Born Mad

Chapter Ten: My Own Personal Nightmare

Why was everything so dark? Wait a minute... I should know the answer to this question. Something about hell? Dang it! Why couldn't I remember?

I sat up with a daze, finding myself surrounded in darkness to the point where I could hardly even see my hand in front of my face. I got to my feet, looking down at my arm in confusion. I knew somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind that it was supposed to be broken, but it wasn't. What the heck was going on?

Something flashed in my mind- maybe a memory- but I fell to my knees at this, and when I tried to remember what I had seen, my mind protested the action and nearly shut down.

I bit my lip to keep from screaming as my head felt ready to implode. I staggered to my feet again, eyes darting for any sign of life.

What the bloody heck was going on? I hated not knowing, and I was surrounded by the unknown.

I was just about to sit down again upon feeling the pounding in my head grow in strength when I heard a voice. It was soft and gentle, but it only made the pain worse, and I was forced to my hands and knees, clutching at my head in agony while I struggled to get to my feet again.

"Aurora? Aurora, wake up."

I tried to shut out the voice, simply sick and tired of everything trying to hurt or kill me. I heard another voice speak up, but it wasn't talking to me.

"John, she doesn't seem to wish it."

John? I knew that name.

...Didn't I?

"But she has to, Sherlock!"

Sherlock? I knew that one too! Oh, never mind. It's gone again.

"John" spoke up again, and he seemed to be begging. "Aurora, come on. Open your eyes. Nothing can hurt you. I promise."

That got my attention. No more pain? Well, that sounded promising. One problem though. My eyes were already open. How the heck was I supposed to wake up?

"Oh, thank God. Come on, Aurora. It's just a little bit more."

Was I actually waking up? Why was everything still so dark then?

"Aurora, focus on my voice. It's Doctor John Watson. Remember me?"

The name finally registered in my mind, and I had a face to place it with. I felt different at that, like half my body was active and ready to work while the other half was numb to the core.

"Fascinating. She seems to respond well to the memories. Aurora, do you remember me? Sherlock Holmes?"

It was like a dam had broken, and my mind felt like it was on overdrive as I fell forward, straight out of my mind and into another world.

I woke entrapped in two pairs of arms and panting heavily, just trying to catch my breath. Everything came back to me. I remembered what had happened, the people, Veneel, and that blasted poison. I wanted to tell Holmes and Watson what happened, but they seemed to already know.

"The- The vial-" I stammered, trying to make my voice work as I leaned into the owner of one pair of arms for support. "Shows greatest fear-"

"We know, Aurora."

I looked up at the voice, finding myself practically curled up in the consulting detective's arms. I choked out an apology and started to move away, but he didn't say anything to protest.

"Your greatest fear is the unknown... Isn't it?" he asked in a thoughtful tone as he stared out the window opposite him. "When you were injected, I could hear your screams even from the other side of the island. You had us, well John, worried."

"Is Doc alright...?"

"I'm fine, Aurora," piped up a familiar voice behind me. "I was just getting into an argument with Lestrade. He said I couldn't stay, and, well, we may have gotten into a bit of a row, and I also may have accidentally given him a black eye. No matter."

I smiled a bit, absentmindedly picking at the sling around my left arm. "Details... Details."

"How are you feeling, Aurora?" Watson murmured, stroking my hair once or twice. "You were really out of it. You didn't want to wake up."

I yawned, nuzzling the detective's coat as I leaned into him tiredly. "Well, it hurt..."

"Oh, I know it did," Watson murmured sympathetically, pressing a rather unexpected kiss to the back of my head before pulling away. "Now come on. Any nausea?"

I shook my head, trying not to completely drift off. "Just tired. What'd you find out, Snappy-Pants?"

Holmes smirked dryly at the name but never protested it, although his expression quickly hardened into that stone facade for which he was known. "I suppose 'nothing' would be the proper answer. I have yet to find the entrance to this passage we seek."

"Where've you looked?"

I was dozing off now, and I was barely aware that I was being tucked beneath the covers of the bed as my eyes unconsciously closed despite my struggles to stay awake.

"The headmaster's office and kitchen. Now rest, Aurora. You've had quite the traumatic experience."

I nodded numbly, curling up underneath all the blankets piled on top of me. My voice was wrought with exhaustion and hardly sounded like my own while I mumbled, "S'just me or does my luck only get worse?"

"Your luck will improve when all of this is over. I promise," Watson guaranteed, patting my shoulder gently. "Now go on and get some sleep. I'm not leaving your side."

"Nor am I," added Holmes, but he was still lost in thought as I finally drifted.