Hearts

Chapter Four: Heart of a Sister

Adine neared the alleyway and cautiously stepped into the dark and filthy passage. Her heart pounded with fear and anticipation. Was it Gregory she followed?

Shopping in the market, she had been paying the grocer when she thought she saw a familiar profile from the corner of her eye. Whirling around, she lost sight of him until a horse and cart trudged down the crowded street. With her second glimpse of him, she followed as swift as the masses would allow.

With teasing glances back, the red hair had to be his. Her heart was sure that the man was her brother. He turned down a second street, and she trailed behind, trying to keep pace. When he slipped into the alleyway, she hesitated.

Now in the shaded path between buildings, she swallowed to counteract the aridness in her throat and mouth. "Gregory?"

When all she heard was a squeal and movement of a rat, she turned and took a step toward the fall sun. Without warning, a gloved hand covered her mouth and a cold object stung her throat. She could hear the rotation and clicks of gears and springs. Gregory.

"If you had been anyone else, sister, I would not have thought twice." He released her and pushed her away.

She rounded on him. In his finest clothes that looked worse for wear, she saw that he had not taken care of himself very well. "Gregory! Papa has worried incessantly for you. He searched all of East End. Why did you leave?"

His frenzied gaze burned through her before his bloodshot eyes twitched. "Because I wished to live! I did not want my life to be nothing but a room in a residence of a watchmaker. You do not understand, sister. He used me to benefit you. He does not give a damn if I exist or not!"

His fury made her cry out before she breathed deep and regained her composure. "That is not true, Gregory. Papa loves you. He created you out of love."

She said the wrong thing. He stalked closer, his face grotesque in his wrath. "For love of you, Adine! Now others pay for his hubris."

Tears burned in her eyes before they overflowed and trailed down her cheeks. "Gregory, what have you done?" she whispered.

He laughed, and the cold laugh distressed her beyond bearing. The cold leather of his hand touched her cheek. There was no warmth in the stroke, the metal beneath radiating ice. "Read the papers, sister. My 'work' has been publicized with great appreciation to a debauched world."

His grinned a grin that once endeared her to him, but now it only terrified her. Adine could only gape as he scaled the brick wall to the roof with no effort. With one last glance at her, he vanished from her view.