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He felt someone shake his arm. It was a little jarring because the hands touching him had been so gentle a moment ago. “Lockwood, wake up!” Lucy whispered. She hadn’t sounded like that a second ago. He realized he had been dreaming,
“Luce, are you really here?” He grumbled, voice heavy with sleep, blushing that she was now in his room for real and not just in his head.
“She’s here,” Lucy said hurriedly.
“Who?” he asked still confused at what had just happened in his dream versus what was happening right now.
“Annabel Ward, the ghost from Sheen road,” Lucy said, looking really scared. “Come on where’s your kit bag?” She turned away from him and he was glad for that because he suddenly realized he was shirtless and he would have been worried about the blanket slipping lower but Lucy’s fear was like a cold shower. He tossed the blankets aside.
“Downstairs, grab the boots,” he said moving to get a shirt.
“Boots?” She asked turning back to him. It might have been his imagination but he thought her eyes lingered on his bare chest for a moment. He grabbed them from her hands and rapid fire-tossed them at George’s door.
George exited, trouserless as usual and Lockwood wanted to bang his head on the wall. They were supposed to be giving Lucy reasons to stay here and this and his dream were not helping. George’s eyes narrowed at the now-clothed Lockwood and Lucy hiding behind his door. It shouldn’t bring him as much satisfaction as it did, but he quite liked that not only did Lucy come to him first when she was scared, but that his room was enough of a safe haven that she would stay in there even when they were just facing George.
“Can’t you even be bothered to cross the landing to wind me up?” He glared, eyes darting between Lockwood and Lucy. Lockwood subtly shook his head.
“Annabel Ward’s ghost is here,” Lockwood told him.
“Well that’s impossible,” George said shaking his head.
“Why would I be lying? She was in my room just now,” Lucy interjected softly.
“Ok, 20 seconds. Non-metaphorical,” he told the two closing his door. Lockwood just shrugged his shoulders at Lucy.
“You alright?” he asked moving to put his hand on her shoulder before promptly putting it back down and blushing at his own forwardness with an associate.
“A little freaked out, to be honest, are you?” she said looking quizzically at him. It was better than her fear.
Exactly 20 seconds later, George emerged, still trouserless, armed to the teeth, and with boots on.
“All that and still no trousers?”
“Trousers are for wimps,” George said resolutely. He handed Lockwood the silver chains and Lucy a flashlight. It was obvious that the researcher didn’t trust her with a weapon at the moment.
All three quietly climbed the stairs to the attic and Lucy’s room.
“I don’t feel anything,” George announced in the hall before the attic door, his Talent wasn’t picking up anything. Lockwood was concerned and confused that a ghost could have followed them to 35 Portland Road.
“I don’t see anything,” Lockwood announced.
“She was here, I swear,” Lucy said from behind them. He wanted to pat her on the shoulder and let her know that he believe her. They finally entered Lucy’s bedroom.
“You woke up and she was floating above you?” George asked as Lucy shined the flashlight around the room.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“It makes no sense that she’d be here,” Lockwood voiced his doubts. He couldn’t help but notice how Lucy had impacted the space he grew up in. The sheets were rumpled from where she had woken up. There were hair ties on the table, and clothes strewn over the chair. “We contained her source, covered her body with a silver net” he added walking further into the room.
“How did she even get in here? It’s not as if her source is inside the house,” George stated. Lockwood turned to look at Lucy and she looked guilty at George’s words. Dear god, he’s found and given a job to another thief, he thought.
“Is it?” he asked hoping he was wrong. Lucy looked as if she was about to answer before she turned towards the corner by the stairs. Lockwood saw a flash of ectoplasm forming.
“Uh…she’s back,” she said nervously. Lockwood and George quickly moved to where Lucy had indicated. They were a team together first so they knew one another and how to defend each other. It disappeared and Lockwood felt rather than saw the ghost move about the room.
“She’s playing with us,” he told the other two. All three began to look around, trying to figure out where Annabel would appear next. Lockwood and Lucy saw it at the same time. He glanced at her to ensure she also saw it and the fear in her eyes confirmed it for him. “George,” he warned, “don’t move,”
“Please tell me it’s a wasp,” George snarked as Annabel fully formed behind him.
“Stand perfectly still,” Lockwood ordered gently. He saw the subtle signs of Annabel becoming angrier, her face pinching, her teeth becoming more fanglike, “On second thought, move!” he shouted throwing the chains at her as the ghost moved towards the shower. Lucy, the brilliant agent that he knew she was threw a salt bomb that she must have had in her pocket, and Annabel dematerialized.
“Not a wasp then,” George gasped. The three continued to eye the room, knowing that her ghost wasn’t actually gone.
“Lucy, if you have any idea what her source might be, now would be a really good time to say,” he warned her.
“Oh, um...I’m starting to think that...I mean, I might have an idea what it is,” she stuttered out.
“Take your time, we’re not under any pressure,” George sniped at her. Lockwood wanted to throttle him, Lucy wasn’t the only thief around her and while this is certainly a more dangerous source than the one George had taken, it was not the worst situation they’d been in. Lucy gasped loudly as Annabel appeared in front of her. She fell backward, whimpering in fear or pain he didn’t know, and how Lockwood wished he could have caught her but he was busy throwing chains trying to get the ghost away from them.
“Where is it, Lucy?”
“Well, I had a ring in my hand, and then I fell asleep with it,” she admitted as they all put their backs to one another. Lockwood and George showing their trust that she would help protect them.
“And now we’re all gonna die,” George said ruining Lockwood’s image of an agency without trust issues.
“So it’s in the bed?” he asked her, trying not to sound too excited at getting to investigate her space further.
“Yea. Well, maybe. But I…I don’t know. It could be.” He tried not to groan at her answer.
“We need to contain it,” he said trying to remain as professional as he could while they were all in pajamas. He spotted Annabel reforming over the chair in the corner.
“Oh shit!” George gasped. He was really useless at ghost-hunting after too many biscuits.
“George, switch,” Lockwood commanded. He traded the silver chains for his much-preferred weapon, a rapier.
“Here she is,” Lucy told them as Annabel fully formed.
“Get behind me. Hold the chain,” He ordered the two when he was sure they were safe. He went to swipe at her but she swooped straight for him despite the chance of being hurt by his blade. He had to dodge out of the way and fell onto Lucy’s bed. It smelled like her, he realized.
“Whoa!” George shouted.
“Got her!” Lucy called tossing the chains so she was trapped between the silver glass of the wardrobe at her back and the chains at her front.
“George throw it all! Everything you’ve got!” Lockwood told them as he began to search the bed. He almost wished he was back in his dream because that was a far more pleasant situation than this. He stood up when he found the ring, just in time to see George remove his entire belt of supplies and throw it at Annabel. They all breathed a sigh of relief. George held out his hand and Lockwood placed the ring in it.
“I’m going to put this somewhere safe,” he said glaring at Lucy. She had the decency to look apologetic. “Debrief, downstairs 5 minutes, non-metaphorical,” he said turning to glare at Lockwood.
“Why’re you mad at me?” He found himself asking.
“Because you hired the lunatic,” George said making his way down the stairs. Lockwood turned to look at Lucy, he was going to apologize for the other boy’s behavior when instead of anger, he saw a curious look in her eye.
“What were you dreaming about before I woke you up, Lockwood?”