Haunted: A Lockwood & Co Story

Chapter Six: Relic Girl

By the time that Lockwood and Charlotte had reached their location, night had fallen and the ghost lamps had flickered on. The green lights gave little light but it was enough to get them by. Lockwood had led them to the Thames. They had spent most of the trip in silence but it wasn't awkward. It felt natural. Lockwood led the blonde girl down the steps to the rocky shore of the river.

"I hope they still work this patch. It's been a while." Lockwood said to the girl. She looked up at him confused.

"Who? The relic men? Don't you think they'll be in hiding, what with Fittes all over town?" Charlotte asked the boy. She had her arms crossed over her chest, keeping her jacket closed. There was a cool wind that had started the closer they got to the river. Charlotte kept her eyes focused on the rocky beach in order to make sure she didn't trip over.

"Probably. This one's a bit different, though." Lockwood told her.

"What? Not an evil, thieving bastard?" she catechized. When she had been in Brighton, she and Felicity had come across a pair of relic men that had nearly killed the two girls and now she was most definitely not a fan of them. Lockwood held out a hand and stopped her.

"Hey, we badly need her help, so just... try and be nice, yeah?" He asked her. She gave him a look as he started walking away.

"When am I not nice? I am a perfect lady." She said as she heard him laugh at her response. "Wait. Did you say her?"

Lockwood nodded but kept walking. Charlotte gasped as she heard an echoing groan run through her head. She turned around but couldn't see anything. The groan turned into a moaning.

"Lockwood? Did you hear that?" She asked, but he was already too far ahead and didn't hear her. There was an echoing of a baby crying. Surely someone had not left a baby out here. It was getting cold and the baby would surely die. Charlotte's eyes scanned the dark shore before they came across the glowing apparition of a baby ghost. She let out a sigh of relief when she realised the baby wasn't actually alive, but her heart sunk when she realised that there was a baby ghost. She stepped closer to the baby, crouching down to get a better look at it. It looked like it had only been alive a few days, a week at most, before it had died. The baby gurgled as she watched it.

"Oh you poor thing. " Charlotte muttered. The baby then started crying again. "Who left you out here?"

As Charlotte watched the baby, it suddenly screeched, teeth sharp. Charlotte screamed out at the sudden and loud noise, jumping back. Her heart was racing. As soon as the baby had stopped it's high pitched screaming, a new screeching started. Down by the docks, a woman had appeared. She was dressed in a Victorian era style dress and looked Charlotte directly in the eye. The ghost was still screaming and it had caught Lockwood's attention. He spun around to see Charlotte, fear on her face, standing still as the ghost started to fly towards her.

"RUN!" He shouted at her. Charlotte quickly started running towards where Lockwood was now starting to run to her, as the ghost started chasing after her.

"Cold maiden!" She shouted as she ran. Charlotte looked back to see that the Cold Maiden was getting closer, before turning back to Lockwood. "Lockwood!"

She looked back once more, but in taking her eyes off the ground, she missed the big rock that was sticking out of the ground. Charlotte's foot caught on the rock, causing her to tumble to the ground. She yelped as she fell to the floor. She tried to push herself back as the woman got closer.
"Charlotte!" She heard Lockwood yell. Charlotte tried to pull her rapier out of its place on her waist, but it kept getting stuck every time she tried to pull it out. The cold maiden was now directly above her and Charlotte closed her eyes, waiting. But the ghost's screech died on the wind and the light that came with a visitor, disappeared. Charlotte opened her eyes, chest heaving. There was a skidding next to her as Lockwood finally reached her. Lockwood reached down and helped her up. He pushed the loose hair out of her face, as he held onto her cheeks. Charlotte's hands flew to his coat jacket as she kept herself steady.
"Are you okay?" He asked, looking into her eyes. His eyes were wide in a panic and they relaxed when Charlotte nodded.
"I'm okay. It was just scary. I'm okay." She assured him. His hands fell from their place on her cheeks, to holding onto her arms. Charlotte turned to look at where the ghost had been. "What happened? Where did she go?"