Chapter Text
Darkness. Darkness and the bite of wintery night air on her bare arms, hands and feet were the first two things which Melody registered as she woke. The air seemed to be emanating solely from a circular hole above her and carried a smell, woody, earthy and damp.
Trying to sit up she knocked her head against something
“Ow, son of a -”
She froze for a moment before kicking her feet experimentally
"Ow!" she yelped when her bare feet hit…whatever she was inside and a terrible claustrophobic fear started to creep in and she noticed that there was something of a lingering aftertaste of something on her lips; something she couldn’t place.
Her breathing quickened as it hit her that she couldn’t sit up and was stuck lying flat on her back with her arms at her sides; in fact she could hardly move!
“Help, is anyone there? John? Sherlock, Mycroft? Anyone! Help!”
She started kicked her feet and legs with more determination, hoping to make more noise and attract some kind of attention but that was when she felt her left hand brushed against something and she found her fingers closed around something; a rectangular-ish object, smooth with buttons…could it be?! Her thumb inadvertently pressed one of the buttons and the screen glowed brightly… a phone!! A basic call and text one, with no touch screen but a phone nonetheless!
She breathed a sigh of relief; the dim glow of the screen at least meant she was no longer lying in total darkness. She moved her thumb over the buttons, craning her neck as she ensured she was typing the correct number; one of the only ones she knew off by heart.
The battery was barely half full, she would need to be quick! To her relief, the call connected, despite the buzz of static that irritated her ear. With some determined but uncomfortable manoeuvring and squirming, Melody was able to bring the phone to rest on her chest, where it slid down and landed by her head with a ‘thunk’
And she waited, hoping the other person would answer. She had to get out, she needed to get out!
Back in Sherrinford, Mycroft was sat partially slumped against the wall of Eurus’ old cell, still mildly disoriented from the tranquilizer that had been fired into his neck. Over all he decided it could be worse, she could have put him in the cell with the body of the dead Governor; his stomach turned at the memory of witnessing the man blow his own brains out just a few feet from him.
Three of D.I Lestrade’s officers had found him not long ago and were making preparations to get Mycroft back to the mainland.
Mycroft was suddenly altered to his phone ringing from his pocket
'Cause I know you love me, baby
I know you love me
as long as I'm your Hooker
(Government hooker)
I'll make you squeal, baby
As long as you pay me
As long as I'm your Hooker
Hooker (Yeah, Government Hooker)
He was unable to describe the looks he was being given by the lower ranking police officers hovering around, but a stern glare sent them scurrying with their heads bowed.
‘For god’s sake Melody, how many times-’
He was groggy, irritated thought regarding his wife’s hobby of assigning what she thought were amusing ringtones to her number in his caller I.D was cut short when his brain fully grasped the fact that said wife was calling him and he hurriedly pressed the button to receive the call
“Melody-” he breathed.
He couldn’t recall ever being so anxious to hear her voice.
The line was terrible, static fizzed in his ear but Melody’s voice came through panicked and frightened.
“Mycroft!”
Despite his alarm at the distress in her voice, Mycroft remained calm as he asked
“What’s the matter, where are you?”
There was no use asking if she was alright when, simply from her tone alone he could tell that she most certainly was not alright.
Meanwhile, in the tight, dark space she had found herself in, Melody shifted
“I don’t know, I’m trapped; it’s dark and I don't know where I am…”
Mycroft frowned
“Can you turn on the location on your phone?” he asked urgently.
Melody shook her head
“No, it’s just one of those old, basic Nokia call and text ones.” she told him, her voice high with anxiety but she tried to keep calm and to think rationally, like Mycroft would.
He then asked
“Can you move?”
Melody fidgeted again, testing her range of movement
“I can, but barely, maybe a couple of inches. God I don’t even remember what happened…”
But the more she tried to think the more her fuzzy memory began to clear
“Wait, I was out for a walk, there was a stinging pain in my neck, the next thing I knew I’m…I don’t even know; I have a headache to rival any hangover I’ve ever had.”
Mycroft nodded to himself
“Is there anything else?”
Melody groaned, blinking hard twice
“My head is pounding, I can hardly see properly” she grumbled before continuing; looking around at her ‘surroundings’ such as it was.
Mycroft had begun to pace the cell
“And you recall nothing after that point, you mentioned your vision is blurry. Are you dizzy? Nauseated?”
Melody replied.
“Yes”
Momentarily tucking the phone between his shoulder and his ear,Mycroft checked the pulse point in his wrist
“Right I thought as much. Low blood pressure, like myself; a common effect of being tranquillised. Mine is rising back to normal, yours should soon as well. From what you’ve described it’s likely you were shot with the same tranquilizer as myself, John and Sherlock.” he informed
Melody’s head was spinning, from both the barrage of information Mycroft had just thrown at her and the after effects of, apparently, being shot with a tranquilliser
As he came to a halt in his pacing, Mycroft quickly dissected what she had been able to tell him
“Alright, now tell me, what can you see?” he pressed.
Melody’s eyes darted around in the terrible light
“Nothing, just…Looks like wood,...oh God… I think…a box, I’m in a box”
Now she was panicking, the idea was disturbing beyond rational thought!
Meanwhile frowned as he absorbed what he was being told; he needed as much information as she could give if he was going to find and help her
“Melody, focus, stay with me, alright? You need to tell me, can you breathe, is it easy or difficult; is the air ventilated?” he questioned hastily in a manner not unlike his younger brother.
“Wait, I-I can feel fresh air; hold on” she requested.
With a bit of determined squirming she was able bend her arm at the elbow and put the tips of her fingers to the hole
“There’s a hole, it feels like there might be a pipe but I don’t know. I can’t get my hand through” she reported.
Mycroft exhaled sharply
“Alright, that-that’s good; it sounds like Eurus installed a simple pipe ventilation to allow fresh oxygen to filter in-”
"Eurus?” Melody cut in
“This is her, your sister is doing this, bloody hell if she’s done this to me what’s she been putting you and Sherlock and John through?” she questioned frantically; her fear for her own situation crashedi into concern for her husband, brother in law and friends
Mycroft simply avoided answering
“This isn’t- I’m alive and in one piece, that’s all that matters; Lestrade is with John and Sherlock and Eurus has been detained. Now, back to your predicament-” he stated
“Eurus has ensured that you at least have enough fresh oxygen to keep you alive for as long as it would take to find you” he told her.
To be honest, as the words left his mouth, Mycroft wasn’t sure whether to be horrified or relieved, and Melody, unfortunately, was coming to a shocking realisation.
The near total darkness, the scent of damp earth and wood suddenly triggered a distressing recollection of a similar scenario from long ago echoed in her mind; a hole, too deep for her small, 6 year old frame. Dirt falling on her; she couldn’t see her shoes under the dirt already covering them. Some of the dirt had gotten in her mouth and the smell rammed its way up her nose, so strong it was almost choking her. She looked up through tearful eyes at the smirking, dark haired teen looming over her shovelling the dirt, filling in the hole to bury her alive! Suddenly, hands pushed him away from the hole; their mother was screaming while their father reached in and pulled her to safety.
In the present, she was shaking uncontrollably and in the throes of a full blown panic attack
“Oh fuck! No, how did she know?!” she yelled.
Mycroft could hear his wife starting to sob on the other end of the line and clumsily got to his feet, using the wall of the cell for support
“Melody, you need to keep calm-”
Clutching his phone to his ear, Mycroft found himself in a rare moment of stunned silence; It wasn’t that he was doubting his wife, he could hear the certainty in her voice, the utter panic and terror that simply could not be falsified.
At that moment, his own phone pinged with a message.
Melody heard this from her end and asked shakily
“My, what was that?”
The elder Holmes replied briskly
“A text, I’m putting you on speaker while I read it, but I’m still here” he reassured.
Tears were rolling down Melody’s cheeks and into her hair as she nodded, even though her husband couldn’t see; feeling as though she were barely holding herself together.
Meanwhile Mycroft proceeded to open the aforementioned text, noting that it was from an unknown number but the words he had been sent made it clear exactly who had sent it
My soul seek the shade of my willow’s bloom
Inside, brother mine -
Let Death make a room
There was a larger file attached to the text, and upon pressing the icon, Mycroft found himself looking at a photo.
“Mycroft…”
From the other end of the phone Melody’s breathing hitched and hiccupped in her throat
“I’ve been buried alive!”