Chapter 1
With one hand occupying her rapier, and the other resting lightly on her belt, Lucy tried her hardest not to trip on the hidden roots in the dark. It was a cold, cloudy night; not even the moon provided them with even the slightest bit of light. Lockwood was a few metres ahead, bearing a torch which Lucy was relying on. Her own was slotted in her belt, ready to be used if they needed to split up. Behind her stumbled George, who was carrying his torch like Lockwood and feeding them snippets of information. However, Holly had decided not to come, and was busy sorting out dirty clothes and the state of the house.
"So, what we've got here is a solitary." George suddenly stated.
"Yeah, tell us something we don't know." Lucy commented. She was most certainly not looking forwards to this one. Solitaries have got to be one of her least favourite type of ghost. Not that any of them were likeable, even the skull. Especially the skull. The effect that had one people, mentally, could be just as dangerous as being locked in a room with a poltergeist.
"Well, he, Rowan McCoy, was buried in an unmarked grave out here. With his dog... I think." George stated, frowning in thought. Lockwood raised an eyebrow.
"With his dog?"
"Yes."
"Oh... ok."
Just as Lucy was about to say something, a voice sounded from her backpack. "Getting warmer." It whispered. Sighing, Lucy nodded, not caring if he could tell of not.. She already knew. There had been a large temperature drop in the past minute, with no visible change in weather. There was a slight sense of malaise settling over her.
The woods around them seemed dead. Not a single sign of life, other than the three agents wandering blindly through the woods, with no certain sense of direction. Not bird, nor beast, nor bug had shown any sign of existence, and Lucy thought that they couldn't be more isolated. Somewhere nearby, a desolate cottage sat, occupied by a weak old lady. She had called them, reporting the ghost. And here they were.
Without warning, Lockwood stopped, almost causing Lucy to walk into him. "Sorry." She mumbled and he smiled, despite the feeling of creeping fear that they could feel, winding itself around them like a snake. Turning to address the others, he whispered, "Ok, so, we're very near. Just remembered to not let it overwhelm you with its ghost-lock, ok?" They nodded and he turned around again, only to freeze. Peering around him, Lucy spotted it. Somehow it had snuck up on them and was watching them from a long distance away, through a thin gap in the trees.
The apparition had the form of a tall boy, with extremely thin arms and legs. From where they stood the features were invisible, and it simply looked like a lonely, pale silhouette. Without too much hesitation Lockwood began to creep towards it, but when Lucy tried to follow, she found that she couldn't even move her legs, and her eyes were transfixed on the lonely boy in the distance.