A Dance With Death

Chapter Two

Sorry this chapter's so long! I just had so much explaining to do, but I promise they won't all be so long (unless you'd like them to be). Anyway, continue to rate and make comments as it goes along! Thanks. :)

When Sherlock next looked at the clock, it was5:45. He could hear John’s alarm wake him up, hear John cursing as he slammed the alarm clock off, and hear him stumbling to the bathroom to freshen up. When the shower had started, Sherlock went to the kitchen and made coffee for the both of them, something he rarely did. But he felt he owed it to John, especially when he had to explain the sleeping girl in their living room and why she was there. The coffee was just about done when John entered the living room.

“Sherlock, I—” he stopped mid-sentence. “Sherlock?”

Sherlock walked into the living room holding two cups of coffee, one for himself and one for his colleague. “John, you might want to keep your voice down. Both Mrs. Hudson and our new friend are sleeping.”

John’s eyes widened. “Our new friend?! Sherlock who the bloody hell is she?”

Sherlock sighed as he sat and sipped his coffee. “Her name is Olivia Parkes, preferring to go by Livia. She is twenty-four years old and has a serial stalker. I’ve spent all night trying to figure out the origin of the piece of paper on the table that says, ‘We’re coming’. Her brother was killed last year in a fire, but I don’t think it was an accident. However, we’re not going to tell her that until she is ready to hear it.”

John sat in a desk chair and gaped at the girl for a second before shaking his head and drinking his coffee. “Poor girl... Any family?”

“Much, but not a lot in the area besides her older sister and her family. She came from Chorleywood, a town a little northwest from here.”

“Yeah, I know where it is. Can’t the police help her?” His dark, blue-grey eyes wouldn’t leave her, mystified by her presence.

Sherlock shifted and set his cup on the table, pressing his hands together and examining Livia. “She tried. They said it was none of their business. I almost didn’t take the case, but there’s something about this that isn’t right...something about her that isn’t right...” He stood and went to his desk, taking papers and reading them before throwing them aside and taking others up. John sighed and finished his coffee before standing and putting it in the kitchen.

“Sherlock, can’t you ever keep the kitchen—” he started, but there was a sudden gasp as Livia awoke and sat up, breathing quickly.

Sherlock rushed to her, and John walked to the archway, watching carefully.

“Livia, what is it?” Sherlock asked, pulling his armchair closer to hers and taking her chin in his hand to point her face towards his, only inches from hers. Her shoulders were shaking and sobs erupted from her chest. John came and stood next to Sherlock, and when she noticed him, she drew back a little.

“It’s okay; this is my colleague, Dr. John Watson. He helps me with the cases,” Sherlock said.

Livia looked up at John again. “You’re a doctor.” It wasn’t a question, rather a statement. Sherlock could hear the slight relief in her voice, although he wasn’t quite sure why.

John nodded. “Yes, I served as an army doctor for some time in Afghanistan. Why, what’s the matter, Olivia?”

Her eyes grew wide and she whimpered. “You have to help me.”

~~~~

Livia had calmed down considerably from when she had awoken, although she wasn’t completely tranquil. She felt like she needed to smoke very badly. John had made her some tea and gotten her a couple of biscuits from one of the many cabinets in their small kitchen. She was wrapped in a blanket (Heaven knows where it came from) and was waiting for John to get off the phone with his employer, having requested calling off for the day. Sherlock sat across from her, his eyes closed and his hands pressed together. Occasionally he would ask her a question about her brother or her childhood, but it never seemed to be of much help.