Book I : Fantàsticque :: The Estranged Trilogie ::: A Sherlock Fanfiction

XVII. Fear

Francesca walked through the black dim streets alone and pondered her fate with a tired brain.

She had thought he’d still be in Algeria, preparing whatever attack he had planned meticulously over and over. She had thought that they would be a step ahead of the game, knowing his intents and purposes. She had thought, for a few silly days, that she had actually had a chance.

She didn’t.

Francesca let out a guttural shriek and kicked the nearest trash bin. Letting out a choked sob, she walked on. Francesca mentally kicked herself for being so fearful.

Fear was such a stupid emotion.

If Xavier were already in London, she had no chance. He hated her. No other possible emotions he could have felt for her except for hatred after she had ditched him in the ashes. He couldn’t control fire.

She knew that. He knew that. And he knew that she knew.

Six years of following him around, and this is what I get, she thought bitterly. Xavier had been so seducingly clever and kind when she first encountered him. His beginnings were harsh. A heavy Scottish accent tainted with a little Irish and those doe eyes that first looked at her. However helpless he had been, but he was always threatening, that maniacal glint in his eye.

And that’s why Francesca had adored him as her friend, for she was also hopeless - and very dangerous.

They did their dark deeds, the entrancing tricks, he did the real magic and she did the actual trickery, and they had had their fun. But the fun was over now. Dangers encountered their path and they always got away, but at last, he was forced into lighting torches without matches or hands.

She remembered the hopping flames, dancing around colourfully and whimsically in their own chimerical way. His flames were more beautiful, but deadly in their looks and heat.

Francesca remembered running, and she hadn't seen him again.

The metal lighter suddenly felt extremely heavy in her blazer pocket. Francesca gripped onto the cool metal in the midst of her treacherous remembrances.

And suddenly she heard:

"I've missed you, Chesca."