└➤ the ghost on 62 sheen road。✑ ───┐
"ZIGGY?" LOCKWOOD'S VOICE PULLED THE BRUNETTE GIRL OUT OF HER BOOK, CAUSING TOPAZ EYES TO LOOK OVER AT THE DOORWAY WHERE LOCKWOOD STARED AT HER IN CONFUSION. "What are are you doing?" He asked as he watched the girl.
Ziggy set her book down on the floor. "Reading, obviously," she said, moving to sit upright. She had taken a book to read from the study, figuring that Lockwood wouldn't mind before she had went to the living room. She realized fairly quick that it was the least used room so it was bound to be quiet, making it perfect to read.
However, she had struggled to get comfortable on the couch. Which had led to her previous position. Sitting upside down; her legs were thrown over the back of the couch while her back was pressed into the seat of the couch with her head dangling off the couch. "I found that the most weirdest ways to sit are usually the best ways to read."
The corners of Lockwood's mouth pulled up. "So sitting upside down on the couch is the best way to read?"
She shrugged as she crossed her legs; giving herself a moment to finish being dizzy. "Sometimes."
"Huh," Lockwood said.
She looked at him. "Did you need something? Or were you just curious?" She asked.
"Oh!" Lockwood said, as if remembering why he was in the living room at all. "We have a case."
Ziggy's eyes light up with excitement as she jumped off of the couch. "Great! When?"
"Tonight, we leave in an hour," Lockwood said.
She nodded. "Alright," I'll go get ready," she said, moving to past him; only for Lockwood to hold a hand out to stop her. She glanced at his hand before up at him, confused.
"Lucy seemed worried when she heard that you would obviously be coming with," Lockwood told her, keeping eye contact with Ziggy. "Is there a reason she would be worried?"
Ziggy gave him a small smile. "Not at all," she said. "Lucy's just a worrier but there's no reason too. I'm fine."
Lockwood studied her for a moment, and just a for singular second, Ziggy thought that he had seen right through her; that he knew that her old injury wasn't that old and was still healing. But then Lockwood nodded and stepped aside. "Alright."
She watched him before she nodded as well. "Alright," she said before she left the living room to go get ready.
✎
THE air was cold, causing Ziggy to shiver and pull her red jacket closer. There was still a half hour before the sun set and curfew rose and they were still waiting on Mrs. Hope to arrive. Her hair was thrown up in two short braids curtesy of Lucy; knowing that it wouldn't help her if her hair was in her face, and she wore a simple pair of blue jeans with a white t-shirt under her red jacket.
She sighed as she stared at her shoes, her red converse much more entertaining then staring at an old rickety door. She didn't understand why Mrs. Hope wasn't answering the door, after all, they knew she was inside. Lockwood had seen someone walking around inside.
"Are you from the agency?" A woman asked from the side of them, causing Ziggy to startle as her head shot up and she turned to her left side where the woman's voice came from.
Standing a few feet away from the house was a frail looking woman with grey hair who wore a thick black jacket with a bag on her shoulders.
"Mrs. Hope?" Lockwood asked from behind Ziggy. She felt a warm hand on her lower back as it guided her to the side so that Lockwood could move past her to greet Mrs. Hope, walking down the steps and up to the elder woman. "I'm Anthony Lockwood. These are my colleagues, Lucy Carlyle and Ziggy Adler."
Ziggy walked down the steps, stopping on the last one. "We've come about your problem, care to show inside?" He asked.
Mrs. Hope shook her head. "Oh no, I won't set foot in there," the woman denied. "Not since my husband passed...not since how he passed."
Ziggy felt bad for the woman, to lose her husband, someone she loved, in such an odd manner must be difficult. "Completely understandable," she smiled softly at the woman.
The woman looked at her before back at Lockwood. "The disturbances have been very persistent. I'm going to sell it...but it needs fixing first."
"That is exactly what we do," Lockwood assured her.
"Locate the visitor, contain the source," Lucy spoke up. "A safe space is a satisfied customer."
Mrs. Hope eyed the three. "Shouldn't you have a supervisor?" She asked. "I...I thought an adult had to be present at an investigation."
"Strictly speaking, the law states that an adult's only required if operatives are undergoing training," Lockwood explained. "But we don't find it necessary."
"To be honest, adults are pretty useless," Lucy said, causing Lockwood to turn and give her a pointed look.
"Uh, what she means is that their lack of sensitivity, which makes it harder for them to help and they tend to get in the way," Ziggy spoke up to try and cover for Lucy.
Mrs. Hope watched them before she grabbed her keys, holding them out for Lockwood to take. "One more thing, madam. Is there someone inside the house? It's just, we saw-"
"No," Mrs. Hope interrupted. "I've got the only key."
Ziggy felt her shoulders slump. This wasn't looking right, a type one ghost wouldn't show up as a figure in the house. They definitely should've waited for George to finish his research, she thought.
Mrs. Hope dug into her purse before she handed over a paper for Lockwood. "Here's the form you sent," she said. "Tells you all you need to know. Now I have to go, it's almost curfew."
Mrs. Hope started walking away before she turned back around. "When I was your age, I was out chasing boys, having fun," she said. "It's terrible the world's come to this. I feel sorry for your generation."
And with that, Mrs. Hope walked away; leaving the three teens on her porch in silence.
"Cheerful soul," Lockwood said.
"Real ray of sunshine," Lucy agreed.
"Hey, give her some slack," Ziggy chimed in. "She lived in a different world than we do, she got to experience life without the Problem."
Lockwood looked at her before he nodded. "I know," he said before he turned around, walking over to the door. He entered the key before he hesitated on unlocking the door as he glanced at the two girls. "Ready?"
"Ready," Ziggy and Lucy chimed together, causing Ziggy to glance at Lucy; a wide smile on her face.
Lucy returned the smile before seeing Lockwood enter the house, following after him.
She followed in after Lucy, looking around. It was a lovely house, even if it seemed lonely. She shut the door after her, shivering as it was just as cold inside as it was outside.
"Heating's off," Lockwood said.
"Better be," Lucy huffed. "It's freezin'."
They rounded corner to see a long row of stairs, Ziggy moving to stand slightly behind and in between the two. "Shall we?" She asked, resting her arm on Lucy's shoulder which caused Lockwood to turn and face her, a small grin on his face.
She shot him a smile back before she set her bag on the ground; the other two following her actions before Lucy closed her eyes. Ziggy pulled away from Lucy, moving to go over to the staircase; waiting for Lucy to finish before she went.
"Hear something?" Lockwood asked as he stared straight ahead.
"Yep," Lucy responded. "Knocking. Very faint. Can't tell from where, you?"
Ziggy glanced at Lockwood, realizing that he was staring at the ground just below the stairs, causing the brunette to look down but she didn't see anything.
"Death-glow. So bright, I should've brought my sunglasses," he said.
Ziggy hummed before she placed her hand on the railing, closing her eyes to see if she got anything.
She saw in the darkness the staircase that she was currently touching. It was dark but she could make out the movement of a man before she felt and saw the man fall down the stairs. She gasped as pain radiated all through her body, her neck aching the most. It was the same pain that Mr. Hope felt when he fell down the stairs before he died. She opened her eyes, feeling even colder than before as she removed her hand from the railing.
A chuckle made her look over at Lockwood and Lucy, seeing Lockwood leaning against the wall, wearing a grin while Lucy had her rapier out, pressed up against the other wall.
"It's not funny," Lucy huffed. "I heard him falling, sounded brutal."
"It was," Ziggy said, moving over to Lucy. "I saw and felt it happen. Though I didn't see what caused him to fall."
Lucy looked at her in concern. "Are you alright?"
Ziggy waved her off. "I'm good."
Lockwood glanced at his watch before looking back the girls. "It's not even six. Tea?"
Ziggy sighed before she nodded. "Tea," she agreed.
They made their way into the kitchen, Lockwood taking his coat off and placing it on the table chair before he sat down in it, instantly moving to look over the form while Lucy got busy making tea.
Ziggy opted to stand behind Lockwood's chair, leaning over his shoulder to read the form.
"What does it say?" Lucy asked once the tea was ready, pouring it into two cups.
"They moved here," Lockwood answered. "Everything was fine, no manifestations. Then suddenly, he falls down the stairs and dies."
"She thinks he tripped going to get a glass of water," Ziggy spoke up.
Lucy hummed. "Very credible."
"Sarcastic or ironic?" Ziggy asked as she pulled away from Lockwood to grin at her pseudo sister.
Lucy lifted her bag onto the counter before she shot Ziggy a matching grin. "The clever one."
Ziggy shook her head before she moved to stand next to Lucy. "You think she pushed him?"
Lucy shrugged. "At least that'd be a motive," Lucy said. "Did she describe the apparition?"
"It says she felt like something was looking for her but couldn't find her," Ziggy answered before Lockwood could. He glanced over at her, somewhat surprised to know that she had memorized the information on the form almost easily. She shrugged at him, not quite sure what the look was for.
"And the thought of it finding her was more than she could bear," Lockwood finished.
"So it has a purpose," Lucy concluded.
"Which suggests that it's not a type one but a type two," Ziggy replied. "Which means that we should've waited for George to finish his research."
Lockwood shot her a dirty look as he opened his mouth to retort, only to be cut off by a clock chiming.
Ziggy grinned at him as she glanced at the time. "6:30. Sun down."
"How about we find ourselves a ghost?" He asked, causing Ziggy's grin to widened.
She grabbed her bag before she started to the stairs, though Lucy beat her first thus making Lucy the first person upstairs. Ziggy followed after her with Lockwood right behind Ziggy.
"It knows we're here," Lucy said as soon as she stepped onto the landing.
Ziggy gave her a confused look despite knowing that Lucy couldn't see it. "How do you know that?"
"There was knocking as we went up the steps. Minute I stepped onto the landing it stopped," Lucy explained.
"Temperature's dropping," Lockwood said from behind Ziggy.
Ziggy moved to stand beside Lucy on the landing, making sure there was enough room for Lockwood. "Right, torch off," Lucy told the boy. "I need to tune in."
Lockwood turned the torch off. "Pick a door, any door."
"Last door at the end of the hallway," Ziggy spoke up.
"Why?" Lockwood asked.
"I can feel the energy radiating from the room without touching anything," she told him, glancing over at him.
He shrugged before making his way to the room, opening the door. The hinges of the door creaked as it slowly opened, the trio making their way inside while looking around.
"Office," Ziggy commented, eyeing the walls.
"Yeah but not always," Lockwood stated, causing Ziggy to glance over at him. He had crouched, pushing the rug up as he studied the floor. "Look."
Ziggy walked over to him, crouching down beside him. "Pressure marks," she hummed.
"Deep, wide apart," he said as he stood up, scanning the room. "Perhaps this used to be the bedroom before the Hopes moved in."
Ziggy fixed the rug before she stood up, glancing over at Lucy as she gasped. "What is it, Luce?"
"I can feel it. This is where the source is," Lucy told her, meeting Ziggy's eyes. "Can't...can't you feel it?"
Ziggy frowned. She had felt the energy pooling in this room but it wasn't the same energy she got when she was near a source. It felt different.
Lucy gasped at something only she could hear, her head whipping to the side to look at something while Lockwood walked over to her. "Don't let it get to you," he told her. "Keep active. Go get the bags, make a circle; I'll check the other rooms."
"Filings or chains?" Lucy asked as Lockwood started to walk out of the room.
"Oh, filings," Lockwood said pausing in the doorway.
"You sure? It's still early, it's already this strong," Lucy said.
"It's not that strong, plus..." Lockwood trailed off.
"Plus what?" Ziggy asked, knowing he was hiding something.
"I forgot to bring the chains," Lockwood admitted.
Ziggy's eyebrows shot up. First he demanded that they leave before George finished his research and then he forgot the chains? She wasn't letting him live this down anytime soon. "You forgot to bring the chains?" Ziggy repeated, looking at him. "How do you forget the chains? They're important!"
"George took them out to oil them. I didn't check he'd put them back, so..." He paused. "It's George's fault."
Ziggy scoffed, shaking her head. "No, it's not," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose to keep her annoyance in. "You should've checked instead of rushing."
"It doesn't matter," Lockwood tried to defend. "We don't need them for a job like this, filings will be just fine."
Ziggy opened her eyes to scold him only to see him dart out of the room. She huffed as she shared a look with Lucy. "Idiotic boys," she scoffed, causing Lucy to laugh.
"Truly," Lucy agreed before she followed after him to go grab the bags.
Ziggy sighed as she shook her head, pacing the room before she stopped at the chimney breast. She eyed the room before she placed her hand on the wall. She gasped as she was sucked into darkness almost immediately.
She blinked as she turned around, making sure to keep a hand on the wall for the connection. She didn't see anything nor did she feel or hear anything. Just darkness.
"Hello?" She called.
Nothing.
Ziggy frowned as she spun around again. "Hello?!"
Softly, almost too faint for her to hear, there was a soft cry.
Her frown deepened as she looked for the source of the cry. "I'm here to help," she said. "But I can't do that if you stay hidden."
The cry got louder, not by much but enough that she could hear.
"Let me go," it cried. Ziggy noted that it sounded female but she couldn't see the ghost anywhere. It was all dark.
"Let you go?" She asked. "What do you mean? Who has you?"
There was silence for a moment. And then a deafening cry. "Let go of me!"
Ziggy cried out at the pain the cry caused, stumbling back. Her hand slipped from the wall and the world returned to her.
She gasped as she looked around, trying to gather her bearings; when she heard Lucy cry out for Lockwood.
Ziggy frowned as she ran out into the hall, only to freeze at seeing the ghost in the middle of the hallway and Lucy holding onto a painting; dangling halfway over the stairs. She watched as Lockwood chased it to the other side of the hall, his back to her; giving Ziggy the opening she needed.
She darted around Lockwood, being wary of his rapier before she reached out. "Lucy! Take my hand!" She cried out, making Lucy gasp as the older girl grasped onto her.
She used both of her hands to pull Lucy back onto the landing, moving away from the stairs. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She asked, eyes scanning over her.
Lucy shook her head. "I'm okay, I'm fine."
Ziggy sighed in relief as she held onto Lucy's hand tightly, already starting to feel drained as Lockwood rushed over to them. "Did it touch you?" He asked, eyes scanning Lucy.
"Course not, I'd be dead," Lucy replied.
He glanced in between the two girls. "If either of you don't feel steady then we should just go home now," he said.
"No, we're fine," Lucy assured him. "It's just..."
"Just what?" Ziggy asked, looking at Lucy.
"When I connected with her, it was different," Lucy stated.
Ziggy frowned. It was different for her as well. "Different how?"
"I saw how she used to be. More than that, it was like I...I could feel what she was feeling," Lucy explained.
"She's a ghost, ghosts don't have feelings," Lockwood dismissed.
Ziggy narrowed her eyes as she cleared her throat. "Don't tell me that you seriously believe that?" She scoffed, crossing her arms as Lockwood looked at her. "Ghosts definitely have feelings; I should know. I feel them every time I do my job and connect to them."
Lockwood hesitated before he nodded. "You're right, that was stated badly," he said. "Now, as much as I would love to continue this discussion, we do still have a very angry ghost that's going to be back any second so if your head's not in the right place..."
"Show me where she went," Ziggy interrupted as she kept her eyes locked on Lockwood, giving him no discussion for arguing.
Lockwood hesitated, watching her as if he wanted to say something else before he sighed and he turned and pointed at where the ghost had went. "She faded before she reached the wall, but that's where she was headed."
"Chimney breast," Lucy said. "Probably where the body is."
Ziggy sighed before she went into the office room, hearing footsteps behind her. She threw a quick glance over her shoulder to confirm that it was Lockwood and Lucy before she entered the room. "When I tried to connect with her, it didn't work like it normally did," Ziggy explained as she helped Lucy get a circle of filings set up.
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, glancing at her.
"I was surround by darkness and normally I can tell how they died or I can locate the source when I am but I couldn't. I couldn't even see the ghost. I could only hear her."
Lucy frowned. "That's odd."
Lockwood set their bags within the circle once it was completed before he grabbed a crowbar. "We can talk about this later, right now we need to get to the body."
"Right," Ziggy hummed as she grabbed her own crowbar as well before she walked over to the chimney breast was, Lockwood already swinging away at the wall.
The two of them started chipping the wall away as quick as possible while Lucy covered them to make sure that the ghost wouldn't be back.
"This wall's been replastered," Lockwood commented as he took a step back.
"Careful!" Lucy hissed, gently pushing Lockwood forward. "You broke the circle."
"Oops," Lockwood said sheepishly, causing Ziggy to roll her eyes as she squatted down to quickly fix it.
"Dumbass," she muttered under her breath. Lucy crouched down next to her to help, snickering quickly at hearing Ziggy which made Ziggy shoot Lucy a small grin.
Lucy smiled before she froze, twisting around to look at the door. "She's back," Lucy said right before all the doors slammed shut; Ziggy jumped at the loudness of it while Lockwood didn't seem fazed.
"Boring!" He called out. "You've done that already. Try something new, why don't you?"
Ziggy glared at Lockwood as she stood up. "Don't taunt her, Lockwood! She's already angry enough!"
Lockwood shot Ziggy a grin. "Nearly there."
"Hurry up," Lucy stated, the urgency in her voice made Ziggy glance at her; pausing when she saw the ghost in the corner.
"You weren't kidding when you said that she was back," Ziggy told her, watching the ghost.
"Here it comes," Lockwood informed them, the wall giving way to his force. Which caused Lockwood to become unbalanced; taking Ziggy and Lucy down with him as he felt to the ground, effectively wiping out their circle.
"My sword!" Lucy cried, looking around the room for where it could've landed.
Ziggy gasped in pain at being knocked down, her right side burning. She didn't move for a moment, trying to force air back into her lungs.
The ghost towered over Lockwood, who remained unmoving as he stared up at it. "Lockwood!" Lucy shouted. "Lockwood!"
Ziggy moved to sit up, pulling her rapier out of its sheath to get the ghost away from Lockwood when there was a bright flash and the ghost screamed.
Ziggy jumped to her feet, ignoring how the burning in her side increased; she would check it out at home. She couldn't afford to be distracted by it.
She gasped when she saw the books light on fire, knowing that she couldn't stop the fire while keeping her and the others safe from the ghost.
She moved to help Lockwood stand up, the taller boy eyeing the fire. "This is not good," he commented.
Ziggy rolled her eyes. "No shit, Sherlock."
"That's her," Lucy's voice grabbed Ziggy's attention, making the younger girl turn her eyes onto Lucy who was staring at the hole in the wall.
"The body must be the source then," Ziggy said.
"We'll hold her back, you get a silver net over it," Lockwood told Lucy.
Ziggy adjusted her grip on her rapier before she turned around, putting her trust into Lucy as she scanned the room for the ghost. "Let's do this," she commented.
She tightened her grip on her rapier as she heard the ghost screech, lunging forward to strike it when it came flying at her.
Lockwood and her took turns taking hits at it, but all it seemed to do was make the ghost worst. Ziggy felt herself panic when the ghost moved behind Lucy, clearly planning to attack the older girl. "Lucy! Behind you," she warned.
Lucy glanced behind her before she ducked down to grab a silver net, throwing it hastily onto the body. The ghost screeched before it disappeared.
Ziggy coughed as smoke started to fill the room, the fire only growing bigger. She felt a warm hand grab her, making her look to her left. Lockwood had grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers as he pulled her over to the window. "Lucy!" She called out, stumbling behind him as she looked over her shoulder.
Lucy glanced over at her before the older girl ran over to them; following the two out onto the balcony. Lucy climbed onto the railing while Lockwood helped Ziggy onto the railing first; the brunette clinging to the column before he climbed up next to her. "Did I mention that I hate height?" Ziggy huffed as she felt panic overtake her body at being so high up.
"We have to jump!" Lockwood told her.
"What?!" Ziggy all but shrieked, glancing at Lockwood with terror. "We're way to high, we'll break our legs!"
Lockwood met her gaze. "It'll be okay, we have to jump. There's no other options," he informed her.
Ziggy looked behind her at the ever growing fire before she huffed. "Alright."
Lockwood nodded. "One, two, three!"
On three, the trio jumped from the balcony. Ziggy felt her body hit the ground with such force that it set her side ablaze with pain, making her cry out from it. However the pain didn't last long as she found the world fading to black.