Chapter 2: Dusty Memories

The plane journey for Sherlock was in a word, tedious but lucky for Molly, whom had brought along her noise cancelling headphones, couldn't hear his none stop moaning but things were not so lucky for John whom had to endure it for the whole flight.

Saint Petersburg was bustling with activity much to Molly's delight as she admired the many new and exciting sights as the three made their way to the Catherine Palace.

Sherlock had received permission to explore the old ruin along with Molly and John thanks to Mycroft but the task of removing old wooden boards from one of the many doorways fell to John and it resulted in him falling backwards with a groan as the doorway finally became useable and Molly helped the doctor up as Sherlock entered the old palace.

Molly looked around the old palace with a frown,

"This place is so sad... The Romanovs were such kind people... They didn't deserve such a tragic end" she murmured as she wiped dust from an old mirror and Sherlock nodded silently as he moved into the old ballroom,

"Quiet tragic for such grand architecture to fall into disrepair" he murmured as Molly made her way down the staircase that stood to his left and approached a giant portrait that was hardly visible due to the debris that covered it but Molly carefully wiped it away,

"Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia" she said as she looked upon the youthful painted image of the girl that stood within the canvas,

"The family certainly were grand" John said looking at the dusty painting and Molly nodded in agreement,

"What happened?" Sherlock asked curiously and Molly looked down sadly,

"Many said that the Romanov family had been cursed by a man whose heart had been tarnished with hatred and jealousy. Others say he was simply a traitor who turned more against the family causing the palace to be attacked and the family were forced to flee but... Unfortunately, their escape failed" Molly explained and Sherlock took a step towards the painting,

"And what of the young duchess?" he asked,

"Anastasia was only 8 years old at the time and although her demise was most likely... Her body was never found" Molly said sadly and John shook his head disgusted,

"The entire family... Lost just because of one jealous bast..." he tried,

"Language, John" Sherlock warned firmly before looking around,

"Well, this place is huge so I say splitting up is the most logical move" he said to which Molly and John nodded in agreement.

John went to search one of the wings whilst Sherlock to the other and Molly found herself exploring one of the many corridors and see a shadow that was following her but then vanished into a door she just passed and it opened slowly of its own accord causing Molly to turn curiously and looked around,

"John?... Sherlock?... Is that you?" she called out before opening the door slightly more and peered inside to find one of the many bedrooms and she slowly stepped inside.

The room was in a word, trashed. Most likely caused by raiders but Molly gave a sad smile as she knelt down to examine what could only be an old dolls house built into the shape of Russian Architecture and as she opened it, Molly heard echoed voices around her,

"Anastasia, Come Back!" Yelled a voice,

"My music box!" yelled another,

"Get them!" yelled multiple voices and Molly stood quickly but the voices vanished and she breathed heavily,

"I... I must be hearing things" she murmured to herself and nodded, reassuring herself before going to leave but quickly fell back startled when two transparent figures were lead towards the wall at the side of the room by a young transparent boy,

"Quickly. Out the servants quarters" the ghostly boy ordered and Molly saw him push the the ageing lady and the young girl through a hidden doorway before closing it after them and Molly closed her eyes tightly as she heard soldiers break into the room but the room soon fell silent once more and Molly slowly opened her eyes and breathed heavily,

"SHERLOCK!" She yelled.

It didn't take long for the detective and the doctor to come running,

"Molly, what happened? Are you ok?" Sherlock demanded as he knelt next to her but Molly seemed to be in paralised shock.

The three ended up back at their hotel and John wrapped a comforting blanket around Molly's shoulder before handing her a mug of hot chocolate,

"What did you see, Molly?" Sherlock asked gently but she didn't look at him, she kept her eyes on the liquid chocolate floating within her mug,

"I... I saw... Ghosts" she whispered,

"I... I heard them" she murmured quietly,

"Perhaps it was a trick of the light or you knocked something over and spooked yourself?" Sherlock proposed but Molly shook her head quickly before looking up at him,

"No, Sherlock" she began firmly,

"I saw Anastasia and... There was an old lady with her and... This young boy helped them escape but... I don't know what happened after that... They vanished" Molly murmured and John looked at Sherlock, concerned for their friend,

"You do believe me... Don't you?" she asked them both and watched as Sherlock frowned,

"It... It seems very unlikely" he offered sorrowfully and Molly looked at Sherlock firmly,

"I wouldn't lie about this Sherlock" she said and John sat next to her,

"We know you wouldn't Molly. We believe... that... you believe you saw something" he managed and Molly glared at them both,

"If you don't believe me then surely what I saw of that secret passage must be a hallucination and that secret passage doesn't exist" Molly argued and Sherlock nodded in agreement,

"Yes... Perhaps you are right. We'll go back and check" he said but when Molly tried to stand, he stopped her,

"Tomorrow, Molly. You need rest. We all do" he said gently and Molly sighed before nodding in agreement.

That night as John and Sherlock slept, Molly sketched a rough drawing of what she had seen and closed her eyes.

"Quickly. Out the servant's quarters" the young servant boy ordered as the old lady and an eight year old Anastasia made their way into the passage.

Molly opened her eyes remembering she saw something within the ghostly vision out of the corner of her eye. The young Anastasia had dropped something as she made her way into the secret passage. A small Music box.

What do you think? Are you on the edge of your seat? Should I continue? Let me know in the reviews to unlock chapter 3.

Kind Regards,

TheAuthor1996