The Pain Within (Sequel To 'Trapped Without You')

Mr. Thomas the Teddy Bear

After Lucy went to her room Lockwood and George simultaneously lost their appetites.

"Why did you think that was a good idea?" George asked.

"What do you want from me, George! Lucy, she almost killed herself George! And if she hadn't killed herself the Visitor would have killed her. What else was there for me to do, I could have done much worse you know. I could have fired her." Lockwood stood.

"I'm just protecting her. She's going to get killed and I can't let that happen. I can't let what happen to my family happen to Lucy!" Lockwood said goodnight to George and hurried to bed, he changed into his pajamas then reached into the back of his closet where he kept his biggest secret. Thomas.

Mr. Thomas the teddy bear was the one thing he'd never tell anyone about, he cuddled with Thomas when he had nightmares or when he felt sad or scared. Tonight he was sad and he knew he wouldn't sleep well. He laid under his cold blankets and held Thomas tight as his mind slipped into sleep.

He awoke as tired as when he went to bed, creeping up the stairs he peeked into Lucy's room to discover she was missing. He didn't think she'd be down at breakfast so early. He trotted down to the kitchen, the first thing he noticed was how dark it was out the window. Dark, almost black, storm clouds lay like blankets across the sky.

Second, the room was cold, unbearably cold, Lockwood pulled his robe tighter. The room was also empty, no George and no Lucy.

Confused Lockwood walked up the stairs to check both their rooms, then he jogged at a panicked rate down to the offices discovering it was also empty.

Lockwood ran back upstairs and checked the table cloth, notes were more often than not left there. Like always there were many random things jotted down but the one thing that stuck out to him most was a little drawing of the Thames Lucy had left, putting his hand on the cloth he realized the ink was still wet.

Without even putting on clothes he called a cab and rushed to the Thames as fast as he could get the driver to go. He practically fell out of the cab as he threw the door open, his feet squished black mud between his toes as he ran towards the river.

It wasn't long before he could see the silhouette of a girl in the darkness, getting closer he saw that she was ankle deep in the rushing water. Lockwood's chest tightened and breathing became difficult as he ran closer, exhaustion hit him like bricks. The closer he was the more he could see, he stopped feet away from the girl. Doubled over in pain he panted like an overworked dog.

Lockwood found his throat was too dry for him to yell to the girl, so he stood for a moment helplessly watching her, he could tell it was Lucy. There was no doubt about it, her short brown hair flying crazily in the wind, her favorite skirt wrapped around her legs, and she had on a tank top Lockwood had only seen her wear once on an extremely hot day. Today wasn't a hot day though, even in his thick pajamas and robe Lockwood was shivering.

Lockwood took off his robe though, he thought he'd put it on Lucy and take her home right away before she'd get sick. But then Lucy began walking deeper into the water, Lockwood tried to call to her, begging her to come home but his mouth wouldn't open. He tried to chase her but his feet had sunk into that tar-like mud and he couldn't move, so he watched with tear-filled eyes as Lucy went deeper and deeper.

She was neck deep when she turned around and faced him. Her eyes were dead, and her cheeks that were always flushed a cute 'Lucy pink' were now blue from the cold, and that Carlyle grin she wore when she was happy was now a frown Lockwood had only seen on dead people. Lockwood sobbed aloud, that look of utter misery bore into his hollow soul and ripped what tiny happiness Lucy gave him away. Then in a heart beat, Lucy was dragged under the water and gone forever.

Jolting up in bed Lockwood squeezed Thomas tight as he wiped sweat from his forehead. Lockwood had been having nightmares since he was young and had become mostly accustomed to them, however, this was one of those nightmares that he couldn't just forget. When he was younger he would rock himself back and forth until he fell back asleep but that no longer did the trick. Hugging Mr. Thomas, Lockwood got up and stumbled over to his door. Quietly he walked up to Lucy's room and waited at the door.

He wanted nothing more than to just see her, but she was probably mad at him for what he did earlier, so he sat outside for several minutes just staring at her door until he couldn't take it anymore. With tears trailing down his face he knocked on Lucy door.

Lucy had been awake for hours when there was a knock at her door, at first she wanted to scream go away but she heard sniffling, she could tell someone was crying. She half hoped it was George, she wasn't mad at George at the moment. Reluctantly she stood, fixed her pajamas and answered the door. She was more than shocked to see Lockwood standing there, hair messy, eyes red, and clutching a stuffed bear.

"Lockwood? What's going on?" Before she could even process the situation Lockwood was leaning down hugging her around the waist with his face buried in her shoulder. His stuffed bear's face awkwardly pressed into her chest, pinned there by Lockwood's hug.

"Lockwood are you okay? Here let's go sit on my bed." Lucy nudged the door shut with her foot and led Lockwood to her bed where they both sat down. Lucy brang her legs up onto the bed and sat with them crossed facing Lockwood.

"Can you please tell me what happened?" She asked once again, placing her hand on his arm. Lockwood's head turned and in the soft moonlight from Lucy's window they could see each other's faces. Looking at Lucy and how tired, worried, and hurt she was, with all those scars Lockwood couldn't help but choke up, he shook his head and fought back tears.

"Is there anything at all I can do to help?"

Lockwood took a deep breath and moved closer to Lucy, he leaned down and laid his head back onto her shoulder.

"I can do this," Lucy whispered putting her arms around Lockwood, she felt stiff at first. It was a strange thing to hug your boss who was always emotionally distant from everyone. After a few minutes, though she began to relax, she rubbed Lockwood's back with one hand the way a mum would to a scared child.

Lockwood smiled, he closed his eyes and sighed. Lucy's hands were so small and soft, having her rub his back like that was so comforting and relaxing. It wasn't too long until Lockwood fell back asleep. Lucy wouldn't have even known Lockwood had fallen asleep if it weren't for his snoring. Lucy had laughed aloud when she heard it. Lockwood was always the classy boy, Lucy never would have guessed that he snored.

She also never would have guessed he cried. Lucy yawned, now that she had no anger left to hang onto she was unbelievably tired. She pulled Lockwood onto her bed so he was laying next to her then laid down, Lockwood still had his head on her shoulder and Lucy had her arm around his shoulder. She pulled covers over both of them and fell asleep.