━━ CHAPTER SEVENTEEN / perfume
episode two, part six.

The sun shone brightly on Demi and her goggles rested over her eyes as she fiddled with her newest prototype. The tall window's chiffon curtains had been pulled back and the midday sun was warming her back but her body left the table in front of her in shadow, just how she wanted it. The iron always reflected into her eyes if she wasn't in shadow.

But it was fine right now and the sun was helping lessen her back ache. The warmth seemed to distract her mind from the sensation and the painkillers she had taken probably did too. When she had first heard the others come back, they talked briefly before she headed back upstairs with a fresh glass of water and two ibuprofen.

And now she was tinkering, working on a new prototype. She hadn't even got to test the last few but they didn't even seem to work how they should meaning it would have been pointless. So, she was trying again and just hoping that she got it right.

The boxes that filled the space under her bed were filled with failed prototypes that she hoped she'd be able to reuse at some point. But it didn't seem like she would. They were all varying degrees of burnt or exploded or just moulded into a shape that would be more pain than it was worth to undo. Which meant that for now they would stay hidden underneath the cream duvet that hung off the edge of her bed.

"Demi?" Lucy asked as she gently knocked on the door. The brunette's head lifted from her work and she turned to look at the door. It was ajar - how she liked it - and it gently nudged open a little further at Lucy's touch.

"Everything okay?" Demi asked as she pushed the goggles up onto her forehead. The red lines that the goggles had left under her eyes were prominent but Lucy didn't even notice them as she stepped fully into the room. She pushed the door ajar again and dropped onto the edge of Demi's bed. From the look on her face alone, Demi knew that something was wrong. She pulled the goggles completely off and dropped them beside the plastic cylinder before she swivelled around on the chair to face her, "What happened?" Lucy let out a frustrated sigh.

"They're being dickheads." It was blunt and not entirely unsurprising. Demi grabbed a bobble from the side and tied her hair up into a ponytail before she got off the chair. She walked past her monstera plant at the foot of her bed to drop on the bed beside Lucy.

"What did they say?" Demi asked. Lucy ran her fingers across her face before she turned completely on her side, crossing her legs as she faced Demi.

"Lockwood went on TV," Lucy began and Demi's face morphed from confusion to annoyance in a second. She could already imagine where this was going, "And I asked him to keep my name out of everything. Stuff happened back home and I didn't- I don't like people talking about me. He went on about how talented I am because he wants the publicity for the stupid Annabel case. And he just-" Lucy was finding it hard to put her annoyance into words. It was morphing into hurt and the word asset seemed to swirl around her mind in a dizzying hurricane.

"He's an arsehole sometimes. He doesn't even realise he's doing it until he's gone too far," Demi began but the look on Lucy's face indicated that she had something more to say. So, Demi shuffled and turned around to face the girl. Her back ached with the movement but she was facing Lucy properly now. One leg over the edge of the bed and the other crossed in front of them.

"Am I just an asset to him?" Lucy asked, the frown spreading across her face. Demi's jaw dropped and she turned her head slightly, not quite believing what she was hearing, "He called me his biggest asset and then George apparently wanted me fired. If I'm not wanted here, I'll leave." Demi scoffed and shook her head vehemently.

"I want you here, Lucy," Demi's words were probably the most honest she'd been over the past few days. Having another girl was so much better, it made her feel not so alone and Lucy was so kind. She was talented and just lovely, a little awkward and unsure of her place at times but probably the best person Lockwood could have hired.

"But if they don't-" Lucy began but Demi was quick to cut her off, "They do. George doesn't like change, it takes him a while to adjust to your presence. He didn't like me for the first month and he doesn't exactly... understand social cues. Lockwood's an idiot. He says things he doesn't mean or uses the wrong words more times than he uses the right ones. If they didn't want you here, you wouldn't be here. They're selective with who they choose to keep close." Lucy's face seemed to fill with relief and she nodded her head. Demi smiled and glanced back at her project. It was in full sun now and the glass shards mixed with the magnesium and salt were glittering in the midday sun.

"How long have you been here?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Six months, give or take. It all kind of blurs into one," Demi said as she turned back to Lucy. Her movements were all careful. She didn't want to cause herself any more unnecessary pain.

"Did you know them at Fittes?" Demi shook her head and she looked down at her lap, "How did you get here?"

"Please don't laugh," Demi said softly in response and Lucy raised an eyebrow, "I ran away from my parents after quitting Fittes and I had a breakdown in a park. Lockwood was coming back from - honestly I don't even know what - and he saved me from these Stalkers before offering me a place to sleep as I just sobbed about how shit I felt." It was such an odd way to meet but Lockwood had taken a liking to her when she was at her worst. It made her feel valued, cared for, for the first time in such a long time.

"Have you liked him since you met him?" The question completely caught Demi off guard and she sort of stared for a moment. Unsure how to react, what to say before she cleared her throat and shrugged her shoulders. She didn't think she had been all that obvious but maybe not.

"I don't really know when it started," She admitted softly. Lucy nodded and she glanced back at the door that was still ajar. Then she pushed her fingers through her hair and let them rest behind her on the bed. She leant back and Demi watched her for a few beats, "It's not like it matters anyway. It'll never happen." Demi slid off the bed and walked back over to her desk, dropping down on it. She picked up the goggles and fiddled with them before she looked back at Lucy who had her head tilted slightly.

"You never know." The small shrug to her words made Demi roll her eyes before she put her goggles on. And the two girls seemed to fall into a comfortable silence until Lucy asked if she could put a vinyl on. Which then led to the two listening to Out of the Blue by the Electric Light Orchestra on Demi's vinyl player that usually was left collecting dust on top of her wardrobe.

Lucy had placed it on the bedside table and plugged it in before putting the vinyl on and the two listened quietly. Demi hummed along to the songs and Lucy watched on as she tinkered, the conversation was sparse but it was comfortable as Lucy flicked through the various books and manuals that Demi had collected and were cluttered on the shelf hidden behind the door.

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As the day came to a close, Lucy eventually had to leave. Her and Lockwood were heading to DEPRAC headquarters to meet with Barnes which left Demi and George alone in the house. When she had gone down to make dinner, he had explained everything they had found out about Annabel at the Archives.

The most important thing was that she was a rising star in the West End, all set for Hollywood and she had likely been killed by Hugo Blake who was her rumoured lover. There was some other information about Annabel playing Ophelia in Hamlet and that's why Lucy had taken a bath in all her clothes and other little bits about Annabel's life but nothing that was overly significant. All the information seemed to point towards Hugo Blake as the killer which meant that they had a suspect and a pretty credible one.

But they had to wait until Lucy and Lockwood were back before they could do anything more so Demi headed back up to her room to lie down for a little bit. And she had managed to fall asleep, the blissful sleep taking over for a few hours until she was shoved out of bed by someone. Her whole body collapsed against the floor and she let out a cry of pain as her back smacked harshly against the wood planks.

However, before she could react or even comprehend who had dragged her off the bed, her hands were being tied behind her back and she was shoved to her feet. Another yelp left her lips and that promptly led to a gag around her mouth. The taste of the fabric on her tongue made her want to cry, the feeling was awful and her eyes squeezed shut against it as she was shoved out of the room.

And they practically tripped down the stairs before she was taken down to the basement and shoved beside George. The pain that ripped through her body as she dropped beside George was enough to make her sob. Her forehead pressed against the tile as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to sob, not to break down.

"Demi, Demi," George's words were muffled as they heard the door close to the basement. Demi let out a soft whimper before she heard his muffled words again, "Who was it? Did you see their face?" His words were still muffled and choked out and Demi shook her head. Her eyes still squeezed shut. They could have just left her. She was asleep. She never would have known.

"Where's Lockwood?" Demi managed out over the gag. She tried to push it as far out of her mouth as she could but it was tight. It was pushing on the corner of her lips and the feeling of the fabric made her cringe inwardly.

"Fuck," George didn't even bother to answer which meant that he was probably still at DEPRAC. Demi smacked her head against the floor lightly before she forced herself to turn over. Her back hurt with every single movement but she just about managed.

"They're wearing perfume," Demi said as she used her legs to push her back against the shelves. Her hands were uncomfortably pulled behind her and she wanted anything but to be here right now. She wished they'd just let her stay asleep.

"What?" George asked as he turned his head to face her. The two of them went silent for a few moments before Demi began to shuffle her hands, praying that she could break free. But the knots were tight, ones that she had not taught herself how to undo. A soft sigh escaped her lips and she looked over at George who seemed to be silently mulling over their situation.

Then after what felt like an hour, they heard footsteps on the rickety spiral staircase into the basement and Demi began to shout for help, as did George. And the door slid open to reveal Lucy. Demi felt the relief fill her chest.

"There's somebody upstairs," George warned and Lucy nodded. She walked over to Demi first and dropped the gag from her mouth. She then pushed the brunette forward and began to untie her hands, "She's injured! Untie me!" George said through the gag. Demi's hands pulled free and she pushed herself to her feet, fighting through the pain to rush out the door. She heard vague conversation of Lucy and George as she bounded up the spiral staircase.

She had grabbed a rapier on the way up and when she stumbled into the hallway, Lockwood had just lost his rapier to the intruder. They were completely in black, their face covered but Demi was sure she smelt perfume earlier. Not that she had time to think about it now as Lockwood only just managed to block the rapier with an umbrella.

Demi swung towards the intruder and they had to quickly move to block. There wasn't time for Lockwood to check what had happened to Demi before the trio were locked into a match. Lockwood managed to grab the rapier from where he'd dropped and through the clashing, he sent the end of his rapier into the intruder's side.

And then George and Lucy appeared and Lucy used the chain to knock the rapier out of the intruder's hand. They were quick to escape after that, jumping out of the window and ran off as the four watched. The adrenaline began to dip and the pain rushed back to Demi in a dizzying wave as she dropped the rapier onto Lockwood's desk.

"Well that was more exciting than an early night. We should have people around more often," George commented. Demi scoffed, finding it hard to laugh considering how much her back was hurting. The trio were still watching the person run.

"Who was it? Did he say anything? Give anything away?" Lockwood asked as he glanced back at George. He then turned away from the window completely and watched as Demi stood, taking deep breaths. Controlling her breathing, she learned, helped control the pain that was coursing through her system.

"No. But I know what he wanted," George responded.

"What she wanted. No man would wear that perfume," Demi mumbled as the four of them headed downstairs. They knew what they wanted. The ring and if it wasn't there. They were fucked. Their one piece of evidence, the one thing they had on their side, would be gone if the intruder succeeded in getting what they wanted.

Demi opted to stay in the kitchen while the others checked on the ring. Taking any more stairs would make her back hurt even more and so instead, she opted to take two more ibuprofen. She placed them on her tongue and filled up a glass of water before drinking it all down. The feeling of the pill going down made her wince. She felt so sensitive to everything and the tiredness had crawled back in but the thought of going back to bed made her paranoid. What if they were attacked again? What if she was thrown out of bed again and her back was hurt all over again? She didn't want to do that.

"Lucy had the ring," Lockwood said as he appeared from the basement. There was a grin on his lips as his hands hung loosely at his sides. Demi forced a smile onto her face as she turned around to look at him.

"Good. I knew we could trust her," Demi said as she let her hands hang by her sides. She felt so drained, her head was throbbing and the feeling of the fabric cloth still lingered on her tongue. It made her cringe.

"How's your back?" Lockwood asked. Demi shrugged and that made her wince. It told him everything he needed to know, "You should sleep." She chuckled and placed her - now empty - glass of water on the side.

"I was until we had a break in," She mumbled. Lockwood frowned, "I don't really want to go back to sleep." The admittance was soft and it made Lockwood tilt his head slightly. There was something in her tone that he couldn't quite pin down.

"You don't want to sleep? Or you don't want to sleep alone?" He asked curiously as he walked over to her. Demi stared down at the floor. She hadn't really thought about it like that. So, she shrugged again, "If you don't want to sleep alone, you can sleep in my bed." His offer was gentle, quiet, like he was too scared to actually say it. But it made the corners of Demi's lips turn up into a smile.

"I'd like that," She mumbled. Lockwood grinned and then he glanced back.

"I'll get your glass of water if you want to go up and get into your pyjamas. I'll be up in a minute. Just need to make sure those two are okay," Lockwood explained, gesturing backwards towards the door to the basement stairs. Demi nodded and she headed up the stairs. Every movement made her back ache but the thought of sleeping beside Anthony made it all worth it.

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