"A City Like Our Own"
Chapter 1; In Which Henry Smith has an Unexpected Visitor
The taste of tea. That's all that mattered to me at that moment. I needed nobody else as long as my trembling hands were holding a cup of tea. The aroma made me forget about the dryness of my mouth, the emptiness of my heart. My breath, like my hands, was shaky. Everything was shaky. I, Henry Smith, am a very shaky man. You wouldn't think so. I'm quite possibly the most gentlemanly, refined man Queen Victoria has ever laid her eyes on in this fair country. I conduct myself in a polite fashion, always dapper, always charming. I live a pretty ordinary life. Well...I did. The old Henry Smith did. But that was before I heard a knock on my door.
A knock. A tiny thing really, nothing more than a small tap against wood. But at that moment, I could not have imagined that the little knock on my door would change everything.
Back to the subject of the knock. The peculiar thing was, I hardly got visitors. I meandered over to the door, a bit cautiously for some reason. Before I could talk myself out of it, I opened the door out of sheer curiosity. To my surprise, at the door; at MY door, was a lady. I didn't even have time to blink before she shoved me away and walked inside uninvited. I have to admit, I was utterly shocked.
"Excuse me, miss?" I tried to get the girl's attention. She turned and faced me, and I finally got a good look at her. She was slender, and she was petite. Her hair was short, and let down. She had a pale complexion and ginger hair that she wore tied up. Her eyes sparkled in a peculiar way I can't quite describe. She was wearing a fancy blue dress which I was sure was making her look larger than she really was, like a cat when its hair sticks out. She didn't respond to me, she merely blinked as if waiting for me to justify why I had just asked for her attention when she barged into my home.
"What are you doing? You do realize you are intruding. This is my house." I said as politely as I could.
"Are you Henry Smith?" she asked, not answering my original question.
"Uh, yes, why do you-"
"I'm Ruby." she interrupted me and forcefully stuck her hand out. I blinked and gently accepted it. Her hand looked small and delicate, almost like a porcelain doll's. I was honestly afraid I would break it. She went back to wandering around my parlor, going as far as to pick up some of my books and leaf through them. I cleared my throat.
"Miss Ruby. I think it would be best if you…"
"Henry, I need your help." she interrupted me yet again. Did she think we were on a first name basis?
"Why on Earth would you need my help?" I asked, losing my patience. Ruby examined me thoroughly.
"You're right. Look at you, your name is Henry Smith for God's sake, and you look like the most boring man in England." she says. I say nothing. She was right.
"...Is it true that you used to be a reporter?" she asked. I paused. Anybody who knew me, which was an alarmingly large amount of people, knew to never bring up my past, and specifically about my former occupation. Without thinking, I found myself pinning her against the wall, disregarding my earlier concerns of breaking her. I saw nothing delicate about her now.
"You don't know me, and you don't know anything about my past. Leave my presence. You have no right to be her." I growled at her. She didn't even flinch.
"Henry, please. I need you. You always were one for forgotten history, weren't you…?' she asks. I pause. She had me intrigued. The girl smirked, knowing she had me right where she wanted me. I had to end whatever she had planned
"I don't do that anymore." I said bluntly. She raised an eyebrow.
"What if I told you that there was a city just like this one over the ocean, hidden behind cloaks of thick mist? A city completely powered by steam, a city lost to time, a city that isn't on any map." she said, sounding serious. I stared at her blankly.
"I would say you belong in a loony bin. If this city isn't on any maps, how do you know about it?" I asked her.
"I have roots there. And I know it's in trouble. Please, Henry, you need to trust me, if you could just see it for yourself and tell the world, maybe we could...save it from falling." she was pleading. There was a certain desperation in her eyes, and for some odd reason, I couldn't deny her. I found myself completely at the mercy of Ruby. I sighed, defeated.
"Okay. I'll give it a try. Where exactly are we going?" I asked. Ruby turned to glance at me, her eyes shining.
"New Albion."