There was a soft knock on the door. Sherlock looked up from a book to see Mrs. Hudson entered the room quietly, carrying a small box that was wrapped in blue paper with a silver bow placed delicately on top. "What is it Mrs. Hudson?" He was growing impatient. Every little thing began to annoy him more than usual. He was becoming fidgety and jumpy. He wasn't eating or sleeping much either. He watched the old woman approach him, holding the box out to him in the process. "This package was delivered for you just now." Sherlock eyed the box suspiciously. "Who is it from?" Mrs. Hudson sat the box down on the table next to Sherlock's chair and then pulled back to look at him. "There was no card, and it was left on the door step. I don't know who sent it." She watched Sherlock closely as he gently picked up the wrapped box. He looked up at her. "Leave me now…"His voice was hard as he locked eyes with her. She waited a moment, staring at him intently. He sighed and looked back down at the box. "Please?" He didn't look up, but he heard her footsteps become quieter as she walked to the door and then left his loft, closing the door behind her.
When he was sure she wasn't near his loft anymore, he tenderly pulled at the ribbon on the box, afraid of what might be inside. Holding his breath he opened the box completely and gasped, almost dropping the box. Peering into the box more closely, he looked at the dark curls that lay at the bottom of the box. He continued to look in the box when something caught his eye. Beneath the pile of hair was, what looked to be, a picture. With a shaky hand, he reached into the box and took hold of the picture, pulling it from the mound of hair. Shaking violently now, he held the picture up so the he could see it clearly. He stared at the picture, not entirely able to comprehend what he was looking at. After a few moments of staring blankly at the photo, his body began to shake violently again. The picture fell from his hand, floating gently down to the ground.
Moriarty ran into Maria's room hastily. It had been several hours since he had seen Maria in her room. He was scared. He looked around the room and could see light peeking from under the bathroom door. Running to the door he tried to open it, but something was blocking it from the inside. Angry he pulled away and banged on the door. "Open this door!" He listened closely. He couldn't hear a single sound, not even a stir. Stepping back slightly he roughly kicked at the door, causing it to fall into the bathroom. He quickly entered the room and looked around. There was dark hair lying on the floor. There was also water on the floor. He looked up and his eyes fell onto the bathtub. There, lying in the tub unconscious was his beautiful prisoner. He ran to her side and placed his hand upon her head. Her body was cold like ice. He placed his hand in the water feeling how cold it was. He looked over the bath water, and he noticed the scissors he had used to cut her hair, sitting at the bottom of the tub. He shook his head after a moment and pulled away quickly to grab a towel. Once he had the towel, he tossed it around his neck and then leaned over the tub's edge and wrapped his arms around the fragile body that still sat in the water. Her body was wrinkled from the water, and almost was absent of all natural color. She was scary pale. Holding her with one arm, he used the other to wrap her in the fluffy towel tightly. Then he scooped her up and walked into the bedroom. He gently placed her on the bed and then pulled back to get her something warm. He found one of the button ups he had given her to wear and grabbed it, wrapping it around her, and buttoning it up. The he grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her body. After securing the blanket, he ran to the far side of the room, where a never been used fireplace say. Grabbing whatever was closest to him, he threw it in the pit, the taking a lighter out of his pocket, he lit the fireplace. It took a few moments, but finally, the fire caught onto what he threw in, and a large, warm flame grew. After making sure the fire wasn't going to dissipate, he ran back to the bed, scooped Maria up into his arms and then sat in front of the fire place, holding her firmly against his chest to warm her up.
He sighed heavily and buried his face into her curls, which were still damp from the bath water. He placed his hand on her cheek and when he noticed it was still cold, he took her face in his hands and tried to warm her with his body heat. He looked at her closely. She was still pale. She looked ill. Moriarty pulled her face close to his and listened closely. It was light, but he could hear her breathing. He sighed in relief and held her close again, using the fire and his body to keep her warm. He lost track of time. He would occasionally pull away to throw something into the fire to keep it lit, but he would always return back to her, holding her close. Moriarty could feel his eyelids begin to grow heavy. He was growing weary. Fatigue was pulling at him. Sighing, he stood up, still holding Maria close to him. He carried her to the bed, pulled back the comforter and laid her down in the bed. He stood by the bed for a moment, looking down at her sleeping form. Color was starting to return to her face, and her breathing had become more even. He looked her over and for the first time, he noticed her hair. Her once beautiful long curls were now ringlets that hung just below her ears. He frowned slightly and touched her head. He started to feel something in the pit of his stomach. Regret? He shook his head. No, definitely not that. He bit his bottom lip as he looked at her. Well, whatever it was, he didn't like it. After thinking for a moment, he pulled off his shirt and crawled into the bed with her. He pulled the thick comforter over both of them and then he pulled her into his arms tightly to keep her warm. T didn't take long for sleep to take over.
I'm sorry it's so short; I felt that it was a good stopping point! Yay I updated! It's summer, so hopefully I'll be able to update more often. I hope yall enjoyed this chapter! Alright dearies! Until we meet again, comment and review! TOODLES! 3
