Human Error - Sherlock Fanfiction

Chapter thirty six - high for the holidays

"Where are we going?" I whined with boredom, stomping lazily on the dry pavements outside of the city of London.

"Are you dumb?" Sherlock asked, "Edward clearly just told us that we were visiting his friends."

"I must have asked you to call me Eddie over a hundred times now." Edward sighs in response, walking in between us both.

"Why? Edward is your name."

"But my friends call me Eddie, and you're my friend. So you've earned that privilege too."

"Oh, okay." Sherlock gushed slightly, a smug smile pulling on his lips. "Maybe I should start calling Eleanor the way you call her, then."

"I'm right here, you know," I speak up. "I've told you that you can call me Ella tons of times, Sherlock. Also, we've been walking for thirty minutes and I already want to go home. This better is important, Ed."

"It is." Edward confirmed.

"I wasn't even aware that you had more friends," Sherlock commented, completely unaware that he was being unintentionally rude.

"They're not friends I see often, but I promised you guys a memorable experience. It's a Christmas present from me."

"Well shit, now I'm worried."

"Shut up, Ella." Edward replied playfully, a chuckle escaping his lips. When you're super lazy like me, simple walks like this seems like years. But luckily enough, ten minutes later we approached a very unusual house.

I could tell instantly that no one lived there. The windows were covered in grime and for the most part boarded up, leaving only the slimmest of slithers for the rays to struggle through. The grass on the lawn was also extremely overgrown. I narrowed my eyes as Edward continues to walk to the front door, and send a concerned look Sherlock's way to which he does the same. Edward knocks four times on the door, before glancing over his shoulder at us.

"You guys coming?"

Despite the bad vibes we felt, we shrug it off and follow after him anyway.

A door swung open and a teenager about our age sticks his head out to see. He has short, brown hair, olive skin, and acne covering his cheeks. What's more noticeable is how red his eyes were. "Oh, hey Ed."

"Alright mate?" Edward grinned, doing some weird guy hug with him. "This is Sherlock and Ella, they're my friends. They've never got high before."

"What?" The boy gasps and places his hand on his heart dramatically. "Well come right in, brothers and sisters. Make yourself at home."

"You brought us here to get high?" Sherlock asked. Although it was obvious, he was still in disbelief. He was definitely not expecting that, and neither was I.

"Yeah. Come on in, before anyone sees."

As we walked in, a foul stench filled my nostrils. There was a flash of brown fur as several rats dived for cover, the sudden movements making the boy leading the way let out a yelp. After realising what it was, we all let out a laugh to relieve the tension.

We're soon guided into an old and dusty living room, the floorboards creaking as we entered the room. Scattered around the wooden floor were teenagers of different ages, sitting and lying as they smoked cannabis. I hear the sound of something crashing and my eyes snap towards the room ahead of us: the kitchen.

"Oh, don't worry. That's just the others."

"Others?" I question curiously.

"They do some hardcore shit in that room, like cocaine and heroin n' shit." The boy explained, "We only smoke weed. Sometimes I go into the kitchen, though, heroin is okay, but they don't usually like to share."

"Alright then, down to business." Edward clapped his hands together enthusiastically without a care in the world. He turned around to face us both. "Take a seat."

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea..." I trail on, unable to help my skepticism.

"Come on, where's your Christmas spirit?"

"I've never actually read into cannabis." Sherlock vocalized, "It doesn't affect your IQ, does it?"

"Not at all. You just feel really freakin' happy, but once it's over it's over. You're back to normal."

Sherlock looks deep in thought for a moment. "Okay then."

"Nice one!" The other boy grins, who looks about seventeen. He walks away towards the coffee table to prepare whatever he needed to prepare, and I just grow even more anxious.

"Seriously?"

"It's can't be that bad." Sherlock muses.

"This is a sign you definitely need to get high, Ella. You need to lighten up."

I pause momentarily, trying to comprehend what was happening. Maybe smoking a little bit of weed wouldn't be so bad. I mean, who wants to grow old without ever experiencing getting high? Not me. But this whole building... it just gave me bad vibes. It seemed so dodgy, especially the kitchen area. I did not want to mess with whatever was in there and whoever was in there.

"Okay, fine. I'll try some."

"Good. Okay, take a seat next Oliva, she's the ginger girl on the sofa. She's nice, not very talkative. You'll like her."

"What about Sherlock? Can't I just sit by him?" I ask.

"You can, but me and him need to have a special talk in the hallway first." Edward told him, placing an arm around Sherlock's shoulders. Sherlock just stands there, confusion written all over his face.

"Special talk? What?" He stammers.

"Relax, it's just girl talk." Edward assures him, taking hold of what seems to be like a couple of blunts from the other dude as he passes it to him. He then takes a lighter of him. "Light Ella one and give it to her, I'll be back in a moment."

Edward leads Sherlock out into the hallway, and I'm left standing here awkwardly, not knowing what to do in this situation. Instantaneously, the young adolescent appears by my side and hands me a white, cannabis cigar. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure?" I respond, a little unsure myself. He presses his thumb down and a flame appears on his lighter, before burning the end of my blunt.

"Do you ever wonder who closes the door after the bus driver gets off?"