“What?”
He leaned his body toward the window and retrieved my undergarment, my pants, and my shirt and neatly placed them in a pile next to my cot as he sat back down.
“I hope you don’t mind. I thought you would sleep more comfortably naked, so as you slept, I undressed you.”
I suddenly became very aware of the cool blanket against my skin. I closed my eyes and wondered what he thought of my scar ridden body. How could he still sit here with me and keep watch now knowing what a monster looks like? I felt his fingers brush my hair out of my face again and I opened my eyes. He still wore that friendly smile on his face and I secretly wondered what he was hiding behind those mesmerizing eyes.
“Thank you,” was all I could say.
Nine
The next couple of months went by quickly. Every waking moment I spent was with Edison. He had become a constant, positive companion which was a something I never had before. I'd also come to trust him very quickly and let him take the measurements he had asked of me previously. There were days when Edison would do nothing but work on the sketch I had made of myself, still keeping to himself whatever he was doing with it. I didn't ask why. I just knew that everything would come in due time.
One thing he had shared with me so far was what the sting was the night I slept while he kept a watchful eye over me. He told me that he had injected me with a solvent that would keep my insides, if I indeed was what I said I was, working constantly and at a proper pace. The liquid was an amber color and always felt so cool as it ran freely through my body. To be honest, I noticed from the first secret injection he had given me, that the ticking inside had me had become much more subtle and the glitch in my arm from the battle with Cassara had stopped. I also noticed that my skin was no longer withering and that I was beginning to become the pale color London had used for my base. From that moment on, I freely accepted the injections every night.
Edison had moved me away from the factory into a log cabin he owned. He told me we would return to the factory when the time was right, but for now he wanted me to be away from there and be able to live as a human for a few months and then we would "get to work". I wasn't sure what he meant by that, but I had gladly accepted his offer.
I was glad to be in a modest home. London's estate was as maniacal as she was leaving me to wonder who would build such a place, but here in Edison's cabin, the constant smell of fresh pine and the chill of the coming winter months made feel truly alive. He stayed there with me of course making sure that I would get my nightly treatments as he called them. He would build fires in the small fireplace and we would sit across from each other in spacious, leather chairs and tell each other stories. The night I told him off all of the horrors I had suffered at London's hands since my "birth", he had tears in his eyes. From the first time I acknowledged life to the last brutal and savage act she had made me endure. As I finished, I got up from the chair and told him it was time for me to rest, feeling terrible that I had made him cry. He followed me to the room he had given to me as my very own and pulled the covers over my chest, kissing me on the forehead. I heard him sniffle as he to go to his own room and I touched the spot he had kissed. I rested soundly that night.
The next morning, Edison's entire demeanor had changed.
I walked down the short hallway into the area where he made food for himself to eat and saw him leaning against the cedar table, looking out the window. He had a cup of something that was letting out steam. I stood there for a moment without him noticing. I watched as he blew out the steam every now and then, taking a sip of what he was holding.
Finally he acknowledged me.
"Have you ever seen snow Caelum?" he asked his eyes still trained on the outside world.
"In a movie once."
Setting down his cup, he gestured for me to follow him. We walked to the front door which he opened for me and stepped aside so that I could step out into the brisk morning air.
I gasped.
The world seemed to be covered in a beautiful white blanket. The evergreen trees still had shown some green as the snow had covered most of their needles which made the rest of the world look so majestic. I stepped off of the front porch into the snow and looked down. It felt cool against my feet and I squatted down to be able to scoop up a handful. I held it close to my nose and inhaled. The snow didn't smell any different than the air but it really was the most beautiful thing I had seen in such a long time.
"Do you like it?" Edison asked.
Lost in my euphoria I had forgotten that I wasn't alone and turned to see him leaned over the side of the porch with his hands folded in front of him smiling at me. I nodded and let the snow drop back to the ground.
"Good, because we will be working outside a lot now that nature has given us this additional obstacle. I plan on making you strong. Stronger than you've probably ever thought possible. We'll get that last gleam of fear out of your eyes and get rid of that slight hunch before I'm done with you," he said coming off the porch. "Follow me, this morning we're going to start."
He lead the way to the back of the cabin where there was a stump of a tree with something lodged in its center.
"This is an ax," he said as I looked at it curiously. "I want you to pull this from this stump and chop down that tree," he said pointing to one of the smaller evergreens.
I laughed. I had too. How could he expect me to do such a thing?
Edison gave me a sharp look for the first time since I had met him which caused me to immediately cease. He pulled the ax from its home and threw it at the tree with such a ferocity that it went through it. I heard the cracking of the tree as the damage he had just done to it started to slowly split it in half. The tree fell apart with one half of it landing between Edison and I . He retrieved the ax and with one strong movement, hammered it back in its place.
"Your turn," he said crossing his arms over his chest and looking at me.
looked down at the ax. I was flooded with the memory of ripping the door off the closet in London's home. I remembered ripping the boards off the factory entrance, and I remembered kicking a hole in them. I remembered pulling the small plastic door off of the box that held the newspaper.
I looked up at the tree. It was much bigger and thicker than either thing I had previously destroyed without meaning too, but I knew they were made of the same thing with the exception of the plastic box. I stood there in a pair of black, flannel sleep pants that he had lent me for when my body rested at night, nothing on my feet, and no shirt to cover my scar-ridden torso. With as plainly as I looked, I knew I was so much more. I knew I was stronger than I looked and I knew that I could do this if I set my mind to it.
My body tensed as I approached the tree. The ripples on my stomach tightened as I stood in front of the tree. With everything I could possibly muster from deep inside of me I made a fist.
"Caelum, you can't possibly—"
I never heard the rest of what Edison was saying to me over the sound of the tree splitting as I hit it with all the force I had inside of me.
I was feeling completely proud of myself for what I had just done and I glanced at Edison. He was shaking his head and looking at me in disapproval.
"That was unbelievably careless. Look at your hand now," he said reproachfully.
I looked down instantly becoming horrified. The skin on my hands looked like it had been torn to shreds and parts of the bone and mechanical things inside of me were showing through. I didn't know what to do. By demonstrating that I didn't need the help of an ax to bring the tree down, I wound up causing myself injury.
"Let's go inside," Edison suggested seeing the pained look on my face. My hand was starting to burn a bit. "I can fix that but I'll need to go out and hunt for a bit."
I felt his hand on my back as he steered back into the cabin. How could he fix what I had just done to myself? Why would he need to go hunting to do so? As I let him lead me into the sitting room, he told me to take special care to stay away f
rom the heat of the fireplace and to stay by the window he had just opened.
"That skin is rotten now. If you go near the heat it will make you smell and cause the rest of the skin on your arm to rot. Then I'll be working forever to fix you," he said with a smile.
He disappeared into his room and I heard him rustling about in there. I looked down at my hand again and contemplated pulling out everything in me that wasn't human now that I could see it. I hated being able to see these things from time to time and I still see them sometimes when I glance quickly at myself in the mirror on the rare occasions that I can bring myself to do so.
"Give me your arm, Caelum."
I jumped in startled surprise. I was so deep in thought I hadn't seen Edison reappear. He was now wearing a large coat made of dark greens and some black with pants to match. He wore a wool cap pulled down over his head and dark gloves as well. In his hand he held a syringe in which I could see the serum he would give me only at night. I'd ask him later why he decided to give it to me at this time, for now I just extended my arm and let him inject me.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," he said grabbing the rifle he had leaned next to my chair and disappeared out into the snow covered wonderland outside.
Glancing out the window I could feel my body wanting to rest. I was becoming tired very quickly and couldn't understand why. I fought to keep my eyes opened, but that fight didn't last very long. Before I knew it my eyes had closed.
When I came out of my resting phase the sun was staring to go down over the horizon and I could hear Edison working on something outside. I sat there for a moment feeling myself becoming fully restored.
I heard something being dragged around the side of the house Edison grunting as he dropped something. I heard the front door open and watched him step in and place a large canvas bag down, setting the rifle down by the door. He pulled his cap off and tossed it on one of the counters and removed his coat which he hung on a hook on the wall. Leaving whatever he was dragging in the bag by the door he walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water and drank it in almost one gulp.
He glanced over at me and I closed my eyes slightly so that he didn't know I was awake yet. I wanted to see what was in that bag and I had a feeling he wouldn't produce it if he knew I was watching him. Edison took a deep breath and went over to the bag which he slung over his shoulder and disappeared into his room with. After a few moments, I heard him emerge from his room, locking the door firmly behind him, and disappearing into the washroom. I waited until I heard the sound of the water pouring out of the metal spout he called a shower, before I got up and walked over to the window. I craned my head out to look and could see a big pool of scarlet against the pure white snow.
It was obvious he had slaughtered something. Instinctively, I climbed out of the window and lowered myself as gently as I could with one working hand. I walked a few feet to the puddle and reached down my fingers to graze it. It was cold now because of the snow, but I lifted it to my nose and smelled iron. I stared at my scarlet stained fingertips and wondered where I had smelled that before.
The night that London had torn her fingernails from their beds, I had smelled the iron strongly. This was blood I smelled.
The water in the washroom stopped. I couldn't hear it anymore, but for how long it was stopped I wasn't quite sure. Frantically, I ran back to the window and hoisted myself up with one arm and dove for the chair hoping I had beat Edison out of the room.
"That was a hell of a jump."
I became startled and looked up behind me. Edison was standing there looking at me with a carefully blank expression on his face. I guess I wasn't as fast as I hoped I could be.
"I saw the blood outside," I mumbled looking down at my shredded hand.
"It's okay. Curiosity doesn't hurt," he said. "I'll fix your hand after I've eaten. I'm a little tired and hungry right, but I promise to do it right after."
"What's that like?" I asked looking back up at him.
“What?" he asked coming around the chair and heading into the food preparation area.
"Hunger."
Leaning back against the counter he looked at me, "I’m not really sure how to explain it. The body, the human body, needs food to survive. Hunger makes you tired, weak, malnourished if not taken care of, and in a lot of cases pretty angry," he explained with a chuckle. "Does anything make you feel like that?"
I took in genuine look of curiosity on his face, wondering how I could answer this.
"Sometimes."
Shrugging, he turned his back to me and started to prepare his meal. I heard the sounds of popping as he tossed some sort of animal meat into the pan he was using and soon the entire cabin was full of wondrous aromas. I wondered what it would feel like to eat, but I was always afraid that I would ruin myself on the inside. If I never felt hunger, then putting human food in my body was probably not a good idea. Leaning around the wall, I watched him take small bottles of various spices and add them to the meat as he would flip it every so often.
"How do you know when it's ready?" I asked stepping closer.
"Color, texture; depending on how well you want it cooked that is," he said turning the flames down on the stove. I watched him take a fork and spear the meat, putting it on a round white plate and walking over to a small table set up near the windows. "Sit with me Caelum."
I did as I was asked and watched him eat as we sat in silence for a few moments. Edison would glance out the window a few times, almost as if he were expecting someone or something, and then go back to his meal.
“I don't think we have much to worry about when it comes to your strength," he said conversationally, “I just think that maybe we should work on your sense of how to do things. I know you're strong; I saw it all over your body the night I undressed you and placed you back into your cot, I just wanted to see how strong you could really be. Now that I know that we can move on. I want to work your thought process; how you evaluate situations. I want to understand how you view things so that I can better understand you and know how best to help you."
I looked at him. I didn't know how to tell him that I still wasn't sure if the thoughts I was having were mine or borrowed. How would he be able to help me when I still couldn't tell the difference myself?
“Edison, I don't know if you can help me like that."
“We won't know for sure unless you let me try, right?" he asked glancing up at me for the first time since he sat down.
I sighed and looked out the window. No matter what I said to him he was bound and determined to help me. If only he knew what kind of monster I was up against, I don't think he'd be so quick to help. If London ever knew of him and what he was doing with me, she'd kill him for sure.
“Edison—"
“You can't change my mind Caelum. Please stop trying. I want to help you because I've come to care about you, but also for selfish reasons."
Ah, so he does have an ulterior motive, I thought to myself.
But still, even knowing this I couldn't let what happened to Jared happen to him too.
“She'll kill you if she finds out you've helped me," I blurted out.
He stood up and grabbed his place and went back into food preparation area and put his dishes in the sink. He turned on the water and grabbed a sponge and began to clean them. After he had was finished, he placed them in a rack and came back to the table and put his hand on mine.
“I'm not afraid of London," he said squeezing my hand reassuringly. "Someone who is as mentally damaged as she is—"
“She's not mentally damaged, she's a genius!" I shouted tearing my hand away from his. "My mother is a creator of life from death! My mother loves me! My mother wants me to come home! I LOVE MY MOTHER!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Suddenly I swayed on my feet and fell to the ground. Edison immediately came over and took me into his arms. He lifted me off the wooden floor and carried me into my room and placed me on my bed. I felt myself slipping in and out
of rest as he used the sheets to tie my arms and legs to each bedpost. I felt like I was being splayed out for another one of London's horrible tortures but I didn't have the energy to fight him. He sat next to me and looked deeply into my eyes.
“I have to remove something from the inside of your brain, Caelum. You may not have noticed, but you were screaming at me in a half female voice. I assume it to be London's. Somehow she seemed to have manipulated her way into your brain and I need to go in and see what it is and remove it. I know that you've suffered at her hands, but please tell me you trust me enough to do this. I won't hurt you. You know I won't," he said in a pleading tone.
My eyes rolled back and forth in my head not focusing clearly anymore. If what he said was true, how long had she'd done this? Is that how she knew it was Jared? Is that why Morrison went missing? What about Finnegan?
“Caelum, please tell me its okay," Edison begged.
“I ... can't see you."
“I'm going to induce your resting phase. I'm going to make sure that you don't feel any pain, but Caelum, I need you to tell me you'll let me do this."
I forced myself to shut my eyes. They were so erratic that I was beginning to feel that I might lose control if I left them open and tried to focus on anything.
“Caelum?"
“I trust you. Help me Edison," I said my voice barely above a whisper.
I heard him run out of the room across the hall into his. I heard him throwing things around frantically and I heard him cursing as he tried to find whatever he was looking for. I heard his labored breathing as he came back into my room and drop a multitude of things onto the floor next to me.
“I promise you won't feel a thing. I'll wake you when it's over," he said as he injected serum into my arm.
I felt myself slipping away into a heavy resting phase.
I felt his hands as they brushed my hair gently over and over.
Before I slipped completely away for the time being, I felt Edison lean down and press his lips gently against mine.
Unwound (The Symphony of Brass and Bone) Page 8