Chapter One:
Edward's Heart is Held Captive
A pale young man covered in skin-tight black leather, appearing almost as if he were a ghost, Edward slowly and cautiously descended the darkened, winding stair case ahead of him. His hands, long, slender blades for fingers, clicking together despondently. He could still recall the softness of a voice, the gentleness of a certain touch, and a sweet little smile, memories that left both a bitter and a sweet taste in his mouth. Words had been spoken by that voice, through that smile. Words that had echoed through every night that he had spent alone in this castle. "I love you". He could think of many stories his father had read to him in which a princess was locked away in a castle, hoping to someday meet her true love. He had once thought that maybe this girl was just that. That maybe he was the princess. But it was not to be, and shaking his head sullenly, he began to realize that he was still that princess, only, still locked away in his cold tower.
He took his last careful steps to the bottom of the stair case and gazed up at the towering double doors that led out to his garden on top of the hill, overlooking her house. Should he go into the sunlight again? Should he revisit days gone by? He was nervous, and all together unsure of what he would feel if he stepped out again. So he turned his back to the doors and scanned the laboratory for something better to do.
Click, click, click, click.
His blades quickened their pace, snipping a little more excitedly together in anticipation for something, but he knew not what. He searched, without touching anything, through the book shelves at the back wall, beside the "bakery". "Manners and Etiquette", "Silly Rhymes and Songs", "Heartfelt Cookie Recipes", "Imaginative Psychology", "Monstrosities and Oddities", "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein", and... Something else. At the end of the shelf, there sat a huge novel, covered in dust and cobwebs, with the writing on the binding so chipped away that it was difficult for Edward to read it.
It said something about entering a realm of endless possibilities. Edward had never before noticed this book, and out of curiosity, attempted to pull it free by placing one of his longest fingers between the book and the shelf, a slightly shorter finger on its broad side against the inside of the spine, and gently coaxed it out until it dropped with a loud thud to the dust-covered floor. But now there were other noises all around in the air, noises that began to startle him. Loud clanks, clicks and whirs pervaded the air and rang mercilessly in his ears. He jumped a little and turned to see from where these noises were coming.
A gigantic cabinet a few feet away from the book shelf appeared to be the source of the cacophony. It rose a few centimeters from the floor and as if by magic, it moved off to the side, revealing a darkened entrance to somewhere Edward did not know. When the mechanism ceased all noise, Edward could faintly hear distant, haunting melodies through the mysterious entrance, luring him inside.
Edward tentatively made his way into the secret passage, and was startled once again by the sound of the entrance closing behind him.
Snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip...
His fingers were going amazingly fast now, fearful he would be stuck here forever. He frantically ran his hands along the darkened walls around him, feeling around for any possible means of re-opening the door. "Please..." He thought, afraid of never seeing home again. Finally, he struck upon something. One of his blades had gotten caught in a little key-hole somewhere, and he tried jiggling his finger out, causing the entrance to open again. But Edward did not yet want to go back; he instead resolved to explore his curiosity for this new adventure, and pressed onward through the darkened way.
It was not very long before Edward could see a dismal looking light at the end of his path, and a strong smell of something awful burning hit his nostrils full force. As soon as he made his way into the light, he overheard a pair of gentlemen conversing in genuine English accents.
"Well! Would ye look it that!", said one wearing a rather dandy appearance. As the other, slightly shorter man turned to look behind him, his eyes widened, and with a sinister sneer on his face exclaimed, "I'll be damned! The man 'as scissors for 'ands!". The taller one snickered, extended a hand to the shorter man, and said, "Told ye some'in odd'd come outta that there 'idey-'ole! Now, pay up, sah.". Apparently, the alley that Edward had just come from was rumored to produce odd creatures, and these men were here for an awful reason. Edward was frightened by these men, and extremely confused. Instead of uttering a word, Edward only whimpered a little and tried to shuffle away from them. "Oh, no ye don't! Ye'r comin' with me!" the sneer left the lips of the shorter man as he made a dash to apprehend Edward before he could get away.
Edward nearly tripped, scissors flailing everywhere, and the smaller man threw his arms around Edward from behind, restraining him from using his hands to get free. "Ye'r still gonna have ta pay me, Sanders!" boomed the voice of the taller man from behind them. "Ah know, so shut ye'r mouth, Barnum!" the shorter man called back as he dragged Edward back to his companion. "Please... Let me go..." Edward quietly pleaded, trying to pull away.
The men ignored his pleas and the shorter man only held on tighter, but he moved aside so that the taller man could tie a rope around Edward's wrists. It hurt, because the rope dug into the leather, and Edward was built so that the leather really was his skin. The men laughed together and as they tossed Edward into the back of a brightly painted caravan, they joked something about not being able to 'wank off' with weapons for hands. Before Edward could speak up again, they threw the doors shut, locked him away in the dark, and took off. Edward whimpered a bit, and wiggled up against a wall. Where were they taking him? Why? The fear was too much. A single tear slowly pooled in one of his sunken eyes and then rolled its way down one of his pale cheeks, and it was soon followed by several others. Edward was trying his best not to cry, but with his hands tied up, he felt there was nothing else he could do.