[ Glow ] ~ Anthony Lockwood x OC

XLV - Déjà Vu

Anthony knocked against the glass on the window of the kitchen, getting a slight glare from Lucy. 

"I should catch you guys up on my Bickerstaff research." George declared, laughing slightly with his words. 

"What happened to the window?" Lockwood asked, turning around to look at the table where his colleagues were sitting. Daniel grabbed two mugs in each hand, setting three of them down in front of Lockwood, George and Lucy, taking her own mug and sipping the piping hot tea. 

"Oh. . .A bird flew into it." George gave a halfhearted chuckle, rubbing at the back of his neck. Daniel could tell he was lying. No bird would crack a window pane in half. "So, it turns out he was a highly respected clinician, psychiatrist, a pioneer of new techniques." 

"So. . .he was a nerd?" Daniel tilted her head, looking down at the paper covered table. 

George gave her a look, before going back to his explanation. "He held secret gatherings in his house in Hampstead, and they would have remained secret, too, if it wasn't for Mary Dulac." 

"Who's Mary Dulac?" Lockwood questioned, his brows drawn together.

"Oh, she's a guest that went missing." Lucy picked up a paper, looking down at it. "Just vanished into thin air after attending one of his meetings."

"But here's the weirdest thing." George brought his voice down to a mock whisper. "She turned up again ten years later out of the blue, but she'd gone completely mad. Like Dans-"

"I'm not 'mad'." Daniel huffed, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. 

Anthony smiled a little bit at the two before going back to their conversation. "Because of the bone glass?"

"That would make sense, wouldn't it?" 

"I don't like when you get all excited. It's scary." Daniel shook her head. 

"Why does everyone want it so badly? What can it do?" George smiled. 

"Apart from drive you mad and kill you?" Lucy huffed out. 

"I think it's more than just a dangerous relic. I think it's something completely unique."

"George, are you alright?" Daniel tilted her head. She knew he got excited about all this. . .research stuff, but he seemed kind of out of it. Like even if they were to bring up the origin of the Problem and conspiracies about how it started, he wouldn't even bother to correct him. 

"I'm more than alright." George beamed. Daniel noticed Lockwood's attention on Lucy and looked over to see the girl staring at George's skull source. "Lucy. . .what's the matter?" 

"It's speaking." She turned fully to the glass. Daniel sat up a little straighter, her interest was piqued. Lucy slowly got up from the table. "What do you mean, 'waking up'?" Lucy asked the jar. Her head tilt as the skull's mouth moved. 

"Lucy, what's going on?" George huffed out. Irritated that the attention had been drawn off of what he'd been talking about. 

"It's talking to her." Lockwood responded, as if it were obvious. 

"She did just say that." Daniel nodded, watching as Anthony stood up. She just kept sipping her tea, not bothered to get up when she could see perfectly fine from her chair. Sometimes Daniel missed mornings in her apartment, less chatting and excitement going on every day. It was more peaceful. Just her, her tea, and sometimes breakfast. 

"If you know so much, why don't you help us?" Lucy asked the jar, George and Lockwood coming up to stand behind her. "Your master?" She further questioned after a few seconds of listening to the spirit. "That's what you meant. You know Bickerstaff."