The Screaming Staircase

Chapter 9 returns to the present moment, when Lucy and Lockwood narrowly escape Mrs. Hope’s home as it goes up in flames and “the mists [churn] orange” (115). Along with the firefighters, a team of children arrives to lay salt across the grass and prevent any spiritual energy within the house from spreading. Lucy sits in a daze as she is questioned and examined by the firefighters and feels guilty for setting the fire. Lockwood tells her to go to the hospital, and Lucy tries to apologize through a swollen face, but Lockwood assures her that there is no need. At the hospital, Lucy is bandaged, given a sling for her arm, and released the next morning.

When she gets back to 35 Portland Row, George answers the door, completely disheveled. He tells Lucy that Lockwood is with Scotland Yard after the fire and, to make matters worse, has been “ghost-touched” (119) and needed a shot of adrenaline to prevent his arm from rotting. George says that Lockwood was attacked with plasma while Lucy was handling the Source and becomes increasingly angry, citing Lucy’s presence and Lockwood’s bad decisions. George thinks that if Lockwood had simply waited for him to do some research, none of this would have happened.