ATTACHMENT | ANTHONY LOCKWOOD

SEVENTEEN

LEIGHTON
combe carey hall

After Lockwood's announcement that he had stashed a bomb flare at Combe Cary Hall yesterday, we all felt a little more prepared to venture into the dark hallways.

Lockwood had stayed rather close to me, I could tell that he was anxious, given we were in a Hall with a range of ghouls waiting to attach onto me. I could feel them, hear them. But something was off.

"Feel anything?" Lockwood questioned, reaching out slightly, causing his hand to brush against mine.

"Something doesn't feel right. Fairfax said this was the screaming staircase but-" I stopped dead in my tracks, giving myself another minute on the stairs, just incase I missed something. "it's certainly not screaming."

"Maybe it's taken the night off." George muttered.

I shook my head, ignoring his comment and continued to walk up the stairs, waiting for someone to reach out to me. Show me where they all were so that we could solve the problem and get out of here with the debts paid off.

"Like we should've done." Lucy agreed.

I lead the others through to what would have been the ballroom. And that's when I heard it. The screams. All their voices swarming me all at once.

My hands quickly covered my ears, trying to block out some of their piercing cries. I screwed my eyes shut and let go of a few deep shaky breaths.

"Luce, help me with the chain. Put it around Leighton, now." I faintly heard Lockwood order. "George, secure our retreat."

The second the iron chain was around me, the screaming stopped and I felt a moment of relief. Lockwood's hand rested on the small of my back, his other hand cupping my cheek.

"Your ears." He whispered. "They're bleeding."

I reached up to touch my ears and sure enough when I pulled away, there was blood on my finger tips. I tried to muster up a smile, but the concern was written all over his face.

"I'll be fine." I whispered softly, placing my hand over his. I lightly kissed his palm, both of us just stared at one another for a moment before returning back to reality.

"There's no sign of any sources yet, strange." Lockwood muttered. "George, didn't you say you suspect there's hidden rooms?"

"From the plans, it's highly likely." George nodded in agreement.

"We'll look for evidence. You stay here, watch our backs and make sure Leigh is okay." Lockwood's eyes flickered between George and myself.

I offered George a small smile once he saw the blood trickling down my jaw. He opened his mouth to ask, but I quickly shook my head. Right now we both needed to be focused on making sure that Lockwood and Lucy were safe.

"Judging by the number of death glows a lot of people died here." Lockwood announced, looking over at me for confirmation.

"Do you think it's in here? The source of the primary haunting?" George questioned me.

"No." I whispered back. "Definitely not."

My eyes flickered over to Lucy when she thought that she had found something. She hissed at Lockwood to stop tapping, which he responded to by saying he wasn't tapping.

"Get back to the circle." I ordered, making them both rush over.

I furrowed my brows at the dripping. The three brought out their rapiers as they looked around the room, hoping to find some sort of answers.

"Blood." Lucy looked up, her voice cracking as she spoke.

"It can't be. It's plasm." George shook his head.

I reached up to touch my ears again, they weren't bleeding anymore. But surly the blood couldn't be a coincidence.

Lockwood wrapped his hand around my wrist, pulling me directly behind him. I have his bicep a light squeeze to assure him that I was okay.

"Looks like blood, it smells like blood." Lucy spoke through gritted teeth.

"It'll ghost touch you, so don't let it near."

Just as George spoke, the blood dripped down in front of us, inside the chain. I quickly grabbed Lucy and pulled her closer to me, so that she wasn't as close to the dripping.

"How'd it do that?" I questioned.

"We've made the circle too big. There's a weak spot in the middle." Lockwood whispered, turning to face me with panic filled eyes. "Let's get out of here, leave the kit. Head for the door."

Lockwood's hand linked with mine as we took off running towards the door. But just as we were about to get there, it slammed in our faces. My heart was racing as I was trying to figure out how to get out of this alive.

"I thought you secured it." I hissed to George.

"I did! This isn't possible." George snapped back as Lucy ran to check the door.

"It's locked. We're trapped."

I screwed my eyes shut once I heard the screaming again. My breathing quickened as I clutched at my chest. Everything felt heavy. The room was spinning and I wasn't even sure what was happening.

I gripped onto Lockwood as he and George ensured that Lucy was protected whilst she searched for the door.

And before I could even comprehend what was happening, Lockwood lifted me up and ran out of the room. He landed on the floor with a thud, me landing on top of him.

Lockwood's large hands cupped my face, forcing me to look at him. His eyes flickered over my body, checking that I was okay. But hearing screams like that-

-it shellshocks you.

"Leigh." He whispered, resting his forehead against mine. "Please."

"I'm okay." I whispered, closing my eyes and enjoying the safety that he brought me. "I'm okay."

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