Young Writers Society

It is pretty hard to put a word document onto this site. Sorry if it looks weird.

Lady Lucas is restless. Bored with her marriage and her husband's friends, she tries to pass the time with ‘harmless’ activities. I sit next to her on the couch in the parlor while she tries to read the same book from yesterday. She plays with a loose curl near her right ear. She is not wearing her favorite silk gloves she received for her birthday as a gift from her father. Lady Lucas touches her neck as if something is crawling on it. It looks soft and beautiful, all freckled and pale. I wonder if it really is soft or is it hard and rubbery like mine. Her eyes are fixed on the book on her lap. She has been on the same page for three minutes and thirty seconds. Her hair is pinned up today. That, too, looks soft. It is red; a color I have never seen an English woman wear. It is too bright. I would suggest a more subtle color if only I could speak.

I glance across the room at Lord Lucas and his automaton servant, Rufus. I blink a few times. My eyes keep watering. I do not know if it is steam or oil about to spill out of them. I will have to see Silas about this. There are many calculations and tasks at hand Rufus and I have to do today. Sitting right now next to Lady Lucas is not one of them. Attending to Lord Lucas is not one of the chores Rufus had to do. Lord Lucas looks the same as any old, accomplished English gentleman anyone can come across in the street. But us, automatons, know better than to think he is normal. (?) Think . . . Why would I say think? Again, I will have to see Silas about this. (?)

Lord Lucas paces the dark, dreary room and occasionally looks out the window. I see beads of sweat on his forehead. He bites his nails; a habit Rufus was supposed to break Amos Lucas from doing. His shirt and vest has sweat stains around the armpits. His remaining hair is wild looking. I will need to see Silas about Rufus’s re-installments and his inability to complete tasks given to him. I close my eyes. I pinch my right ear.
“Yes, Frances?” A voice enters my hearing box. It is Rufus.
“Why is the master pacing like that?” I pose my question in my head. It sends to Rufus’ hearing box.
“He is nervous. Important visitors are coming today. What is wrong with the lady?”
“I can not say. That is all.” I pinch my right ear again with my gloved fingers, ending our conversation.

I open my eyes. I snap my fingers and the steam lights in the room come on. Lady Lucas looks up from her reading, blinking a couple of times from the sudden light change. We all can see clearly now. I can even see the color of Lady Lucas’s dress. It is a violet color which she despises but only wears to please her husband. For a moment, it seemed her eyes were on fire as she stared at Lord Lucas pacing across the room. I gaze at him too. His gray vest and trousers are dirty. It seems he hasn’t changed his clothing from yesterday. Again, that was Rufus’s job.

I can hear ringing in my left ear. I pinch my ear.
“It is Silas. The guests are here. Meet me in the gardens and bring Rufus with you too. Bennet, Ada, and Mildred will take care of everything.” Then, static.
I glance at Rufus. He is staring back at me.
“I know, Frances.” He gets up and stands in front of Lord Lucas, causing him to stop pacing. “Sir, the guests are here. Ada will check the kitchen and Bennet will escort them into this very room,” he says with his hands behind his back.
I cross my hands on my lap.
“Ah, Rufus. Yes, thank you. You and Frances may leave.” I notice Lady Lucas hasn’t looked up from her reading but I can tell she is listening. I get up, smooth my puffy dress, and leave the room. I head toward the gardens in the backyard with Rufus trudging behind.

“Hello, Silas.” Rufus and I, together, greet him.
Silas is sitting cross legged on Lady Lucas’s favorite roses. I am sure she will have a fit and blame one of us automatons. Most likely, Rufus because she, for some odd cause, hates him. Silas stands up.
“You know you are not supposed to mess with Constance’s flowers. She will be angry, not at you but at us. Please, think before doing,” I whisper so no one but Silas can hear me.
He smirks at me. “All the household automatons will be re-installed starting with you and Rufus.”
This was not supposed to happen. I do not need updates. I close my eyes and bow my head. “Rufus, go into the stable.” I hear shuffling footsteps.
“Open, your beautiful, brown eyes and look at me, dear Frances,” he speaks as he places his fingers on my chin; a means to force me to look at him. I do as I am told. Silas looks rugged and dirtier than usual. Yet, he can still look young and playful. “I have a few surprises for you, my dear.” My dear? Why is he calling me that? My name is Frances. I am not a dear. He touches my black pinned up hair. “Your hair is as dark as the night sky. You are even more beautiful than Constance.” I know he and Lady Lucas are having an affair. I saw those soft, pink lips kiss the lady’s tough, red ones. What is going on here?

While Silas works on Rufus in the stable, I sit on a concrete bench in the garden. At times, I want to ask Silas to put a feelings box inside me. He already put a conscious box in me. I can hear laughter spilling out of the open back door. I hear Jesse and David working vigorously in the kitchen preparing the humans’ dinner. I pull off a glove. My nails are long and they look smooth. I touch my face with my bare left hand. I realize I am wearing makeup. With a bang on the door, Rufus comes out of the stables looking . . . different, not what he was before; neutral. He looks, well, angry. He looks stern. His face and posture is the same expect for the expression. What did Silas do?

“Come, Frances.” Silas gestures for me to come into the stables. I do.

I walk out of the stables feeling different. No, Better, more human than automaton. I can really see, hear, smell, and touch items that I couldn’t before. I look at my reflection at the kitchen window. I look different. I have feelings and I can talk. My eyes, goodness, my eyes. I smell the cold, night air. It smells like sewers and horse manure. I cover my nose with my bare hands. I feel soft. So soft, like a newborn baby. A smile comes across my face.
“Oh my goodness,” I speak.
I turn around as Silas walks out of the stables. “It is almost time for the guess to leave for their own homes and families. When the clock strikes midnight, you all know what to do.”
I nod. I know exactly what to do. He comes up to me and kisses me, politely, on the cheeks. I turn towards the house. I go into the library, waiting for midnight.

The grandfather clock strikes. I heard earlier that Lord and Lady Lucas are asleep. I stand up from my spot on the couch in the library, knife in hand. I smile. I know Rufus will be in the study, doing what he was told to do to Lord Lucas. I head up the stairs to the master bedroom of Lady Lucas. One of the automatons, Mary, prepared her for slumber. I enter the chamber. There is a faint light from the fireplace. I see a figure on the bed, under the covers. She is sound asleep, dreaming of anything sweet. She could be dreaming of Silas right now. That thought fills me with anger. The time is now. I must strike now. I go close to the side of the bed. I raise my knife and bring it down.

I do not hear her breathing anymore. I sit next to the fireplace, contemplating my actions. I can not reason why I did what I did. I feel the hot tears falling down my high cheekbones and down my chin. Why did I do it? Silas. It is his doing. He is controlling all the automatons. I head to the stables.

“Why, Silas, why did you make us do it?” I cry on his shoulder.
He smoothes my back as I cry. We are on the stable floor. I can feel the hay sticking and clinging to my hand and my ankles. The hay is hurting me. I can hear Silas’ steady heartbeat. It is peaceful, beautiful. It sounds almost like the ocean. I want to lie there, on the stable floor with Silas, all night. I feel loved, cared about. I want to feel like this forever. Silas sings me a lullaby about a sad childhood. I don’t remember the ending because I fell asleep. He must have clicked one of my buttons. Now, all I see is nothing. I can not see anything, only blackness. I just cannot believe I let the darkness control me. I must stop it.