Chapter one

Clive, Why?

Clive dove suddenly awoke from his sleep, breathing heavily. That dream again. Every night it was the same. He was back on the giant robot he had built, in order to destroy London, Locking Flora in his ingeniously designed unbreakable glass cage, so as to keep her safe, whilst also luring Layton to his side. As he was typing in the last digits of the lock code, he sneaked a glance at Flora, her face filled with betrayal and anxiety. She put her hand on the wall on the cage, as if to plead with him one last time and he felt his stone heart melt for a second. But...no. He couldn't let anything distract him from his ultimate goal. Pivoting on his heel, he turned to leave, but just as he reached the door of the ventilation room he heard Flora say "Clive, Why?"

It was here when he always woke up, always sweaty and panting. He hated himself. How could he have done that? Locked the thing most important to him away and treating her so coldly. She would never forgive him. She would never look at him in the same way. She may never see him again, he could stay in prison forever and ever, and never have time to correct all the wrongs he did. No, He thought, don't think like that. You've been good, always on time to exercise, never making too much noise. They had to let him go soon, I mean, according to his calendar, which he scarcely ever looked at said that he only had around three months, but It was a long time since he updated it, so it could very well be less than that. He couldn't be sure; time seemed to stand still in the 'big house'. He looked out of his small window and could see that the sun was only just beginning to rise, meaning it must be early. I should go back to sleep, he thought. He lay back down and closed his eyes, but the minute he did so, images of Flora came back into his mind, so he immediately abandoned this idea. He decided to just pace around the room, a very boring but time consuming activity, one which he had used to pass the time a lot in this last year. Clearing his mind of all thoughts of his past, he took one step of many he would take that morning.

Hours later, Clive heard someone shout his name. "Dove!" The gruff voice made Goosebumps on his skin. Hmm, must be breakfast, he thought. He heard a key turning and then a large guard was standing in his doorway. "Dove! Your service is up. Collect your clothes and clear out!" Clive walked dreamily to the door.

"Yes Si- Wait, What?" He couldn't believe his ears. He was free. He could leave this dark, dank place and never think about it again. This whole time he had been waiting for the day when he could walk through the front gates and not look back, dismissing it from his memory. "Come on, Dove! CLEAR OUT!" The guard didn't have to tell him twice. He collected his clothes and walked out on to the cold December streets of London. Home. But wait, where would he go? He didn't know anyone in London, well, he didn't know anyone anywhere, but he had no idea where he could find shelter. Wait, he did know someone. Actually, three someones. The way he saw it, the only option he had was to go to the Professor's house and beg them to let him stay. None of the residents of that house had come to see him, so he could only assume that they were still mad. But who could blame them? Sucking in his pride, he started off to the professor's inner sanctum.