𝐎𝐑𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐂 | (adj.) "Otherworldly."
In an alternate version of present-day Britain, ghosts who are deadly to the touch have been rising from their graves for the past fifty years. Adults cannot sense the ghosts, but children can, so teenagers hav...
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𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓 even after leaving the interrogation room and meeting up with Anthony in the waiting room. She didn't say a word, her fist clenched tightly around the travel pass in her hand, her thoughts racing around her mind at light speed. She had to hand it to Barnes and her father—even without knowing her well, they knew exactly what strings to pull and buttons to push to get her to act as they wanted. And she hated the power that they had over her, but they were right.
She cared about Anthony too much to let anything happen to him or the agency.
Her eyes were locked out the window as she rode in the back of a cab with Anthony. Raindrops were splattered across the window panes, showing evidence of a shower that had come to pass while they were held up at Scotland Yard. The bright green of the ghost-lamps shone through as the cab drove on down the slick, black streets.
"I knew that's what he'd do," Anthony muttered, shaking his head. Her father had been tasked with giving him a summary of the interrogation, conveniently leaving out the ultimatum that Erin had been given. "I knew it the moment your father turned up at our door." She closed her eyes at the mention of her father, her face pulling into a frown. "God, they always make the most boring, unimaginative moves possible, don't they? Trying to use your Talent to extract evidence?" Erin's hand closed tighter around the pass in her hand, so much so that if it had been coal, she'd have a diamond. She could see him glance at her in her periphery as she opened her eyes, her heart reeling as she made her decision. "That just proves they've got nothing. You were brilliant, love, by the way. Really."
"God," Erin whispered under her breath as she turned her attention to the cab driver. "Can you stop the car, please?"
As the driver obeyed and pulled over to the curb, braking and parking the vehicle, Anthony turned to look at Erin, a brow poised in question. "What are you doing?" he asked.
The brunette steeled herself. Sadness welled up inside of her, anger and hopelessness alongside it. If she focused on those feelings too long, she'd take back her decision. She couldn't risk Anthony losing everything he had, so she did what she did best. She pushed her emotions to the side and focused on feeling nothing. "Leaving," she answered simply, reaching across him to open the door. "I'm resigning from Lockwood & Co."
Her feet had already carried her a good distance away by the time Anthony's senses had come back to him. He was incredibly shaken by her words, unsure of what to think, barely forming his own set of thoughts on the matter before he was setting out after her. "Erin!" he called to her retreating figure. "Erin! Can we talk about this in the car? It's far too dangerous here."
"There's nothing to talk about," Erin replied, her voice just a stone's throw away from being monotone. "I'm leaving. That's the end of it." She squared her shoulders. "Are you only scared of losing me now because I'm such an asset?"
