So, here I am enjoying the half term holidays. There are blue skies outside and all is well with the world...well my small bit of the world anyway. I hope wherever you are things are good for you too. And if not maybe a bit of Sherlolly can cheer you up.
I keep forgetting to say it but thank you for your reviews and as always I own nothing.
Chapter 9
He'd watched them as they made their way up to the big house. Looked as though they wanted to interview Sladen, well good luck to them. He might not be the brightest bulb in the box but Sladen knew how to keep his mouth shut. Unlike some. He'd had to put in a call to one of his 'flock' he had a concern this person was planning on spilling their secrets to this Holmes guy and he'd worked too long and hard to let that happen.
Well, maybe it was time he set an example to the rest. He would not tolerate any weakness or disloyalty especially not now, he...they were so close.
He also needed to do something about these two. He couldn't believe they were still here after the 'incident' the other night. He closed his eyes remembering the night in question. It had all gone perfectly, from planting the drugs to removing them from their rooms. Watching them rutting together had been such a rush, he'd felt the power from the event soaking through his body. He had been called to this and now he was being rewarded.
Their continued presence didn't help though and he needed to think of another way to get rid of them.
He turned and walked away pulling out his mobile.
MHMHMHMHMHMHMHMHMH
Lunch was a quick sandwich from the local shop, which doubled up as a post office. Sherlock had declined anything so Molly was eating as they walked listening to Sherlock throw ideas around. Thankfully the weather had perked up since earlier and Molly was enjoying feeling the sun on her face. It made such a difference to the feel of the small village, making it seem so much more friendly and welcoming. At least that was what she tried to tell herself.
'So what next?' Molly asked between bites.
'There are five days left until Beltane. There must be somebody who has a connection, who knows some of what is going on. Someone must have left their cult or be willing to talk. I want to call on the vicar again. We know he's connected. Maybe we can put some pressure on him; get him to talk.'
Molly looked anxiously at Sherlock, 'what exactly do you mean by pressure?'
Sherlock rolled his eyes, 'oh, don't worry Molly, nothing too illegal. Come on.'
Half an hour later Molly's sandwich was all finished and they were standing in front of a rangy looking Victorian vicarage ringing on the doorbell. There was no answer but that didn't deter Sherlock who turned the door handle to see if it was open. When it didn't budge he started to circle around the house checking the sash windows, pushing to see if any would open.
Molly's eyes were as wide as saucers as she followed him round glancing around them to make sure they weren't being seen, 'Sherlock,' she hissed, 'what are you...we..doing?'
'Calm down Molly, having a quick look around won't hurt anyone. Don't you find this a bit unusual though?'
'What?'
'This, I mean. Look at the place, it's a warm day in a quiet, seemingly crime-free country village and this place is locked down like Fort Knox.'
'Well, maybe he's just security conscious, I know I am. I don't leave windows open when I'm not in.'
'Yes, but you live in London. That's just sensible. Look around at the other houses in the village. People are taking advantage of the good weather to 'air their houses' God knows why but it seems to be a thing. Mrs Hudson is forever flinging open windows for that very reason.'
He'd come to the fence leading to the back of the property and, after jiggling the handle on the gate, Molly was ever hopeful that they could leave but no! A second later and he was using a nearby plant pot to give him a foot up so he could scale the fence and drop down over the other side. A few seconds later the back gate was opened to let Molly through.
He laughed at the expression on her face as she walked through, 'you'll never make a criminal will you Molly. You're looking guilty before we've even done anything.'
He went round to the back door and again tried the handle before checking under nearby pots and bricks to see if a key had been left hidden but there was nothing.
In the end he reached into an inside pocket and brought out a small, flat leather pouch which he unrolled to show a selection of what looked like metal tooth picks. He got to work on the lock ignoring Molly whose blood pressure felt like it was going through the roof.
A click signalled his success and he pushed open the door and made his way through into some sort of utility room. There were muddy boots by the door, an ancient looking washing machine and a pile of clothes obviously waiting to be ironed. They made their way through the kitchen and into a large hallway.
Molly felt all her senses straining, listening for any sound of the vicar returning home. Sherlock honed in on the man's study and spent some time leafing through his papers and checking through the books lining the walls.
'Hmm, it's interesting how many of these books were also in Lord Sladen's collection. There seems to be a running theme of occultism and Satanism. He opened a couple looking to see if there were any notes or inscriptions.
'Now this is interesting.' He held the book out to show Molly. It was entitled Hints to Young Students of Occultism by L.W. Rogers and looked to be fairly old. There was an inscription on the inside leaf in an old fashioned copperplate handwriting John Hugo Bennett Aug 1937.
'I'm thinking we have a link to Lily's step-father here though obviously an older relative. Maybe he isn't the innocent in this he's making out to be. That would make sense...he could be the mystery man that Lily refers to in her diary. As her step-father he would have some not inconsiderable influence in her life.'
Sherlock pocketed the book before leaving the room and heading up the stairs. It was when they searched an old wardrobe in one of the spare bedrooms that they found a more telling connection. A familiar brown wool robe which made Molly feel sick to her stomach when Sherlock pulled it out. He'd been there. That kindly looking vicar had been there watching her and Sherlock as they'd...
She sat down on the edge of the unmade bed clutching her stomach. Sherlock glanced at her briefly before laying the robe out on the floor and examining it with his pocket magnifying glass. He took a couple of samples from it, particularly scrapings of dirt from around the hemline before he put it back in the wardrobe. Molly just watched him silently.
After he'd finished he sat next to Molly on the bed keeping a couple of inches between them, his hands clasped between his open legs.
'Are you OK?' He asked as he looked at her.
'No, not really. Seeing that robe...it just makes it seem real somehow. It's all just felt a bit like a dream. I mean, that's what I'd thought it was...just a dream.'
'You always have dreams like that then?' Sherlock smiled, obviously trying to lighten the mood.
'They really did this to us didn't they? They drugged us and stripped us and stood there and watched as we...' Molly couldn't finish, a sob breaking out.
'I promise you Molly. I will find them and I will do whatever I need to, to get you...to get us justice.'
Molly nodded silently wishing she could stop the tears rolling down her face. She knew Sherlock hated shows of emotion. But just then he put his arm around her shoulder and tentatively pulled her towards him, as if he thought she might fight him off at any moment.
Molly shifted over and turned to put her face against his chest. Her silent tears turned to sobs and for the first time she really cried about what had been done to her...to them. Sherlock just held her until they subsided.
'I'm sorry. I just...maybe I just needed that. I'm OK...at least I will be. Can we go now? I'd rather not get arrested for breaking and entering just because my emotional breakdown delayed us.'
'Yes, of course. Come on.'
He led them back out and they exited by the same route they'd come in with Sherlock relocking the back door behind them. Just as he was about to walk away he suddenly glanced round.
Molly followed his gaze around the garden, 'what? What is it?'
He narrowed his eyes for a moment before shaking his head, 'nothing...nothing. It just felt for a moment like we were being watched.'
Molly had felt like that the whole time they'd been in the house so she was certainly happier as they walked away from it and back into the sunlight.
Sherlock was keen to test the samples that they'd taken from the robes so after a quick call to a local taxi firm they were soon on their way back to the hospital they'd used the day before. As they drove out of the village Molly could almost feel a weight lifting from her shoulders that she hadn't realised was there. This place was playing with her mood and her emotions making her feel paranoid and scared and she didn't like it, but she wouldn't desert Sherlock, he needed her and right now she needed him too. They were stuck in this together.
The soil samples from the robes confirmed that wherever they had been taken was within a ten mile radius of the village. Their recollection of the stone hewn chamber narrowed it down still further when Sherlock cross referenced it with the geology of the area. It was either central to the village or somewhere to the west but this still didn't help them to work out how they could access this so called tunnel system.
By the time they got back to the pub it was fairly late. Sherlock asked if she wanted a drink before they retired but she couldn't stand the thought of sitting there looking at the faces of the other patrons and wondering which of them had participated that night, which of them had seen her and Sherlock and done nothing to help them.
'No, I'm going to go up. Is it...do you mind if I sleep in your room again tonight? I just feel safer.'
'Yes, of course. You get to sleep I'll be up in a bit.'
Sherlock watched as Molly made her way up the stairs. He needed to think and he needed a whiskey, maybe even two or three. He watched closely as it was served though to make sure it was untampered with.
As he sat down in his chair, alone in one corner of the bar, he sighed heavily and rubbed one hand wearily across his face.
He took a soothing sip of his drink and thought back over the last few hours. He'd been fine, keeping everything buttoned up and under control, until that moment that Molly had broken down in the vicarage. When he'd put his arm around her to comfort her he'd felt an overwhelming rush of emotions and he needed to try and understand them.
He'd felt a...protectiveness of her that he'd never really noticed before but now he came to analyse it it had been there within him for such a long time that he could no longer tell when it had begun. His anger at their recent violation had mostly been on Molly's behalf, anger with himself that he hadn't protected her and kept her safe, that she had been hurt and humiliated because of him.
And underneath it all as ever was his sexual attraction to her, made all the more pressing now he had clear memories of how it had felt to be coupled with her, the feel of her soft skin under his hands, his mouth on hers, the taste and the smell of her.
He let out a frustrated sigh. He needed to try to focus, to stay in control. For Lily, for Molly and for himself. He couldn't let him emotional state distract him from what was important.
Ooh looks like Sherlock is starting to struggle with the status quo. How long do we reckon he should hold out? Back soon with a new chapter. In the meantime I need to get back to the sex scene I was just writing….but is it for this fic or another?
