Unwound

by Yolanda Olson

  get past it if I took the time to analyze it for a moment and that's when it hit me. Edison had told me to analyze a situation rather

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  than go into it headstrong.

  I took a few steps back and ran toward the net as fast as I

  could and leapt as far as I ever had before in my existence. The

  net had been small and obviously fashioned to scare me away

  from the cave.

  I landed on the other side and turned to look at the net just in

  time to watch it catch fire and wither away to ashes, just as I

  would if I didn't get to the book soon enough.

  One thing I did notice almost immediately was that the

  humming stopped as soon as I had watched the net disappear into

  ashes.

  I walked out of the other side of the cave and saw more of the

  mountain to climb.

  As I climbed, I heard something moving above me. I stopped

  and squinted above me and saw a group of beautiful female

  creatures smiling down at me.

  They beckoned to me to come toward them as they sat on

  either side of the mountain, telling me they would help me climb

  higher. The closer I got the closer I realized they had no clothes on and were absolutely exquisite.

  I felt myself becoming ensnared by their smiles and amazing

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  voices calling me by my number telling me that I had almost

  reached them.

  Winter's voice came to me.

  "London will try to distract you with beautiful things Caelum, don't let her."

  Caelum. These things were calling me three two five seven

  and my name is Caelum.

  I walked toward their outstretched hands and started to make

  my way around each of them careful not to make eye contact; I

  refused to let them put their hands on me or look into my eyes. I

  wouldn't let them get a hold of me and I wouldn't let them distract me in anyway.

  After I had made my way past them, I heard them let out a

  collective shrieking noise and heard small explosions behind me.

  That was their trick.

  They were made of bomb parts and had I stopped they

  would've blown me to pieces.

  I silently thanked Winter as I continued to climb.

  Three quarters of the way up I was faced with a mirror. A

  giant mirror that reflected me not as I looked as I gazed into it but 164

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  as broken, worn down monster. I saw the angry centipede scars

  on my body and I saw myself without Jared's eye in place of my

  hole, I saw the gashes in my face and the wheels spinning lazily

  about in my face.

  I looked at my arm and saw my number still etched into my

  skin. I saw myself as the fragile, fearful being that had just

  escaped from London, not the strong, somewhat fearless being I

  had become. My reflection quickly changed into London with her

  hand over her mouth laughing wickedly at me with her wild eyes.

  She pointed at me and mocked my appearance telling me that

  no matter what I would do to myself I would always just be a

  shell of other humans and clock pieces.

  I became so angry that I put my fist through the mirror as I

  had with the tree that Edison had asked me to take down in one

  swift hit.

  "Up here, Caelum!" came London's mocking tone.

  I looked up and saw that she had been sitting on top of the

  mountain the entire time. I now understood why all the obstacles

  and why all the taunting on the way up.

  I was becoming what Winter had asked me to be.

  In a rage I ran as swiftly as I could the rest of the way up the

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  mountain. When I reached the top London giggled and ran to the

  other edge of the mountain.

  "Catch me if you can," she said as she leapt over the side.

  I ran over just in time to see her land safely in the arms of

  someone who seemed to be cradling her like an infant. She was

  gazing lovingly into their face as they set her down and put an

  arm around her shoulder, whispering something into her ear.

  Then that person turned to face me.

  I woke up completely shocked.

  I couldn't believe such a thing could be true but everything

  else in my dream had been things I had dreamt of.

  I stood from the floor of the cave and looked peeked out.

  Winter, Jett, and Cassara where sitting by the ice pool with their bare legs dangling inside talking to each other.

  But I knew it was time.

  I knew I was ready.

  I would escape one last time and make my way to London to

  face the horrible truth.

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  Thirteen

  I realized as I made my way through the winding city into

  outskirts of town that they had let me sleep the remaining months

  I had left before I had to face my fate. I had a new resolve now

  since I had seen in my dreams what I never thought would be

  possible.

  I was going to get my revenge and I was going to make sure

  that everyone involved in the creation of any of us would see the

  same fate as London.

  As I waited at a crosswalk, I mentally made a list. There was

  Winter, Jett, Cassara, one named Xandy, and me. Winter, Jett,

  and Cassara I didn't have to worry about but the silent girl with

  the white hair who would not speak when spoken too would

  probably be a challenge. London wouldn't have let her in one

  piece unless she would serve some kind of purpose to her twisted

  mission.

  As the light changed colors, I knew that one thing I wanted

  more than anything else was for London to tell me why, even

  though I knew she never would. There were many things I

  wanted to know now after that dream and now it wasn't just from

  her but before I passed judgment I had to be sure that the other

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  one had been involved from the beginning.

  For now I wouldn't think of that until it was time to face them

  both, if the other would even be there.

  Of course they'll be there, why wouldn't they?

  I stopped walking and realized that for the first time in almost

  a year I was hearing borrowed thoughts again. Why had this come

  back to me so suddenly? Why now? I had to block it out or it

  would surely be the end of me so I chose not to respond.

  The city blocks seemed to disappear in no time and I found

  myself crossing the park where I had met Finnegan. My first real

  glimpse at life outside of the mansion of torture and despair that London had kept me imprisoned in.

  I knew it wouldn't take long to get there which was good

  because for the first time in a long time, I could feel myself

  starting to slow down. I wouldn't be able to use speed against her, I would have to use wits and hope that would be enough.

  After another thirty minutes or so I saw it looming like an

  amusement park haunted house in the distance. The sun was

  going down by now and all I could see was the outline of her

  mansion. It looked so ominous in the dusk but not as ominous as

  the true evils hidden inside.

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  From my dream I w
ondered what darker secrets were

  harbored there? What madness could possibly grow inside a being

  so desolate and despaired that they could bring themselves to do

  such things?

  I passed the iron fence that London's mania had erected in one

  night and I stood at the end of the cobblestone driveway letting

  my eyes travel up to the window that had been reboarded and

  held me captive for most of my existence. As I stood there the

  torture came back to me as if someone had reopened a flood gate

  and I was being washed in the sea of torment and pain all over

  again.

  Any doubts I might have secretly had of letting her live were

  now gone as I, for a brief moment, relived the tortures I had gone through.

  I made my way quickly across the property. I had so much

  determination and hatred boiling over inside of me that I honestly feared for London but that wouldn’t deter me. I wanted my

  revenge and I was hell bent on getting it.

  I thought of poor Jared every time my eyes opened.

  I thought of Winter and the scars on her neck from London’s

  experiments.

  I thought of Morrison’s burned down factory and how she had

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  lost everything in that fire.

  I thought of how I had lost the friendship of Edison and

  somehow I knew it had something to do with London.

  I reached the front doors in no time. Closing my eyes for a

  moment, I took a deep breath and placed my hand on the

  doorknob. Deep within me I could hear the whirring begin to

  speed up. Edison had given me a huge advantage by making me

  faster and wiring me. Edison, I thought gritting my teeth. For him at least I would kill London and get revenge for one of my fallen

  or missing friends and even though I loved Winter, I knew I cared

  more for Edison than I did for her.

  With anger surging me inside of me, I shoved the doors open

  and stepped inside. The smell of death and discarded scrap metal

  was so strong. I hadn’t noticed it before because I was born into

  this. Since I had been away for a full year it was almost

  overwhelming to me now. Placing a hand over my nose and

  mouth, I quickly made my way down the hall that led to the stone

  staircase where London’s main workroom was hidden.

  Even as I made my way down the stairs, and even though I

  had trained myself not to feel it anymore, a small amount of fear

  started to creep into me. London was a vicious animal with no

  regard for life of any kind, human, animal, or machine alike. The

  first moment I showed any sign of weakness, she would take full

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  advantage and pull me apart. But that didn’t stop me from

  pushing the door open to her workroom and as she sat in her chair

  with only the fire heating up her melting pot illuminating the

  room, I used the large metal rod to lock us into this room.

  It took her a few moments to notice my presence and as soon

  as she did she came rushing at me with her favorite instrument of

  torture; her seam ripper.

  I steeled myself as she came at me in a blind rage, I’d have to

  stop her before she could dig that into my flesh and try to tear me apart so for now I’d have to be on the defense. But to my surprise London ran past me and started clawing at the wall. I watched as

  the ripper shattered into pieces at the ferocity in which she clawed at the wall and I watched as her hands started to bleed at the

  constant pounding she did with her fists against it.

  “One, one, one, one! I am no one!,” she screamed as she

  furiously beat the wall.

  I felt pity for her which is not something I would’ve expected

  and cautiously approached her. I hated her and she deserved to

  die but not by her own hand. I put my hand on her back to get her

  attention and she started laughing and crying at the same time.

  “Three two five seven has come home! How delightful! Did

  you miss your Mother?” she asked with her back to me as she

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  continued to beat the wall.

  “You’re bleeding London,” I said quietly as I pulled her

  gently away from the wall.

  “Are you jealous?” she asked finally turning to face me with a

  vicious, dazed look. “My little boy always wanted to bleed.

  Always, always. I will never give you blood. Do you know why?

  Because I know how much you want to bleed. I won’t give you

  the satisfaction,” she said giggling and placing a blood soaked

  hand over her mouth. “My little boy wants to bleed,” she said

  again.

  I had to push her words out of my head because I wanted to

  patch her hands before I took her life. I wanted the right to watch her life slip away and not because she did it to herself, she

  wouldn’t rob me of this; I refused to let her. As soon as I got her back to the chair she had been sitting in when I locked us in, her hands moved quickly. I felt a sharp pain in my side and looked

  down. She shoved a rotary cutter so deep inside of me that only

  the handle was showing. I looked into her eyes, which for the first time seemed to focus on me, and I saw the evil smile she would

  give me when she was going to torture me.

  I fell to my knees as the whirring inside of me started to give

  way to ticking again. With a startling revelation I realized that

  Edison had lied to me. He hadn’t taken all of the parts out of that 172

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  she had put in, he only wired me to not hear them anymore and

  London had just severed the wires.

  She ran her hands over my hair, one hand still on the handle

  of her weapon, “Shhhh. Don’t cry out too loudly, you’ll disturb

  him.”

  Who was it that I was disturbing in my agony? Who was it

  that didn’t want to hear me crying out in pain every time she

  twisted the handle and sliced more of my insides?

  “Caelum!”

  I looked up to my right and saw Winter’s light blue hair

  emanating against a large mirror in the barely lit room. I looked

  down at the handle again and then back at her to let her know I

  was helpless.

  “Mother, let him go!” she pleaded from where she stood.

  London looked sharply at Winter and twisted the rotary cutter

  again causing me to scream out louder than before. Winter

  became frantic from where she stood but she made no move to

  approach me. She made no move to save me which made me

  wonder if she ever cared about me at all.

  “I told you not to come back! I told you,” she said to me from

  where she stood.

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  London crouched on her chair finally releasing the handle and

  looked at Winter, “Be quite little girl, or I’ll gut your voice out permanently.”

  “Get down from there,” a familiar voice said chidingly to

  London.

  I closed my eyes tightly. It couldn’t be. I refused to believe it.

  I thought I would never see him again and now here he is

  speaking to London like one would speak to a child, in a loving,

  but stern voice.

  My dream now seemed like a prophecy instead. It had been

  true what I had seen and I could f
eel my will to fight slipping

  away.

  London looked toward the window and did as she was told

  getting down and sitting cross legged in the chair. She didn’t look at me or put her hand back on the handle. She had her eyes

  trained on the figure that had entered the room through the

  window and seemed almost normal. There was no look of manic

  delirium in her eyes and the look of evil had vanished from her

  face. For that one moment, London looked like a normal, human

  girl.

  I felt a strong pair of hands lift me from where I knelt on the

  floor and I felt the strong arms that cradled me like a newborn. A 174

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  few seconds later I felt the cold of the large metal work table that London used to construct us as I was laid onto it. I heard the

  tearing of the fabric as my shirt was being torn off of me. I turned my face away from him because I didn’t want to believe it and

  saw a pair of hands gripping the side of the worktable. I saw two

  beautiful creations that looked exactly alike with the exception

  that one’s hair was orange and the other’s was peach. They had

  small metal hoops in their lips and big beautiful golden eyes.

  “I need help,” he said to them sternly.

  The two looked at each other and stood. I gasped in horror;

  they had been fused together. One body two girls standing

  proudly looking down at me and then up at the voice that had

  commanded them. How could London have done something so

  cruel? I watched them as they looked at each other then began to

  seemingly pull themselves apart. It was almost beautiful. They

  each turned their heads toward the opposite walls and almost as if a dance, began to twist apart from each other. I heard their flesh tear and I heard the grunts of effort. I watched entranced as they danced apart from each other until they both stood there each with her own body.

  “Ember, please hold his ankles. Roan, please hold his

  shoulders down,” the voice said to them.

  Each girl nodded and I realized that Ember was the girl with

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  the orange hair and Roan was the girl with the peach hair. As they each held me down I realized they had full human bodies, so why

  did they choose to stay fused together?

  “Would you like to know how they got their names?” he

  asked me softly as he ran his hands over my hair.

  I refused to look at him, he was a traitor.

  “Ember was the name of a girl that mistreated my sister when

  they were young. She would tease her and sometimes hit her for