[ Glow ] ~ Anthony Lockwood x OC

XLI - Whirring

The three walked for a half hour or so before reaching a warehouse. Daniel sighed as she saw the lights illuminating the entire bottom floor of the building. Of course the scary people were still there at midnight. Why wouldn't they be? 

"We'll never get in there. Let's come back first thing." Lucy said. "You can pretend to be a customer and I'll-"

"Let's go down the side." Lockwood interrupted without a hint of weary in his tone. 

"Locks-"

He turned to Daniel and gave her a half smile full of confidence before walking off toward the side of the building. She sighed, huffing and begrudgingly followed him. They carefully snuck around and passed a parked car, rounding to a side door. Lockwood took the door knob and rattled it a bit, though the lock held it stuck. Lockwood dropped the shiny handle before walking over to a larger, barn like door. He smirked slightly when he saw the lock on the door. "Ah. That's more like it." Anthony muttered under airy words, pulling a pocket knife from his pocket and flipping it open. He stuck it into the lock and started to wiggle it, picking the lock. It popped open and Anthony turned to the two girls with a small grin as he pushed the door open. 

As the three walked into the warehouse, a machine ticked and water sounded like it dripped. Daniel could already feel the pull of the mirror and her ears started ringing. "Oh shit-" Daniel hissed out through her teeth, her step stumbling and landing her against Anthony's side. He immediately wrapped his hand in hers, as if that would help to stabilize her from falling. . 

"I don't like this." Lucy whispered. 

"You hear the mirror?" Lockwood asked, looking over at Lucy. He could already tell that Daniel felt it just from the way she was reacting. She looked like she was gonna be sick. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. 

"There's too many sounds." Lucy hesitated. "Like- Like the airways are jammed with signals."

"From all this." Lockwood sighed softly. 

"This place is swimming with sources." Daniel murmured, it felt like her entire being was being attacked by different senses. Some were hot, some were freezing cold, some felt like a knife to the gut. It sucked. 

Lucy stopped, stepping toward a box that sat on a shelf. Daniel heard a man screaming in the distance that had to have been from a source. She flinched forward, catching her footing quickly. Lucy pulled a teddy bear out of the small box, looking it over carefully. "They're relics. Still got psychic charge. Bad history hanging about."

Lockwood swallowed, stepping back from Lucy with Daniel's hand still firm in hers. "Come on. Let's get further in." Lockwood paused, looking down toward the door into the next room. "See if you can hear it." 

They start walking, awfully slow. "Wait a minute. Wait." Lockwood whispered out, stopping and putting his arm out. A faint creaking hissed out in front of them. "Is that it?" 

"No." Daniel and Lucy said at the same time. 

"No, that's something living. We should go." Lucy said with a small shake of her head. "Or hide." She looked behind herself.

"You're right." Lockwood whispered. "It sounds mechanical." 

"Locks, come on-" Daniel softly tugged on his hand but it was no use.

"There's no footsteps." He stepped forward. "If anyone comes, hide."  

"Lockwood." Lucy breathed. 

He kept forward, the whirring getting louder. A young boy who couldn't be older than nine or ten rounded the corner, holding some sort of blue machine. Lockwood forced Daniel behind a shelf, shielding her from the child's view. She ducked down, squatting near the floor. The blue thing started moving faster and louder in the kid's arm. "Hello." Anthony gave a small nod. 

The mechanical toy chimed, before it whirred out a noise. "Uh. . .Danger, danger." It laughed. The boy pressed a button on the front and the blue robot stopped making noise. Anthony glanced behind him, the young kid stepping toward him and looking him over. "Uh- I'm here because I've lost something." Lockwood told him. "Do you think you could help me find it, please? It's a mirror. A very special mirror. It makes a buzzing sound. . .like a bee." Anthony gave a small laugh, smiling. "Have you heard it round here?" 

Daniel didn't like this. Something felt . . .wrong. And this place was so full of spirits, it made her physically ill. "Do you think you could show me?" 

"Didn't I tell you not to talk to strangers?" A woman's voice called as she rounded the same corner the boy had. 

"Ah, you must be-" The blonde woman jabbed Anthony in the chest with what must've been a taser and he stumbled, falling to the floor.

"Leopold. Go and get your father." She sighed, grabbing Anthony by the feet and dragging him out the room. Daniel looked back at where Lucy'd hid, underneath a cloth covered table and frowned. Why did Lockwood make them go into this situation. . ? They should've waited. 

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Word Count - 847

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Published - March 31, 2024

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