Chapter 9
Not far from Victoria station there was a huge construction site. The earth had been dug up leaving a rather enormous hole in the ground where giant wooden scaffolding surrounded it preventing cave-ins and allowing the workers to reach certain areas. As far as Evie was aware the construction was for the new underground railways but she'd been lying if she claimed to know more about it than that. Trains running underground was not really something that grabbed her interest. Although Jacob seemed to think it would make travelling to assassinations easier but then he'd questioned whether the sight of Assassin sat on the underground would arouse suspicion. He gone on to say that he'd most likely end up losing his ticket and arguing with the ticket collectors. Evie had to smile as she remembered Jacob saying that the excuse of why a Templar had not been eliminated being '…I lost my ticket and they wouldn't let me on the train.'probably wouldn't go down well. Bringing her attention back to what she was supposed to be doing she climbed up the nearest scaffolding. Upon reaching the top she crouched down, gazing at the hundreds of people. Somewhere in that crowd of people was the man she was looking at, now all she could do was wait.
Unbeknownst to her, a matter of metres away from her stood an old friend of her brother's. Robert was not even looking at what was happening below, he was watching the women crouching on top of the scaffolding. He was a fair distance away from her and had made sure that he was not standing in her eye line. The last thing he needed was for her to spot him, it would ruin everything. Leaning against the nearby post Robert reviewed his plan whilst never taking his eyes of Evie Frye. His plan was a simple one, he was going to kill Jacob and get revenge for what he did to him all those years ago. But it would be too straight forward to just kill him, where was the fun in that. As there was no way either Jacob or Evie would let him near them, he'd burnt his bridges with them and they would, quietly rightly, be weary of his presence. Which meant that the only way he would be able to kill Jacob in a way which would satisfy his desire for revenge would be to first re-gain Jacob's trust. The way to do that was to rescue Evie. Of course, he had to hurt her first that way he would look like a hero coming to save her. That would satisfy him as she was the whole reason this feud had started in the first place. His hand touched his face, he touched the scar over his left eye. A lasting reminder of what had happened to him. Evie was responsible for this, it was all her fault. Jacob had to die, but he had other plans for Evie. A movement brought him out of his thoughts. Evie had stood up and jumped from the scaffold to another one with a surprising amount of ease. Robert had to admit he was surprised by that, he knew that Jacob had had the ability to do things like that but he had no idea that Evie possessed them too. The Frye Twins continued to be a mystery to him. Robert moved to keep Evie in sight, it was time to stop thinking and act. But the question was how to do it. Evie seemed to have settled herself on top of the scaffold and it did not appear that she was going to move any time soon. Robert scanned the nearby area, there had to be something he could use. His eyes were drawn to a pile of crates stacked at the base of the scaffold where Evie was currently perched. From this distance, he could not see exactly what it was but he had an idea.
As he approached the crates he made sure to move carefully, it would ruin his plans to be discovered now. Robert smirked as he reached the boxes, dynamite. Perfect. A quick glance around showed him that no one was near enough to spot him. Taking matches from his pocket he lit one and dropped it into one of the boxes. Turning he sprinted away to take cover by the nearest building. He got there with seconds to spare. A deafening bang rung out, it was so loud that Robert had to cover his ears. Turning to see the chaos he had caused. His eyes were drawn to the scaffold where Evie had been. It had been blown apart and he could see her. She was falling straight down to the ground. He didn't see her hit the floor and perhaps that was a good thing, the blast had been slightly more powerful then he'd first expected. Screams rang out along with crackling of fire. Some people were running towards the site, including policemen and people dressed in green shirts. Whilst others, those who'd been caught in the blast, ran from the site, determined to put as much distance between them and the site as possible. Robert worked his way through the terrified public back towards the building site. The site was now in ruins, almost all of the wooden building structures had been destroyed and the tunnel that had been being dug was completely buried under earth and debris. Various people was lying among the debris, some moving some not. The policemen were rushing around trying to aid the injured.
Robert's eyes were drawn to Evie, she was lying face down on the ground. He watched her for a moment as it did not appear as though she was moving. It had not been his intention to kill her but that blast had been much more powerful then he'd been expecting and she'd fallen quite a distance. Maybe she was dead. Shrugging he moved towards her, he didn't care if she'd died his plan would still be in motion. He'd bring her body back to Jacob and regain his trust that way. But o his surprise as he moved closer he saw a movement from Evie. Her hand twitched and she slowly moved to try and push herself up. Robert hurried over wondering how in the hell she'd survived that. Evie had pushed herself on to her elbows when Robert reached her, but her head was bowed so he was unable to see her face.
"Evie? Evie! Are you alright?" Robert said, adopting a fake concerned expression.
He crouched next to her, putting a hand to her shoulder and she looked up at him. There was blood clinging to right side of her face, originating from a cut to her temple. But apart from that she looked, remarkably, unharmed. Her eyes met Robert's and he could see confusion enter them.
"What…" Was the only word she seemed to be able to get out at the moment.
Robert smiled, "I know long time no see, right?"
Evie pushed herself into a sitting position, putting a hand to her temple. As much as Robert wanted to smirk he had to keep his facade up.
"Here, let me look at that." Robert said.
He put out a hand to examine the cut to her temple, but Evie batted away his hand. She was eying him, still frowning.
"What are you doing here?" She said, finally.
"There'll be time for that later, first we need to get you check out."
Robert held out his hand to help Evie up but she refused to take it. Standing Robert watched as Evie gathered the strength to stand upright. As she did she stumbled, almost falling but another person came running over and grabbed her before she could fall.
"Evie!" The new voice said, "You alright?"
Robert looked at the newcomer, once again he wanted to smirk. Standing behind Evie wearing a top hat and black over coat was Jacob Frye. He hadn't changed much in five years, just matured. He didn't seemed to have noticed Robert, once again he was more concerned about his precious sister. But soon enough Jacob's attention was drawn to Robert. He looked up to thank the person who'd helped Evie but his mouth fell open in shock. Robert had matured with age but the scars to his face stood out like a beacon. Especially the one over his left eye. Keeping a firm grasp on his sister Jacob addressed his once friend.
"Robert?"
"Jacob."
"What the hell are you doing here?" Jacob asked, frowning.
Robert crossed his arms, "Saving your sister. Your welcome, by the way."
Jacob seemed to consider him for a moment, it was clear from his expression that Jacob was pondering whether to believe him. Behind Jacob a couple of men dressed in green shirts had run over. Who these people were Robert did not know, but as Jacob and Evie made no move against them Robert assumed them to be allies. As Jacob continued to consider Robert, Evie let go over him and stumbled slightly over to the men in green, who then escorted her away.
"The last time we saw each other Robert, you promised to kill me." Jacob said, finally.
"Oh come on Jacob that was years ago. Things change, I've changed."
Jacob narrowed his eyes, "You seemed quite serious about your promise. You threatened me and Evie, how am I to believe that you've changed."
Robert opened his mouth to speak when another voice called out.
"Boss!"
Jacob looked over at the Rook that had called him, the Rook was motioning him to follow. Assuming that it was something to do with his sister Jacob nodded.
"Look, now is not the place to discuss this." Jacob said, "Meet me tonight at Whitechapel Station, we'll talk about it then."
Without another word Jacob walked away following the Rook. Robert watched him go and finally allowed the smirk to appear on his face. So far so good, everything was going to plan. He had expected Jacob to be weary of him, now all there was to do was ensure that the meeting tonight ended with Jacob trusting him. That would be easy, Jacob was so thick he'd never know that he was being lied to. Robert continued to smirk as he left the ruined building site, ignoring the shouts and screamed. What did he care? His plan was coming together and soon he would have his revenge.
