Driving. And a little more driving. We had been sitting in the car for what seemed like decades, and my palms were sweaty, knees weak and throat dry as I prepared myself to murder the man I was snuggled up with and the man driving the car.
"Are you alright, Johnny Baby?" Moriarty rubbed his manicured hand up and down my arm as he pulled me closer to my side.
"I'm fine, love." I twisted and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. He started slightly, almost blushing as he grinned. I had him wrapped around my finger for the moment. I felt used and disgusting. Like I was a piece of crumbled paper left on the side of the road.
"Hamish, drive us to a secluded area...maybe with woods and trails." Moriarty purred thoughtfully, glancing out the window as foliage breezed past us.
"Of course, sir." Hamish growled back. This would be perfect.
"Sounds wonderful, darling." I borrowed myself deeper into him. The rain was at least letting up, it wasn't as bad anymore. I felt Moriarty shiver, arms tighten around me and head lean against my own. The car started to slow before pulling onto a small dirt road which weaved between tall trees and stopping at an abandoned gravel parking lot. Trails disappeared into the woods, a few rickety and molding benches were placed here and there, overgrown with vine plants bending under the weight of water that dropped from the trees to fall on them. A doe looked up as the glare of headlights struck her and she galloped away. The sun was almost set by now.
"Here we are!" Hamish hopped out and opened the door on Moriarty's side.
"Looks wonderful. How far are we from Baker Street? I want to know if I have to worry about seeing Sherlock anywhere." I sneered his name, coming off even more hateful then I had intended. I infused my voice with every bit of murderous rage I had for Moriarty as I spoke.
"Only an hour or two of driving. You won't see him anywhere, baby." Moriarty pulled me flush against him and devoured my lips. I buried my fingers in his hair and stood on tiptoes to kiss back. Nausea rolled around in my stomach and I almost gagged when Moriarty finally released me. He smiled as he grabbed my hand and all three of us walked into the woods- Hamish trailing behind us. For a while, Moriarty regaled us with tales of all the horrid crimes he had done and just how he was going to kill Sherlock. I counted to 189 in my head before finally speaking up;
"Sorry, I need to use the restroom real quick- I'll be right back." I pulled my hand from Moriarty's and began to wade into the woods.
"There's no bathrooms..." Moriarty sounded almost confused.
"I know." I replied, "don't go anywhere!" I counted my steps, stopping once I reached 130, and looked back. I couldn't see Moriarty or Hamish which goes to reason that they couldn't see me. I squatted down low as I stripped from my clothes and shifted. I pulled out of my hoodie pocket my collar, the tag read;
"Ridgely
Property of Sherlock Holmes
221 B Baker Street"
Sherlock had been very insistent that I get the name tag in case something happened. I was secretly very great full as I clipped it around my neck. I knew I wouldn't be able to shift back unless I was completely alone and had some clothes. Hopefully someone would read the name tag and help me get back home. I quickly returned my thoughts to the task at hand.
"Come on, john, you can do this! If you don't kill them, then how will you ever truly escape?" I shook my fur, sniffing the air and latching onto Hamish's smokey scent. I growled, hackles raising as I began to slink back towards them.
"He does know the car will explode if he tries to Hotwire it, correct?" Moriarty's drawl seemed to float down to my perked ears.
"I had informed him when we were leaving Baker Street." Hamish's voice sounded even more deeper. He smelled of fear and jangling nerves. Moriarty smelled of impatience and blood. I licked my lips and approached the trail, staying hidden in the trees. Moriarty had sat himself down on an overturned log, Hamish standing beside him.
"Shouldn't he be back?" Moriarty looked up at Hamish, causing an increase in the man's fear.
"He can't escape." Was his only response. I shook out my paws and licked my chops.
"All you have to do is bite the jugular- you've killed men who were only fighting for their country like this, why is it harder to kill Moriarty the Napoleon of crime?" I whined softly and Moriarty's head spun rapidly to face me.
"Did you hear that?" He hissed.
"Here goes nothing..." I growled savagely as I lunged out of hiding. Moriarty screamed and Hamish jumped back. I clawed the ground a few times before beginning to run towards Moriarty.
"Hamish! Shoot the damn thing!" He pointed at me as he scrambled over the log. I lunged at him and he managed to dodge me by ducking. I growled and whirled about, grabbing his ankle and shaking my head. He screamed again, a scream so full of pain and fear as I sunk my teeth in even deeper that it only fueled my bloodlust. Hamish only stood there, as if too shocked to help.
"Hamish!" Moriarty reached out to grab me but I released his ankle and snapped onto his hand, feeling the bones grind and crunch beneath my jaws.
"I'm sorry...I'm free..." Hamish suddenly turned and fled back toward the car- Moriarty screaming after him as he tried to stand. I yanked him down again and scrabbled toward his face, claws digging into his stomach and chest. He held his arms across his face, trying to fend me off. One of his hands hung at an odd angle at the wrist, bleeding profusely.
"That's for all the bombs." I clamped onto his forearm and shook it, dragging my nails deeper into his flesh. Warm blood oozed out of the wounds and seeped into my fur. Moriarty's eyes were rolling back, his screaming reaching new octaves as he struggled beneath me.
"That's for kidnapping me." I snapped his arm in half and clawed his face. "And this, this one's for everyone you've ever hurt." I dragged my paws down to his neck, nicking the arteries. He began to choke on his own blood, movements slowing and becoming feeble. I shifted back to human and his eyes went wide. The starlight that was now present gave his eyes an odd glow and gleamed off of his blood, making it look almost black.
"Did you miss me?" I mocked as I locked my hands around his throat. I waited a good five minutes after his eyes had closed before finally releasing him. Blood covered my mouth, hands and feet. I couldn't taste the damn stuff. Moriarty's suit was ruined, stained with his life source. I tilted my head before shifting back to hound and tearing out his throat. Blood trickled weakly out, a few droplets spurting onto my snout. I shook my fur out and began to trot back to the road.
"There's no way in hell he can come back from that." I thought smugly. By the time I reached the gravel parking lot, the car was gone. I huffed, but began to run as I neared the asphalt of the highway. I howled a few times, feeling free for the first time in a long time. A few cars slowed as they neared me, head lights blaring and blinding, but quickly sped past as they saw the blood matter into my fur.
"Not like I need a ride anyway." I panted, tongue hanging out and jowls pulled back into a doggish smile. The rain had completely stopped and the moon shined down brightly. My claws scratched across the dirt covered highway. I still had to kill Hamish, somehow, but at least I was finally free. I continued running even as my paws began to bleed and my breaths began to feel inadequate. I had long since ceased howling or any other noises beside a persistent whimpering from the pain that flared with every bound I took. The blood had dried and was now clumping my fur together and itching against my skin. Something soft and almost rubbery like was stuck between my teeth and I refused to think about what it could possibly be. My throats was dry and my stomach growled excessively. It had been about two hours since I had hit the highway, hopefully I didn't have much longer to go. A car suddenly came up very sow behind me, stopping just ahead of me. The driver door opened and out stepped a robust women in warm winter clothing. I slowed to a trot and then stumbled and promptly fell over.
"Hey there buddy." She cooed as she crept closer. I growled half heartedly, hackles twitching but not raising.
"Look what you made me do...if you aren't gonna give me a ride then please go away." I grumbled thoughtfully. The women crouched down, just out of reach of my mouth.
"What are you covered in, sweety?" She held her hand out and I sniffed it, the dog instincts crowding forward. She smelled of peppermint and citrus. Of vanilla lotion and exhaustion. She also smelled kind, though I have no clue how to explain that scent. I thumped my tail tiredly against the asphalt a few times before sighing, unable to move.
"You don't want to know." I whined. I licked her hand to let her know it was okay if she stroked me. She ran her fingers down my fur until her nails scrapped against the leather of my collar.
"Now what have we here?" She murmured as she spun the collar so she could look at the tag. She promptly brought out her phone and turned on her flash light. She gasped slightly as the light struck the blood on my fur.
"Hopefully that isn't from you, did you find a raccoon or something, huh sweetheart?" She shone the light on my tag and read it silently. "Ridgely? Is that your name, sweety?" She cooed and then shifted so she could look at my paws.
"It's one of them." I rolled my eyes so that I could keep watching her.
"Oh, Ridgely! You must really wanna get home, don't you? Your poor paws, you little baby." She cooed and again held her hand out to me to sniff. "Okay, im gonna pick you up and put you in my car, is that all right? I'm heading down that way anyway, I heard Speedy's has great sandwiches." I licked her hand, hoping she got that it was all good to do so. My tail thumped gently, lazy and tiredly. She murmured to herself as she scooped me up and cradled me to her chest.
"Oof, you're a big puppy, now aren't you?" She groaned as she waddled over to the car. She used her foot to open the door and to lean the passenger seat all the way back.
"I'm gonna have to set you down for a minute, I want to cover the seat with a blanket, okay?" She gently laid me back on the highway while she rummaged in the back. After a few seconds of panting, she came back with a blanket, a bowl and a water bottle. She laid the blanket across the passenger seat and set the bowl beside my head, pouring water into it. I yipped happily before shifting so that I could drink as much as I could- lapping it all up. When I was done, she took the bowl and picked me up again, laying me out on top of the blanket.
"There you go! You really were thirsty, weren't you Ridgely? You drank all of it!" She smiled and shut the door before walking around to the drivers side. She grunted as she hopped in and I whined as I moved to look out the window. One of her hands was tangled in my fur, as if making sure I was okay. The other was controlling the steering wheel as she sped down the highway. I heard her chuckle softly and she let go for a second to roll down the window before grasping my fur again. I sighed in content and stuck my head out the window, enjoying the freezing breeze that raced through my fur.
"What are you doing so far from home and so bloody?" The woman muttered, reaching up to tuck her platinum blonde hair behind her ears. She yawned before turning on the radio, filling the windy silence with soft classical melodies. She tapped along on the steering wheel and I thumped my tail to the beat. My paws stung, making me whimper and whine. I could feel blood drying to the pads. The metallic taste of Moriarty was still in my mouth, that slimy rubbery thing still wedged between my teeth. I gagged a few times, making the woman look at me worriedly.
"Please don't throw up...I have a weak stomach when it comes to that." She pleaded.
"I'm trying not to!" I moaned and squinted my eyes.
"We should be at Baker Street in half an hour, Ridgely." She stroked my back as I stretched out. The trees were thinning out, houses starting to pop up as we wove deeper into the heart of London. I let the humming of the car and the whistling of the wind lull me into a daze as the moon raced along with her car and her hand scratched unconsciously at my back.
A.N: hey there mongooses!!! What do you think? Was the killing of Moriarty too much? Should Hamish had died with Moriarty? Sorry if this was a little long and over due!!! I'll update once I get a feel for what you guys thought of this chapter! Sorry about all the misspellings- writing on a phone here you adores autocorrect way too much!! Thanks for reading!
Alpha Mongoose