The House of Sorrows

Chapter 37: "Plans and Secrets"

One, two steps, three steps, four steps, going down the stairs as my ears were ringing, as if I'd stood up to fast, my heart was beating at a rate only a bullet could compare to, preparing myself for the inevitable questions like: "how are you?", "are you okay?", "what can we do to help?", etc. but I don't have an answer. My foot finally reached the last step and I took a deep breath before putting on my best smile, one that's shows my smile lines and dimples, one that would hopefully convince everyone that I was fine. I didn't really want to lie to them, honestly I think it was more about convincing myself I was fine than convincing them. But that's the face I put on; brave, non-faltering, and prepared.

I walked up to the table and no one asked any of the dreaded questions, I'm not sure whether it was because of my posture or the "don't ask" look on Lockwood's face. Maybe a bit of both. So I found my way to the table where newspaper clippings, maps, and George's handwritten notes strewn across the table (you can tell because he has annoyingly good handwriting).

"So what's the plan—" I asked before getting cut off by George.

"—Violence. Utter violence rained down upon that's bastards head." George said with a shockingly happy smile.

While a bit disturbing it was a good reminder of the people I have watching my back, and that we will need solid alibis in case of, well...murder and/or mayhem.

"Ok..." I said with a slight tinge of pride in my voice, George had come out of his shell more over the past few years.

"Ok, any actual plans? Or just violence, because while I agree, and hate to admit this, Freddy is smart. We need an actual plan to catch him." Lockwood butted in, presumably trying to deescalate George's growing hatred.

"Sort of, maybe?" Holly squeaked out.

George then moved a few papers aside and showed a map of London, pins and lines that were drawn by George and Holly. George began to explain his theory.

"Ok so there have been a few Freddy sightings recently, I started keeping track of them even though Barnes said most of them were probably fake. But I started to notice a pattern, see, almost all of them are centered around here." He finished saying with an ink stained finger pointing to an old abandoned building.

I looked closer and he was right, most of the sightings were on various stretches of road that surrounded an old warehouse. It was a very small lead, and most likely a coincidence, but I couldn't help but feel like there was a chance. A chance to put him down for good. That's what I wanted, I know that Lockwood, George, and Holly were just trying to get him put in prison for the rest of his life but that wasn't enough. So I'm going to kill him, and by god does he deserve it. I'll plan to get away from the group, track Freddy down, and kill him. Just like I promised to do that night on the road; when he had a gun in his hand and was smiling down at me who was trying desperately to keep Lockwood alive. Though in my thoughts of revenge I must have zoned out because Holly placed a hand on my shoulder and out came the question.

"Lucy? Are you okay? I know this is a lot." Holly whispered with her usual softness.

"Yeah, fine. Just thinking." I said as I forced an off-centered smile.

"Ok." Holly nodded and returned her stare to the map that was spread across our table, blocking the scribbles, doodles, and notes on our thinking cloth.

"Ok, so we have one relatively solid lead, I think we should do some reconstruction first, go to the building in an unmarked car, and do some surveillance. If we see any signs of inhabitance we come back home and start preparing for war. Understood?" I choked out between frantic breaths and circling the building on the map in red pen.

"Ok. Let's do this." Lockwood said as a charismatic smile creeped onto his face, oh how I missed those smiles.

*45 minutes later*

We were on our way to the building, it was about a 30 minute drive so we had a cab take us to the location before bribing him to leave us alone for a few hours. He was hesitant at first, but as Lockwood kept adding bills to the pile destined for the cabbies pocket, he agreed. We sat in the cab, parked across the street that was lined with other cars and trucks. We waited in the car for a long while without seeing anything. Until we did. Lights turned on in one distant room inside the building, but it wasn't enough, we had to be sure, we couldn't go and fight an electrical shortage. But not a half hour later we saw a shadow in front of a frosted and dusty window on the second floor of the building. It was Freddy. No doubt, I'd remember that disgusting silhouette anywhere, I'd seen it backlit on the street, blood in my hands, and tears down my face. It's the shadow that haunted my dreams, day and night.

But that was all the proof we needed, it was time to head back to Portland row, and get the supplies to kill that son of a bitch.