The Adventure Began at Holmes

Getting Caught Up

I'm here. This is it. One big giant, broken down building surrounded by foul-smelling plants that were half-dead, and a swamp full of revolting trash and probably more than a few dead fish. It was very secluded, off of a dirt road that I have never noticed before with nothing but woods surrounding it. Luckily I had brought my phone with me and had used the navigation to get here. I'm surprised the gadget even knew of the place.

I waste no time entering. It looks like an old prison, or a gigantic maze of cages, with a dirt floor. In a hurry to get to Sherlock and his companions, I must admit that I got a bit...distracted. I must have disregarded the direction in which I was going and got lost within the maze because of its complex design. The moment I realize this I stop running and try to think. Moriarty could be anywhere. I know how sneaky of a man he is and what kind of power he possesses, but this surely won't stop me from getting to them anyway I can. I look around, assessing my surroundings and the current situation. This is not a familiar place, and the horrible sense of hesitancy and doubt seemed to creep into my mind and turn my stomach into a knot.

"DAMMIT SADIE! Think!!!" There are only about ten paths I can take, and knowing Moriarty, there is bound to be something dangerous in each. Every barred tunnel looks the exact same, so I choose the path of my mother's favorite number: seven. Because why not add an emotional cliche into this situation, right?

The whole maze is made out of heavy metal bars. I carefully make my way down the path, noticing a few old security cameras in the far corners of the tunnel. Suddenly I accidentally trip a silent alarm. All of a sudden, secret doors in front of and behind me quickly close, blocking me into a cell. I start to panic, but then I think of how strong-willed I need to be and try to think fast. I observe that is a lock on both the doors, not automatic, but manual. So there's a key, and clearly, the only one who has it is Moriarty himself. There are no bombs or triggers on the locks so he must be giving me free rein and testing my intellect, giving me a chance to escape his world of locked rooms. But he must also be hesitant because he sees that I'm not an adult, but a teenager, and a girl at that. And in some way, that gives me an advantage. He has no idea who I am, which, for now, makes me one step ahead.

Moriarty loves puzzles, and I know that this is only the first of many. Getting out of a locked room without the key would take a good amount of skill. "Or does it?", I mutter to myself. I don't want to just escape, I need to save my uncle too, so I want to open the cage door in front of me. I try all the obvious things, pushing it, shaking it, just to make sure there were no tricks. Then I realize that one single thing I had done earlier that day could get me out of this situation. I had pulled my hair half up.

I smirk, knowing that I had completed "task one" of Moriarty's murder maze. I take the hairpin out of my hair and go to work picking the lock. "Well that was a good decision on my part..", I quip to myself. The door flies back upwards once the lock had been successfully picked. Suddenly, I hear a scream, followed by two gunshots and a laugh.