A Game Of Hearts And Minds

CHAPTER V - straw

The lights of the lanternposts shone down on me while I wrapped my coat around me even tighter than it was already. I knew that it would be a cold night, but I hadn't expected it to be this cold. In the hurry of leaving 221B, I forgot my leather gloves and my grey pantalon and my white turtleneck layered with my grey coat weren't enough to shield me from the cold. I turned my collar up towards the wind and tilted my head up to take a look at the night-sky. The sky was full of stars, and I smiled slightly at the sight. With my hands in my pockets and my collar turned up against the wind, I continued on walking.

It wasn't long before I could sense someone behind me. By the sounds of the footsteps, I could conclude that this was a man. My hand slid over to the little pocketknife that I always carried with me. Where was my gun when I was in a situation where I might need it?

We all know that one saying, if you think you're being followed, four times to the right. I did just that, the first right, he followed, the second right, he followed, the third right, he stalled for a bit before he turned the corner behind me. I was trying desperately not to get paranoid, but with a strange men following you, especially being a woman, that's a hard thing not to do.

Slowly but surely, I could hear the footsteps behind me close in. Fuck, here we go. In a slight panic, I turned into a pitch black, narrow alley. Stupid, of course, but in the heat of the moment I wasn't thinking clear. The echo of footsteps raced against my own heartbeat.

The sharp clatter of footsteps behind me shattered the silence. My breath caught in my throat and I stole a glance over my shoulder. In the distance, I could see shadowy figures emerge, closing in om me with what seemed to be with predatory intent. Panic surged through her veins, and I broke into a sprint, desperation fueling my escape.

Before I could make it to the alley's end, a force intercepted my path. A hand, clammy and uninvited, clamped down on my shoulder, wrenching me to a halt. I turned to face him. His face had a twisted grin that sent shivers down my spine. "Where do you think you're going, sweetheart?" He sneered, a venomous hiss in his voice.

Fear clawed at my chest, closing in around my throat. With everything I still had in me, I struggled against his grip, even though there was no way I was winning this with this many men around me. "Let go of me!"

The situation threatened to escalate, the man's hand slipped into his pocket and a sharp, long knife appeared out of it. Just then, a calm yet authoritative voice sliced through the tension. "Release her."

My eyes widened as I saw him- the enigmatic detective, and my beloved Sherlock Holmes. He stepped out of the shadows. His piercing gaze bore into the man that was holding me by the throat. An unspoken promise of consequence lingering in the air.

The man, momentarily taken aback, loosened his grip on me. I seized the opportunity and darted towards Sherlock, seeking refuge behind his protective presence to find some time to reach for my knife.

Suddenly, another man came out off the shadows, and he darted towards me. I took out my knife from my pocket, and swiftly striked towards him. I managed to strike him across the cheek, but it was just a puny scratch. The man backed away for a moment, but another one already came charging at me. I tried to fight back, but before I knew there were four men surrounding me. I had nowhere to go. One of them lashed out with a knife, and it striked me across the shoulder. I was taken aback by it, and within seconds all four of the men had their hands on me.

In an attempt to break free, another knife pierced the inner side of my elbow. In an haze, I could see Sherlock being injected with something in his neck. "Sherlock..." I tried, but my voice was weak.

As the drug took hold, Sherlock's usually sharp focus dulled, he battled the effects of the drug, strained to reach me, but his efforts were futile. My surroundings blurred into a disoriented haze as I stumbled, my hands reaching out for support. The worlds twisted as I looked down at my arm. Blood was spurting out from it. They had hit an artery, I was loosing too much blood.

I sank through my knees, down to the ground. Sherlock dissapeared from out of my sight. The alley swallowed my cries, leaving only the haunting echoes of a struggle. In the darkness, I became a pawn in a sinister game. The tendrils of despair tightening around m as I was spirited away into the unknown.

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I was pushed down to the ground, landing on a tin pile of straw. Harshly, my coat was ripped off my shoulders and I was left in my white turtleneck. At least, what was left of it, because it was mainly red now because of the blood that had seeped from out of my shoulder and inside of my elbow. The one on my elbow seemed to have been bandaged. One of the man forced my hands next to eachother, binding them together with hard rope. The same rope was wrapped around my neck, digging into my throat and functioning as a nooze.

The rope was attached to a wooden beam above my head. Luckily, the man didn't do anything else to me, and he left. My eyes were flooded with tears, but through the haze of tears, I could see that the 'room' I was in seemed like some kind of basement or cave. The walls and the floor were of raw cobblestone, and the room was lit by one single lantern. The air was damp, and immediately hit onto my airway, making the situation even more cramped and mugged that it already was.

I was pretty sure that I had never been so cold, as I was now. I was shivering without my coat, and the only clothes I had left were drenced with blood, so they weren't very comfortable and warming either. I folded my legs a little out from underneath me, but just enough so that the remainer of my body was resting on them in order to prevent having to sit on the stone cold ground. What I would do for a blanket right now... And for a propper bandage for the cut on my arm, because whatever they had put on there wasn't very comfortable and very sustainable, because with time, my turtleneck got more and more red.

Suddenly, I could hear footsteps travelling down what I supposed was the hallway to the part of the thing I was in. I still wasn't very sure if it was a cave or a basement, so we'll leave that in between. As they grew louder, I was able to make that they were a man's, they were way too heavy and un-elegant for a lady. I focussed my sight on where the hallway mounded into the room that I was in.