Clockwork Twist : Missing
Read Clockwork Twist : Missing Online
Authors: Emily Thompson
Clockwork Twist
Book Four: Missing
by Emily Thompson
Text copyright © 2015 Emily Thompson
Cover and artwork by Emily Thompson
Photo credit, www.nasa.gov
“Clockwork” poem by JaniceT
All rights reserved
Table of Contents
Previously in Clockwork Twist...
Twist's life has changed dramatically over the last few weeks. He left behind the quiet life of a solitary clockmaker in forever-drizzly London, and became an adventurer. Now he travels the world with a trusted sky pirate and the no-longer-mythical clockwork princess. He has battled secret societies, befriended celebrities and magical beings, and witnessed wonders beyond his wildest dreams. Most astonishing of all, to Twist, is that he's not only made a true friend in the brazen sky pirate Jonas Davis, but he is also well on the way to winning the heart of his beautiful clockwork dancer, Myra.
After accepting a compromise with the shadowy and powerful Rooks, Twist, Jonas, and Myra set out on a tour of fashionable cities across the globe, where Myra was delighted to dance for her audience every night. Aden—the leader of the Rooks—aimed to use Myra's appearances to illicit more information about other people made of clockwork who are rumored to be hidden away somewhere. While this tour was cut short, and managed to gather no real information on any such clockwork people, Twist continues to harbor a secret that Aden would dearly love to know. Twist had accidentally discovered a whole city full of clockwork people while endeavoring to rescue and repair Myra's clockwork puppet. The clockwork people only agreed to aid Twist, giving him the final piece of Myra's broken puppet, if he promised to never speak a word about their existence to anyone. To this day, Twist continues to keep his secret, even from Jonas and Myra.
Keeping secrets from Jonas is not an easy thing for Twist to do. They both possess unusually powerful Sights: extra-sensory abilities that are appearing in growing numbers, within the population. After meeting several people with more normal Sights at a Sight circle in San Francisco, Twist discovered just how strange his and Jonas's Sights truly are. While most other Sighted people find their own Sights to be nothing but positive, both Twist and Jonas are often handicapped by the shear strength of theirs: Jonas's showing him only death if he looks anyone in the eye, and Twist's showing him visions of pain, trauma, and heartbreak with the slightest touch. And yet, they also find them invaluable. Jonas's Sight enhances his vision to the point of seeing far in the distance, making out the shapes and currents of the air, and occasionally witnessing moments of the future. Twist's Sight finds damage and memory in anything he touches, giving him an unmatched skill at mending clockwork and machines, while also showing him hidden emotions in much of what he touches.
Strangest of all, Twist's Sight and Jonas's never act normally on each other. When Jonas looks into Twist's eyes, or when Twist has any physical contact with Jonas, the only thing to meet their Sights is a calm, cool, soothing, white fog of nothingness. There is also a constant, comforting, buzzing sensation at the base of their necks that is present whenever they are near each other. In recent days, they have learned that there is even more of a connection between their Sights, and that they can sometimes glimpse each other's thoughts, given enough focus. And when both Twist and Jonas were captured by the evil Cypher leader, Lord Loki, and given a Sight-enhancing drug of Cypher design, their Sights reacted in a way that had never been seen before. Instead of cowing to his captors, for a short amount of time, Twist gained super-human abilities thanks to the combination of his Sight with Jonas's, and the effect of the drug.
After escaping the Cyphers Twist was pleased to see things return to normal again. Myra hadn't been harmed or stolen away by the Cyphers, Jonas's family, the intrepid crew of the
Vimana
, remained in good health, and their new friends—a young boy named Storm who's Sight allowed him to enter other people's dreams whenever he slept, and his brave, huntress mother, Kima—had also escaped Cypher tyranny as well. Aden was happy to offer Storm and Kima a new home in Australia, where they would be safe and happy under the benevolently watchful eyes of the Rooks. Once Storm and Kima were on their way, Aden then returned to London aboard the
Vimana
, along with Twist, Jonas, and Myra.
Even though Twist had spent nearly his entire life in London, returning this time just didn't feel like going home...
Such unexpected avenues,
With friends he had not meant to choose,
Urged Twist to dare
Despite the snare:
Each profit means there’s more to lose.
—Janice T
Soft daylight fought its way through the thick, soot-stained London sky to glimmer gently against the damp, lead-lined windows of Twist’s ever-dark attic room. The chilly air still carried the scent of soot, polish, and gaslights. The dark boards still creaked under his feet in the bone-deep stillness. The only light of consequence pooled listlessly around the single candle on the desk, under the feather-soft glow of the window—the thick glass slick with tiny rivers of blackened rain.
Only now, the clocks had all wound down to silence. There was a thin blanket of dust on everything in sight. There were no tools or half-finished projects laid out on the desk. Everything had been carefully stowed long ago. As Twist looked about him, he saw the familiar everywhere, but through the lens of absence, nothing looked quite the same. He couldn’t name exactly how; Twist only knew he had changed. There was no other explanation for the unnerving way that the ghosts of his memories crowded him out of the room.
He blew out the candle, walked down the stairs to the first floor, and found Jonas standing before one of the many framed mirrors that hung on the walls. At the sight of his friend staring intently at his own reflection, Twist’s mood lightened somewhat. Jonas’s black goggles hung around his neck, and Twist saw a gentle purple glow in his eyes. Glancing at the mirror, Twist was surprised to not find the same color in the man’s reflection. The face in the mirror had sea-green eyes: Jonas’s true color.
“What are you looking for?” Twist asked.
“I’ve never gotten a vision off of a mirror,” Jonas said to his own quizzical expression. “I’ve never even gotten one from someone else’s reflection, either. Is that odd?”
“Name one thing about either of us that isn’t odd.”
Jonas opened his mouth, paused, and then closed it again as he gave his reflection a suspicious look.
“Besides,” Twist said with a shrug, “I never get visions off of animals.”
“You don’t?” Jonas asked, looking to him as his eyes changed to a pale blue.
Twist shook his head. “Not even once, and I have no idea why. It’s the same with plants. Sometimes I think I should have gone into botany.”
“Ah!” Jonas said suddenly, pointing a finger at Twist. “We’ve both got the correct number of limbs. And fingers too. That’s something that’s not weird.”
“Well spotted,” Twist said with a chuckle and an overly encouraging smile. “You’re a sharp one, I’ve always said.”
“Smart-ass,” Jonas spat. “Are you finished winding your clocks, then?” he asked, nodding at the attic.
Twist shook his head. “I decided to leave them as they are. There’s no telling when we’ll leave London again, where we’ll be off to, or how long we’ll be gone. It’s not like any of them are even set to the right time. They may as well remain still.”
Twist felt the meaning behind his words clamber forward no matter how he tried to push it back: he might be standing in his own house, but he was no closer to actually going home. Jonas watched Twist as he spoke, the color in his eyes wandering from pale green to lilac.
“Are you all right with that?” he asked, his voice ever-so-subtly softer.
Twist gave him a reassuring smile. Sometimes he wondered why he still tried to hide anything from Jonas. “I’m fine,” Twist answered with certainty and conviction. “I don’t think I really even need this place anymore. But it would be such a hassle to sell it.”
“Is that so?” Jonas asked, sounding somewhat impressed now. He reached out to pat Twist on the shoulder. “I’m very proud of you, Twist. You’re becoming a true aeronaut! Letting go of the ground is a telling sign.”
Pride bloomed in Twist’s heart. He knew well that there was no higher compliment in Jonas’s opinion. It would, of course, be impossible for Twist to ever earn the lofty and glorious status that Jonas reserved for the term “pirate.” He saw the first twitch of a smile on his friend’s face and turned away quickly. Twist reached into his pocket for his brass watch.
“Oh my, it’s already noon!” he said brightly, keeping his eyes on the watch face. “Didn’t the ladies ask us to meet them at one o’clock?”
“You know,” Jonas said, his sly grin thickly shading his voice, “the light on your skin turns bluish when you’re happy or feeling particularly good about yourself.”
Twist’s eyes snapped up to his sharply. “That’s creepy; I’ve told you.”
“I can’t help it any more than you can,” Jonas replied, his eyes glowing a bright blue now. “It’s not my fault you can’t take a compliment.”
“You have no cause to keep track of the colors,” Twist said quickly, hoping to sidestep Jonas’s point. “Nor to speculate on their…possible meanings.”
Jonas laughed lightly. “And it turns paler when you’re annoyed but not actually angry.”
“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Twist sighed, turning his back. He crossed his arms and hunched up his shoulders. “Stop looking at me!” Jonas’s laughter grew.
Twist was about to turn on him with a sharp remark when Jonas reached out from behind, surrounding Twist in a hearty, unceremonious squeeze that trapped both arms to his sides. White, numb, cool fog washed over Twist’s Sight at the touch, carrying a sense of predatory but playful delight along with it.
“Ah, Twist, you’re so much fun,” Jonas said from just beside his ear. “Wait, that’s a compliment. I mean, you’re a stuffy little twit! There, is that better?”
“Get off me, you damned brigand!” Twist snapped, fighting desperately to hold back the laughter that had crept out of the fog and into his voice.
He made a show of struggling, and Jonas released him. Twist turned on him with the hopes of building up a scowl in time. It didn’t quite work the way he’d hoped. Even after the effect of Jonas’s touch had left his Sight and the white fog had faded completely away, Twist still had difficulty containing his smile. The self-satisfied one on Jonas’s face wasn’t helping.
“I’m only a damned brigand if you’re a pompous dandy,” Jonas countered smugly.
Twist lost what control he had managed to scrape together, and his smile broke free. He gave a sigh as he shook his head. It was impossible to fight with Jonas when he was so thoroughly entrenched in a good mood.
“So!” he tried again hopefully. “Don’t we have a pair of lovely young ladies waiting for us? Shouldn’t we be off?”
“Well…” Jonas said, putting on a hesitant grimace, “I don’t know if it’s a pair of lovely young ladies. How about we call it one lovely young lady and one short-tempered ferret?”
“A what?” Twist asked, startled.
“Arabel isn’t really all that dangerous, but things can get quite awkward if you make her mad. And she’s rather like a weasel at the best of times.”
A sputtering laugh got away from Twist. “My word, you should be a painter. The images you come up with!”
“Yes, that was a good one,” Jonas admitted happily.
“Are you going to make me ask a third time, then?”
“Right! No, I’m done now,” Jonas said with a smile. “We can go.”
Jonas turned for the door and Twist followed behind. As Twist locked the door, leaving the last ghosts of his old life safe inside the dark little house, a curious sensation washed over him. Relief and freedom sprang suddenly to life in his chest, as the world itself seemed to open before him under the gray London sky.
He glanced up to the clouds, letting the drizzle fall to chill his face and dampen his wild black curls. As dark as it might look from the city streets, Twist knew the truth that hid behind that sky: the endless sea of brilliant blue and blinding white, the clear, clean, chilly air at the top of the sky, and the limitless girth of the whole world stretched out far below. Compared to that, his dark, empty little house was easy to forget.
“Are we going?” Jonas asked, calling Twist’s attention back to the present.
“Oh, yes, of course,” Twist muttered, somewhat sheepish.
As he and Jonas walked out into the city, Twist’s old home faded farther into the distance and the rest of the unknown world wrapped itself around him. Twist couldn’t keep the smile from his face.