In a forgotten city, hidden amongst thick fog and twisted timber, stood a small, peculiar store.
The signal above the door learn “Grayson’s Timepieces,” although nobody may bear in mind the final time it had been open.
The store belonged to a person named Elias Grayson, a clockmaker whose ability was unmatched, although he was a thriller to the townsfolk.
He by no means spoke of his previous, and nobody had seen him for years. Nonetheless, his clocks ticked on, their chimes ringing via the evening.
One stormy night, Clara, a curious traveler, discovered herself misplaced close to the store. She had heard tales about Grayson’s clocks—how they have been not like any others, in a position to bend time itself. Intrigued, she knocked on the door.
It creaked open to reveal a dusty inside, full of clocks of all styles and sizes. Some ticked in concord, whereas others appeared to tick at completely different paces, creating an odd symphony of sound. At the far finish of the store, a tall, skinny man stood hunched over a workbench, his again to her.
“Come in,” a delicate voice known as, as if he had been ready for her. “I knew you’d arrive ultimately.”
Clara stepped inside, her coronary heart racing with each concern and fascination. The person turned slowly, revealing pale eyes that appeared to see via her.
His arms, lengthy and delicate, have been lined in advantageous mud, as if he had been working for days with out relaxation.
“I am Elias Grayson,” he mentioned, his voice calm, but unsettling. “I see you’ve come for the key.”
Clara nodded, her curiosity overwhelming her hesitation. “What is the key of your clocks?”
Grayson smiled faintly, his lips barely shifting. “It’s not simply time I bend,” he whispered. “I can make moments final without end, or take them away in an instantaneous. The clocks… they maintain items of souls.”
Clara felt a chill as she seemed round at the ticking timepieces. Every clock appeared to have its personal distinctive aura, as if it have been alive, watching her.
Grayson walked towards a big, ornate clock at the again of the room. Its arms moved erratically, leaping from one hour to one other, as if it had no regard for time. He ran a finger alongside its golden body, his expression rising extra severe.
“This clock holds the soul of my spouse,” he mentioned, his voice barely audible. “She left me a few years in the past, however I couldn’t bear the considered her gone.
So I saved her right here, inside this clock, frozen in time. However now…” His voice cracked. “Now, I can’t bear in mind her face. I can solely hear her voice in the ticking, but it surely’s fading. Quickly, even the sound will disappear.”
Clara took a step nearer to the clock, her eyes drawn to the spinning arms. The room grew colder, and the ticking grew louder, nearly deafening. The voice of a lady whispered in the air, faint and distant.
“I need to assist her,” Grayson continued, his voice full of anguish. “However I can’t. I’ve trapped her right here, and now I’m trapped too.”
Instantly, Clara felt a chilly hand on her shoulder. She spun round, however nobody was there. The ticking appeared to develop extra frantic, and the air grew thick with pressure.
In the reflection of the glass, she noticed Grayson’s face—his eyes broad with concern because the clock started to tick sooner.
Earlier than she may transfer, the arms of the clock spun violently, and the room appeared to warp round her. The bottom shifted beneath her toes, and Clara’s imaginative and prescient blurred.
The subsequent factor she knew, she was standing alone in the center of the store, the clocks nonetheless ticking, however Grayson was gone.
For a second, Clara thought it had all been a dream. However as she turned to go away, she caught sight of a small, silver pocket watch on the counter. It was ticking, however its arms have been frozen at midnight.
And as she picked it up, she heard a faint whisper in her ear: “Assist me… earlier than it’s too late.”
The door to the store slammed shut behind her, and when Clara circled, the store was gone, as if it had by no means been there at all.