“Keep your eyes down,” I hissed at Daniel. “Whatever you do, don’t look at him.”
Daniel opened his mouth to protest but clearly saw the wisdom of my instruction as the man got closer. The simple fact was until you looked into Daniel’s eyes there was no way of knowing he was anything other than human.
“What do you kids think you’re doing?” The old man snapped, stepping over the low dividing wall. “You think you can just break into someone’s house?”
I glanced up at the rundown building behind us. “We thought it was abandoned. We just need somewhere to sleep for the night.”
The man looked us up and down, his gaze lingering a little too long on Daniel. “What are you? Runaways? We don’t want no trouble around here.”
“It looks like you’ve already had more trouble than you can handle,” Daniel said quietly, still keeping his eyes downcast. He wasn’t wrong. Half the houses in the neighbourhood looked as though they’d been torched, and there was angry graffiti everywhere else. The red crossed through robot hand was everywhere.
Giving a snort the man nodded. “Aye. You could say that we have. But it isn’t recent. This neighbourhood fell apart the day those Mechanicals started appearing. People round here weren’t rich anyway, and four of those damn machines took the jobs of an entire factory of workers. People had no choice but to head further into the city to live in government housing. Taking handouts in order to feed themselves. It had a knock on effect. The restaurants, the shops, they all closed down too.” He shook himself. “No matter. You kids don’t want a history lesson. Look – “ And his voice softened. “I hate to see young kids out on the streets. There’s a hostel type thing a few streets over. They feed who they can, and give you a dry place to sleep.”
I hesitated. The idea of a good meal, a hot meal, and a place to sleep was very tempting. Besides, we weren’t going to get into any of the houses in the neighbourhood with the old guy watching. We couldn’t afford to piss him off enough to call the police, or worse, the militia.
Keeping his face downcast, Daniel glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and gave a tiny nod.
The man watched the exchange but didn’t comment on it, pointing down the street instead. “Go right at the end of the street. You’ll see the church once you get round the corner. They’re good people there.”
With quiet thanks, Daniel and I followed the pointing finger. At the end of the street I glanced back. The man stood at the edge of his tiny square of perfect lawn watching us. There was a sad cast to his face, regretful almost. Did he pity us? The sentiment was returned. His life seemed a painfully lonely one.
“I think this is where we go our separate ways,” Daniel said when we reached the corner. He touched my arm to get me to stop.
“What are you talking about?” I was distracted, still thinking about the old man, so it took me a minute to really focus on what Daniel was saying.
He sighed. “I only brought you with me this far because I couldn’t leave you to die in the forest. I have – somewhere to go.”
“Where?” I demanded, disconcerted by how the thought of him leaving me made my stomach clench into knots. “Won’t they still be hunting you?”
“They will. They will never stop hunting me until I am destroyed. I am too much of threat. But there is a place – “ He stopped. “You’re human – I shouldn’t – “
“Hey,” I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to hold myself in check. “Don’t try that on me. Didn’t I stay back in the cottage? Didn’t I help? I could have left you, and I didn’t.”
“Why didn’t you?” He cocked his head. “You should have.”
“Don’t change the subject.” The truth was I didn’t really know why I hadn’t left yet. We had reached the safety of a town. I could approach anyone with any authority and they would get word to my parents. But something was stopping me. “Honestly, Daniel. We’ve been through hell together. I’m not going to just walk away now. Apart from anything else, I don’t have anywhere else to go. I can’t just go home. Things feel different now. I need to know you’re safe.”
Daniel eyed me for a long moment and finally nodded. “I guess I should trust you. You seem to keep putting me in your debt after all.” He glanced around once and then back down at me. “There is a place I’ve heard about. A place Mechanicals have built separate from humans. A safe place.”
“Where is it?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know exactly. North. In the mountains somewhere.”
Standing on the street corner we were starting to attract a few stares. People didn’t hang around outside in that part of town.
“Well, look. You won’t get there tonight. Not if you don’t even know where exactly it is you’re going. We can rest, get a hot meal – or I can in any case – and then you can set off in the morning. And – I guess we can decide what I am going to do then.”
He glanced across the street at the church. “And how are you planning on getting me in there without anyone realising what I am?”
For a moment he had me stumped. The second anyone saw his eyes the game would be up, no one would take the time to know him like I did. They’d just see another Mechanical and rip him to pieces.
Then an idea fell into place. I snatched my school bag off my shoulder. Somehow I’d held onto it through everything, though it was battered and torn after our trip through the forest. And most of what was in there was useless. Pens, my tablet, which was probably dead by then, a few bits of makeup. But most importantly, at least in that moment, my sunglasses. They were a bit feminine, but they would do the job.
“We’ll tell people you’re blind. Hold on to my arm and let me lead you. And try not to say anything. Your voice gives you away as well.”
He slipped on the glasses and took my offered elbow. “How does my voice give me away?”
I shrugged. “You speak too properly. No slang. You sound like those automated news broadcasts on the screens.”
He didn’t respond to that, but he might just have been obeying me as we reached the church.
It was ancient, but it had seen better days. In the high windows only fragments of brightly coloured glass remained imbedded in the frames, clinging to the leading. Parts of the tall tower had fallen away, and what remained didn’t look particularly sturdy. But despite all that, it was busy. People were coming and going out of the wide main doors, barely giving us a second glance.
Hardly anyone I knew went to church. A few of the oldest folks still clung to the old tradition and tottered off every Sunday to the only church left open in our city. I didn’t understand it myself. If there was a god, why had he let the world get into such a terrible state? Surely he could have done something.
We slipped through the doors without being questioned and for a moment I could only stare. As run down as it was, the church was breath-taking. A high ceiling arched overhead, supported by great wooden beams, blackened with age. Cherubs and saints carved into the stone columns peered down at us with featureless faces. I tried to picture what the windows must have looked like when they were whole, but it was impossible.
“When the sun hit in the early morning, the whole church filled with light. It was glorious.” A young man stepped up behind us, his eyes twinkling as he caught the surprised expression on my face. “Not that I ever saw them. But so I’ve been told.”
“How did you know – “
He chuckled. “I’ve seen the same look on a lot of faces. Somehow it always strikes people the same way.” He glanced across at Daniel. The Mechanical stared fixedly ahead, but his fingers tightened around my elbow. The only sign that he wasn’t completely comfortable.
“We heard – we heard there might be food – “ I tried to tug my arm out of Daniel’s fingers. His grip was what the phrase ‘vice-like’ had been intended for. He was going to leave five perfect finger tip bruises if he wasn’t careful.
“There is always food here for those in need,” the man said, gesturing across the
church. Against the far wall an older man stood behind a long table ladling steaming soup into large bowls. At the other end lay platters of lumpy, slightly grey bread rolls.
My stomach growled.
“Go and eat,” the man told me with a smile. “We offer sanctuary to any who need it.” The unspoken implication was that Daniel and I looked like we needed it.
“I don’t like him,” Daniel muttered in my ear as we left the man behind and headed for the food.
“What? Why? He seemed very nice.”
I picked up a bowl and smiled at the older man dishing out the soup. Unidentifiable lumps floated in it. I knew it wouldn’t be actual meat – only the richest could afford real meat – but the substitute protein supplement the Government issued provided all the necessary calories if not the taste.
The serving man glanced at Daniel. “What about your friend?”
I snatched up a second bowl and thrust it into Daniel’s hands. People would ask too many questions if he wasn’t seen eating. I knew Daniel didn’t dare argue with people watching, and to be honest, I could easily eat a second helping.
The pews had been shoved to the side and long tables and benches had been placed through the central aisle of the church and I picked the one furthest away from anyone else and made a show of guiding Daniel to his seat. He toyed with his spoon as I gulped down the hot soup, nearly burning my mouth in the process.
“Slow down, or you’ll choke yourself.”
The young man who’d first greeted us stepped up behind Daniel, smiling gently.
I swallowed my last mouthful and returned his smile, feeling a little abashed. “It’s – been a while.” In fact it had only been a day or so, but I was used to three good meals a day. It made me realise how much I took for granted.
He took the seat beside Daniel, either uncaring or oblivious to Daniel’s obvious discomfort. “Tom,” he said, extending his hand across the table.
I shook the offered hand tentatively. “Ellie. And that’s Daniel.”
Daniel grunted and pushed his bowl of soup across the table towards me. “Eat more.”
I didn’t argue, dipping my spoon into Daniel’s still hot soup. Tom acknowledged the exchange with a twitch of his head.
“Your boyfriend is very considerate.”
“He’s not – “ I choked on a little soup and had to clear my throat before I could continue. “I mean. He’s just a friend.”
Tom nodded but said nothing, watching me eat. In the end it was Daniel who broke his silence. He pitched his voice low, and I knew he was making an effort to sound more human.
“What is this place? Are you a vicar?”
“Me?” Tom laughed and shook his head. He kept his eyes on me even though Daniel was the one who’d asked the question. “No. I came here, many years ago, just like you. Lost and alone. Frightened of what the world had become. There was a vicar then. A good man. He offered me sanctuary, and food. He tried to impart religion to me, but I’m afraid I was far too cynical to believe in all that. But before he passed on he asked me to keep this place going. And I have tried. Though it gets harder every year.”
I glanced around at the packed church. “Seems to me you’re doing a good job.”
He shrugged that off. “Tell me, Ellie. Why are you here? You seem like a good girl.” His eyes flicked over my clothing. I’d already realised how much I stood out. My clothes weren’t Government Issue; they weren’t even the cheap clothes available in the megastores. Even torn and travel worn they announced to the world that I came from money.
I guessed Tom didn’t get many people like me in his sanctuary.
Wracking my brain I tried to come up with an answer that wasn’t ‘I was kidnapped by a Mechanical, and now we have some weird bond and I don’t think I can leave him’. Almost any lie would be more believable than the truth.
Instead it was Daniel who spoke. “She’s here because of me.”
I kicked him under the table, but only succeeded in bruising my big toe. Was he about to drop us both in it? No doubt these people would turn Daniel over in a heartbeat. And I would be arrested too. It was illegal to give aid to those the Government considered criminals. There was no one more criminal than the Mechanicals.
But Daniel continued, oblivious to my distress. “Her parents – didn’t approve of me. They wouldn’t let us be together. And so we ran away.” He reached out and stroked his fingers over my knuckles. “They have disowned her, and my parents are long dead. We only have each other in the whole world.”
I stared at him, completely thrown. I could only hope that to Tom it looked like a look of love, rather than utter disbelief. But Tom didn’t seem to notice. Instead he was beaming.
“Young love.” He shook one finger at me. “And you tried to tell me you were just friends. Well, you have my word, you are safe here. Until you decide where you are going next. But it’s a hard world out there now. Are you sure you don’t want to go home?”
I shook my head. “We can’t go home,” I told him honestly.
He smiled but there was something slightly discomforting about it. He seemed almost happy.
“We’ve turned all the pews into bunks. Just pick one that doesn’t have any stuff stored there. And pick up blankets and pillows from the shelves in the corner. Rest. You look like you need it.”
The benches were hard and narrow, but I was tired enough to sleep anywhere. We took enough bedding from the pile for both me and Daniel, but he stacked both pillows at one end, and then used the second blanket to pad the bench.
As I sat down he stayed standing, gazing across the church.
“I’m going to take a walk.” He glanced back down at me as I tucked my feet up under me. “You’ll be Ok without me.”
“But – where are you going? You’re not planning on sneaking away without me are you?”
He let out his strange little huff of a laugh. “I don’t think I’d be able to even if I wanted to.” What did he mean by that? Did he feel this weird bond between us? Was it even possible for him to be aware of it? “No. But I don’t need to sleep, and I think I might draw a little attention to myself if I sit up all night. Besides, I need to do a little digging around. I need to find out if there are any other Mechanicals left in this town.”
For a second his fingers hovered over my shoulder, as though he wanted to touch me, but then he just nodded sharply and strode towards the door.
I curled up under the thin blanket just as footsteps approached behind the pew. I sat up as Tom came into view.
“I didn’t mean to disturb you.” He glanced around a little theatrically. “Where has your – friend – gone?”
“He – uh – went to the bathroom.”
Tom smiled again. “Well, you get to sleep. I’m sure he’ll be back before you know it.”
I felt strange going to sleep without Daniel there. I was worried about him out there in the city on his own. I knew logically there was nothing out there that could possibly hurt him, but he was still being hunted. And they would catch up with us sooner or later. Despite everything my eyes started getting heavy, and as the church grew quiet around me, I found myself drifting off.
Whispered voices roused me a few hours later. It was fully dark out, and beyond the windows the city was shrouded in its permanent smog. The voices drifted from the back of the church, sounding unnaturally loud against the soft breathing of sleeping people.
“You have some for us?”
I lay as still as possible, trying not to draw attention to myself. I’d heard enough horror stories about what happened to young girls if they were caught on their own in the wrong part of town.
“One or two.” That was Tom’s voice. “Just the kind you like.”
A woman spoke then, confusing me. “Only one or two? We pay you good money to keep this place going. We expect more than one or two.”
Tom laughed nervously. “You told me you only wanted those without any family connections. A lot of these kids might have run away
, but they still have family looking for them. But I told you, I have one.”
“You said two.”
“I don’t know. It was a couple, but the boy disappeared hours ago. If I’m honest, I think he’s left the girl. Cruel really, considering he’s the reason her family have disowned her.”
My blood turned to ice in my veins. I couldn’t have moved a muscle even if I wanted to. He was talking about me. Me and Daniel. Who were these people? What did they want?
I knew I should run, but fear kept me chained to the pew as footsteps approached. Finally I found the strength to move, shoving off the blanket and reaching for my bag. As my hand closed around the leather something soft and cottony slipped over my nose and mouth. The smell was acrid and my head started spinning.
Flailing my arms I struck someone, but there was only muffled swearing and a pair of arms closed around my chest, pinning me. Someone lifted me over the back of the pew and started carrying me towards the dark door at the back of the church. I kicked out, thrashing, but whatever was on the cloth over my nose made me dizzy and weak.
The door slammed open and cold air hit me in the face. A black van appeared to my left and my desperate fear resulted in a boost of adrenaline strong enough that I was able to wrench my face free for just a moment.
“Daniel!” I screamed his name as loud as I could. “Daniel!”
“Shut her up,” the woman snapped.
My head exploded with pain and I went limp, my vision going black.
From somewhere in the distance, just before I lost consciousness, came the sound of running feet.
Eight
“Ellie?” The voice crept into my semi-conscious mind.
Everything was black, and my mind felt foggy. Somewhere in the back of my mind rose the nagging feeling I was in danger. Or had the danger passed? I remembered the cloth over my face, the choking smell, and the hands dragging me towards the black van. I struggled through the swirling fog, frightened now. Desperate to wake up.
Metal in the Blood (The Mechanicals Book 1) Page 7