Second one, and one of my favorite AU: Victorian!lock. I am really crazy about it, and since there is only a few werewolf!lock I guess I am going to leave my part.
I hope you enjoy!
And sorry for my grammar and vocabulary mistakes!
Sometimes she wondered what good could be being born a woman. You always had to depend on a man to do everything, you couldn't even take your own decisions since you were too dumb for that (and too emotional and too talkative...) If only she had been born as a man, she could have completed her studies on pathology instead of being treated as a prize to be won, as a means to an end. A breeder of heirs, between her and the cows of the farm, she saw no difference. Well, just one, people thought cows were more useful than women.
It all had started when her father had died, then her entire world crashed down. Her mother, a conservative woman, had always disapproved her teaching on any other art that wasn't music or domestic labours, so a couple of weeks after her husband's death she felt free to forbid her to continue studying pathology. Instead, she had urged her the in the matter of finding a suitable husband who would take care of her.
Many people had presented to ask the young unmarrried woman her hand in marriage. All of them had been idiots, who didn't saw her for who she was, they only seeked the family fortune and a servant who followed all their orders without protesting. Molly knew how to get rid of them, a couple of minutes talking about her morbid interest and they would turn pale and ran away as far from the house and her as possible. It was funny to see and it also frustrated her mother, which was like killing two birds with the same stone.
Soon, people started to stop visiting. And the rumour that she was a 'thinker' and a woman of science ran through the village. Nobody wanted a know-it-all for a wife, so Molly remained unmarried, which was what she wanted.
Then, he arrived.
When her mother announced her that a new candidate had apperared, she couldn't stop the devilish grin that formed on her face. She didn't consider herself a bad person, in fact she only wished the best for everybody even the ones who had hurt her. But it had been a long time since she had scared a suitor, she longed for a bit of fun in her life.
While she doubted between the multiple ways of poisoning someone or the days a corpse needed to start decomposing properly as a conversational subject, she stopped short when she saw the tall lean figure of her living room.
For a second, she thought she had had a heart attack walking down the stair and had ascended to heaven, since the man before her couldn't be any other thing but an angel. Pink luscious lips that were parted, intense eyes that she thought were made from gemstones, sharp cheekbones, patrician nose; everything around him screamed class. The only thing that crashed with that elegant air around him was that unruly black hair, but she thought it was bonus to his persona.
The man in question, crossed the room in two wide steps and kissed her hand gently, letting his lips maintain contact with her skin for a few seconds more than necessary. But who was she to protest?
"Mrs. Hooper I suppose, your beauty is unmistakable. I am Lord Holmes of London. And I am here to formally ask you for your hand in marriage." He gave her a wide sweet smile, with gave him an aura of innocent little boy that Molly absolutely adored. It almost made her forget her purpose, almost.
"Mr. Holmes, do you know how many ways to poison a man are there?" She said with a sweet smile while she waited for the penny to drop. She hadn't intended for it to come out as a hidden threat, but well, better make a good use of it. She could hear her mother facepalming from whereever she was and it made her beam with satisfaction. Bye bye, angel of darkness.
Sherlock gave her an equally sweet smile.
"Well, correct me if I am wrong, but last time I checked there were about two millions" He said innocently. Molly bit her lip, this one wasn't one to be easily scared.
"Actually, there are more than three millions." She corrected him.
For a second he looked a bit put out and his eyes hardened, but it easily vanished, being replaced with surprise.
"Really? I think it has been really long since the last time I checked." He said with a small laugh. If he had impressed her before, the following phrase was what had had her at his feet.
"Could you tell me more about that million of poisons I have seen to miss?"
He had been wonderful, had listened with a spark of interest on his eyes that had never faded, not even one, he had asked questions when he had considered it was more appropiate and had never berated her for being a woman who liked sciences. When the conversation had ended he had told her that if he had found her interestig before, now she was even more fascinating to him.
There had been no more doubts on her mind, he was the one whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, the one whom she would be more than willing to give children. He would be her rescuer.
Her mother had been over the moon, planning all the details for a perfect wedding the moment he stepped out of the door. Who could blame her?, Molly was also pretty excited for her upcoming wedding.
Not more than a month after that visit, she found herself dressed all in white walking down the aisle. She felt like the luckiest girl in the world, not only she had found the man of her dreams, but also a man who would probably encourage her to continue her studies. Life couldn't have been more perfect.
Oh, how wrong she had been. Life wasn't perfect, life was just a sick whore who tricked you.
The moment they get on the carriage and were at a decent distance away from their guest, the romantic hero mask her new husband had been wearing dropped, and he started to show his true colours. Sherlock Holmes was no charming gentelman, but a cruel, despotic, self centered and arrogant tyrant, and she was his favorite punching bag. Yes, he did encourage her studies in sciences, but at a price that she was sure she would never be able to pay.
If he didn't mock her gruffy clothes, he would turn his attention towards her thin lips, or her small bust; and if that didn't work, he would make fun of her mousy hair. She loathed him, but at the same time still loved him deeply in the deepest corner of her heart, because she couldn't help but notice the sad gleam on his eyes when he thought nobody was looking. He was a really difficult man, she couldn't help but wonder if he felt lonely.
As she looked into the window feeling miserable for being a woman and being in love with a man who despised her, the full moon peeked through the clouds that covered it. She didn't know what the night sky had, but it always made her feel less lonely. Maybe her father was watching her from above.
*CRASH!* *BANG*
She jumped from the window when she heard those crashings, who could be making such horrible noises in the middle of the night? Of course, silly her. Her husband must be in one of his famous tantrums. She rolled her eyes at his childish behavior. Couldn't he take a mistake like normal people did? However it was the next sound what scared her.
"Aaaaggghhhh!"
The sound of a cry of agonizing pain echoed through the halls and sent shivers running down her spine. That didn't sound like when one of his experiments went wrong. Molly ran towards the door and twisted the knob. It was looked, her husband had the nasty trait of locking her in her room almost every night, another thing to add to the list of why should she fully hate him.
Fortunately, she was a woman with resources. Pulling out a hairpin from her dressing gown's pocket, she spent a good amount of time trying to figure out how to pick the lock from her door. She had seen Sherlock doing this a great amount of times, it shouldn't be that hard.
She dropped into a sweat, but after several minutes the lock seemed to cede. She dashed to the halls in search of the source of the cry, cursing herself for her waste of time. What if she was late? He could have already died and it would be her fault. And she doubted she could live with that, no matter how horrible he was as a person.
"UGGGGhh!"
At the end of the hall, there was a door halfway opened, she could see a dim light coming from the inside, her husband must be there.
The small office was a mess, everything was broken or turned upside down there were several marks that human fingers were not able to leave on the desk. But what scared her the most was the sight of Sherlock writhing on the floor, sweating and grunting in pain.
"Sherlock?" She took a step inside the room.
Between his grunts he let out a soft surprised gasp. "Molly?"
She felt braver with each second that passed and approached his weak form, Sherlock's eyes grew wide with alarm.
"No, Molly! Don't come any closer!" His voice somehow sounded deeper and gruffier than before. But Molly ignored him, it wasn't until he turned around and she saw his glowing yellow eyes and his elongated canines that she saw that she should have obeyed him.
"Mollyyy! Stay away from meeee!" He howled.
It all happened so fast, she could have sworn it had been a couple of seconds instead a couple of minutes. Sherlock's features took more animalistic characteristics while dark hair started growing through all his body. His fingernails broke and fell down, giving space for new, sharpened claws to surge foward. She winced when she heard his bones cracking, changing to adpat better to his new body. Tears formed on his hirt as more fur appeared, his grunts softening as the transformation came to an end.
Molly backed away a couple of steps, however one of the wooden floortiles creaked when she put her feet on it. She froze when it caught the attention of whatever Sherlock was now.
The creature previously known as Sherlock turned around and sniffed the air, his golden wolfish eyes centering on her. He let out a low growl that froze Molly's blood on her veins.
Without further thinking, she turned around and broke into a race towards her room. Her heart stopped when she heard the monster howl at the chance of pursuing his prey. She didn't need to look back to know he was chasing her, his huffs were proof enough that he soon would catch her if she didn't speed up.
"SHERLOCK PLEASE!" She sobbed, the tears were starting to make her vision blurry, but she didn't cease in her attempts to run away from him. Her room was near, she just had to run a bit more-
*RIIIPP*
Molly screamed when she felt one of his claws tearing the back of her dressing gown, if she had not arched her back, now she would be sporting a very ugly looking scratch.
She entered her room and closed the door behind her. She cried when she felt him slam his body against it. Running towards the bed, she hid herself under it, knowing that even that place would be useless to hide if he managed to break in.
After a couple of minutes, which felt like hours to her, she felt him quieten. However, that wasn't enough to put her to sleep.
Only when she felt the first rays of sun peering through the curtains, she dared to peek outside the bed. Everything seemd calm, no one or nothing had entered. She walked cautiously around the room, and finally directed her attention to the object she had been purposely avoiding.
Tentatively, she pushed the door open, only to have it blocked by an obstacle. Peering through the small crack the door allowed her to see, she saw that that obstacle was no other than Sherlock, the human Sherlock, her husband.
She pushed against the door to move him, she only managed that he turned around, but at least she got more space to get out.
She nudged Sherlock with her foot. No response, as she was about to kneel and shake abruptly sat up, looking at her to glassy eyes.
"Molly?" He asked weakly.
She dropped to her knees in front of him. "I am here Sherlock." She said uncertainly.
She was caught off guard when he suddenly reached for her and pulled her towards him. He buried his nose on her neck
"Oh, thank God you are okay. I was worried I had wounded you."
"You? You were worried... about me?" Molly knew she shouldn't give herself hopes, it only would left her more heartbroken than she was now. But still, it warmed her heart he was able to worry about her. At least he cared a bit.
"Of course I was. You're my wife."
"I don't count."
Sherlock's eyes widened and his lips parted on surprise.
"Of course you count. You have always counted and I have always trusted you."
Molly looked down, refusing to believe that any of what he was saying was true. "You have never treated me well. You've always said horrible things, everytime, always, always..."
She felt his hold on her tighten.
"I had to keep you away, I couldn't approach you without being a danger to you."
"Then why did you marry me if you are so dangerous?" He flinched at her tone of voice.
"I've heard the rumors about you, about how you were more interested in sciences than marrying a man; they caught my attention, for a second I believed I have finally found a person who could help me with my curse. But it seemed to be a more difficult quest than what I had initially thought. Yes, your mind was and still is brilliant, but the more time time I spend with you, the more I found myself commiting the 'human error' of falling in love." He then mumbled "And there was that constant insecurity of you seeing me for what I really was and flee."
Molly looked at him and caressed his prominent cheekbone, they had suffered so much, had hurt each other so badly. But now that she finally saw what he really was, she didn't see a monster, but a man.
She had a feeling things would be better from now on.
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