Aylia Holmes

11. The Music Hall

Aylia attempted to restrain her fear as she was forced into a dark music hall, her hands bound tightly at her back and a knife at her throat. Elwin was on the other side of the hall, his hands also bound behind his back and a gun at his head.

She was forced up the stairs by Grail onto the balcony just as he said, "Losing this...losing that. Seems you've lost everything."

"Aylie!" Enola shouted.

Sherlock went very still, his face deadly pale.

"Enola-" Aylia began, but Grail pressed the knife farther into her throat, silencing her.

At the other side of the balcony, two guards appeared, one with Elwin.

"Oh my god," Louis whispered, staring at his cousin with a pale, scared face.

Forcing Aylia forward, Grail snapped, "I'll take those."

"Let go of her," Enola insisted.

Pressing in just enough to draw a pained hiss from Aylia, he retorted, "Give me the papers and I will."

Enola stepped forward, her eyes meeting Aylia's for the barest fraction of a second. Then, several things happened at once. For one, Aylia stamped hard on Grail's foot before turning, shoving him back to the ground. For another, Sherlock forced the gun away from his own head while knocking the switchblade away from Louis as Elwin turned, grabbing his captor by the neck and forcing him forward into the balcony rail and knocking the gun out of his hand and down to the lower level.

"Come on!" Elwin shouted, grabbing Aylia's hand as Enola loosened a swinging rope to swing down to the stage.

"Get after them!" Grail shouted, taking his knife back in hand and rushing after Aylia and Elwin who were rushing down the stairs.

"Ayla, you need to go while you can," Elwin said quickly, pulling her into the hallway outside the music hall.

"No chance in hell," she retorted, following after him through the hallway and towards the stage.

Just as they came into the stage wings, a gunshot sounded, forcing both to duck. Looking up, Aylia saw a small, circular mass in the wall above them. Peeking out towards the stage, they saw one of Grail's policemen, but he was so disorderly in how he looked for them that neither truly believed he had truly seen them at all.

Pressing a finger to his lips, Elwin stalked forward, hiding behind the curtains as Aylia watched him cautiously. Then, with a final prowling step, he burst forward, jumping onto the policeman's back and wrapping his arm around his neck. Elwin held on for dear life as the man flung him about, knocked him back into the wall, and finally collapsed, but before he could catch his breath, another gunshot, this time from the other side, forced him to his feet.

Pulling him into the hallway and out of range of fire, Aylia whispered, "Where's Grail?"

"I don't know," he said. "I didn't see Enola either."

"We have to find them," Aylia said.

Elwin nodded and followed behind her without protest as she rushed to the backstage area. The sound of gunshots was enough to lead both of them up a flight of stairs and finally into a room filled with small tables, costumes, and other theatre-related objects.

Aylia stepped into the room, treading carefully and without a sound as she raised a finger to her lips to warn Elwin to do the same. Then, she saw a sight to make her blood run cold. Enola was sprawled on the ground with a gun raised to her forehead by Grail. He was just beginning to bend down to reach for the folded stack of papers on the floor beside her. Before she could think better of it, Aylia dashed forward, caught hold of the papers and ran for the exit.

"No!" Enola shouted, pulling at Grail's feet as he aimed for her and pulled the trigger, but Elwin was much quicker.

He rushed forward, tackling Aylia to the ground and out of the way of the bullet that lodged in the wall exactly where her chest had been a moment before. Aylia had just looked up to see what had become of Grail when she heard a gun click. Elwin was still on top of her, an arm wrapped around her waist.

"Please," he said hoarsely.

Then, before Enola could jump between them, Graill pulled the trigger. Aylia flinched as Elwin attempted to shield her with his body, but there was no need, a click and nothing more.

"Enola!" a redheaded girl shouted.

"Go!" Enola shouted.

Aylia scrambled to her feet, holding the papers tightly as Elwin pushed her towards the doorway.

"Sarah?" Aylia said in surprise, running with the girl.

She nodded. Aylia paused just long enough to stuff the papers under her corset before moving on.

"Louis!" Aylia shouted, jumping from the stage onto the ground below without a fumble, but he said not a word.

He was staring, wide-eyed, at something high on the stage. Aylia turned, fixing her eyes on the sight. Enola was standing, facing Grail. In his hand was the handle of a blade plunged into Enola.

"Enola!" Aylia screamed, covering her mouth with her hands in an attempt to muffle a sudden sob that left her lips, but a moment later, he pulled away the handle to reveal nothing on the other end.

Then, she launched at him, but before Aylia could watch more, someone grabbed her from behind and flung her up into the air and towards the wall. Everything hurt. Everywhere there was pain. She groaned, laying her head down on her hands as she fought to remain conscious.

She heard in almost a distant, ringing haze a voice shouted, "Where are the papers? Where are they?"

But she did not even have the presence of mind to know whether it was to her the voice was speaking.

"Ayla!" Elwin shouted, rushing into the audience part of the music hall. Louis and Enola had taken care of their attackers and Sherlock had just come onto the stage.

Cupping her cheek, Elwin directed Aylia's eyes to him. She tried to look at him, but her gaze was unsteady.

"Sherlock!" Elwin shouted in a panic.

His eyes had filled with tears.

"You've got to stop doing this," he whispered through tears. "You keep coming close to dying whenever we get wrapped up in Enola's cases."

"E-El-Elwi-" Aylia whispered, reaching up towards him.

"Shh, shh," he whispered, taking her hand into his own and kissing it, closing his eyes just long enough for his tears to begin to stream down his cheeks. "You're going to be all right. You'll be all right, my darling. You'll be-"

He broke off, unable to talk through the lump in his throat.

"Elwin, bring her here," Sherlock said wearily as Enola and Louis embraced.

He hesitated only a moment before taking her up in his arms. She lay her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck. Laying her gently on the stage, Elwin climbed up as Sherlock felt the back of her head.

"There'll be bruising and some more swelling, but I doubt it's worse than a concussion," he said with a relieved sigh. "But she needs to stay awake."

Elwin nodded, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Elwin?" she whispered again.

"What is it, darling?" he asked, taking her hand in his own.

Reaching into her dress, she pulled out the papers and held them out to him.

"Enola," Elwin said, taking them from her and handing them over.

Suppressing a groan of pain, Aylia, with help from Elwin, got to her feet, keeping a tight hold on him.

"Don't leave, please," she whispered, hiding her head in his chest.

"Never," Elwin replied, his voice suddenly cracked as another tear streamed down his cheek. "I'll never leave you, darling."

"I love you," Aylia whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.

Kissing the top of her head, he said, "I love you too."