PROBLEM - Anthony Lockwood

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

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xxxii

you could've at least let me pick my own name

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"I'LL RUIN THEM!" Lockwood seethed, running a hand through his hair angrily and slamming his fist to the grate between the drivers side and the cell. "I'll go to the papers. I'll reveal everything."

Alice sat in the corner, her hands covering her face.

She dug her nails into her hairline.

Everything was falling apart. If they arrested her and looked into her name, then they'd realise who she was. The Orpheus Society would take her and hunt her again. They'd cut her up and experiment and shove her into the Pit.

Or maybe they'd kill her.

What was worse, is that the rest of the agency would be dragged under too. They'd be forced to suffer the consequences of it all.

All because she had to take that damned ring.

Alice wished, once again, that she'd just burned to death at Sheen Road.

"They took all our kit," George sighed, "They know something about Fairfax that we don't and they want it to stay that way."

"What? Beyond him being a murderer?" Lucy questioned.

Alice screwed her eyes shut, digging her nails deeper into her hairline.

Those goggles that Fairfax had, they could only have been developed through the best research.  The research of the Orpheus Society.

Alice wondered if they had used her own blood to make the protective sheild on those lenses.

Lockwood's eyes flickered to Alice, who sat curled up in the corner of the van. Her hair falling over her face. Her fingers at her hairline.

He made his way over to her, kneeling down in front of her and grabbing her hands, prying them away from her head and covering them with his own.

Blood was caked into her fingernails.

Her blood.

"No," he whispered as she met his gaze. "Don't you dare."

Lucy and George exchanged a look before looking away.

"I want a separate van," George muttered under his breath. He stood up and turned, looking out of the window and then gasping. "Guys, get over here."

Lucy shot up and joined him, "What?"

"What's the deputy commissioner doing here at 5 in the morning?" George inquired.

"They're taking stuff away. What's going on?" Lucy realised.

Suddenly the door to the drivers side opened and Barnes entered. Lockwood's eyes shot up, and he let go of Alice's hands, getting up and making his way over to the grate. "Inspector, what the hell is happening?"

Barnes stood by the gate. He had a resigned look in his eyes. He turned, pushing open the grate, "You're not being arrested. Not if you sign these." He reached into the cell and handed them several papers and pens. Barnes quickly shut the grate again as Lockwood read the agreement.

Lockwood's face flashed with anger, "A non-disclosure agreement? No way."

"Do it," Barnes implored, "Or you'll be completely improtected."

"From what?" Lockwood demanded, raising his voice. "Do you have any idea what's being covered up here?"

Alice looked up, realising what the agreement meant. Not only would it hide Fairfax's status as a member of the Orpheus Society, but it would also hide the magical nature of the Hall, once again sheiling the world from the true nature of the Problem.