Our Fatal Flaws

Chapter 5: Our Unwanted Guests

Lucy POV:

I had thought that the two 'helpers' would have simply met us there. But no. They just had to come on the train with us, instead of letting us spend our last hours without them in peace. I had been waiting at the station whilst George secured two cups of tea from the nearest cafe to take away with us when I heard the familiar footstep rhythm. Without turning around to greet them I snorted "Why are you coming with us, we can get there ourselves without causing or being part of a freak accident you know". I then turned around to see the familiar ginger with an undeterred look on his face. " Nice to see you too Lydia". I glimpsed at the girl by his side. She caught me looking and simply nodded in recognition. She had a similar air of mystery around her that Lockwood did and it was intriguing me. I wanted to talk to her, but I didn't want Kipps to think I actually appreciated their company.

"Oh come on!" I heard George say beside me. "It's like you're everywhere nowadays. Do you need to ruin my day with your face?"  Kipps looked taken aback at this and George and him immediately broke out into an argument. I took this as an opportunity. I approached the black-haired girl.

"Hi, Ivy right?" My sudden presence must have startled her because she jumped back slightly at the sound of my proximity. "Uh- yeah, and you're Lucy". Her voice was slightly more cheery than I had expected it to be and I immediately relaxed, and let down my guard. I looked her up and down and realised there was something I wanted to know. "If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?". She responded quickly "Eight".

 My eyes widened. We were taking an eight-year-old with us. I had known she was young, but I thought that she just had one of those faces. No matter how skilled you are, age matters and this girl was undeniably young, which could make her more of a liability. I thought back to what Quill had told us about the Oxford Street case. No way. Not a literal infant. She shifted uncomfortably at my sudden silence " I know I'm not as old as you, but I can fight well, I promise" Kipps had now fallen silent and appeared behind me to put a hand on my shoulder. "I wouldn't be taking her if I thought she couldn't handle it" he reassured me, but I was still sceptical.

The train pulled in at that moment. George ushered us all on the train fast, in an attempt to leave Kipps behind. Of course, it didn't work, and soon we were all seated in a carriage, me and Ivy on one side, and Kipps and George on the other. "Why do I have to sit next to him" George complained. "Because I called dibs". George shut up quick. NEVER, disobey the dibs rule. "You'd think I was some kind of infectious disease, the way you guys treat me" Kipps was whining now too. I just stared out the window and admired the view.

At some point, I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to a light tap on my shoulder. " come on we have to get off now". Ivy's face gradually appeared in front of me, my eyelids fluttering open. I shot up and began smoothing my hair down, my cheeks tinging red out of embarrassment. "Don't worry, I don't think anyone saw you drooling" she added. My face burned and I hid it in my hands.

I hopped off the train and began walking towards the boys. George grinned at me, "Nice nap Luce?" My punch to his arm may have been too hard. " Well, Miss Crawford wants us to be at the office block in 30 minutes so let's get to it". We hailed a cab eventually and bundled ourselves inside it, Ivy and Kipps by the window, with me and George crammed, uncomfortably, in the middle. " This time I called dibs," Kipps said, smiling proudly. " No you cheated, I called dibs and you did it afterwards" George shot back. " I don't recall that happening".

Our cab ride basically consisted of more bickering, and I began to get a headache.

When we stopped and got out, the sheer size of Dolus court overwhelmed us, and we all stood fixated for about a minute, marvelling at its size. "Let's hope we don't need to clear all of it," George said heartily and made for the door. The rest of us followed to the doorstep. And like we'd always been told, not a single one of us hesitated.