GENTLE | VISCOUNT TEWKESBURY

7| The Ticking Clock

[Y/N]

WE COULDN'T OPEN THE DOOR AND BREAKING IT DOWN WOULD BE SUSPICIOUS, IF WE EVEN MANAGED TO DO THAT. So we used a window at the side of the building as our entrance. Enola made her way inside first while I followed behind her.

The room wasn't necessarily dark as the light that came from the windows was enough for us to see everything clearly. We were surrounded by wooden boxes that were placed against the walls. In front of us was a table which held little bottles and containers, alongside with test tubes like the ones I used for science experiments.

It was one of my favourite things to do back then. Literature had seem appealing to me but science is a whole other story. I found it fascinating how by mixing different chemical elements one could get chemical reactions.

Margaret used to think all of it was bullshit and that it wasn't appropriate for a woman to show interest in such things. Alice on the other hand used to fear that I would do something wrong and blow up the whole house.

Seeing Enola grab the bottle of alcohol I snapped out of my thoughts. "I wouldn't do that if I were-" however my words were muffled as Enola let a drop of the alcohol touch the ashes creating a small explosion.

The girl smiled a bit as she continued to look at the bottles. Walking towards the other side of the table I noticed a stack of papers that had the same purple ribbon wrapped around them. Turning them to around, I saw that they were actually flyers, that has 'VOTES FOR WOMEN' written on them with red capital letters.

Things started to seem a little more clear as I realised what our mothers were trying to do. The fought for feminism and for women to be viewed as equals to men. It sounded like something they would do. "Hey look at this" I said as I passed the flyers to Enola.

She smiled before placing the papers down. Looking around I noticed the big barrels, of which most were labelled as 'Gun Powder'. What would they need gun powder for? Whatever they are trying to do must be dangerous.

"Y/n" the girl called out to me in a hushed tone. She didn't say anything else, she just passed a paper to me, that seemed to be an article taken from a newspaper. 'PROTEST, UNREST & CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE' the title read. And my worries were just confirmed.

Unfolding the paper there were to pictures accompanying the article. One seemed to represent one of the many busy streets of London. The second one was similar to the first one, except that now windows had been broken and an explosion had been set off.

"This can't be good" I muttered as I paced around the room. Enola started to move boxes, searching for something. "Come here" she said when she finally found what she had been searching for. Opening the box in front of her we were met with explosives, stacked neatly inside the box.

"Sherlock was right. They do have a plan" she whispered to herself. "Do I want to find you?"

AFTER WE PUT EVERYTHING BACK IN THEIR ORIGINAL PLACE WE MADE OUR WAY BACK OUTSIDE THROUGH THE WINDOW (AGAIN). Walking down the empty streets in silence my mind was racing. That was probably the reason why I didn't notice the man who was following us until I felt something hit by head hard, making everything to go black for a while.

Next thing I knew, I opened my eyes to find the said man holding Enola's head inside a bucket full of water, choking her. As I reached for the small dagger I had hidden in my shoe, I noticed the girl had stopped moving. She couldn't be dead could she?

Knowing I didn't have much time to think I stabbed his leg with the dagger. The man groaned in pain and just then Enola shoot up, the back of her head hitting his. Looking at each other, she grabbed my hand and pulled me with her as we ran.

Not being able to keep running we sat down without backs pressed against wooden boxes hoping he wouldn't see us. However that did not work one bit as the man took notice of us almost immediately.

He grabbed my arm pulling me away from my friend. I kicked and screamed as I tried to focus on my next moves. I tried to dodge his punches as Enola jumped on his back in an attempt to help. However it didn't seem to work as she lost her grip on him and hit her head hard against the wall, which seemed to knock her out.

Now it was only me and him. Kicking his leg I had injured a while before I managed to get out of his grip and run. I knew he would follow me and wouldn't do anything to Enola as she was already knocked out. Or at least I hoped so.

I grunted as I tried to avoid his punches, meanwhile trying to think of a plan. Throwing a punch at him, I practically heard his nose crack as it started to bleed. The man only seemed to get angrier by the second. Being fed up he raised his leg (his not injured one) and kicked my stomach, which sent me to the ground.

Breathing now seemed an extremely difficult task, as I felt my lugs burn. Getting up I tried to regain my breathing, leaning against the wall behind me. The man walked closer to me. I raised my leg in an attempt to kick him again however he dodged and pushed me with a lot of fource against the door, causing it to open.

I found myself at the building I had sneaked into with Enola less than an hour ago. The man closed the doors and reached for the dagger on his belt, all while I got up and backed away from him. Eventually I felt my back press up against a barrel.

The man was only a few feet away from me when he stopped. "What do you know about the Viscount?" he asked. "N-nothing" I stuttered out. I wasn't going to help him in any way, even if that meant he would spare my life.

"Now I will ask you again" he said taking a step closer. "Where is he?" he yelled, the dagger now pressed against my neck. "I don't know" I said firmly, as if I wasn't scared of him at all. Truth is, it wasn't him I feared right now. It was death. My death. And how it would affect people.

The man took a step back, removing the dagger from my neck, only for him to lunge forward and stab me at the stomach. My eyes squeezed shut.

And for a moment I thought everything finally stopped.

The only thing heard was a sound of a clock.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

As if I'm running out of time.

And then the ticking stops.

My life ended.

Or so I thought.

Opening my eyes I see the man standing in front of my with his hand still holding the dagger that has cut through my dress. So why am I not feeling some short of pain?

Oh

The corset.

"I knew this would have a truer use" I chuckled. Just then the door opened to reveal Enola. The man pulled the dagger and turned to the said girl. But Enola was much quicker and had managed to kicked his injured leg.

The man gasped as he dropped the dagger to hold his leg. The girl grabbed my hand and pulled me outside the building just as she lit up one of the explosives. And it wasn't long before the sound of the explosion came.

"Are you okay?" she asked looking at the cut on my cheek and the few marks on my arms. "Yeah I'm fine" I assured her. "But-"

"We have to find Tewkesbury."