See No Evil (Anthony Lockwood)

chapter 48

The large group gathered in the kitchen on opposite sides. Lockwood & Co on one and Davies on the other.

Violet could feel Charles' glare pierce into her back every once in a while as he whispered harshly in his group. She could only roll her eyes in response as she assumed he was insulting her in some way. Unspurprising that, in her presence, she was the only subject that could leave his filthy mouth. Like brother, like brother.

Violet could feel her tremor worsening as the time passed and night drew closer. Her senses overwhelmed her body, feeling like hands dragging her deeper and deeper into the insanity of the Other Side. But she kept her chin up and her face even. She had to remain strong, as she always did.

"How are we even supposed to properly search this place with them in our way?" George whispered, eyeing the other group.

"We just go around them. It's fine. Vi, how good are their talents? What's their specialties?" Lockwood asked.

Violet crossed her arms, "Charles is pretty shit at everything, but I guess his sight is average. Angela has really good sight and her touch is nothing to scoff at. Tim's a great listener. None of them are as honed as we are, but that doesn't mean they're terrible either. Best not to underestimate those two, at least."

Lucy nodded, "So, we've got the upper hand then. We just have to move faster."

Suddenly, Timothy wandered over, "Um, Violet?"

Violet turned to him, "Yeah. What is it?"

She always did have a soft spot for the boy. He was shy and awkward. People often underestimated him. It's true that he wasn't the best with his physical skills like swordfighting or anything, but he more than made up for that with his intelligence. He had been the only one to sympathize with her after everything that had happened. He would always tell her that he was sorry for what she had to go through. In turn, Violet was patient with him. She helped him train.

"You know, I was just thinking, there might be more than one source here, right? Every death here has been quite violent and distressing. So, it might be something worth considering, right?" he said unsurely.

"Timothy!" Charles snapped at the boy.

Violet sighed and put her hands on her hips, "Alright, how about we just drop this whole competition thing, yeah? We can work together and split the profit 50/50. I don't really care who gets the credit in the end. But, Timothy is right. This is a multiple spirit case. We could use the members.

"Vi?" Lockwood hissed at her, grabbing her arm gently, "What are you doing?"

Violet turned to him sternly, "I don't want a repeat of what happened with Kipps. I don't want bets or competitions. That's not what I do this job for. It makes us reckless and it gets people hurt. Ok? Please, Ani...please."

I don't want to die again.

Lockwood watched as her face dropped into a tired and pleading expression and immediately gave in, "Ok. We'll work through it."

George shrugged, "Whatever. As long as we get paid."

Lucy sighed, "Fine, but if that asshole keeps running his mouth, i'm going to hit him whether we're working together or not. He has no right to act this way towards you."

"Thank you," Violet whispered before turning back to the other group, "What do you say?"

Charles opened his mouth to disagree, but Angela stepped in before he could, "Fine by me. I'd rather not have any casualties because we're all more focused on the competition than the job. So let's just get this over with."