Our Fatal Flaws

Chapter 6: Our Mission Awaits

Lucy POV:

The moment I entered the building, my nose was filled with a musty smell, and my eyes took a few minutes to adjust to the dim lighting. I took in my surroundings when my vision was clear enough. A long corridor stretched out in front of us, the lighting low, with dust particles hanging around in the air. Doors caked in dust, grime and possibly something else, appeared at uneven intervals. The floor, however, contrasted its surroundings nicely, as it was completely spotless and looked as if it was often cleaned. It had an eerie shine to it. Off to my left, I could see a staircase climbing along the walls. That's where we decided to head after minimal deliberation.

The climb was long and by the time we reached the top, I was already heavily sweating ad panting. Ivy was as tranquil as ever, but George was red in the face and puffing out his cheeks in an attempt to catch his breath. After a good minute, I stood to my full height again, which wasn't that tall, but compared to the people I was with, I might as well have been a giant. I sauntered over to a hefty-looking door in the corner and gave it a gentle knock. "Come in!". That must have been Angeline. I nudged the door open and wandered in. The room I was standing in was huge. There was a giant glass window in front of me that had a view of the houses below us. The ceiling was about 20 metres high and had thick metal beams running across it for support. There were pipes running from the floor upwards, that I assumed were sewage, but I didn't feel the need to ask.  The walls behind all the industrial-looking stuff were painted a light blue, that some could probably argue was a shade of grey, and it was significantly cleaner than the dust bomb downstairs. For all my talk about my big size earlier, I felt tiny now.

The room itself didn't have much furniture to call its own, except for a large desk in the centre of the room, with a desk chair positioned neatly in front of it. And sat rather comfortably in the chair was the woman herself. She was around the same height as me but had a much lovelier face. The sort of face that screams 'kind'. She had a ruddy complexion, with filled-out features. Her eyes were an enchanting shade of green, and her hair was chestnut-coloured, long and curled. It framed her face perfectly. What threw me off, was her striking resemblance to her uncle. My breath caught in my throat when she locked eyes with me. My chest felt tight and I felt like I was staring into the eyes of the same man I had killed not long ago, and I had suddenly forgotten how to speak. I felt a hand steadying me as my body swayed slightly. I turned around and gave George a thankful nod. I could see it in his eyes too. The same thing I was feeling.

 She smiled at me. "Hello Lucy dear, and George. And your friends as well. You are all very welcome. I trust your journey was pleasant. Please, no need to stand so far away, come in, come in." We were all ushered into the room and were now standing in front of the desk. "Would you like something to drink, eat perhaps?" I politely declined and took a chair I was offered. "So what appears to be the problem here, Miss Crawford?" I asked, my notepad out and ready. "Getting down to business so soon? You have only just arrived".  "You can skip the rest of the formalities, Miss Crawford, we all want the ghost dealt with, don't feel obligated to keep feeding George here," I said motioning to my side, where George was steadily shovelling a ham and mayo sandwich down his throat. "My, my are you in a rush?". Her eyes hardened slightly, and her gaze was piercing through me. It was uncomfortable. I shifted in my seat. "Not at all ma'am, we just wish for your building to be made safe as soon as possible. For your safety that is." Kipps had taken the lead now. Even though I was slightly frustrated, I silently thanked him for his assistance.

"The apparitions are supposedly quite harmless according to that young girl we had in a few weeks ago." Miss Crawford had finally finished speaking, and we had gathered very little from her. The ghosts should be manifesting in the corridor, but they haven't attacked anyone yet. Just stood there menacingly. They had also been making various sounds, not threatening, but enough to scare the wits out of the cleaner they had hired to clean that corridor.  And the last thing is that the Sensitive she brought in didn't have many friends, and she wasn't exactly happy about it. I silently pondered the possibilities. It could be a simple cluster haunting of Type Ones. To be honest, that's what we were hoping for. But things never really go our way, so I made sure to keep cautious just in case. "Anyhow, if that's all you need to know, I really should be going now, give you time to set up." And with that, she promptly stood up and left, her hair bouncing and swishing with each step she took. I heard her heels clacking down the stairs.

I was glad of her absence. The tension in the air dissipated and I felt my muscles relax for the first time in an hour. "Well, who wants to go in that corridor downstairs, I vote we draw straws." George chirped happily, already getting various bits of tat out of his pocket to act as straws. I saw my favourite pen emerge from the depths of his pockets, and suddenly I didn't think I liked it all that much anymore."I'll go". I turned to see Ivy, who had a hand shyly raised. George looked ready to protest, but I spoke up first. Whatever I thought didn't matter because I trusted Kipps' judgement. Somewhat. "Not alone. I'm going with you." George forgot his complaint and his frown turned into an obnoxious beam. "Well then, that's settled. Kipps, I say we take the lovely little room over there." A door saying 'kitchen' was behind George's pointing finger. Who has a kitchen on the second floor? Kipps whipped his head around to us and had a pleading look in his eyes. "Have fun you two, see you in the morning. And don't forget to scream bloody murder if you need help." George was already dragging Kipps towards the door. "Will do Luce! Enjoy your haunted corridor, look after her Ivy, she has a tendency to be quite reckless!" I sighed and picked up my bag, ready to head off downstairs when I remembered something. I had the skull.

I had packed him as a last resort, in case he decided he wanted to speak again after his so-called 'abuse and neglect'. It was his own fault really. I saw the faint green glow and was somewhat comforted by a familiar sight. That's when it came. "LUCY!!!!" I jumped back in shock. Ivy must have been looking at me weirdly, but I didn't care. It was talking again. I would have been happy if it wasn't for his attitude. "HOW DARE YOU LEAVE ME FOR AS LONG AS YOU DID. DO YOU KNOW HOW LONELY I'VE BEEN WITH ONLY CUBBINS FOR COMPANY!" He paused. "Who's that? A rival?" What? "Ahhh. Now here's my forte. Do you see that fancy ink pen on the writing desk? Its nib is the perfect shape and size to-"

"Shut up. She doesn't know you exist, and I would rather keep it that way." I hissed quietly enough so she wouldn't hear me. I had been wondering why he had waited this long to talk to me, but I realised I knocked the lever when I picked my bag up. I reached into my bag and firmly closed the lever. I didn't need him yabbering in my ear all night. "Are you ready?" I nodded and made for the staircase with Ivy following close behind.

When we reached the bottom, we started preparing. It was 7:00 already so we needed to work fast. I grabbed a length of iron chain and began making a circle in the middle of the dusty hallway. Ivy got to work looking around and using her talents. I finished connecting the links and admired my handiwork proudly. I then loaded myself up with some minor salt bombs and two magnesium flares. I assumed I wouldn't need them, but I didn't want to take any unnecessary risks. I eventually decided to talk to the skull, as I was starting to feel a bit lonely.

 I flipped his lever and he became animated again. "YOU CUT ME OFF AGAIN. YOU ARE A BAD GUARDIAN. I HAVE A RIGHT MIND TO...." He trailed off. "Lucy. Where are you." I frowned. "What do you mean? We are on a case."

"Hey, do you feel that?" That was Ivy emerging from a room, a thin layer of dust sat on her uniform. "Lucy, listen to me. This isn't right. You need to get out of here now". But I wasn't listening to the skull anymore. The miasma was building fast, I felt my strength leave me. My head pounded as wicked sounds started loudly in my ears, which were full of pressure. I grabbed at my ears and fell to the floor, eyes wide. A piercing scream escaped my mouth.