"Here is the address of the hotel; it's not too far, and it's four star as well. Have a good night's sleep. I'll see you working away tomorrow, yes?" He smiled ecstatically, handing me a small piece of paper with his number and the hotel address on it. Frowning, I nodded slowly and exited the building, ready to walk to my hotel.
At last I arrived, checked in, settled down, and fell asleep immediately.
The next morning, I awoke with a small note near my bed. It was the address of the clock tower. Gathering my tools, I exited the hotel and was greeted by a tall, lithe woman with straight black hair hanging stiffly to her shoulders. She wore a long black dress that trailed to the ground, with thick sleeves covering her hands. Confusion blotted my mind; the weather was hot and sunny. A name tag pinned to her chest stated, "Mariyah." Her eyes seemed to detached from the movement of her body, following me coldly even as the rest of her talked and laughed.
"Thank you for agreeing to do this for us," she bubbled, her eyes piercing me with their hatred, "we were beginning to lose hope!"
I smiled and hurried to the tower, forcing a small wave over my shoulder and walked out the building as fast as I could. I could feel her stare burning into my neck as I sped away.
When I arrived, I met Edward again and led me inside, wishing me good luck.
"Be careful." He hesitated, as if he wanted to say more, then smiled grimly and ushered me away. Chilled by the strange behavior of the people, I nervously walked up to inspect the tower gears. The stale air washed over me, the smell was dank and overly metallic. I let out a sigh, already questioning my decision to travel here. Frowning in concentration, I began my work.
I touched the main gear, prepared for the worst. This didn't stop me from recoiling in disgust when the metal pulsated gently under my fingers. It had been quite a while since I had dealt with something this bad. As I glanced around the rest of the tower, I noticed all the gears were pulsating, deformed, with only a few places being rigid and metallic as metal should be. I couldn't help but let the unusual mood of the town to get to me- maybe this wasn't just a wrecked clock tower, that there was more to it. But my logic begged otherwise. It's just the bad gears, I reasoned. Nothing else to it.
So I struggled through the day, checking gears, oiling, screwing in loose parts and replacing the destroyed.
My experience that day, to say the very least, was a downward spiral of madness. When I pushed any gear at all, a faint wailing noise echoed through the hollow tower. It was piercing, as though something was scratching its nails on a chalkboard. The distressed noises echoed throughout the day until they were desperately blasting in my ears. The sounds swirled around me, every corner of my mentality filled with the horrible cries. My mind was an incomprehensible mess by the end of the day and my ears thrummed with pain. Unable to continue, I raced out the tower, leaving the horrible siren noises behind. I stumbled through the main hall on the bottom floor, the tower around me a blur. Tears blinded me as I slammed the glass doors open, nearly crashing into another person. Breathing frantically, I passed out, faintly recalling black hair brushing my forehead as I cracked my head on the sidewalk.
When I awoke, I was greeted by the strange lady I met at the hotel, still wearing her oversized dress. She ecstatically waved at me.
"Oh good! You are awake." She cocked her head with an eerie smile. I began to prop myself up onto my elbow, then froze in my spot, nearly choking with my mouth open. Her blank eyes stared into my soul, swirling aimlessly. "I-what happened?" I broke contact with her dead gaze and glanced around the blindingly white hospital room.
With a chirpy laugh, she said, "You passed out in front of me when your work was finished. The nurse deemed it fine that you leave, she said it was just a minor panic attack." I spotted a flash of grey in the corner of my eye.
Time to meet the cast of the story part 4
Start from the beginning
