The protagonist is mine, everything else, world, characters, is owned by Jonathan Stroud.
Chapter 1
I walked up to the door on 35 Portland Row, pulling up my turtle neck for warmth. It was a cold autumn day. A sign hung by the door.
"Lockwood and Co. After dark, ring the bell and wait beyond the iron line." It read.
I look towards the bell cord and tug it. A ring came from inside the house. I could hear bodies shuffling inside. Then heard a hush. The door opened. A dark skinned girl, around my age, had opened it. She wore a white blouse with a beige skirt. Her hair was dark as well, pulled up into a ponytail. She smiled.
"Do you have an appointment?" She asked.
I shook my head.
She stared at me, confused, but she still had a smile on her face. I held up the newspaper clipping. "Help wanted, Lockwood and Co." she read aloud. She returned her gaze toward me.
"Who's there?" A voice called from behind the door.
Suddenly the door jerked opened. A young man with dark hair and pale skin stood there. He wore a white button up shirt with dark slacks. He looked at me and smiled.
"Oh hello! Do you have a Visitor you need taken care of?" He asked.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I held up the newspaper again. He looked at it, then turned back to me and smiled.
"Ah yes, come on in. Would you like some tea? He asked, moving aside.
I nodded as I walked in. He gestured me toward a room. I walked in. It was a quaint living area. I sat on the couch I assumed was for visitors. Not ghosts, mind you.
"I thought you said you weren't going to hire anyone else?" I heard the girl ask.
"No, I said we might." I heard a pause. "Don't tell Lucy, ok?"
I heard the girl sigh. "Fine Lockwood."
"Thanks Hol!" Lockwood said, excitedly. Suddenly he showed up in the doorway. "Sorry about that!" He grinned, his dark eye's shining. He sat on the couch across from me. "That was my secretary, Holly." He frowned at the empty coffee table between us.
"Excuse me for a moment." He said as he stood up. He walked out the doorway then stopped. Relief filled his face. "George, splendid timing." He said, walking back in.
"I heard the door and put the kettle on." Said the boy called George. His blond hair was in his face, spectacles hanging by the tip of his nose. He had pale skin but his cheeks. His cheeks were pink, like he had just ran a marathon. He wore a knitted vest over a white shirt and grey slacks. He brought over the mugs of tea and put them on the coffee table. He then turned and sat on the other couch in between Lockwood's and mine.
"I'm sorry," Lockwood said to me, "but I didn't catch your name?"
I reached into my satchel and pulled out my notebook, flipping to an empty page. Lockwood stared at me, then glanced at George. George shrugged. After I was done writing, I lifted up my notebook for the. To see.
"Dottie?" Lockwood asked, looking at me. I nodded.
"Can you speak?" George asked, leaning forward in his seat.
"George!" Lockwood exclaimed.
"What? It doesn't hurt to ask." George shrugged.
I shook my head, pencil already back in my notebook.
"See?" George retorted. Lockwood opened his mouth but I held up my notebook.
"What does it say?" George asked.
"She says she's mute." Lockwood said. I nod.
"Interesting.." George said, cleaning his specs on his shirt.
"We can ask more questions later, but now it's time for the tests." Lockwood said, grasping his hands together. He stood and gestured we toward the doorway. I followed behind Lockwood and George behind me. Lockwood opens a door to a basement.
"After you." Lockwood grinned. I took a step and descended down a spiral staircase. Down at the bottom had a few desks. Messy ones. Two dummies hung from the ceiling. Well, one was the head of a dummy. It's body laid limp on the ground.
"Ah," Lockwood said, following my gaze toward the dummy's body. "That is Esmeralda. She had a bit of an accident about a year ago." He grinned. "Anyway, on with the tests." He looked at me with a wolf like grin. He glanced behind me for a split second. I turned. The dummy with its body intact was swung at me. I pulled my rapier and, dodging the dummy, returning the blow at the dummy's backside. I turn and looked at Lockwood.
"Quick reflexes." Lockwood chuckled. George walked up next to him, scribbling notes into his book. I stared at them.
"Hey," I turned and looked up at the door. "I brought some biscuits." It was Holly. Suddenly, I heard the sound of a rapier being unsheathed. My quick reflexes shot my rapier up, blocking Lockwood's rapier from my neck. Holly gasped, dropping some biscuits. I look at Lockwood. He was still grinning.
"Real quick." He chuckled. George wrote more notes. "Now for some more tests." Lockwood continued. Then I heard a door open and shut upstairs. George went back to his book. Holly started to clean up the biscuits, eyeing Lockwood. He was still smiling. Then the basement door opened. A girl, also around my age, was descending down the stairs. She had short brown hair and wore a giant coat with a black skirt and leggings. She eyed me. She had brown eyes.
"Who's this?" She asked
"Lucy, this is Dottie." Lockwood spoke calmly. "She's here for the job interview."
She looked at Lockwood, then back at me. I stood awkwardly there, still holding my rapier. I quickly sheathed it. Lockwood noticed, then put his away as well.
"I was testing her reflexes. We were just about to test her Talent."
I bit my lip. I felt Lucy's eyes on me. She came down and sat in the chair over by Lockwood.
"Well don't let me interrupt you, continue." She said, flinging her hand around.
Lockwood grinned at her, then went off to grab something.
Lucy still stared at me, thinking.
"Alright, let's test your Sight first." Lockwood spoke, putting down something. It had a cloth over it. It was about as big as a softball. He put on some sunglasses, then pulled the cloth off. There, inside the spherical shaped thing, was a little bone. Part of a toe I guess. I saw nothing else. I look up, biting my lip.
"Well?" Lucy asked. Lockwood, George, and Holly looked at me for my answer. I pulled my notebook out and scribbled my answer down. Then turned it towards Lockwood, slowly. I look down.
"Well," George asked, "what did she write?"
"I'm confused." Lucy said.
"Yeah, same here." Holly added.
"Dottie hear is mute. It means she can't speak." George replied.
"She says," Lockwood spoke over their voices. "She can't see ghosts." They look at me. My faced flushed with embarrassment. I had been turned down by multiple agencies because of my disability and because I couldn't see ghosts. But I was pretty good at detecting them.
"Can you hear them?" Lucy asked.
I shook my head, still looking down. I hurried and scribbled some more, turning it back to Lockwood when I was done.
"But," he starts, "she's really good with Touch. She is also good at drawing. Sometimes she'll draw what she senses."
"I know how we can test her." I look at Lucy. She stands up and heads upstairs. Then she came back down with a couple items in her arms, A butter knife, a bone from a finger, and a burnt skull. She laid out the items. "Use your Talent." She said.
I grab the knife. I felt nothing. No ghost or dark past. No murder. It was nothing but a butter knife. I wrote my answer down in my notebook. Then put the knife back. I reached for the finger. I sensed a little whisp. It was the bone of a child's index finger. I felt the child's pain and sadness. Then a image of the child's past flew into my mind. I quickly grabbed my notebook. The group looked at me curiously. I sketched the image into the book. In the image, was a little boy, about eight, stood over by a fire place. Then something else. Pain seeped through me. The boy was beaten to death. Then I felt the pain go to my finger. Then it was over. I stopped sketching and blinked. I put the bone back. I felt a little drained. I wrote what had happened as a side note. Even though I was drained, I wanted to continue. I reached for the skull when Lucy stopped me.
"Before you touch this, I must warn you. If the spirit is still tied to it, you will see, or in your case, feel some... weird things."
I looked at her. She seemed a little somber. I nodded my head and reached for the skull. As soon as I touched it, a feeling popped into my head. It felt different. Not like a ghost tied to their Source. I felt trapped. An image popped into my head once more. Everything was dark, but there was a youth in the middle. He had spiky hair. But he was looking down, on his knees. I could tell he was mumbling something but I couldn't hear him. Again I drew the image in my notebook. Then I wrote a little side note about the mumbling. Then the connection was cut. I was drained. Sweat streamed from my face. I was panting. I had never felt like this before.
Lockwood handed me a mug of warm tea, then inspected my notebook. Lucy leans over his shoulder and inspects it as well. I sipped my tea.
Lucy shook her head in disbelief. "Unbelievable." She mumbled. I look at her. She looked at me, then my notebook. "These answers are all correct," she eyed George and Holly, "even the skull." Holly and George stood up at the same time and walked over, looking into the notebook as well. Then they all looked up and stared at me.