Advanced Clockwork: Young Writers Prize 2014

Chapter 9

"Hello Miss Eve, it's been a long time."

The old man in the carriage smiled gently at her, his eyes gleaming a grayish-green that was all to familiar to her in the hydraulics powered lighting within. He looked much older than she remembered him to be the last time she had seen him, his face more worn and wrinkled from working hard in that household. But, for some reason, he still had that twinkle in his eyes that still made him look like he had a secret he was hiding.

"Same to you, Mr. Rogers." Eve said slowly, backing away just a little. "But why are you here? How did you find me?" He gave her a arched eyebrow as he ran his hands through his slicked back hair lazily.

"My dear, I have friends in high places." He offered out a gloved hand to her through the carriage door, a gesture that caught her off guard. "Would you do me the honor of riding with me to the party, my Lady?"

She looked at him, a confused look in her amber eyes as she studied him. She didn't like the looks of people like him, those who would take advantage of another person, she had met only people like him and they made her feel like she was back in the labs all over again. But, slowly, she took his hand and entered the carriage and sat across from the older gentleman timidly, laying her violin on her lap gently. As soon as she was seated, the door was closed and in only a second they were moving quickly towards their destination.

The ride was mostly in silence, the air within the carriage vibrating with tenseness. She opened the curtains that covered the little window, looking out at the inky blackness beyond it, not meeting the man's eyes as she tried to stay calm with all of this. She didn't like the fact that Mr. Rogers had found her after all this time, and she was deathly terrified of what he would do know that he had. She felt a hand gently touch her's, making her look away at the pitch blackness outside that raced past them outside.

"You look beautiful tonight." Mr. Rogers said gently, smiling gently at her. "Don't worry so much, Eve."

"Oh, his coming from the man who has been looking for me for his Lord." She sighed, looking out the window once more as the full night's black grip into the soft flickering glow of the middle class streets. "For all I know, you will throw me into the man's arms once we get there and he never lets me out of his sight again."

"Oh, child," He said cheerfully, his smile more like a cat's grin. "I do not plan on doing that tonight. Tonight, you are performing for the rich and pompus, and they will be angry if you aren't doing this." She laughed a cold laugh, but smiled warmly at him him.

"Yeah, and this is why I don't trust you."

"You trusted me with your secrets though." He said cheerily, picking up his mask from the seat next to him. "So I will say that you are lying through your mechanics, Miss. Eve. Or are you going by some other name while we are there?" Sighing again, she nodded slowly.

"Eevee, that's what I think most people will be calling me." He nodded, still smiling that creepy smile at her.

" I like that, sounds like a cute little thing." He mused, putting the maroon and black fox mask onto his face. "And you defiantly are a cute little thing."

"Careful," Eve warned, praying that they would both be at the destination soon. "you're being creepy."

"Pardon my creepiness then." The old man mused through the mask, his fox like grin matching his mask. "Ah, look." He said, looking out the window. "The royal circle."

She looked out the window into the brightly lit streets, the lights almost as bright as the sun itself as the streets glistened like gold. She gawked a little at all the splendor of the mansion-like houses that lined the streets like expensive tokens of wealth. She had almost forgotten what this side of the world looked liked from her bedroom window. The lawns were covered in green plants and grass, the decorative plants more than she had ever through to be as they were all arranged in breathtaking patterns, the houses glowing in their own spotlights. But all of them reminded the robotic woman of the vainness of the people who live in those houses.