Summary: Barbara struggles after her love left her and her young son Jim all of the sudden, as if he had vanished into thin air. One night she gets a package with a strange books which suggest he has been trapped in the Darklands and the only way to find out what has happened is to summon a changeling and bind it to her will.
“Why did he leave?”
Those words pained Barbara to hear out of the mouth of her young son. Jim was only five years old and how could she make him understand something that she found it hard to understand herself?
“Didn’t he love us anymore?”
The words stabbed her heart and making her hurt as she tucked him into bed, stroking the boys black hair gently.
“Of course he still loves us… he just had to leave for a while. People do that some times…” Barbara attempted to soothe him.
“Will he come back?”
Again Barbara bit her lips nervously as she brought the blanket up over her small child. It was hard. It had already been a couple of weeks, but she would still catch Jim look out the window waiting for that familiar car to drive down the street and park in the driveway.
“I don’t quite know kiddo… he might,” Barbara said, kissing his forehead. “But know this… I will never leave you alright? No matter what happens… I will always be here.”
The child gave her a smile nodding his head.
“I know,” his blue eyes then turned sad again as he looked at her. “But… I wish he could be here too.”
“I know… so do I.”
Barbara sat by her son’s bedside for some time, holding his small hand, before she stood up and walked to the door, turning out the light.
“Good night, I will see you tomorrow,” she said softly.
“Night, night,” the young child said as he brought the blanket around himself as he closed his eyes, holding around his large green dragon plushy that he had given him shortly before he vanished.
Barbara remained standing in the hallway, standing there as she leaned against the wall. She tried not to cry, running her hands through her messy hair. She tried to never cry in front of Jim. Trying to seem happy and upbeat.
But… even now she felt tears in the corner of her eyes.
Her mind echoed Jim’s words. Why did he leave? Why did he not even say goodbye? Everything was so good and then…
Barbara dried her eyes. It wasn’t like people had not left her before… she should be used to it by now.
The ringing of the doorbell gave her something else to think about… even if for a couple of minutes so Barbara was grateful as she moved to the door. Opening it she found a delivery driver standing there, holding a box.
“Barbara Lake?” he questioned.
“Yes, I am her,” she was puzzled… she was not expecting a package.
“Sign here,” he said as she presented her with the clipboard. Barbara did quickly as was handing a small cardboard box. With that the delivery driver told her goodbye which she did too, bringing in the box and placed it gently on the table. Getting a knife she slowly opened it. Inside there was a book and an assortment of different items.
“What is this…?” Barbara continued to move through them, trying to find a letter or an explanation. Then she understood. This was his things. But who would send her those things?
Slowly her fingers wrapped around the book. Opening it.
It was old… ancient even. The pages long since having taken on a brownish discoloring, looking to be written by hand. Sitting down she was stunned as she continued to read, her brows furrowing.
These things… it had to be some sort of fiction. It spoke of creatures… trolls… and magic… then she came to a page which spoke about the Darklands. Where all the horrid creatures which had feasted on the humans in ancient times. Terrifying horrid things which only the darkness could contain.
They were trapped there, never to allow to enter the surface world again. Her heart then skipped a beat when she saw a small drawn arrow to a certain passage.
Reading through she read that humans… humans who became too curious sometimes entered the Darklands… but once they did, they could never get out, as trapped as the beasts and horrid creatures.
Barbara’s eyes was filled with worry as she struggled to comprehend.
Then she noticed a tiny scribbled note at the bottom of the passage.
He is here.
Barbara’s hands were shaking at this point. Surely… surely this was not true… it couldn’t be.
She continued to read through the book, trying to find more information. Any clue. He had vanished without a trace. Leaving everything behind. His car… wallet… everything. If he had left… wouldn’t he need those things. From what she knew about the police investigation even the money he had in the bank hadn’t been touched.
It always bothered her… but this… this was insane.
But… what if it was true…?
Slowly she continued to read through the book she came across something which furrowed her brows. A creature known as a changeling. These creatures could wander between the realms for a short time. Even remain in the surface world for an amount of time.
They could bring humans into the Darklands, but due to their devious nature they would gleefully abandon humans in that place with no way to return.
But these creatures could be… summoned and bound in something called a binding circle. As long as they were in the binding circle they were in the control of those that had summoned them. It was filled with warnings however. That they would trick and deceive humans and then attack them, as blood thirsty as the rest of the creatures belonging to the Darklands.
Vile and disgusting creatures, impure and hated by even the other beings bound to that place.
Barbara turned the page with a trembling hand and a gasp exited her lips.
There… the summoning spell… instructions on how to create the binding circle and bind a changeling to their will.
Instantly she closed the book.
It wasn’t like she could do something like that… it was not like…
She continued to hold onto the book, feeling almost as she was going to throw up.
But… what if it was true?
That thought came back to haunt her. What if he really was trapped in that horrid place. Should she not do her everything to save him? To figure out if it was really true…
She tossed the book back into the box before she hid it in the closet. It was insanity… she just… she just had to accept that he was gone. That he would not return.
But for the rest of the night she found her eyes wandering to the closet door as she felt her heart clench, a deep sorrow weighing down upon her shoulders.
A couple of days had passed since that package had come to her door. Jim was spending the weekend with his grandparents, giving Barbara some free time to just… relax.
Yet… relaxing was not on Barbara’s mind.
She had to know… she had to know for certain. If it was just some book written by some twisted mind then… the ritual wouldn’t work. It was no harm in her doing this as unless…
Unless it was true and he really was trapped in that awful place.
Barbara had not been able to sleep, those thoughts had haunted her until she decided to do it. The… ingredients had been strange. There was several types of rocks required… luckily all sold at the museum as souvenirs and not too expensive.
Then there was… horseshoes made of iron which was to be nailed down to the floor with an iron spikes. This was to keep the changeling from escaping. Those had been a bit harder to come by but there was a ranch not long outside of town which sold such equipment so even that was not that hard.
Chalk was also needed to draw in the symbols. Again… not too difficult to get ones hands on.
The rest she had. Items of his, something he had given her and… a knife and her own blood. This was to bind the creature to her and also let it know who she was looking for.
It did not take her long to ready everything in the basement… the best place she figured for it… not like she wanted to nail iron spikes into her living room floor. That was certain to draw all sorts of questions.
It was nearing eleven pm when she stood before the circle placing the two objects into the circle, one being a pen of his that she had gotten along with the box and the other was a ring he had given her.
Barbara could not believe that she was going through with something like this! It was insanity… right? Her blue eyes fell down on her hand and the knife that she held.
The book was placed on a chair not far from her so she could read the incantation written on those pages.
Barbara swallowed as she cut her hand as she allowed the blood to drip down upon the items as she stutteringly spoke those words.
As that final word came from her lips the basement started to shake as those symbols gained a green glow.
“No way…” Barbara fell over in shock as she stared in shock as that green light grew stronger forming a human shape and then.
Barbara’s voice died in her throat as she was about to scream.
There in the circle stood a… a changeling.
Her eyes moved over that green skin, meeting those unnatural glowing eyes with that blood red narrow pupil. He… because it was clearly male, had long horns, dressed in a long cape crowned with metal blades around the collar. There was a loincloth around his hips, and she could see how the beings skin was… for the lack of a better word carved with strange lines.
The being looked disoriented until those glowing eyes fell on her and it snarled, a fearsome set of tusks ready to dig into her flesh as it brandished those black claws.
But as it attempted to lunch for her it stopped, looking down at the floor as a deep near manic chuckle came from its jaws.
“Clever human…” it then spoke, sending chills down her spine.
Barbara gathered herself, standing up on shaking legs, but in her blue eyes there was now a steely determination. She was going to have the answers she sought.
“Changeling!” she gathered up all the courage she had as she stood before that unnatural creature. “Do you know why I summoned you?”
A soft chuckle came past his lips.
“Yes.”
Barbara’s heart skipped a beat.
“Do you know whom I search?” she then continued. Again there was a mocking laugh from the creature followed by one word.
“Yes.”
“Tell me where he is!” Barbara was met with a low continuous chuckle. Mocking her.
“Lost,” was all that he told her. Rage was building within her, how dared this creature laugh and mock her when she was trying to save the man she loved?
“Be silent! You are supposed to serve me! You are bound to me! So tell me, changeling! Tell me!” She shouted towards him. “Tell me where is Walter Strickler?!”
A deep near manic chuckle came from between the changelings sharp teeth, doing so for some time, chilling Barbara to the core before he spoke:
When it's four in the morning and you're crying over Jim Moriarty
*Its been established that he is the way he is because he's sad and lonely. *Its been established that if he'd met Sherlock earlier in life, he'd be a different person. *That kind of loneliness is crushing. It's no wonder he was suicidal. No one listened. No one cared. *The only one who might have listened chose an abusive, homophobic, aphobic, temperamental blond doctor instead. *One can only imagine the horrors he went through as a child. The bullying. Just as bad as what Sherlock went through if not worse. *How disgusting is it that they chose to kill him in such a way instead of letting him live? He never would have gotten a redemption plot but he deserved better. *He didn't have to have a romantic or sexual relationship with Sherlock to be saved. Just a cup of coffee and to be heard. Listened to. Understood. *A lot of the sadness I bring upon myself with my own headcanons: absent father, dead mother at young age, only remaining family is homophobic aunt, wa never wealthy and was very poor, books and pianos were his only friends, bullied for intelligence/skills as well as being Irish and a bit morbidly curious, etc TL;DR: James Andrew Moriarty deserved/deserves better
