The Evil Within

Villa Montague

Okaaay pls don't hate, it's just something I couldn't get out of my head :P <3

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It was half past eleven on a beautiful warm summer night, yet my hands were freezing, even with gloves on. All five members of Lockwood and Co were spread over the three floor villa, Kipps in the basement, George and Lockwood in the first floor, Holly in the second and my in the third.

The first floor was the one with the most activity, but even up here in the third one I could feel the freezing cold. This was a strong one and I definitely didn't like the fact that we were split up like this. Lockwood and George were at least together, but in my opinion this wasn't enough. I could feel a weird tension in this house, everyone could. This case would get ugly if we weren't cautious enough. And Lockwood was never cautious.

A week ago an elegant woman in her thirties came to Portland Row; her name was Lady Grace Montague. She was tall and slim, had shoulder length golden blonde hair and the face of one of those glamorous actresses. Her flawless face was covered by a frown and her make up barely hid the circles under her water blue eyes.

"Mr. Lockwood, I have a problem." She said in a voice that was meant to be strong, but actually just sounded very tired.

Lockwood smiled, the 50% one, not the full power, "Well, our clients usually do. How can we help?"

She bit her lip, but then apparently remembered her rose lipstick and kept talking, "A month ago I inherited a beautiful old villa just outside London. It belonged to my uncle, he passed away recently."

"I see, what's wrong with it?" Lockwood took a cup of tea from Holly, who had just come in with the tray.

Lady Montague took one as well, wrapping her hands around it as if it wasn't 31° degrees outside, "Well...I decided to move there since it's a bigger place and with a beautiful garden. I have two children, two and four years old and I would like them to play outside, but in the city that's too dangerous."

She paused and looked up from her teacup directly at Lockwood. Her friendly face was dark with sorrow, it just seemed wrong.

"So I wanted to spend a few days there to get a feeling for the house, organize where furniture would go and so on...It turns out it was a good idea, because...", she stopped again.

"Because?" Holly encouraged her to keep explaining.

"I don't know how to explain it to you, but the moment I stepped through the main door, everything felt...wrong."

"Tell us exactly what happened." Lockwood didn't seem convinced and inpatient, but he stayed polite. Of course, it was Lockwood.

"Well, first of all I just experienced this sudden weariness, almost depression. But that's not what made me leave. You have to know, I arrived at three in the afternoon, so I was a little confused by how chilly it was inside. I blamed on the age of the building and settled in. But with every hour it got colder. Especially on the first floor, at first it was just really chilly, but then I noticed the ice crystals on the windows."

She frowned even more, "Ice crystals, Mr. Lockwood. In July. I'm not stupid, I know what that means. That's why I'm here."

Lockwood nodded, "Of course, Lady Montague. Now, has anyone else before you experienced anything similar?"

"You don't believe me?" she lifted an eyebrow.

"That's not the point; I would like to find out more about the history of the house."

She hesitated, then she nodded, "I don't want to be unfair to you, I'm sorry, I just haven't been able to sleep well ever since. No, I haven't heard of anything that could be useful to you. Before I inherited it, there was a Victorian woman in a bloodstained apron in the attic, but that was taken care of years ago. My uncle died two years ago, it's been empty ever since then."

Now it was George's turn to frown, "I'm sorry, are you saying that someone must have died in there in those two years no one has lived in there?"

She gave him an irritated look, "Well, yes, that's why I'm here. If it were like any other ghost that's just missing an arm I would have called Fittes, but as soon as it get a little more complicated, I'd rather have someone working on it that actually uses his brain outside on his own."

Oh. Well, that was a first. Usually grown ups don't like it if we...well...use our brain on our own.

Lockwood obviously had to suppress a self satisfied smile, then he nodded, ""See your problem as good as solved."

Relief showed in Lady Montague's face, "Thank you. I will send you the keys tomorrow and the information you need."

We arrived six days later with pretty much no idea what was waiting for us. George had dug deep into the archives, but all he had found was a man who had died while he was renovating the façade, but that was hardly our guy.

The moment we entered the villa we all felt it. Whatever it was wasn't clear, but it was certainly strong. I heard nothing, but that was exactly what bothered me. This dreading silence like in the Fairfax house. Something was going on and it was hiding well.

We split up although I protested against it.

"Luce, it will be fine, I'll keep George safe!" Lockwood grinned, this time 100%.

"Don't give me that smile, I'm not worried about George and you know that!"

George scowled, "Thanks."

I ignored him and shook my head, "As soon as anything happens, you call! That goes for everyone. Something really bad is in this house and I would like to get out alive."