Hey everyone! I'm ALVIE! Sorry about the delay but I hope this makes up for it! Please read and review. Thank You!
The scene that is playing out before my eyes seems to have been ripped from the pages of a book. The Horsemen sits tall in the saddle. He's the tall one of the group, the one that had scaled the buildings. The horse he sits upon is a monster. As black as sin and taller then a normal carriage horse. It's head is arched toward the ground, sweat dripping down its elegant form seems to make it's muscles all but jump out from under it's skin. Steam raises from its nostrils as its sharp hooves paw the earth, yearning to be let loose, to run to the ends of the earth instead of having to sit with a rider on its back. The man holds the reins loose in one hand seeming to take no notice of the powerful beast that sits beneath him. In the other hand he holds a deadly looking sword, pointed toward the ground. He sits there, eyeing me with all the contempt in the world.
Still weak, the wall currently lending me it's strength, I know I'm no match for this terrible apparition. Help is too far away to hear me so I take the only option left open to me, I bluff. I push away from the wall and stand in the middle of the alley. Pulling myself up to my full height and squaring my shoulders, while trying not to fall over, I summon all the strength that I have and put it into my voice. The result is a booming commanding voice that I can hardly believe belongs to me. "You are under arrest for the murders of" and that's as far as I get before a wheezing choking laughter finds it's way to my ears. All the strength leaves me and I feel like a rabbit must feel as it sees the jaws of the wolf about to snap shut. He called my bluff. I dare not turn my back on this killer for he surly would have no problem striking me down from the back. Thoughts race through my head. I'm brought back to the here and now when the monster rears backwards and cleaves the air with its deadly hooves. The man raises the sword above his head, ready to bring it down in a killing arch. Sparks fly as the steel shoes of the horse strike the cobblestones as they attack. Closing the distance far more rapidly then I expected, my mind raced calculating the distance and speed that I had to make good my defense. Ah, but I find when confronted with 2,000 lbs of charging horse I barely have time to jump to the side before they are right on top of me.
Seconds, that is what it comes down to mere seconds. I'm darting out the reach of the Horsemen as I see the sword start its deadly arch downward. Straining to gain distance enough to put me out of his reach I start too late and the result rips into me just under the fourth rib and opens a wound a good six inches long. I hit the ground holding my bleeding left side. Looking down I see the crimson stain broadening on my clothing. The man makes it to the end of the alley before wheeling the horse around to once again face me. I lie back as the man starts what he most likely assumes is his final charge. I close my eyes, too hurt to do anything but let the man take my life. The blow doesn't come; instead I hear the horse start to pitch a fit. Focusing my eyes to see whom has come to my rescue? None other than Gladstone, my trusty four-legged companion. From what I can tell through fading consciousness, Gladstone must have nipped one of the horses back legs because the horse is now trying it's hardest to dislodge its rider. The rider drops his sword to the cobblestone with a clatter as he uses both hands to rein the unruly monster under control. He fails however and with a final kick the horse rids itself of its burden. Gaining what little strength I have left, I roll out of the path of the fleeing beast as it runs past me to the other end of the alley trying to get as far from the man as possible. I look back at the horseman and see him slowly picking up the sword, straightening himself whilst all the while keeping his gaze upon me.
He starts toward me with venom in his eyes. A wheezy almost breathless voice reaches me as he advances on me. "I know who you are, you're the famous "Mister" Sherlock Holmes. Tell me my friend, has our work caught your genius attention?" He's mocking me and I don't even care. All I can focus on is the pain that has consumed my left side and the fact that the world is getting darker around the edges. "What no witty, insipid comeback?" He wheezes at me. I look around for Gladstone hoping that perhaps he can save me, but I cannot see my canine savior, for he has hightailed it out of here and I'm left facing death alone. I apologize to Watson in my head and vow that if I make it through this I won't be as stubborn when I catch colds or get myself sliced open. The dark rider stands over me now and I can see the ring that adorns his finger. Scales. My mind laughs at the thought of being killed by the symbol of justice, something I have worked my whole life with passion to protect. "What's the matter detective? Nothing to say before I take your life? Oh well, I never enjoyed the ones that begged for their lives." My instinct to survive kicks in and I strike out taking his legs out from under him. He lands in a heap and for a moment I hope he has impaled himself on his sword. No such luck as he suddenly pulls himself to his full height, venom so thick in his eyes I'm reminded of a snake right before it strikes. He brings the sword up over his head. I manage one last attempt at getting up, but a well-placed kick to my injured side has me reeling on the ground. He smiles and I can see that all his teeth are rotted out. From the color and odor I would guess he is addicted to something, but I don't have time to think about what that could be as his arm swings down.
A loud crack rings through the alley and both the Horsemen and my eyes go wide. However it is the Horsemen who looks down at his chest to find a small dot of blood seeping through his shirt, flowering broadly as it issues from his body. With a final wheezing grunt the man falls over and lies still. My eyes are going in and out of focus but I see a figure running toward me. I try to shuffle away in case it's another Horsemen but a voice freezes me in my tracks. "Don't you dare move!" It's Watson! To my relief I let my body sink into the cobblestones. Before I know it he's by my side and pulling away my coat to get a better look at my wound. He starts cursing under his breath and I figure that it is worse than I thought. "I need a carriage now!" Watson shouts to the end of the alley were my darkening vision picks out a lone figure quickly turning to obey the transformed doctor. He pulls my shirt up gently over the wound and starts to prod the hurt area. I moan and try to shift position but the fire in Watson's eyes tells me I'm not going anywhere. He takes off his coat and puts against the wound. I hiss in objection but he ignores me and removes his belt. He proceeds to sit me up and wrap the belt around me and tightens it to hold the coat in place. Ah, a makeshift pressure bandage, well down good friend. He gently lays me down ,unhappy at how long it's taking for the carriage to arrive he looks at me and orders, "Stay" Before retreating back down the alley. Right, as if I could transport myself away from this place, even then where would I go? Realizing delirium is starting to set in from the blood loss and too tired from the almost continuous assaults upon my body either from sickness or injury I find myself content to wait for said carriage. That is until I look over at my dead foe.
Sticking out of his breast pocket as if to taut me is a slip of paper. Painfully I crawl over to the body and pick out the piece of paper. I unfold it and to my surprise it has a list of names. The first four names are the murder victims. The next name is a name I know. Harry Johnston. A upper-middle class man who runs a pawnshop on the other side of town. Next to his name is a time 12:00. I look at the sun and realize it's almost 11:30. I have to get there before they kill him! Looking around I spy the monster of a horse at the other end of the alley. With the pressure bandage in place I try to get my feet under me. After the third try, and assistance of the alley wall, I make it to my feet. I stumble toward the horse. At first it shies away from me. Making soft sounds I grab the reins and it allows me to touch it. Now the hard part mounting him. I keep making soft reassuring sounds as I go around to his side, whilst inside my head it's a furnace of blazing pain. He stands perfectly still as I place my foot in the stirrup, the sudden compression on my suffered side stabs like a hot blade. I steel myself and without a second thought I swing up into the saddle. I almost fall off the other side as the pain overcomes me. "HOLMES!" I look down the alley to Watson, very red, running toward me. I turn the horse away from him and dig in my heels. The horse bolts forward and before I know it Watson is lost in the maze of alleys. Looks like I'm not going to be keeping the promise I made to myself.
The cold wind in my face brings my senses back and the adrenaline starts to pump through my veins. The pain ebbs away and I'm left feeling better then I have in days, but that is strictly due to the moment, the case is afoot! I realize that I dropped the piece of paper with the names when I mounted the horse. Hopefully that means backup is on the way. I steer the horse to the desired location and stopping my mount, I let myself just be in the moment. I feel the thudding of horse hooves on the cobblestone, feel the wind in my face, and feel the stickiness of my bandage. Watson was going to kill me, as the damage is now worse than previously. I apparently opened the wound, the makeshift bandage had fallen away during my "escape".
I couldn't think about that right now as I round the corner to the street that the pawnshop was on. I nearly came to a stand still as the streets were overflowing with people. I dismounted and bolted for the shop. The doors where wide open but people kept their distance, mostly from curiosity I suppose. Fearing the worst I rounded the corner feebly slowly walking into the shop and came face to face with Harry Johnston. He smiled a beaming smile and asked me something, but I couldn't hear the question over the pounding in my ears. Suddenly the pain was back with vengeance and I doubled over trying to protect my side. An arm looped around my waist and I looked up in confusion to see Watson's blurry face shouting at someone outside of my line of sight. I let him pull me out of the shop and down the street. He was all but carrying me by the time we made it to the carriage. Helping me in then sliding in next to me as the carriage started its bouncy journey home. He examined my wound, redressing the bandage all the while speaking to me. I never did hear a word he said. All that I could hear was thunder of my heart. Slowly I sagged against Watson, who tried to shake me wake. But it was no use the darkness was too inviting and I was too worn out. It welcomed me with open arms.
