'The second time… Second?'
Adele was getting pretty sick of John now. Although had he not bought Kaylee back, Adele wouldn't have gotten the answer to the riddle. But even now, would Hammet know that it wasn't her that actually solved it? Hopefully not. But he'd warned Sherlock before. Then again, Kaylee was fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Another person Adele would inadvertently get almost killed. God.
Adele finally managed to finish the text, hands shaking. Now to wait until he told them where Molly was. It wasn't long, however, before Hammet texted back;
Well done. Your friend is in that lab at St Bart's. Go and get her.
As soon as Adele showed Sherlock the text, he jumped up. 'You,' he said, pointing at John and Kaylee. 'Stay here. Adele come on.'
'Why are they-?'
'I'll explain later. Kaylee, you've been fantastic. Thank you.' Adele exchanged a shocked glance with John. Sherlock had thanked someone? And more importantly, Kaylee, of all people? Kaylee looked downright confused, so Adele resolved to leave John to explain. She followed Sherlock down the stairs, jumping the last three. By the time she was outside, he had a cab ready and waiting.
Bart's was empty. Was it really that late? True, the sky had darkened considerably, and most commuters were off the streets, but still. Empty. Not normal. Adele didn't like it. Bart's was Bart's. There were people, and Sherlock was usually a bit more cheerful when he was there. As was Adele. Now she, and even though he was trying to hide it, Sherlock were looking at the place with less than pleased expressions.
'Lab. Is he serious?'
'Apparently so.' Sherlock nodded at her. Oh, so he wanted Adele to lead the way? Great. Really great. Through the maze of corridors they walked, trying and probably failing, to look completely normal. This was why they should keep John with them. At least slightly normal.
As soon as Adele arrived at the door of the lab, she froze. It was… dark.
'Sherlock?'
'Yes?'
Adele nodded towards the door. 'Dark.'
Even to Adele, this was ridiculous. Why was she even scared of it? The dark was probably the most irrational fear she could possibly have, and yet it still terrified her so much that she would only sleep with the light on, and put on her best behaviour when Sherlock threatened to cut off the flat's electricity. Why? But there was no time to think about it now, because Sherlock, being Sherlock, had already pushed open the door.
'Go on.'
He hadn't locked it? 'He left it open.'
'He said we could get her. Adele, the only person in there is Molly.'
'You go first, then.' Sherlock sighed and walked in, as if he owned the place. How was he so sure that is wasn't a trap? Not even an idiot like Hammet left the door unlocked so that she could waltz in and save Molly. But if he had left it open, Adele's instinct was to take full advantage. She followed Sherlock in, but silently cursing herself. Why hadn't she memorised where the light switch was in here? How stupid was she? True, there had never really been much need for it, but still. Adele could hear Sherlock talking to Molly, and she could hear her name cropping up rather frequently.
'Talk about me as though I'm here, why don't you?' She hissed. Not being able to see wasn't helping anything.
'You can shut the door, Adele.' Sherlock sounded much happier than he had in the past few hours. There was, of course, a downside to this. Happy Sherlock also sometimes became forgetful Sherlock. And forgetful Sherlock made quite stupid decisions. In this case, of course, it was telling her to shut the door, because only five seconds later, Adele heard the unmistakeable sound of a lock clicking. It would have been an understatement to say that Sherlock exploded.
'THAT'S NOT FAIR PLAY!' Adele could see the faint outline of Molly flinching. Even though Molly probably couldn't see, Adele shrugged in her general direction. Fair play was the last thing on her mind right now.
'He's not going to play fair, idiot.' This was true. Hammet had already demonstrated this by having that stupid blonde kid, whose name Adele still didn't know, basically attack her with no prior warning. Really, locking them in a dark room was basic compared to that. Actually, a bit more scary, to Adele at least, but basic in a sense. Just as Adele was about to begin thinking about exactly how they were going to get out of this, the alert light on her phone began to flash. Adele only noticed this because one, in the dark, it lit up the entire room. Two, Adele had been keeping an eye on it because her phone was the only thing which now produced, once again, a light source. She saw Sherlock turn towards her, although he made no comment on whether she should answer or not. It looked as though she had to, however, because the number appeared to be Hammet's. Maybe they'd be receiving an explanation. Adele hesitantly pressed the answer button;
'Yes?'
'Got you! And Sherly too, this is great! I didn't think you would solve that one, and I was right, wasn't I? Watson's friend got it! So, you can have your friend, on condition. Because I made it clear, Adele, it can only be you. Only you.' His voice darkened. 'I'm not stupid, you know. But I am fair, whatever you might think. Stay here a couple of hours, and you can all go!'
'I…' Adele was stuttering now. Great. Sherlock appeared to have picked up on this, because he was now standing in front of Adele, hand held out for the phone. Adele gave it to him, apprehensive. More yelling. It probably wouldn't make it any quieter, but Adele went to sit with Molly anyway. One good thing about Molly was that at least her annoying-ness was consistent. Sherlock varied. Although at the moment, Molly was just smiling in that way that Adele couldn't help but see as friendly. But friendliness on Molly's part wouldn't exactly make Sherlock shut up.
'…HOW IS THAT FAIR PLAY?' Adele knew full well that Hammet wouldn't give Sherlock an answer that he would actually accept. Although a more important question was how he knew. How could he possibly have known that Kaylee had solved it? Was Kaylee another one of his accomplices? It was just as likely as it was unlikely. But Kaylee didn't seem to be the type of person to work with Hammet, of all people. And Sherlock hadn't thought about it, so it was fairly certain that Kaylee was just another person to think about. Great. Sherlock was still having a go at Hammet, although Adele could see his patience wearing thin. As suspected, he cut Hammet off and almost slammed the phone down onto a table, before realising that it was Adele's, and that he would have to buy her a new one if it broke.
'Fine.' He sounded incredibly bitter. Molly, for some reason, hadn't questioned him. Why?
'What did he say?'
'Sit here and wait.' Adele decided not to question that. What had she done last time? Pen knife. That would probably annoy Sherlock a lot more, but the blade would reflect some sort of light. She took the knife from her pocket, flicking it in and out with a small swish noise. Sherlock didn't flinch until about five minutes later. 'Put the knife away.'
'Why?'
'It's sharp. I know what you're like in the dark. No risk taking.'
'Says you.'
'Away.' When Adele didn't respond, he changed his tone to a sterner one. 'I mean it. Or I'll take it off you.' Adele put the knife away, but grudgingly. She was tired. Whatever the time was now, it was late. How long did he want them to stay there? Sherlock and Molly were talking quietly about something or other, but Adele could hardly be bothered to keep track of the conversation. The dark was messing with her eyes now, because she was pretty sure that the vague shapes she was seeing weren't actually there. Sherlock would have realised by now. Or even Molly. Adele was conscious of the fact that she had been awake for a lot longer than was a good idea. She would like to sleep, of course, but she knew it would be a stupid idea. But it would be nice to sleep. Just as Adele felt her eyes drift closed, the relative silence was punctured by-
A scream.
Adele's head snapped up. Molly glanced around, although she didn't look as scared as Adele thought she might. Sherlock had already jumped up, apparently looking for the source of the noise. But they weren't in the room. Adele could tell that much. It was coming from somewhere else, but she didn't know where. All she knew was that it wouldn't stop, and that Sherlock wouldn't be able to help this time around.
It must have carried on for ages. The screams sounded so familiar, yet Adele couldn't work out who it was. A girl, definitely. She knew them, she had too. Not Molly, Molly was right there next to her. Kaylee? No, he wouldn't have had time. And she didn't know Kaylee properly. Not Donovan, they didn't exactly get along. And this was a young person, which ruled out Mrs Hudson. So-
Eliza.
By this time, Adele had out her hands over her ears. Not that it was particularly helping. Sherlock appeared to have given up on looking, so he had sat back down in the corner, Adele was aware that she was shaking, whether with fear or rage however, she was unsure. Closing her eyes didn't exactly help.
Was it bad that she didn't want to help them?
Was it bad that all she wanted was for it to stop?
'Adele?' Sherlock's voice was slightly muffled due to Adele's hands being over her ears. She didn't even look up, instead nodding slightly. 'It's not really them, it's just-'
'It's Eliza.' Adele cut him off. Sherlock, for a second, appeared to lose the ability to speak.
'No. It's not. Block it out. He's just trying to scare you.'
'It's Eliza.'
'Ignore it.'
'It's Eliza.'
Why was she repeating it? Because there was nothing else she could say? Admitting she was scared might be a good idea, but Sherlock could probably already tell. Where was Molly? Adele didn't dare to look up. She registered Sherlock's coat now around her shoulders, wondering why and when he'd given it to her. It was sort of comforting, but only just. Nothing was really moving in real time anymore, Adele's brain was only noticing things a few seconds after they actually happened. She felt dizzy, and the screaming hadn't changed in volume. Why wouldn't it stop? Adele was still tired, but she couldn't sleep now. She rested her head on Sherlock's shoulder, now close to tears. She couldn't help Eliza. She couldn't. Not even because she was stuck here. Because she wasn't brave. She was only clever. And that was no help here. She could only sit and wait for it to stop. And when it did? She would go back to the flat. Because it would have stopped.
She was actually crying now. Adele was aware of Sherlock's arm around her shoulders, but it wasn't relevant. Why wasn't Molly panicking? Where was she? Adele chanced a glance upwards, and saw Molly sitting to her right. Moly was fine. Sherlock was fine. Adele was fine. Eliza wasn't fine.
'It's Eliza.' She whispered. There wasn't much else to say. Anything that distracted her from the screaming was good enough. Even if it only convinced her of the fact that her friend was hurt.
'It's not.'
'It's Eliza.' There were now tears streaming down Adele's face. She needed to get a grip. Adele could feel her eyes drifting slowly closed, allowing her to finally sleep. It would stop when she woke up. It would stop.
'S'Eliza' she muttered.
'No. It's no one. He's just trying to scare you.' Adele only just heard the last two words before she drifted off.
That was fun, wasn't it? So, pleased! If you liked, review? If you like hedgehogs, review? If you like otters, review? I you like… stuff, review?
I'm desperate *facepalm*
Next one on its way! Enjoy!