Sam set down his bottle on the far end of the table, rushing to join the growing mob. As he fought through the crowd, one of the larger gentlemen was knocked back into him and in the fight to gain balance, ripped off one of the medals from Sam's overcoat. Sam looked down at the man, barely registering what had happened before he jumped over him and deeper into the crowd. The sounds of his metal trinkets and plates clanged with each movement, slowly becoming the only sound in the room.
He was only vaguely aware that the DJ had stopped the music when he finally got to the middle of the crowd. In the opening lay a large, shiny metal object with exposed gears and pipes. It was enough to make Sam stop and scratch his head, knocking his top hat off, wondering what the spectacle was about. As he leaned in, he saw something more. There were dark stains on the pipes, almost too much of a dark reddish pigment for rust. Upon looking closer, he realized that the spots were blood, and fresh blood at that. Sam reached over and began to examine the device closely, ignoring the clock face with some of the exposed gears underneath.
Something sharp pricked his finger. He wrenched his hand back and slowly blood began to come out from the small prick. He rubbed his hand on his pant leg and then finally looked up. He was the only one looking closely at the contraption in the middle of the room. He stood up abruptly and then began to straighten his coat and vest, the movement of his hands keeping focus off the fact that they were shaky. Before he could turn, a hand grabbed his shoulder.
"Aye, ye know what happened 'ere?" came a low, gruff voice from behind him. Sam snapped around to find a large man standing behind him, his large beard scraggly with age.
"E-excuse me?" Sam stuttered.
"Ye know what happened 'ere?" Sam could smell alcohol strongly in this man's breath. "Thar be a lass 'ere, just a moment ago," the man began, taking note of Sam's confused look.
"And what happened?" Sam took a step back from the man to tolerate the smell. The man's beard rustled as he spoke, the white hairs becoming evident with the exaggerated movement of his jaw. The man's green eyes is what caught him most, almost mesmerizing Sam with their intense gaze.
"Nobody's sure, lad. What ye see thar is one of them crime scenes," he gestured behind Sam. His hand caught Sam's gaze for a moment, the large scar across the back and gnarly knuckles prominent. Sam's gaze then followed the hand to the half-built device behind him. He returned his gaze back to the other man's quickly.
"Where is she?" Sam demanded, his heart dropping into his stomach. The man in front of him shrugged, infuriating Sam so that he took his gloved hand and grabbed the man's arm. The piping around the wrist shifted over the leather, the small LEDs lighting up with the movement. "I think I know who she is. You have to tell me where she went!"
"I dunno that, lad," the man stood his ground and straightened his shoulders, the suspenders on his shoulders straining against the movement.
Another hand grabbed Sam's shoulder this time, pulling Sam away from the stranger. "Sam, you should go wash up," the familiar voice of his friend echoed in his ear. Sam turned to his friend, a sharp look in his eye.
"Why?" he snapped. "Will, if something happened to Nat you know I'll be killed."
"Because you look ridiculous and you could probably use some cold water splashed on your face. We'll find her, but you gotta remain cool," Will calmly stated, gently trying to push Sam to the men's room. Sam gave in then, realizing that he needed to stay calm if he was going to find his missing sister. Will let go of Sam's arm when they were in eyeshot of the restroom and watched as Sam walked in before turning around to go back to the crowd.
Sam went to the sink, and looked closely at himself in the mirror. His short hair was standing up in places, his cheeks flushed with color from the energy. His brown vest was adorned with various medals , a pocket watch chain dangling from the chest pocket. Underneath was a brown-striped long-sleeve button up shirt, which was partially concealed by the leather brown overcoat. As he turned on the faucet and began to wet his hand to run through his hair to try to tame it, he realized he wasn't wearing his hat. Which meant his goggles were also missing, the very goggles his sister, Nat, had just bought him earlier that day. His heart skipped a beat as he whipped around, anxiously looking for his hat. He turned off the faucet and dashed out the door, only to find Will standing outside, holding Sam's hat.
"You lose something?" He chuckled, giving it over to Sam. Will adjusted his rolled up sleeves, straightened his vest and snapped his suspenders while waiting for Sam to adjust his heavy hat.
"When did you notice Nat was gone?" Sam asked, trying to calm down.
"About an hour ago, I just figured she found something interesting and would be back when she wanted to. She's not five anymore," Will said.
"Yes, but Dad said that if I lost sight of her for just a minute that he'd kill me!" Sam exclaimed.
"Chill, I'm sure she's fine." Will patted Sam on the shoulder.
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