Chapter 15
Sam
Mary was up all night waiting for her husband to return. She was definitely the worse for wear when Watson finally did come back about an hour before dawn; his coming home woke me up. To put it bluntly, Watson looked like crap. His hat was gone, his clothes were filthy, and he had a really scared look in his eyes when he came in. "John," Mary said as she hugged him and he hugged her back. She helped him to the couch where he groaned like a guy that really needed an aspirin. "Is it over?" Mary fearfully asked. Watson shook his head, "He escaped us, but we did manage to wound him at least." "How did you wound him?" Danny asked, walking up behind me.
Watson looked at him and told us about how he and Sherlock found Orion eating the ribcage of the poor man's body they found in the East End. How he had transformed and Holmes and Watson managed to shoot him and even blast one of his eyes out before Orion escaped. "Wow," was all I could say, I never imagined that just the two of them would be able to hurt Orion so much. Danny wasn't as happy, "Idiots, you still let him escape!?" "He turned into a bat and flew off, what did you expect us to do, sprout wings?!" Watson angrily asked him, it was clear that the lack of sleep was not good for his mood. "I thought you were a crack shot or something! What kind of idiot can't shoot a purple bat?!" Danny angrily yelled back.
"Now see here, I never asked for any of this!" Watson loudly and angrily yelled. Danny shut up at how loud he was and Watson continued, he walked closer to us and I could see that his eyes were bloodshot as he continued, "I never asked to find you two when I did, nor did I ask that I should be the one to clean up the mess that you left in my city! For God's Sake, you brought an abomination beyond anything I ever suspected I would ever see practically on my doorstep! But I bore it as any decent Englishman would and even after knowing what you had dragged me into I still cared for you, fed you; and Holmes is even going to clothe you! And I daresay that we did a much better job than you did, seeing as how you are the one who still has at least two weeks to heal while Holmes and I wounded that, that, THING with nary a scratch on us! I think that has earned me at least a few hours rest without being yelled at!"
Watson almost immediately deflated, looking like he all of a sudden aged ten years. Mary rushed over and helped her husband to his bedroom. Danny sighed and scratched his head. "He's right, we've started taking him for granted," I said. Danny just grunted and walked away while I just sighed, "Men." Mary came down to see Danny and me not talking and said to me, "Samantha, could you come into the dining room with me?" I went with her and she set some tea to a pot to brew while we sat down at the table. "He is not like this, it's just, he has experienced so much, and we've never faced such a creature like you and Daniel have," she explained.
"I know, Danny's not one to pick a fight either. It's just, Tucker, he was our best friend. Danny and Tucker were practically brothers, always sharing almost everything with each other, whenever we needed him he would be there for us. Before Orion showed up it had been years since Danny had really been challenged by a ghost, and then Orion came, and killed all those people, and Tucker…" I had to stop, I will never forget the look on Tucker's eyes as he died, he was so…surprised, and sad, and…I couldn't stop thinking of that every time I said his name.
"What was Tucker like?" Mary asked me as she finished making the tea. I couldn't help but smile as I remembered the good times, "He never would have survived here, his life was devoted to technology and acquiring the latest technological marvel he could get his hands on. He would always make the worst jokes you ever heard. I never laughed at them, but inside I thought they really were funny. He was never a guy that would stay and fight, but if people needed him he would be there to help them. Tuck was a shameless flirt, if he thought he saw an opportunity to get a girl, he went for it, and almost every time he'd get nothing for it, but he never stopped trying. He never stopped trying, maybe that's why he was able to hurt Orion; he was so determined in the end to stop him…" I couldn't stop myself from crying this time and Mary put her hand on my back like a Mom and said, "It's alright dear, it's alright."
Watson
When I awoke I got dressed and shaved as usual, even though it was the afternoon. I went downstairs to the kitchen to see that Mary had made a few slices of beef and some bread along with a cup of tea. Samantha was eating a mixed green salad with spinach, cabbage and carrots while Daniel was having a similar meal as I. I did not look at him as I ate; my pride was still wounded at his insult to me. Mary made a mixture of beef and salad for her own luncheon, and we all sat quietly to eat. At last the meal was over and I went to my living room to smoke as I always did after my meals. Daniel followed me at sat at the chair next to mine.
We were silent for several more minutes before at last Daniel spoke, "Doctor Watson, I'm sorry for how I acted. I let my emotions get the better of me, and I'm sorry. I really do appreciate what you and Mary have done for Sam and I, we owe you our lives." I finally looked at him, and looked right in his eyes. They conveyed nothing but shame at how he had acted and hope for forgiveness. "Apology accepted. This…ordeal has been hard on all of us," I assured him. As we said this Samantha walked in and commented, "About time you made up." After she said this there was a knock on the door and Samantha answered it. Holmes walked in and said, "I believe I know how we can defeat this creature, but first I need to ask Samantha and Daniel some questions."
I moved out of my seat so Samantha could sit beside Daniel and Holmes started asking his questions. "Ghosts, how quickly can they heal their injuries?" Daniel and Samantha took a moment to think it over then Daniel answered, "It depends on how strong and old the ghost is. I've seen some ghosts regrow arms and legs after they've been ripped off in seconds, others take years to recover." Holmes nodded and continued, "What of their diet?" This took longer for them to answer until finally Samantha said, "Depends, some ghosts eat human food, others only eat plants and animals from the Ghost Zone, some I don't think eat at all." "What of habitats, what do they need to survive?" Holmes asked. "They can live almost anywhere," Daniel informed him, "The thing about ghosts is that all of them, at least the sentient ones, they all form obsessions over various things. They have their own doors in the Ghost Zone that they live in, their own lairs. Some of them haunt places in the Human World, places where they died as humans, but other than that they really don't care."
"What of Orion specifically?" Holmes inquired. Daniel's voice took on a sinister tone as he answered the question, "Orion is an emotion eater, that's what Clockwork told me. He feeds on misery, despair, fear, and causing them makes him even stronger. But apparently he can still be wounded; I mean it was weeks before he killed anyone here; that means that he's weaker." Realization dawned on all of us as he said this. "Yes, someplace where he can feed off of misery, despair, and fear. There are places where those are in abundance: prisons, workhouses, the poorer areas of London are where he will go now that he's weakened. Orion will then feed off of the negative emotions there and become healed." "This is great, we now have a clue on where to look for him," Mary excitedly proclaimed. "Indeed," Holmes said with a hunter's smile.