Hey, it's been awhile!

I'm afraid something came up in my life that just crushed my will to write. Luckily, things are looking much more up nowadays (hopefully I didn't just jinx it by typing that).

It didn't take long for Gilchrist to return with food, Sherlock ate it all without a fuss. The sooner he could be alone, the sooner he could plan his escape.

He laid on the bed and put his hands together as he retreated inside his head. Giles had revealed before he left the second time that there were roughly between thirty and fifty people beyond the door. It would be difficult to sneak by all of them without raising an alarm, and it was impossible to tell how far the nearest police station was. However, if they were in the middle of nowhere, then there should be at least one car nearby. He could use it to drive away.

Varick had revealed the time of day earlier with absolutely no sign of lying, but cult leaders are supposed to be master manipulators. Sherlock would have to ask multiple people a day for the time, just to be sure. While he was confident Varick was being truthful, Sherlock couldn't take any chances. He only had a few days to escape, and any unforeseen flaw could ruin a plan and inevitably tighten the security around him.

He had no idea if the cult lived here or if any of them left at night to go home. Asking would raise suspicions, so if it was worth finding out, he'd have to sneak it into a conversation. These people have lives outside of the cult. Gilchrist is going to university and Sherlock could tell that one of the women from earlier was a doctor while the other was a nurse. Assuming most of the cult had jobs, he would have less people to sneak by during the middle of the day. However, he'd have to wait for a weekday, they might take all of the cars, and if there isn't a vehicle to escape in, it'll be difficult to sneak around without the cover of darkness.

Of course, it'd help if he knew where he was.

I'm afraid this isn't going to be like the other posts on my blog. This is a plea for help.

Last night, Sherlock stormed out of the flat and never came home. His cellphone and and wallet (minus cash) were found in an alley that he was caught on camera going into. Mycroft believes he was about to give money to a homeless person that no one can identify. He's certain Sherlock's been kidnapped, but Scotland Yard can't file a missing person's report because it hasn't been 24 hours.

This is where you all come in. We're holding onto the hope that Sherlock's just flown under the radar and is wandering around somewhere in London. If this is the case, just tell him everyone's looking for him and we're all worried sick. If it seems like he's somewhere against his will, contact the proper authorities. Hell, if you have any information at all, contact Scotland Yard.

Sherlock, if you're reading this, you need to come home, now. I can't stress this enough. Mrs. Hudson's tense, Rosie won't stop crying, Greg's trying to be optimistic but he's failing, and even Mycroft is visibly filled with anxiety. I can't even begin to express the fear I'm feeling. If you can, contact us and let us know where you are.

John read and reread his blog post. It was short, but he thought it got the point across. There was no reason to waste time with a long message after watching Sherlock's last known whereabouts three times. He was actually disappointed in himself for not thinking of using his blog earlier. If the police weren't willing to help, Sherlock's loyal fans certainly would.

"Daddy?"

John had been so focused on his laptop that he hadn't realized Rosie had entered the room. He could tell that she didn't get any sleep. Not that John could blame her.

"Hello, Sweetheart. Are you ready to go to the park?"

She shook her head. "I want to stay here."

He set his laptop aside and sat her on his lap. "You do?"

"What if Sherlock comes home and we're not here?"

John wasn't really sure how to respond to that. The chances of Sherlock returning were slim, especially while they were out. However, he didn't want to crush her spirit. He wanted her to remain hopeful even if the likelihood of a happy ending was shrinking the longer Sherlock was missing.

"Then he'll wait here for us. Or maybe he'll deduce we went to the park and join us."

"It won't be the same without him, Daddy." She continued, "What do you think he's doing right now?"

Several possibilities raced through his mind. He could be getting tortured in ways reminiscent of those two years he was away. Or maybe he was going through something completely different than he's ever experienced. Maybe something worse than death. For all John knew, he had already died alone and in terrible agony.

No. He couldn't think like that. Sherlock was strong. He would know how to survive. He would be able to escape, if he was even being held against his will at all. Mycroft's been wrong before.

"Daddy?"

John came back to reality at his daughter's voice. She was looking at him, patiently waiting for an answer. If he waited any longer, she'd grow worried.

"I bet he's trying to find his way home. Just as we're trying to find him." He stood, carrying her as asked, "If you don't want to go to the park, what do you want to do?"

"I'm hungry. Do we have any sweets?"

He chuckled. "How about we have a meal before we think about sweets, hmm?"

If everyone Sherlock asked was being truthful, the sun had set hours ago. Unfortunately, there was also nothing obvious to pick the lock with. Gilchrist had come a third time and revealed that many members of the cult do live here. That included Varick.

Knowing that they wanted to kill him on a certain date was a double edged sword. On one hand, he can take more risks when trying to escape. No one would kill him as punishment if he was caught. The problem is that he had a time limit.

His first escape attempt will be at lunch. Most of the cult will be at work and he'll be able to see his surroundings when he makes it outside. If he's caught, he'd at least know a substantial amount of information that he wouldn't get at night.

With nothing to do until then, Sherlock decided to spend his time just lying on the bed in wait. He admitted that it was much cozier than any of the ones at Baker Street. Maybe after this was all over and the cult's been arrested, he could take it home.

Home. It'd been twenty-four hours since he'd been there. Scotland Yard could look into his disappearance. Maybe they would be competent enough to actually find him. Mycroft would have already found him if there had been a camera in the alleyway. Sherlock just hoped that he had the good sense not to tell their parents that he was gone. It was no use worrying them.

Then there was John and Rosie. They would have known something was wrong when they woke up and he wasn't home. Despite Rosie's young age, she was smart. She might not grasp all of the dangers that Sherlock was in, but she would be worrying nonetheless. He would prefer that she just thought that he had gotten lost or had to go somewhere after his fight with her father. She might not know about abduction, but thanks to Sherlock and John's career, she was more aware of what murder was than most three-year-olds. She knew that there were bad people lurking in the world, as well as what they were capable of.

He hoped John had forgotten about that whole debacle with his experiment. Rosie's eyes wouldn't be red by now. Even if he was still mad, John was probably missing him and was doing everything he could to help find him. Sherlock honestly wouldn't object if John was overseeing the entire operation. John's admitted to feeling like an idiot compared to Sherlock, but Sherlock had seen his intelligence, strength, and resolve firsthand.

Intelligence, strength and resolve that he was determined to bear witness to again.

Next chapter: John can't sleep and Sherlock attempts to escape!