I promise we will start upping the action very soon. I think it's about time we started getting to the heart of the story don't you. Thanks for bearing with me through all the build up, hope you're still enjoying it.

Chapter 6

It didn't take them too long to make their way back into the village and round to the small parish church. It was an oddity in this day and age for a village to have their own vicar but there he stood in the doorway waiting for them. He looked to be mid-fifties and dressed just as you would expect a village priest too with black shirt, dog collar and his hands in the pockets of a warm looking woollen cardigan. As they opened the gate into the graveyard he came forward to greet them looking a little pensive.

'Mr Holmes? I'm Rev David Tucker, I received a call from a Detective Inspector at Scotland Yard, he said you wanted to look around the church. Is that right?'

Sherlock shook his hand, introduced Molly and confirmed he was correct. The vicar turned back and walked them to the church.

'St Mary's has been the parish church here for over six hundred years. It's a fine old building, though the original stain glass windows were sadly destroyed during the reformation. Was there any part in particular you wanted to see? The police officer was quite vague?'

Sherlock glanced around as they entered only seeming to reply absent-mindedly, 'the crypt or any cellars the building might have.' He didn't follow the vicar however but made his way down the aisle towards the alter checking in the pews to the left and right as they went.

Molly came and stood next to the vicar who was watching him still looking slightly worried.

'Don't mind him, he gets quite focused on his work. It's a lovely building, have you been the vicar here for long?'

He turned to her and smiled, 'nearly thirty years now, I don't know where the time has gone. I was in my early twenties when I came back here. Can I ask what it is that you're looking for?' He started forwards nervously as he saw Sherlock walking around the altar, 'please, can I ask you not to go up there. It's a little disrespectful.'

Sherlock looked up and moved away, 'of course' he said as he put his hands in the pockets of his coat but Molly was sure she had seen him pick something up.

The vicar led them through to a door hidden behind the church organ. As they went through and he led them past the back of the organ he explained the origins of the pump organ and how in the past it had been powered by a man pumping bellows, 'of course, nowadays it's been converted to be run electronically but,' he pondered to himself, 'I often wonder if the sound is quite the same'. Another door was opened and a small wooden staircase led them down into the old cellar. It was obviously only used for storage nowadays and there were stacks of chairs and bags of items for jumble sales filling the space.

It was soon apparent that there were no other exit points in the cellar, no hidden doors in the walls or trap doors in the floor. The only thing which caught Sherlock's interest was a symbol which had been scratched into the stonework on one of the ceiling lintels. It looked as though it had been there for hundreds of years and was very worn. Sherlock took a photo and asked the vicar if he knew anything about it but he had no information at all, had never paid much attention to it.

As they came back out of the cellar Sherlock suddenly asked, 'you said earlier that you had come back here, does that mean you grew up here?'

Molly saw the priest jump slightly, 'I...er..yes. My family come from the village. I left home at eighteen to go to University, seek out the bright lights...you know that kind of thing. Trouble is there's no place like home so when I entered the priesthood and this living came up I couldn't resist. Is there anything else you need to see, you still haven't mentioned what it is you're looking for?'

Sherlock declined to answer and Molly followed his lead just smiling apologetically at the concerned vicar. Sherlock walked up the side aisles ducking every so often to look under the pews but in the end Sherlock thanked the priest for his time and after a brief look in the vestry and choir changing rooms they left.

The sun was now shining in earnest and Molly took off her jacket as they made their way back to the pub. 'So what did you take from the alter?' She asked, once she was sure they were out of earshot.

Sherlock glanced at her and smiled, 'you noticed that! Well done.' He put his hand in his pocket and took out his handkerchief which he carefully unwrapped until he was able to show Molly a small blob of black wax.

'Wax from a black candle. Not good in a church, black candles are often used in Black Masses and never in a normal Christian service. It would seem our vicar is very much part of whatever is going on here and the church itself has been used for some of their ceremonies. Not surprising, many of cults believe there is great power in subverting Christian symbols and places of worship. Plus he was afraid, very afraid. He covered it well but he was unhappy about us being there and was hiding something...probably this and his involvement.'

Molly was more than a little shocked. She had purely took him at face value, that of being a middle aged and kindly vicar, just like the ones she'd known in her childhood when her mum had taken her to church. Her family hadn't been overly religious but in a small community it had still been the thing to do on a Sunday morning.

Sherlock also took out his iPhone and showed Molly the photograph that he had taken of the glyph in the basement, 'plus this! It looks as though the Satanism in this church and village is nothing new but rather deeply ingrained. This is a Brimstone Sigel, a sign of the church of Satan. Whatever we're dealing with goes deep into the roots and history of this whole place. We need to be careful Molly, we don't know who we can trust here!'

Molly shivered even with the heat of the recently appeared sun on her face. The church graveyard suddenly felt oppressive even though being close to the dead normally gave her a sense of calmness. It was as if everything she knew in her life was being turned on its head in this place. Sherlock seemed like her only touchstone to normality and as they made their way back to the pub she couldn't help but walk a little closer to him, needing to feel him nearby.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He watched them from the shade of the yew tree in the graveyard. Who the fuck did they think they were coming into his patch and stirring up trouble? He'd been watching them for the last couple of days asking all their questions, investigating that sweet, young bitch's disappearance.

Oh he knew who this guy was. He'd read all about Sherlock fucking Holmes and his deductive super powers. Well he wasn't going to be able to rely upon them here. They had so much more on their side than simple human observation. As for the pathetic lap dog wandering around behind him desperately lapping up any crumb she could find...well, she was giving him ideas.

They could do with a run through; make sure everything was perfect for the big night. He didn't want anything to go wrong so maybe scaring them and showing them who's boss could kill two birds with one stone.

It would be oh so simple...only a little planning required...

MHMHMHMHMHMHMHMH

Molly ordered herself a third drink at the bar. She knew she was maybe drinking a bit more than she ought but she didn't want to end up in Sherlock's bed again. At least she did but not because she was too scared to sleep in her own bed.

She groaned, shaking her head and trying not to think of Sherlock in his pyjamas.

'Oh oh, looks like someone's drinking to forget. Did something happen between you and Mister Adonis last night?'

Molly looked up to see Adrian smiling widely at her as he placed her next drink on the bar. She took a soothing sip and rolled her eyes, 'I wish. No absolutely nothing happened. I don't think he even notices I'm a woman, at least not like that.'

'You know what you should do. You should just show up in his bedroom butt naked. That'd get his attention, bet he wouldn't be able to resist you then.'

Molly raised her eyebrows, thinking back to something she remembered John saying about Sherlock's first meeting with Ms Adler, 'oh I'm sure he could.'

Adrian leant on the bar resting his chin on his hand and looked over at Sherlock who was doing something with his phone, 'it just doesn't seem right that someone that hot should not put out. Surely it's a crime against humanity or something. I can just imagine him all naked and sweaty.'

Molly drank some more of her drink aware of a nice warm fuzzy glow as she followed Adrian's lead and stared over, watching those beautiful long fingers dancing over the keyboard. 'God, could you imagine what he could do with his hands?' She sighed, hearing Adrian doing the same.

'He's got big feet as well.'

Molly looked at Adrian quizzically, 'big feet? What, have you got a foot fetish?'

Adrian screwed his face up, 'no...well...maybe just a little,' he grinned. 'No, you must have heard the saying...big feet equals big cock!'

Molly blushed and snorted with laughter causing Sherlock to glance up at them briefly. He narrowed his eyes as he looked from one to the other. They had both turned away but Molly knew that it would have been just a little too late.

Adrian whispered, 'it's as though he's undressing me with his eyes when he does that. Is that his deducing look coz if it is he can deduce me anytime he likes!'

Molly couldn't quite agree with him here, she'd been on the receiving end of Sherlock's scathing deductions too many times to find them not particularly sexy. 'He's quite authoritative at times.' She ventured, 'I'm a feminist so I shouldn't like it but...I have to admit it really turns me on when he bosses me about.'

'Hmm, so we're adding dominant in the bedroom to his list of attributes, it's just getting longer and longer isn't it. We have so got to get him in your bed. He looks like he needs a good shag, he's too buttoned up...oh, which brings me right back to those damned tight shirts.' Adrian stood up and shook himself as though to wake back up. Just at that moment he was called over to serve some more drinks so Molly made her way back to Sherlock.

'Should I feel violated Molly? Or were you and Adrian discussing the make and model of the phone I'm using?'

Molly ducked her head to hide her blush, 'well, yes I was telling him you quite liked your new iPhone. He's thinking of getting one himself.'

She could feel Sherlock's gaze even though she didn't dare look up, she just concentrated on her drink.

A disbelieving 'hmm' was all she got from him causing her to stifle a giggle. Her wine was going down really easily tonight though and by the time she made her way up to bed she was feeling both exhausted and very disoriented. She had little memory of making it to bed and when she did she fell asleep immediately without any fears or ghostly interruptions.

I'll be back later in the week with the next chapter and things when things start hotting up but for all he wrong reasons...