Sherlock - The Game Is On!

The Abominable Bride- Nine

Chapter Nine

Third POV

"Mrs Ricoletti, I believe." He and Watson stop outside the front porch, a few yards away from the ghostly image. The Bride lowers her hand. Still floating above the ground in front of a nearby doorway, her other hand has its fingers splayed threateningly. "Pleasant night for the time of year, is it not?" Watson seizes Holmes's arm as if to hold him back. "It cannot be true, Holmes. It cannot!" The Bride floats backwards towards the door, holding out her hands towards the men as if in invitation. "No, it can't."

The Bride begins to fade from view. At the same moment, Michelle screams inside the house soon followed by a man. Holmes and Watson turn their heads towards the sound. Somewhere, a large pane of glass can be heard smashing. Holmes and then Watson turn back towards the other doorway but the Bride has vanished. Holmes runs to the front door and tries to open it. "Is it locked?"

"As per instructions."

"That was a window breaking, wasn't it?"

"There's only one broken window we need concern ourselves with." They run to the nearest window beside the front door and Holmes jabs his elbow through the glass, then breaks out the rest of the glass with his gloved hand. He and then Watson climb inside, and Holmes strikes a match to light a lantern. "Stay in here, Watson."

"What? No!"

"All the doors and windows to the house are locked. This is their only way out. I need you here." Picking up the lantern, he hurries away. "But the sound was so close, it had to be from this side of the house."

"Stay here!" Holmes demanded whilst running further into the house. Watson looks anxiously at the window behind him. Holmes runs for the stairs just as another woman cries out in horror upstairs. As she continues to shriek, he reaches the landing and looks around, shining the light from his lantern around the nearby carpet. Two maids run up another set of stairs towards him, and Holmes heads off along the landing. Turning a corner, he finds Lady Carmichael standing there in her night dress. On the carpet in front of her is a pool of blood. Holmes looks up at Lady Carmichael as her maids hurry towards her. She stares savagely at him. "You promised to keep him safe. You promised!"

Holmes stares wide eyed at her as she begins to sob. He turns away. "You promised!" Her voice echoes. Holmes makes his way along the landing, following a trail of fresh drops of blood.

Downstairs, in the entrance hall on the other side of a narrow corridor leading to Watson's position, the floor creaks. He takes out his revolver, holds it up with the barrel pointing towards the ceiling, and cocks it. In the hall, the floor creaks again. Lowering his gun to his side, Watson slowly walks forward across the broken glass on the floor and enters the corridor. He stops. "You're human, I know that. You must be."

He puts his revolver onto a table beside him, on which is a candle and a box of matches. He picks up the latter. "Little use, us standing here in the dark." He strikes a match and picks up the candle to light it. "After all, this is the nineteenth century."

On the floors above, Holmes runs up another flight of stairs and into the eaves of the house. He shines his lantern to the left and then to the right, and immediately sees a man lying on the floor on his side. There is something sticking out of the man's chest. Holmes walks forward and bends down to the man, his face full of dread. He gently rolls him onto his back and reveals Sir Eustace. A large ornately handled dagger is in his chest, and Eustace's eyes are fixed and horrified. Behind him, a woman screams as she catches sight of the body.

Downstairs, a breeze blows out the candle which Watson is holding. His eyes widen and he breathes heavily. He looks down to strike another match and he re-lights the candle, blows out the match and then picks up his revolver again and turns towards the hall. As he peers into the darkness, he is unaware that behind him stands the Bride. She slowly drifts towards him. "Do not forget me." The Bride whispers harshly. Watson's eyes widen. The Bride comes to a halt just a pace or two behind him. "Do not forget me."