PROBLEM - Anthony Lockwood

CHAPTER FIFTY THREE

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liii

in this one it gets more interesting i promise

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"SO, WHAT NOW?" Alice glanced at Lockwood as he walked closer to her.

"Roleplay," he said, looking down at her. "Imagine we're a couple of relic men, how are we getting in and out of this cemetary without being seen?"

"Lemme think." Alice closed her eyes, instantly tapping into her magic and the spirits of the cemetary.

'Which way did they go?' she inquired.

'Deane....' the spirits whispered, '... to the running water. To the place we cannot go...'

With a pulse of energy, Alice's eyes were open again.

That was risky, to tap into her magic right infront of Lockwood, but it wasn't a physical spell and he probably thought she was just thinking.

"The canal," she declared, "The water makes it safer for them and it's well away from the main gate. That way, if I wanted to knock anyone out, no one would hear them scream."

Lockwood smirked, something like mischief dancing in his eyes, "Alarming how quickly you got into character." And then he turned, "Come on, before anyone else has the same idea."

Alice blinked, standing transfixed for a moment.

She didnt know what the actual fuck was going on.

Yesterday night, Anthony Lockwood had kissed her. Twice. Today, there was no change in the way he treated her. It was like everything was the same again.

Alice didn't know what to expect, but she'd expected that the kiss would have changed something. Right?

Maybe it didn't mean anything at all to him.

Maybe she didn't mean anything at all to him.

Alice forced herself to follow him towards the canal, where George and Lucy were already at the riverbank.

"What were you doing alone by the riverbank?" George questioned.

"I was just thinking!" Lucy hissed in reply.

"Why aren't you at the archives?" Lockwood questioned.

George turned to face him, "Lockwood - look in the water!"

They all made their way to the riverbank, staring into the river. Only to find the body of a young man, floating aimlessly. His eyes were gouged out of his head.

Bone glass.

Alice felt sick.

Lockwood clenched his jaw. "I know him."

Twenty minutes later, they stood aside in the woods, watching as several DEPRAC officers dragged the body out of the water and assessed the scene.

Kipps' crew had arrived unusually quickly.

"You were with strawberry, weren't you?" Alice whispered.

Lucy nodded, turning to look at the shorter girl, her voice barely a whisper, "The two of us have decided to freelance this case and combine intelligences."

Alice chuckled. "I'll cover for you."

Lucy laced her fingers through Alice's, squeezing her hand reassuringly, "Thanks, girlie."