Glassy Sky - Larry Stylinson

Prologue

I never was a man of great talent.

I never had the strength in my small body to fight, I never had a loud voice that could shout over others, and I never had the money some of these rich folk have; but I'm certain of one thing.
I have the stamina to be the Leader of the Steamers.

In case you don't know who the steamers are, here's a hint.
All towns have that one group that everyone knows. Every town has a bunch of losers known as the "rogues". Do you see what I'm hinting towards?
In case you don't, let me tell you. The Steamers are the thugs of this town. There aren't very many of us, but we sure have the power between one another to get things our way.

First of all though, let me introduce myself. My name is Louis Frei. I'm twenty-two years old, and I'm the Leader; always was, and always will be. If there's anyone that the cops want to catch on the account of mischief, it's me.

Being the Leader of a group of idiots is hard, but I'm coping with their weird personalities just fine. Honestly, if I had to choose a favourite out of the six of us, besides myself of course, it would have to be Zayn. Zayn is the twenty-three year old with a tall hat and red eye-glass. He's the man who manages the outfits, tends to have a lot of monologues, and mumbles to himself a lot. He may look like a grumpy old geezer but I just assume he's smiling on the inside.
Asides from Zayn, there are Liam, Niall, Hanji, and of course, Erin.
Liam is the serious one who likes to keep everyone in order. He's the one who gives out the orders when I tell him to. He's sort of my Commander, if you like.
Niall is the twenty-two year old Irish one, sent overseas to England as a kid. He was found as a baby, just west of London in a nailed-down wooden box, screaming and crying apparently, but that's just folk's talk. He now works on driving and testing our equipment. He's quite handy with the ukulele too, but that's his own little talent.
Now onto Hanji. Where to start.. Hanji is the twenty-one year old scientist of the group. Ever since birth, Hanji has never been described as either male nor female, but responds to both without any argument, which is nothing but confusing for the rest of us. Hanj' is the one with thick glasses who creates and repairs new inventions for our use only, and the one who analyses everything in such great detail. He's quite the character really, always over-reacting and shouting, but we love that about him.

Lastly, is our newest recruit. His name is Erin.
He's got a girly name and looks like a girl but he is most definitely a boy, I've checked. He's our youngest member, only seventeen years old and quite naive but he's my baby so I couldn't ever throw him out. He was found less than a year ago by Liam. From what Liam had told me, Erin was brought in kicking and screaming like a two year old. Apparently he was caught by the cops for stealing an apple off the market, and when Liam tried to rescue him, he pulled a dagger out.

Then again, like I said, it's just rumours. Liam can be quite a show-off when he likes. Despite the rumours however, Erin is actually kind of cute. He's around 5'5, and has white hair that reflects pink in the light. His pale skin and colourless hair are due to the fact that he's caught ever fatal disease I can think of, but somehow he's survived them all.
He's the look-out and the defender of the Steamers. His looks and personality are two different things, and that's why we brought him in. We needed protection, and this cute little kid has it.
He can appear innocent and weak but we've all been mistaken as he pulled out his dagger. Even me.
He's pretty popular with the ladies too, seeing as whenever he goes out he always seems to bring at least two back down here, not that I care, but seeing as we're all men here.. well almost.. it's nice to have a lady in a tight corset over for a chat and such.

Now that you know everyone, let me tell you the story of how the King of the rogues met this century's Superstar.

***

Story-line setting:

19th century, Victorian England.
Louis and his friends are "steampunks". They live under the city of London, by the harbour, and next to the railroad.

They don't have a house, but they live where the abandoned trains are stored. Their ceiling is the part of the road from the town of London.

The story is written in 3rd person, but Louis is the story teller so sometimes there are moments where 'I' is used.

Additional and useful notes about references in the book:

Libertarianism which is the freedom of actions and thinking. In the book, the Libertarians are sexually-open and believe that they are free to have any sexual relationship they desire.
Brothels which are the places where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. Here, they are for the working-class people (poor people) who are forced into prostitution from the age of 13 (or 11/12 if they can pass as 13 year olds)
Prostitution In the 19th century, there were around 8,600 prostitutes in London alone. There were so many that it became a social problem. In this book, some women carry the sign of prostitution which is marked by a red rose in the breast-pocket of their dresses. Louis wears one too. Prostitutes are also known as "Fallen Women", an example of what upstanding women in society should never become.
Homeless beggars who are all over the streets of London seeing as the population doubled, and they had no where to go but the brothels or the streets. Erin, Zayn, and Liam were once beggars.

Crossing legs and wearing a red rose are signs of prostitution.

I hope you will enjoy this book. Inspired by Escapade and Death List.