Locklyle, George, and a Haunted Coffee Shop.

19

I left last. George and Lockwood left first, and Flo left almost 30 minutes before I decided that it wasn't safe to stay out at night. So by the time I made it back to 35 Portland Row, the boys were already asleep, and for the first time in weeks, I got to sleep, alone, in my small attic room.

When I got downstairs the next morning, Lockwood was still in his room, and George had left a note saying he was going to relax at the library.

I made some tea and went to read a romance novel. I've had enough adventure to last me a life time.

..................

I had been reading for a while when Lockwood slammed his bedroom door open.

Someone is angry. He sat down across from and pushed his hand through his hair a couple of times.

"You are an idiot, Lucy." he says softly.

"Says the one who kept me locked up." I reply,  not even looking up from my book.

"I did it for your protection. You know that."

"Funny, that's what Mitch said. The two of them were stalking me for my 'protection.'"

He leans back into his chair, and murmurs under his breath.

I finally decide to look up at him. "Are you going to fire me?"

He looks startled. "Why would I do that?"

"You said that if I went through with my plan, that you would fire me."

"I don't think I could ever fire you, Luce. You're too important to the agency. We need you. I need you."

"You should've thought about that before you went off and stopped me from saving people. That's what I do, Lockwood. Save people. You're not the only hero here."

I get up and walk towards the stairs.

"You have to let me be the hero, Lucy. You need me. You know you do."

"I don't need you to be like my father, Lockwood. You treat me like I'm a child. And in case you haven't noticed, I've been through too much to even think about my childhood anymore."

"That's why I'm here for you." He calls out.

"It's too late Lockwood. You weren't there when I needed you most. You weren't there when I watched my colleagues get murdered by a ghost. You weren't there when I couldn't handle being stalked. You didn't once consider my feelings about the whole situation. All you did was pretend to be more mature than me. You acted like I couldn't take care of myself." I respond.

"Bu-but I love you." He says, hurt, staring at his feet.

"I know you do, Lockwood. But it took you too long to see that I love you too. And I don't think this is ever going to work out if you treat me like I'm insufficient."

..........................

I went upstairs immediately after our confrontation, and stayed there until well after George got home, which was about four in the afternoon.

I sat there and thought about what I had said to Lockwood.

I love him?

I guess that I don't really know what love is. My family used me as a source of income. George and I are friends, and I love him on a level so different from what I feel for Lockwood.

But is it love?

I'm a teenage girl. An agent. A hard- headed, stubborn bitch of a teenage agent girl, for that matter. I don't know enough about myself to know if I love Lockwood.

"Lucy," George calls from the outside of my door, interrupting my thoughts, " Lockwood and I have picked up a case, we need a distraction from what's been going on. Lockwood says we won't be safe unless all three of us are there."

I get up and start packing my things.

......................

When I come down stairs, Lockwood and George are drinking tea and waiting for me to join them in a quick briefing of what the case is about.

"A farmhouse about an hour away from here, a child has spotted an apparition  hanging around a large barn. Her parents have heard bizarre noises in the late night early morning, and everyone's been feeling brief periods of malaise at random points all day." Lockwood explains to me.

George goes over what he'd found at the library.

"There was a fire there about fifty years ago, killed one person, a teenage boy who had ran inside to save a locket he was going to give to the girl he had been courting."

"So we know what the source is. We just need to find it." I say.

The boys agree to start looking in the barn when it first gets dark.

We leave the house, catch a train, and head to the farm.

...........................

When we meet the owners of the residence, the sun is just barely setting.

"The barn was originally the house." Marvelin, the Mother of the child that first saw the apparition, explains.

"Thank you, Ma'am." Lockwood says, flashing his award winning smile.

After the short conversation we leave to set up in the barn.

When we first arrive, Lockwood and I are giving each other the silent treatment. George is being awkward, and the skull is giving me a hard time for being a 'soft little baby.'

"i think we should set up the chains in the middle, so that we can see everything." Lockwood says.

"What if we set up a couple of circles. This is a rather large barn, and if the source happens to be all the way across the barn, it's a lot harder to get there if we're all in the very middle." I counter.

Lockwood sighs, and George agrees.

"Lucy should set up in the back corner so that she can have open space to listen for any hints of where the source is, I'll set up in the middle so that I can pin point a death glow, and Geroge can set up in front of the doors so that he can get accurate temperature readings." Lockwood adds.

We set up our individual chain circles, take temp readings, and chew some gum.

The night begins.

................................

SO RIGHT NOW, I HAVE 1995 READS, SO I'VE DECIDED NOT TO PUBLISH THIS CHAPTER UNTIL I HIT 2000. I'M SORRY THAT IT TOOK ME  A WHILE TO UPDATE AGAIN BUT I HAD NO IDEA HOW TO MOVE ON WITH THE STORY AFTER MITCH AND MARVIN WERE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO END THE STORY WITH A  MOPEY DOPEY LUCY TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HER FEELINGS FOR LOCKWOOD. SO I DECIDED TO MAKE ONE LAST CASE SCENE SO THAT IT'S STILL INTERESTING AND ALL THE CHARACTER'S PERSONALITIES ARE THE SAME FOR THE WHOLE BOOK.

XOXO-

LARISSA