The True Story of Emily Lockwood / g. karim

𝟚𝟘. 𝕊𝕙𝕠𝕡𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕘

~ / Episode Six- Part Two \ ~

"can i call you tonight?"

❀

--Her hopes for caring for her mental health were slashed, and she groaned when her brother gathered them all up again. She'd only been upstairs for two minutes, chatting with Lucy, before Anthony called them both down. 

"You've got to come see this!" 

The girls shot one another an amused glance, before treading down the staircase and heading into George's room. Emily had been in George's room before, loads of time, and every time it was full of research, open books, and piles of relics he'd been study. 

Today was worse.  

There were papers taped to nearly every surface, assorted pictures and obviously bits of research. Emily looked around, eyes wide. 

"Been busy, have we?" She asked, glancing at the boy. He shrugged, before explaining the academic mess. 

"These are ancient depictions of spirits being tied to their sources," his voice reached their ears as they perused the space. "Bickerstaff must have come across these illustrations and tested that theory. That's why his basement was such a horror show." 

Ah, Bickerstaff's basement. Lucy had filled them in on the way home: a weird medical laboratory, vengeful spirits, and shady experiments. Best recipe for disaster if you asked Emily. 

"He was murdering his own patients to make sources?" Anthony asked, looking at George. 

"No, that would be too hit-and-miss. If you kill someone, their body isn't necessarily gonna become a source. Unless... you make sure of it." Emily gulped. 

"So he was taking parts of them whilst they were still alive." Lucy said quietly, face blank. George nodded sadly. 

"Inflicting so much trauma that their ghosts were forever tied to their bones." 

"But why?" Emily asked, furrowing her brows. "Perhaps he was trying to figure out some way to cheat death? Too bad he didn't realize that's not how it works." It was eerily quiet.

"He must've had a reason, look at this," George said, snatching up a lone piece of paper. Emily leaned over his shoulder to have a look. "Seven ghosts." 

"Oh, it's like Carver said," Lucy breathed. 

"This, my friends," George said humorlessly "is a recipe for a bone glass. Think the skull would know what languages these are in?" He turned to Lucy expectantly. They all did. 

"Uh, we're not really on talking terms right now." The girl informed awkwardly. Emily and Anthony shared a look of mild concern. 

"Joplin would know!" Emily grit her teeth. Her boy's voice was much too cheerful when he talked about her. She was a grown woman, and it seemed an awful lot like George had a wee crush on her. 

"We can't let her in on this," Anthony argued. 

"No, we can trust her."