Auther's note: This is the first chapter for this particular story which is really just to start building up and getting a picture of the character Selena. This is the first thing I've written so chill out and go easy on me and do let me know what you think and any possible directions the story could go in. I have tried to get descriptions as accurate as possible but it something seems wrong please tell me. Might be a good idea to read my profile, just to understand that I like to include weird things in stuff I write.
Sherlock does not belong to me, just so you know. I only take ownership of Selena and Dave.
Okay, I'll stop talking now. Enjoy :)
Selena tried to suppress the urge to fall asleep in the back of the taxi as her eyelids grew heavy. She'd been trailing around London since early this morning with a small suitcase and loyal friend Dave, searching for the address she had scribbled down on a small scrap of paper. It had grown dark; the city streets lit up by street lights, signs and the headlights of cars. Dave lay next to her in the cab. The large black Alsatian dozed off as Selena scratched behind his pointed ears. She didn't have much choice to bring Dave along with her as none of her family would keep him. They complained about his temperament and that it was no wonder he was sent to the RSPCA. As an ex-police dog he was bound to have a slight aggressive tendency – he just needed to be taught when it was and wasn't necessary. Selena committed to training Dave during the three years she spent at university and by her graduation, he had become a loyal, protective companion.
Selena had never been to London before, so looking for a particular address on her own in the massive city certainly was a challenge. She thought she had done rather well considering that fact that she hadn't gone mental yet. She rolled her sleeve back and gazed sleepily at her watch. 8:45pm.
Late, obviously, she sighed, Hope he doesn't mind too much. After becoming extremely fed up of walking, Selena gave in and had a taxi take her to her destination.
If he doesn't accept me then this would have been a waste of time and energy. She dreaded to think about the possibility. Next to her, Dave looked up at her with his deep brown eyes, sensing the uncertainty in her mood.
The taxi slowed to a stop outside a cafe called Speedy's. "Here you are, duck," said the cab driver, rousing Selena from her daydream. She groaned as she forced her tired muscles to move. Opening the door, she beckoned Dave out of the cab who sat patiently on the pavement as she pulled her suitcase from the boot. Addressing the driver she said, trying not to sound as exhausted as she felt, "How much?"
"No charge, duck," he replied, "can tell you're not from round here." He smirked, amused by Selena's northern accent. He clearly had not met a Yorkshire woman before.
"Thanks, sir," she said with gratitude but not enough to overcome her annoyance. And don't call me 'duck', she growled inwardly.
She turned to face a black door with the brass numbers and letter 221B. Checking her scrap of paper, this was indeed the correct address – 221B Baker Street.
"Argh, here goes nothing," Selena murmured under her breath, psyching herself up. Dave licked her hand in encouragement. She and Dave became unusually close that Dave seemed to be able to completely understand his friend.
Reaching for the brass door knocker, Selena knocked three times, her shaky hand caused the knocking to have no particular rhythm. The man she was supposed to be meeting sounded very intelligent and sophisticated after looking at his website and Selena felt nervous, though she wasn't entirely sure why. It seemed irrational, and she tried to calm herself by taking deep breaths, but it didn't do much good.
It felt like ages until someone finally answered the door. An old woman wearing a plum coloured blouse and skirt stood in the doorway with a cheerful expression, which made Selena feel a little more at ease. "Hello, can I help you?" The woman's voice was also cheerful, again calming Selena's nerves.
Selena stood like her mother had advised her years ago, in a confident stance and said, "Yes, I'm looking for Sherlock Holmes?"
"Oh, yes, he's upstairs" The woman retained her cheerfulness. Must just be one of those cheery people. That's good.
The old woman led Selena into the house and up a flight of stairs, leaving her suitcase and Dave in the hallway. The walls were plastered with wallpaper with a leafy pattern. At the top was another black door that the woman opened revealing a room on the other side. It looked to be a living room and study, with a rather cluttered desk against the wall opposite. Two leather chairs were placed at far end of the room in front of a lit open fire. They looked extremely comfy, Selena had to suppress the impulse to curl up and fall asleep on one of them. Against the wall at the near end was a little sofa, with a small square coffee table in front of it with papers and a laptop on. Two large windows looked over the street on which Selena had just come from. A man in a white shirt lay on the sofa with his eyes closed and slapped what looked like a nicotine patch on his arm. How many patches? Selena thought, noticing the other two patches already stuck on his arm.
"You've got a visitor," called the woman in an almost motherly tone.
"Thank you, Mrs Hudson," replied the man. His voice was extraordinarily deep. Selena felt a shiver on hearing it – it had a very nice ring to it.
Mrs Hudson left and the man, who Selena guessed was Sherlock, sat up. His face was perfectly angular and he had dark wavy hair and eyes like pebbles but the colour seemed hard to distinguish – possibly blue or grey, or maybe a bit of both.
"You are late," Sherlock addressed Selena for the first time.
Selena began to feel slightly uncomfortable. Turning up late wasn't a good first impression. "Yeah, I'm sorry, it's just I got lost. Very lost," she hastily replied, determined to look interested in her purpose here.
A yawn managed to break through her barriers. Sherlock gave her a perplexed look. "Sorry...tired..."
He gestured to one of the comfy looking chairs by the fire and said, "Rest for a bit. You arrived in the middle of a case and I'm thinking. We can talk later."
Selena made her way to the chair, barely taking in what Sherlock was saying as she zoned out completely. She merely replied to his statement with "Mhm..." and collapsed into the chair. Sherlock fell back on the sofa again in thoughtful mode and didn't appear to notice Dave enter the room and curl up by the chair Selena dozed off in.
Grateful for a warm cosy place to sleep in, Selena ignored everything that had been troubling her on the way here, going through memories of things that had happened and the interesting things she had learned. Learning new and interesting things greatly appealed to her. Her mind could sometimes become very active and she'd become restless determined to find something to do that would stretch her brain to its limit. That was when she became interested in psychology; the workings of peoples' brains and minds and what caused people to behave the way they do. In finding explanations, one had to consider all possible factors from complicated genetics to the simplicity of watching and learning. Thinking about these things kept her entertained.
Then there were criminals, who in Selena's mind were especially fascinating. Were they just born that way, or did something happen to them to make them that way? Or maybe there was something dysfunctional that caused them to commit crimes? Asking such questions and thinking about all possible explanations allowed Selena to walk away from Huddersfield University with a first in a Psychology with Criminology degree.
What she did after that though was a slight problem. Her friends from the same course mostly decided to do something with the police force, which Selena was particularly attracted to. A friend's mother, who happened to run a veterinary practice, offered her a temporary job as a veterinary assistant until Selena found something that really caught her eye. When she was 15, she had a work experience placement at that same place. She watched and learned how to check an animal's health and the necessary procedures to correct any problems. That was how Selena learned best; observing, remembering and going through it herself.
It wasn't until she found the detective's website and became increasingly interested in his work that Selena decided to contact Sherlock asking if he could do with an "assistant". Looking back on it now, she did wonder if that was the correct word to use. Not that it mattered. He replied, she became overly excited, went to London, became nervous, and then fell asleep on his chair. Completely absurd, but absurd makes things all the more exciting and fun. Selena would only ever associate with those people that 'ordinary' people deemed to be 'weird'. Fun things always seemed to happen when they were around. Sherlock seemed like a rather peculiar guy now that she had met him, and Selena wondered what it was like in his company.
Many scenarios passed through Selena's thoughts, some filled with fear and adrenaline, others with puzzles and occasionally a good laugh. The scenarios soon faded into weird dreams of improbable things as the young psychologist with the Yorkshire accent and black dog Dave drifted into sleep.