Andy looked intently at Edward for a few moments before her curiosity got the better of her and she returned to the leather workbook. She scanned over the pages, flipped through a few wordy paragraphs she couldn't be bothered to read, and then came across one particular page that caught her interest.
As Edward watched her look through the book he persisted in forcing his gaze to the ground, but then realised that he always found himself looking back up at her, no matter how focused he was. He decided to join her and finally see the contents of those books. He had been too nervous to try and look through them, for the fear of tearing them to shreds. But Andy seemed to be doing well, lifting the pages carefully with one blade at a time.
Andy turned to face Edward, who was now shoulder to shoulder with her, and peering into the book she had been flipping through. He didn't notice at first that she was looking at him, but she held her stare for a little too long, and Edward realised she wasn't turning the pages.
She brushed it off in a flustered sort of way.
"This is crazy," she said quietly. "He... made you..."
The page in front of them featured a very old photograph in sepia tones, of Edward with shorter, neater hair and scarless face, but with the same deep dark eyes. With him in the photo was the inventor, a wiry old man with a kind, wide-eyed face.
"Do you remember this?" Andy asked solemnly. Edward paused and thought before nodding.
"It must have been a long time ago. How old exactly are you?" She immediately regretted saying that. Edward shrank back, whether it was out of embarrassment for not knowing, or that it hurt him too much to even think about it.
"Sorry," she said.
"It's okay. A long time." He came closer again and joined her reading of the workbook.
"Study #26," she recited, leaning in closer with every word she made out. "Edward has made good progress in learning from me. I have taught him the proper mannerisms of an acceptable person, and he has shown that he understands what I am saying to him." She paused to check Edward's reaction. He seemed lost in thought.
"Today," she continued to read, "I introduced him to someone new to test his manners when meeting someone new. He's never seen anyone except me, so this experiment went considerably well..." she trailed off, and looked to Edward, who was still gazing into nothing.
"Do you remember that happening? Meeting someone?" She asked him.
"Yes," he said, breaking out of his trance. "That was when I met his son."

Thanks for reading.
Don't forget to vote!