"I don't see what your problem is. She gave you her permission to not go and she was really nice to you." Lockwood stated as they climbed out of their taxi and walked over to their client's house.
"She treated me like I was inferior to you guys or something. She called you guys by your last names but she didn't think of me as Miss Carlyle. She thought of me as a child, she treated me like a child and I don't much appreciate that."
"You are the youngest of us, we are all children technically." George pointed out. To which Lucy rolled her eyes.
"I know you're upset with our client Lucy but get it all out. You know negative emotions aren't good on jobs. Think happy stuff or something." Lucy sighed, once again he was right. He and George always seemed to be right.
Lucy closed her eyes and thought of happier times. She reminded herself of the pure joy she experienced hearing Lockwood's voice for the first time in months. The joy of eating George's delicious meals for the first time in months, and how comfortable her bed felt.
"Okay, there. I'm ready to go in."
"Good, it's not very dark yet so we should get our temperature measurements and what not done quick." Lockwood led the group into the house. They set up a safe spot in the living room and took their measurements.
As with Miss Fisher's story, the pantry was the coldest and was where the Visitor would likely appear. It was a small room, Lucy worried she'd end up breaking something like she had a tendency to do. Lucky for them Miss Fisher had just moved in and the house was relatively empty.
They took stock of their iron fillings, salt bombs, then sat and waited. Lucy doodled while Lockwood went over his notes on the case aloud.
"The last resident here died suddenly and of unnaturally causes within three weeks of living here and Miss Fisher has only lived here two days and already can describe creeping fear, malaise, and miasma. She even said she feels a chill all throughout the house once it gets darker. Especially in the party and the rooms around it, including the room above."
"Must be Type Two right?" Lucy asked.
"Probably," George checked his thermometer. "Temperature dropped 15° degrees in the last half hour."
"It'll be here any minute." Lockwood grabbed out his rapier and moved over to the pantry, they had a set of iron chains across the doorway in case they needed an escape from the tiny pantry.
"Remember the plan, Lucy? You find the Source while we fight the Visitor. I have a feeling it's in a wall or something so you might wanna grab a hammer." Lucy grabbed a crowbar instead, the house was pretty poorly made, she figured she could do some damage with it.
She also grabbed a silver net and tucked it into the pocket of her new jacket. Lockwood had bought it for her since her old one had gotten ruined. She loved it, it was kind of like a less dramatic version of Lockwood's coat.
Moving through the darkness they all gathered around the pantry door. Ghost fog began billowing down the right wall, hitting the floor it rippled out like splashes of water. Then the voice began, soft but deep, close yet far, and nothing less than disgusting.
Lockwood and George, of course, couldn't hear it but they could sense it's presence. Lucy was less fortunate, she could hear it, currently, it was only moaning in self-pity as most Visitors did.
"Is that a leg?" George asked pointing to the ceiling. Sure enough, the Visitor was sinking through the ceiling and wall.
"Huh. How odd, seems the source is in the ceiling. That is one slow Visitor, think it knows we're here?" Lockwood asked.
"How will I get it?"
"Me and George-" Lockwood started.
"George and I." George corrected.
"Grammer Nazi!" Lucy accused. Lockwood huffed.
"So much for working well together. George and I will distract it down here you run to the room above and try the floor, hopefully, you'll be able to find the right spot quickly." Lockwood lifted his rapier and stepped into the pantry, George following.
Lucy waited until the Visitor was being well distracted then grabbed an iron chain, candles, and matches. She sprinted up the stairs wheezing with effort, she felt so out of shape, her equipment felt too heavy.
She found the room above the pantry, it was a small office room mostly empty with the exception of an old desk left by the previous resident. Lucy set up a small chain circle near the door and set her candles inside lighting them. Then she kneeled onto the ground, she knocked on the floor listening for hollow areas where a Source could be hidden.
She found a hollow area, grabbed her crowbar and began hitting the floor with as much force as she could muster. It cracked, she fit the crowbar into the crack and pulled back, with a satisfying pop it ripped off and Lucy fell back. Using a candle she could now see the glint of a glass jar in the far corner under the floor, she couldn't reach it. Wedging the crowbar under the board she prepared to pull back.
"Lucy. . ." That disgusting voice. Lucy breathed in deeply she could feel the coldness of the Visitor against her back, her candles blew out, and now she couldn't tell where her safety was.
The Source was right there, she could almost touch it but that voice. That disgusting, familiar voice. Lucy found herself dropping the crowbar and turning around.
"Lucy. . ." It moaned. Swallowing hard Lucy realized why she hated that voice so much, her eyes pooled with tears she was shaking violently but her fear only fueled it, the face grew clearer with each quickened heartbeat. Off in the distance, she could hear Lockwood calling for her but a burst of energy from the Changer slammed the door tight, slamming Lucy into the desk in the process.
Changers were possibly the most dangerous Type Two Vistors, though not usually being aggressive, Changers had the ability to change its appearance into anyone the onlooker knows. This trick plays on the victim's emotions in many ways, for Lucy it tugged on her fear. It took the form of the only person that gave her nightmares.
Fergus. This time it wasn't just in her head, her breathing became rapid as her chest tightened. Hitting the desk had cut her forehead the blood began dripping into her eye as she became disoriented.
"Lucy. . ." It drifted closer, she could hear two sets of fists banging against the door, two bodies slamming against it but they sounded a whole world away.
"Lu. .cy. . ." He taunted hovering closer.
"No..." Lucy muttered weakly. "No...no..no..No. No. No. No! No!" Her voice rose with each word until she was screaming, she couldn't control it. George and Lockwood called her name but she couldn't hear it. She got up and ran to the only window in the room.
"You can't hurt me anymore." She sobbed as wood splintered. She threw open the window and began to lean out, the cool breeze was soft, Lucy wants to jump into it and float along like a dead leaf.
There was an explosion behind her, pushing her out further. The Changer fizzled and hissed as it faded away. Lockwood rushed to Lucy, grabbed her and flung her away from the window.
"George the Source quick!" Lockwood grabbed the silver net out of Lucy's pocket and chucked it to George, with his bare hands George was able to break away the last of the broken board and throw the net over the glass jar.
"Lucy. Can you hear me? What were you thinking!" Lockwood shouted not in anger but in concern. Lucy collapsed onto the floor the moment Lockwood let go of her. George splashed water onto her cleaning off the blood from her face and to get her to snap out of the terrible ghost lock she was suffering.
Lockwood picked her up and rushed her out of the house, George grabbed the Source and followed. Once outside Lockwood laid Lucy onto the grass on the front yard.
"George call an ambulance quick she won't respond!" Dazed Lucy sat up and turned her head away from them.
"Don't be stupid. I'm fine." Lucy got up and stood on shaking legs. "Case solved, call a cab and let's get that Source disposed of." Lucy tried to act glad but as she stood with her back against Lockwood she continued crying, as quietly as possible.
"Luce. You can't just," Lockwood reached out to her, sensing it she took a step forward. Lockwood bit his tongue and looked to George who was busying himself with the Source.
"Someone knew Edgar Allan Poe." He started trying to avoid what needed to be said. "The Tell-Tale Heart if I'm not mistaken. The one where the guy hides a heart or whatever in the floorboards, same thing here."
"Disgusting George, that you know that story." Lucy whipped away all traces of her tears and turned to face her coworkers.
"It smells disgusting, can we please get this to the Furnaces as fast as possible," Lockwood complained. They got a cab and burned the heart and then went home, all this was done in silence. Once home George made small sandwiches for everyone and they all sat at the table.
"Lucy. Please don't make this any harder for me to do than it already is." Lucy swallowed dry bland bread, she knew this could only go horribly.
"You are henceforth banned to take on any cases. And will not be allowed to discuss ongoing cases with George and I. This will only be temporary, just until you are better. Believe me, I don't want to do this but I have to for your own safety. Do you understand?"
Lucy took a deep breath, nodded, and without a word went to bed. Leaving her half-eaten sandwich looking desolate on her plate.