Close your eyes

Chapter 6

I get out of the boat and shakily walk out of the dock, clenching the knife in my fist as I hobble towards a small box at the entrance to the dock. I cling to posts lining the edge of the wooden structure and hold on tightly, determined to not stumble into the water. I dodge passing Carriers and Souls, receiving curious and concerned glances as I pass.

I'm gonna get that lantern fixed

I collapse next to the metal box and rest my head onto it whilst I caught my breath. I trace my fingers over the markings, gears and screws on the surface before leaning back to smash my fist into its side.

I scrunch up my face slightly when nothing happens and hit it again, still nothing. I lift my fist into the air and am about to strike when a strong but cold hand catches my wrist, holding my arm tightly.

I look down and see that my efforts in smashing my fist into the box hadn't been futile for a small and rather child-like face stared at me.

The metal box had opened up on the side to reveal a mechanical little boy inside it who was now yawning and rubbing his eyes. A Bronze-Bot. He released my hand and smiled at me sleepily, all the while I could see the gears moving to make these actions possible. If he was human he'd have only been about five years old or perhaps slightly younger, it felt wrong though that someone that looked so young was used to do a lot of manual labour.

"Yes miss?" he asked whilst suppressing a yawn.

"Well... Alex" I say after reading the name engraved into his metal torso "I was wondering if-"

I stopped speaking when I saw him pull a face

"What's up?" I say wondering what I had done in our short acquaintance to already piss him off

"Well I don't like how all peoples can know my name and I don't know theirs" he says softly while looking at the ground.

"Well then, I'm Judy" I say and smile at him "I was using a boat earlier and the lant-"

I was cut off by Alex hurriedly scrambling out of his box, grabbing my arm and running towards the far side of the dock.

"What's going on!" I demand as I try to wriggle out of his hold and slow us down by dragging my feet along the wooden planks. Alex groans and keeps pulling me after him, maneuvering past people in his way. When I realize that my attempts to get him to let go of me failed I drop to my knees. 

He looks at me in annoyance and I simply smile back. He shakes his head and mumbles "sorry" before pulling me behind him with me still on my knees. I snap my eyes shut and clench my teeth.

The pain is only temporary. 

I look over my shoulder and see a trail of crimson stain the wood before it vanishes completely leaving no trace of my suffering behind.

Only temporary. 

I let out a grunt as I felt the cuts on my knees close up and then get ripped open again as Alex dragged me.

Only temporary.

Alex grunts at me before releasing my hand and grabbing me around the waist.

"Alex!" I yell kicking my feet "Put me down!"

This was enough to get the attention of multiple people who now look at me in concern. Alex starts running and jumps, with me still in his arms, headfirst into the water. Through the bubbles I can see Alex open a hatch in his chest to reveal a small glowing orb. He swims towards me and grabs my hand making me grab the orb. My eyes go wide in shock and fear, I know what will happen if I pull this orb out, he's going to disassemble. He jerks my hand back and I watch in horror as the light behind his eyes flickers then dies. 

The bronze gears, screws and nails that brought him to life slowly fall away from each other and sink to the down. I feel strong hands grip my sides and haul me out of the water. I clench the orb tightly in my fist before shoving it deep into my pocket.

The man that dragged me out of the water shakes me slightly to get my attention as people begin crowding around me murmuring among themselves. Bronze-Bots form a circle around me and push people back when they get too close.

The man is looking at me and is talking slowly, trying to get me to calm down and listen. He tells me his name, Bob?, Rafe?, Leo?, I forget it as soon as he says it. He keeps talking but I don't hear anything. My head feels light, everything is just a blur

Amongst the crowd I see a checked green and yellow deerstalker hat that belongs to only one person I know that has such terrible sense of style.Felix. He catches my eye and immediately starts pushing through people to get to me.

"Judy!" he screams over the crowd loud enough to briefly silence the murmurs before they continue, now murmuring my name.

"JUDY" he screams and shoves his way towards the center of the circle, kicking the Gold-Bots out of his way. He collapses beside me and pulls me into a fierce hug and I lean into him, letting the scent of pine overwhelm me. 

"Judy what the fuck have you gotten yourself into" he whispers.