On the Edge of Insanity

Price? Part 1

Lucy's P.O.V

"WHAT!?" I exploded. "When were you going to tell me this?!"

Lockwood looked entirely unapologetic. "Lucy, calm down."

"Calm down? You want me to CALM DOWN!? You bloody—you—"

For the next hour, I ranted about his irresponsibility, how he shouldn't have kept it from me until then, and how he didn't deserve to be the leader and how very disappointed I was in his social skills, seeing as to how I had SPECIFICALLY asked for time for George to do research in the Archives.

The leader part I didn't really mean, but he really should have told me. I would have put up a better argument.

And that's something.

About halfway through the rant, George leaned over to Lockwood and whispered something in his ear. Lockwood sighed, and then held up his hands in surrender. "Lucy, okay, I admit it, I should have told you. Can you please stop yelling? My ears feel like they're bleeding."

I scowled at him. "Fine."

Then he did the weirdest thing. He leaned over to George and murmured something to him, sounding nervous. George whispered fiercely at him and poked him in the ribs.

Lockwood turned back to me and fidgeted nervously with his shirt collar. "Well... what... what's..."

"JUST GET ON WITH IT ALREADY, LOCKWOOD," I snapped at him, irritated.

"UmwellLucycouldyounameyourprice?!"

I blinked at him. "What?"

He sighed. "Name your price. We're going, whether you like it or not, so name your price for going!"

I cocked my head. "Hmm... that's a tri-wait nope!"

I crossed my arms over my chest and smirked.

Lockwood gulped.

"I challenge you...

"To a game of Truth Or Dare."

~twenty minutes later...~

"Okay, everyone get over here!" I call. "Time to play!" I stand and wait as George and Lockwood make their way to the rug. Holly and the skull's ghost are already here, having helped me buy the rug earlier. Well, Holly helped buy it. The skull just patterned it with a flowery display of ectoplasm burns. And carried it inside.

I sit down and cross my arms over my chest. "Alright. Who's going first?"

"Me!" the skull speaks immediately. "George, truth... or dare?"

"George, truth or dare?" I translate.

He considers.

"From the skull," I add. "Not me."

"Ah. well, in that case, dare." He sees me staring at him and throws up his hands. "What? It can't be that bad, and besides, I shudder to think what kind of truth that would be imagined by that foul thing." he gestures at the ghost, who lifts a hand casually, and suddenly a spirit-wind blows George's hand up and makes it smack him in the face.

The skull cackles gleefully. "Hmm... I've got it! I dare you to play a live-action game of human chess with Lockwood, there. Live-action meaning using rapiers, with ghosts as the other players! Don't worry, I can keep them from killing you"-the plasm flickers momentarily-"permanently."

I stare at him, wide-eyed, before conveying his words to the others.

Lockwood shakes his head. "We'll do that after this round. Holly, your turn."

Holly smiles. "Lockwood, truth or dare?"

He rolls his eyes at her. "Dare."

Holly tosses her hair. "I dare you to imitate Lucy, accurately, without making her mad."

Lockwood looks at me, and then at Holly again. "Uhm... What happens if I do make her mad?" 

Holly smirks. "Well... That's up to Lucy, isn't it?"

Lockwood pales. Then he glances around. "Lucy! Truth or dare?"

I swallow. "Truth."

"Have you ever been traumatized, from what, and will you do therapy for it?"

I stutter, "I-I well-I-"

"Lucy," Lockwood interrupts, "you can talk to us. We're here for you." He looks at me with his big, dark eyes.

I'm currently doing research on what happened to her. The sequence of events was actually very different than I previously wrote it, and it differs from the Canon timeline as well.