A/N- Sorry! I have been super busy with Christmas holidays, schoolwork, revision and my portfolio for Uni... argh I'm just too busy! XD
This hasn't been edited, feel free to correct ;)
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Darcy's POV
In the rear view mirror of the jeep Sherlock kept glaring at me, after what I said before we got in the car. None of us had said a word since leaving Baskerville and all the palaver with Doctor Stapleton, Doctor Frankland and Major Barrymore.
Sherlock was driving us back to the village and I couldn't help but wonder where we were going now. To break the silence I leant forward and pulled on my seatbelt. "So, the missing luminous rabbit... taken from Kirsty."
"Kirsty Stapleton, whose mother specialises in genetic manipulation." Sherlock agreed and looked at me again through the rear view mirror, but not glaring this time.
John turned to us both. "She made her daughter's rabbit glow in the dark."
"I'm no scientist so... how the hell did she manage that?" I frowned at Sherlock and put a hand to my forehead.
Sherlock barely thought for a moment and answered quickly, "Probably a fluorescent gene removed and spliced into the specimen. Simple enough these days."
I nodded and smiled. "So we know that Stapleton performs secret genetic experiments on animals, poor things."
"Hm-hmm." Sherlock agreed. "The question is: has she been working on something deadlier than a rabbit?" I put my hands together and gestured forward as I leant back in my seat.
John shrugged. "To be fair, that is quite a wide field."
"That's true." I chuckled as Sherlock looked over at John in shock, as though just realising himself that John was right.
Sherlock turned us down a road that I was sure we hadn't gone down before although I could have been wrong. All the roads looked the same in this place.
"So, in the village...?" John asked and turned his head around slightly. I hummed in reply and looked out the window. "That boy? Who was that?"
I turned back to him with a glare. "Nobody."
"A friend?" John raised his eyebrows at me.
My glare intensified and I crossed my arms. "Sure. Now will you stop prying and focus on the case?" I retorted sternly.
"A friend that followed you all the way to Devon." John mused and I could sense to teasing tone in his voice. "I'm assuming he followed you since you don't know anyone in Devon."
I sat forward angrily. "I swear to god, John, if you don't shut up-"
"How about you both shut up?" Sherlock said sternly as we pulled into the drive of a large house and then stopped the car. "We're here."
John and I kept glaring at each other, as we unbuckled our seatbelts and got out of the car. Upon stepping onto the gravel drive my eyes widened at the sight of the humongous house that must have been about four storeys.
"Woah. Nice place, who's is it?" I commented and looked over at Sherlock as he went into the conservatory at the front of the house, that looked a little run down, and rung the door.
Straight after, someone opened the door and I smiled at who it was. "Hi." Henry Knight, our client, said somewhat brightly as he stood in the door.
"Hey." I greeted with a smile and a wave, almost in disbelief that this was his house.
Henry waved us inside. "Come in, come in."
Sherlock went in first and wiped his feet on the doormat before heading down the hallway. I followed after him, my eyes still wide as I took in the enormity of the house on the inside.
"Uh, Henry?" I called after our client.
John was behind me, walking even more slowly than I was. "This is, uh... Are you, um..." He asked and looked around as he seemed to search for the right words to use.
I stopped in the corridor and looked down the hallway at Henry. "Are you rich?"
"Yeah." Henry answered simply as if it didn't even bother him.
I shared a surprised look with John who nodded and stated, "Right." John blinked furiously and guided me to walk further down the corridor as Henry led on.
We entered a rather lavish appearing kitchen and I smiled. Not a patch on Irene Adler's but nice enough. Sherlock and John sat themselves at the breakfast bar counter and I situated myself by the wall behind them.
"Would you like a cup of tea?" Henry asked us all.
Sherlock and John accepted but I shook my head, no, for once. Henry looked somewhat disappointed and nodded as he put the kettle on to prepare the drinks.
I crossed my arms and leant against the wall, listening as the water boiled in the kettle. Henry's hand shook a little, shaking the teabags as he put them into the three mugs.
Nervous. Scared of Something- The Hound. Fist Clenching- Thinking. Troubled.
"Is there something bothering you Henry?" I asked lightly as he poured the drinks.
He shook his head and turned with hot mugs of tea in each hand, he passed one each to Sherlock and John.
Eye Twitch- Lying.
"Are you sure Henry?" I asked again and smiled as best as I could at him when he looked over in my direction.
Sherlock glanced back at me and I shrugged slightly when he frowned in confusion. He turned back to Henry with a small smile on his face and started to put some sugar in his tea, two lumps.
Henry turned back to us and instead of looking up at all he stared down at the work surface in front of him. "It's-it's a couple of words. It's what I keep seeing. Liberty..."
"Liberty." John repeated as he reached into his pocket for his notebook.
Henry looked up at John and then over at me as I nodded in understanding. "Liberty and..." He said again, "in. It's just that." I watched as he picked up the bottle of milk he'd put on the counter. "Are you finished?"
John hummed in reply and Henry turned to put the milk in the fridge. I looked at Sherlock's back. "Does that mean anything to you? Because I've got nothing."
"Liberty in death- isn't that the expression?" Sherlock spoke softly. "The only true freedom."
I chuckled and rolled my eyes. "How poetic."
"What now, then?" Henry asked us and looked hopefully between us. I hummed thoughtfully as Sherlock took a sip of his drink as I wasn't sure exactly what he had planned but I knew he had something.
John nodded in Sherlock's direction. "Sherlock's got a plan."
"Yes." Sherlock agreed and I smiled confidently, of course he had a plan.
Henry nodded and looked at Sherlock hopefully. "Right."
"We take you back out onto the moor..." Sherlock stated slowly.
I pushed away from the wall as Henry spoke nervously, "Okay..."
"...and see it anything attacks you." Sherlock continued.
I stepped closer to the counter. "Are you serious?" I gasped, looking between Sherlock and a nervous looking Henry.
"That should bring things to a head." Sherlock stated confidently.
I kept my eyes wide as I stared at him in disbelief. "You think so?" I commented sarcastically. What was he thinking? Henry was already traumatised enough as it was, he really didn't need to go out on the Moor again.
"At night?" Henry asked worriedly and glanced over at me. "You want me to go out there at night?" Sherlock simply hummed as an answer and I shook my head.
John looked in disbelief at Sherlock. "That's your plan?" He snorted a laugh and said sarcastically, "Brilliant!"
Sherlock looked around at the pair of us. "Either of you got a better idea?"
"Frankly no. But this is not a good idea, it's barely a plan." I retorted and hit my hand lightly on the counter.
John took a swig of his drink and stated, "I second that."
"Listen." Sherlock argued and looked between us all. "If there is a monster out there, you two, there's only one thing to do: find out where it lives."
I leant forward to lean my forearms on the counter. "Great. Traipsing around the woods at night in a dress looking for a monster that could have been made up by paranoid man. Just great." I mumbled to myself but obviously not too quiet as when I raised my head they were all staring at me.
Henry looked rather offended and I just smiled sheepishly as I realised the harshness of my words. "Sorry, it's been a long day." I apologised and stood up straight. "Breaking into secret facilities really takes it out of you."
John said nothing in reply and just took a loud slurp of his tea. Henry then looked even more worried as he frowned at Sherlock and then me. "Wait... you broke-? You three broke into Baskerville?"
"No, more like used a fake ID and wormed our way in, quietly." Sherlock explained and took a drink from his mug smugly.
I chuckled and raised my eyebrows at Henry. "Yeah, because blaring alarms and flashing red lights is quiet."
"We got out didn't we?" Sherlock countered and shrugged a little arguably.
"Yeah, with help." I muttered and John chortled as Sherlock glared at me from behind his mug. "Right, so... are we staying here 'till sundown or...?"
Henry smiled a little. "I don't mind... if you want to stay, I mean my Dad and me would always walk from here."
I looked over at Sherlock questioningly who finished up his drink and put his mug on the counter. "Thank you for the offer, Henry but we'll meet you back here just before dusk." I frowned as he marched towards the door.
"Dusk." I said under my breath, confused, and looked at John as he shook his head and followed after Sherlock. "See you later, Henry." I commented as we made our way to the door and Henry trailed along behind.
"Yeah, um, later." Henry spoke softly as he held the door open for us and waved as we left, then headed for the jeep. I turned and waved back at him, mainly because I felt a little bit bad about what I had said before.
Sherlock frowned at me as he stood by his car door. "You're oddly cheery."
I looked down at my attire and smirked over at him, then opened the back car door. "Well I can finally get out of this dress, can't I?"
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Jeans. The epitome of my generation. The more rips the better.
With an extremely pleased look on my face I trotted down the stairs of The Cross Keys Inn after changing out of my dress and now wearing all black. I wanted to blend in with the forest tonight apparently.
When I made it to the ground floor I couldn't see Sherlock and John anywhere. I put my hands into the deep pockets of my coat and frowned, they said they'd meet me here. I rolled my eyes and went over to the bar instead.
"Hi there, can I help you?" Gary, one of the owners, asked as he appeared at the other side of the bar.
I smiled politely. "You don't happen to know where the two men I came here with have gone, do you? They said they'd meet me here but... I don't see them."
Gary seemed to think about it. "One of them was the tall guy with the curly hair?" I nodded and he shook his head. "No, haven't seen them recently. Sorry."
"No worries, thank you Gary." I tapped on the bar and he looked rather happy at the fact that I had remembered his name. With a last smile I left him there and wandered into the lounge style area of the Inn.
With a sigh I sat down in the red armchair that Scott had been sat in earlier today. While I waited I started to wonder what he was doing to occupy his time. I had no idea why he wanted to stay here.
Devon was no doubt too quiet, boring and dull for him. I kept expecting to get a text saying that he'd gone back to London but I hadn't gotten one.
To be honest, nobody had text me for a while which was great. No Moriarty trying to get me to take his side in all of this. It was nice to be away from all of it. Not so much London itself but all the drama that came with it.
Devon was separate, uninvolved, secluded.
"It's incredible." A familiar voice spoke and I focused back into where I actually was to see Scott sat across from me, smiling.
I frowned at him and steepled my fingers under my chin with my elbows resting on the arms of the chair. "What is?"
"Watching you think." He answered and quirked a slight smile. "This case must be a tricky one."
I smirked at him. "Who says I was thinking about the case?"
"I just assumed." Scott shrugged and leant back into his chair, propping his head up on his hand confidently. "How is the case going, anyway? Have you seen this supposed Hound yet? Or is it just made up?"
I sat forward in my seat and lowered my hands to rest on my lap. "Well, so far we're not sure if it's anything to do with Baskerville-"
"The huge lab place down the road?" He interrupted me.
I glared at him and he smiled apologetically, so I continued, "Or if it's really some kind of mythical monster at Dewer's Hollow. Or if Henry's seven year old mind created the Hound to account for his Father's horrible murder."
"Sounds like there are a lot of paths to cover." Scott stated and raised his eyebrows.
I leant forward so I was closer to him. "No. We don't need your help. Stay out of it."
"I think Sherlock Holmes would be delighted to have the assistance." Scott argued and leant closer as well.
"Working with the son of a man he convicted of fraud and embezzlement, I'm sure he'd be overjoyed." I said sarcastically and stood, pulling coat closer around me.
Scott stood as well and smirked down at me. "We just got off on the wrong foot. I guess I need to make a good impression, that's all." He winked at me and fastened his suit jacket.
"And you think prying in a case where you're not wanted is the best way to do that?" I crossed my arms as he tried to come up with an answer. "Besides, you don't have to make a good impression on him. We're not a thing."
Scott put a hand over his heart and feigned a pained expression. "Ouch, that hurt." As I rolled my eyes he smiled cheekily. "We are friends though, right?"
"Sure we are." I said with a smile and fastened up my coat.
"Darcy." John's voice echoed throughout the room and I glanced over to see him stood in the doorway of the inn. "Time to go."
I smirked over at Scott who still had a smile planted on his face. "Gotta go, we're going Hound hunting." He merely nodded and sat back in his chair, I put my hands in my coat pockets and walked towards John who clenched his fists awkwardly.
"Is that your, um, friend?" He asked as I walked by him to leave the inn.
I huffed and picked up my pace a little. "Shut up, John." I heard him chuckle as he followed after me, towards the jeep where Sherlock was waiting.
"You're going to need this." Sherlock stated as John and I approached the jeep, he handed me a large torch.
As the Sun lowered in the sky I knew he was right, I had no idea what we were about to come up against. Whether it would be dangerous or just anti-climatic.
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"It's so cold." I muttered as my teeth chattered and I shined my torch in the direction the four of us were walking in the dark.
We had met Henry outside his house and immediately made tracks over the Moors with Henry leading the way. John was at the back, Sherlock made sure I was between him and Henry.
My torch was pointed firmly at the floor so I could see where I was treading, making sure I didn't fall over, and the only thing I found myself wishing was that I had layered up a bit more to keep warm.
"It's night and we're in the middle of nowhere, what d'you expect?" John retorted and I turned around, shining my torchlight in his face on purpose.
To which he flinched and covered his eyes. I smirked triumphantly and turned back to face forwards as we got closer to a woodland area. The random shrieks from the variety of creatures in the forest seemed to echo through the empty space around the wood.
I made sure I kept close behind Henry as he led us down a pathway and into the trees. Sherlock was right behind me and I kept moving my torchlight into the darkened woodland off the path just to make sure.
"I'm not s-surprised p-people are s-scared of this place." I spoke as I shivered violently. "In the d-dark it's p-pretty spooky."
From slightly behind me I heard Sherlock huff and no doubt roll his eyes. Of course he wasn't scared, he never felt anything but normal people like Henry and John would more than likely think this place was scary.
"We met a friend of yours." Sherlock stated and I took to examining the woodland with my torchlight as he spoke to Henry.
Henry turned a little and frowned. "What?"
"Doctor Frankland." I answered distractedly before Sherlock could and I heard him tut under his breath.
"Oh, right." Henry nodded. "Bob, yeah."
Sherlock stepped closer to Henry. "Seems pretty concerned about you." He told him.
"He's a worrier, bless him." Henry responded as we walked further into the woodland and I somehow didn't really see Doctor Frankland as much of a worrier. "He's been very kind to me since I came back."
I shone my torch at the back of Henry's head and asked, "He knew your father, didn't he?"
"Yeah." Henry confirmed and I nodded, turning my torchlight back to the trees.
"But he works at Baskerville." Sherlock stated contradicting him. "Didn't your Dad have a problem with that?"
Henry just shrugged. "Well, mates are mates, aren't they? I mean, look at you and John."
I snickered a laugh as Sherlock looked between Henry and myself. "What about us?"
Henry glanced over his shoulder at me and I looked away, not wanting to open that can of worms. "Well..." Henry explained himself, "...I mean, he's a pretty straightforward bloke, Darcy is you know... and you Sherlock..."
I raised my eyebrows as he fumbled over his words and then makes the right decision, "They agreed never to talk about work, Uncle Bob and my Dad." He answered Sherlock's first question.
Henry stopped walking and I almost walked into the back of him. "What is it?" I asked quietly and looked up at him, confused.
Sherlock was stood beside me just staring at Henry who nodded ahead of where he was looking and answered me, albeit sounding unhappy to be here, "Dewer's Hollow."
I turned my head quickly to the left and nodded slowly, a steep drop in the land that was covered in leaves was a misty valley that against my better judgement caused a shiver to go up my spine.
Sherlock noticed that neither Henry nor I were going to venture into the Hollow first and so took the first step towards the mist. I glanced over my shoulder at Henry and tilted my head in the direction of the valley.
Henry put his hand out, signalling for me to go first, I rolled my eyes and followed after Sherlock into the mist. I had to clamber past a fallen tree trunk and then stumbled once I reached firm ground, Sherlock put a hand out to steady me but I shook my head.
I shone my torch around the area, nothing seemed out of sorts. Except when I spotted some paw prints on the floor and I crouched down to get a closer look. "Sherlock..." I said breathlessly as I started to get a little scared at the evidence before my own eyes.
A howling filled the expanse of woodland and I stood up quickly, frantically shining my torchlight into the trees at the top of the Hollow. Another howl soon followed the first and I took a couple of shaky steps backwards as I saw something in the trees.
Coal black fur but I couldn't be sure. I couldn't quite make it out in the darkness. Whatever it was up there it growled menacingly and I shone my torch in the direction of the sound but by the time I had it had gone.
It was there, I heard it. I put a hand over my mouth as I tried to comprehend what I had just seen and heard. Monsters like that, terrifying monsters like Henry had described didn't exist. Or did they?
I looked over as Henry hurried into the Hollow from the top and he just kept saying over and over, "Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god."
He rushed over to us and then asked, terrified, "Did you see it?"
See what? I don't know what we saw but it was pretty scary whatever it was.
Sherlock said nothing and just lowered his head, I watched as he blinked furiously and I knew he was trying to understand it as well. I flinched as Sherlock shoved Henry out of the way and rushed to get out of the Hollow.
I didn't think twice about Henry and just followed after Sherlock, wanting to get as far away from that place as possible. "Sherlock... Sherlock, what-what just happened?" I asked him worriedly but he didn't answer and just kept marching ahead, out of the forest.
"Did you hear that?" John asked as he joined up with us again and stood in our path, I hadn't even noticed that he'd been gone.
Sherlock barged past him and John frowned at me as he followed him. I shook my head, no wanting to recount what had just happened.
"We saw it. We saw it." Henry insisted as he practically jogged to keep up with us.
I also tried my hardest to keep up with Sherlock to get out of the woodland as quickly as I could and also away from Henry who I knew would knag me about whether I'd seen the Hound or not.
"No." Sherlock stated firmly. "I didn't see anything."
I jogged to walk by his side. "Me neither."
"What? What are you talking about?" Henry asked frantically as he chased after us both towards the edge of the forest.
I turned my head to look over my shoulder as we continued to walk. "I couldn't see it. I-I didn't see anything."
"I didn't. See. Anything." Sherlock stressed in agreement to what I had previously said. He managed to then pick up the pace somewhat and start to march across the Moor.
Henry and John fell behind a little as I scrambled to follow after Sherlock whilst trying not to fall over. "Sherlock... That-That didn't happen. We didn't-We didn't see anything, right?"
Sherlock didn't answer, just looked straight ahead as he walked purposefully away. But I still wasn't sure it had all felt so real, like there really was a Hound there with us and yet it can't have been.
Gigantic Hounds didn't exist, did they?
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Thoughts? Again I apologise for how long this took to upload... I'm bogged down heavily with revision as my A Level exams are coming up, which I am totally prepared for... yep definitely XD
SERIES 4? HOW GOOD IS IT?!? Loving it so far! Can't believe they did that in Episode 1... just unbelievable :'(
Pleaaasssee vote and comment patient peoples ;)
-HBH xxxx
Disclaimer- I don't own any of the characters, except Darcy and Scott, or any lines from the show. Those rights belong to the BBC and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.