A/n: I took a little liberties with this one but that's okay. Also, sorry that this is a day late, but I was busy yesterday since for my friend's birthday, we went to a Halloween-theme-park-kind-of-thing and I discovered that I'm a haunted house person which is very out of character for me but eh, I had fun, got home past midnight, woke up a little past 10 this morning ;)
One of the rare cases where it was just her and Lockwood and so far, it was going terribly. Why was her life like this?
"Don't move," she told Lockwood quietly, eying the hazy Visitor beside him.
"I see it," he replied, glancing sideways to where he could probably see the ghost better than her. So far, it hadn't advanced, but they weren't ready to fight it yet. They'd only been in the process of setting up the chains and taking readings - the usual early stages of any case - when the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped significantly and she'd spotted the hazy figure.
She searched Lockwood's face for what to do, noticing the look that told her his mind was racing. His eyes met hers, and the determination in them said he had a plan.
"See the chains around my feet," he started, and she glanced down to where the messy, abandoned remains from his efforts to build a circle lay. She nodded, and he continued. "When I count to three, I want you to leap forward and grab them while I move out of the way and grab my rapier, okay? Throw the chains at it if you don't have enough time to wrap them around your hand and whip it."
Seeing as her own rapier was not in her belt, and instead on the ground a little ways away, his plan seemed to be the best option. She nodded.
"Okay," Lockwood nodded back. "Ready? Three… two… one… Now!"
They moved at the same time, and unfortunately, so did the ghost. Lucy darted forward and grabbed the chains, flinging them in the direction of the now-screaming spirit, while Lockwood jumped up out of the chains and drew his rapier.
She was suddenly reminded of the Lavender Lodge case, where for a few seconds, she, George and Lockwood had been in perfect sync with each other all before their terrible throwing and catching skills had made it all go horribly wrong. She wished she could have said this time was the same only in the sense that they were in sync, but no. It went horribly wrong this time too.
The chains that she'd thrown missed the spirit, falling limply against the far wall as Lockwood swung at the Visitor, managing to extinguish it into wisps but then landing in a heap after a badly-timed twist in the air to avoid squashing Lucy. It all happened in a matter of seconds, and it took just as much time for Lucy to process it, Lockwood on the ground next to her, breathing hard.
Their eyes met, but before either of them could say anything, the temperature dropped again and the Visitor hazily returned, staying at the edge of the room. The two scrambled to get up.
"New plan," Lockwood said, sparing one quick glance sideways at her before darting to grab his rapier from where it'd fallen. "I keep an eye on it and make sure it stays right there while you work your magic and find the source."
"Lockwood…," she started, because she knew exactly what this plan meant. "Please don't - "
He didn't let her finish, but he knew what she was about to say anyway. "I'll be safe, Lucy, I promise. Just like we talked about; just reckless enough." He flashed her a reassuring grin but it wasn't his usual one he gave to reassure clients that they'd get the job done, or to Barnes when he promised to listen. This was his genuine one he reserved just for her.
"Okay," she agreed, and then they moved to act out their plan.
She closed her eyes, trusting Lockwood to cover her as she used her Talent. The world fell away around her as she Listened, mostly silence until…
"You promised…" the whisper of a woman's voice came. Lucy strained to hear, but it grew louder as it went on. "You made a promise; in sickness and in health you said."
"Luce…?" The voice of the living, Lockwood speaking to her. She opened her eyes to see the ghost flickering slightly as it slowly drifted forward, Lockwood reaching an arm back to protect her while his rapier was held out in front of him.
"She's saying something about a promise, wedding vows. I think maybe - "
Once again, she was interrupted, but not by Lockwood.
"You said you'd never hurt me. You liar!" The voice growled, at the same time the Specter swooped towards them, deadly arms outstretched toward Lockwood.
He reacted quickly where Lucy couldn't, pushing her out of the way as he swung his rapier to ward the ghost off. It darted away and disappeared into the floor. They didn't wait for it to come back.
"You saw where it disappeared?"
"Yep," she said, already heading over to the patch of floor where it had gone.
"Great. Must be something under the boards. Pry some of them up and I'll grab the net."
She dropped down, and got out her small knife, knocking on the boards to see if any could have an empty space beneath. The third one echoed a hollow sound when she hit it, and she wasted no time in wedging the blade in the edges.
"Er, Luce, you might want to hurry it up a bit…," Lockwood's voice said from behind her, and instead of risking a glance up at the ghost, she listened to Lockwood and hurried it up. It took a few firm tugs but then the board gave.
Lockwood moved closer and tossed her the net. She got out her flashlight to check the dark little crevice for any kind of Source, but just as she did, she heard an unholy scream and soon enough, the swing of a rapier and hurried footsteps on the floor.
"Any time, Luce!"
Something glinted slightly in the dark, and she reached in. Her fingers closed around a small, cold, metal band and memories - not hers - flooded her mind. She quickly pulled it out and wrapped it in the net. The screaming stopped, and the room was silent apart from Lockwood's panting.
"Good job, Luce," Lockwood said, grinning. "So what was it? She was certainly a sight, for not being a Wraith."
"It's a wedding ring. He came home drunk one night and got mad that she hadn't done any housework because she'd gotten sick. He beat her to death," she murmured, voice heavy.
Most Visitors had similar stories, if not worse, but it never really got easier. Not for her anyway. It always made her sad, but she'd gotten used to it, learnt that this was just the way of the world. Cruel, but nothing to do about it.
Lockwood gave her a sympathetic smile. He was never as affected as her, but he didn't like seeing her sad, so he always tried to make her feel better.
"Come on then, let's get going and make sure that," - he pointed at the bundle in her hands - "doesn't cause any more trouble. I know this case didn't go exactly to plan, but it means an early night which is never a bad thing, and Holly and George should be finishing with their case soon enough. Maybe we can even see if Cass is working late at Arif's and get some treats to have with tea at home?"
She smiled. "Yeah, alright. That sounds lovely. Even if i do think you all bother Cass too much."
"We always make sure to give her generous tips for working later. It's practically free business and it was her idea anyway."
Lucy sighed, but the smile remained. "Whatever. She's not going to stay up forever though, so we best get going if we have any chance of catching her before she goes home."
"Touché," Lockwood grinned, and put his rapier away before moving to help her with the bags.
A/n: Cass is my oc who works at Arif's and I do have ideas for fanfics I can write with her in it as she interacts with the gang (because they do seem to go to Arif's a lot and George did mention an 'Arif's girl' at some point so in my mind, this is her) but only if you guys are interested. I don't usually write oc stories but gotta happen sometime, right? Also might just be fun, who knows?
Anyway, bit of Lockwood and Lucy in a normal case. I could have made it a little longer with Lucy being temporarily ghost locked, but I kind of just wanted to finish it up and work on today's prompt before I get too far behind, so this is what I settled on.
Stay safe and see ya soon.
- CrowofArcadiaOaks
