Unfixed

TEN

"I that am lost"

Genesis found herself sat alone at lunch the following Monday. Curled up in the corner of the room, she knew Miss Murdock had no idea she was there but the eleven year old was fine with that. She was avoiding the looks and stares people gave her when the cast list for Cinderella showed up- she was Cinderella. No one understood because they never heard her talk and they always forget how well she acted the previous year. Genesis Magnussen: the star of every show yet no one remembered.

Knowing full well that Victor Trevor and Sherlock would be searching for her she had squeezed into the space between the book cabinet and the wall beside the unused storage closet and lost herself in her mind palace. Rather than sleeping lately she'd found herself building and adding to the rooms in her mind. Where she had started with her bedroom, she had expanded to her home- then to Sherlock's and the forest and finally to the classroom she was in now. She wanted to remember what this place was like as an adult because she is genuinely happy this year and never wanted to leave it.

As she entered Sherlock's room in her mind palace she noticed a small fake leather eyepatch laying on his neatly made bed. The pale yellow covers looking dull despite the stark contrast again the black of the eyepatch. She could see the sword that always accompanied the patch. For a moment she was nervous. There was something about its appearance in her mind palace which was out of place. Victor Trevor's belongings, especially items so personal and precious to him, never appeared anywhere but his specially dedicated area in the centre of the forest- where she found the well. A pit of uneasiness burned in her stomach and she gasps, eyes flying wide open.

The room is loud. Her classmates chattering enthusiastically as they gather their bags and flee from the room as the final lesson of the day. Eyes flitting wildly around the room she finds that no one seems to have even noticed. Something felt wrong, off even. Why had time passed so quickly? Why was her heart beating so erratically? She was hyperventilating and confused tears were finding their way free from her tear ducts.

A face appeared in front of her. It was kind and familiar and one of the two she needed to hear. Violet was crouched in front of her, worried etched across her features as she tried to connect with the panicking child. Genesis was staying with Violet for a few days while Holly and Charles took David and Isaiah to tour universities- Trinity also staying with a friend. Violet was beginning to treat Genesis as her own daughter and it truly did hurt to see the child upset like this. As Genesis finally focused on the woman her breathing evened and she leapt forward and latched onto her immediately. Violet shushed her and stood with her clinging to her. Stumbling momentarily under the eleven-year-old's weight, Violet waves away Miss Murdock and begins carrying the girl from the room.

Knowing full well that Genesis was past the stage of being carried when she was upset, Violet couldn't help but do just that. Yes, it was a struggle but Genesis was upset and she intended to figure out why.

"Something's wrong," Genesis whispered into her shoulder. "Something's very very wrong, Violet." Her words were muffled but the name that she uttered before breaking into another round of sobs was enough for Violet's breathing to break and her knees to buckle ever so slightly. "Redbeard."

▪~○••○~▪

That night at dinner was the only time Genesis was really silent. As she slowly and hesitantly twisted spaghetti around her fork she never really ate. Her eyes almost crystalline from tears were rimmed with red and swollen from the constant crying and yelling; the Holmeses were confused and concerned, they weren't sure how to help her or calm her. She was an intelligent girl- after all, she was raised by Charles Magnussen- and had an entirely different mindset to their especially intelligent children.

The doorbell rang dragging them all from their thoughts. As both Violet and Siger went to the door, the children continued with their meal. Mycroft was shovelling mouthfuls of the pasta into his mouth, the red sauce smearing around his mouth. Sherlock also ate his pasta quietly and in a much tidier manner. Eurus was poking at her plate and when Genesis glanced up from her own plate she found the youngest Holmes staring straight at her.

After a few frantic voices from the hallway and the door shutting once again, Violet and her husband soon re-entered the room with solemn and concerned faces.

"Children." Violet began. "I don't suppose any of you know where Victor Trevor has been lately?" While the boys looked up in shock Genesis acknowledged the slight lip quirk Eurus made no attempt to hide and her gaze on the child darkened.

"Eurus." She mumbled and the girl continued stabbing at her food with an unrelenting neutral look. Though amusement gleamed in her eyes she held no smile and it was only when everyone's focus was on her did she say anything.

"I that am lost, oh, who will find me..." She begins in a sing-song voice, "deep down below the old beech tree? Help succour me now the east winds below." Genesis' jaw sets. Eurus had done something, that much was clear, she could see past the static pigtails and oversized knit cardigan. "Sixteen by six brother and under we go... be not afraid... oh who will find me, deep down below the old beech tree?" As she her fork hits the ceramic plate with one final stab, Sherlock launches himself from the table.

"Redbeard!" He yells as he passes by his horrified parents. Genesis watches a moment as Eurus licks her finger and rubs at a sauce stain on her cream cardigan before also leaving the table. Breaking into a jog she follows Sherlock outside into the garden.

"Sherlock! Wait!"

The week continued. There was crying from both the eight year old and the eleven year old. There was desperate digging on Sherlock's behalf as he made every attempt to uncover Victor Trevor. Genesis sat on the door step, leaning against Mycroft as they watched him cry and scream unable to help the unrelenting, grief-ridden boy.

A fresh wave of tears overwhelmed her. This time they weren't for Victor Trevor. Genesis was grieving her losing Sherlock; with each passing desperate day he was distancing himself physically and mentally... and she was beginning to regret showing him the Mind Palace memory technique. She was losing Sherlock after losing Victor Trevor- perhaps.

It was unclear what had really happened to Victor Trevor so she vowed to find him or at least know what happened. Perhaps closure would bring Sherlock back to being Sherlock.