After the Grey's had moved, Etheldrea and Abigail were practically inseparable. They'd walked to and from school, stopping at shops or cafes now and then, going out on the weekends. It was during one of those weekends where they sat inside a café and were chatting. While there, Etheldrea noticed a suspicious figure outside. He was a tall man, with large muscles, and was wearing a hoodie. He couldn't be older than forty and was glancing around, his eyes flicking back and forth between people.
He started walking on the path towards the café, and then he bumped into someone. There wasn't much of an apology and the pair walked in their directions. However, a moment later, the man who was bumped started exclaiming and pointing in his opposite direction.
"Come on!" Etheldrea said, pulling Abigail from the table and out the door.
She looked down the street and saw him running at high speed, and she pulled Abigail with her, running after him.
"What's going on?" Abigail shouted as they ran.
"Pickpocket! Hurry before we lose sight of him!"
The girls ran down the path, through an ally and over a fence before finding themselves at the entrance of an abandoned meat company. They looked around carefully for any sign of the man, and then proceeded into the building though an archway.
They were quiet as they walked, taking care to stay close to old boxes and crates. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow move and motioned for Abigail to get down. She peaked out of the corner and saw him standing with his back towards them, apparently messing on his cell phone. Then he started walking away, towards a set of stairs. When she looked up, she saw an overseer balcony where the stairs were leading right towards. If he got up there, he would see them.
Etheldrea grabbed Abigail's hand and pulled her under the balcony, but the floor above them was still metal with punched holes and they would still be seen. She looked towards the ground and near their feet saw a hatchway.
"Call for help." Etheldrea whispered as she opened the hatch.
"My phone's dead." Abigail said after checking.
"It's fine, mine will do. First, get down here."
Etheldrea slipped down the latter, landed at the bottom and motioned for Abigail to follow her. After she made it down, the looked around the basement room and were surprised to find it filled with large steel boxes.
"What are they?" Abigail asked.
"Walk in freezers I think."
"There's got to be at least twenty of them."
"This used to be a meat shipping plant. This was probably the storage."
"Why is he hiding out here?"
"Don't know."
The girls walked along the floor, passing row after row of freezer. They were all in a neat line, and there were many more behind them. One thing Etheldrea noticed is that they were all in use and turned up to the highest setting. They shouldn't be, not when this place was shut down. At the end of the line, she frowned and went to open one of the doors.
It was tough at first, but the door gave way and then Abigail screamed. Quickly Etheldrea wrapped a hand around her mouth and muffled her, and then looked inside. In the door, frozen in a slumped position was the body of a man. Etheldrea let go of Abby, shut the door, and then pulled her around the box. Etheldrea took out her phone, but found there was no signal and thrust the phone into Abigail's hands.
She whispered, "No doubt he's heard you, he'll be coming. When he gets down here, I'll distract him, you get out and you go for help. Run to Scotland Yard, and call my dad. Got it?"
Abigail looked at her, mouth agape and eyes wide. Etheldrea took her hands and started pushing her towards the back, watching the stairs carefully. They were hidden behind another freezer, out of view of the stairs but easily escapable.
"You can do this, I know you can."
Abigail gulped and nodded her head. Etheldrea let her go and started backing away. As she did, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs and ran the rest of the way back. She slipped to the side of the second to last freezer and poked her head out. He was standing at the bottom in a predator position. Etheldrea took a deep breath, and faked tripping over.
"Get over here you little bitch!" He yelled, running for her.
She got up and ran forward, past two other freezers and ducked under some pipes connected to the ceiling. She went back as far as she could, granted it was only a few feet and against a wall, and the pickpocket now murderer was close to her. He ran into her view, and growled before getting on the floor and reaching under. He grabbed her ankle and she stepped on his hand. He gave a shout and let go, but tried again and this time pulled. She fell and then was pulled through.
She kicked him in the face and he backed up clutching at his head. Etheldrea jumped up and over him and then made a break for the stairs. However, ice on the floor caused her to slip and she slammed into one of the freezers. The murderer was behind her now and grabbed her under the arms. He was stronger than she thought, and he hauled to one of the freezers. She tried kicking and hitting, but he refused to let go even as he opened the door and tossed her in. Ungracefully, she landed on the cold metal floor and was more than positive she sprained her wrist. Even worse, she heard a click noise outside the door.
Abigail ran the moment he did, and she scrambled up the latter. Her footing got the better of her and at the last step, she tripped and the phone went flying. It broken open and the battery slid under a crate. She had no time to get it so she got up and ran like hell outside. Scotland Yard was at least half an hour by foot and she had no money for a cab. If she ran, and disobeyed all traffic signs, she could knock off ten minutes at most.
Etheldrea stood up, slowly and wearily. She looked around the room, searching for something better than the floor to sit on. She was shivering already and she needed to find some form of insulation. One handed, she took her scarf off and buttoned her coat as far as it could, only just below her neck. She turned the collar flaps up and used her neck to hold them in place as she rewrapped her scarf tightly. With that done, it took several attempts to pull her arms inside her jacket. She was able to do it, and then reached under the coat to tie the empty sleeves together. It was nealy impossible, but she utilized her teeth and got it done. There was nothing she could do but keep moving, wait and hope Abigail made it out.
In a few minutes, mental confusion would start. After that, as her body temperature started to lower, she'd feel no different than the room itself, motor movements would be slower and she'd stumble most likely, and then amnesia could happen. It wouldn't take longer than half an hour for Abigail to get help. She should be fine. Maybe a shock blanket would be needed, but surely nothing too bad. If she kept moving, she could try to delay the symptoms for just a bit longer.
Didn't Etheldrea have people watching her? She said one time she had more security than the queen, where the hell were they? It took her twenty five minutes, but she finally arrived at Scotland Yard. There was a guard at the front, trying to hold her back.
"I need to talk to Inspector Lestrade, now!"
"Now just hold on, what's the problem? You can't just-"
"You know Sherlock Holmes?"
"Of course."
"His daughter's in danger and I need to tell them!"
"OK, come on, let's go."
He led her towards the offices, and fortunately, Sherlock and John were already there. The moment she saw them, she ran for them.
"Mr. Holmes! Mr. Holmes, Etheldrea's in trouble!" she shouted.
"Where?" He asked.
"This- meat packaging place. It's near Cadogen Pier."
"I know where it is, let's go."
"Wait, he's a murderer. We thought he was a pickpocket but he killed someone." She called after them as they ran out.
Lestrade heard and started making calls for backup. Outside, Lestrade rushed the group into his car and they we off.
"What happened?" Sherlock asked.
"Etheldrea saw a guy steal something, we ran after him, got to this warehouse place to look for him, nearly got spotted and went to hide in this basement place, found like a billion freezers and a dead guy in one of them. I screamed, he heard, she told me to run while she distracted him."
Etheldrea was limping around the room, trying to keep the action going through her mind. If she stopped, she'd be dead. . . However, she didn't know why. But she had been telling herself to keep moving, so that's what she was doing. But she was so tired and her hand hurt every time she moved about, and the floor was starting to look inviting. Maybe a quick sit down would be alright. She kneeled on the ground and closed her eyes. After a moment, she felt as though she was falling and quickly stirred.
For a small moment, she remembered why she had to keep moving. Hypothermia had set in and was quickly turning severe. But hypothermia happened in the cold, and she wasn't cold. Was she? Trapped in a freezer and she wasn't cold. That didn't make a lot of sense. Why was she trapped? Why didn't she try to get out?
She tried to stand up, but her legs gave out and she fell. She frowned when she realized her arms were inside her jacket and the sleeves were tied together. When had that happened? Who did it? Why did it hurt? She tried to get out but it was too hard, and all that effort was making her tired. If she closed her eyes for just a minute, she could get some energy back. She'd be just fine.
The car stopped outside the building and men immediately began searching the perimeter. Abigail tried running towards the entrance but an officer pulled her back.
"We can't let civilians in a crime scene." Lestrade explained.
"They get to go!"
"They're a special case."
"She's my best friend!"
"Lestrade," Sherlock called, "I need her to show me the scene."
Lestrade sighed, "For a minute then, but wait until it's all clear."
So they waited, and after a few minutes they heard over a radio the suspect was running towards the right side entrance. At this, Sherlock and John ran inside, with Abigail trailing them. They saw the man make an exit with several officers after him. John started after the man but Sherlock called for him.
"He's getting away!" John shouted.
"Let the Yard deal with him. Did you notice the lack of Etheldrea with him?"
Abigail ran over the door she and Etheldrea had gone through to the basement.
"Down here." She called and started down.
"Abigail, wait!" Sherlock called.
"She's not down here." She shouted.
Sherlock climbed down and looked around.
"Where could she be?" Abigail asked.
"He wasn't acting like she was loose inside the building. I think he incapacitated her. Did you run from here?"
"Yes."
"It took you twenty to twenty five to get here, another ten on the drive back, and an extra five while we waited. She's down here, has been anytime between five and forty minutes."
Abigail started opening a door and Sherlock followed suit. John came down along with Lestrade and a few officers, and they started searching. Half the freezers were empty, but as they neared the back, bodies were being found. Sherlock reached one of the second to last boxes in a row and tried to open the door, but he found it was locked with a padlock.
"She's here!" He shouted.
One officer called for bolt cutters and they were delivered within a minute. As soon as the locked was gone, Sherlock threw open the door and looked inside. Lying on the ground, back towards the door, was Etheldrea. Sherlock rushed towards her while unbuttoning and shrugging off his coat. He turned her towards him. She was unconscious, her lips were an unhealthy blue and her skin was ice cold, but she was breathing.
He lifted her up and wrapped his coat around her, and then picked her up and hurried out the door. John saw him and started up the latter and waited so that he could lift Etheldrea up. At the same time, he told so done to call for an ambulance.
As soon as she was in his arms, Sherlock was up and taking her back. Abigail and Lestrade followed after them.
"Is she alright?" Abigail asked quickly.
"She will be. Another hour and she would've been dead." Sherlock said.
The ambulance showed up and immediately set to work. Lestrade reluctantly stayed behind to watch over the work here. John said he would follow Sherlock, along with Abigail. John walked her outside and then sat her down on the ground. He sat next to her and watched as officers walked by, forensics teams arrived, and people stopped to watch everything.
"Aren't we going to the hospital?" She asked.
"In a moment. Let's take a minute to breath though."
"She's going to fine, right?"
"Yep. In fact, she should be able to leave by nighttime. It's just a matter of getting her body temperature back to normal."
"Good."
"What you did today, that was very brave."
She shook her head, "I should have stayed with her."
"Not at all. You did the right thing coming for us."
"But he might not have noticed me. If I had stayed hidden, I could have helped her."
"You did help. You saved her life."
"Nearly too late."
"Let's count nearly as a victory."
"Can we go to the hospital now?"
"Yeah. Call your parents and let them know."
"I can't. My phone died before we got here, and then I accidently broke Etheldrea's. The case is somewhere in there, and I think the battery went under a box."
John pulled out his, "Here, use mine."
He stood and then helped her up, and then they went to hail a cab.
About forty minutes after falling under in the freezer, Etheldrea was finally waking up. The lights were bright at first, but she got used to it after a moment. She turned her head to see Sherlock sat by her bedside reading a magazine.
"Woman's Digest?" she mumbled, her speech a bit slow, "Really?"
"They don't have My Weekly. I keep telling you and John, all of life can be found in the personal columns."
She chuckled, "Sure. So, how long?"
"Not very, not enough to be lose to death."
"Well, that's good. And Abigail?"
"Cafeteria about fifteen minutes ago. John's with them I think."
She nodded, "Ok. Any idea when I can leave?"
"Anytime you want, though it would be against doctor's word."
"Let's wait until Abby and John come back."
"By the way, John doesn't think you should chase pickpockets without us anymore."
She rolled her eyes, "Not everyone is a murderer."
"That's what I said."
She tried sitting up, but hissed when her left hand felt like it had been shocked.
"You sprained your wrist. Minor, should heal in a couple of days." Sherlock mumbled, looking back at his magazine.
"Great. Just great."
"You can't complain, you did it to yourself."
"Well excuse me for having a man twice my size throw me in a freezer. What happened to him anyway?"
"Caught. Didn't expect anyone to be coming so he stuck around for a while. How kind of him." Sherlock didn't look at her, but his grip on the paper tightened.
"I'm fine, chill out."
"Etheldrea."
"It's all cool."
"No. Stop."
"No need to be so frosty."
"You're hanging out with Abby too much."
"Ice-see what you're saying. I'm not stopping until you laugh."
He glared at her, "Terribly sorry I don't find the situation all that funny. I have reason to believe this was part of a set up. You should know, there's someone else connected to the murderer. He said so himself."
"Who?"
Mycroft Holmes was waiting patiently in his office, unaware of the events transpiring in his family. His security had alerted him twenty minutes ago that he would be receiving a visit soon and he knew exactly who it was. Already, he had a guard waiting in the corner of the room. The man meeting him entered the room, a devilish smile on his face and brown-black eyes bouncing around.
"Jim Moriarty." Mycroft greeted sardonically.
"Mr. Holmes, a pleasure to meet you. Forgive me for being late; I took a little stop to Baker Street."
"Why are you here?"
"I just want to ask your opinion."
"About?"
"Your security. What do you think of them?"
"They're sufficient at best."
"I see. I see why. Your niece, she has a lot of security on her. They can be taken care of quickly though. You just need either bribery or below negative fifty degrees."
Mycroft stood up and said to the guard, "Seize him."
I forgot to mention, I don't own Sherlock. Only Etheldrea and Abigail, and all the OC's. Reminder that I have a tumblr blog. Link on profile.
