See No Evil (Anthony Lockwood)

chapter 29

Lucy ran up the stairs, "George? Lockwood? Where are you?"

"Uh...in here," George answered almost hesitantly.

Lucy ran into the room where she heard them and quickly found herself halting behind the boys with wide eyes at the sight. Elizabeth stood there with a gun in hand, pointed right at them, a grin on her red lips.

"Shut the door, Lucy," Elizabeth said in that sweet condescending tone of hers.

Lucy slowly closed the door behind her, "What's going on?"

Elizabeth tilted her head, "I'm so glad you asked. I would be delighted to tell you...as soon as you all drop your swords."

"Where's Violet?" Lockwood asked Lucy over his shoulder.

"She went outside. She thinks the source is in the lake," Lucy said quietly.

"So there was something here. Just not in the house. Ok."

George had his hands held up, "Lockwood, what do we do?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "What you do is listen and drop your damn swords to the side. Don't worry about Violet Summers. She's in good hands now."

Lockwood's expression dropped to one of horror, "What do you mean by that? You mean she's with William Murphy?"

Elizabeth giggled, "Well, that's one way to put it. But I suppose since you won't be making it out, I can tell you. His name isn't William Murphy. That beautiful, gorgeous man out there is James Preston. And I'm Nora Raynott. This is actually my house."

Lockwood felt like his heart had fallen to his stomach, making it turn, "James Preston..."

"Do you know who that is, Lockwood?" Lucy asked him fearfully, hoping she would get some answers.

"Not me...Violet. What is he going to do to her?" Lockwood asked, his grip tightening on his rapier.

"He's going to put her back where she belongs. And then he can finally be with me," Elizabeth smiled fondly.

Lockwood didn't care about the gun trained on him anymore. In a split second, he had reached back and flung open the door, pushing his friends out the door and following behind them.

Elizabeth fired a shot from her gun and it hit the wall. She had never shot a gun in her life before. That much was obvious.

"Who the hell is James Preston?!" George asked as they ran away from the crazy woman.

"Violet first! Explain later!" Lockwood continued to push them forward.

"No, explain now! What is he gonna do to her? What did Elizabeth, Nora -whoever- mean by 'where she belongs'?"

"He's going to kill her in the lake. Now run faster."

~

Violet groaned as she began to wake up. Her head ached terribly and she could feel something cold around her ankle.

William, now known to be James Preston, knelt down and brushed her hair out of her face, hushing her softly, "Shh...it's ok. It's all gonna be ok now, Violet. We're gonna make this right."

"What the hell are you talking about? What are you doing, William?" Violet asked in slurred speech.

"Shut up. Shut up. That's not my name. I can't stand it anymore. It's me, darling. James. You remember me, right?" he was frantic now, wanting her to remember.

Violet felt her heart begin to pound as she panicked and struggled to get away, "You! Get away from me! Lockwood!"

James grabbed her face harshly with one hand, "Don't say his name! He's not your friend! He's just a pathetic liar and he means nothing!"