Posted by Bowen Cates on 3/31/2008, 12:17 pm, in reply to "Chapter 19 part two"
24.207.121.197
Chapter 20: In Which Theodore Unfortunately Misses a Detail of Great Importance
Theodore held his breath as a pale bluish hand slipped around into his view and began to feel for weapons.
He didn’t dare turn his head to catch a glimpse of the person to whom the hand belonged.
Not that he needed to, even though he had never seen the man’s face, there was no doubt in his mind as to who he was, and now that Theodore had seen his hand, well, it did not take much to imagine what the rest of him must look like.
‘’old steel’ the voice said again, as he worked his way around behind Theodore, still holding him at gun point, Theodore could feel the goons’ hot breath on the back of his neck and had an almost desperate urge to wash himself from head to toe.
The unseen figure felt his way around the little group, Theodore could hear Greg breathing heavily a couple of feet away from him, and he could just see Deidre out of the corner of his eye.
She had a strange expression on her face, something like…well, to tell the truth Theodore wasn’t sure what it was, and he was far to absorbed in his present circumstances to give it much thought.
“What ‘ave you done with Holmes Fenwick.” She suddenly demanded, Theodore could see the muscles in her arms tighten as if readying to punch their abductor if she didn’t like the answer.
“You weel find out soon enough my leetle sweetie” he cackled, still just out of Theodore’s view “you weel be joining heem very shortly, now march!”
There was nothing anyone could do as they were lead at gunpoint to the end of the hall and into the Laboratory of Sir Evan Hargreaves.
Even in their current situation, Theodore had to admit to himself that it was like nothing he had ever seen before.
Every surface gleamed; computers dominated not only the walls but the floor as well.
And in the very center of the room, towering over everything else, was a huge, greenish tank linked to the ceiling by an enormous cylindrically protruding metal attachment which in turn had it’s own barrage of wires and pipes equally imposing and equally monstrous in size connecting separately to the same green cocoon of this mysteriously reinforced transparent material.
Fenwick cackled again as they passed it, as if it had some delightfully sinister meaning for him.
It was then that Theodore saw something huddled in the bottom of it, seeing that he had noticed it, Fenwick pushed the group past the tank before Theodore had time to get a good enough look. However, Deidre had been a bit faster, and a telltale gasp from her direction was enough to alert Theodore to the dire consequences of what was about to occur.
He wanted more then anything to ask her what it was that she had seen, but the looming presence of their fowl-smelling conveyer made that impossible.
Turning his head as much as he dared, Theodore could see Greg on the other side of Fenwick, breathing deep steady breaths, one could tell from the look on his face, that he too had seen the occupant of the tank.
The three were forced around the side of the lab and through a stiff clear door with white framing, that Theodore knew better then to assume was glass or even plastic, no doubt it was made of the same substance as the ill-omened fixture that they had just passed.
They then entered what seemed to be an isolated tunnel of some sort, a hallway on the far side of the lab that allowed for observation behind adequate protection in case of an unpredictability violent experiment. It was as highly polished as it’s surroundings and served only to make the tired and frightened group seem more and more out of place.
At the end of this was another door. However, what made this one unique, what made it horrific beyond description, was not the door it’s self, but the man standing in front of it.
Although Theodore had never seen him properly before, there was an aura about his lined goateed face and white streaked hair that expelled evil, repulsion, made you want to run as fast and as far away from his as you could.
There was only one individual that Theodore knew of, who inspired such a reaction.
In the many library books that Theodore had read, there had only been the Sidney Paget illustration of what the figure was supposed to look like, old, shrunken with curved shoulders and bowed back.
But it was not the picture that was going through Theodore’s mind, for it was nothing like the man in front of him, he was tall, strait backed and stood with pride and balance.
It was the worded description…although this model was younger, stronger, and lacked almost all physical resemblance to his stereotyped image, it had to be the same man.
The face…the evil countenance.
There was no getting around it.
Those eyes stared right through Theodore with all the self implied delight of a snake about to devour it’s prey, whole.
And it’s mouth was sneering, a deep evil sneer.
“Ah, so glad you three could join us” it smiled evilly. “I have been waiting a long time to meet you, Master Trent.”
Theodore winced, he hated being called ‘Master’ and what’s more, he hated that voice, there was no mistaking it, it was identical to the one that he had heard under the tree talking to Fenwick.
Theodore looked his opponent strait in the eye, Fenwick’s breathing had quickened and Theodore could once again feel it on the back of his neck.
“What do you want Moriarty? No enough blood on your hands yet?”
Greg gasped and Deidre smiled proudly, a new respect for Theodore welling up inside her. Theodore himself felt as though he was about to throw up.
Every instinct in his entire body was screaming at him to shut up and do what they told him.
The only thing that stood in the way of his obedience to their demands was the thought that this man had Holmes, Watson and all his other friends captive.
That this man, who represented the very worst aspects of the human ability to be completely selfish, had within his power the full capability and inclination of a true and heartless killer.
Theodore was not, under any circumstances going to allow Moriarty the satisfaction of seeing fear in his eyes, Holmes would not allow it, Watson would not allow it, and so he too must be as strong.
It was as if his whole universe had suddenly clicked into place.
Moriarty’s sneer widened and he spoke again “I assure you, I have no intention of shedding even the smallest amount of blood in this endeavor, Master Trent, unless you force my hand of course, the same goes for you miss Deidre, and you Mr. Bamfield.”
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