Young Writers Society

Julian

The bell above the shop door jingled as we entered. Esmeralda, a short middle-aged woman with red lips and a black feather on her head, sat busily behind the counter. Her eyes instantly locked on mine as we approached. A small smile tugged across her crimson lips.

“Why, Julian? Is that you?” she said in her infamous high-pitched voice. She grabbed hold of my face and placed a sloppy kiss on both my cheeks. “Oh, you handsome boy...how I’ve missed you! Where have you been? It’s been almost a year since I last saw you! I suppose that Roland’s been keeping you busy, has he? He always did know how to keep you on your toes...”

Before I could get a word in edge-ways, Esmeralda’s eyes fell on Jessa. It was as if she only just realised she was standing there. “And who is this?” she asked.

“Jessa,” I replied with a smile. “Our new recruit.”

“Recruit?” Esmeralda repeated. “Why, that must mean that Roland has finally managed to put a play together!”

“He has indeed.”

“Oh, how wonderful!” shrieked Esmeralda, clapping her hands together in delight. “You’d better tell Roland that I expect to be making the costumes this time! I shall be thoroughly insulted to find that he’s sought the services of that incompetent Rosaline again...” she signalled her head distastefully towards the garment shop opposite her own. “That old bat can barely remember her name, let alone sew a button!”

“I’m sure Roland already has you in mind, Esmeralda. We all know you’re the best in town,” I smirked.

“Oh, you do know how to charm me, Julian,” she cooed lovingly, before turning her attention to Jessa again. “Now, what can I do for you, dear?”

“Jessa, here, would like a dress,” I said, pulling out the velvet pouch filled with coins. “This should be enough to cover the cost.”

Esmeralda eyed the pouch with a raised eyebrow. “And how exactly did you manage to acquire such a sum?”

“I have my ways,” I winked.

She threw me a look of scepticism but, as always, chose not to press the issue further. Instead she took Jessa enthusiastically by the arm and led her deeper into the store. “Now, dear, tell your Auntie Esmeralda what tickles your fancy. You like silk, satin, cotton, velvet? What about colours? Do you prefer, purple, green, blue...? I've always fancied the colour red myself, but hey, that’s just my opinion...”

Visibly amused, I watched Esmeralda continue to rabbit on about the latest corset styles, as Jessa stood and listened, probably attempting to register the extent to which the feather-wearing woman could talk. I decided to leave them to it and stepped out of the store to look up at the sundial just visible on Rosaline’s shop roof. What Roland would do to me for leaving without permission wasn’t the only matter I was anxious about. Today was Friday, and round here, Friday’s were the day the Guild Brothers would drop by to treat their women. It wouldn’t do me any good to be here when they came. It wouldn’t do me any good at all...

Jessa

"I don't want anything fancy," I insisted. "And I like blue." Esmeralda seemed disappointed that I couldn't say whether I wanted taffeta or silk, velvet or satin. But she got busy, stitching and hemming until the dress I'd seen in the window was being shoved in my arms, with ninety percent less decoration, ninety five percent less curves, and a hundred percent less foreigness. I thanked her ten times over; I was a little touched at how happy she seemed that I liked the dress.

It really wasn't much, but I did really like it. It was a pale blue dress that swished pleasantly around my calves, with sleeves that hugged my elbows. It didn't show much of anything, cleavage wise, and for that I thanked her. A black corset, stitched with pale blue flowers, was to be tied around me with black ribbons. Pretty black lace was sewn to the elbows, so it fluttered with my steps, and black tule gave the skirt some shape.

I tucked it into the pocket and walked out- into a tall, rather slimy looking man I knew to be in the Guild. My thoughts rushed to the Lizard -Julian, I now knew- who I'd seen upstairs.

"Hello, pretty. Need a dress? A shawl?" He glanced at my empty arms, my spindly body. "A corset?"

I took a step up, making sure I could glare him in the eye. "I will be sure to tell the Rusters you've taken notice of me."

He backed off, with almost scornful apologies and snide remarks on their blunt style. I tuned them out and whipped up the stairs, grabbing Julian's sleeve.

"Lizard- we've got to go now," I hissed, pointedly looking over my shoulder.

The pretty dress in my pocket started feeling heavy.

Julian

“Why? What’s happened?” I asked her.

“I think the Guild is here.”

Shit. I swallowed hard. “H-how do you know?”

“I think I just ran into one.”

“What did he look like?”

“He was tall, about 6 ft, long black hair, slimy looking face...”

I quickly pulled her into the nearby alley before she could complete her sentence, for at that moment, I spotted the man she was talking about. It had been more than a year since I last saw that pile of shit, Damon. He was a sleaze-ball back then, and as I watched him attempt to pounce on some of the young women around the market, it didn’t look much had changed.

I rubbed my jaw and began to think. If Damon was here, then that definitely meant that the other Guild members were already around here too somewhere. I quickly unbuttoned my shirt to reveal the black constables blazer I always wore underneath my clothes, before digging inside its pockets and pulling out a fake moustache, belt, and a duty sash. All I needed now was the helmet.

“Leave it to me,” said Jessa, hurriedly leaving the alley only to return several minutes later with a Police helmet in hand.

“Thanks,” I said, absentmindedly as I popped it on. “Alright, we’re gonna have to get out of here. Just follow my lead and we should be fine...”

Before Jessa could nod in response, I grabbed her by her wrists and tugged her out of the alley and back out into the market square. A group of Police officers on their way to the brewery acknowledged me with looks of curiosity. One of them seemed to be missing a helmet.

“Here...what’chu got there?” the tallest of them asked, eyeing Jessa with suspicion.

“A no good thieving little girl, is all...” I replied, my accent a little stronger and my voice a little deeper. “Found her tryna rob old baker Webb, the cheeky blighter...”

They nodded in approval before stepping inside the brewery. As we walked back to the theatre, I continued with the pretence, my eyes and ears constantly on the lookout for more Guild members. Luckily, most of the ones I managed to spot, Billy, O’Shea, and Colin, were too busy with their women to notice anything. Despite this, I felt like such a complete idiot for knowingly taking such a risk. What the hell was I thinking coming down here on a Friday?

As we finally reached the theatre entrance, I noticed Jessa glancing up at me curiously.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” I muttered icily, before storming inside.

I could already here Mouse's annoying voice in my head.

Jessa

I took off to the same room I'd made myself pathetic in. I wondered if Julian still remembered my little speech from behind a closed door. But anyway- I had to get changed now, or Julian would be twice as mad at me.

After a few attempts, I grabbed a pair of rusted scissors and hacked the tule out from the skirt, then slipped in. It flowed better now, I thought. At least I could run without having to haul the skirt up two feet, right? I didn't bother to tie the corset. My fingers were still trembling a little; Julian's grip had nearly cut off my circulation, and running into the Guild just flipped me inside out.

So I stepped out with a blue taffeta skirt twirling happily, black lace fluttering, and a corset flapping open to reveal a wonderfully plain front. Almost immediately, Mouse's voice, razor sharp and whiplike, and just as painful-

"Where'd you get that dress?"

"I found it in a storeroom."

It's not a lie. The room I've just come from is stocked full of dresses of that quality, if a bit motheaten and dusty. Julian, I can see, lets out his breath and tilts his head down ever so slightly. I give them both a winning smile and hurry off to see if Houston's still lurking.

He, at least, doesn't have motive to murder me. Does he?

I came up with a name for Houston's gang, finally.

Houston

Houston was sitting in one of the moth-eaten velvet seats of the balcony, smoking another cigar. It seemed that here, unlike in the Diamond Jacks, smoking was considered an irritant, rather than a part of life. So he had secluded himself up in the balcony. Besides, it gave him a great view of the house and the stage. He spotted Jessa, who paused at center stage to scan the house and balcony. She spotted him, and made a bee-line for the balcony stairs.

"Nice dress there, miss Jessa," he said when she arrived, puffing, and plopped down in the seat next to him. "Blue looks lovely on you. Where'd you find a fetching thing like that?" She glanced at him shrewdly, as if trying to decide whether to lie or not.

"The Lizard bought it for me," she admitted grudgingly. "From a lady down Rich Street." Houston chuckled.

"The Lizard? You mean Julian? Brilliant name for the little blighter."

"That's what I thought," Jessa said, grinning.

"And he got it on Rich Street," Houston mused, tapping the ash off his cigar and onto the floor. "On a Friday too. Did you see any Guild Brothers?" She grimaced.

"A few. Nothing we couldn't handle." Houston nodded. Generally speaking, the Guild boys who went chasing skirts on Fridays were not the brightest candles in the shop, metaphorically speaking.

"Did you see a fellow about six feet, black hair, looks like he's never seen soap?" Another grimace from Jessa.

"He accosted me in the dress shop. I told him I was with the Rusters, and he backed off sharpish."

"Bad move," Houston sighed. "He's our mole in the Guild. So now both the Guild and the Diamond Jacks think you're in with the Rusters. And we know for sure we have a mole or two from that lot. And God only knows how many other spies there are in the various gangs. Congratulations."

Jessa looked unimpressed. "So? I've been linked up with all the gangs since I could scam."

"Yet another thing I wasn't informed of," Houston grumbled. "Fabulous."

(Sorry, I posted that twice!)

Julian

“What’s wrong with you?” asked Mouse.

“Nothing,” I said a little too quickly, brushing past her before ripping off the Police uniform I had on. I could see some of the recruits, namely Bet, Helen, Reuben and Isaac throwing me looks of confusion.

“You’re lying,” Mouse continued, carefully watching my every move.

“No, I’m not.”

Again, she wasn’t buying it.

“Why, Julian...” she suddenly smiled, sinisterly walking over towards me. “I haven’t seen you look this scared since...”

I made my way down the creaky basement steps to the scullery. Mouse, unfortunately, followed.

“...since Sir saved you from the Guild Brothers!” Her eyes were practically popping out in a mixture of shock and glee. “You ran into them today, didn’t you?”

I ignored her, pulling my shirt over my head and throwing it to the side, before splashing some ice-cold water onto my face. My eyes suddenly fell on the small emblem inked onto my wrist. The Guild emblem...

Mouse, being Mouse, obviously continued. She was having way too much fun to stop just yet, the annoying little rat...

“Oh, Sir will love to hear this!” she revelled, loudly. “Not only did you disobey his orders, but you nearly got yourself caught by the-”

“Quiet!” I hissed, putting one hand over her mouth to shut her up and using the other to close the door. “D'you have to be so bloody loud?”

“So it’s true then?” she said, brushing my hand off her, a sick little smirk of satisfaction spread across her face.

“Course it isn’t...” I lied, rolling my eyes. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, miss, I’d like to have a wash before Roland calls me up to explain myself.” I glanced at Mouse and raised a brow. “Did you really tell him that I went out frolicking?”

“No,” smiled Mouse.

“Good-”

“I told him that you went out frolicking with Jessa!”

And with that, she scurried off.

“Oh, great!” I said sarcastically. I could already picture Roland’s reaction in my head.

Reuben

I flip through the set of papers Julian gave us earlier. I sigh and toss it onto the floor,; it makes a satisfying 'thump'. After Jessa had basiclly dragged Julian away, we had all just spread away from each other.
I had found a nice spot in the back of the seats in the audience. Redcloth still covered most of the chair, surprisingly.
I wipe my hand over one of the arm rests, and then sneeze when all of the dust flies into my face.

(not sure what to do )

I'm kinda running out of ideas too!

Julian

I miserably headed back to the auditorium where most of the recruits were gathered. Each one looked like a lost puppy, wondering around the dusty old theatre not knowing what to do. Except for Isaac. That eager kid was still happily brooming away.

“Enjoying yourself, are you?” I asked him, chuckling slightly.

“Well, not really, I mean I am being forced to clean this place up...” he glared at Mouse, who had just entered, “She isn’t exactly helping much either...but on the other hand,when this place is up and running again, I'll be starring in an actual play!”

“You might be starring in a play,” I corrected him. “Sorry to rain on your parade, kid, but Roland hasn’t exactly said whether he’d be willing to cast you or not.”

“Oh, but I’m sure he will once he sees how great I am! Maybe I can give him a monologue from Hamlet...or perhaps he’d prefer Dr.Faustus...”

Visibly amused, I left Isaac to his thoughts before settling down beside Reuben, who seemed to be looking a lot better since the last time I saw him.

“Hello, mate, feeling better?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he replied, brushing off a layer of dust from his shoulder. “Where did that crazy blonde girl drag you to? You looked really angry.”

“I’d rather not talk about that particular trip, kid,” I replied.

“I’m not a kid.”

I raised my eyebrows in a bemused expression. “Sorry?”

“I said I’m not a kid,” said Reuben, looking slightly annoyed. “I’m 21.”

No way. I cocked my head to the side and smiled at him. “Are you winding me up?”

“No.”

“I’m not being funny, but you don’t look 21!” I chuckled.

“Well, I am,” said Reuben defensively.

I backed down after seeing the look on his face. I’d heard he was quiet sensitive about his height.

“In that case...my apologies,” I said sincerely.

He seemed satisfied.

Reuben

"Yeah yeah, you probably though I was 16 didn't you?" I say rubbing the bridge of my nose and leaning further back into the seat.

"Accually I was guessing closer to 14 but sure." Julian says back. I try to refrain from grinding my teeth.

"So," I sit back up, "how did one of the 'Guild brothers' end up working for a creepy dude putting together an Acting Troupe?"

"Well . . ." he begins

Julian

“...First, I used to be one of the Guild Brothers...now I’m a free agent,” I clarified proudly. “And two: let’s just say that if it wasn’t for the ‘creepy dude’, my body would probably be lying chopped up and decomposed in a gutter somewhere...”

Reuben looked at me, slightly disturbed.

“Why?” he asked.

My expression darkened. “It’s a long story...one that I’d rather not tell...” I muttered, before looking away. Sure, Reuben seemed like an alright guy, but the truth was that I didn’t trust him enough to confide in him. Plus, the last thing I needed was another recruit knowing why I was no longer part of the Guild. It would bring with it unnecessary questions, and bad memories...

Reuben seemed to have got the message because he soon chose to change the subject.

“I don’t think I can do this y’know...” he said, looking around the theatre.

“Do what?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“This...” Reuben pressed. “Y’know...be in this Troupe...follow rules...it’s just not the way I do things.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” I said. “But give it time, you’ll get used to it. This place might be strange but it keeps you off the streets and it gives people like us...criminals...a sense of belonging, maybe even a sense of family...”

Reuben looked over at Mouse and raised an eyebrow. “Even her?” he asked.

I couldn’t help but chuckle as Mouse suddenly glared at the two of us, aware that she was being talked about.

“I don’t like her at all,” said Reuben.

“Ah, Mouse is harmless,” I smiled, mockingly gesturing to my heart and then pointing to Mouse. She threw me a snarl. “Besides...” I said, turning back to Reuben, “every family needs a pet, right?”

Reuben chuckled at this. “Yeah, your right.”

Visibly amused, I watched as Mouse continued to boss around Isaac, throwing all her frustration towards me onto the poor kid. I stretched my muscles and then turned my head to look around me. “I wonder what Bet and that Helen girl are up to...”

Isaac

Mouse was driving me crazy. All her ferocity, her anger seemed to be drilled on me. I wanted to throw my mop in her face and flee the place. It was such a tempting thought. My only solace was remembering the look on her face when the bucket of paint tumbled down on her head. That memory kept my mood from sinking too low. Still. I tried to avoid and her and would find places away from her to clean up. But she always found me and would start barking out orders. Julian seemed to be amused at my trials and smirked whenever he saw me struggling with a spider web, or a stubborn stain on the ground.

"Mouse I can't imagine you being able to act," I said. Mouse narrowed her eyes at me and pointed to the ground.
"You missed that spot. And that one, and that one. Now get to it!"
"Alright, alright." I furiously rubbed at the spots, but they wouldn't budge. When Mouse's back was turned, I quietly slipped out of the room.
I was walking down the hallway, making sure the floorboards didn't creek when I heard voices. They belonged to Helen and Bet. They were talking in furious voices.