Trapped Without You

Things You Can't See in The Dark

Lockwood raced up the stairs leading to the attic, panting in the dark. He slammed the door open with such force that he heard wood splintering. The light flashed on momentarily blinding him, but her room was empty. Everything lay as it was before but it was different now because she was gone, she didn’t leave by choice but rather was taken. Stolen from Lockwood & Co., more importantly, stolen from Lockwood himself.

Her room was quiet and dark, her clothes in a pile near the door as they always were, her bed askew. Lockwood didn’t waste time, he searched through her clothes, under her bed, and in her sheets, throwing the drawers out of her dresser and emptying them out onto the floor, searching through her armoire and even through her small bathroom cabinet but could not find it anywhere.

Lucy Carlyle’s secret journal. The only thing that would help Lockwood and George find her.

Earlier that night Lockwood, George, and Lucy had been out on an extremely important, high-status case. The home of a high society man had recently become unsafe when he had discovered a secret extension to the basement of his luxurious home. He insisted on hiring Lockwood & Co. without giving them much insight into the problem, reluctant but in dire need of money and publicity they agreed to take on the case.

George as always spent the following days in the national archives researching the history of the house, he had found no history of past hauntings, past crimes or really any reason for a Visitor to be there. With a week to prepare Lockwood spent most of his time in the offices stocking and checking the supplies, polishing the rapiers, and oiling and stocking the iron chains, he asked Lucy to visit the house of their client, Mr. Hugh Wright.

There she would sketch the layout of the house and the surrounding area, afterward, she had to make a stop at the corner store closest to Portland row to buy more mints for when they went to investigate the sighting. Having a bad habit of procrastinating until it was too late Lucy decided to do this early in the week, when she came back Lockwood could tell that something had changed, instead of asking Lucy though he simply ignored the slight change in her behavior.

A few days later George, Lockwood, and Lucy were taking a stroll through town, it had been a bright sunny day, yet Lucy seemed infected by a deep unrest. She had become silent, jumpy, and hyper-observant. Her eyes ever watching for the danger that lurked ever nearer, George had asked her what had her panties in a bunch that day, she was startled by the question and her only answer was that she was getting the feeling that someone was watching them, George, of course, brushed it off as her just being paranoid. She kept saying this though, many times she said she felt uncomfortable and felt as though someone was following them, this continued throughout the week.

The day of the case was as bright a day as you can get in London, the sky was clear and bright, even as Lockwood & Co set out to Mr. Wright’s house during the later hours, they had the comfort of a springs beautiful afternoon and yet the uneasy feeling Lucy had did not dissipate, even in the safety of the house she glanced over her shoulder every now and then.

Mr. Wright’s house was truly luxurious, the front doors were dark polished oak with intricate designs carved into them, the front foyer had a stunning stone floor, the walls made of brick of a similar grey color to the floor.

There were pillars of marble supporting the next floor above and a beautiful set of staircases that led to the second floor, between the stairs were another set of oak doors. It was a large area able to comfortably fit about 15 people. Elegant paintings and tapestries hung upon the walls, it was a sight to behold, even George seemed mesmerized by just the front foyer.

Mr. Wright quickly ushered them through the doors, past a sitting room, past a dining room, and into a kitchen.

The kitchen was colder than the other rooms they had briefly seen, the walls here were the same rough, gray bricks as in the foyer. It too was a spacious area, walls of cupboards and cabinets and a large space for the two expensive looking ovens he owned. He explained to Lockwood and the others that this room and the basement area were the only rooms he wanted them in for the safety of his property.