[ Glow ] ~ Anthony Lockwood x OC

XXVIII - Draw Straws

Daniel wasn't paying attention to where they were walking if she were entirely honest, she was more focused on kicking the grass under her feet. "They really did leave in a hurry." George muttered. 

"It's dusty out here." Daniel replied, finally looking up from the blades to the area in front of her. 

"Okay." Anthony breathed out as the team came to a halt in front of the grave they were set to investigate. The sound of the four's kitbags hitting the ground cluttered through their ears as the chains - Daniel had triple checked to make sure they had them this time, not wanting another 62 Sheen Road incident. 

Seriously though; what kind of idiot didn't bring chains on an investigation? 

. . .

Anthony Lockwood. 

That was the kind of idiot. 

It truly was amazing how stupid he could be, and yet still so confident. 

"Ready?" Lockwood asked the team as they looked into the dirt covered coffin in the ground. Without a word the torches shut off; Daniel, Lockwood, Lucy, then George last. They holstered the lights onto their belts, an owl cooing in the distance. Daniel's head turned to look at the bird, not expecting the sudden noise. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Daniel could see Lucy tune in and decided she should probably focus up as well. The brunette shut her eyes carefully, taking in a heavy breath and rolling out her shoulders. Her hands flexed out before ultimately falling comfortably limp at her sides. There was a chilly rush that encompassed her entire body, it was practically immediate. Pins and needles raced up her spine and shot across her nerves. It felt. . .bad. . .evil maybe. She wasn't sure, the source must've been in the grave with the body - maybe it was the body. But even under all that silver, Daniel could still feel that whatever was under there was strong and bad. Her head felt fuzzy and, just as the gravediggers had said at the mausoleum, she felt incredibly nauseous. It was like her insides were trying to tear themselves free, wanting any possible way to escape. Daniel simply shook her head, swallowing down a gag before focusing in on her other senses. She couldn't hear anything, but that wasn't too much of a shock, seeing as she wasn't quite a listener. Daniel swayed slightly as the nausea built, her eyes flashing back open. She leaned against Anthony, growing dizzy at the feeling. "Oh god-" 

"You okay, Dani?" Lockwood turned, his hands finding her hips to steady her. She returned his worry with a nod, giving him a half-assed smile. Lockwood looked her over. He seemed hesitant to believe her, but eventually he nodded back before turning to look at the grave. "There's no death glows. Nothing else visible. Dani, what did you get?" 

"It's. . ." She trailed off, trying to put words to what she felt. All she could really think at the moment was one word. "cold."

"Cold?" 

"Yeah, cold." She nodded, blinking and trying to think of how to explain it further. "And, uhm- like when your foot falls asleep." 

"Pins and needles?" 

"Yeah, but everywhere." 

"Anything else?" 

Daniel shrugged, "Sick, dizzy." 

Lockwood nodded back, turning away from Daniel to look down into the pit. One of his hands slid off her hip, resting at his side, but he kept his right one against her waistline as if it was a necessity. And maybe, in a way, it was. "Got anything?" His words were pointed at Lucy, but he remained looking down at the coffin. 

"Nope." George responded, getting a 'really?' look from Daniel. How the hell did he not feel like he was gonna topple over at any moment? He simply shrugged in response, giving a tight lipped expression. 

"Some kind of. . .vibration." Lucy answered with her eyes still closed. She paused for a moment before opening her eyes again, slowly turning her head toward the other three. 

With a sigh and a nod, Daniel pulled the zipper of her kit bag open. It was almost eerie to hear all four kit bags pull open at the same time followed by the clatter of chains. The four of them worked together to lay out the chains around the grave, setting up thermometers every few feet to keep track of the temperature. 

"So. . .how are we deciding order?" Daniel spoke up, dusting off her hands against her jeans. 

"Draw straws?" George offered with a tilt of his head. "Make it fair on everyone." 

"Fine, but you can't get all whiney when you lose." Daniel smirked, crouching down to pick up four different length sticks. 

"I don't get whiney." 

"You're whining right now." 

"Am not-" 

"Liar." Lucy mumbled.

"You do get a bit whiney, George. Nothing to be ashamed of." Lockwood added with a bright grin. 

"I'll have you kn-" 

"Just shove it, George. Come on, let's do this, yeah?" Daniel smiled, standing between Lockwood and Lucy with the sticks held out of her hand at the same level so nobody could tell the lengths of them. 

"Let's." Lockwood nodded, pulling the first stick. 

"I'm not whiney." George huffed under his breath as he pulled one of the sticks. 

Lucy shook her head at the antics of the team before drawing the second to last stick. Daniel opened her palm, revealing her stick. 

George groaned in distaste, throwing his stick onto the ground when he saw the rest of them. "Great." 

"George takes first inspection." Lockwood said. Daniel trailed George when he walked away, standing by Lockwood's side as he told Lucy to "Watch him." The annoyance for the situation was clear in Lockwood's voice, "Come on, Dani. We'll take lookout. Let's not hang about." Anthony's hand found Daniel's and he started leading her away, behind Lucy.

"Oh- Alright- Buh bye-" Daniel looked over her shoulder, waving at Lucy and George as the pair walked off. 

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Word Count - 981

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Published - October 19, 2023

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