Dearest Mister Sherlock Holmes,
Contrary to what many have said about me, I do feel for particular patrons that I pay my visits to.
I've heard many things about you, Mister Sherlock Holmes. I've come to talk to you, for I am concerned.
After concerning the event of your friend, this talk with me should not come as a surprise, since you did not listen to the more subtle warnings around you. She is in my hands, now. Funny woman, that one. She was different, but not enough to leave a lasting impression on me. I wish you and him, my deepest, most sincere, and inexpressible consolations.
Your head and your heart are in quite a rock and a hard place, Mister Holmes. It's rare that I come across others struggling in your position, but when I do, the people involved are always wonderfully deviant from the rest of the world. I've come to admire certain people in my time, and you are one of them—for I see a lot of myself in you. You always were a wonderfully deviant man.
I know you don't enjoy talking about this sort of thing when it comes to... a name that holds a certain fondness... but if you don't face it now, I fear you will put it off until it is too late. There isn't much time. I have come to warn you.
It will happen. And it will happen sooner than you expect.
This is serious.
Do not let my warm appeal for your wellbeing deceive you. No matter how special my patrons are in the eyes of others, I am never too sentimental to do my job. Your unholy rage for which you have saved up for that day, does not rattle my cage in the least. I have done this for a very long time, Mister Holmes, and that sort of thinking will not save you on your day of distress.
There is still time. To save yourself of this. To reconsider. To prepare. To flee, far away from my next encounter with you. You are not prepared. The pain will be beyond anything you have ever known. I have seen you rise above a great deal of suffering, but nothing can prepare you for what is just around the corner in your very near future.
I know you think you can do anything—be anything, that you set your mind upon—but holding up the simplest forms of pride and dignity, all while in the face of heartbreak strong enough to render one in two, is not one of them. I have seen many go through what you will soon go through, and I will tell you, that kind of pain is not meant for this world.
It doesn't have to end this way. You are able-minded enough to pull yourself out of this. Pull out completely from sentiment. Abandon your curiosity with the heart, and leave it alone. Don't meddle in it any further. Its place in the world lies with much more substantial people. Your place is with reason, which is kinder when compared to sentiment.
Consider this as consolation for that one other time we met up long ago.
Do not make me do that to you again.
Sincerely,
Death