Chapter 1

It was a cool morning on the moors, I lay sunbathing on a rock basking in the little bit of warmth I could find before the wind blew through and chilled me again. Ever since I had moved out to Dartmoor at the beginning of the year I had made it habit to wander the moors when my mind was troubled. This was not exactly normal, actually it was extremely discouraged because of all the old mine fields and the looming presences of Baskerville so close by, but the beauty of the moors had drawn me since the first time I had seen them. I couldn't exactly pinpoint what was troubling me this morning so I had wandered out farther then I normally did. I shoved my dark red hair out my face for the twentieth time, it was way too long but I kept forgetting to get a haircut.

I tried to sort through my muddled thoughts as the sun rose higher into the sky. I began walking aimlessly since I always thought better when I was moving. Lately I was just feeling so adrift, I literally had no idea what I wanted to be doing in my life and I was tired of feeling like I didn't belong anywhere. I had moved out to a little tourist village called Grimpon to get away from my irritating brothers in London. I had been living with my brother Mycroft for most of my adult life but I hated the way he felt like he had to provide everything for me. I was only two years his junior but he insisted on treating me like I was five years old. He was so frustrating! I had never even considered moving in with Sherlock, he hadn't even had a place to stay when I had moved to Dartmoor and we always butted heads anyway. Apparently Sherlock had been doing quite well for himself since I had been away from London, he was something of a famous detective now, thanks to some bloke named John Watson who wrote about all of his cases. I never understood my brothers, I was as smart as them in some ways but I never wanted to be involved in politics and danger like they seemed to. I just wanted to be happy, and right now I did not know how to accomplish that. Both Sherlock and Mycroft had asked me to return back to London, Mycroft saying he missed me and he could provide me a much better job than the one I had here at a the local pub. Sherlock had demanded that I come back a few times to meet his new "blogger". He would never actually call John his friend even though he was obviously important to him if he wanted me to meet him. I didn't really want to go back though, it felt too much like giving up. But I wasn't finding what I was looking for out here…but could I ever find my own way under the shadow of my brothers.

Suddenly I realized I had no idea where I was, the sky seemed darker than it had been moments before and the ground was sloping downward abruptly. A thin mist curled out of a hollow in the ground, I had heard of this place before, it was called Dewar's Hollow and it was supposed to be haunted. Of course I didn't believe in such things so I decided to walk down into it, just to see what all the fuss was about. I hovered at the entrance to the hollow, about to step into the thickening mist when something dragged me backward. I screamed and tried to rip my arm out of whatever had a grip on me but I couldn't get loose. Just as I was about to utterly panic, I was spun around roughly and I found myself staring into the eyes of one of the most beautiful man I had ever seen.

I couldn't seem to tear away from the chocolate brown eyes that hold my gaze. I couldn't even seem to remember how to breathe. I should have been scared, I should have run, but I was glued to the spot. I had to find out who this man was. On closer inspection he looked insanely out of place, he was wearing a very well-tailored charcoal grey suit and he had his hair stylishly slicked back. He was wearing a tan coat to keep out the chill and his shoes looked comfortable enough, but he was no innocent out for a hike. I felt ridiculously dumpy in my plain white t-shirt, jean jacket and brown boots.

"Would you please take your hands off of me?" I had to take a deep breath after I said the words because I realized I wasn't quite ready for him to let go of me yet. He did release my arm and I couldn't say if I breathed a sigh of relief or regret.

"Stay away from this place kitten, this trap is not set for you." His voice was silky and smooth, it seemed to worm its way into my brain and fry all of my senses so all I could focus on was him.

"Who are you, and what do you mean by that?" I struggled to form a coherent thought but I had to know who he was.

"Who I am is not important, but would someone as lovely as you grace me with a name?"

"You first, I don't talk to strangers."

"You already are" He smirked at me and finally I seemed to regain control of my body. I began to stalk away from him, I was angry with him for teasing at me, but mostly I was angry at myself for the way I was reacting to this man I did not know. I was never like this, it took me ages to warm up to boys and no one had ever made my blood boil like this man had.

"Wait kitten please?" He called out behind me. "I did not mean to offend, I just wanted to know your name. I will tell you mine if it pleases you." Against my will, my feet skidded to a stop. I slowly turn around and glare at the handsome stranger who is scrambling up the slope after me.

"I am not your kitten." I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to resist the urge to get closer to him.

"I did not mean to scare you, or degrade you. It is just dangerous to go down there at the moment, I did not want you to get hurt."

"What did you mean about a trap? What are you doing here?"

"I am just keeping an eye out on my experiment and I did not want you to wander into it unaware." Ah so he must work at Baskerville, that would explain the odd way he was dressed, maybe he just left work to check on whatever he is doing in the hollow. Even though curiosity began to bubble up inside me, I stamped it down. None of this was any of my business, I was not my brothers.

"Well thank you for the warning, I'll just be going now." The stranger reached out and snaked his fingers through mine before I knew what was happening. The sudden rush of heat from the contact point was intense and I hide to stifle my gasp of surprise.

"Please before you go, can I just have your name?"

Why did he want my name so badly, could he possibly be feeling this same strange attraction that I was? Usually I would have just walked away and put this whole odd experience behind me but the thought of never seeing this man again was physically painful.

"Cassandra…Cassandra Holmes." A flash of recognition passed over his face, but if he worked at Baskerville there was a chance he had heard Mycroft's name before so I brushed it off.

"Well…it's your turn now" I demanded.

"James Moriarty."