As the man finished setting up the video camera he spoke. "Well John, now the fun begins. My fun anyway." John saw him press the record button before he turned round. "All you get is pain I'm afraid up until I think Sherlock has had enough. And I don't think I could ever make Sherlock Holmes suffer enough." He almost spat the last sentence. John could hear the hate in his voice.
John struggled against his restraints. He wasn't sure what was coming but he knew it wasn't going to be good. "You can struggle all you want John but it won't do you any good." He walked over to John and then turned to address the camera. "Well Sherlock I hope you liked my little note but I thought that for the updates watching your friend suffer would be so much more fun." With that he turned and punched John in the face.
John felt a sharp pain on his jaw and could taste blood inside his mouth. The second punch was harder and to his temple this time. For a moment the world went black. He could still hear but his sight had gone. It felt like a lifetime waiting for it to return. In reality it was only seconds and it returned just in time for John to see the fist coming towards him again. He braced himself. This time his nose took the full force and blood immediately ran down his face. Broken, he thought. His head started to swim from the punches as they kept coming one after another, after another. He felt sick from the blood and he was ready to pass out from the pain in his head. He'd lost count of how many he'd taken when the blows finally stopped. His head fell forward, he couldn't hold it up any longer. The pain was too much and he could feel his consciousness drifting.
The man grabbed his hair and pulled his head back sharply. John gritted his teeth and waited for the punches to start again but they didn't. The man spoke, not to him though, to the camera. "So Sherlock, suddenly your little friend here isn't looking so good. Well things can only get worse I assure you. Bet you can't wait for my next update. I know John here can't." The man let out a cruel laugh and pushed John's head forward so it fell against his chest. John tried but he didn't have the strength to raise it again, not even to make Sherlock think he was alright.
Out of the corner of his eye John saw the man go over and turn the camera off. He walked over to the table at the far end of the room and then returned to John holding his phone in his hand. "Tell me your code." he demanded. John didn't answer. The man grabbed his hair again and pulled his head back to look in his eyes. "I suggest that unless you want more of the same you tell me the code to unlock your phone." John remained silent. The man put John's phone in his pocket and then took hold of John's little finger on his right hand and twisted it until a snap was heard. John cried out in pain. He couldn't help himself even though he knew it was what his attacker wanted. The man just laughed. "Is access to your phone really worth all this extra pain?" he sneered.
John knew he was right. There was nothing on there that could do Sherlock any harm. No personal details the man could use. Just phone numbers he was pretty sure the man already knew. "6397" he muttered.
The man patted John's cheek "That's better." he told him and then let go of his hair. John tried to keep his head up, to watch what was going on but the pain was too much. His world started to spin and his head fell forward as his consciousness left him.
Lestrade watched Sherlock as he took the call. He could see the panic on his face. He heard the voice on the other end, it certainly wasn't John. "Sorry Sherlock, John is a little tied up at the moment. But you might want to check your email for an update to how he's doing." Lestrade heard him say.
"What have you done to him?" Sherlock demanded.
"Like I said, check your email Sherlock." The man laughed and then hung up.
"Does John have a phone tracking service set up do you know?" Lestrade asked.
Sherlock still had his phone in his hand pressing buttons. "It's no use" he answered "it's turned off again." He rushed over to the computer and logged into his email. When he found what he was looking for he opened the attached video and both he and Lestrade watched in horror as they saw John beaten repeatedly about the face and head.
Sherlock felt hate for this man rising inside him. He couldn't bear to see his friend tortured like this. It was obviously because of him and he could do nothing to stop it. His anger overflowed as he grabbed the nearest thing to hand, an empty glass, and hurled it across the room. It smashed against the wall by the door just as Molly walked in.
"Sherlock!" she gasped. He stood staring at her, his face white, his whole body shaking. "What's going on? What's wrong?" she continued noticing the state of the man in front of her. Sherlock couldn't speak. He ran his hands over his face, through his hair and then slumped down in the nearest chair and held his head in his hands.
"It's John" Lestrade explained "He's been kidnapped and Sherlock has been sent a video of him being beaten"
"Oh my god!" Molly covered her mouth with her hand. As she composed herself she asked "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Molly and Lestrade looked at Sherlock who remained silent. "Sherlock how about a coffee? To help you focus?" Lestrade suggested.
"Of course." Molly nodded.
After she'd left the room Lestrade went to Sherlock and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Come on. We need to work on finding him."
Sherlock took a deep breath. He knew Lestrade was right. This wasn't doing John any good at all. He needed to focus. He ran his hands through his hair once more and then stood up. He went back over to the computer and looked at the computer screen. The man had used John's own email account to send the message so they couldn't identify him that way.
Sherlock thought for a moment and then he grabbed his phone. "Mycroft I need you to trace an IP address for me." he told his brother the moment he answered.
"Is this to find Dr Watson?"
"Yes. But I don't have time for questions. I need to find him."
"Send me the details and I'll get you the information you require."
Sherlock hung up the phone and copied the message header details into an email which he sent to his brother. Then he waited, hoping that this would be the clue he needed to find his friend.