The Swan Queen | Sherlock

You Could Have Anything...

 My conversation with the stranger had rattled me. So much so that I had completely halted in my tracks. My plan was to keep moving, keep making friends, steal what I could, and stash things away. I wanted all the bases covered, just in case. And yet now, here I was, standing still, numb, staring up at the now pitch-black sky, gazing at the twinkling stars.

If I was being watched, which I knew I had to be, there was no other way I'd be allowed to wander around this freely unless they knew every move I was making, my entertainment value had certainly gone down. I was a statue, paralysed. It wasn't even from fear, no, no, it was confusion. I just couldn't figure out where he was going with this one. The room all decorated for a wedding? Sure, just part of the illusion. The words on the board? Till death do us part. A threat. But the guests? Other people knowing about it. That I couldn't work out. Was what she said true? Were they all here for a wedding? My wedding?

But why?

I didn't understand.

And I really, really hated not understanding.

One final deep breath later, I turned on my heel and headed back inside. I was getting tired, and restless. Had I done enough? Hopefully, but I hadn't managed to do all I planned to. It would have to be enough, because once I stepped foot inside my room again, I wasn't optimistic I'd get the chance to leave.

I walked slowly, yet with purpose. One foot in front of the other. I pushed the button for the lift and waited. The wait felt like a lifetime. I felt all eyes in the room were on me. They weren't, not really. The doors opened and no one got out. I stepped in and no one else did. The doors took forever to close, and the journey upward didn't last long enough. My floor was deserted. I walked slowly yet again. Fiddling in my pocket for the right keycard. I had several on me. My pockets were full of trinkets.

The third one I tried unlocked the door, but I didn't step in right away. Instead, I adjusted my dress, my bra, and the contents inside it. I shifted objects around in my pockets, I pulled out my last remaining cigarette and put it between my teeth, as I walked into the room I discarded the little cardboard box in the bin.

"You can't smoke in here," said a voice, one I had a suspicion would be waiting for me when I returned. You've become predictable, Sebastian.

"Good thing I don't have a lighter then," I replied, slumping across the arms of a chair. I dangled my legs over the edge, extending one in the air, then the other. "I don't suppose you smoke, do you?"

"No, and neither do you."

"Funny, you look like you would. Must be a high-stress job, yours, I definitely had you pinned as a smoker."
He approached slowly. A dull look on his face. He looked as bored as I was. Perhaps we were both growing tired of this game. It'll soon be over, my dear, Sebastian.

"Empty out your pockets, Sam," he said.

"Charming. Honey, I'm only just home." I obeyed, jumping up off the chair, cigarette still dangling from my mouth, unlit. I held out my arms jokingly, like I was ready to be frisked. I dug both hands in my pockets, one pulled out all but one keycard, and the other pulled out a phone.

"Keep going," he said.

I pulled out the other keycard.

His eyebrow raised, so I pulled out another phone.

He checked them both, sussing out straight away I hadn't attempted to make any contact using either of them.

He came closer to me, and put both his hands into the pockets of my jacket. He pulled out the other phone I had stashed, tutting.