𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘪𝘥𝘦 | 𝘖𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 2 ✔︎

Chapter IX - THE SERIAL SAVER

"So?" I ask as I step through the door. "How's the case coming along?"

"Horrible." Sherlock bluntly states, earning a grin and a questioning glance from me. "Because it is non-existent. Gone. Done. Desisted."

I snort, but secretly want to know more. "So what happened, then? Which witness was telling the truth?" I ask.

"Oh, I already told you. They all were. But they were also all suffering from hallucinations. Mr was merely seeing things when he saw Mr Sawyer get shot, and Mrs Sawyer was hallucinating when she saw him come home from work, later to then die in their house fire by not escaping. The Sawyer children were the ones who had the true story, although they were hallucinating when they saw Mr Lee murder their father. Really, a different man -Mr Sawyer's college, Benson Forde- had murdered Mr Sawyer. Mr Sawyer had brutally angered Mr Forde a day earlier when they were drunk at a pub, and Mr Forde and Mr Sawyer both worked with drugs, so Mr Forde did have the power and materials to cause all of those hallucinations."

"...And how did you find that out?" I ask again. 

"Simple. I had a suspicion and asked to have all of their blood checked for drugs or what-not, and they found little traces of what was there the night before."

I set my stuff on one of the chairs in the room while he is talking, and go over to look over his shoulder at his work. "Why fake all of those supposed deaths, then?"

"Confusion, Clara. The best way to cover up a murder is to make more of them." he states simply. I pull up a chair to sit next to him.

"Why is that a bad thing, then?" I say, remembering that he had said the case was coming along unfashionably.

"Because it's over! And I don't have any other cases." he laments.

"Alright, then what's the news in Moriarty's Network?" I pry.

"Nothing new. They're trying to lay low, with Moriarty gone. One could say... they're on holiday." he breathes, burying his face in his hands, his elbows propped up on his desk.

I turn from him, grab my bag off of the couch and go to the kitchen to set it on the counter. There, I begin to make a cup of tea for myself. Out of the corner of my eye I see Sherlock get up and pace around the room. He glances over to one of the drawers on the shelves as if he is contemplating something, but then leaves it be.

I've just dropped my tea bag into the cup of hot water when something vibrates from inside my purse. I turn to it and grab it out.

In my hands is a phone, but it isn't mine. The screen is lit up to a box saying, 'New message from Mycroft.' Without looking at him, I say to Sherlock,

"I must have grabbed your phone on the way out." He looks at me but then commences his pacing.

I press a button at random and it opens the message.

To: Sherlock Holmes (0769555669)

From: Mycroft Holmes (070111337)

I recognize the top number -Sherlock's number- but I can't place from where. I know I saw it on my phone, but I can't place when or why. The message continues,

On Friday, October 11th, Jonathan Gower arrived at the police station in a state of panic, claiming he had almost been murdered. His second claim was that someone he hadn't identified had saved him from his killer. A similar thing happened a week later, when Pat LaChien arrived at the police station in a similar manner, claiming the same thing. Then, five days later, the police received information that a different woman, but still Pat's sister, Madeline LaChien, had died of a brutal murder. Then tree days later, the police station received word that Nathan Gower, Jonathan's brother, had also been killed in the same matter as Madeline.

The thing both sibling pairs have in common: They are all twins, and it is obvious, by the manner of the killings (throat slit by a knife) that they were all tried to have been murdered, or actually murdered, by the same person. A serial killer. A few question still remain. Why did someone save one twin and not the other? These savings were most definitely not by accident. Who saved the almost-victims? Who is the serial killer?

Looking down at Sherlock's phone, I read the case aloud to him. By the time I look up, he isn't where he was before.

Now, he is standing so close I can feel his breath on my cheek, which his lips are brushing. A tingly feeling lingers on my cheek as his lips get closer to mine. My frantic eyes jump to his. His are closed, and he seems to be leaning over, like someone would once they were about to... kiss??

What is going on?!

Knock, knock, knock!

Mrs Hudson bangs on the door. "Hello, Clara, sweetie? Are you home? I don't think I saw you come in."

What the hell is going on?!?

My mind races. Sherlock is basically leaning over me, about to kiss me, and my mind is going through a weird sense of deja vu -like I've somehow done this or been like this before. And on top of that, Mrs Hudson is at the door!

I push him away from me and he stumbles off. "Yes, I'm home!" I call to Mrs Hudson. I sprint to the door and watch Sherlock disappear down the hallway out of the corner of my eye.

"Oh, goodie! I made some treats and some tea -would you mind if I came in?"

Breath short, I grab the door handle and yank it open. "N-no, actually, Mrs Hudson, I was just about to go..." I trail off, heat rising in my cheeks about what almost just happened.

"Oh, alright, well, feel free to stop down, later if you ever get hungry -" she tells me.

"Yeah -thanks, Mrs Hudson. I will sometime. Gotta go!" and I abruptly close the door on her.

Grabbing my coat off of the chair an my purse off of the counter, I sprint out of the flat and down the stairs, past Mrs Hudson, without so much as taking another glance at Sherlock or behind me.

~~~~~

So I think my problem is that I so much want to hold on to Clara and Sherlock's full personality that I am afraid to write something that would counter them. But then I realize... It's kinda impossible to write a love story with love scenes when you have a main character that is 'devoid' of love. I'll try to work it all out.

-O