‘Future London’ was in the making, and only a few buildings needed finishing off.
We’d planned to kidnap some scientists once it was done to work on the time machine, and we’d planned to make them believe they were in the future so they wouldn’t try to escape.
We’d made the back room in the clock shop a lift between the normal London and the ‘Future London’. It was still a bit shaky on the trip, but it just made it more realistic. Time travelling wasn’t smooth.
Also, we’d got some people to move into ‘Future London’, so at least it had some life in it. There wasn’t quite as many people as there were in the London above it, but close enough.
And one thing that was annoying me was that there was a young child screeching. And it was doing my nut in.
They were on Flatstone Street (I was in the Future London), so I decided that it was time to tell them to shut up. It was in the alley just slightly further of the stairs that took you to Chinatown. In it, Bostro and Fisheye were cornering a young girl of about ten in the corner, and you could easily tell she was worn out and petrified, and she had been crying, a lot. None of them had noticed my presence though. “I haven’t done anything wrong!” the girl cried.
“That’s for the boss to decide!” Bostro said.
“Now, what’s going on here?” I said quietly.
“She looked suspicious!” Bostro said, turning around to face me. Fisheye remained in his original position.
I looked at the girl. She was panting and her eyes were wide with fear. “I haven’t done anything wrong! Please believe me!”
“Why should we? You’re homeless, orphaned and no-one’s here to protect you now” Fisheye said, getting one of his many knives out and making a long gash across her forehead, which made the girl scream out in pain.
I suddenly had a thought then. She looked too alike to say it couldn’t be. She had the same bronze hair, the same blue eyes…
“Bostro, Fisheye, leave. I wish to talk to her. Alone” I said.
They both gave her cold hard looks, before heading off in the direction of the Gilded 7 Casino. By the looks of her face, she looked like she thought I was going to finish her off. But that wasn’t the plan. “Marina” I sighed.
“Ho-how do you know my name?” she asked, her voice still panicky in case I was trying to lure her into a trap.
“It’s me. Clive” I said, sighing again.
“Cl-Clive?” she said, clearly recognising the name, but not my face.
“It’s me, Marina Jane Roberts. Your older brother” I smiled, reciting her full name to make her believe I wasn’t tricking her.
“It’s Swan now” she said. “I took Eleanor Swan’s surname”
“Ah, Marina Jane Swan” I said, putting emphasis on the surname. “Look, we need to sort out that gash; it’s going to get infected if we don’t do anything”
Marina struggled to get up, which ended up in me helping her up, and then giving her a piggyback. “Do you know those two men?” she asked.
“Yes”
“They were trying to hurt me for no reason. They just grabbed me, slammed me against that wall and kept cutting me with their knives” she said. “They said I looked suspicious when all I was doing was walking with my head down, which I always do in thought”
“They’ve been trained to attack criminals”
“Well, they should at least find out whether the person is actually a criminal. They could get sued for attacking a completely innocent person”
“I’ll tell them” I said. “Marina, why did they say you were homeless and orphaned? I know you’re orphaned, but homeless?”
“Eleanor was murdered. Once they sorted out that skin condition I had Eleanor take me in due to what happened to our parents. She got murdered two months ago” she said, gulping.
Marina was born with a serious skin condition that so little people had they hadn’t been able to make an antidote. Since Marina was the first person to be born with it, they took her to test things on her once she was a few weeks old. They managed to fix it when she was about five, it was in the papers, and that was how I managed to recognise her so easily. I only met her twice, the day after she was born and the day before she was taken to the lab. “Eleanor never seemed like the motherly sort” I said. Eleanor came to see us the day before Marina left.
“She had a child but it was stillborn” Marina said. “If they were still alive they would have been fourteen”
Four years older than Marina. Our conversation left us only a few paces from the clock shop, where I still lived. I did the secret knock we made about eighteen months ago, before Cogg called to say it was open. I put down Marina, who was beginning to get some stability on her legs, and the gash had finally stopped bleeding, before opening the door. “Follow me” I said.
Marina slowly walked at my side as we went in. Cogg simply raised an eyebrow at Marina’s presence, but Spring was fascinated with the newcomer. “Who on Earth is that Master Clive?” she asked.
“My little sister. Long story” I said. “But she needs medical help more than anything at the moment. You see,” I said, pulling Marina’s fringe, which had gone over her gash. “she has this on her forehead, and it’s going to get infected without anything on it”
“I see” Spring said. “Well, take her upstairs and I’ll see what I can do”
I walked Marina up the stairs which led to the flat. Sitting her down on one of the dining chairs, I explained to her about Spring and Cogg. “Marina, Spring and Cogg are here to help you. They took me in once my adoptive mother died two years ago”
Marina wasn’t completely sure, but she nodded. Spring came upstairs a few seconds later, with a first aid kit at hand. “With how many cuts Cogg gets from the clocks, this should be full of things to help” she said.
First she put a layer of disinfectant over the gash. I remembered it from when Spring sorted out a cut on my arm from the fight with Jackson two years ago, and I could still remember how much it stung. Marina was holding it in though. “Apart from a little infection that might happen, the gash looks fine” Spring said once she’d finished. “How on Earth did you get a gash so bad though?” she asked Marina.
“Knife” she said quietly.
“Oh dear!” she said. “Well, let me get a plaster to stick on that, so it’ll protect it” she said, rifling through the box. “If I can find one large enough” she added.
“Can’t you just use more than one?” I asked.
“It’s not the best option, due to the stickiness but it’s probably the only one we’ve got” Spring said, taking about four plasters out and sticking them on Marina’s forehead. “Have you got any cuts, Master Clive?”
“No, Marina was the only target” I said.
“Poor girl” Spring said. “The two of you look extremely alike, even for siblings” she said.
“Changing the subject?” I said jokily.
“Well, I was just thinking, it might not hurt so much if we don’t say anything” Spring said.
“True” I said, looking at Marina. In the half an hour we’d been here, she’d only said one word. “Is something the matter, Marina?” I asked.
She stayed silent. My plan for Marina was to act all nice to her, and try and keep the plan hidden from her as much as possible. “So, I’m guessing that Marina is the latest addition to the household?” Spring said.
I looked at Marina. She obviously didn’t like speaking unless necessary. “I guess so” I said.
