[ Glow ] ~ Anthony Lockwood x OC

XLVI - Levers and Trapdoors

"A couple of hours ago, I thought this was the best thing to ever happen to us. Now I'm worried it could be the worst." George huffed out, pacing near the door. 

"I know what you mean." Anthony nodded slightly. Daniel shrugged, sitting just beside him on a set of concrete steps. 

"She said 'Give us fifteen minutes and if we're not back. . .'" George laughed in irritation alongside his words. "She's talking about it like they're a team! It's still technically mine." 

"I mean. . .you can't talk to it." Daniel smirked, getting a scowl from George. "Just saying." She muttered, going back to kicking at the dirty floors. 

"It was never yours, technically." Lockwood added. 

"How long now?" George stomped back over to the two.

The suit clad brunet flipped his wrist up, clanking his ringed finger against the surface of his watch to check the time. "Ten minutes." 

"Look." George whispered, dropping his voice so it didn't echo so much in the old house. He brought a foot up on the first step, sitting on the short cement ledge that lined the small stairs. "She's not in charge here. And Who knows what that thing could be whispering in her ear? Have you forgotten Annabel Ward?" Daniel felt uneasy, but she wouldn't say anything. Just like George had said, Lucy wasn't in charge. And. . .neither were the two of them. Decision making was Anthony's job - for the most part. Unless he was being a complete idiot. Which maybe he was here, but Daniel felt like Lucy could handle her own. She also was under the impression that if she tried to leave the room that Anthony would tackle her. So there was that stopping her as well.

Lockwood didn't respond, looking up at his curly haired companion. "Okay, let me put it this way. We've just sent her alone into a severely haunted house."

"You're right. This is insane." Anthony huffed, bringing himself to a stand. He grabbed Daniel gently by the hand and helped her up as well. She tilt her head in a soft, silent thank you. George heaved up, both of the boys shining their flashlights forward as they started on their way to the doors. 

"You know, this is the place scary movies put the freaky music." Daniel muttered under her breath. George shot her a 'why'd you have to go and say that' sort of look. A puff of air condensed to water with the brunette's breath, showing just how cold it was in the probably haunted mansion. It was just another sign of the presumed ghosts they were walking toward. Maybe Daniel should consider a career change, something calm and peaceful like running a flower shop. Flower shops were nice. Though, knowing her, she'd bring along ghosts to the cute store and then either she would have to deal with it, or she'd have to call Lockwood. God forbid that. She snickered at her own thoughts, shaking her head softly. 

"We're fine." Anthony smiled, shining his flashlight in front of the three as they followed into the hall Lucy had disappeared into.

"How do we know which way she went?" George questioned.

"We don't." Lockwood softly shook his head, his steps slow and deliberate. Each of their feet lightly thudded on the hardwood floors, everything was so. . .quiet. As they got further away from the outside walls of the house, nature seemed to dissipate from the sounds that invaded the team's ears. It was all so eerie. . .it gave Daniel a knot in her stomach, reminding her a little too much of her last case with Fittes. George veered to the left slightly, pushing a cracked door open. Something fluttered, darting for George's head before flying up. Lockwood and Daniel dodged, stumbling to the side, as George ducked and covered his hair. The pigeon flew up toward the ceiling of the room, landing on a beam of sorts. 

"Oh shit!" George hissed, keeping his hands on his head as he stood up. He shot out a breath, condensed with a slight pressure. 

"You alright?" Daniel looked over at him, ignoring the way Lockwood was staring through George and into the room beyond. 

"Yeah." George murmured. "Not like that bird tried to take off with my bloody head."

Daniel shook her head with a slight chortle. "You really think the scary old bird could've?" She chipped, dropping Anthony's hand and walking around George to investigate the new room. The door led into a long hallway where the team wandered for a minute or two before hearing a sharp gust of air whistle in a room to their left. 

"Lucy!" George breathed.

"Let's go." Anthony agreed, leading his teammates down that way in a jog. Daniel's head started spinning and she felt uneasy as they entered a large, confusing looking room with a fireplace at the end. "Lucy! Where are you?" Lockwood called out. 

Daniel stumbled slightly, catching herself on a wall. Something wasn't right here. In fact, something was very wrong here. She felt like her breath was being drawn from her lungs, as if she were suffocating on air. Her chest screamed in a way she couldn't quite explain. Like. . .her heart wasn't there. Her head hurt so bad she thought her vision might go. The symptoms didn't even stay, they faded out and then back in, in the way hiccups come and go. Everything just felt so wrong. 

"Lucy, answer us!" George called. 

"She's down there." Daniel coughed slightly, hardly able to bring herself to talk. But she knew she had to. She could sense the apparitions, and she knew they'd be after any living source they could. Daniel pointed toward the fireplace. She couldn't quite understand it in any way other than a secret room, but Lucy was underneath the fireplace. Daniel heard the room light up with ghastly hisses, making her ears ring. 

"George!" Lucy's voice was faint underneath the boards, a soft thudding hitting the trapdoor. "Lockwood! Daniel! Please! Lockwood! George! Daniel, please!" The boys didn't react, as if they couldn't hear her. 

"Lucy!" Lockwood called, both him and George coming to a stop in front of a marble embalming table. Daniel took in a sharp breath, making her lungs howl, and pushed off the wall to join the two. 

Lockwood's flashlight landed on the fireplace and he noticed the hatch. "It's a trapdoor." He breathed out. 

"Don't force it, there'll be some kind of trigger." George scolded as Anthony got on his knees, pulling at the door. 

George started looking around the mantle, but Daniel had this weird gut feeling it wasn't over there. The odd marble table put her off, and she got the feeling that it wasn't just for dinning or cutting people open. 

"Lucy, we're here. We're coming." Lockwood shouted down at the hatch. 

Daniel ran her hand under the table, looking for a lever or a switch. Her fingers brushed it just as the feelings overtook her, staying. The previous dead-bulb-like flicker dyed off and now it was stuck. Daniel's breath hitched and she tensed up, attempting to fight it all off. It was a battle she didn't seem to be winning, as her vision grew dark. She felt someone bump her out of the way slightly and start pulling on the lever she previously held. "I think this is it! Dans, what are you doing!" George yelled, his voice sounding so faint, yet Daniel just knew he was the one standing right in her ear. "You try that lever." She could barely make out his voice, just staring at the wall. Something clanged open. 

"Lucy we're coming!"

"Hang on, Lucy!" George's voice followed Anthony's. Daniel felt like her head was underwater and she was forced to breathe. Everything was muffled, yet it hurt so much. 

"Dani, come on." Lockwood urged, tugging on her arm. But she couldn't quite move, too unsure of her actions to actually bring herself to do it. Anthony grabbed her arms lightly, tossing something. She heard a faint explosion and felt herself being pulled along. "Dani, snap out of it!" 

Her eyes cleared up as soon as they got outside and everything seemed to retreat. "I couldn't breathe-" She mumbles, looking around at her surroundings as if she'd just been snapped awake from a dream. She runs slightly faster so that she's no longer dragging Lockwood behind. 

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Word Count - 1398

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Published - June 14, 2024

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