𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐃𝐄 ♚ 𝙩. 𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙗𝙮

xxxv - 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵

Sprinting down that street, she could feel nothing but the cold brace of the wintery air against her cheeks – rounding the corner at the bottom of the lane with Henry still hot on her heels, pleas for her to stop for a moment all but lost to the wind rushing past her ears.

As the lane came into view, so did the crowds of concerned villagers who had flocked uncertainly around the outside of the house. It appeared this incident was still very much fresh, for the sleek black car parked outside told her these intruders were very much still here.

She had to go in there, so frightened for dear Edna. Verity knew she could not go on if that poor old woman had been slain down in this stupid fight over past ghosts.

The psychologist had barely stopped for a second, desperately trying to catch her breath as she strode forwards in her smart burgundy blouse and black skirt, all but halted in her path by a strong hand around her wrist – warm, grounding, safe.

"Don't you dare go in there, Verity." Henry cried, holding her back. "It's not safe – they're still in there." The psychiatrist looked past his colleague and saw the smart expensive car, it seemed his brain was ticking overtime that this wasn't just some ruffian doing a robbery. Verity's brain was nervously ticking on, she had never told Henry the exact details of her past – not people, not exact places... and certainly not the Shelby name.

Just as she was about to argue, the sound of crashing out of the back garden gate could be heard. All it took was the sight of two of those bastard flat caps and Verity felt an urge to scream the entire village down.

He could not leave her alone. He could not stand to see her happy and forget about all of his strife, the pain he'd caused. What else could he possibly want? What more was there to do? Verity was so enraged, all she could do was burst into tears.

The two lads climbed into the car, looking back just for a second at the sea of faces. Through her tears, Verity clocked the young and freckled face... Finn, Tommy's younger brother. She remembered his boyish ways at Charlie's birthday party and how he had been so cheeky and charming... now all of that fondness was replaced with utter resentment.

His eyes never caught hers, going amiss in all the concerned faces and threatening jeers. The moment the car door closed, the car sped off – with the two Blinders inside. Verity had not recognised the other young lad, but if he was carrying out Tommy's work too then she was not holding back any hatred.

"Edna. I need to check if Edna is safe!" Verity cried, trying to pull free from Henry's grasp – losing her composure all but completely to this sea of emotion which claimed every last little piece of her energy. She was half sobbing, half enraged and half eaten by the need to surrender to the futility of this dire situation.

"I'll go in, please... Verity just stay here." Henry hushed her, voice like a beacon of light through the darkest of tunnels. He pressed the smallest of kisses to her temple as he passed, running through the bodies towards the front of the house where it seemed the rest of the villagers hadn't had enough concern to go in to see if Edna was ok. As usual, it was the dramatics of something going on in such a small place that had roused their attention.

As she stood there, body shaking and a sickness rising in her throat – Verity wrapped her arms around herself and surrendered to her thoughts. There was no way this could just be swept under the carpet in hopes that Tommy would give up. She could not bear to think about any harm befalling any other of her friends – she had to go, go and face the demon himself and have it out once and for all. It was a moment of dread as she realised this was her only option and hope of putting a stop to this silliness, but Verity had a sense of clarity about it that she hadn't done some moments ago.