Ten
Edison told me it was three days later when I had first shown signs of still functioning. He had been worried that entire time that he had killed me. I knew right away when I had first opened my eyes again that something was very different about how my body worked now. There was no ticking in my head. None that I could hear anyway. Instead it seemed to be replaced by a steady, soft humming sound. Nothing like London's deluded humming but more like a power source of some kind. I tried to sit up with Edison's help. I put a hand to my head and looked around the room. Everything seemed to be clearer than ever before. I looked at him. His hair was not light brown as I had originally thought, it looked more like burned coals after a tiring days’ work. It looked so smooth and pristine that it made it hard for me to believe that hair like his could exist. I looked into his eyes and thought of how well the two complimented each other, because now that I could see better than ever, I saw the light in his gray eyes. Almost as if one spark from them could set the night on fire. His boyish face looked like it held an infinite secret. One whisper from his lips looked like they could either save your life or destroy your soul. There was something very special about him. Edison may be young but the wisdom you could see in his eyes far exceeded his years. I felt lucky to have him as an ally. I also had some questions for him.
"What did you do to me?" I asked laying back down.
"It's complicated," he replied with a smile. "But the easiest way to explain it is, I removed every wheel and cog of every type that I saw implanted in your brain and wired you instead. The brain runs on electricity to begin with so I knew that would be best. London can't get into your head ever again this way either."
"But that meant you would have to have cut into my head," I said looking at him intently
"Unfortunately, yes I did have to. The skin beneath your hair was dying anyway, so it was best that I did. I replaced it with what I brought home a few days ago. I have enough left to fix your hand too, but only one radical surgery at a time," he said chuckling. "I had to replace your entire scalp. You have new hair too. I didn't think the other hair would work since the rooted pieces were stuck in the rotted scalp." He got up from the bed and disappeared out of the room for a moment, returning with a small hand mirror which he placed on my stomach. Obviously he was giving me the option of looking, but not forcing me too.
"I tried to stay as close to your original hair color as I could, but there's only so many animals to hunt in these woods," he said apologetically.
After a few moments of sitting in silence, he reached for the mirror, but I placed my hand on it. I knew I wanted to see but I wasn't sure that I would be able to handle another transformation.
One thing was for sure though; I hadn't felt any pain like he promised. I pushed myself back up to a seated position and turned the mirror up to face me on my lap. I didn't look down at it yet, because there was one more thing I wanted to know from him.
"Edison, as I was falling into rest, I felt your lips against mine," I said giving him a level stare.
"I was caught up in the moment," he explained clearing his throat and avoiding my eyes. "You looked like a tortured prince ready to lay in rest forever and I wanted you to wake back up. I thought maybe a kiss would persuade you to do so. Not that I had any doubt that you wouldn't wake, it was just in case you decided to give up while you rested.
"I looked at him for a moment, but he wouldn't meet my eyes. There was something more to that then he was telling me but I wasn't built to feel that type of emotion for anyone or anything, so unless he wanted to tell me, I would never know.
I lifted the mirror and met my eyes. The stitching around my scalp was so minimal that if I didn't already have scars from London's previous excisions, they wouldn't be noticeable at all. I inspected my hairline from one ear to the other, smiling at how neatly Edison had put my scalp on. A flash of light gold caught my attention and I pulled the mirror back far enough to see my new hair. It was such a soft shade of gold, that parts of it looked almost white. It wasn't too long, but long enough where the front sprung forward a little and the length reached just below my ears. I reached up a hand to it. It was so soft that it almost felt unreal.
"Where did you get this from?" I asked softly pulling on one of the sprigs that was standing up in the front.
"A gold fox. I was completely surprised to see one and I thought of how nicely it would set off your duo eye tone. Do you really like it?" he asked finally looking at me with a shy smile.
"Yes; thank you. And thank you for putting back together as you did. Thank you for removing the remnants of London from inside my mind and thank you for not letting me feel pain," I said smiling back at him.
"You're welcome," he replied. "I'd like to fix your hand when you're up to it, then I'd like to go back to the factory. I think we could use some of the mannequins there to help work on your new thought process."
"Let fix my hand now then, I don't feel tired anymore," I said as I pushed the blanket off of myself and set my feet onto the floor.
He nodded and led the way into the sitting room. I sat in the chair by the window again and waited for him to return. In his hands I saw a sewing needle, some thread, and a thin layer of whatever it was that he hunted yesterday that formed the scarlet pool.
"It helps being the son of a seamstress," he said with a smile as he sat cross-legged on the floor in front of me. "Can you turn that lamp on please?"
I did as I was asked and he took my hand in his. I watched him thread the needle and I watched him take the skin and place it on my hand. He moved his glasses on top of his head as he put the needle against my skin.
"Would you like something to dull your hand so you don't feel any pain?" he asked, needle poised in the air. I shook my head. Nothing he was about to do would be anything I hadn't felt before in magnitudes.
He smiled at me and pulled my hand close to his face before he made his first stitch. I watched as he skillfully gave me new skin with as minimal scarring as possible. Edison was very swift with his work and was finished in less than half an hour. London would've dragged this out for the remainder of the night, stitching and unstitching my hand over and over again just for her own sick pleasure. Instead he was very gentle and most of the time he spent glancing up at me as he would weave the thread in and out to make sure I wasn't in pain.
"All done," he said finally admiring his work. He slid his glasses back down over his eyes and turned my hand from side to side to make sure that he was satisfied with what he had accomplished.
I made a fist. I was used to doing things like this from the orders London would give me after she attached new pieces to me each time. The skin wasn't tight as it was on my face when I had done it and it wasn't stretched too loose in spots either.
"Thank you," I said.
"You're welcome. Now let's get some rest so we can head back in the morning," he said gathering the spare pieces of skin and thread. I glanced out the window and saw that snow was slowly staring to fall creating a fresh new white blanket, taking away the scarlet pool, which made me think of something I wanted to ask Edison.
"What did you use for my hand and scalp?"
"A wild boar. The skin of a boar or pig is the closest thing to the skin of a human. I wanted you to still look authentic so I knew that's what I needed to hunt for,” he explained.
As I sat there still looking out the window, I suddenly saw a flash of blue go by the last of the scarlet pool. I sat up and craned my neck to get a better look and saw the flash of blue disappear around the side of the cabin.
"Is something wrong?" Edison asked?
"No. I'm going to my room," I said. I decided I didn't want to alarm him when I still didn't know what was outside. "I will see you in the morning." I got up and headed out of the room and down the short hall.
I closed the door securely behind me and waited until I heard him do the same. Once I was sure he was in his room, I grabbed one of the wooden dressers and shoved it against the door. If
he came in and found me gone he would probably come looking for me and if the blue I saw was a danger, I didn't want any harm to come to him. He had been so good to me these past few months.
I opened the window and prepared to go out when a face popped up and stared at me. I fell back in surprise and stared at what had to be the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It was female and the blue that I had caught flashes of was her beautiful light colored hair. She had big, olive green eyes and a little button nose. I couldn’t see the rest of her face because she kept it hidden under the window sill. But just by looking at her I knew she was another one of London’ s puppets.
I got to my feet and backed away from the window a couple of steps. Cassara had been deadly enough in her own right by taking a piece of me with her I could only imagine what this one would be able to do. Keeping her large, unblinking eyes on me, she put her hands on the window sill and crawled into the room.
I had to admit that I was disturbed by that. Why she hadn’t just climbed in was beyond me, but if she was attempting to intimidate me, it seemed to be working just fine. She rose to her feet and I saw that she was as small as Cassara was only she seemed to be wearing a sheer ruby colored scarf around her neck. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and rolled her head from side to side. As soon as she opened her eyes she was in front of me causing me to almost cry out in shock. I wasn’t sure what London was doing to these new designs but they were faster than the eye when they wanted to be.
Firmly, she gripped my hand in hers and forced them to her lips. I tried to pull away but her grip was like a vice and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get away from her so I let her use my fingers to trace her slender, soft lips. She stared up at me with her eyes still unblinking but now seemingly taking on emotion. The next thing I knew she had her small arms wrapped around me pulling me into a fierce hug.
“What are you doing?” I whispered fiercely. I didn’t return her hug. I didn’t feel any connection to her to do so.
She looked up at me with her sad eyes and let me out of the embrace. Turning her back to me she walked toward the window and stood there gazing out into the sunset.
“Sparrow,” she whispered in a slightly raspy voice.
“What?” I asked confused.
“You once drew a picture of a sparrow for me. Don’t you remember me?” she turned slightly and I noticed as she spoke her words were labored as if speaking was a challenge for her.
Immediately I knew who she was. I never dreamed that the Other was a female. I thought it would’ve been a male like me. Was I the only male that London had ever created? It didn’t really matter at that moment because the one I had made an internal vow to rescue had found me. But why? Had London sent her to kill me as well?
“I miss the pictures you would draw for me, three two five seven,” she said sitting on my bed. “ It was nice to have someone to communicate with, but when you escaped, Mother took away all the drawings you made for me. She was so angry she even took some of us apart and threw them into a fire pit,’ she said bitterly.
“My name isn’t three two five seven anymore," I said quietly.
She turned completely and looked curiously at me, "Did Mother name you before you left?"
"She's not my mother, nor is she yours. Her name is London please address her as such," I said through clenched teeth. "And no, she would never do such a kindness. To any of us. What's your number?"
"She did name some of us. My number is one one zero six."
"So you were started before me then?" I asked curiously.
"I don't think our numbers have anything to do with the order they made us in," she said.
"They? Did you say they?" I crossed the room and grabbed her by her shoulders tightly. "Who else? Who else has done this?"
"I don't know. Mother—"
"London," I corrected her.
"London was babbling the night you left how she knew she shouldn't have tried to finish you because you were always the defiant son."
I stared at one one zero six. So London thinks I'm a defiant son. I know Cassara was sent to destroy me and it made me wonder if the pale little beauty with the sky colored hair was dispatched for the same purpose.
"I can see the question in your eyes. And the answer is yes, but I won't do what London asks. If I had escaped first, I would've come back for you and I know you would've come back for me eventually. I won't harm you. I promise," she said adjusting the scarf on her neck.
I couldn't help but think of the scarlet pool when she touched her scarf. She was very beautiful and the scarf made her skin look even paler than what I assume it would normally look like. There were no words I could think of to describe her true beauty but if I were ever to say I've seen an angel it would be her. With her blue hair she looked just like a glorious winter morning which gave me an idea.
"Your name is Winter. Never address yourself as a number ever again," I said.
She smiled and took a few steps toward me, her scarf billowing in the soft breeze that was now passing through the room. I wondered what she was hiding behind that thin piece of material.
"Winter," I began cautiously, "Why do you wear that?"
"This?" she asked fingering her scarf. I nodded. I hoped I wasn't being too personal but I really wanted to know.
"Moth—London spent a lot of time trying to give me the perfect voice. When she felt she had found it, she would become disenchanted with the way I sounded rather quickly and would take out my vocal chords and give me new ones. I have many horrible scars on my throat, so I hide them behind this."
I looked away. I too bore scars of London's experiments and I too hid mine away. I knew what Winter felt every time she looked in the mirror and had to see those. I also knew that Edison could probably help her as he had helped me.
"If you'll permit him too, my friend Edison should be able to help with those scars," I said to her.
"Do you think he would?" she asked hopefully. Before I could answer her, I heard Edison's door open.
"Caelum? Who are you talking to? I hear voices in there," he called through the door.
A look of sheer panic struck Winter across the face and she sprung into action. She firmly covered my mouth with her hand and started to pull me toward the window. I tried my best to pull away from her but she seemed to be just as strong as I was. After a few more tense attempts, I was able to pull myself free from her.
"What are you doing?" I asked in a fierce whisper.
"We have to leave. Now," she said as she began to push me toward the window. I braced myself against the window frame and dug my feet into the floor.
"That's Edison, he can help you," I said.
"I don't want his help. I don't want it. I don't! Go out the window. Please, please, please," she said sounding completely frantic.
We both looked at the door as Edison tried the doorknob. He wouldn't be able to enter the room, because of what I had shoved in front of it earlier. I heard his good-natured laugh as realized the door was blocked.
"Caelum, just let me know you're okay and I'll go back to my room," he said.
As I opened my mouth to respond, once again Winter clasped her hand over it to keep my silent. It was obvious she was afraid of Edison and I knew why. This was another one of us bred by London to only feel fear. It must have been one of her favorite emotions to give to most of us. With one hard shove, Winter knocked me out the window and jumped out after me. Grabbing me and throwing me onto her back, she ran as quickly as the wind disappearing into the snow covered wonderland far away from Edison's cabin.
Eleven
I never saw Edison after that night. I also never got an answer from Winter as why she was so insistent that we leave. There would be times that I would sit in Winter's underground little village that she had managed to construct in her time away from London and her mansion of torture.
For the first month I was useless. I would lay around on the hardest stones I could find in her secret wonderland of stone a
nd pools of ice to punish myself for letting go of Edison so easily. I lost a lot of will being away from him but Winter made sure that I would never lose focus. She knew that her only hope as living as normal a life as possible would be if I killed London. She would come to me every night and lay next to me with her arms wrapped tightly around me, sleeping on the makeshift beds of stone. It wasn't until the second month that I finally held her. She was so small and fragile with such hope in her eyes when she would lay with me, that I felt I had to be the strong one and hold her close to let her know I would kill London for her. I had lost the drive to kill London for myself, now it was for my tiny companion who would care for me nightly and patiently wait for me day to day to see if I would finally rise off of the stones and let her help me.
The morning that I had awoken without feeling the weight of
Winter's head against my chest caused me to finally come out of my depression. I sat up and looked around the cavern finally taking in how hard she had worked on it. There were carvings of forests on the walls that seemed to have leaves of emeralds and tree bark of smoky topaz. The flowers she carved out of the stone and placed throughout looked as if they were filled with sapphires for Columbines, pearls for Lily of the Valleys, amethyst for sprigs of Lavender, yellow agate for the smattering of Dandelions, and all matters of jewels. There were small lanterns hanging from the trees illuminating the cavern and making it look like a fairytale. The little blankets of grass in the garden of flowery jewels seemed to be made completely of emeralds. She had even somehow managed to carve a little home out of stone which made me wonder why she would spend her time outside of it and sleep on the stones with me.
I smiled because Winter fit in perfectly here. She herself looked like a pixie so it would make sense that this was something that she would want to live in.
I walked down the small rocky hill toward the center of the cavern looking around to see if I could spot her. I wanted to thank her for giving me a reason to follow through on what I had promised myself long ago and her as well.
Unwound (The Symphony of Brass and Bone) Page 9