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❝ 01 , i won't tell george ❞

With every house they went to, Demi regretted her decision to join Lockwood & Co more and more. It wasn't necessarily because there was anything wrong with the company, per say, or even the work they did all through the night.

No, it was really because of Anthony Lockwood. He was an arrogant, stubborn and completely reckless fool. Yet, Demi couldn't bring herself to be mad at him for long. He had a way of winning her over and she wasn't really sure how he managed it every single time.

But she still wished that he would give George more time to research.

Like right now. They had done absolutely no research on the house which meant that they had to try and find the Source with absolutely zero indication on what it even could be. Demi didn't have the foggiest clue what they were about to walk into but Lockwood had read the forms that the couple had filled in and found that sufficient to walk into the home.

Typical Lockwood.

Demi didn't think it was the smartest move but she never bothered to argue with him. It would always be a fruitless endeavour since Lockwood walked into every scenario with enough gusto to convince even the most experienced agent that he knew what he was talking about - he very rarely did. It should have bothered her more but six months by his side meant it didn't.

There were no death-glows immediately evident when they stepped into the house and neither of them could hear a thing. Not that they were listeners anyway. Well, Demi could hear more than Lockwood but that wasn't exactly hard. Either way, there was absolutely nothing to immediately indicate the presence of a haunting. Instead, there was just creepy silence.

Everything felt fine. She gave a quick glance to the glowing temperature reader, it read 14 degrees which was about the right temperature for the time of night and time of year. So, she stuck it back in her pocket and used her torch to shine the path towards the door into the kitchen.

They had briefly checked each of the downstairs rooms but there hadn't really been anything that they immediately noticed. So, they took a moment to settle into the kitchen and put the kettle on, drink a cup of tea while going through the notes before they went to work.

Demi had her jacket pulled over her shoulders, salt bombs buried in the pockets and her work belt around her waist. It held the flashlight, temperature gauge, greek fire, among other tools. Based on the couple's form, it didn't seem like she would have to use most of it but they would always rather be safe than sorry.

Once they were both ready, the pair headed out of the kitchen. Demi could still taste the tea which fought off the sudden horrible taste in her mouth. That was definitely indicative of a haunting so it seemed that the spirits had come out to play.

The pair creeped into the living room, nothing seemed different. She couldn't feel anything and Anthony couldn't see anything. And when Demi once again checked the temperature gauge there was no change. Not even a small drop in temperature which she thought was strange..

They continued through the next few rooms downstairs before they gave each other knowing looks. The ghosts always seemed to be on the second floor. So, they creeped towards the staircase and slowly walked up. The horrible taste only seemed to get worse and Lockwood reached into his pocket, pulling out a pack of chewing gum. He slipped one into his mouth and offered the pack to Demi. She took the mint gum and dropped it onto her tongue.

The taste was overpowering but she was glad. The nausea seemed to settle as she pulled the thermometer out of her belt. She held the temperature gauge in her left hand while the torch stayed firmly in her right, shining ahead on the stairs as they climbed up. The temperature was slowly dropping and by the time they reached the hallway it was around 11 degrees.

"You sensing anything?" Anthony asked from his position behind her. Demi shook her head and she walked slowly down the hall. The floorboards were creaking beneath her feet but she tried to ignore it. The more scared she felt, the more powerful the Visitor would be and if they were going to get out of this, she needed to keep calm.

"Do you want to split up?" She asked, keeping her voice low. Anthony looked around, shining his torch across the five doors in the hall and contemplated it. It was always a risk to split up but they would get the job done quicker if they split up. George wasn't here either and so they both wanted to get home to him.

"Shout me if you feel anything," He clearly emphasised the last word. And he shone his torch at Demi to see her nod her head in agreement. A soft sigh escaped her lips and they each took a side of the hall.

The first door that Demi opened was a bedroom but as she shone her torch around and checked the temperature reader, it didn't seem like the epicentre of the haunting. The temperature was going back up. But when she brushed her hand against the wall, there were some psychic traces.

Though, that always seemed to be the case with older houses. There was nothing horrible, just sounds of laughter and lives long past. Visitors usually had a more horrifying effect. This room was completely normal.

Once she cleared the first room, she nudged open the second door on her side of the hall and that was a bathroom. She shone her light around but there was nothing in there and when she checked the temperature, it was steady.

So, she pulled the door to a close and turned around. Anthony had propped one of the doors open and she could see him moving cautiously around the room. He seemed to be watching something on the floor, observing and Demi watched for a moment before she turned to the last door. She knew that Lockwood would shout if he had seen anything interesting.

Demi took a deep breath, soothing her anxious nerves as she gently twisted the handle to the last door open. It wouldn't open, she furrowed her eyebrows and twisted again.

It was locked.

"Typical," She muttered softly under her breath. She twisted the door knob once more and swore she heard a click. So, decided to shove her body weight against the door to try and force it open in case it was stuck but it didn't budge.

"Lockwood," She called out cautiously. He was walking out of the last room and when she glanced back, he could clearly see her frown, "The door is locked or jammed." It was a blunt statement and Lockwood's eyes narrowed.

"Now that is certainly suspicious," He responded, letting his torch drop as he walked over to join her side. He twisted the handle just as she had but even with their combined weight, it didn't move. It had to be locked, "Good job I had these on hand then," He said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Demi looked up at him, shining her torch towards him so she could see his face. A smirk grew on his lips as he dug his hand into the pocket of his trousers and gently nudged Demi away from the door..

"Did you find anything?" He asked, nonchalantly as if he wasn't picking a lock to a room that they had no right to enter.

"Just the normal psychic traces," She responded as she leant back against the wall. Demi wanted to be annoyed at him for picking the lock but it made sense. They had been hired to check the entire house and cast out any spirits. They couldn't exactly do that when they were locked out of one of the rooms, "You?" She asked after a beat.

"There was a death-glow," He said as he knelt down slightly to get a better angle at the lock, "But seemed too old to be causing a haunting." Demi let out a noise of acknowledgement, chewing on her gum before the door clicked open. He had managed to pick the lock.

"If we get bollocked for this, you're taking all the blame," Demi grumbled. Anthony chuckled and glanced at her, getting back to his feet

"It's my company, I'm always taking the blame." There was almost something teasing about the way he said it but Demi ignored him. He pushed the door open and the two of them came face to-face with an office. It was a relatively clean place. Two desks pushed underneath the windows. One held a typewriter and the other a stack of jumbled papers.

Lockwood switched his torch back on and shone it around the room. There was something so suave about him as he surveyed but Demi ignored him and her simmering adoration for him. It was easy to ignore especially after stepping over the threshold and there was a sudden temperature drop. That was only confirmed by the temperature gauge showing a drop to nearly 4 degrees. As she stepped further into the room, she felt it. The psychic charge of the Source, she could sense it.

"It's in here." Demi stated. There was no questioning that tone. Lockwood knew that it meant she was sure so he nodded his head. The two of them surveyed the room and tried to decide the best places to start. The office seemed relatively neat but the bookshelves were covered in books and trinkets. Any number of them could have some significance.

The two looked around, trying to decide where to start when suddenly, footsteps began in the hallway. Demi's eyes widened and her head snapped to the door but her view was blocked by Lockwood who had stepped towards her, his arm hovering to protect her.

The Visitor was in the doorway. It was an old man, his entire figure was wispy and white. He didn't even acknowledge the two stood in the room. He simply walked in and opened his mouth but no words came out and then he disappeared. There was a moment of silence before he appeared again back in the hallway. Anthony's arm dropped from where it had moved to protect Demi and they both turned to the room.

"Take the left side, I'll take the right. If anything calls out to you, take it." The orders were quick and the pair got to work. The ghost was of no threat to anyone human. Demi could feel the sadness radiating off the gentleman. He was a Shades. Type One. The frown began to spread across her face against her will and by the time she had gone over the bookshelves on her side of the room, the immense grief radiating off the ghost had begun to cling to her chest.

"Ignore it." Anthony could tell it was bothering her as he glanced over. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes as she shone the torch along the bookshelves. Taking a deep breath, she nodded along to Lockwood's words and walked from the bookshelves to the desk on the left. She pulled open a drawer and that was when she felt it.

Her finger pressed against the drawer and she could feel the psychic energy.

"It's in here," Demi said as she glanced over at Lockwood. He pulled away from the bookshelves and walked over to her. The two of them emptied out the drawer and looked across the pile of junk. None of it seemed like it would be significant enough to be a Source.

But then Demi picked up a capsule of old film reel and it was freezing to the touch. She nearly dropped it, not expecting it but managed to keep a hold of it. A frown spread across her face, somehow the feeling of grief in her chest deepened.

"It's this," She mumbled. Her voice had softened significantly. She could hear the voice of the man and the last words he had spoken to who he loved. The sobs of the old man that was still haunting the living world in hopes that he would find his lost love were somehow louder in her head than they were before.

Demi tried to push away the feeling of grief but it was hard. Only Lockwood's hand on hers brought her back to reality and the images of the man and his lover that flashed through her mind in a film reel.

He had pulled out an iron chain bag, his rapier scraping against the floor as she forced herself to place the film reel back inside. The Shades disappeared and the grief seemed to let up and she sighed. Her head fell forward.

"You feeling okay?" Lockwood asked. Demi nodded, forcing a smile onto her face as Lockwood got to his feet. He pocketed the iron chain bag and held out his hand to help her climb back to her feet. With one last look at where the Shades had been, they headed downstairs.

And they were done. Demi was glad that it was over and the last few tendrils of the Shades grief were disappearing leaving Demi feeling lighter than she had been. Lockwood placed the Source carefully into his bag and then filled up the kettle before clicking it on. Demi sat in a seat at the wooden table and picked up a biscuit. She went to nibble on it but Anthony gave her a look which made her raise an eyebrow.

"Sorry," She mumbled and placed the biscuit down. Lockwood shrugged it off. He didn't really care all that much about the biscuit rule. Well, not as much as George. Plus, he knew that Demi deserved a biscuit.

"I won't tell George," He said and so she took that as her cue to take a bite out of the ginger nut. All the ginger nut biscuits had been laid out for her anyway. Nobody else in the company really liked them so she thought the biscuit rule was stupid for her. Not that she would have said anything to George who would have been incredibly offended at the prospect.

"How long till sun-up?" Demi asked curiously as she placed the ginger-nut down on the edge of the biscuit plate. Lockwood glanced over at the clock.

"A while. Do you want to get a night cab home?" He asked. The brunette rolled her shoulders before she picked up her ginger-nut. She let out a hum in response and the kettle clicked off. He poured them both a cup of tea and he brought it over to the table, placing Demi's in front of her. She put two sugar cubes in and wrapped her hands around the mug.

"Drink this and then go?" Demi asked. Lockwood nodded and she smiled happily. The pair stayed in relative silence as they drank their tea. They didn't have much to talk about and he could see how the exhaustion had settled into Demi's bones.

When they were actively searching, there was usually adrenaline pumping through her system but now that it was done and they had secured the source, she fell to lethargy. Demi was never all that good at staying up all night and the grief from the Shades had drained her emotional energy. All she wanted to do was crawl back into bed.

But once they'd finished their tea, they called for a night cab and talked back and forth a little about the Source and the man before they got home. Lockwood opened the door, trying to be as quiet as possible so they didn't disturb George - who was meant to be asleep. Demi closed the door and dropped her rapier into the holder by the front door. Lockwood had already gone down to the kitchen and when Demi walked down, he had poured her a glass of water that she could take upstairs to bed with her. She fought back the smile on her face. She always found it so sweet when he did that.

"Night, Locky," She mumbled. Her whole body felt weighed down as she picked up the glass. He sent her a soft smile before he returned to searching the cupboards for a midnight snack. Demi headed upstairs but before she could get to her room, she came face-to-face with George. A scream nearly passed her lips but she managed to stop herself.

"Did you get the Source?" George asked, completely unphased by Demi's terror. She nodded her head, pushing a smile onto her face.

"Secured and downstairs. It was only a Shades," Demi explained. The pair heard another set of footsteps heading up the stairs and Lockwood appeared. He was holding a bag of Frazzles and seemed surprised to see George awake.

"A Shades? Is that it?" George asked. Demi nodded and she glanced at Lockwood. Her eyes were begging for him to deal with the boy while she got some rest. Lockwood simply nodded and Demi sent the two boys a smile, telling them goodnight before she went up the stairs. George seemed slightly disgruntled by her disappearance but he didn't say anything to her face.

Instead, Demi got to her room without any issues and she placed her glass on her bedside table. She loved her room. Posters plastered to the wall and a mess of electronic parts cluttered on her desk beside her newest project. Her bed was comfy. A million throw pillows that she kicked off the bed during the night and a fluffy massive teddy bear that she snuggled up to. Her duvet hung over the edge of the bed that was positioned just by the door. Once the door was closed, she stripped off before she dropped into bed. Her bedside lamp was left on to keep the darkness at bay and her door was cracked open a little to let the 'monsters' out. It also meant that the quiet conversation of George and Lockwood in Lockwood's room lulled her into a peaceful sleep.

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