Chapter Twenty Eight
Off To Baskerville
A/N Sorry about the wait guys! I know it's been forever but if I'm honest all of my plot bunnies dried up and I haven't been into writing fanfiction at the moment. It's no excuse I know but this is what happened!
Anyways I'm back for the time being and I hope you guys all enjoy the new chapter. As I'm typing I'm remembering why I love writing so much in the first place, the way the words just flow through your fingers and all you have to do is type! It's wonderful!
Please let me know if you see any mistakes, I haven't proofread and when I saved all the code popped up so I had to get rid of it and I really hope I didn't miss any!
On with the story -
Sherlock and John had gone off to Baskerville without me, Sherlock has mentioned something about taking Mycroft's ID card and left me with strict instructions to make Mycroft back down if they were caught.
I'm not sure why he thinks I have any influence over Mycroft's decisions when it came to him but I wasn't fussed enough to find out. Sherlock had gone out and found me some chocolates and treats so I was currently sprawled over the bed we were staying in and eating them slowly. I didn't want a stomachache, not when I could feel my period coming at the same time, hence the need for chocolate.
A twinge went through my stomach and I winced, feeling sorry for myself. I hopped out of bed slowly and went over to my dufflebag that Sherlock had made me pack before we came here. On top was a bright pink, fluffy, hot water bottle.
Perfect.
I popped the kettle on that was in the room and waited for it to boil. I wondered how those two were getting on but knew better than to call and find out, Sherlock would never forgive me if I ruined this for hi. I hummed along to a made up song in my head as the kettle clicked, signalling it was ready, I took it and the hot water bottle over to the sink and started pouring.
My phone starting ringing with Mycroft's face, making me jump and spill water over myself. I yelped as the hot water burned my fingers and dropped the bottle into the sink. I ran my hand under the tap quickly, trying to put down the kettle and pick up the phone at the same time.
"Oh for goodness sake!" I shouted into the empty room. Finally managing to pick up the phone, I kept my hand under the tap and grunted a most impolite hello.
"Lydia dear." Mycroft's annoying voice came through the phone. "Please pass the phone to my brother, he's not picking his up."
"I moved the phone away as I sniggered. "That's because he's a little busy at the moment Mycroft and I know you know where he is. If you knew as much as you think you do, you would also know that I'm not with him right now." I lifted my hand up to inspect the burn, thanking my lucky stars that no blister had formed. That was the last thing I needed and Sherlock would be all - you need to be more careful, blah, blah.
I realised Mycroft had started speaking as I was lost in my own thoughts. "- he needs to know that he cannot take my belongings and go into any top secret military base he likes!" The last sentence was shouted down the phone at me and I moved it away to keep my hearing in tact.
"Mycroft, Sherlock is on a case, as his brother it's your duty to make sure he's not arrested so for once in your life can you please stop talking about him breaking the rules and can you actually make sure he's not thrown behind bars. Believe it or not I have plans for the two of us that don't involve a glass wall and telephones we can speak through as our only form of contact!"
He was silent on the other end of the phone and then hung up on me.
Oh dear. I'm not sure if that was what Sherlock wanted me to do or not but I knew that he would always find a way out of trouble. We had Scotland Yard on our side for goodness sake I'm sure he'll be ok.
At least, that's what I kept telling myself as I wanted precisely an hour and fifteen minutes for him to walk through the door. I knew it.
I jumped up, my hot water bottle falling off me, I'd managed to not burn myself this time as I filled it, and barreled into him, pulling him into a hug.
"There you are! I was wondering what time you'd end up coming back." He ruffled his curls as he took off his coat and raised an eyebrow at the state I'd left the room in.
"For someone who cleans for a living this is appalling." He smirked, tossing his coat onto a nearby chair and motioning to the chocolate wrappers that I'd neglected. I huffed, scooped them all up, tossed them in the bin and did a sarcastic ta-da towards him. He came over to where I was sitting on the bed and took a seat next to me, relaxing backwards with a sigh.
I snorted a small laugh and fell backwards next to him, snuggling up to his side. He tensed slightly but relaxed almost immediately and I felt good knowing we were finally at this point in our relationship. I could remember when even being in the same room as him repulsed him. I wrapped an arm around his stomach and felt my eyes drift slowly shut, enjoying the moment.
"Thank you for earlier. With Mycroft." He hummed, his deep voice sending vibrations down my body where they were touching.
"No problem, I thought I'd pissed him off but maybe that's what you wanted me to do." I smiled, my eyes remaining shut as we basked in how comfortable we were together.
"I'm heading to Henry's house tonight with John if you wanted to come along?" He asked, rubbing a hand against my arm that was resting on his stomach. I thought about it, another twinge of pain shot through me at that moment.
"Thank you but my stomach is in a world of cramps so I'm going to leave it for now." He nodded, running a hand over my stomach in place of my hot water bottle and I sighed at the slight relief.
He moved and I grumbled unhappily. "Here." I opened my eyes and he held out two tablets of paracetamol my way. I took them with a smile as he went to get me a glass of water. "I'm going to head out now." He said softly, returning with my water and handing it to me. "Are you going to be ok by yourself?"
I sipped my water. "I've got Netflix on this T.V. I'm good for a whole week, maybe more." I smirked at him, frowning when another shot of pain hit me. He ran a hand through my hair and placed a kiss on my forehead.
"Alright, I'll be back soon."
"Let me know how it goes. My phones on loud if you need me." He nodded and placed another gentle kiss on my head, I reached up and pulled him down to my height, kissing him softly on the lips. We pulled apart as there was a knock on the door.
"Sherlock are you ready? I've been waiting for you downstairs for fifteen minutes." The door opened and John walked in, he saw our position and sheepishly turned around. "Never mind."
"John." Sherlock rose up and spoke to his best friend. "I'm ready, let's go."
I gave them both a small wave and as John raised his eyebrows at me, I stuck my tongue out at him, hoping not to be caught by Sherlock doing something so childish.
They had been gone for maximum twenty minutes, I had ordered room service not too long ago as I was hungry for something other than chocolate having noticed the sky grow darker outside. There was a knock on the door and I bounced up to open it. My painkillers had kicked in shortly before and it was doing me wonders. I hoped this vegetarian pasta was just as good as the pizza because I could hear my stomach start to rumble.
I opened the door and smiled, expecting to see someone there. I looked curiously up and down the hallway but couldn't see anyone, shrugging I turned to go inside when a letter on the floor caught my attention. I whistled through my teeth and I bent down to pick it up. There was no name on it.
Based on my previous experiences being around Sherlock I thought I would be better off waiting for him as it was mostly likely meant for him to read.
What harm could a letter do?
This thought is what prompted me to open it. A hissing noise erupted from inside and I was squirted in the face with some sort of gas. I coughed and spluttered as I dropped the envelope, stumbling back and wondering how the hell that had been inside when the letter was flat. There was no reason to suspect there was anything other than paper in there.
I stood back up and promptly felt ill. My eyes started to spin and the walls started to close in on me. I heard a loud bang behind me and I fell over myself trying to get towards the wall, backing into a corner as I wanted to stabilise myself. I heard a howl from outside and I ran over to the window to shut the curtains, knowing somewhere deep down that the thing howling was coming to get me.
Feelings of paranoia grew inside me as I tripped over to the window, I saw at the very edge of the town, close to the forest was a gigantic dog. Henry said it was here and I'd seen it for myself. Red eyes glowed brightly in the darkness and I felt the horror within me grow as the hound creeped towards town.
I dove for my phone, frantically dialing Sherlock's number. It was coming for me! It was coming and I needed him here to help me. The phone went to voicemail, I threw it away from me in despair and it shattered against the wall, falling in small pieces to the floor. The shadows from the lights grew bigger and were shaped like the hound outside coming closer and closer to me.
That was all my body could handle as I fell into a heap under the bed, shaking and stuttering to myself as I waited for death to come.
I must have been curled up in a ball under the bed for at least an hour. The door to the room banged open startling me so much that I hit my head on the springs on top of me. I whimpered and sniffled as snot ran and tears ran down my face. I felt so drained in that moment that I was ready to accept my fate.
"Rachel?" Sherlock's voice, usually so full of confidence was as weary as I felt. I peeked out from under the bed, feeling as though I was too tired to crawl properly from under it. "Why are you?-" He stopped, his eyes falling on the envelope and he cautiously opened it. Once nothing happened to him, he tipped it upside down to reveal the small cannister that was inside.
His already ashen face whitened further. He dropped to the bed next to me and reached out a hand, stopping just as quickly when I flinched away from him. I saw his expression, trying to be strong for me, but he'd clearly been through something tonight as well and that's what made me uncurl and crawl towards him.
I fell into his open arms, finding that the shadows were back to normal and the feelings of anxiety and paranoia were also going away. "I shouldn't have opened it, I shouldn't have opened it." I kept repeating as I sniffled into his neck, feeling his shirt dampen with my tears.
"What did you see?" He asked cautiously.
"The shadows." I whispered. "The shadows grew, I heard a howl from outside and I saw it!" I suddenly sat up straight and rushed to the window. "Sherlock I saw it, the thing Henry is saying is out there!"
He followed me to the window, placing a hand on my shoulder as he opened one of the curtains. There was nothing outside, it was pitch black and quiet, no sign of any giant hound.
"I swear." I erupted into loud sobs. "I saw it and I felt so terrible. I was so scared Sherlock, I was so scared. I tried to call you but you didn't pick up. I wanted you to come home."
He hugged me gently, pulling me back into his arms. My head buried into his shirt and I let the tears flow.
"I saw it too."
His eyes flickered towards the cannister he'd kept in his hand. I'd calmed down at his embrace and looked at it as well. "Something came out of that and hit me in the face." I explained, taking it from him slowly, fearing that more of it would come out.
"What was it?"
"I don't know."
We stood hugging each other for a few more minutes. "I may have upset John." He broke the silence.
I sighed and let go of him. "What else is new. You need to say sorry Sherlock, he's your best friend." I smiled up at him, feeling completely safe now he was here. "In fact I think he might be your only friend." I yawned and shuffled back over to the bed. "Why don't you sleep on what you're going to say and apologise in the morning?"
Once we were settled in bed and falling asleep. My eyes shot open.
My room service never arrived.
