Hi! If you are reading this, that means that you're interested in what I've got to say! Brilliant!

Just thought I should greet you before we go into the story. I've wanted to do this for a long time and I though that it was about time I finally made the first step forwards.

I'd also like to add, I have a community page on Facebook called 'Watching Sherlock for the first time and knowing there's no going back'. My tag name is Mycroft because I don't feel like using my real name and if anyone is interested in becoming an admin with me please let me know as I'd love to have some help! I'm 15 so please bear that in mind. Like it for me folks if you she the time as it's not very popular:(

I hope you all like the story and thanks for reading!

Chapter 1: Knowing

I sighed as I looked up at the clock on my right. Still 4.45. Wonderful.

I'm Emi Josephs. I loved my job at the museum, I really did. History was fascinating to me and I loved the projects that some of the staff took part in. Like now, Soo Lin was restoring an ancient tea set back to there former glory. And the general public could benefit from it too by seeing the history behind the beautiful artefacts and the hard work we do to keep them orderly.

But this morning, things had gone from bad to worse. Soo Lin left the museum and didn't return for work. The manager said that she'd resigned just like that, out of the blue. Some of the other employees didn't think much of it. Some even spoke badly of her.

However, I knew differently. I was friends with her; or as close as she would allow anyway. She doesn't like to talk with the other employees and she keeps to herself when she's working. Unless I'm with her. She doesn't talk animatedly with me, like a foolish teenager who knows nothing of the world, or even speak loudly. She was a quiet, well spoken and extremely considerate individual. I liked this about her. Not many people are like that in London anymore.

When I first tried to talk with her, she didn't speak much and replied only with one word answers if she could help it. She was obsessed with her work. You couldn't distract her whilst she was working on something. She put her all into everything. Everyone gave up on her, dismissing her as a bit of a recluse, and moved on without trying again. But I didn't. I wanted to make her happy. She loved her work, that much was clear, but I knew she wasn't happy. I wanted to change that.

Soo Lin clearly didn't know how to react to me; I was very persistent. I'm not much of a social butterfly either if I'm honest and do all I can to avoid most people. Night clubs, partying, drinking; my worst nightmare. I don't really fit in with society's masses. But there was something about her. Something she was hiding or something that she felt burdened by, but there was something different about her.

She said, much to my surprise, much the same to me. "You're different to the others." She spoke quietly. "You are kinder but your eyes tell of deep pain. You look at me... You look at me like you understand. You see something different. Another side. You have seen difficult times too haven't you?"

I had, at that point, stiffened. She sent me a soft smile. "It is all right," she had continued. "It is not my place to know. But I think that you and I are very similar. I like you. You can be trusted. Thank you."

We've worked with each other ever since. When she was entrusted with the care of the tea sets, she had worked diligently with them and had loved the work. They quickly became her obsession. She'd never left them for a single day.

Until now.

She had left the pots untreated. They needed urgent work as the clay was cracking and she knew this.

Something was wrong. I knew it was.

Which brings me back to the present. I got off work at 5 and the day had not moved more slowly. It had been a week and I was scared and concerned; I was going to find out what was wrong. I had to. Everyone else refused to believe me and it's about time things were taken into my own hands.

I walked over the reasonably quiet hall, only a few visitors in it now, and looked upon the pots in their display case. I sighed, seeing that they were not looking their best.

"Excuse me?"

I looked over my shoulder to see a relatively short man with light, blonde hair standing behind me a little anxiously, eyes flickering behind him every moment or so to the tall man behind him.

I forced a smile onto my face and stood up a little straighter. "Yes, how can I help you?" I asked politely.

The man looked a little awkward, clearly unused to talking to complete strangers. Either that or he was a little disarmed by my reaction. "Do you happen to have a missing curator among your staff by the name of name of Soo Lin Yao?"

My smile fell quickly, my heart thudding apprehensively. My cheerful facade broke immediately. "Have you heard from her?" I asked urgently, eyes beseeching. "It's not like her to abandon her work like this-"

"Isn't it?" the taller man asked with a slightly raised brow.

I looked away, suddenly feeling very scared. Why were they here? Had something happened to her?

"Who are you?" I asked, frowning. The tall man sighed. "We're with Scotland Yard. We help them investigate. Now pled; anything you can tells about her might be helpful." I smiled softly. "Can I at least know our names then?" I asked curiously.

At the dark haired man's silence, the smaller man held out his hand with a kind smile. "John Watson," he greeted. "And Sherlock Holmes. And you are...?"

"Emi Josephs," I replied with a shake of his hand. "On a professional level there's not a whole lot I can tell you. But I know it's important; I was going to look for her this afternoon after work. I've been worried about here you see." I sighed wearily. "She left three days ago, here at the museum on her late shift working on the very pieces you see before you. They needed urgent work and she loved the restoration processes, this being her particular area of expertise. You could say they were her obsession. But then she didn't turn up for work today. When I asked, they told me she'd just resigned. Just like that, leaving her work unfinished. Nobody else believed me when I said that it isn't like her. But I know something's wrong."

"How do you know it's not like her?" John inquired whilst Sherlock listened closely, interest piqued. I frowned. "She doesn't have any friends from what I can tell. None outside of work either. She's dedicated to her work here in museum. But when she first started here, I was the only one of the staff who stuck to her like glue. I wanted to know more about her, be friends; I can't describe it but there's something different about her. Something she's hiding-"

"You as well." Sherlock spoke suddenly, making John give him a sharp look. "You're hiding something too." I gave him a wary look.

"Sherlock," John spoke warningly. "Don't-"

"Something from your teenage years, towards your early twenties," he continued as if he had not heard John. "An incident? A series of them?" His eyes widened suddenly and he smiled slightly. "Oh... No... Somehow, this has got something to do with your family. You were around 15 I'm guessing, a couple of years older perhaps-"

"Stop," I spoke sharply. "Don't you dare go into t-that..." I took a deep breath and looked up again. "What else do you want to know?"

"What was the last thing that she did on her final afternoon?" John asked before Sherlock could speak. John clearly had a dislike for his partner's lack of sensitivity.

"She does a demonstration for the tourists, a traditional tea ceremony. So she would have packed up her things..." I halted suddenly, with a shake of my head. "Would you like me to take you there? It may be easier together information."

They quickly agreed and I led them to the archives and storage room. "She would have come right in here," I said, motioning to the shelves and shelves of artefacts that lined them. "But after that, we're not sure what she did..."

I trailed off when I noticed a statue at the end of the corridor. It had not been there yesterday night. My eyes widened as I saw the yellow spray paint that covered it.

"That wasn't there yesterday," I whispered, making John and Sherlock frown and face what I was looking at. "What on earth...?"

John ran a hand over his face as Sherlock moved closer to observe the statue. "What's going on?" I asked firmly, knowing that they we're hiding something from me.

John turned to me. "At a bank in central London, one of their top security rooms got broken into and symbols were painted on the walls. Much like this one," he said whilst nodding his head to the statue. "The man who had seen the picture clearly from his desk was murdered in his flat."

A hand raised slowly to my mouth, eyes wide with shock. "And another man," John continued just as gravely. "Brian Lukis has been murdered just recently only a few hours after seeing the same symbols. Both were inside locked room, several floors up, with no clear signs of forced entry."

I closed my eyes briefly before taking a deep breath and removing my hand. "So Soo Lin...?"

"Has odds against her yes," Sherlock spoke bluntly. "She isn't dead yet, that much is clear otherwise we would have found her body by now. We just need to find her before the cipher does." He turned on his heels and began walking down the same corridor they had come from originally. "Good day. We'll come back if we have any news."

John gave me a slightly apologetic look and followed. "Thank you for your help." he told me sincerely before he rounded the corner.

Standing alone in the corridor, the statue tall above me and looming, symbols standing out starkly and intimidatingly, I retreated closer to the wall and enclosed myself in my arms.

"I'll find you," I murmured. "I'll make sure of it. I won't give up on you."

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed the first instalment of 'A new beginning and the end of tears'. I certainly enjoyed writing it!

I'll try and update as often as I could. I'm a student so I've got a lot of revision going on and exams coming up so I've not got much free time as I'd like. But I'll do my best!

Thanks everyone,

-Mycroft xx