Unwound (The Symphony of Brass and Bone)

by Yolanda Olson

  "I don't need your approval any of you," I said glaring at the three of them. I was beginning to wonder now if Winter was so different since she kept company like Jett and Cassara.

  "Don't do that mind control on me again," I said staring hard at Winter.

  "I didn't! I just stood there and stared at you and tried to distract you to see what would happen. You let yourself get distracted and because you were fighting, you got dizzy," she explained wringing her hands.

  "You're a liar!" I screamed at her.

  She looked taken aback for a moment and I could almost swear that she had tears in her eyes, but that couldn't be possible unless London gave her that emotion, which I seriously doubted.

  "I'm not Caelum, I swear I'm not," she said her voice breaking.

  "If you ever do that to me again, I swear I will kill you before I kill London," I seethed.

  "Good luck on that one, honey," Jett said crossing her arms over her chest and giving me a level stare. "Winter helped us get out of that hell hole and if you so much as lay a finger on her outside of training, I'll rip you apart faster than a seam ripper can."

  I held her gaze to show her I wasn't afraid of her even though for a moment her posture and calmness struck a chord of fear inside of me. I knew I could kill them all if I had too, but my main concern was and always had been London.

  I turned and walked away from the three of them; Winter with her somewhat silent whimpering, Jett with her hard look and anger radiating throughout the room, and Cassara with her look of confusion. Into the dark hole that Cassara had first refuse to come out of, I laid my head down on the cold, cavern floor to rest myself. I knew I had a lot of work in front of me because that small skirmish that Jett had referred to as training had taken a lot of me.

  I could hear the three of them talking or possibly arguing with voices rising and another voice telling the risen one to quiet down that I might hear. What they didn't know was that I wasn't the least bit concerned about what they were talking about. I just wanted silence so that I would be able to rejuvenate long enough to go out and take the three of them on again with no problem.As it stood I could feel pieces of my skin starting to stick to the ground, and I could feel myself becoming tired more frequently as the time went on. I have to hurry, I thought as my eyes closed. I didn't have time for this training everyone was trying to put me through. Edison had tested my strength, obviously I was strong enough I just needed to think of things seconds before I did them. Winter tried to use her wiles to distract me and Jett and Cassara used brute strength and speed to take me down.

  It wouldn't be easy to not be distracted or seduced by the beautiful things that London would try to entice me with, but I knew I could surpass them as I had surpassed Winter's attempt at seduction. It would be mere seconds to be faster and more brutal than what Jett and Cassara had thrown at me, but I was smart enough to surpass that as well.

  The only thing that would honestly be able to distract me would be Edison and I knew he wouldn't be there. I'd never see him again and I could feel the human parts of my heart starting to break at that thought. I wondered if his heart was still beating or if he thought of me. My last thought before I drifted into my rest was Edison.

  I don't know why or how but I had my first dream in that resting phase.

  I dreamed that I was in a cold, snow ridden place. Nothing but barren snowlands and mountains covered in snow. I walked through the snow by myself but I felt no cold and no fear. I felt nothing. I made my way from one end of the land to the other until I found the tallest mountain in the arctic cold.

  When I reached it I looked up at it and started to make my way up the mountain. There were no obstacles at first making it a smooth climb, until I had made my way one third of the way up.

  I was suddenly faced with an open cavern. Inside the beginning of the cave was a net of seam rippers. I glanced around and saw there was no other way to go to get to the top of the mountain other than to go straight through.

  That was the first time I had felt the fear. I knew that if I made one wrong move I could become entangled in the net and ripped to shreds. Taking a deep breath, I walked into the mouth of the cave and stepped cautiously inside.

  In the distance I could hear something oddly familiar sound that would strike a paralyzing fear in me. I leaned a little further in and listened as hard as I could until I was finally able to identify the sound.

  It was her and she was humming her song in a soft, mocking tone. The net started to sway to the humming and the seam rippers suddenly turned into small buzz saws, spinning and whirring ferociously like my insides when I became angry.

  I didn't know how far the net extended but I knew that I could get past it if I took the time to analyze it for a moment and that's when it hit me. Edison had told me to analyze a situation rather than go into it headstrong.

  I took a few steps back and ran toward the net as fast as I could and leapt as far as I ever had before in my existence. The net had been small and obviously fashioned to scare me away from the cave.

  I landed on the other side and turned to look at the net just in time to watch it catch fire and wither away to ashes, just as I would if I didn't get to the book soon enough.

  One thing I did notice almost immediately was that the humming stopped as soon as I had watched the net disappear into ashes.

  I walked out of the other side of the cave and saw more of the mountain to climb.

  As I climbed, I heard something moving above me. I stopped and squinted above me and saw a group of beautiful female creatures smiling down at me.

  They beckoned to me to come toward them as they sat on either side of the mountain, telling me they would help me climb higher. The closer I got the closer I realized they had no clothes on and were absolutely exquisite.

  I felt myself becoming ensnared by their smiles and amazing voices calling me by my number telling me that I had almost reached them.

  Winter's voice came to me.

  London will try to distract you with beautiful things Caelum, don't let her.

  Caelum. These things were calling me three two five seven and my name is Caelum.

  I walked toward their outstretched hands and started to make my way around each of them careful not to make eye contact; I refused to let them put their hands on me or look into my eyes. I wouldn't let them get a hold of me and I wouldn't let them distract me in anyway.

  After I had made my way past them, I heard them let out a collective shrieking noise and heard small explosions behind me.

  That was their trick.

  They were made of bomb parts and had I stopped they would've blown me to pieces.

  I silently thanked Winter as I continued to climb.

  Three quarters of the way up I was faced with a mirror. A giant mirror that reflected me not as I looked as I gazed into it but as broken, worn down monster. I saw the angry centipede scars on my body and I saw myself without Jared's eye in place of my hole, I saw the gashes in my face and the wheels spinning lazily about in my face.

  I looked at my arm and saw my number still etched into my skin. I saw myself as the fragile, fearful being that had just escaped from London, not the strong, somewhat fearless being I had become. My reflection quickly changed into London with her hand over her mouth laughing wickedly at me with her wild eyes.

  She pointed at me and mocked my appearance telling me that no matter what I would do to myself I would always just be a shell of other humans and clock pieces.

  I became so angry that I put my fist through the mirror as I had with the tree that Edison had asked me to take down in one swift hit.

  "Up here, Caelum!" came London's mocking tone.

  I looked up and saw that she had been sitting on top of the mountain the entire time. I now understood why all the obstacles and why all the taunting on the way up.

  I was becoming what Winter had asked me to be.

  In a rage I ran as swiftly as I could the rest of the way up the mountain. When I rea
ched the top London giggled and ran to the other edge of the mountain.

  "Catch me if you can," she said as she leapt over the side.

  I ran over just in time to see her land safely in the arms of someone who seemed to be cradling her like an infant. She was gazing lovingly into their face as they set her down and put an arm around her shoulder, whispering something into her ear.

  Then that person turned to face me.

  I woke up completely shocked.

  I couldn't believe such a thing could be true but everything else in my dream had been things I had dreamt of.

  I stood from the floor of the cave and looked peeked out. Winter, Jett, and Cassara where sitting by the ice pool with their bare legs dangling inside talking to each other.

  But I knew it was time.

  I knew I was ready.

  I would escape one last time and make my way to London to face the horrible truth.

  Thirteen

  I realized as I made my way through the winding city into outskirts of town that they had let me sleep the remaining months I had left before I had to face my fate. I had a new resolve now since I had seen in my dreams what I never thought would be possible.

  I was going to get my revenge and I was going to make sure that everyone involved in the creation of any of us would see the same fate as London.

  As I waited at a crosswalk, I mentally made a list. There was Winter, Jett, Cassara, one named Xandy, and me. Winter, Jett, and Cassara I didn't have to worry about but the silent girl with the white hair who would not speak when spoken too would probably be a challenge. London wouldn't have let her in one piece unless she would serve some kind of purpose to her twisted mission.

  As the light changed colors, I knew that one thing I wanted more than anything else was for London to tell me why, even though I knew she never would. There were many things I wanted to know now after that dream and now it wasn't just from her but before I passed judgment I had to be sure that the other one had been involved from the beginning.

  For now I wouldn't think of that until it was time to face them both, if the other would even be there.

  Of course they'll be there, why wouldn't they?

  I stopped walking and realized that for the first time in almost a year I was hearing borrowed thoughts again. Why had this come back to me so suddenly? Why now? I had to block it out or it would surely be the end of me so I chose not to respond.

  The city blocks seemed to disappear in no time and I found myself crossing the park where I had met Finnegan. My first real glimpse at life outside of the mansion of torture and despair that London had kept me imprisoned in.

  I knew it wouldn't take long to get there which was good because for the first time in a long time, I could feel myself starting to slow down. I wouldn't be able to use speed against her, I would have to use wits and hope that would be enough.

  After another thirty minutes or so I saw it looming like an amusement park haunted house in the distance. The sun was going down by now and all I could see was the outline of her mansion. It looked so ominous in the dusk but not as ominous as the true evils hidden inside.

  From my dream, I wondered what darker secrets were harbored there? What madness could possibly grow inside a being so desolate and despaired that they could bring themselves to do such things?

  I passed the iron fence that London's mania had erected in one night and I stood at the end of the cobblestone driveway letting my eyes travel up to the window that had been reboarded and held me captive for most of my existence. As I stood there the torture came back to me as if someone had reopened a flood gate and I was being washed in the sea of torment and pain all over again.

  Any doubts I might have secretly had of letting her live were now gone as I, for a brief moment, relived the tortures I had gone through.

  I made my way quickly across the property. I had so much determination and hatred boiling over inside of me that I honestly feared for London but that wouldn’t deter me. I wanted my revenge and I was hell bent on getting it.

  I thought of poor Jared every time my eyes opened.

  I thought of Winter and the scars on her neck from London’s experiments.

  I thought of Morrison’s burned down factory and how she had lost everything in that fire.

  I thought of how I had lost the friendship of Edison and somehow I knew it had something to do with London.

  I reached the front doors in no time. Closing my eyes for a moment, I took a deep breath and placed my hand on the doorknob. Deep within me I could hear the whirring begin to speed up. Edison had given me a huge advantage by making me faster and wiring me. Edison, I thought gritting my teeth. For him at least I would kill London and get revenge for one of my fallen or missing friends and even though I loved Winter, I knew I cared more for Edison than I did for her.

  With anger surging me inside of me, I shoved the doors open and stepped inside. The smell of death and discarded scrap metal was so strong. I hadn’t noticed it before because I was born into this. Since I had been away for a full year it was almost overwhelming to me now. Placing a hand over my nose and mouth, I quickly made my way down the hall that led to the stone staircase where London’s main workroom was hidden.

  Even as I made my way down the stairs, and even though I had trained myself not to feel it anymore, a small amount of fear started to creep into me. London was a vicious animal with no regard for life of any kind, human, animal, or machine alike. The first moment I showed any sign of weakness, she would take full advantage and pull me apart. But that didn’t stop me from pushing the door open to her workroom and as she sat in her chair with only the fire heating up her melting pot illuminating the room, I used the large metal rod to lock us into this room.

  It took her a few moments to notice my presence and as soon as she did she came rushing at me with her favorite instrument of torture; her seam ripper.

  I steeled myself as she came at me in a blind rage, I’d have to stop her before she could dig that into my flesh and try to tear me apart so for now I ’d have to be on the defense. But to my surprise London ran past me and started clawing at the wall. I watched as the ripper shattered into pieces at the ferocity in which she clawed at the wall and I watched as her hands started to bleed at the constant pounding she did with her fists against it.

  “One, one, one, one! I am no one!,” she screamed as she furiously beat the wall.

  I felt pity for her which is not something I would’ve expected and cautiously approached her. I hated her and she deserved to die but not by her own hand. I put my hand on her back to get her attention and she started laughing and crying at the same time.

  “Three two five seven has come home! How delightful! Did you miss your Mother?” she asked with her back to me as she continued to beat the wall.

  “You’re bleeding London,” I said quietly as I pulled her gently away from the wall.

  “Are you jealous?” she asked finally turning to face me with a vicious, dazed look. “My little boy always wanted to bleed. Always, always. I will never give you blood. Do you know why? Because I know how much you want to bleed. I won’t give you the satisfaction,” she said giggling and placing a blood soaked hand over her mouth. “ My little boy wants to bleed,” she said again.

  I had to push her words out of my head because I wanted to patch her hands before I took her life. I wanted the right to watch her life slip away and not because she did it to herself, she wouldn’t rob me of this; I refused to let her. As soon as I got her back to the chair she had been sitting in when I locked us in, her hands moved quickly. I felt a sharp pain in my side and looked down. She shoved a rotary cutter so deep inside of me that only the handle was showing. I looked into her eyes, which for the first time seemed to focus on me, and I saw the evil smile she would give me when she was going to torture me.

  I fell to my knees as the whirring inside of me started to give way to ticking again. With a startling revelation I realized that Edison had lied to me. He hadn’t
taken all of the parts out of that she had put in, he only wired me to not hear them anymore and London had just severed the wires.

  She ran her hands over my hair, one hand still on the handle of her weapon, “Shhhh. Don’t cry out too loudly, you’ll disturb him.”

  Who was it that I was disturbing in my agony? Who was it that didn’t want to hear me crying out in pain every time she twisted the handle and sliced more of my insides?

  “Caelum!”

  I looked up to my right and saw Winter’s light blue hair emanating against a large mirror in the barely lit room. I looked down at the handle again and then back at her to let her know I was helpless.

  “Mother, let him go!” she pleaded from where she stood.

  London looked sharply at Winter and twisted the rotary cutter again causing me to scream out louder than before. Winter became frantic from where she stood but she made no move to approach me. She made no move to save me which made me wonder if she ever cared about me at all.

  “I told you not to come back! I told you,” she said to me from where she stood.

  London crouched on her chair finally releasing the handle and looked at Winter, “Be quite little girl, or I ’ll gut your voice out permanently.”

  “Get down from there,” a familiar voice said chidingly to London.

  I closed my eyes tightly. It couldn’t be. I refused to believe it. I thought I would never see him again and now here he is speaking to London like one would speak to a child, in a loving, but stern voice.

  My dream now seemed like a prophecy instead. It had been true what I had seen and I could feel my will to fight slipping away.

  London looked toward the window and did as she was told getting down and sitting cross legged in the chair. She didn’t look at me or put her hand back on the handle. She had her eyes trained on the figure that had entered the room through the window and seemed almost normal. There was no look of manic delirium in her eyes and the look of evil had vanished from her face. For that one moment, London looked like a normal, human girl.

  I felt a strong pair of hands lift me from where I knelt on the floor and I felt the strong arms that cradled me like a newborn. A few seconds later I felt the cold of the large metal work table that London used to construct us as I was laid onto it. I heard the tearing of the fabric as my shirt was being torn off of me. I turned my face away from him because I didn’ t want to believe it and saw a pair of hands gripping the side of the worktable. I saw two beautiful creations that looked exactly alike with the exception that one’s hair was orange and the other’ s was peach. They had small metal hoops in their lips and big beautiful golden eyes.