Chapter 21: My Darling Angel

When we arrived at Leilani's apartment, I was immediately taken to the room I would be staying in and told to remain there until she called for me. I had no qualms with doing as she said – the less time I spent in her presence, the less likely I was to be tried for murder. So far, I had five ways I could kill someone without being detected.

The first was poison – my father had taught me how to make an undetectable poison in his free time. The next was slitting their throat – potentially messy but if done correctly nigh on untraceable. Then there was assassinating – unless the assassin sold you out, you were fine. The fourth was cutting off the air flow to the lungs – again, if done correctly (for example, garroting the person) it would take a while for the police forces to find you, especially if they were the Scotland Yard and they had refused Sherlock's help. The last was starvation – slow but helpful if you wanted them to suffer. Of course, you would have to keep them in a safe location.

I was brought out of my decidedly sociopathic thoughts by a rather loud and obnoxious vibrating noise. Wait – I had a phone? I opened my bag and searched inside, finally locating the irritating device in a hidden pocket. I switched it on and looked at the caller ID on the screen. Mycroft?! Pressing the green box, I held the touch-screen technology up to my ear.

"Kayla," his voice said in greeting.

"Mycroft," I greeted with false happiness, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

I heard him chuckling slightly on the other end. "I have come across word of your... predicament... and find myself wanting to seek a solution to the troubling turn of events."

I blinked twice. Wait, he wanted me in Baker Street? I mean, I thought he did and to all appearance it looked like he did but in words it was rather surprising. I shifted in my seated position on the bed I had been provided with, placing an elbow on my leg and leaning on my hand. Not only that, he thought it was an issue that I was no longer living there for a while.

"And how do you plan to solve this problem, as you seem to have labelled it?" I asked him, before rolling my eyes at my own question. "Oh, yes, that minor position in the British government."

"Indeed," I heard him say, "You will, of course, be required to remain with Ms Excelon for the minimum period of seven days – we managed to have it reduced due to your medical state – then we will have to undergo receiving statements about John, Sherlock and Ms Excelon from you and about you from the aforementioned people trialling to be your guardians for a, as of now indefinite, period of time into the future, depending on financial states and such."

I nodded, taking in all the information. Then, all of a sudden, I realised how much this must be costing him. My brain came to a halt, stuttering out disjointed thoughts every now and then. Favouritism? Problems? Time? Why? Why me? What?

"Kayla?" I heard Mycroft say.

"Yeah, Mycroft- thanks," I said, breathing deeply and forcing my brain to cooperate, "Thank you so much, umbrella-boy."

I heard him chuckle slightly at the nickname. "It is no problem at all, Kayla. Have a better day."

He hung up and I switched the phone off, putting it back in the hidden pocket – Leilani couldn't know I had it. I sat down heavily on the bed, my wings wrapping around me. Why would Mycroft do this? He was practically made of ice, why would he care about this?

The first two days in Leilani's care were dull, to say the very least. I remained in my room for the majority of the day, not eating – which, in hindsight, wasn't entirely my fault. I'd never had to worry about something as trivial as eating Above and it was only John's reminding and the nurses bringing me meals that made me aware of my need for food sustenance. In any case, I had plenty of time to avoid Leilani during.

The only real entertainment I received were the seemingly hourly texts from Sherlock.

Ran out of milk. Wasn't my fault. SH

Experiment was a success. Eyeballs popped on knife – John must not see. SH

According to John, playing Fur Elise on violin is not allowed after midnight. SH

Kayla, this is John – sorry about the texts.

I replied to this one.

Why are you using Sherlock's phone? - KR

I used his in an experiment and have yet to repair it. I did apologise, however, which should be enough to satisfy him. SH

It wasn't. He is still upset for a reason that is unfathomable to me. SH

And so on. But on the third day of being in Leilani's custody, I received a text from a private number, something that had not occurred before. Mycroft had sent me a text explaining that the phone would display the name and number of anyone who contacted me, no matter what coding they had on their communication device.

I'd woken 'with the sun', according to her loveliness – can you sense the sarcasm? - though anyone with half a brain would know that the sun does not wake at the beginning of each day. I would be surprised if she even had the basics, consisting of motor skills and minor emotions.

Hello darling. How is my lovely angel? - JM

I ignored it after taking a screenshot, something I'd learnt by accident.

Oh, angel, don't give me the silent treatment. What did I ever do to you? - JM

I received the next text from JM an hour later, around the time Leilani woke up.

Was it because I knocked you over in the cafe? I'm sorry about that, darling – I did check to see if you were okay. - JM

This was received just before Leilani burst into my room, wearing more makeup than clothes and sporting a faked pout.

"We've been invited to a party! Isn't that exciting? Here, put this on and I'll do your hair."

I moved to dress in the bright pink, cup-cake styled, absolutely horrid attire but she stopped me.

"You'll need to take that off, hun. We can't have anyone thinking you've been mistreated, can we?" she said, taking off the sling.

I'd become accustomed to the constant pain – I'd not been allowed to have the pills because they were 'fake' – but as soon as the support was removed I gasped in agony before resolutely keeping my mouth shut. I brought my wing forward, cradling the unfortunate limb that was undoubtedly attached to my shot shoulder.

"You alright, hun? Here, I'll help you," she said with not-entirely-faked concern. Not for me, of course – if I were walking around holding my arm close and gasping every time I was juddered her social image' would sink faster than a rock in a pool.

I gritted my teeth and allowed her to dress me in the garbage she called clothes. I was being petty, I knew, but I was hungry and tired and oh my god I missed 221B. Once I sufficiently resembled confectionery I was taken to the bathroom, where Leilani proceeded to powder my face and brush my hair just so that it hid the bags under my eyes and covered my thinness.

Just before we exited the flat, Leilani's boyfriend in tow – he was actually a rather nice guy, which was unfortunate for him, seeing as he was stuck with such a hag – I made an excuse to go back into my room. I hurriedly grabbed my phone with my free arm – thank god for wings – and prepared to stuff it down the front of my dress. I was stopped, however, by a small dinging sound.

Darling, I told you not to give me the silent treatment. Didn't John ever teach you manners? I'll have to show him some. - JM

The blood left my face. This guy wasn't an ordinary stalker. He was dangerous. He was a sociopath, a real one. That didn't matter. What mattered was that if I didn't reply, he'd hurt John. He'd hurt Sherlock's John and Sherlock would be lost. My brother would be lost. Again. I couldn't let that happen. Closing my eyes, I made a reckless decision. But one that would, ultimately, save lives.

I apologise. I did not mean to convey any disrespect. - KR

I hit 'send' and took a deep breath, shaking out my wings and squaring my momentarily tightened shoulders. I went out of the room to join Leilani and her boyfriend and we left the flat.

Edit: 25.2.16

This is the chapter I posted just after receiving 100 reviews for this story, and despite the fact that I have deleted the authors notes of the chapters before this (you can't copy-paste from ff.n and I don't have time to retype them), I would once again like to convey my appreciation. I am in as much awe now as I was then, if not more, and the ultimatum has truly become even more ultimate from then. Thank you. You all helped make me very happy when I couldn't find much, and my 13 year old self and all those since absolutely adore you all.

- Little