Ageless

Eurika

The cool night of June swept through her hair on the terrace as Mr. Copper lifted her to the air, spinning, and smiling. She laughed and softly wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him in a warm embrace.

"I've done it!" He exclaimed, "it is finished. I'll be leaving tonight, but I'll be back in the morning."

"You finished the machine?" She cocked her head with gleeful curiosity.

"Yes!" He grinned and nuzzled his face into the crease of her neck, "I will bring him back with me, and then we can be happy again!"

"You know, some people aren't meant to live. It was God's plan to pass him to heaven, perhaps bringing him back is not a part of that plan.." she pulled away and laid a hand on his cheek.

"Well, God will simply have to watch me then."

She sighed. The side of his index finger curved beneath her chin and tilted her gaze up to his own. Without warning he leaned forwards and pressed his lips against her own. Passion sparked between them, she craved to be loved.

She pulled him in closer and ran her hand through his hair, lusting over this moment.

Her desires were denied as he pulled away to pace the room.

"I promise you, I'll be back in the morning." He kissed her cheek, grabbing his coat as he headed to the door.

She stood bewildered for a few moments and looked down at her watch. The faint ticking was all she could hear, the front door never opened, nor did it close. Outside, lightning struck somewhere close, filling the house with thunder. She had not noticed the storm coming in before.

The hum of electricity flowed through the house from downstairs. She ran, heading straight for the dark room which now flashed blue and white.

"Wesley!!" She screamed, he was sitting in the contraption. His goggles and aviators cap were foreign to his eyes. She sprinted to him as an orb formed around him, streaming in purple veins like living light.

She reached out her watched hand as the machine lifted from the stone floor. A peculiar numbness zipped through her veins, following her blood vessels to her heart and engulfing the watch in the same eerie purple light which engulfed the machine in sparks. She flung backwards into the shelf, knocking it backwards with several clinks of the tools which rested on its shelves.

When Lilly glanced up, Mr. Copper and his magnificent machine were gone. A small light dimmed from where it used to be and quickly faded to become nonexistent. Her wrist stung like a scrape to the knee, so she looked there next.

Her eyes crossed in astonishment and her head dropped, falling to a state of unconsciousness which left her mind blank.

•••

Lilly woke up the next morning in the dark with a raging headache. Her body ached from laying on broken wood. She sat up, pulling large splinters from her left arm.

She croaked, "Wesley..?" And rose to her feet. The room was silent, the machine gone. The pain of the splinters left small red marks where they impaled and she wandered out of the dark.

"Wesley?" She called out again, exploring the house for any sign of her loved one. The house was empty. She mumbled "what happened last night..?"

She gazed down at her wrist where the watch had embedded itself into her skin. The clock had stopped as if frozen in time, as dead as it was before they had fixed it as children. Stopped at exactly 12:01.