Chapter 60
With an air of relaxation the woman drew a pair of handcuffs from her pocket. "Now Elizabeth. Please don't make it harder than it has to be." A shiver ran down her back which had nothing to do with the cold air on her naked back. "Don't." she warned, but it didn't came out as a threat more as a scared whisper. "Have it your way." She smiled and started to step around the table towards her.
Elizabeth immediately walked around the metal table keeping it between them. As Kritanta reached the far end of the table Elizabeth launched herself to the door. She pulled at the handle but it was locked, completely stuck. She made to move away but a strong hand grabbed her wrist pulling her back.
"No!" she kicked out and threw her head backwards hopping to hit her chin. But she was a lot faster than her and she forced her onto her knees. Elizabeth tugged at her arm trying to free herself but she twisted her shoulder making her cry out in pain.
Distracted with the sharp pain she didn't notice the cold metal snapping onto her wrists. When the Indian woman let go of her she pulled at her restraints but her cuffs had been attached to the table, which was bolted into the ground. Her breathing was becoming more and more erratic by the second.
The familiar sound of a blade being pulled from a sheet and she snapped her head up in horror. A long sharp blade rested in the hand of her attacker and she chocked down a sob. "Please. Don't." Her shoulders were being held backwards at an awkward angle, the metal cutting into her wrists reminded her from the cuffs Moriarty had used.
The woman dropped down onto her knees so that she was level with her. The tip of the blade softly ran over the scars on her stomach, not hard enough to draw blood but red strips started to become visible. Elizabeth sucked in her breath as she watched the metal rewrite the name, bring back the memories of what had happened to her. "Did he do it quickly? Or did he watch you squirm underneath the knife? Did he enjoy doing it, carving his name into your skin?"
When she didn't answer the knife was placed onto her cheek. "Maybe I should write my name in your skin as well? Right here." The knife dug into her skin drawing blood from her cheek. Elizabeth pulled her head away but she grabbed hold of her face, keeping her still. "Now, what should I do?" The knife carved slowly around the shell of her left ear. "Do you really need both of your ears?"
"Please. You don't have to do this." Throwing her head backwards laughing. "Oh that is such a cliché! And I really do want to do this. That old coot is paying me quite nicely to do this." "I wasn't talking to you." She said, she glanced at the camera. "Don't do this." The grip on her jaw became stronger and made her look at them.
"Do you want to lose your tongue?" she shrank away from her. "Maybe I should have let you have your tongue. I quite like your attitude." The cold blade ran down her arm to her hand. "But you don't really need all 10 fingers do you." "Oh god." She whimpered. The knife ran further down her leg till it came to her toes. "You don't really use your toes either do you?"
Elizabeth pulled her legs closer to her, keeping it away from the knife. "Come on, nothing to say." She pressed the knife deeper down into her foot. "Tell me Elizabeth, what do you cherish more? Fingers or toes?" Still shaking she swallowed hard but kept her mouth shut, she wouldn't give her the pleasure of getting an answer. She wouldn't.
"Okay fine. Have it your way." She grabbed her hand and twisted it down onto the metal table before placing a knife at her right thumb. "No! Wait! Wait! Please wait!" she yelled as she tried to pull away her thumb. She paused for a second leaving the knife on her finger. "Toes or finger?" she repeated.
"Toe. Toe." she gave in, hanging her head and shaking. She smiled at her. "See that wasn't that hard was it?" the woman grabbed her foot and pulled it forward, sitting down on top of her leg to keep it still. "Now the less you move the less it will hurt." "Please, don't do this." She tried again. "Please! Just let me go! Don't become like the monsters you." She didn't get to finish her sentence, instead she screamed as the sharp blade came down quickly.
Her entire body was shaking as the knife started to cut into her flesh and then into bone. Even though she was using a considerable amount of force it still went at an agonizingly slow pace. Pain rippled through her body as the knife dug deeper and deeper till finally she got through it. Her voice was raw and sweat was starting to drip from the side of her face.
"Now to make sure you don't bleed out." She brought a lighter from her back pocket and lit it. Still trying to pull her leg from underneath the woman she pulled at wrist. The flame pressed against the thumb where her toe had been and burned her nerve endings. Finally they got of her leg and picked up her toe. Whimpering Elizabeth pulled her legs to her chest, her eyes were glued at the burned skin where her toe had been.
She had gone completely pale and was breathing hard. "I'll have this send to Mr Holmes, we will talk again soon. Unless if you would rather call him and ask him to back off." With considerate effort she raised her head and looked at the woman, standing in the doorway. "Fuck you." She spat at her feet. The woman merely snickered before letting the door fall closed.
She knew that people could still she her, through the camera or through the glass, but somehow because no one else was in the room she felt like she was alone. Curling up into a little bowl she hid her face into her knees and allowed herself to cry. Not again, this could not be happening again.
-John, Sherlock, Lestrade & Molly p.o.v-
"What did you do Sherlock?" "They hung up." "What did you do?!" John yelled at him, making Sherlock flinch. "They are going to hurt her." he whispered. "God damn it Sherlock!" the detective ran his hands into his hair, panicking slightly. "We will find her." Lestrade tried to assure the two men.
"Not in time!" the detective yelled. "They wanted me to back of the case! I didn't agree fast enough! They will hurt her to make me do as they ask." Lestrade pulled in a shuddering breathe. "There is nothing we can do about that now." "How can you say that?" Molly yelled. "We can't. Now all we have to focus on is finding Elizabeth."
Sherlock nodded and dialled Mycroft's phone. "I am going to find out where that car disappeared of too. You focus on identifying that woman." John glared at him one more time before grabbing Molly by the arm and going back to the computers. Lestrade followed them but not before he squeezed Sherlock's shoulder.
"What do you want Sherlock I am busy." Mycroft sounded incredibly bored and frustrated. "I need you to find a car." "Get Lestrade to do it." "Wait! Don't hang up." taken aback by the hint of desperation in his brothers voice. "They have Elizabeth." Without realising Mycroft stood to attention. He knew how much Sherlock cared about the young girl, he was it in the way he talked to her.
He saw it in the way that he would comfort her with a simple touch. How he would smile when she walked into the room. It would have been cute if it didn't compensate his judgement so much.
"Sherlock I don't have time to." "Please Mycroft. They are going to hurt her." Sherlock never said please, especially not to him. "Fine." "A black SUV, license plate EBZ 6663. It was just outside of the hospital at 14:32." "I'll let you know if we find it." before the younger Holmes brother could say anything else Mycroft hung up the phone. He shook his head, his brother was letting his emotions get the best of him. It would be his end.
"I found something!" everyone turned to Lestrade as he pulled up a file. "I think I know might have kidnapped Elizabeth. She is known as Kritanta by the police and has been involved in several kidnappings and extortions, but no one can ever seem to get their hands on her. We know very little about her, but she demands a heavy price so whoever she works for has money."
"Does that help us find Elizabeth?" "No." "Then it is irrelevant." Sherlock joined John to help them looking until suddenly his phone rang again. "What did you find?" "Grocer's Hall Ct, 5th." "Got it." "And Sherlock." "Yeah." "You know you are getting to attached right." there was a second of silence before a soft click informed Mycroft Sherlock had hung up.
"I know where she is. Let's go." "Tell me, I'll call for backup." "Grocer's Hall Ct, 5th." They rushed down the stairs, anger coursing through their veins. They hailed a cab and they drove of full speed. Suddenly John's phone went off. "It is Mrs Hudson." He picked up and Sherlock could hear Mrs Hudson's frantic voice crying in the phone. "What is going on?"
John waved him of telling him to be quiet. "Calm down. What happened do you need help? Mrs Hudson?" the woman was crying into the phone when suddenly Johns face dropped and became white. "What?" "Oh god." "Yes we are on our way to her now. They won't hurt her again."
Sherlock heart felt like it was in a vice when he heard John say that. "We will bring her home. She'll be okay." She yelled into the phone again before finally ending the conversation. John slowly lowered his phone and turned to Sherlock. His eyes were filled with fury. "What happened?"
"A package was delivered at the apartment. It was left at the front of the door, not really meant for anyone. So she opened it." John closed his eyes before continuing. "It was her toe Sherlock." Sherlock's heart dropped and horror flashed over his face. "When we find them I'll kill them." John hissed between his teeth.
The rest of the drive the levels of anger kept on rising. By the time the car stopped John looked like he would slit their throat without hesitation, and Sherlock wouldn't stop him. Lestrade pulled out his gun and Molly grabbed a taser out of her bag. "Ready?" They grunted in responds and Lestrade tossed the door open. The building was huge and finding the right apartment might take a while, but they weren't messing around they would find Elizabeth.
-Elizabeth's P.O.V.-
She wasn't sure how much time had passed as she sat alone on the cold floor. Along with the constant pain in her foot memories of her time with Moriarty were flooding back. The pain he had caused her was worse than the pain she was feeling now, but that didn't make this any less horrible.
When the door slammed back open her heart stopped beating. The black haired woman stepped into the room with a huge smile, the knife hung on display at her belt. "We haven't heard of you detective yet." she mocked. "I don't think he really cares." She stalked forward and Elizabeth felt incredibly small when she spoke. "I want to speak with Luthgard."
Her voice was hors from the screaming, and it trembled slightly. "Now why would I let you do that?" She decided to ignore the comment. "Is she there? Behind the glass? Is she at least watching what she is putting me through?" her voice rose slightly. "Does she realise what she is doing?" "Silence." The kick came in quick and sharp, leaving the print of the boat on her cheek.
"Will you call your detective?" "Do it yourself." "Still so stubborn. Are these men really worth your pain." No, they were not. That was the immediate answer that popped into her head. "That isn't the point." But it is Elizabeth." She dropped to her knees in front of the teen, pulling out her knife. She let the blade run over the inside of her tight. "These despicable men deserve what is coming to them. Did you know that their wives and girlfriends didn't press charges when they found out that their men had been murdered?
They told the police they were happy that they were dead, and if they ever met the person that had killed them they would thank them." the knife stopped at her injured foot for a second before she ran it back up. "Not the wife of Adam Bizon." The torture merely rolled her eyes. "One mistake that will never happen again. Come on these men don't deserve your protection. So what do you say sweetheart? Help us out?"
Taking a deep breath she shook her head. "Fine. This time I'm taking a finger though." Elizabeth's eyes shoot open wide and horror rushed through her body. Keeping her fingers pressed together and making a fist. "That really isn't going to work. Now which finger should I take?" the tip of the knife ran over her knuckles "Come on, otherwise I'll take your right thumb."
Closing her eyes she whispered her answer. "A little louder honey." "Left middle finger." She whispered again. "Good choice." She grabbed her wrist and twisted it so she couldn't move it anymore. She brought up the knife and it came down with sickening strength. Elizabeth screamed.
Chapter 61
When Elizabeth's scream ran through the building they all froze. The scream had been so fully of pain and despair it struck them down into the bone. "Elizabeth." Sherlock whispered. "Elizabeth!" immediately they ran towards the sound, going up the stairs in a hurry. The screaming held on when suddenly a door flew open.
John was the first to recognize the tall Indian woman who ran out of the door. With a snarl he fired his pistol at her but she was already around the corner. "I got it! You go get Elizabeth!" Lestrade yelled as he took off after her.
John, Lestrade and Molly rushed through the door and stood in shock at the site in front of them. Elizabeth was on the ground, chained to a table. Her face was as white as snow and her entire body was shaking. John and Molly immediately jumped into action ready to stop the bleeding or to do something to stop the pain, but there was little they could do. The smell of burned flesh lingered the room.
Sherlock stumbled forward and went onto his knees in front of the young girl. Carefully he grabbed her cheek and lifted her face so she looked at him. "Oh god Elizabeth I am so sorry." Her hazel brown eyes were swollen and red from the crying and a brown boot print was across her cheek.
She was shaking and leaned forward, resting her forehead against his shoulder. John managed to get the cuffs open and Elizabeth's entire body collapsed against his. He wrapped his arms around her sobbing form and stroked her hair. "We are getting you home."
With great care he placed his arms underneath her knees and around her chest, picking her of the ground. She cupped her injured hand against her chest and curled into his chest. As he stood up he made eye contact with John. The doctor wanted to hurt someone that much was clear.
Molly carefully placed a hand onto his shoulder. "They burned the wounds, there is no way we can attach the digit or toe back." She whispered to him, but apparently Elizabeth heard it, she whimpered and curled closer. Molly flinched at the reaction and pulled out her phone. "I'll let the hospital know what happened so they can prepare." They went to walk out of the room but John stopped suddenly his eyes fixed on the glass. "That is a one-way mirror." "Luthgard."
They all turned to Elizabeth. "What did you say Liz?" John asked softly "Luthgard, her name is Luthgard. She is the one who ordered this." "Where is she?" "I don't know. Maybe in the other room." John's form changed slightly before walking out of the room, gun in his hand. They heard the door being slammed open as they followed the doctor out of the room.
John came marching out of the room with an old lady in front of him. She held her head high as John kept the gun against her back. "This is Luthgard?" he asked. Elizabeth lifted her head slightly and nodded. "Yes." She snarled. "That's her." The woman looked at the Sherlock and the young girl in his arms and a look of regret flashed in her eyes.
They started on their way back down when Lestrade came panting from the corner. "She got away. I am sorry." He frowned when he saw John with a gun pointed at the white haired woman. "Who's she?" "Her name is Luthgard and she is that ordered the attack on Elizabeth." The agent frowned slightly. "She?" "Yes. Now can we please get Elizabeth to the hospital?" Sherlock burst out.
They quickly nodded and they hurried downstairs, Molly had gotten a cab (it was quicker than an ambulance at this distance). Sherlock carefully got in the backseat keeping Elizabeth in his lap, when John joined her in the back and Molly got in the front. "I'll take this one to the precinct." Lestrade said. "You guys go." John nodded in thanks and the cab drove off.
Once in the hospital Elizabeth was taken out of Sherlock's arms and the nurses took her to a separate room. Sherlock and John dropped into the chairs of the waiting room. "I can't believe we are here again." John whispered. "She doesn't deserve this." "No she doesn't. Maybe we shouldn't have brought her to London? Maybe she would have been safe back in Belgium."
"God. She has gone through so much already because of us and now this. I hate it." John leaned against Sherlock and the detective sighed loudly. "I know." Sherlock swallowed hard before he spoke again. "Maybe we should send her back." "What?" "Maybe we should send her back to Belgium. Back to her friends, she'll be safe there." John thought for a second.
"Do you really think she'll be safe?" He nodded. "I'm not sure, but we have to offer it to her. We need to at least give her the chance." "Okay. Okay, yeah we can do that." John sunk even deeper into the chair before suddenly jumping up. "Oh god! Mrs Hudson! I have to call her."
Sherlock watched the man walk away and burrowed his head in his hands, pulling slightly at his black curls. He hated that he hadn't been able to protect her. That she had gotten hurt even though they had promised it would never happen again. Plus he could have prevented it, all he should have done was give in to their demands. If he had just backed down Elizabeth would have been okay.
She had lost her finger and toe for what? So that he could catch the killer of abusive bastards that deserved death. He hadn't taken the case in the first place because of the victims. When Lestrade asked him for help and told him who the victims had been he had told him to sod off.
He had claimed it was because the murders didn't interest him that the case was boring but honestly he believed these men deserved death. Or maybe if he had gotten on the case quicker Elizabeth might have never been involved. Too many what ifs were playing in his head but one thing was certain. He could have prevented this from ever happening.
A couple moments later John came back and sat down. "She is coming over. She wants to make sure Elizabeth's okay. Plus I am pretty sure she is going to scold us." "It is the least we deserve." They sat in silence for a couple of minutes till a nurse came into their direction.
"You are Mrs Van Parijs legal guardians and the ones that brought her into the hospital if I am not mistaken." They both nodded. "She will make a full recovery, we treated the burns but they were pretty clean. She was pretty exhaust and in pain so we have given her morphine. She is asleep now, when she wakes up we will check her but normally she'll be able to return home."
"Can we go see her?" "Yes, of course." "Thank you." They followed him through the corridors and into Elizabeth's room. Her breathing was calm and well regulated, her hand and foot had been bandaged up. Hesitantly John grabbed her good hand, carefully rubbing his thumb over its back. Sherlock stayed at the end of the bed and just looked at them.
She looked about as relaxed as possible and he had the sudden need to crawl next to her and never let go of her. God she looked small wrapped in those sheets. Suddenly the quiet was disturbed by the frustrated voice of Mrs Hudson. "I'll go get her. You stay with her." John nodded absentmindedly and sunk down into a chair next to her hospital bed.
A few seconds later Sherlock returned with Mrs Hudson at his side. The woman let out a soft cry as she saw Elizabeth laid out on the sheets. "Oh my poor little girl." Her hand carefully stroked a couple strands of hair out of her face. "I should have never let her go with you." The woman whispered. "I should have forbidden it." Sherlock placed a hand on the older woman's shoulder. "This isn't your fault."
"Damn straight it isn't." she half shouted. "You two know better than anyone how dangerous these case can be. You should have kept her at your side at all time, or maybe not let her go on these cases at all! I am worried enough as it is with you two running around in these streets."
A nurse came back inside. "If you are going to make this much noise I have to ask you to leave. Miss Van Parijs needs her rest." "We are sorry, won't happen again. We are all just a little strung out." the nurse looked them over again before nodding. "Fine."
Mrs Hudson took the chair next to John and kept her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. Both of them were holding onto her as if they were afraid she could disappear in a moment's notice. "You are right Mrs Hudson. So right. Ever since we've gotten into her life she has been in incredible amounts of danger. We are going to give her the choices to go back to Belgium."
To their surprise Mrs Hudson laughed at that, which warranted a sceptical look from the nurse. "Oh please! Send her back to Belgium? That is never happening." "What?" "She loves you guys. She would never leave her out of her own free will. You are her family now. She already lost one, she is not going to give up another one."
"Then what can we do?" "Be her parents." This made both men sit up straighter. "You decided to become her guardians, to take care of her. Now that isn't just getting her food, a roof and a school. That means being a parent, not just a friend. Make the rules."
Chapter 62
They stayed in the hospital by her side for two hours before she woke up. In that time Lestrade called to make sure that she was okay and to tell them that they had charged the woman they had found in the building. They were identifying her and would let them know if something happened.
The young girl stirred slightly and let out a pained moan. They watched as the young girl blinked into the painful light and twitched slightly. "Elizabeth." Sherlock said softly. John handed her a cup of water and helped her down it while Elizabeth just squeezed her hand slightly. "I was so worried about you sweetheart."
The girl turned towards the older woman and forced out a soft smile. "I'm okay Mrs Hudson." "Like hell you are!" she exclaimed, tears forming into her eyes. "You are in a hospital bed. The things those people did to you." Sherlock placed his hand on Mrs Hudson's shoulder to get her to stop talking as Elizabeth flinched at the memories.
"I'll go get a nurse, they'll check you over and then we can take you home." she smiled thankfully at him but frowned when Sherlock didn't met her eyes. "What is wrong with him?" "I am pretty sure he blames himself for what happened to you."
With great care she brought her hand to her face. She swallowed hard at the bandage covering her finger, or rather the stump. Mrs Hudson let out a little whimper at the wound. The girl pushed herself up with a slightly grunt. "Hey, hey stay down." John pressed slightly at her shoulders but she beat them away.
"I need to see it." She pulled the blanket away slightly till she could see her bandaged foot. It didn't look nearly as bad as her hand, or at least it didn't feel as bad. She didn't mind losing a toe. Oh god. She didn't mind losing a toe. How shit had her life become that that was a sentence she would ever think.
A laugh broke free from her lips and the two people next to her glanced disturbed at her. "Elizabeth?" "Ah my life is so fucked up!" Some more giggles broke lose which send her into a coughing fit. "Elizabeth!" John let out a yell of alarm. Sherlock and the nurse came in through the door quickly seeing her laughing like a mad woman.
"Oh my god! Why is this happening? What have I done to deserve this!" her laughing reached the point of no return and it slowly turned into sobs. Mrs Hudson looked horrified over from the men back to girl. John grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to get her to sit still. "Elizabeth calm down." "I am so fucking sick of this!" she laughed. "I didn't want this."
The nurse went to grab a sedative but Sherlock stopped him. "Get Mrs Hudson out of the room." "With all due respect sir, I think we should sedate her." "If you go anywhere near her with that needle I'll shove it down your throat." He hissed. John carefully let go of the hysterical girl's shoulder and guided the now sobbing older woman out of the room. A threatening glance later the nurse followed the duo.
The second they were gone Sherlock sat down next the crying girl and gathered her into his arm. She shoved at him, screamed into his ear, cried and laughed till finally her entire body went limp and she let her head fall down onto his shoulder. Her sobbing had calmed down but was still going as he carefully rocked her back and forward. "I've got you now. I've got you."
The fabric on his shoulder was drenched at this point and her fingers were intertwined with the front of his suit. "They can't touch you here. It is over." She shook her head. "It is never over. Never." "Yes, yes no one is ever going to hurt you ever again." "Don't." he could barely hear her as his shoulder muffled his voice.
"Don't make promises you can't keep Sherlock." Those words pierced his heart. "Elizabeth." "No. Don't promise me no one will ever hurt me again, because someone always will. You can't controle that. Just. Just promise me." she took in a deep breath. "Promise me you'll always be there in the end. Promise me you'll find me."
Sherlock pulled her closer into him and pressed his lips against her hair. "Of course Elizabeth. I will always be there for you. I am not going anywhere." She nuzzled closer to him, practically sitting onto his lap as he carefully rubbed her back and rocked them back and forward.
A couple of minutes later she had calmed down he carefully helped her out of the bed. She stumbled into the bathroom to clean her face and Sherlock let the other people back inside. "Let's go back home." "I need to check on her first." The nurse insisted Sherlock would have started an argument but John stopped him. "Let him do his job. It will take 5 minutes."
Sherlock nodded quickly and let the nurse pass into her room. "What happened?" John asked, his arm still around Mrs Hudson. "She had a break down. A trauma like this on its one would have been bad enough but with everything that happened before." "I know. I mean what did she say?"
"Not much. She just needed to let everything out, she just needed to let go. She made me promise we would always find her." John took in a deep breath and Mrs Hudson looked up at them. "You better make sure you never need to find her again Mr. You beter make sure I never need to see her laying in a hospital bed again. Not unless she's got a kid in her arms."
"Let's make sure that stays a long way away then." Elizabeth's soft voice came from the door opening, she was leaning on a pair of crutches, not letting all of her wait press down on the injured foot. John was by her side within seconds and placed an arm around her waist. "Come on, let's get you home."
A small smile crept on her face but it was a tired one. A couple of minutes later she laid curled up on the sofa with a cup of chocolate milk by her side and Doctor Who playing on the TV. It was an episode she had seen a dozen of times, it was such an innocent one. The 11th doctor saving Christmas while flying through clouds filled with schools of fish.
She needed a little familiar comfort right about then. Sherlock joined her, sitting at her feet a warm hand placed onto her ankle. At the end of the episodes her eyes felt incredibly heavy and Sherlock noticed how she was slipping into unconsciousness. "Okay, to bed with you." He said softly before picking her up, her good hand wrapped itself around her wrist making him stop in his tracks. "I don't want to be alone right now." she murmured. "Okay." John came out of the kitchen and stopped him, he watched the doctor bend down and press a kiss against the teenager's forehead. "Good night Liz." He smiled kindly at the detective and let him continue. By the time he reached Elizabeth's room she had already fallen asleep.
He tucked her in and carefully got into bed beside her, it reminded him a little too much of the months after her moving into the flat. As he pulled the covers over them she curled into him. She let out a little content mumble as he wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair. He stayed awake for quite a while as she slept.
He just watched her breathing and moving slightly in his arms. An hour later the sound of her breaths lulled him into sleep as well. The next couple of days they kept Elizabeth home. John and Sherlock stayed home as well, making sure she was okay. Which she of course wasn't.
They would often find her just sitting, staring at nothing. They made sure to snap her out of those moments, it was never healthy for someone to get stuck into their own head. They hit an all-time low 4 days after the kidnapping, they had been discussing letting her go back to school in the next day or so when John had found her. She had been on the bathroom floor and the fine white lines on her wrists were open again, bleeding.
A small knife was in her hand and her body had been shaking. His heart had sunk when she looked up at him, her eyes red and empty. He had carefully removed the knife from her and bandaged up her wrists. The rest of the day he stayed at her side the entire time, making sure she wouldn't do something like that.
She didn't say a word that entire day and neither of them pushed her. Sherlock had made sure to clean up the blood before Mrs Hudson saw it, but she realised what happened when she saw the bandages.
Sherlock found her a couple days later in the same position. While he was cleaning her wounds she kept apologising. He tried to tell her it was okay but she just kept saying she was sorry. They called her therapists again and brought her there every day for 2 weeks till they got the all clear.
In school she didn't tell anyone what had really happened, but they could guess. Rumours quickly spread through the classes, no one would believe that she had lost a finger and a toe in an accident. So she hadn't even bothered to lie about it. Her friends had asked her about it once, they didn't ask again when she had thrown them a glare. Off limits.
Once Elizabeth was back in school Sherlock was back onto the case. Fury drove him more than justice, these people had hurt Elizabeth they deserved pain. Lestrade hadn't really gotten anywhere with Madam Luthgard Ballard. She refused to talk, the only thing they knew was what was in public record. Which was practically nothing.
Madam Ballard had been married to a Josef who had died 10 years ago from lung cancer. They had had a boy, Matthew and a girl, Lenna. Matthew was a lawyer in New York. The daughter was a doctor in Washington, or she was. The woman had disappeared from the face of the earth.
That made her a rather big candidate for the murders. Only problem they had no way to find her, all they had was a name and a picture. It wasn't all that hard to change your appearance and name. However Sherlock wasn't going to let her go, he manged to convince Greg to let her talk with the older woman.
"Mr Holmes. I was wondering when you would show up." her black dress been exchanged for an orange prison uniform but her hands weren't chained, why would they do that to an old woman?
"I was a preoccupied. Elizabeth has priority." He noticed her flinch. "You know what she wondered." He asked pressing down on the guilt she must felt. "If you were watching. She wanted to know if you heard her scream."
She cast her storm blue eyes onto the ground. "Well did you? You owe her at least that much." He snarled. "No." Sherlock throw her head backwards and laughed. "Of course you didn't. So do you ever think about her? What happened to her after you cut of her finger? After you had her toe cut off?"
The woman flinched as he raised her voice. "You know what happened after we found her? The things you did to her brought back a lot of memories. Do you know what Moriarty did to her?" the woman shook her head slightly. "First he kidnapped her, manipulated her into coming with him. Then he chained her up, had her whipped, cut, broke her hand, burned his initials in her skin, shocked her, forced her to kill a man, poisoned her and raped her."
The woman coward as he told her what had happened. "And after that." He hissed. "He killed her family and made her listen to his screams. And you. You ripped those memories back to the surface. You forced her to relieve those memories and added a couple of new ones." "I am sorry." Sherlock's eyes nearly disappeared into his hairline and he leaned forward till he was only a couple of inches from her.
"How dare you." The woman shrunk down into her chair. "How dare you apologise. You don't have the right. The only thing. The ONLY thing you could ever do to even make up for a fraction of what you did, is tell me where she is."
The second those words left his lips her demeanour changed, she sat up straighter and made eye contact with him. "I will never give up my daughter. Never." Sherlock growled like a caged animal. "I will find your daughter, one way or another. And I will drag her into the police station myself and I will personally make sure you end up in different prisons."
He practically spat at her before getting up and leaving the room.
A/N: Whoop whoop! We got to chapter 60 let's bring out the champaign. I thought it was high time for some more angst, so I went back to the classics. A nice old kidnapping can rarely go wrong. ;) Let me know what you think and thanks for reading!