Shadows of the Past (BBC Sherlock) -1-

10. Nightmare Memory

Yet another wonderful day done and gone. Every day felt wonderful when I was with Jim. He made my days brighter; he made me see the good things in life.

I wasn't having thoughts about marriage and a family with him or anything. I guess you could say I was still in the puppy-love stage.

I ruffled my hair with a towel, feeling drops fall onto my back. I was ready for bed. Jim decided to stay over.

I told Amanda everything about Jim. She seemed happy for me at first, but then she started to get concerned. When I told her about him staying over, she thought it was too early to move onto such a serious level. I saw no problem with it, it didn't seem like that big of a step.

I stepped out of the bathroom to hear low chatter going on in the den room. My brows came together. Curious, I peeked into the living room. The TV was off. I saw Jim on his laptop, he was hunched over it. I crept closer, hearing the chatter I'd heard before. It sounded like a woman's voice.

Is he...cheating on me? I didn't want to believe the possibility, but part of me did. A piece of my heart was already breaking, and I didn't even know if it was true or not. If it was true, was there one woman or many?

I had to know.

I slunk into the den room, keeping silent. It was hard to see what was on Jim's screen; he was blocking the majority of it. From what I could see, he looked to be calling someone. He didn't have his webcam on; he had a box open so he could type.

The cheating theory began to seem true.

I couldn't hear what the woman was saying; her voice was too low for me to hear. I could barely see what she looked like. I was so close I was practically breathing on Jim's neck.

As I took another step, what I saw next made me freeze.

A red dot had briefly appeared on the woman's head. One second, she was alive, and the next, she collapsed in front of the camera, forehead down on the table. I covered my mouth with my hands, afraid to let out a squeak of terror.

I had just witnessed a murder. Jim had just witnessed a murder.

Afraid, I backed away, my eyes not leaving Jim or his laptop. I couldn't make sense of this. Was...was Jim responsible for the woman's death?

I bumped into the door frame of the bedroom. I squeaked before I could stop myself.

Jim whipped around, his brown eyes became huge. I froze on the spot, watching him.

"Rachel..." he said. His focus went from me, to the laptop, then back to me.

"What...What was that?" I forced out.

Jim closed the laptop, slamming it so hard I thought he broke it. He set it aside on the couch. "How much did you see?"

"Enough."

Jim rose. "I can explain—"

I whirled around and darted for the bedroom. I knew there was a phone on the nightstand near the bed. Jim was there with me in a flash, grabbing both of my wrists. He pulled me around to face him. I let out a petrified sob. "Are you going to kill me next?"

"What makes you think I would kill you, Rachel?" He looked appalled at my suggestion.

"Did you have anything to do with that woman's murder?" Surprisingly, my voice was stable.