thief - lw&co [anthony lockwood]

14.

Edited : 04/08/24

First-person (Erin)

Large rubble fell, the well was destroyed and the air was dusty and ashy, making it hard to breathe.

I reluctantly opened my eyes, I could barely see anything, too much smoke. But I did hear someone coughing which meant everyone was not dead.

Yay.

More specifically it was Lucy coughing, I could make out her figure sitting up in the dark.

"Erin." She said.

"What?" I asked.

"How do you feel."

"Sick, tired, annoyed, dehydrated. The list goes on. You?"

"Fine-ish." She sighed and looked around. "George?!" She crawled over to George to wake him up.

Oh yes, George.

Oh and Lockwood.

The thought of Lockwood being passed out on the floor worried me a bit so I stood up with my wobbly legs and headed for the only other silhouette I could make out in the dark.

When walking up to him I tried being calm and soft, unlike Lucy who slapped George, I reached his level but he was already awake.

"Erin..."

"What?" I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I've been an idiot. I should never have brought us here."

"I mean yeah you shouldn't have, but stop trying to make amends like you're about to die." I squeeze his shoulder

He grunts and takes out a picture. Lucy and George join me to see what Lockwood was on about.

"There. I can't believe I missed it." He held the picture tightly.

"Fairfax wasn't just into casinos." He pointed his finger at Fairfax in a crowd of people, behind the one and only Annabelle.

"He was the most connected man in Soho before he moved into iron."

"Fairfax knew Annabelle?" Gorge asked.

"He didn't just know her. I think he was with her. He gave her the ring. He must have done." He took a deep breath before speaking again. "That weird hallmark, that means there's gonna be a record of him commissioning it."

"Wait so... he killed her." Lucy breathed out slowly.

"And the rings proof." He paused catching his breath. "I think he brought us here for the house to kill us. It wouldn't have even been suspicious, just four more agents dying on the job."

"Come on, let's get out of here." Lucy stood up and took Lockwood's arm to lift him up, he held my shoulder for support. "Leave before they realise we're still alive." She grunted.

"If we go via the Red Room we won't be," George stated, slightly panicked about the situation.

"Look, there's light!" Lucy exclaimed. "Maybe we can get out up there."

With the help of our rapiers, we moved the stone out of the way and, crawled out of the hole.

"Come on, this way." Lockwood led us towards the main hall of the castle.

But once in the hall, we were stopped by the sharp end of a rapier, and on the other end was Fairfax's assistant.

But that wasn't the only surprise. Suddenly a loud gunshot resonated in the room making us all jump in shock. Lucy and George hid behind tables while I stayed behind Lockwood.