The Link

Chapter 1 – Nightmares

Thunder rolled and lightning cracked, seeming to light up the blackness of the night. The sky was covered in the luminous storm clouds that seemed to cover the entire sky. It was mid-fall. The old Bennington Manor sat upon the top of a decent sized hill, an old oak tree sitting in front of the home, giving it an eerie feeling. There was a tire swing, that seemed to rock and sway with the wind. It was almost like a scene from the old horror movies. Ironic that this was the weather for the hunt.

Coming up the hill was a seemingly small vehicle, carrying two females inside; a young Amelia Holmes and her mother, Abigail Green. The little girl sat in the back seat of the car, glancing around nervously. She observed anything and everything that moved. This was her first hunt. She didn't want to be there. She didn't even want to go on this hunt in the first place. Of course, they had just gotten done salting and burning the woman's bones that they had originally thought had been the spirit. Now, they were just going to make sure that the spirit was really gone. But if they had already burned the bones, then why was little Amelia so...nervous? So...frightened?

"Amy, love, calm down. There shouldn't be anything here. We did burn Alex's bones, right?" The woman reassured her child, giving her a soft smile. The young Holmes nodded. She was comforted slightly, but she still didn't want to go in. It was almost as if something was telling her that something bad was going to happen...and little Amelia was ready to believe it.

"But..." She began in protest, "Mummy, please don't make me go back in!"

Abigail rolled her eyes as she parked her car in front of the Bennington Manor. "Fine, Amelia. If you would like, you may stay in the car. I'll be out soon." She leaned over and kissed her frightened daughter's forehead before getting out of the car and closing the car door. She walked around the car to the trunk and opened it. She grabbed her rock-salt filled shotgun and closed the trunk.

Amelia watched silently from the back seat as her mother walked into the Bennington Manor. As the front door shut, she sunk down in her seat, hugging her legs. She waited impatiently for her mother to return. The minutes felt like hours, and soon, she became even more frightened. She couldn't take the anticipation! She was honestly terrified. Every fiber of the girl's being was telling her – no, screaming at her to get help. Something was wrong. It shouldn't have taken this long. Amelia reached into the front seat and grabbed her mother's mobile phone from her purse. She looked at the time. 9:30 P.M. Her mother has been gone for about an hour. She looked back and forth between the house and the phone uneasily. After a few seconds, she had made her decision. She quickly dialed her father's phone number. Amy heard it ring for a bit before she heard an annoyed Sherlock answer.

"Abigail?" He answered, "Did you finish it?"

"Daddy..." Came the child's frightened voice, "Daddy, I'm scared."

Sherlock felt his heart drop. He paused for a moment, having not expecting his child to be the one calling. Of course, this also caused him to become worried. Why didn't Abigail call him? Shouldn't they have solved the case by now? "Amelia, what's going on?" He asked softly, "Where's your mother?" Amelia didn't reply. Instinctively, he began grabbing his coat and going for the door. Bennington Manor was only a fifteen minute drive away. If he could just hurry and get a taxi, he should be able to get there fairly quickly. "Amelia?" He tried again to get her to speak.

"Sh-She's in the house. Daddy, she hasn't come out in a while! What do I do?"

Sherlock found himself now running in the direction of the closest taxi, lightly pushing a young couple away from it. He quickly apologized and hopped in. "Bennington Manor, and hurry."

The man heard heavy breathing on the other end of the phone. "Amelia, listen to me. Stay in the car since I'm assuming that's where you are now. I'm on my way." He told his daughter through the phone as he glared at the road ahead.

Amy fought back a sniffle as she nodded. "Okay dad..." The girl looked up as she saw the front door open, but she noticed something was wrong. Her mother looked terrified, and she had blood on her shirt. It was quite a lot too. She acted as if she were being dragged back into the house. Amelia felt her heart stop in fear. "Mum! Mummy!" She cried out, throwing the phone down and quickly forgetting that she had her father on there. She felt tears pricking the corners of her eyes as her heart beat against her chest quickly in fear. Amy looked down at the floor and picked up the phone. "Daddy!" She yelled, "Something has mummy!"

Almost instinctively, Amelia threw down the mobile phone and opened her car door before charging into the house, following her mothers screams for help. Once she entered the living room area, however, the high pitched screams from Abigail that seemed to pull at Amelia's heart died down. Quickly, they came to a complete stop. "M-Mum? Mummy? Where...?" She looked around, and soon noticed a trail of blood leading up the stairs. "Mum!" Cried out the child, her eyes filling up with tears and making her vision blury. She wiped her eyes and ran up the stairs, praying that her mother would be okay.

Amy stopped as she saw a long hallway. The trail of blood lead into the first room on the right. Hesitantly, she opened the door and gasped at the sight. The old wooden walls were covered in splatters of crimson red, and most of it was near the closet. The metallic stench of blood filled the air. She pinched her nose. Amelia didn't see her mother anywhere in sight, but she had a feeling that she was in the closet. Slowly, the girl made her way into the room. The first thing she saw was a black cloud of smoke leaving the room. "D-Demon..." She whispered softly to herself, any hope of finding her mother alive slowly fading away. She heard a loud noise downstairs, and a worried voice calling out for her. "Amelia! Abigail!"

Amelia ignored her father's voice, focusing on finding her mother. Slowly, she opened the closet door. She screamed without hesitation. The sight was horrific.

Abigail, her mother, was hanging in the closet. Hooks stabbed into her shoulder held her up. Her body was limp and unmoving. Her face? Disfigured beyond recognition, and covered in blood. Her chest looked as if it had been ripped open, revealing her rib cage. Amelia was absolutely horrified. More and more screams erupted from the small girl as she backed away from the sight quickly. The young Holmes could hear her father running up the stairs and soon saw him running into the room. Tears fell down the young girl's face. "M-Mum?" She asked softly once, and then again louder. "Mummy please wake up!" She begged.

Sherlock quickly ran into the room, his eyes widening at the sight. His daughter was standing in front of his dead love, begging for her to wake up. He ran over to Amelia, wrapping his arms around her small form. "Amelia, shh..." He rocked lightly, trying to calm her down. Amy pushed him away in protest, screaming. She hadn't realized that it was her father. She had thought that it was a spirit, demon, or something else supernatural. "Amelia!" He grabbed her shoulders, causing her to stop fighting him and look him in the eyes. "Amelia, it's me!"

"D-Dad..." She trailed off, hugging him tightly and hiding her face in his chest.

"Amelia, close your eyes," He demanded, picking her up bridal style and carrying her back outside and setting her down on the porch.

"Amy! Wake the hell up!" A voice rang out, causing the Holmes to jump awake, quickly sitting up. Her breathing was very quick, and she swore that she could hear her heart beating in her chest. Her face was pale, and her black hair looked plastered to her face from the cold sweat. She quickly felt her shoulders beginning to shake as tears soon welled in her eyes. The girl buried her face in her hands, ignoring the blonde female that had began to wrap her arms around her. "Amelia, please. Calm down. You're safe. It's alright."

"T-Trinity..." She soon leaned into her cousin's embrace, hiding her face in her shoulder as she seemed to cling to Trinity as if she was all she had left...which wasn't far from true. She was the only family member that she had left other than her father, who was in England. Trinity was the only one that knew the face under the mask, so to say. Amelia Holmes was never truly herself unless it was only her and her cousin. Trinity pet her cousin's hair slowly in an attempt to calm her down.

"Was it the nightmare again?"

"What do you think?" Amelia asked sarcastically, pulling away after a while. She had began to calm down, and the turned to look at the clock. "...Shit. Ten A.M.? Why didn't you wake me up!?" She was never used to sleeping in. She usually woke up at about eight o'clock in the morning to look for a case or something like that.

"You needed sleep. You haven't slept well in about a week, Amy. I'm not stupid, and I'm not blind. I can tell."

Amelia sighed and nodded. "Fair enough, I suppose. Now, do we have a case yet?"

"Actually," Began Trinity, "We do."

"Explain."

"It's in Columbus Ohio. A man, William Burch, and his wife Diana were found dead in their home-"

Amelia cut her off. "Of course."

"Let me finish, you little shit! Anyways, they were hung. In their basement. Just like the previous house owners. And get this, this is the second thing like this. It's as if people have been killing themselves on this street the same way for a while, but the deaths have been stretched so far apart, no one sees the connection." Trinity finally finished, tucking a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear.

"So...what are we thinking? Angry spirit? Demon? Are these just sacrifices?" Asked Amelia.

"Not sure, but we should figure out soon. The longer we take, the more people will die."

Amelia nodded and stood up before grabbing her bag and walking into the bathroom to get ready.

Author's note: Yo guys. I just randomly felt the need to write this. Please leave a review and tell me what you all think so far. Also, if you have any ideas for future chapters, feel free to tell me! I'm open! I'll listen, friends. 8D Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.