└➤ trapped。✑ ───┐
HER SKIN PRICKLED AS NERVES RAN THROUGH ZIGGY'S BODY. She was worried that this would go all wrong; after all, she had terrible luck. She was currently slumped in a chair that was in the middle of the living room where the coffee table normally was, except George and Lockwood had pushed it out of the way.
She looked up as she heard footsteps approaching, seeing Lockwood walk up to her. It was odd to see the boy in anything other than a suit so when she had realized that he was in only sweats and a t-shirt, it felt like something she was supposed to see.
He had at some point slipped on a grey hoodie that made Ziggy make a note of, she had one all too similar to his and she didn't want to accidentally end up with his.
He stopped in front of her, holding out Annabel's ring as he stared down at her. "If she takes any liberties, we're right here, okay?" He assured her.
She gave him a small smile before she nodded. "Okay," she said, holding her hand out for the ring.
Lockwood watched her for a brief moment. "Be careful," he said before he placed the ring in the palm of her hand.
As soon as the cold metal of the ring touched her palm, Ziggy was plunged into the darkness. The rapidness of the darkness startled her as she gripped onto the ring. No longer could she feel the chair or the warm air of Portland, and it made her hesitate. "Lockwood?" She called out weakly.
"We're right here," Lockwood spoke up. It made her body relax with relief. He was still there even if she couldn't see him. Which was surprising to her, the fact that she chose to call out to him rather than Lucy. She knew that Lucy would be there for her no matter what, even if there was some distance between them since the mill incident.
She shook her head, she shouldn't get lost in her thoughts. She was in the darkness for a reason. She took a deep breath in before she focused. "Annabel?" She called, hearing a cry seconds later. "Annabel, it's okay. It's safe."
She jumped when she heard orchestra music playing behind her, turning around. She couldn't see the room or where she was at, she could just see Annabel with a man. She couldn't make out any features, his face was blurred as if Annabel didn't want to remember what he looked like.
"There's music playing," Ziggy said softly, remembering that Lucy and the others were waiting for answers. She watched as Annabel laughed at hearing the music. "Annabel loves it."
"Dance with me," Annabel said.
"I'm not in the mood," the man replied.
"It's our song, come on," Annabel told him.
Ziggy smiled, it was a lovely scene as the two started dancing. "It's their song."
"Who's they?" George asked, his voice cutting through the darkness and bringing bits and pieces of the world back to Ziggy. She shut her eyes to try and keep the connection between her and Annabel open. "Annabel and..."
Whatever George was going to say was stopped by Lockwood shushing him, causing Ziggy to smile slightly.
The darkness returned quickly after, removing the bits and pieces of the real world as Ziggy watched Annabel dance. The man stopped to watch her. "She's dancing," she told them. "And he's watching her."
"Are you honest?"
"My lord,"
Ziggy stood up, stepping forward into the darkness. The vision of the two were getting cloudier but their voices rang through clearly. Almost as if Annabel didn't want to see what happened. "He wants her, but it's just..."
"What is it?" She heard Lockwood whisper, his voice cutting through clearly. But unlike George, it didn't mess with the darkness or the connection. It sounded like he was right in front of her, but it couldn't be possible unless he had moved.
Suddenly the energy changed. What was once loving and happy and gentle, was now violent and angry and cruel. Similar to the feeling of her nightmare.
She gasped as the world returned to her, tightening her grip on the ring. Yet, despite seeing Lockwood in front of her, she could still hear them.
"He's angry," she said softly, feeling the man's anger as if he was talking to her instead of Annabel.
"Jealous," she commented, as she heard him tell Annabel that she was lying. Her heart started pounding as fear ran through her veins. "She's afraid. Again."
Annabel and the man's voice overlapped one another as different memories played out. Ziggy blinked and suddenly she was no longer in her body but in Annabel's, the man, no her lover was standing in front of her.
She smiled at him, leaning up to cup his cheek. "It's all right," she told him, feeling a hand on her wrist. The person changed to someone she didn't recognize, but she knew they were worried for her. "He loves me."
And then before she could blink, it was her lover again. "You love me, don't you?" She asked, staring pleadingly at him. She didn't want him to be upset anymore. "You gave me the ring."
Blink and another person she didn't recognize stood infront of her. "He'd never hurt me, he'd never..." she mumbled.
"Look at me," she pleaded, seeing her lover again, moving to cup his face again. "Look at me, look."
He grabbed onto her, holding her tight. "No, stop!" She cried, trying to fight him off. His grip on her tightened, too tight that the pressure was unbearable. "Stop, please!"
"Ow! You're hurting me," she told him but he didn't stop. "Don't. No don't, look at me! Look at me."
He let go of her arms, moving to grab her neck and she felt her heart race as he begun to squeeze. "Stop, please!" She begged. "Let me go!"
She pushed against him, trying to get him off when he applied more force, effectively cutting her air supply off. She tried to gasp for air but only proceeded to choke as her hands flew up to claw at his hands. "I can't..." she tried to tell him. "Let me breathe!"
It was no use, he wasn't stopping and she felt her limbs grow heavy from the lack of air. She tried to speak, to beg him to let go when the world violently returned to her.
She gasped for air that she desperately needed, feeling warm arms wrapped around her and she clung to them, tears pricking at her eyes as her body shook from how cold she felt.
Topaz eyes scanned the room and not for the first time that day, she found herself in the arms of Lockwood. His chocolate eyes were staring at her, wide with concern, and she realized that they were on the couch.
She wasn't sure how they got to the couch, last she knew she was in the chair. She glanced up at him, not bothering with trying to stop the tears that escaped. Everything that had happened felt so real, even though she knew now that it wasn't her. It we was Annabel who had gone through that, it was still awful.
She took a deep breath in, choking back a sob as the memories of Annabel kept passing through her mind. The line between Ziggy Adler and Annabel Ward was blurring as Ziggy struggled to remember what was her own memories and what were Annabel's.
"He choked me..." Ziggy spoke up, her voice so quiet that she was sure it would've been missed if anyone had been talking. "No..." she paused, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Not me. Annabel. He choked Annabel."
A leather bound book was pressed into her hands, causing topaz eyes to look up. Lucy stood before her with teary eyes of her own as she gave the younger girl the sketchbook. "Here, to ground yourself," Lucy said as she moved to sit front of Ziggy on the floor.
Ziggy took a deep breath in before she opened the sketchbook, taking the pen from Lucy as she moved to a fresh page. She started to draw all the flashing images that passed through her mind, the memories of Annabel.
As she drew, she started remembering what was hers and what wasn't. She paused in the middle of drawing Annabel, glancing at Lockwood who was still staring at her before moving to look at Lucy who was also watching her. "He choked her to death," Ziggy spoke softly again, her hand moving as she colored the page with black ink. "She thought he loved her but he was a cruel man who hurt her and found pleasure in it. And in the end, her love for him brought her demise."
Lucy frowned. "I'm sorry," she said, making Ziggy pause to peer at the girl. "I shouldn't have convinced you to do the connection, I should've done it."
Ziggy sighed as she set the pen down to flick Lucy's forehead. "Don't apologize, I wanted to do it. I just wasn't expecting her to be so open with the connection."
"Ghosts love you," Lucy sighed. "They always have. It's kinda concerning."
Ziggy chuckled. "They love you just as much," she said. "What a pair we make."
"Does that always happen?" Lockwood asked from beside Ziggy, causing her to give him a confused look. "You getting stuck in their memories and experiencing it first hand?"
"No," she said, turning to meet his gaze. "But I'm normally not doing a psychic connection with them. I normally just try to see how they died to figure out their source. I've only ever done this once and it...well it ended up better than this one."
Lockwood watched her for a moment before he looked away, moving to stand up. "I'm going to go make some tea, I feel like we need it," he said before he sauntered away.
Ziggy looked down at Lucy, seeing the older girl still staring at her. "What?" She asked.
"It was scary," Lucy admitted. "Watching that all happen. We couldn't talk to you. I mean we could but it was like you couldn't hear us. The only person you ever responded to was Lockwood, it was like you could only hear him. It was terrifying, especially when you started saying you were being hurt, you sounded so afraid and in pain."
Ziggy frowned, setting the sketchbook aside to move down on the floor next to Lucy; pulling the girl into a hug. "I'm okay, we're okay," she told her, resting her forehead against Lucy's. "It was real for Annabel but it wasn't real for me. I'm sorry for scaring you."
Lucy clung to the younger girl. "Good, I need you here," she said.
Ziggy smiled. "Perfect, I don't plan on being anywhere else."