Chapter 9

I woke up sore and stiff. I don't know why my Talent made me so sore when I touch the skull. I sat up, groaning in the process. My arm was sore but not throbbing. Then I heard a knock on the door.

"Dottie?" It was Holly. "Are you awake?"

I got up, grabbing my robe by the bed. I walked up to the door and opened it. Holly jumped at the sight of me.

"Are you feeling alright?" She asked, feeling my forehead for a fever. The skull must have drained me more than I thought. How did I not notice? I walked past her, heading for the bathroom. Thank goodness George wasn't there. I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked pale and sickly. My dark chocolate hair was a mess. I pull up my right sleeve to look at my arm. The bandages were unraveled. I left the bathroom and went back to the room. Holly was already holding fresh bandages and disinfectant. I groaned and sat on the bed. Holly came and sat beside me. She unwrapped my arm and gasped. I stared at her, wide eyed.

"Your arm.. it's better!" She exclaimed. I looked at my arm. She was right. All that was left was a blotchy looking scar. I look back at her. She just stared at the scar, dumbstruck.

Lucy walked by, leaving the attic upstairs. She glanced in our direction, then stopped. She stared at holly.

"Is everything alright?" She asked, walking in. Holly looked up at her then back at my arm. She was pinching it a little.

"Her arm. It's better." Holly said, still thrown back. Lucy walked over and stared at my scar. She looked up at me. I shrugged at her. I was confused as well. I thought about last night. My arm was throbbing but in a different way. I had just ignored it.

"Let's test it out." Lucy said, standing up. Holly and I stood and followed Lucy. Out of the three of us, Holly was the only one dressed. Lucy was in baggy gray clothes. And besides the pink bathrobe I wore, i had a white tank top, with gray sweats. We went down to the basement. At the bottom, Lucy tossed a rapier at me.

"Test it on Floating Jo." She said. I took off my robe, placing it on a chair off to the side. I took a deep breath, taking my stance. Then I attacked the dummy. My arm didn't throb. I was slower than usual, but I didn't miss a mark. Then I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I turned, nearly taking Lockwood's head in the process. He stared at my rapier, wide eyed.

"Well, glad to see someone better." He said, pushing the rapier away from his neck. I lowered my rapier, panting.

"I probably won't sneak up on you when your training." He chuckled. "Anyway, Zachary is here to see you."

I looked at myself. My face flushed with embarrassment. I was still in my PJs. I hurried and grabbed my rope, half way putting it on myself. Then I rushed upstairs, running into Zachary in the hallway. He stared at me wide eyed. Then he glanced at my arm. I realized I was still holding the rapier.

"Dots, your arm." He signed, surprised. He glance back up at my face. I shrugged, awkwardly. My face burned. He chuckled a small chuckle, noticing my embarrassed face. He pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"You know, you look good in a pink bathrobe." He signed.

"I'm going to get dress." I signed, my face still red. I ran upstairs and shut the door behind me.

I came downstairs, dressed in my dark turtleneck and black leggings. Zachary was no longer in the hallway. I glanced in the living area. Lockwood and Zachary were sitting in there. It looked like Lockwood was trying to communicate with him. He was signing some random stuff. Zachary was chuckling. Then he saw me standing in the doorway. He stood up.

"I have no idea what he's saying." Zachary signed, still chuckling. Lockwood walked over.

"I was seeing if I could speak sign language. I can't tell if what I was saying was funny or offensive." Lockwood said.

"Do nuggets motor oil?" Lockwood signed. I started to snicker. Zachary was chuckling once more.

"What did I say?" Lockwood asked, confused.

I grabbed my notebook. I left one downstairs in case I needed to talk to the group. I wrote what Lockwood had signed, then turned it toward him. Lockwood stared to laugh.

"I guess I probably should work on it." He chuckled. Zachary and I were still chuckling. Lockwood walked away. Zachary came over to me and gave me a side hug.

"Now, about your arm?" He signed, looking serious. I shrugged.

"I don't even know." I signed back. I thought about last night. I had done nothing after holly wrapped it last night. Nothing but the skull. The skull. Could he.. no. There was no way the skull healed me. But I had no idea what happened.

"Dottie."

I look over toward the basement stairway. Lucy stood there.

"Can I talk to you?" She asked. I nod and walked toward her. I turn and looked at Zachary. His hazel eyes stared at me. I gave him a reassuring smile. He smile back. I turn and walked down to the basement. George and Lucy were waiting at the bottom.

"I told George what happened." Lucy said. "About the skull and your arm."

George held out his hand, asking, "Can I see your arm?" I rolled up my sleeve and showed him my arm. He inspected the blotchy scar.

"I have a theory."

Lucy and I waited for George to tell us his theory.

"You say you get drained like never before when you touch the skull, right? Well, what if last night it drained your injury?"

I stared at him. It's a thought, but ghosts don't do anything like this.

"I mean, we don't know anything else about type three's."

I stared at George in alarm. It was a good thing I still had my notebook.

"This skull is a Type Three?!" I wrote.

George nodded. "Maybe type three's can take away pain?" I shook my head. Ghosts only cause pain, right? But then again, the way the ghost sensed me was different. I sat there in thought.

"Well, the important thing is that Dottie is better. Maybe Lockwood will let her go home." Lucy said. She glanced at me. "Then we can catch that ghost, the intruder, or both."

I smiled. We just had to get through the day, then see if Lockwood will let me go home.