roads as the woman started running through the now rainy dark. It was almost a quarter past midnight, and she ran for her life.
But Arthur was just behind her, creating another set of tapping sounds that echoed through the black, cloudy night.
Mindlessly her thoughts wandered off, and then it happened.
A sudden trip, a quick gasp of air, a twisted ankle, a turn of her head, a silhouette; closer and closer and...
Silence.
A quick and seemingly everlasting silence, appearing for only a split-second when it was cut in the same fashion as her throat.
The dark silhouette ran away; ran to hide.
The dark silhouette - Arthur - picked up the thing that had once been a woman and carried her off - the blood dissipating in the rain.
The thing that was once a woman - now turned into the basis for his bakery.
How sweet the flavor of murder tastes.

[Prostie Alfred]

Alfred F. Jones. His name plate sitting on his desk glinted softly as his eyes started to blur. Glancing at the clock it was almost 1:00 in the morning. Late nights at work were quite usual and lately they've been getting worse. Rubbing his eyes desperate for energy Alfred then arched his back in an attempt to stretch out his weariness. There have been cases of missing woman that have been going on and strange as it seems it really only started to become noticed now. They were women, all women who were on the low end of society, homeless and in need of money, prostitutes. One of the reasons this had gone noticed for so long, they were people no one really paid attention to. It was now Alfred's assignment was to go under cover as a prostitute to try and catch the offender.

It was awkward when he had first come out to his coworkers as a homosexual. It never really meant a whole lot to him, he just was what he was. For the most part they were cool with it and it was because of that he was put on this case. Most likely the serial killer wouldn't be after him considering he was male and less likely to be noticed, giving him a cover. In a few days he was being moved within the districts that have seemed to be targeted. It was good for his job that he really didn't have any emotional ties. There was his father who lived in an apartment with Alfred and his rottweiler but seeing as Alfred was almost never home they didn't talk much. Not to mention it's been a few years since his last relationship. After Francis cheated on him he never really went out of his way to date again. Right now he was just finishing up his paperwork.

A slight click notified him that someone had opened his door. In wandered one of the secretaries, Matthew, bringing him a fresh cup of coffee. Thanking him, the younger man nodded and quickly left Alfred to his thoughts. Taking a long slow sip of the black coffee the liquid burnt his mouth slightly but at least it perked him up. The next few weeks or months were going to be long but this is what he worked for. Trying to keep the streets safe. Usually he was in charge of keeping the prostitutes off the streets but this time he had to team up with them to keep them from dying. Shutting down his computer he pushed himself away from the desk Alfred started the long walk back to his truck. Hopefully if he gets home within an hour he can get at least catch up on much needed sleep so within about 3 days time he can be packed and ready to set out.

[Arthur the Ripper]

Arthur fell down on the bed once again. Today had been a busy day. Almost every day was nowadays, but that didn't stop him from preparing for his "nightly walks".

Arthur had started killing women off the streets a few months back - walking in the middle of the night, pondering on what to do with his future, because his bakery would go bankrupt.
but then he had seen her.
The woman in the skimpy dress and the pink feather boa. He heard her whistle to him, and he followed the sound like a sailor to a siren's calling. She lead him into the back-alley, and immediately she was all over him. Arthur could feel the searching hands all over him.
Disgusting.
His mind went blank as she started to unzip his pants, and he grabbed the hardest thing he could find in the dumpster beside him.
And he hit her.
Over and over again, a thudding sound, blood everywhere.
He didn't know what to do - where to hide her?! where to hide the blood?!
Searching all over the place, he found an old carpet and wrapped her in it and simply carried the dead prostitute home.
No one would miss her anyways.

Everything was fine so far - he made sure she didn't drip on the way home to the baker, but as he entered through the back door, he realized he had no idea what to do with her.
The back door lead directly into the kitchen - and then it was as if God had given him a vision.
He had worked earlier on finishing some pies, but had never gotten as far as to fill them.
All of this set off a spark of ideas inside his head - and then he took the chance.
he started to cut, to smash, to tear.
When he was done, a good dozen of pies where filled and ready to be baked.
And from the next day on, Arthur's bakery began to boom.

He hadn't killed someone every day - he only needed to do it near once a week, since he could squeeze enough meat out of a person to do so.
The pies were filled with meat, and he used the blood as colouring and flavouring the icing and frosting on the cakes.

Arthur quickly realized that he had arrived at the bar. He had been reminiscing all the way, so the long walk had seemed so short. Tonight wasn't a hunt - it was just a search of potential victims for the end of the week.
He always stalked his victims all week long, making sure he knew at least some of their habits.
But quite honestly, right now, all he needed was a small drink...

[Prostie Alfred]

A loud beeping noise awoke Alfred from the dead of sleep. Reaching over with his right hand he shut off the alarm and sat up. The clock's red light read a mere 6:00. Pushing himself up and out of bed Alfred made his way around the apartment getting dressed and packing his last minute items. Making himself a quick breakfast he couldn't help but look around a few more times. Even though it wasn't much, this still was his home and he had lived here since he was about 16. His parents had split up about a year and half before that and even though it was awkward back then, now the thought doesn't really bother him. Whether that makes him a bad person or not Alfred didn't care, looking back it was kind of clear that something wasn't working between his parents. Around 6:45 he was ready to leave, two suitcases and his laptop bag packed into his truck. Petting Jack, the rottweiler, goodbye, Alfred left a note for his dad then made his way outside.

Where he was to be stationed at was at least a few hours drive away in a pretty decent sized town. He already had an room set up for him there but he didn't plan on bringing a whole lot with him. With his weeks worth of clothing and everything else he really hoped he wouldn't have to be there long. However, it was quite obvious this wasn't going to be an in and out kind of deal. As the next couple hours dragged by Alfred found himself on the doorstep to a motel. After a few minutes of messing with the keys he managed to let himself in the door and then just dropped his bags on the floor. Collapsing on the bed Alfred laid there until eventually he turned on his laptop to pass the time. He figured giving himself one day of just adjusting would be okay. Tomorrow though, Alfred would have to start putting himself into action.

[Arthur the Ripper]

Arthur laid silently in bed. The bakery was always closed on Wednesdays, but he never knew what to do with the spare time - relaxation only brought about the consciousness of the murders.
Or at least it would have, if there was anything conscious-like thing left in his mind, but of course there wasn't. Not after this long.
Arthur sat up, immediately experiencing a headache - obviously due to the slight hangover he had from the night before, and despite being 22, he felt incredibly old.

Arthur looked at the clock.
11:24 AM was displayed in a bright red color. He forced himself to get up and get dressed - he figured he should make sure everything was totally clean - especially the freezer.
Arthur always made sure that the bodies in the freezer where hidden visually, aromatic and flavor-wise. To make sure nobody would recognize immediately what it actually was.

2:43 PM and he sat back down on the bed upstairs.
What to do now? There was literally nothing to do.
Except maybe walk around London - No no. That couldn't be. He disliked to be outside because of the deep paranoia that had settled in his mind - and now more than ever, because people knew who he was because of his popularity.
But sitting home alone would do nothing good - it would drive him mad!

"What to do, what to do..." mumbled Arthur to himself, not even noticing that he got up, put his jacket on and went outside.

[Prostie Alfred]

Waking up around 7 in the morning Alfred pushed himself around getting ready and such. Not really too sure about where to start he let himself kind of get used to the town. Walking up and down the streets lazily he came across many different corner cafe's and antique shops. Some that specialized in clothing a few remote bookstores. Not a whole lot stood out to him until he came across this one bakery. He felt a small feeling of caution sweep over him as he glanced through the slightly dirty window. It was small, dainty but there was something off about it. Whether it was the fact everything was painted a deep crimson red or just the fact it seemed so different, Arthur couldn't put a finger on it. Shaking the feeling off though, he continued his way down the sidewalk.

To distract himself from the uneasy feeling he had, Alfred wound up at the nearest cafe to the bakery to see if he could meet some locals. Over a breakfast of hash-browns, eggs and a few pieces of toast, Arthur found out from the waitress that it was one of the best Bakeries in town. A few years ago it didn't get a whole lot of business but she claimed that something must have happened cause the business was booming now. She herself was a fan of their cakes and admitted to buying one every few weeks. Nodding, Arthur listened to her story and didn't find anything odd or misplacing about it so he just let the idea slide. The bakery probably wasn't anything at all.

Thanking her for the delicious meal, Alfred paid and left his tip. Visiting a few other places on the way back through town, all he could gather without too much suspicion for a visitor, was the fact that nothing really out of the ordinary was going on in this town. A couple teenagers claimed there was a drug dealer kind of guy that creeps around at night time looking for hookers to bang and then he locks them away for his own private use. After a little more questioning the female quickly exclaimed that it was just a story, and suddenly denied everything. Playing it off as just a joke the two quickly left and as they past Alfred he could hear the other mutter "freak". Sighing, he decided he had enough for today and just retired back to the motel. The rest of the day he spent near or around the motel but at six at night he decided to try and sleep. It was time to start doing his midnight walks again.

[Arthur the Ripper]

Walking around the streets of London was actually refreshing for Arthur. And surprisngly enough it did the exact opposite as to what he had been expecting. His paranoia, well, his mind itself had calmed down as he just mingled in amongst the ordinary people.

He paid a visit to the park - he hadn't been there for ages! ...Well, at least not in daytime. He had occasionally picked up a guy or two in this park at night, because he knew that picking the same kind of people would lead to a pattern - and patterns would lead to getting caught. And if he got caught, then he would have to explain it all, he would have to go to court and be trialed and... "No! Not now!" mumbled Arthur to himself. these things weren't important right now. He needed to relax his fragile mind.

He left the park after the change in the atmosphere had settled in, and decided that that was enough for today. But he told himself that he had to get out more - otherwise it would be too suspicious and it did him good. It did him good.

On his way back he noticed a man. There wasn't anything particularly out of the ordinary about him - but the way he looked at his bakery as he walked past it, down the street was kind of... odd. Suspicious even.
'Stop!' thought he to himself 'It's just your paranoia kicking in. You can't be suspicious just because he looks at the damn thing, can you? otherwise you yourself will start acting suspicious, so stop!'
But even then, Arthur made sure that the stranger was totally out of sight before he finally went inside. The first thing he did was to make sure that everything was locked tightly. Nobody could ever know.

[Prostie Alfred]

It had been about a week later and nothing really had stood out to Alfred. Between visiting local hang out spots to gather a little bit of information and visiting the library to look at anything he could scrap up from there, there wasn't much for him to gather. So far, all he seemed to discover was that over the past 3 or 4 years girls and the occasional guy have gone missing. Majority of them being unsolved cases claiming there wasn't enough evidence. A lot of loose ends that could just never be tied. Also to Alfred's frustration, there was absolutely nothing that any of the victims had in common other than they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sure a few of them were suspected to be prostitutes but those who are actually labeled that by the police usually ended up in jail for some time.

By the looks of it, Alfred was going to have to take another step forward and go out on a whim. Even though he really didn't want to, there was only that small connection between all of the missing people. Maybe talking to other prostitutes is what he needed to do. Laughing to himself he decided later he would have to stay up and go on a short midnight walk but for now he had other plans. Ever since he first got here he couldn't get his mind off that bakery. Might as well check it out, he thought. No harm in just looking.

Washing up and making his way out of the room Alfred felt the warm sun on his face. It was a beautiful Tuesday afternoon and the town was alive, well as alive as any town gets. After being cooped up with a computer and books for the past few days it was nice to give his legs a stretch. Smiling peacefully to passing strangers, Alfred made his way down the street. Within a good time he found himself in front of the building. Instantly, there was that nervous feeling again. It wasn't necessarily a bad feeling, it just seems like this place was too perfect. Like the building itself was built just to hide something. Shaking his head, Alfred knew this probably wasn't anything and forced himself to walk inside. There was the tinkling of a bell above his head as he opened the front door. Smiling he just kept his calm facade and made his way to the counter.

[Arthur the Ripper]

It was tuesday morning, and today was a day of baking.
And therefore, Arthur made sure his mind was only on baking.
Only.
He dressed in one of his few "work-outfits" as he called them (They were really just casual clothes that were very easy to move around in baking-wise). It was early, because he had to do most of the daily-baking. Cakes and stuff don't last very long if they aren't fresh (Especially with the ingredients he used) so it was mostly only the bread he pre-baked.
Being the only baker in a bakery like this was hard work, and that's why his open-hours were a bit later than the average bakery, and yet when that first tinkling bell was heard, all his cakes were either ready, or just about done.
"Just a minute and I'll be right there~" Arthur yelled from the kitchen. He was a perfectionist about the oven, so he wouldn't waste greeting a mere customer, risking his dear cakes being burnt.
And just as he said, a moment later he walked out to the front of the shop, a slightly dirty apron from dough and frosting(Crimson, of course - that was the theme of the shop afterall) and a tray full of straight-from-the-oven brownies.
Arthur put the brownies down in the display and looked up at his first customer.
He was a bit surprised to see such a young man inside his bakery (not that men were rare in his bakery, women were just much more frequent customers), yet with the facade he could put on, he was sure to make everyone buy a cake or a dozen.
"Hello there! You must be new, haven't seen you around these parts before," Arthur said with one of his winning-smiles, "Are you looking for something special? or are you just looking?"
Arthur gave off a small chuckle and leaned on the counter, awaiting the young man's response...
wait... something was... off...
Off about his own behavior...
Was he... hitting on this guy?
... This seemed to be taking a bad turn in Arthur's opinion...

[Prostie Alfred]

Alfred knew it was kind of early and by the emptiness of the shop he could easily assume it had only opened not too long ago. He was probably the first customer of the day but he couldn't really blame himself though, he was always an early bird. Glancing around there was no one was behind the counter so while he waited patiently he found himself browsing the assortment of goods. There a soft grumble from his stomach as he realized he never ate breakfast. Shrugging away the offsetting feelings about this place he decided it wouldn't be too bad to sample some of food. They looked very delicious anyways even though the crimson red frosting caught him off guard originally. Now that he saw everything here was red it just looked really appetizing.

Finally, soft footsteps coming from behind the counter caught Alfred's attention. Looking up there was a beaming blonde male carrying what seemed to be freshly made brownies. He seemed pretty cheerful for being up so early and having to cook everything considering he was clearly the only one who worked here. As soon as the guy began talking Alfred wasn't completely sure if he was being hit on, so Alfred simply just asked for one of his cupcakes. Smiling back, Alfred began to explain that he was out for a morning walk when the smell from this bakery drew him in as the other male quickly fetched his cupcake. Alfred decided that taking a little break from his case wouldn't be too bad. Especially since he hasn't really gotten any leads so far. Maybe chatting with this stranger for a change would be nice rather than driving everyone away with menacing questions. Thanking the baker for the cupcake he took a few bites and began savoring the flavor.

"Mmm.. This is quite the treat. You must have very talented hands to have created such masterpieces on your own."

[Arthur the Ripper]

Arthur new he wasn't really a good baker. He was a good decorator, and knew exactly how to make things look delicious, however his real baking skills were lacking severely - the popularity was due to the choice of ingredients, he supposed, so after someone saying his bakeries were 'masterpieces' somehow made him feel weird. It felt like he took credit for something that wasn't his. He quickly shook it off though.

"Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy it." Arthur said with a smile. "Please, if you plan on staying, wouldn't you like to sit?" Arthur gestured towards one of the two small coffee tables. "We also have coffee or tea if you'd like?"

This man was a stranger. A complete and utter stranger - and yet he felt so comfortable around him. Like he'd known him for ages. But that also meant he needed to be extra careful - maybe this guy was really investigating the missing people? But how would they know about that? Maybe he already knew about the ingredients? No, Arthur, no. He couldn't know - how should he?

'Arthur, just calm down. He's just a man, buying a cake or too. He's not suspicious and he's not some kind of "Investigator" - you're being paranoid.' Arthur's inner voice said to him, trying to make him realize what a stupid idea it was.

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