Chapter 5 (Life on a Knife Edge)
The Years had passed.
Things hadn’t got any easier.
Lilly was now 19. She had spent the last four years dodging her brother, sister and father, along with their dodgy dealings, and managed to move on from school and get a job working in a newsagents. It wasn’t a very well paid job, but it was something to start with. Something that might actually help to get her out of the danger she was constantly living under.
In the past four years Lilly had managed to lose nearly all of her friends, but thankfully Craig wasn’t one of them. Craig had remained there for her. And despite all the bad boyfriends and the trouble she had gotten herself into, Craig never judged her. Ever.
And Lilly had never had any cause to use that knife.
Until one time one winter.
Magister had continued visiting over the years, but his visits were becoming less and less regular. In fact by the time Lilly had turned 18, he had hardly been there in the last few years. Now she was 19 he hadn’t been since.
And she still hadn’t got to the bottom of where he had gone. He seemed to purposely visit when she was out, and every time she tried to trick him into thinking she had gone out, he didn’t turn up.
She was sat on the old bench looking out over the park when Craig came cycling up, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
“You’ll die, you know?” said Lilly bluntly, nodding at the cigarette.
“Better than this place,” said Craig blowing smoke out of his mouth.
Lilly rolled her eyes. “You once told me not to make those kinds of comments.”
“That was before life went to shit,” he said, throwing the cigarette to the floor, laying his bike on the pathway and sitting next to her on the bench.
Craig had filled out in his later years and had become a doorman at a club in the town. He still had a kind heart, but he had developed an angrier side. His parents had divorced and his dad had become an alcoholic. Apparently. She still hadn’t met his parents in all these years. Craig had moved out when he was old too and hadn’t looked back.
“I’ve always liked you, Craig,” said Lilly.
“I’ve always liked you too, Lils,” said Craig. He looked at her. “I fancied you for a while back then.”
Lilly laughed. “That’s what I liked about you. We spent all that time with each other, but you were always a gentleman. Always.”
“I just knew I wasn’t good enough for you,” he said, lighting another cigarette. “Not that I’d say no now though.”
Lilly laughed. “Believe me, Craigy-boy, you’re not my type.”
“Cheers,” said Craig.
Lilly looked down at her hands and then back up to Craig. “How long have I known you, Craig?”
“Since we were both at playgroup together.”
“A long time, isn’t it?”
“It is,” said Craig. “Why do you ask?”
“Would you do anything for me? Would you help me with anything at all?”
Craig looked confused. “You know I would. Of course I would.”
“And that’s the problem,” said Lilly. She pulled out the knife from her coat pocket and turned it over in her hands.
“Jesus, Lils. Don’t get that out in public,” he said, looking around himself nervously.
“You gave me this for a reason,” said Lilly.
“Yeah, for protection.”
“From who?”
“From your family.”
“No,” said Lilly, shaking her head. “No, there’s something else. It’s a bit random, you see? I was looking at it the other day, thinking of returning it to you, when I noticed something not quite right with it.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a normal, regular knife, yeah, but there’s something about it. There’s something living about it.”
Craig looked worried. “You’re not making much sense, Galloway.”
“I put the knife to my ear. I could hear it talking to me. I could hear a voice telling me to draw the knife. To release what was inside.”
Craig didn’t say anything.
“I didn’t open it of course. I daren’t. And then there’s you, Craig. Always there for me. Always by my side. You had a brain about you, Craig. You could have gotten out of this crap-hole of a town. You didn’t.”
“I didn’t have any confidence-”
“Don’t give me that, Craig,” said Lilly. “You’re here because you have to be here. Because you’re watching me. Because you’re protecting me. You’ve been protecting me ever since I was little.”
Craig didn’t respond.
“I know I’m right. I don’t know how or why, but you’re working for Mr Magister, aren’t you?”
“I’m sorry, Lilly,” he said blankly.
“Tell me more.”
“I can’t,” said Craig. “I…can’t. You have to find your own path. When you’re ready, the Master will come for you.”
“The Master?”
“Mr Magister. I told you it was latin for Master.”
Lilly shook her head. “If you’re such a good friend to me you need to tell me now what is going on or I swear to you that I’ll never talk to you again.”
“I’ve watched over you, Lilly. I did it for you.”
“Then tell me more.”
“I am not able to,” said Craig.
“Then this is goodbye,” said Lilly. She got up to leave and he grabbed her arm. His skin felt cold.
“Please don’t leave.”
“I’m sorry, Craig, she said, her face blank and emotionless. I need to find my own path, as you have already said.”
As she walked away she passed the pond, its water iced over. She pulled the knife from her coat pocket and looked back at Craig. He was sat staring out into space. She sighed, raised the knife above her head and then threw it towards the lake.
That night Lilly returned to the park bench. She was feeling guilty for what she had done, but she wanted some alone time. She wanted to just sit there in her usual spot and contemplate her future. But to her shock she found Craig still sat there. This time he was slumped forward. It was a bitterly cold night and a layer of frost had gathered over him.
She knelt down in front of him and shook him. He didn’t respond.
“Craig!” she said. “Craig, wake up!”
She looked around. She needed to find a pay phone to call an ambulance. She was about to run towards Grime St when a man came walking up. He was dressed in a black suit. He looked similar to Mr Magister, but younger. His hair was slicked back and he still had the goatee beard, but his eyes looked wilder.
“Hello, Lilly,” he said.
“Who are you?” said Lilly. “Did Magister send you.”
“Possibly,” said the man. He sat down on the bench next to Craig’s prone form and punch his arm playfully. “I guess Craig’s usefulness came to an end, eh?”
“I need to get him an ambulance.”
The man shook his head. “I’m afraid not, Miss Galloway. The hospital wouldn’t be able to help with his condition.”
“What do you mean?”
The man sighed, considered his options and then pulled and twisted on Craig’s left arm. To Lilly’s horror the arm came away.
Her hand went to her mouth to stifle a scream, but then she realised something was wrong. Where the shoulder joint was there instead was wires and circuitry.
“What. The. Holy. Hell?”
“He’s a robot, Miss Galloway.”
“But…how can he be? I’ve know him since I was a toddler. I grew up with him.”
“A growing robot. A self-sufficient robot that can grow and take care of itself. Even when it was a child it had the brain of a thousand intelligent minds.”
“This is impossible…” trailed off Lilly.
“It’s not impossible,” said the man. “Did you ever meet his parents?”
“Well, no. They were always out.”
“A-ha!” said the man, clicking his fingers.
“But he gave me that knife. From his grandfather.”
“A story concocted from nothing,” smiled the man. “And you took the knife.”
“What was the knife?” said Lilly, feeling herself being sucked into the man’s story. “I heard it talking to me.”
“It was your life line. Something that you could use when you were ready for the truth.”
Lilly stared straight ahead at him.
“And you threw it in the lake.”
Lilly didn’t say anything. She couldn’t believe what she was being told. It was…too out there. She didn’t believe in robots or anything like that. It was impossible.
The man got up, hefted up Craig onto his shoulders and began walking away.
“Wait!” said Lilly. “You need to tell me more.”
He turned to look at her, his arms wrapped around Craig’s legs. “Not until you get that knife back. And to do that you’ll need to find your motivation. When you get that, you will finally discover the truth and your life might make some more sense.”
She watched as the man disappeared into the darkness. She then turned to look at the iced-over lake. It could be anywhere now. Absolutely anywhere. She wasn’t sure where her life was headed and whether she should follow the path, but she did wonder for a good long while if she’d thrown her future away.
She looked back to the bench again and burst into tears, her hand to her mouth as she dropped to her knees. She’d lost Craig and she didn’t know how much more of this life she could take.
To be continued...
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