Lockwood And Co. The Queen's Spirit

Chapter 10

"So both times, it was a woman. The puzzling thing is that they manifested at the same time. What if we're dealing with not one but two spirits?" Lockwood declared.

"Well, considering the fact that two women died in this mansion, I doubt that surprises anyone." Lockwood continued. "But what exactly could their sources be?" he wondered out loud.

"I really don't know, but I have a feeling it lies in the attic. It's 10:30 PM now. Should we regroup and have a meeting?" Kipps suggested.

"Yes, I do think we should do that. Let's all go meet George in the basement, head up to the kitchen and make ourselves cups of tea and hot cocoa." Lockwood announced, making his way downstairs to George.

"George? We're all regrouping. Come on up to the kitchen." I called.

"Coming." came a reply from the murky depths of the basement. George emerged from the dark room with a torchlight, holding a half- finished bar of chocolate.

I made the tea while George made cocoa. Holly took out a box of jam cookies and we all stuffed our faces.

"Phew. Today was crazy. Lisa disappeared, two ghosts manifested and disappeared and everyone is freaked out about the curse of Queen Amberly. None of it makes sense." George remarked after we filled him in on everything. Suddenly, I heard a sound. No, not a sound but more like a faint memory. A tinkling laugh, and then a scream of terror.

"Lucy? Lucy? Are you alright?" Holly shook me.

"U-Uh, yes..." I whispered feebly. "It's just, I heard a laugh and then a scream that knocked the breath out of me. Didn't you guys?" I asked. No, of course they didn't. Listening is my Talent. I can hear psychical sounds. I'm the only one who can hear them which is why I'm the only one who can communicate with the ghost in the jar. But that's not my only Talent.

"It's the ghost. It's playing tricks on us, recollecting its past. Trying to scare us. But honestly, we've faced worse. This thing isn't going to get the best of us." Lockwood placed his hand on mine and gave me a reassuring smile. I couldn't quite focus for the rest of the conversation. Lockwood never did take his hand off mine.

"Right then." I faintly heard. "Time to tackle the attic." Lockwood took away his hand. For some reason, I wanted him to keep holding my hand. But he grabbed his rapier. His smile gleamed in the dark at us.

The way to the attic is a long one. The old house, though large, didn't have an elevator installed which meant we had to climb all the way up the cold, marble stairs to the fourth floor. At the end of that, situated on the bottom of the landing was a set of wooden spiral stairs that lead to the attic. At long last we reached the end of the passageway. Staring right at me, was the painting of the ship glowing in the dark with its raging hues of blue. I didn't quite get why I was so intrigued by it.

"So, who wants to go up first?" Lockwood asked, breaking my thoughts. Everyone looked at him.

"Alright. Me first then. Lucy, follow me. Then, Holly, George and Kipps. And no matter what you do, don't linger." and on that dark note, he lead the way. The stairs gave me a headache. They kept spiralling up in a circle of never ending hues of brown so that all the steps looked the same. Finally, we reached the top. Standing in front of us was a brown door.

"On three. One. Two. Three." Lockwood pushed the door open swiftly. Inside, waiting for us was...nothing. There was nothing on the inside. Atleast nothing psychic. The attic was covered in a lush, blood red carpet. On the right was an enormous closet. The windows were covered with lilac curtains and a pot of withered roses sat on the window ledge. A shelf with around fifty books was beside it and a grand piano finished the scene. We all stared in awe at the piano. It was made out of mahogany wood and beautiful polished keys.

"Ouch. Hey, watch where your big paws are stepping, Cubbins." Kipps remarked, annoyed.

"Paws? Kipps, I thought you were dumb. But you just keep surprising me." George retorted.

"Dumb? You're the one who could barely fit through the door. I'm surprised you have space for a brain in there."

"Hey, atleast I have one. You on the other hand, not so lucky."

"Guys, maybe you should stop arguing--" Holly started but was cut off by another remark from Kipps.

"What good is a brain if it needs new brain cells?" he cried.

Suddenly, the piano started playing.

**Author's Note**

Hello! Yes, I didn't disappear into oblivion yay!!! I'm gonna stop apologizing for how long it's taking me to write a new chapter and honestly, I did not expect that I was this lazy. But I'll try...ehehehe BTW so close to 1K views! I'm so happy :) Of course, that doesn't matter too much to me but hey, it still makes me happy. Hopefully, I din't jinx it...especially considering this story is about ghosts. Ok...I'll stop now. I know I'm being cringy.

Anyway, thank you sooo very much on the votes @izzytwentythree I rly appreciate it :)

--Blue