I want to first shout out to all those who have favorited and followed my story, thank you so much!
After another long day at work, Alena was looking forward to a nice quiet evening in her flat leading into her weekend off. Nothing unusual or unnerving occurred to her again, which she was very thankful for. Changing out of her blouse and skirt, Alena got into her lounge wear and began preparing her dinner. All she planned on doing was relaxing, curling up with a good book and going to bed early. While she was watching television, she sat on her couch and ate her dinner. Just as she was finishing, Alena heard her phone go off. Upon checking it, she found a text from Sherlock.
Drop by the flat if you're not busy. If you are, come by anyway.
SH
So much for a relaxing night off, she thought.
Putting her dishes in her sink she slipped on her black flats and put on her jacket. She left her flat and walked over to 221B. She could hear Sherlock and John talking upstairs as she ascended the staircase. She had no doubt in her mind that this was something to do with that murder case they had her help with.
"Oh good, you're here, Alena," Sherlock said as she walked inside. "We'll be needing your assistance."
Alena hung up her jacket. "Let me guess, this is about that murder case you told me about."
"Exactly. We're going to be swamped in a few moments and we will be needing your help."
Sighing she sat down on the couch. "Okay, before I help you both, I better get an idea of what exactly is going on and why I, a simple librarian, could possibly be able to help."
Sherlock looked at her and grinned. "Your being a librarian is very fitting for what we need you here for."
Alena raised an eyebrow. "Go on."
"We're going to be looking through a lot of books when they get here. We need to find matching ones from the two victims' homes."
Her brow furrowed. "Okay, back up. You promised to tell me about this later, well I still don't understand why books are important in this case."
John showed her the pictures from the crime scenes depicting the symbols. "Both of these locations had the same symbols you saw in the library. Well two men saw those symbols and were later murdered. Now the symbols are actually Chinese numbers, and we found a wall near the train tracks that was covered in them. We've found out that they are sets, and they are based upon a book. The first number is the page number, the second is the word on the page."
Alena looked at the pattern. "So it's a code that the murderers are using to communicate with one another."
John nodded. "Yes. Now Van Coon and Lukis were smugglers for a group called the Black Lotus, and they knew the code. What we have to do is go through their books, find any one that is the same and see if we can crack the code. Apparently something was stolen from the group and they are killing in order to find it."
Alena swallowed hard. "What could be so important to kill for? It must be expensive."
Sherlock was impressed by how well she was following. "Good girl. The smugglers have been bringing back artifacts from China and they have been featured in auctions, selling for hundreds of thousands of pounds. The only way they do it is having the source listed as 'Anonymous'. We need to find out what it was they were looking for and only by finding the right book we can do this. So as you see, we need someone who knows books. Hence why I asked you to come over."
Alena nodded. "Well then, I'm here to help."
He grinned. "Excellent."
"So where are they?"
Before he could answer, Mrs. Hudson knocked on the door. "Sorry, are we collecting for charity Sherlock?"
"What?"
"A young man is outside with crates of books."
One by one, all of the crates were brought into the flat. Alena knew that between two individuals they likely had lots of books, but seeing the number of crates coming inside, she began to wonder how long this would take. Finally with all of them inside, there was almost no room to move around easily. Alena bit down on her lower lip before sighing, knowing they had a very long night ahead of them. Other than that, seeing these crates got her a little excited. Sherlock noticed the sparkle in her eye when she looked at the number of crates.
"I knew you would want to be a part of this," he said in her ear.
His rich, baritone voice made her shiver a little. "Well...it's kinda like an archival project. Haven't done one in a while, so this should be very interesting."
"So the numbers are references," Sherlock said aloud.
"To books," John stated.
"To specific pages and specific words on those pages," Sherlock elaborated.
John nodded. "Alright so 15 and 1, means?"
"Turn to page fifteen and it's the first word you read."
"Okay so what's the message?"
"Depends on the book. That's the cunning of book code. It has to be one that they both own."
Alena sighed. "Well, shall we?"
The three of them began opening crates and examining the books, looking for identical books.
Suddenly, another man walked inside the flat with photographs. "We found these at the museum. Is this your writing?" he asked John.
"Uh, we hoped Soo Lin could decipher it for us," he said taking it.
The man turned and noticed Alena hard at work looking through the books. His eyes narrowed, trying to figure out who she was. "An assistant?" he asked, gesturing toward her.
John looked up. "Yes, Detective Inspector Dimmock, Alena Van Buren. She's a librarian and our neighbor. We hoped she would be of help with her career in the field of books."
Alena looked up and smiled. "Pleased to meet you," she said before going back to her work.
Dimmock looked at her from head to foot, somewhat admirably. "The pleasure is mine," he said grinning.
Sherlock caught the look on Dimmock's face and scoffed, irritated by the look he gave to Alena.
"Anything else I can do? To assist you, I mean," Dimmock asked Sherlock.
"Some silence right now would be marvelous," Sherlock replied, never pausing from his work.
Dimmock got the message that it was time for him to leave. With one more glance at Alena, he walked out. With no one else coming into the flat that night, they continued to work over the next several hours going through the seemingly endless crates of books. Alena did her best to remember titles and book covers, double checking that she had managed to find the right ones. Very rarely did she find any matches. The same went for Sherlock and John, but none of them contained words on the correct page which seemed to fit anything relating to this group.
It was morning when they had managed to get through all of the crates. They were nowhere near close to finding a book which matched the criteria they were working with. Alena found it strange that she never even noticed that it was morning until she saw the sun streaming down Baker Street. She was grateful that she didn't have work that day, or else she would be severely late. As of that day, she had never been late for work, something she was vastly proud of.
John looked at his watch when it beeped, sounding an alarm. "Oh, no," he groaned as he buried his face in his hands.
She looked at him. "You have to be at work right now?"
He nodded slowly. "This will not be a good day."
Alena felt awful for him. "Well, since I'm not working today I'll stay and help Sherlock. You get going."
John smiled a little. "Thanks, Alena. See you both later," he said leaving the room.
It wasn't until he left that Alena felt the hands of slumber taking hold upon her brain. Her eyes were beginning to weigh down in exhaustion. Looking at Sherlock she couldn't understand how he was running on virtually no sleep, and likely no food. He was an enigma she could not figure out at all. But that was what made him all the more fascinating to her.
"Um, I really don't think I'll be of any use to you if I don't eat anything, Sherlock. Why don't I go grab something at a cafe and bring it back? Would you want coffee?" she offered.
Sherlock had his back to her when she said that, still looking through the crates. "I don't eat while I'm working. Digesting slows me down."
"Oh," she replied. "Do you mind if I go grab something? It will just be a few minutes."
"Fine," he replied, still not looking at her.
Alena sighed and put on her jacket. "If you do decide that you want me to pick up something for you, feel free to text me."
Sherlock said nothing, completely preoccupied with his task at hand. Alena stepped over to him, placing a gentle hand on his arm.
"Did you hear me?" she asked.
He paused and his eyes met with her own. For the first time, Alena noticed that his eyes weren't quite the shade of blue she first thought. This time they looked more like a shade between a pale blue, maybe more of a pale green. Whatever it was, she thought it entrancing. Never before had she seen such beautiful eyes.
"Yes, Alena," he said. "I heard you. If I do think of something, I will let you know."
She nodded. "Okay. I'll be back soon."
Alena turned and walked down the stairs. Exiting 221B, she walked down Baker Street, grumbling to herself that she didn't have any sunglasses with her. Her tired eyes burned when they were hit by the sunlight, making her feel like a vampire. Quickening her pace, she tried to get back into the shade and over to the cafe to get her coffee and whatever else she could decide on making her breakfast.
At the cafe she ordered a small coffee and a blueberry scone. While she waited for her order, she double checked her phone messages to be sure that Sherlock hadn't texted her. She would hate to leave and realize that he had asked her for something while she was coming back. With her items in hand, she made the walk back. Sipping her coffee instantly revitalized her. Alena was not a huge coffee drinker, but when she was especially tired and needed to keep working, she didn't mind turning to coffee as her beverage of choice.
Ascending the staircase back to the flat, Alena put herself back in the mindset of what she had been working on the entire night. Although the coffee was helping to wake her up, her mind still failed to function at her highest capacity. Then again, she could not really figure out what they were possibly missing. Sherlock had not moved since she left, or at least he was standing in the same spot when she walked in.
"You were very quick," he observed.
She nodded. "I promised I would only be gone for a few minutes."
Alena sat down in the kitchen to eat her scone. "Anything yet?"
"No. Nothing."
As she ate, she forced her mind to work harder despite the fog forming within her brain. She hoped that she would regain a serious amount of energy once she finished her scone and coffee, but she would have to wait and see.
Her small breakfast did not completely help. Alena managed to go for a couple more hours before she realized that she was in serious trouble. Her eyes were completely weighed down from the fatigue, and her head was getting very fuzzy. Sherlock still managed to keep working, she wished she knew what his secret was.
"Sherlock, would you greatly mind if I take a break for an hour or two? I'm exhausted," she said with a yawn.
"We need to crack the code," he replied.
She groaned. "Okay I have no idea how many hours I have been up helping you, but we are at a standstill right now. I need to sleep or else I won't be much help. Just give me a couple hours to rest and I'll come back to help you."
"You can use my bedroom," he said.
Alena shook her head. "Thank you, but no. I would rather go back to my place so I can also change into something else. I'm only next door, not on the other side of London. Look if you discover something, call me or text me and I'll come right over. I promise."
Sherlock sneered. "Fine."
She hung her head. "You're not making this any easier."
He looked at her sternly. "I need your help, Alena. I need to find out what this book is to crack the code. It has to be staring us right in the face."
A small jolt of energy coursed through her when he said those words as harsh as he had. Alena stared back at him, taken aback.
"I must have given you twelve hours of my life to help you on this case. I have stayed up with you and John all night trying to find this damn book, and this is how you repay me? I have done everything you ever asked me to do, and when I give you a simple request you make it sound like I'm asking for something so unbelievably difficult!" she nearly screamed angrily.
His stern gaze changed back to his usual emotionless visage. "I've angered you."
"Excellent deduction, I wonder how long it took you to figure out that one when anyone could have told you that one! Even an amateur could have pieced that one together!" she retorted.
Sherlock slowly rounded the crates and approached her. "Alena, there's no need to get so furious."
She was on the verge of tears she was so angry. "You're treating me like a machine instead of a human being. Are you that insensitive that you fail to realize that? I'm not you! I'm not capable of functioning the same way as you! A few hours! That's all I have asked for, is that so wrong?"
Alena tried to walk past him to leave, but she was so lightheaded that she stumbled and began to collapse. Sherlock quickly grabbed hold of her and held her against him to steady her. Her eyes widened a bit when she felt the contact between their bodies. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, feeling so stupid for being unable to keep herself from falling. Once more her eyes met with his own. This was the first time their faces had been this close, mere centimeters apart.
"I-I'm sorry," she whispered.
Sherlock's gaze softened as he stared right back into her brown eyes. He could see how red her eyes were from lack of sleep. "You don't have to be. You're right, you have been helping for a very long amount of time. You have earned a break. However, I am not about to let you walk down those stairs. You're exhausted enough that you might collapse and fall down the entire staircase. We do not want that. My bedroom it is."
Alena would have protested, but her mind refused to put together the words necessary. Sherlock led her to his room and helped her to sit down on the bed.
"Sleep now, Alena. I'll let you know when I need you," he assured her.
Feeling his soft bed beneath her body she was on the verge of falling asleep, but she forced herself to stay awake a little bit longer. "Thank you, Sherlock," she managed to whisper.
"You're welcome," he replied before leaving the room.
Alena sighed and laid her head down on the pillow. As she drifted off, she managed to detect his scent on the pillow, one which not only intoxicated her but made her heart flutter. She had no chance to figure out a reason why she reacted so to it because she finally managed to fall asleep.
How else will she be able to assist with the case? How will her relationship with Sherlock progress? Please comment!