I think it happened the first time that Jeanne met Sherlock Holmes. Yes, it probably was. It was that day when she changed, and changed a lot. She would talk about it to me later, what had happened, why she left...I never fully understood, but I always tried. All I knew was that Jeanne would never forget, and I knew she couldn't. Those useless attempts to pretend like she couldn't remember were always broken apart, and she would see it all again.
Right down to the last detail.
"Jeanne Watson!, I'm looking for a Jeanne Watson!"
"Y-yeah! Right here!"
Located just inside the city was the Private Academy of London. A school for years six through twelve that offered the highest possible education for only the smartest that could pass the entrance exams. There you could find specialized courses, an infinite number of books, and an extensive history, all trapped inside of the school walls and the quarters the students lived in.
On the first day, 18-year-old Jeanne Watson stood outside with all the others. A mass of teenage students all waiting to receive their dorm partner for that year. It was Jeanne's first year here, unlike many of the students who have been there their whole teenage lives.
In front of the large, ancient double doors, teachers behind fold out tables called the names of the students one by one, who would then walk up to receive an envelope. It included their room number, a map indicating said room, a key to it, and the name of their roommate. Afterwards the students were given the day to unpack their things and settle themselves in.
With nervous hands Jeanne reached out to take her own envelope, and with a quick "thank you," she neatly folded it up into her pocket and stumbled back through the crowd and onto the lawn.
Part of her didn't really care what kind of roommate she got, but the other part of her was very excited, this was the person she'd be with for a whole year after all.
Once completely away from the mass of bodies, she leant against a shady oak tree and pulled the envelope out from her pocket, gently unfolding it. And all at once her eager fingers took the lead and began to tear it open. Immediately she found the map of her room.
"Room number...221B...located..." She turned the map a bit trying to find out exactly where she was on it. She pinpointed the garden in the front of the school where she now stood and trailed her finger to the red circled room number. She raised her eyebrows, surprised. "It's in the very side of the main building."
She turned her head back around to the direction where she came. Back to the crowds of people and just beyond the giant double doors, that is where she was headed.
She reached in to feel the key that was sitting inside, right next to another paper. Pulling it out slowly she turned it over to reveal the name of her new roommate.
"Sherlock Holmes." she read aloud.
The name was a very strange one and sounded masculine and not feminine at all. Had they given her a male roommate? She glanced over the other information. Sherlock Holmes was sixteen years old, the place where the picture was supposed to be was missing. Curiosity began to build about this new roommate. She would meet her soon, she just had to find the room first.
"Back through that madness again then." She muttered to herself.
She replaced the papers in their envelope and kept it in her hand. She had brought a suitcase with her that compared to the other girls was small. She had only brought a few necessary items such as sweaters, trousers, lots of undergarments, and...a few other things as well. Due to the fact that they wore uniforms she wouldn't be needing much regular clothes. Lifting up the case she began her walk back towards the main building.
Standing on the verge of the crowd she wondered if there was another way she could possibly get in. Craning her neck she tried to look over. The teachers were pretty much blocking the entrance, there had to be another way.
As she was droning out in her own mind, a group of girls raced by behind her, laughing and shouting. She was caught off guard as she felt herself losing balance while one bumped into her and sent her almost to the ground. Almost. But behind her a person pushed her up from her fall.
"Hey, are you alright?"
Jeanne looked up at the girl that caught her. Brown hair, thin nose, red cheeks...why did that face look so familiar?
"Yeah, I'm fine thank y-"
"Wait a minute...Jeanne? Jeanne Watson, is that you?"The girl exclaimed, cutting her off.
Jeanne's eyes widened in surprise, it was at the tip of her tongue. Who was this?...Oh!
"Yeah! you are...Linda, right? Linda Hemmings?" Jeanne let her help her to her feet and she brushed her skirt down.
Linda smiled and crossed her arms. "And here I thought you forgot about me."
"Linda!" they embraced shortly then broke off from the crowd a small distance.
Linda had gone to school with Jeanne and had been her friend up until the 8th grade when they separated, but now they would be reunited, going to the same school together again.
"What brings you to this school then?" Linda asked her as soon as they had room to breathe from the crowd.
"The umm, war...you know, my dad."
Linda's eyes squinted in confusion for a little, but then widened. "I am so sorry, I had forgotten...is everything ok?"
"Yeah, yeah, everything is fine, money from the government came in and my mom wanted to send me here for a better education... That's it basically."
"Well I'm glad I get to see you again, it's been so long...so where's your room?"
Jeanne had almost forgotten and had to think a little to remember. "I'm in 221B."
"Wow, you're right in the main housing unit aren't you?" Jeanne nodded.
"Where are you then?" Jeanne asked.
"I'm out in one of back buildings." Linda paused as a short awkward silence ran through them. It was hard talking to someone you hadn't seen in years. Jeanne decided she would break it with another question.
"So do you have your roommate?"
"Oh right, yeah I got this girl named Rose Tyler, she's nice I've met her before, misses a lot of school though, who'd you get?"
Jeanne hesitated before she answered. "Someone named...Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes."
Linda's eyes widened and she began to laugh hysterically. "Ahahahahaha! Oh Sherlock! Well aren't you in for a treat!"
"W-why? What's wrong with her...him?"
"Oh she's a her alright, and there's not anything necessarily wrong with her, I think there just may be a bit too much right with her."
"What do you mean...?" Jeanne was getting a bad feeling from all of this, she was hoping her life in this school would be a calm one, but it sounded like it would be just the opposite.
"You're going to find out, come on let's go find your room, I'm interested in seeing Sher as well."
They walked over to the side of the building where a brick wall was covering, however if you happened to be curious enough to peek behind it you would find a rusty grey door surrounded by vines, it looked like something right out of a children's storybook. Of course, minus the trash can full of rappers.
"Is this like a secret door?" Jeanne questioned as Linda walked up to pull the handle.
"Hardly, well only the teachers are excluded really. The students use this area to smoke, if you dig through that trash right there you'll find their ash box."
"I think I'll pass on that one." Jeanne replied as Linda laughed and the door surprisingly did not creak but smoothly opened.
"They take good care of this door, after all creaking may give it away." Linda said, reading Jeanne's question on her face. Jeanne nodded and they continued.
Inside of the door a curtain of sorts hung in front that you had to brush aside to see beyond it. They were in a library. It had rows and rows of bookshelves and an area full of black leather couches that were currently vacant. The door itself was nicely hidden behind the banner that hung from the ceiling they had to push aside prior. It had a stitched picture of a dragon with threads coming loose here and there. She had to admit, they did remarkably well to hide this door. Even if it was used for students to do drugs, it was impressive nonetheless.
"This banner is basically historical, they won't dare to move it, which makes it a perfect door curtain don't you think?"
"Yeah..." Jeanne replied. They crossed the dark and wooden library and went out its open door and into the corridors.
The halls had somewhat of a stone looking floor with plaster white walls and brown trim. The whole thing looked very old and rustic.
"You were going to 221B weren't you?" Linda asked.
"Yeah, it should be somewhere in the side."
"Right then."
Linda led them through the twisting halls, passing by other dorms full of giggling girls unpacking or already studying for the term. Jeanne saw the dining hall as well which was on the far left side of the building that they had to pass to go up the stairs to the next level (there were three) to reach the room.
"The letters correspond to the floor. A for first, B for second, and C for the third." They turned onto the staircase, and passed into the second floor hallway.
"Rooms 190 to 310 are in the main building, which is here, any number before that is in the back building, where I am."
"Good to know." Jeanne was holding her breath, she couldn't tell exactly why she was this nervous, but she could feel the anxiousness welling up.
She began to notice the room numbers as they passed by. They were close.
218. 219. 220….and then there it was, 221B.
Jeanne stood there for a moment, just looking at it. The number on the door, the door's scratchy wooden finishing, and the old fashioned metal knob…
"Well then? You gonna open it or are you going to do it telepathically?"Linda questioned, a smirk rising on her lips.
Jeanne realised that she had gone into a daze and nodded, reaching for the key inside of the envelope.
It was a rather noisy door, the key making all kinds of sounds as she turned it in the lock. When she heard the sound that indicated it was opened, she pushed at the door slowly.
"Holy mother teresa."
Linda exclaimed as they met what was beyond the door. Inside wooden flooring reached out to touch the beautiful white walls of the room. Long silky curtains hung over tall windows. A fireplace complete with a mantle sat on the far left, and two chairs were positioned on either side of it. A patterned, circular, rug lay underneath them. But this was just the living room. Two halls led out to different areas of the dorm.
"Since when do you get a room with a bloody fireplace?"
Jeanne held tight to her suitcase and walked in, she couldn't believe it. She was expecting one of the smaller more cramped rooms she had seen earlier. She looked up at the glass chandelier hanging above her. It was beautiful. Then a thought occurred to her. Where was her roommate?
"How in the hell did you get a room so big?" Linda went on ranting as she examined the contents of the living room further while Jeanne walked into the hallway in the right.
Inside were two doors right next to each other. Rooms? Or perhaps something else. Anyhow, she reached her hand out to the one closest, and opened it.
"JESUS CHRIST!" Jeanne screamed as she slammed back into the hallway, the room's door hanging open in front of her.
A girl lay on the bed, her head hanging off the side towards her with blood covering her neck. Her first thought was that her roommate had killed herself, and when she shouted that out to Linda, she did not expect the response to come from the body.
"It is only chickens blood, hush up I would never kill myself."
Jeanne watched as the girl on the bed slowly lifted herself up, her messy hair dragging itself behind her. She sat facing away from Jeanne and ran her hands over her head. But slowly she turned, staring at Jeanne face to face so she could examine her for the first time.
The girl had medium length dark brown hair that hung over her shoulders, and pale blue eyes that provided a strong contrast. Dark circles were drawn under her eyes and her sharply defined collar bones peeked out from under her wrinkled shirt. She squinted at Jeanne for a minute without saying anything. Linda ran in to intervene.
She skidded into the hall where Jeanne was and took a look at the girl before them.
"Sher!" Linda walked up to where she was on the bed and started laughing. "I haven't seen you since you since that scolding by the head mistress!" Sher didn't say anything, only looked into the distance as if dazed. "Well since we're here I might as well introduce you to your new roommate." Linda stepped back next to Jeanne and gestured to her while speaking. "This is Jeanne Watson, an old friend of mine, your roommate."
Jeanne looked back at Sher. It was getting awkward with all of the staring and not saying anything, you'd think she'd explain into more detail about the blood on her neck, but not even Linda asked about it.
"Afghanistan or Iraq?"
Jeanne stopped. "What?"
Sher had finally spoke, now staring at Jeanne nonchalantly, her hands moving into her pants pockets.
"Was is Afghanistan or Iraq, the war your father was in?"
"...How did you know about that?"
Sher stayed where she was, glancing down at Jeanne's suitcase.
"It's obvious that suitcase is not yours, it's much too small for an average girl, so why do you use it? You're compensating yourself so you are able to fit everything inside."
Jeanne looked at Sher questioningly, She continued.
"Your clothes are close from bursting out of it. Therefore it is something precious to you, but then there is that..."
Sher moved from her position beside the bed a tad, gesturing towards a patch on the case.
"Not a veterans patch, but something old, something that was sewn on for fun, dirty, obviously a memorial of some sort." She lifted her gaze and squinted towards Jeanne.
"This bag was used by someone who went away from home, the style is of one used by the british troops in recent wars, so which was it…" Sher's eyes opened from their squint as she stared at Jeanne. It was so strange. The whole thing.
"Afghanistan or Iraq?"
Jeanne couldn't quite accurately describe the feeling that she felt. She felt uncomfortable, and she felt interested. But above all, she was annoyed.
"Afghanistan, if you must know. My father was a doctor in the war, he died in duty while trying to save a soldier."
Sher sort of stopped in place, her expression didn't change though, it almost looked like she couldn't care less. Linda however, looked saddened. It became rather quiet as well, since neither party knew what to say or if they should even speak. Finally, Linda broke the silence.
"Well...come on Jeanne, you must be hungry. Let's go stop by the dining hall for a little something." Linda ushered the huffing Jeanne out the door, leaving Sher behind with some final notes.
"Try to be kind to her will you? She's had some hard times."
"I was only deducing."Sher responded.
"Yeah, well deduce quieter, sometimes you offend people you know?"
"Do I?, I had no idea."
"I mean it. And…"
"And what?"
"Who did you murder in order to get this room?"