Chapter 10: From darkness to light
Immediately after the lights go off, I hear several sets of footsteps come flying up the stairs towards me. I brace myself, my baton swinging wildly in my hand. It collides with something hard and I hear a slight crack followed by a cry of pain and a thud. Success. One attacker down, several to go.
By now, my eyes are beginning to adjust to the darkness. Someone behind me is shining a torch. It casts a feeble beam down the steep stairs. Without waiting another second, I launch myself down the stairs. Mycroft shouts my name and I hear footsteps following me.
I swing my baton at a shadow in the darkness. Another crunch and another thud. All my play sword fighting with John in the evenings finally seems worthwhile...
I'm just thinking about how disorganised this whole operation is -partly due to my haste and partly due to the failure of Scotland yard- when someone trips on one of the bodies behind me, sending them tumbling down the stairs and taking me in their clumsy wake.
We continue to fall for several seconds before the stairs reach an end. I immediately roll away from the foot of the stairs to avoid being a trip hazard myself. I see a glint of metal in the thin rays of the torch and freeze. Before I can think of a way to escape, I feel the cold blade being pushed against my neck and the lights flick on again.
I shut my eyes momentarily in the sudden brightness, but they soon adjust and I stare up at Moriarty, his brown eyes boring into my skin. He has caused me so much pain, so much horror and now I am inches away from it yet again. I open my mouth to speak but am beaten to it by my former torturer.
"Anybody moves, and it's lights out for our little detective, literally." Moriarty almost sings out.
Instantly, there is silence as everyone freezes. Police officers are perched on the stairs, awaiting the opportunity to pounce, Lestrade only just able to hold them back. Mycroft is sitting at the bottom of the stairs, staring at us both. He must've been the one to fall. Clumsy idiot.
"There, now we've got some order, let's sort this mess out." He continues.
"Where. Is. John?" I say fiercely between heavy breaths.
"Oh, he's over in the corner." Moriarty says casually, as if pointing out which cupboard I would find coffee in.
I follow his gaze and see my friend lying face down on the floor. From this distance, I can't make out whether he's breathing or not. I need to reach him as quickly as possible.
"Let. Me. Go. To. Him." I say angrily, glaring up at Moriarty.
"Whoa, hang on, Sherlock. There's a deal to be done first."
"What deal?" I ask.
"Oh, Mycroft hasn't told you that part? Let's let him explain, shall we?" Moriarty answers, smiling menacingly.
We both turn our gaze to Mycroft in expectant silence. He seems worried and a little put out.
"Well, you see, Moriarty took you because he wanted something from me-" he begins, but is interrupted by Moriarty.
"-and to have some fuuunnnn." He adds cheerfully.
My brother continues. "He wanted to take some highly secret information that my team had recently gathered about Syria. Obviously, I didn't give it to him, so Moriarty took you for leverage. At first, I told him nothing, but then he started sending me videos of your torture, and I couldn't bare it." Mycroft pauses and looks at the floor, so Moriarty takes over.
"As your brother gave me small pieces if information about Syria, I gave him small pieces of information about you."
"Like what?" I say through gritted teeth, knowing every second wasted could be the last second of John's life.
"A clue about your location, how you were, something like that." Mycroft answers then continues his explanation. "Eventually, Moriarty agreed to let you, Sherlock, be freed."
"Why me?" I ask nobody in particular.
"Because I knew that if you survived, you would be sure to take action and come and find John as fast as possible. It was more fun to watch that way." Moriarty explains.
Moriarty then walks me across the room, the long knife still against my neck. He pushes open a trap door and starts dragging me inside, as I struggle, the knife is drawn lightly across my skin.
"What are you doing?" Mycroft asks, watching us with concern.
"I'm going to make my escape now. I'll take Sherlock part way down the tunnel to give myself a head start, then I'll release him, allowing him to reach John. If any of you follow me, or Sherlock tries to chase or attack me, Sherlock will be killed." He says before dragging my into the dark alley.
The alley smells damp and is slightly slippery underfoot. I'm unsure of how long we walk for. It must only be a couple of minutes, but every step I take is a step away from John.
Eventually, Moriarty says "Goodbye Sherlock, catch you later!" Before releasing me and running into the darkness.
I immediately sprint in the opposite direction, desperate to reach John - catching Moriarty will have to wait until later.
Finally, I see the light at the end of the alley and burst through the trap door, back into the room.
"It's ok, we can move now." I say to the motionless group of people before me. Lestrade immediately takes off down the alley, followed by several of the other officers. There's no point in chasing Moriarty, he'll be long gone, but I can't stop them and don't try to.
Then, without wasting another moment, I run across the dim room to John and collapse at his side.
Sorry for all the cliffhangers, I can't seem to resist them... Thanks for all your follows, favorites, reviews and support, I really appreciate it :)