Entry 35

I shifted in place, watching others as they danced about in the main hall.

The light that shone down from the chandelier bounced off the crystals hanging from its bronze branches. I never would have thought I would find myself in a setting such as this. Being a girl from the Scottish countryside, who always had her nose stuck in medical books or newspapers, a girl who wanted nothing but to support her father, I felt as though I stuck out like a sore thumb. I wasn't sure what to do with myself.

A shadow fell over me, and when I looked up, I saw Shirleigh standing before me, holding a hand out in my direction. I gave her a confused look.

"Would you care to dance?" She planted her other hand on her hip, shifting her weight to one of her legs.

I looked upon the crowd of people who whirled dizzyingly across the marble floors before turning my attention to my companion's hand. Her slender fingers slightly curled as she waited.

"Are you alright?"

I nodded, bringing one of my hands up to hers. Her fingers gently wrapped around my hand. I remained still and silent, unaware of what to do. It wasn't that I didn't know how to dance; I used to do so all the time in the fields of my homeland. Before I received my prosthetic and came to London, that is.

I was just becoming used to walking normally again without the use of my walking stick; I couldn't fathom the idea of dancing.

As I was in deep thought, Shirleigh took my other hand and placed it on her shoulder, which prompted me to look up at her. Her eyes were reassuring, and I suddenly grew a bit flustered under her gaze. She always appeared taller when I stood directly in front of her.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" She asked, and I promise she sounded somewhat upset.

I quickly shook my head, some strands of my hair falling in front of my face. I brushed them out of my eyes and placed my hand back on her shoulder.

Shirleigh took her free hand and gently pulled me closer. Being so close to her made my face warm. I'm not sure why I had suddenly grown so discomfited. There have been times when I have been physically close to her; I am unsure of why this time was any different. Perhaps it was always during a time of shock or fright that made it different. This time around, we were celebrating, surrounded by others doing the same. It was a joyous occasion.

Shirleigh led me in a dance, and while I was hesitant at first, I followed her steps, and we eventually found ourselves lost in the music.

We had spun around and twirled about the hall for some time, and all of my worries had vanished, if only for a fleeting moment.

As the current song came to an end, Shirleigh slightly lowered me toward the floor in a pencher, which admittedly caught me off guard. I grabbed the arm that she had wrapped around my back to hold me up, scared that I might lose my balance. Her other hand held my head, and I felt how she slightly ran her fingers through my hair, reassuring me that I was going to be okay.

I looked up and our eyes met. She gazed at me with the dreamiest look in her eyes...or perhaps I imagined it. I took in the beauty of her features; sharp yet soft all the same. The eyeshadow on her eyelids glittered underneath the light, and I wasn't sure if it was makeup or naturally occurring, but the blush on her cheekbones gave her a lovely warmth that was contrary to her usual appearance. That wasn't to say that her standard coldness was any less beautiful.

It was then that I was suddenly overcome with such an unusual and irresistible urge to want to press my lips against her own. Never, on any other occasion, would I have even entertained the thought, for I knew how she felt about such things. Looking back now, I clearly was not in my right mind, as it conjured up thoughts that would be better left unwritten.

I reached up and tucked the section of Shirleigh's hair that hung in front of her face behind her ear, the gold teardrop on her lobe swaying from my action. I rested my hand on the back of her neck and gently pulled myself upward, simultaneously pulling her downward. The faint scent of the champagne she had finished just moments before mingled with her bergamot-scented perfume, intoxicating me.

Not once did she move or question my actions. She simply gazed at me with those accursed dreamy eyes.

We were so close to each other that I could see the reflection of her long eyelashes in the irises of her eyes. My gaze fell to my partner's thin lips that were decorated with a shade of gloss that resembled pink grapefruit, and my face burned.

I wanted to—

"Watson..."

The low voice of my partner shook me from my thoughts. Realising how our proximity to one another had affected my rationality, I promptly drew away. In my peripheral, I believed I had seen her arm reach out toward me, but she withdrew it when I tightly clutched my elbows. My face had grown uncomfortably hot when I recalled the thoughts that ran through my head just minutes prior.

Tears had pricked the corners of my eyes.

The last thing I wanted was to ruin what I called our friendship. Why would I think such terrible things...?

I was getting ready to run off when suddenly someone grabbed my arm. When I looked up, Shirleigh stood before me, her grip tightened around my wrist. Her head was slightly lowered, but she looked up at me, and I could see her chest rise and fall rhythmically as she breathed.

"It's okay," she told me. "It's alright. Really."

I stared at my partner and gulped so hard, I feared everyone could hear it. That drumming noise in my head growing stronger with each fleeting moment.

And then she did it.

Shirleigh smiled.

Shirleigh smiled at me, and it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. My legs nearly gave out beneath me.

I felt another tear fall, and she walked up to me. She reached out to wipe it away, but I pressed my lips together and turned my head away, shaking it to dismiss her action.

I removed my arm from her grasp, feeling her fingers slip away. I feared that if we got close again, I would do something I may truly regret.

I sniffed and wiped my eyes with my gloved hands and left the hall alone.

🙤♔🙦

"Hey, is everything alright?"

A voice called out as I sat on the steps to the museum. I turned around and saw Miriam standing in the doorway. The light from inside emanated outdoors, and the dusting of snow on the stairs sparkled.

"Oh, yeah," I wiped my eyes. "I just, um, needed to be alone for a bit..."

I turned back to face the large grassy area that sprawled across the land in front of the museum. A large skyscraper lived up to its name in the distance, reaching toward the heavens. I mindlessly stared up at it.

The sound of heels approaching caught my attention, and Miriam sat beside me. She stretched her legs before her and tapped her toes together. A lovely aroma of fruit and flowers wafted from her direction.

"You look rather upset," she said aloud. "Did something happen?"

I initially didn't want to mention what had been on my mind. It was so blasphemous that not even I wanted to think back on it, but the thoughts continued to plague me no matter how hard I tried to banish them.

"I..." I tried searching for a way to tiptoe around the issue. "I almost did something...that could have damaged a relationship that I cherish..."

"Something happened with Shirleigh, huh?"

I flinched. Even without saying my partner's name, her sister knew exactly who I was referring to. I honestly shouldn't have expected anything less from someone with so great a brain.

I reluctantly nodded.

"Hmm..." Miriam began drawing in the snow with her finger. "Well, you said you 'almost did something', so I imagine that nothing really happened between the two of you, right? I trust everything will be okay."

I pressed my lips together and scraped one of my heels in the snow, revealing some of the grass underneath.

"What could you have done to ruin your relationship with her?"

I lowered my head, my face growing warm. It was silent for a fleeting moment, and I could feel Miriam gazing upon me. I wanted to turn away; I was certain that if she stared at me long enough, she would be able to read my thoughts, but I felt that avoiding her eyes would draw even more attention to myself, so I simply remained still.

"Oh, is that what it is?" Miriam's voice rang out like a sweet melody on the wind. "Well, if there's one person I know better than myself, it's Shirleigh. And from what I know, I'd say that she would definitely understand. Especially coming from you."

She leaned into me, her shoulder bumping mine, and I gave a small smile.

"You should be in there," I said, motioning toward the doors behind us. "You should be celebrating your achievements."

She hummed. It reminded me of how Shirleigh hummed. "It may not seem like it, but I have never been one to be the centre of attention. All of those eyes on me actually makes my skin crawl." She shivered, but I think it was at the thought of everyone's eyes on her rather than the gust of wind that came through. "I thought I would take a breather, and that's when I found you out here."

I nodded silently.

Miriam leaned back on her hands and looked up at the sky. A blanket of grey clouds hung over us. I could barely see the glow of the moon from behind them.

"It looks like it might snow again soon," she said. "It usually doesn't snow in this area. Strange, isn't it?"

It was a bit odd. The Basque region very rarely receives snow. Maybe it was some sort of omen.

And in that moment, as if to confirm my thoughts, a chilling howl echoed on the wind. Gooseflesh crawled along the skin of my arms, despite them being covered by my gloves, and I vigorously rubbed them to make it go away.

"What was that...?" I wondered aloud. "A wolf?"

I turned to face Miriam, and a flushed expression came over her features. She suddenly rose to her feet, never tearing her eyes away from a fixed point in the distance, and I began to wonder if she saw something that I couldn't. When I looked, however, there was nothing save the buildings and the mountains along the horizon.

"Yes. In fact, go speak with Shirleigh. That would be lovely."

She turned sharply on her heel and entered the museum.

I got to my feet and made my way to the large doors before stopping for a moment to look back upon the grassy land.

🙤♔🙦

"Did you hear that?"

"So the rumours were true?"

"Is it really out there? So close?"

When I returned indoors, everyone seemed to be talking about the noise outside.

"Andrea Watson."

Without realising, Walker had approached me from the side.

"I'm glad to see you," they told me. "I didn't know you were outdoors. If I had known you were going out there this late, I would have warned you sooner."

"Warned me?" I repeated. "Warn me about what?"

"About the werewolf that haunts the mountains of Euskal Herria."

"Werewolf?" I found myself wanting to scoff at the idea, but I remembered the condition that plagued Moriarty, turning her into the infamous Sussex Vampire. "Could you tell me what you know about it?"

If this "werewolf" were real, it could mean that it was potentially connected to the other unusual cases Shirleigh and I have encountered. Having Walker tell me about the creature could provide useful information.

"Many years ago, a family came to the country on holiday, staying in a wooden cabin atop the very mountain you see in the distance. It was a night just like this one. An ear-piercing shriek sent the once-slumbering birds flying through the moon beams. Not long after, the sound of a baying wolf could be heard from miles away, waking up those who were fast asleep in the nearby villages. Not much was revealed, but it is said that a woman had ventured out into the woods and was mauled to death by a wolf. She was most likely a member of the vacationing family, but there are very few details. I believe someone wanted to cover up the incident. The wolf wasn't heard for years after the incident.

"Just a few months ago, another mauling occurred in similar conditions. There is now a superstition that floats from my fellow Euskarans that when it snows, the wolf comes back to claim another victim, because, as you know, this area doesn't receive a lot of snowfall. So the unusual precipitation has become something of a harbinger."

I shivered as Walker was telling me the story of the wolf. The poor woman who came up with her family for vacation and the poor souls that was lost just recently... If the rumours and superstitions have some merit behind them, that could mean that someone else was bound to fall victim to this wolf very soon.

The sound of approaching heels drew my attention, and I met the eyes of my companion. Her face was set and determined. She had donned her winter coat and cap and was headed straight for the doors. Walker and I turned to watch her as she brushed past; she never said a word to either of us. Just before she reached the large double doors, Walker called out:

"Andrea! Where are you going? You aren't going to hunt down the wolf, are you? I usually wouldn't question your actions, but that creature is extremely dangerous."

Shirleigh paused in her tracks. I admired her strong silhouette as she stood unmoving. She never turned around to face us.

"I am flattered by your concern, Walker. However, my mind shall not rest until I have put these rumours and superstitions to rest and prove that it is merely a wolf that stalks up and down those mountains, not a creature that crawls up from underneath blankets of snow to claim souls to satiate its hunger."

She opened one of the doors, and the wind that rushed in caused her coat to billow out around her. Everyone in the entrance hall shivered simultaneously and remained still as Shirleigh took a step outside. I, however, dashed after her, not to stop her, but to join her in whatever it was she was investigating.

"Andrea Watson!"

Before I could reach the doors, Walker's voice called out to me. As I turned, they tossed me the overcoat and cap I had brought along for the duration of our trip.

"Please be safe!"

I gave them a reassuring nod as I slipped into the coat. Pulling the cap over my head, I darted out the door to join my companion, who, to my surprise, was waiting just a few feet away.

Her hands were placed in her coat pockets. She looked at me, and I gazed back at her, feeling that rush of excitement that I usually felt before we took on a new case. I jogged down the steps, and she turned as I drew closer, and we started for the haunted mountains of the Basque Country.

After a few moments of silent walking, we reached an area of the woods where the only light that reached us was that of the moon. When I heard something rustle beyond the trees, I reached out to tug at my companion's coat sleeve, but immediately retracted my hand, still feeling terrible—and admittedly a bit sick—about my thoughts from earlier. A part of me felt as though I shouldn't be standing next to her. I folded my hands behind my back instead and nervously rubbed them together.

"How are you faring? You seem preoccupied. You don't have to continue on with me if you do not want to."

I looked up and locked eyes with Shirleigh for a brief moment before averting my gaze to the trees over her shoulder.

"I'm okay..." I dug my foot deeper into the snow, and I brought my hands in front of me to hopefully appear less anxious. "It's just..."

Shirleigh turned to face me. Her dress sparkled just as the snow did underneath the moonlight.

"Are you still ruminating about that? I told you that it was alright, no?"

"I know...but...I just..." I struggled to find my words, then I paused. "Did you somehow figure out what I was thinking?"

"It isn't all that difficult when you are intensely in tune with the moon cycles."

My face burned despite the freezing weather.

"Don't act like you aren't!" I blurted out, a bit embarrassed.

She chuckled.

"I just feared I would overstep, and I know how you are when it comes to...such matters, and I just...I didn't want to ruin...our..."

"Friendship?"

I looked into Shirleigh's eyes, shocked to hear her finish my sentence.

"If it helps you feel any better," she leaned forward, her breath tickling my ear. "I could have easily pushed you away."

And then she continued walking.

Without saying anything else.

Thinking back on it, as much as I didn't want to, I suppose she could have just pushed me away. But she didn't.

I could have sworn puffs of condensation formed from the heat coming off my face. Shaking my head to ward off any incoming intrusive thoughts, I made my way over to join Shirleigh in continuing our hunt for the wolf.

🙤♔🙦

I held my breath at the sight before me. Just a few feet away was a large, prowling wolf. It's shaggy, brown fur was dusted with snow. Its eyes were unnaturally red and glowed in the shadows. The wind howled, causing the wolf to do the same as if it were answering those of its kind. The branches overhead creaked as they swayed in the bitter breeze. The moon threw long shadows over the snow-covered land until the clouds drifted along to obscure it, melding all of the shadows together into a pool of darkness, the wolf's gleaming eyes being the only light and the only reason we were able to still able to see it in the dark.

"There it is," I whispered as low as I could, not wanting to be heard by the wolf, but wanting to be louder than the wind. "What should we do now?"

I wasn't entirely sure what Shirleigh's plan was to prove that the wolf was either one, not real, or two, not an apparition that only appears on snowy nights to take a person's life. Seeing that the wolf was, indeed, real, we only had to prove that it was an ordinary wolf. I realised that Shirleigh had yet to give me an answer, so I turned to look at her and was met with a sight so unusual, it chilled me more than the weather or the wolf itself.

Shirleigh faced the direction of the wolf, but her eyes were unfocused. Her stance was weak, and upon closer inspection, her hands shook by her sides. Not how they usually shook when she was thinking or contemplating or growing impatient; they trembled. The condensation created by her breath grew increasingly in number, and her chest heaved. She took a wavering step backwards, nearly tripping over a tree log, when I took her by the arm to keep her upright. Her hand reached up to the collar of her dress as she struggled to find her breath.

"Shirleigh, it's all right." I took her hand and quietly led her behind the log and guided her to sit upon the snow. "I'm going to make sure you're all right, yeah?"

My companion now leaned against the log that obscured us from the wolf's view. When we were in the safety of the fallen tree, I peeked over the wood to keep tabs on the wolf that had begun to slink around the trees, its low growls reverberating through the air. Shirleigh was still struggling to breathe, so I took one of her hands in my own to hopefully ground her. I noticed how her grip tightened, so much so, it was almost painful, but it mattered not to me if I was in pain; I just wanted to help my partner.

It was easy to feel like one was losing control during these attacks, so if I could help her regain her it, it would hopefully bring her back to reality. Suddenly, a ridiculous memory presented itself in my mind, and I laughed.

"Do you remember when we first met—" here I giggled to myself. "—when I first walked through the door to the flat, and you fired a gun at me? I was so shocked, I told Evelyn that I absolutely could not live with you. Now look at us. Chasing criminals and solving crimes. Well, you do most of the chasing and solving, anyway."

I took another glance over the log to see where the wolf had sauntered off to. My blood froze when I saw that it was no longer in sight. If the snowfall had only been lighter, I would have been able to track its footsteps, but alas, nature had not been so kind.

"That isn't...entirely true."

I turned back around to see Shirleigh holding her face in her free hand. She had regained most of her composure, and her breathing became more regulated.

"You help me with the 'chasing and the solving'," she continued. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Without you, I doubt I would have done much of anything with my free time."

"Shirleigh!" I nearly shouted. I crawled around to sit across from my companion, and I gazed into her eyes. "How are you? I was so worried..."

She looked back at me with a half-lucid look in her eyes. It was evident that she was still gathering her senses.

"I'm fine," she eventually replied.

"I'm afraid I lost the wolf," I told her as I glanced over her shoulder to look over the log. "I think it would be best if we went back to the hotel to get some rest. I desperately want you to drink some water. I would have brought some with me if I had thought about it."

Shirleigh withdrew her hand from mine, shaking her head. She stood up and dusted the snow off her shoulders. I knew what she was thinking. I knew that she wanted to keep up the pursuit. I knew how she wanted to prove to everyone that there was nothing to worry about, that there was just a lone wolf skulking about the mountains, but after such a sudden attack, I wanted her to take it slow. I wanted her to rest.

"Shirleigh, please."

My partner looked down at me. I had taken hold of her coat sleeve in the midst of my plea. She stared at me, but I refused to buckle underneath her gaze.

"Fine," she said. "We shall go back for just a moment if only to get a bit of rest. Then I will continue the search for this creature."

"We," I stated. "We will continue the search for this creature."

Her eyes glowed in the moonlight.

The crunch of the snow underneath our footsteps and the occasional howl of the wolf in the distance accompanied us on our way back to the hotel, where we would hopefully find some repose.

I fear I couldn't have been more wrong.