Their Final Act (Book 4)

Chapter 40

I pulled in front of the station, getting out of the dented and damaged car. I walked to the front and looked at the deteriorating doors, matching the rest of the building. I was surprised at the spot that Moriarty had found and hid. The drive was only 25 minutes.

I looked behind me before entering the building. It was pitch black as I entered and I pulled out my phone, turning on the flashlight. As I flashed the beam of light around, I realized the inside was just as deteriorated as the outside, if not worse. There was rubble from the ceiling and peeled paint sprinkled the floor. I could hear the squeak of a mouse not too far off. I began to walk forward but stopped and jumped, startled by the flash of a camera.

I turned to where I thought the flash was, and I was blinded by the bright light. I closed my eyes and turned my head to the side. I turned slightly and began to blink rapidly, trying to get the blind spot out of my vision.

A low whistle behind me made me spin on my heel. I was expecting a gun to my face, or at least Moriarty standing right behind me, but neither were the outcome. It was another flash, and it was every time I turned, a flash and the click of a camera went off.

 "I thought you always smiled in pictures?"

I froze and stood still, my head down. I turned off my flashlight so everything would be pitch black. Moriarty began to laugh, but it sounded like it was everywhere, and not in one spot.

"I only smile when I know they're going to be taken." I snapped as I tried to hear if Moriarty was near me. A tap on my shoulder made my breath hitch, and I felt like ice ran through my veins as I slowly turned and I could see the outline of someone standing, not even, a foot away from me.

"And now you know... Why aren't you smiling?"

Moriarty asked just as the flash went off, and I stumbled backwards, tripping over a fallen beam and landing hard on my elbows. I yelped in pain as I scrambled to get back, feeling blood start to form on the peeled skin.

"Oh. Maybe because you still haven't found Sherlock, huh? Welllll... Here he is." Moriarty sang as dim lights above me turned on, creating a path from me to a door that opened and Sherlock was shoved towards me, landing on his hands and knees.

I reached forward, ready to take a step, but I stopped when I saw the red dot on his forehead. Sherlock slowly looked up at me, and I felt my heart clench.

His left eye was swollen shut, bruises decorated his cheek bones, jaw, and around his eyes. Dried blood and sweat clung to his skin, as well as his hair, and the newer liquids slowly dripped from his face. He was dirty and his clothes wrinkled and ripped in certain areas.

"Now, will you smile? For me, Destiny? For me, Miss Maiden... Won't you just give me a big smile?" Moriarty asked from behind me and I glared at Jim from over my shoulder. "If you do, I'll let you go comfort Sherlock for thirty seconds."

I looked back at Sherlock and turned around, sighing and looking at Jim, giving the fakest smile I could muster. A camera went off behind Jim and he asked the photographer if he captured it. Once he got the answer he wanted, he nodded to me.

"Thirty seconds starting... Now!" Jim exclaimed and I turned quickly and ran to Sherlock, falling and skidding my knees right before him. I clung to Sherlock, holding him to me as I repeatedly asked if he was ok, haphazardly checking him to make sure there were no fatal wounds, and there wasn't. Only bruises and cuts not serious enough to go to the hospital for.

I picked up his face and made him look at me, and the corner of his lip turned up slightly. "Miss. Maiden, lovely to see you." He rasped and I chuckled, pushing his hair from his face.