It was really dark, a white smoke came out of the pipes of the tunnel and my eyes followed a bloody path.
Please, let him be alright, please.
I couldn't feel my legs while I ran. The adrenaline had taken over me in that exact moment and the only thing that went through my mind was…Hamish. I should've stayed with him, I never asked for any of this to happen.
My steps echoed as I kept on running. It was a labyrinth and I was lost. I leaned against a wet wall and took deep long breaths. The sound of water drops hitting the ground was my only companion. I tightened my hands into fists and heard myself sobbing. I should've stayed with him, I never asked for any of this to happen.
Anger, fear, cold, worriedness, everything accumulated in my chest only made it harder for me to continue. My head started spinning and in a matter of seconds I fell to the ground.
My body got rigid and my heartbeat accelerated. I heard footsteps, someone was getting closer. I struggled to get up, but fell again making my flashlight to roll down the tunnel until I couldn't reach it. I turned my head to look back; the last thing I saw was a dark silhouette, then I fainted.
I looked from the "pride and prejudice" book that I was reading to the clock that hung from the wall; it marked 1:00 pm. A frustrated sigh escaped from my lungs before getting up from the couch and put on my coat.
When I arrived to the café, I could see through the window that my cousin was having a quite animated conversation with two men. As soon as I got inside Molly waved at me telling me to sit with them.
"I thought you'd never come so I sent you some texts, didn't you see them?" the ginger greeted me with her usual innocent smile.
"Yeah, well…my battery died" I responded and then looked down at the other two men that were sitting with her.
"Oh, let me introduce you. This is the doctor John Watson" Molly stated as a blonde man stood up and shook my hand.
"Hi, nice to meet you" John said smiling at me. He seemed like a nice person, a very kind type of person I must say.
"My pleasure.." I replied smiling back at him and then I looked up to the other man, the very opposite of the blonde. A dark haired man, relatively taller than the blonde, at least 6'2'' ft and he also looked somehow clever. His expression had been serious since I arrived so I couldn't tell if he was mad or if he was just serious.
"And this is Sherlock Holmes" Suddenly a slight smile appeared on the man's face as he grabbed my hand.
"H-Hi.." was the only thing I could say before he spoke.
"You're sick…" the man said as our hands met and for the first time I felt my heartbeat had stopped.
"Sherlock" John called him in a warning tone. The dark haired looked at him and then back at me.
"Sorry, never mind" Mr. Holmes apologized sitting back down. My gaze went from John to Molly who just gestured me to sit with them.
"So, do you have any experience with children?" John asked after taking a sip from his cup of tea.
"Well, I'm a pediatric, I just got my major degree but I used to do my professional practices in a pediatric clinic".
"And she used to take care of her little brother as well" Molly added.
Mr. Holmes got his hands resting on the table, he didn't say a word during the whole time we'd been there sitting and drinking tea.
"That seems great, and you're very young to have just graduated" John said impressed. He'd told us he'd been at Afghanistan as a doctor and as soon as he got back he started sharing a flat with Mr. Holmes.
"Thank you, but pardon my curiosity, why does my experience with children have to do with this?" I looked at both men. Mr. Holmes looked other way and surprisingly, after an hour without saying a word, he spoke.
"We need assistance. From all twenty candidates interviewed you seem the most prepared and trustful".
"And by assistance…you mean?" I asked getting kind of tired about this game of words.
"Babysitting" John said.
And awkward silence fell over our table. I didn't know how to react to this; they were a gay couple asking me to take care of their child.
"God, twenty babysitters…" I muttered. I couldn't spend the time fixing my thoughts; they were waiting for me to accept their offer so I cleared my throat.
"We thought you might accept the job, and besides you seem to need the money right now, so what do you say?" John asked me. I clearly needed the money more than ever, and a job, so it took me less than ten seconds to respond.
"You've got yourselves a babysitter, Mr. Watson" I said as I shook hands with him.
"Oh, well that was fast!" John smiled at me and then looked back at Mr. Holmes, who seemed kind of annoyed but not mad. "I hope you brought your wallet".
"Wait, you…made a bet?" Molly said before taking the last sip of her cup of tea.
"Certainly" Mr. Holmes sighed as he took out an envelope of his coat and handed it to me. "Here's the direction to our flat and the first half of your payment" he stood up, followed by John, and fixed his blue scarf. "You will get the other half when we're back".
"Where are you going?" my cousin asked while I observed the envelope carefully. I couldn't and I didn't pay attention to what John was telling Molly.
"Elise" John called and I turned to look at both men now standing in front of me and Molly. "I think we'll see you tomorrow morning".
"Yeah, I'll be there!" I shook hands with him and then glanced at Mr. Holmes. His icy blue eyes seemed to pierce your soul every time you looked into them. But his first words to me echoed in my mind.
You're sick.
Mr. Holmes shook hands with me anyways and, surprisingly, a smile illuminated his face changing his seriousness into approval in a matter of seconds. They said goodbye to Molly as well after Mr. Holmes paid the bill, and then they left.
My head felt dizzy and I swear my cheeks were flushing pink but I didn't pay attention to it until Molly seemed to notice and smiled slightly.
"They're nice, aren't they?" she sighed "But don't mind about what Sherlock said, he never thinks before speaking…even though his brain is always doing it" She reassured me. I wasn't nervous or shocked.
"How did he know?" the question left my lips in a whisper as I looked down at my hands that were placed around my cup of coffee. "Did you tell them?".
"No" Molly responded and I looked up to her "Do you remember that friend; I used to talk to you all about some time ago?" I started to make connections in my head but thinking was not by my side this time. I just wanted to know how Mr. Holmes knew about my disease. "That's him…Sherlock Holmes".
"He's the consulting detective…the one that can deduce your whole life in a blink of an eye" I'd heard the name before, in many websites and even the newspaper. He and John Watson had been solving criminal cases and murderers for some time.
"The one and only, but don't worry you just need to get used to him and what a great chance you got by taking care of his son".
"Well this will sure be a new experience for me…gay couples who need babysitters" I took the last sip of my coffee before Molly and I left the café.
Molly insisted in taking me home even if I lived just three blocks far from the café, but she took me anyways. I entered to the flat and left my coat and my purse in the sofa before throwing myself on it and putting my hands in my face. I didn't open the envelope at the café; I leaned forward and searched for it in my purse until I found it.
I observed the envelope carefully and then opened it. I found the half of the payment in it and a note with the address. It was in Baker Street, not very far from where I lived so I could walk there. My phone rang all of a sudden and reached for it in my purse.
Tick, Tock
There was nothing else written in the message. It had come from an unknown number so I thought of it as a joke and left it on the kitchen table ignoring the whole thing. I took the money out of the envelope and put it inside a bottle that I used as a bank before hiding it inside my wardrobe. I changed my clothes and lay down in bed until I got sleepy.
My eyes glanced from the ceiling to the window. The sound of cars and people started to fade away as I started to fall asleep, thinking of how things started to get better.
Or so I thought.
