PROBLEM - Anthony Lockwood

CHAPTER THREE

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iii

allergies or 'im a witch get that shit away from me'

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"YOU'RE COMPLETELY UNFAZED," noted Lockwood, observing Alice. "That's a very vile peice you were just holding."

Alice shrugged, maintaining eye contact, "Agency work is pretty vile too. But you wouldn't expect me to freak out if we met this person's ghost. I assure you, I'm perfectly normal."

Lockwood grinned, "Great," he pulled away another peice of fabric to reveal a single nail. It was long and rusted and slightly bent. This time, he picked it up and handed it to her himself.

Alice smiled as she took it.

But then her smile dropped.

Her fingers burned the moment she got into contact with the nail, almost as if the thing was eating away at her and stabbing at her skin. Like her hand was dunked into fire.

Iron.

Before she knew what she was doing, she was hissing in pain and dropped the nail to the floor.

"She's shaken," George declared.

Alice shook her head, "No, I just held it by the sharp side and cut my hand," she lied. As she bent down to pick it up, she dug her nail into her palm as deep as it would go, not letting go until blood blossomed from her skin.

She pulled her sleeve over her hand this time and grabbed the nail over the fabric, so it wouldn't hurt her. When she sat up, she showed George her other hand, so he could see the blood trickling down her palm. "Would you like me to stab you with a nail in the hand and see how shaken you get?"

Lucy turned to George, "And this is why you should keep your mouth shut."

Alice closed her eyes, holding the iron nail in her hand and trying to decipher what it was.

A jolt of shock slammed into her as she realised what it was.

Oh no.

No, no, no.

She could feel the pain and hate attatched to it, so potent that it was stuck in the back of her throat like gasoline. It was almost hellish - no, it was hellish.

Screams echoed, gruff shouts alongside them.

A girl shrieking.

The events were playing out in her minds eye now, clear as day. She could see it all.

With every moment of watching the horrors unfold, her mask was slipping.

Hunters.

Hunters.

Hunters.

Nailing a poor girl to a stake, setting her on fire.

"Burn the witch! Burn the witch!"

Alice bit her tongue so hard that blood flowed in her mouth, she was screaming on the inside now, could they see her screaming?

The memories were slamming into her now, hunters everywhere, iron bars, iron chains. A pit so deep in the ground she thought she'd die there.

The Pit... The Pit... The Pit...

The mask was slipping, everything was slipping away.

Control yourself.

"It-it's a source, for the girl's ghost," Alice declared, quickly putting it down, "Oh, that's horrible that poor, poor girl."

Lockwood surveyed her for a moment, "You can hear how they died?"

The way you do it isn't normal. It isn't right. They don't see it like you do.

Alice tilted her head slightly, "Yes. I can feel what they feel too."

"She's strange," George declared, "There's something not right about her. She's not normal."

Alice grit her teeth, turning to George and raising an eyebrow, "You know I can hear you when you talk." She stood up, grabbing her bag, "I didn't come here to get talked shit about. You're all just children with no sense on how to run an agency, it's pathetic. I didn't even get proper training and I can still see this is just a shitty game of pretend until your parents get home." She turned on her heel, preparing to leave.

George whistled, "You're one to talk. You should bring your parents here to find out how they failed so monumentally that they ended up raising a mouth like that."

"George!" Lucy hissed.

Alice snapped back around to face George, eyes narrowed and dangerous, her hand was in a fist now, nails cutting deep into her palms. "If you insult my parents again I'll send you to meet them in the fucking afterlife."

"Fiesty," George mused.

She raised an eyebrow, crossing her hands over her chest and shifting her weight, "Get up and I'll show you how fiesty I am."

"Miss Deane, I apologize for upsetting you, but I assure you that this is a genuine enterprise," Lockwood cut across, he surveyed her with a mixture of humour and as if he was impressed. "And that was a serious test, which you passed with flying colours. I'll personally see to getting you properly trained, that is - if you would still like to be our fourth member?" At his last sentence, Lockwood walked closer to her, looking down at her with facination, but also something heavier in his gaze.

Alice looked up at him, and blinked for a moment.

Control yourself, you're not 12.

"Yes, yes I would."

Lockwood smiled at her, "Perfect, I'll give you a tour of the house then."

Oh fuck.