The Last Librarian [Archive]

Rayleigh

11-04-15, 05:26 PM

"What is this place?”

Her voice shook like a well-worn strand of thread, threatening to snap beneath her anxiety, which was as heavy as the layer of grime that coated everything in the room. Fine particles of dust hovered silently in the air around her, disturbed by the enormous wooden door that she had opened seconds before. Like diamonds, they glistened in the midday sun that managed to spill through the doorway; save for what the limited light touched, darkness cloaked all corners of the space. For a moment longer, she squinted into the darkness, urging the hidden forms to come into focus. Discouraged, she spoke again.

“Jeeves, where are we?”

There came a soft whirring noise from directly behind her, a low-pitched, mechanized melody that the mechanic recognized from her first interaction with him. Is he thinking? Trying to remember some memory, some piece of him that I could not put back together?

When he answered, he did so hesitantly. “I do not know, miss.” Her jade eyes found his as she turned to him, and though they were mere lights flickering within wide, copper rims, she could somehow sense the mounting frustration that he experienced.

A wave of sympathy washed over her; who else but Rayleigh Aston would feel such emotion for a machine? “It’s alright,” she assured him gently. Though her small frame still trembled with uncertainty, she managed a small, close-lipped smile. “You’re doing great. I just need you to think. Think just a little bit harder.”

Jeeves shook his head, the gears in his neck purring softly with the motion. “I am afraid I cannot. At present, I seem to have exhausted what memory I still possess.”

At this, her fragile smile cracked. “I was afraid of that,” Rayleigh admitted in a voice just above a whisper. “There was an odd glitch in your programming when I attempted to read you last night. I was able to see this place, but then the vision seemed to…” her voice trailed as she attempted to find the word for the sensation. “Malfunction.”

Her companion nodded solemnly. “I fear that I am of no more use to you. I apologize for leading you this far.”

“Hush,” the girl interrupted, dismissing his words with a wave of her hand. “I was the one who wanted to make this trip. And we might as well explore while we’re here.”

There was an unusual edge to his voice when he responded to her, and it took Rayleigh a moment to identify it as concern. “Is it safe?”

“I don’t know.” Her damp palm kissed the cool grip of her pistol. “But if I don’t look now, I won’t be able to live with myself.”

Slowly, the brunette eased her way deeper into the unknown. Her breath hitched as the darkness enveloped her, and she held the musty air in her lungs until she managed to call back, “I need more light. I can’t see anything.” She paused, then added, “can you pry open one of those shutters?”

“I will do my best.”

Rayleigh listened to the sharp clink of machine meeting stone as Jeeves moved across the vast entryway. The sound of tired wood protesting beneath immense force followed shortly after. And with a final crack, like the noise made by Louise’s whip as it danced above her horses’ heads, the shutters gave way.

It was as if a floodgate had been opened. Warm light spilled into the room, crashing against the far walls, and ushering new life into the the once barren space.

“Whoa,” the young woman breathed. “I can see why whoever left here closed this place up. This is amazing.”

“They did not close these shutters.” Lost in her surroundings, she had not sensed Jeeves moving up behind her. His voice first surprised her, but the emotion quickly gave way to confusion.

“Then who did?”

When his answer came, it was delivered with no emotion. But when she turned to look at him, the mechanic instantly knew. There was not a doubt in her mind.

He is beginning to remember.

Rayleigh

11-05-15, 06:06 PM

The Previous Morning

"So, explain this all to me one more time. Why am I taking you to Underwood? You have family there?"

"Family." The brunette echoed her blonde friend, before giving a slight shrug. How many years had she spent believing that she had no family left? "That's the rumor, at least." Though she spoke through a smile, even those few words painted a picture of doubt and uncertainty.

Louise sensed this immediately. "You don't think that they're actually there?"

"I don't know what to think."

The pair rode in silence, bouncing in tandem when the carriage that they rode atop struck rocks and ruts in the rural road. Rayleigh stared out across the rolling fields, but her jade eyes were unseeing, glazed with thought and clouded with worry; the young mechanic was hundreds of miles away. Out of respect for the girl, Louise left her, content to simply drive her team forward toward their destination.

Nearly half an hour passed before she spoke again. "Apparently," Ray began slowly, still gazing into the distance, "he's my father's cousin. So I guess that makes him my second cousin?" A pause, and then, "it doesn't really matter." When she spoke a final time, her voice was barely audible. "My father never mentioned him though."

"So you've brought me along, just in case he isn't who he says he is, and you need a quick getaway?" When Rayleigh finally turned to her companion, the blue-eyed woman was grinning.

The joyous expression was contagious, and before she knew it, Ray found herself mirroring it. "Something like that."