Lockwood And Co. The Queen's Spirit

Chapter 3

"There was a lot to do if I was going to get ready for tomorrow's case."

The next day came very fast. George had come back from the archives today at around midnight, looking more disheveled than ever. There was a time when his slouching demeanor and baggy clothes, ruffled hair and sloppy glasses disturbed me to no ends. There was something about the way he stares at you with no expression in his face that makes you want to hit him on his head with a spade. Now, I feel like hitting him on the head with a teapot. You know, it would hurt him a little less than a spade.

I got up from my bed, stretched and yawned, scratching my lower back. My arms felt like lead from too much practice with the rapier yesterday. There was a conversation I had with Lockwood yesterday that was weighing on my mind. It was nothing special but still, it got my heart fluttering every time I think about it. No matter how much I tried, I can't stop going back to it. Even now.

"Oh! Hi, Lockwood. You're practicing as well, I see." I made my way towards Esmeralda while Lockwood crushed Joe with his rapier. And suddenly I stopped short. Lockwood was practicing alright. Sweat glistened on his forehead and his Tee hugged his skinny frame. Wait a minute! Tee? God. Lockwood was in a T- shirt.That wasn't even the most weird thing. He was also wearing cotton pants! Cotton pants?! 

"And...what's wrong with your outfit? What happened to the formal attire you usually wear?" I asked, completely baffled. 

"Hey, Luce. Er...these help me fight better, you see? My formal wear, well, it's hot and stuffy and I prefer this while fighting. Though, I'd like it if you kept it a secret from George. Remember what happened after we disguised ourselves as tourists when we went to see the Winkmans? George couldn't focus on what I was saying because I was wearing shorts!" 

"Uh...Hmm...Should I or should I not tell him? I don't know Lockwood. This just might make the morning news!" I teased, still not used to seeing him in normal clothes. 

"You better not! Or..." Lockwood took a step closer to me. 

"You..." Another step. I slowly started inching back. 

"Are so..." Two more. I scrambled towards the wall. 

"Going to..." Lockwood was really close to me now. My back touched the wall and I had nowhere else left to go. 

"Regret  it." Lockwood whispered quietly in my ear.  He was so close that I could smell his familiar scent of lavender and newly washed clothes mixed with sweat. I could hear my heart thumping in my chest. My palms were glued to the wall and my legs were bent inwards. My heart was so loud, I'd be surprised if the skull in the jar, upstairs in the kitchen, couldn't hear it! Then, Lockwood started laughing. 

"Luce. You should see the look on your face! Its priceless!" he chuckled. Then he gave me his warmest grin. "I hope you won't tell George! Now, how about some rapier practice?" he added.

"You threaten me again, I won't...I won't...um...I shan't...well, it won't be pretty!" I retorted, blushing a bright red hue. 

"Yes, Ms. Carlyle. Now, shall we?" he asked, gesturing to the straw dummies. We practiced for quite a long time and didn't say a word to each other until it was time to say 'good night'. 

I reached out to my closet and dressed in 30 seconds flat. I didn't have time to dwell on things of such little importance. I headed downstairs from the attic where I slept, to the kitchen. Holly and Lockwood were already up, chatting and laughing together. Though I said Holly bothers me no more, which is true, I couldn't help but feel a twinge in my chest, looking at them smiling so happily together.

"You can still kill her, you know." The skull was sitting on a window ledge next to where I was standing.

"I shall do nothing of that sort so you better stop pestering me." I picked up the jar and stared at the gruesome face materializing in the jar.

"Come on, just a little bit of killing? Perhaps throwing a pot over her head?"

"Definitely not! Now, shut up."

"Hey, wait! Perhaps skewer her with a knife? Lucy? Don't--" I quickly closed the lever on the jar and hurried off. The green foam inside was making all sorts of barf-worthy faces so I covered it with a cloth.

"There. All better." I whispered to it.

"Hello Lucy! Good Morning. Would you like some toast or waffles?" asked Holly. She was the perfect example of the "ideal" girl--one that every school teacher would love. Holly's teeth gleamed white and her clothes were free of a single mark, even more so than usual. She had changed up her look today though. She had straightened her hair and made an effort to curl it at the ends. Her fingernails were painted a deep shade of blue and she wore a woolly cardigan over baggy jeans and camisole.

"New look today, huh?" I asked her, surprised by the weird changes in clothing going on all around the house. Did we have a fashion ghost in our house? Perhaps it was whispering in everyone's heads?

"Yes. I just realized how practical jeans are compared to a dress." she said  with a neutral expression, pouring some orange juice into a glass.

"The fact that Mrs. Ravensdale's niece is the famous Lisa has nothing to do with it?" Lockwood grinned a teasing smile at Holly. She looked down at her toast and blushed.

"Lisa? The famous fashion designer? Oh! I see. You want to impress her with your outfit." I looked at Holly, surprised. I didn't know she was into fashion so much.

"Well, I wouldn't say impress but more like I want her to notice my outfit. I do like Lisa's clothes so much." Holly looked back at me, eyes sparkling.

"Oh look! There's George. Good Morning George." Lockwood said.

"Yea, morning." grunted George. He looked like he had stayed up all night, but then he always looks like that so you never know.

"So, what did you discover at the Archives?' I inquired.

"Quite a lot, as you will see. Okay. Now, as we all know, the place of the haunting is at Ravensdale Manor, Masons Avenue. Digging into its past was a very easy task but this story has an unanswered question in the end." George started. Unanswered question? What could it possibly be? 

"This particular manor was built in the 1990's by Arthur Ravensdale. He was a very rich businessman who had owned the fashion company Raven's Charm. He was a man who valued solitude but was cursed with two sisters. He never really liked them and kept his distance from them. But he was a charming person when he wanted to be and so weaseled his way into fame. His company is still big in the fashion industry and is now run by Fiona Ravensdale." George took a bite of his waffle before continuing.

"Before the company's success, Arthur had an argument with his sister, Morgana. It was quite a heated argument and they were almost at their throats if it weren't for the security. As you can imagine, this became quite a scandal for the society back then. The next day, Morgana was found dead in the attic. There is no proof that Arthur was the one who killed his sister but..." George's voice trailed off.

"Now, the other sister.." George looked down at his notes.
"Guinevere. Yes, Guinevere. She became the company's head after her brother died in a mysterious car accident. He was on his way to the office for an important meeting with a client when a truck came out of nowhere and crashed right into him." he finished on this dark note, putting some jam on his toast.

All four of us were silent for a few moments. "Ominous. Quite an ominous tale indeed." Lockwood said, breaking the silence engulfing us and stared off into space with a solemn expression on his face. Then a grin returned and he beamed down at us. "That's quite a mystery, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yes, but are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked.

"Hmm...Depends on what you're thinking. What are you thinking?" Lockwood asked.

"Guinevere is the murderer." I declared.  
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--Blue