[ Glow ] ~ Anthony Lockwood x OC

XVI - Phantom Voices

"Wow. There's a lot of green!" George voiced as the team walked on the train station's overpass, the sound of a train going under them nearly drowning out his voice. 

"Never been outside of London before, George?" Lockwood questioned. 

"I visit my gran in Sidcup." 

"So no?" Daniel chuckled.

"Sidcup is in London." Lockwood added. 

"Well, then you have your answer. Doesn't look like I've missed much." George replied. 

"Well, you missed the green." Daniel snarked. 

"I can't believe we're going to Sir John Fairfax's house." Lockwood enthused, his tone airy and light. 

"You've got a real hard-on for him, haven't you?" Lucy smiled with her words. 

"Ugh- If you wanna put it like that. Y- He's succeeded in everything he's tried. Publishing, show business. Y'know, he didn't even start smelting until he was in his thirties. And now look at him." Lockwood started on his small rant, excitement in his otherwise normal tone. 

"Hmm." Lucy hummed, acknowledging his words. Daniel let out a snicker, shifting the weight of her kit bag so it was on her non-injured shoulder rather than in her hand. 

"And he came from nothing too."

"Nah, he's old money. And you have a massive house in central London." George said with a hint of a smile. 

"Well, mortgaged to the hilt, George. You know, I'm practically a serf." Lockwood said just as they stepped out the entrance of the station and down a set of white steps. 

"Welcome. I'm Ellie, Mr. Fairfax's assistant. This way, please." It was the same woman who'd brought them tea at Mr. Fairfax's office.

Daniel froze, her entire body getting hit with a shiver of awfully subtle pain like she'd gone into shock. "Locks. . ." She mumbled, watching her team go forward toward the red convertible. He didn't even hear her, he was too focused on the idea of John Fairfax to focus on Daniel's small voice.

"Is Sir John-" Lockwood started, only to be cut off by the woman with the familiar voice. That woman had a sword to Daniel's back only two days ago.

"He's waiting at the hall." Ellie responded. Daniel snapped herself out of her daze, running up to catch up with her team. Ellie opened up the trunk of the convertible for the teams' kit bags.

"Locks-" Her voice was panicked, but Anthony just shook his head.

"Not now, Dani. We've a job to get to." Lockwood brushed her off. Ellie took one of George's bags from him and plopped it into the trunk, groaning with her movements. "You okay?" Lockwood asked the woman as he pulled his rapier from his belt to toss it into the trunk with their stuff. 

"Old war wound." She returned. 

"You were an agent?" Lucy asked. 

"Lots of Mr. Fairfax's employees were." Ellie said just as she shut the trunk. "He's a good man to know when your talents fade. Wouldn't say he's kind, but he understands when people need a second chance. And he pays well. Hop in." Ellie got into the driver's seat. 

"Must we ride in this old wreck?" George asked though he had a large grin on his face as him, Lockwood and Lucy made their way toward the passenger side door of the car. 

"Lockw-" Daniel huffed, still stood behind the car. She needed ten seconds, ten seconds of his time. 

"You coming, Dans?" George tilted his head, nodding toward the open door. She groaned before walking over and getting into the spot next to him. Lockwood slid the passenger's seat back into place and hopped in too. 

The drive to Combe Carey didn't take long, leaving them arriving just before sundown. They all walked in together, admiring the medieval style castle-esk building as they made their way through the doors. Just in front of Daniel and George, Lucy stopped at the entrance of the building. What was she thinking- 

"What are you doing? Never hesitate on the threshold of a haunted house. That's rule number one." George huffed as he and Daniel walked inside. 

"Yeah, I don't know, I just. . ." Lucy trailed off, keeping her hand on the door and still not moving as she looked around. "thought I could hear something." 

"Lucy- You're gonna get us killed." Daniel mumbled, pushing further past the interaction to go follow Lockwood and Ellie. 

"Welcome to Combe Carey Hall." Mr. Fairfax said as he made his way into the room with the teens. "You're late. Now drop your bags and hurry up, please. The sun's going down." They did as told, leaving their bags by the door and continuing behind Mr. Fairfax. He led them into what looked to be a parlor room that was dusty as hell, you could see the filth in the air. 

"I can't figure this place out. Nothing's where it should be." George mused as he looked over his map.

"This is the gallery. The original priory was destroyed after the monks decided to commit mass suicide." Mr. Fairfax told them, no real emotion in his voice at the mention of the surplus of death that had occurred. "You had to make your own fun in those days." Lockwood gave a fake smile and nodded his chin at Mr. Fairfax. "The modern house was built on the ruins. So it's a bit of a Frankenstein." 

"Mr. Lockwood has broken the deal. He brought a bomb flare." Ellie called, walking in with said flare in her hand. Daniel shifted slightly on her feet, the extra weight in her shoe seeming ever so present. She wasn't an idiot, no flares would actually end with them dead. So she stuffed one just like the one Lockwood had apparently failed to hide in his bag, into her right shoe and a magnesium flare in the waistband of her leggings. It was hidden by the bottom of her coat and went unnoticed behind the baggy purple material.  

"Oh dear." Mr. Fairfax breathed out. "I asked Ellie to go through your bags." Of course he did. 

"You did what?" George questioned.

"Well, then you've broken the rules of the deal too, by searching out bags." Lockwood raised his tone at the end, pointing his words toward Mr. Fairfax's assistant. 

"As far as I recall, there's nothing in our agreement that prevents me making sure you won't burn my house down." He replied, staring Lockwood, who looked unimpressed, straight in the eye. "You do have form, after all. So let's call it quits. Well, time is ticking." Mr. Fairfax started toward the entrance to the room. "The sun's nearly down."

"What the hell did you bring that for? Apart from anything else, we've got way better flares." George whispered, coming in line with Lockwood and Daniel.

"Lockwood, can we talk now?" Daniel huffed. "Please?"

"We'll leave you to work." Mr. Fairfax reminded them of his presence, "It's a little late for us to be in this house safely. Through there, you'll find the Screaming Staircase." He pointed at a rather pleasant looking set of marble stairs that surely couldn't be the case they'd read about. "It'll take you round to the Red Room, which is the most likely site of the primary source. We'll be back in the morning. I trust you have everything you need to take it from here?" 

"I'm sure we'll be fine." Lockwood returned. 

"Good luck." Mr. Fairfax nodded, both him and his assistant leaving the room and the building entirely. 

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Word Count - 1,235

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Published - July 4, 2023

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