Aylia Holmes

3. The Girl With Half a Pulse

"Ayla!" Elwin called, rushing into their flat, his medical bag in hand.

Frowning, Aylia instantly set aside her reading, left the living room, and approached.

"Elwin, what is-" she began.

"I need your help," he said quickly. "Come on."

Without hesitation, she grabbed her coat and followed after him, leaving behind her hat and gloves without a care.

As she fastened her pale blue jacket over her teal daily dress, she asked, "Elwin, what happened?"

"A woman was stabbed," he explained. "Someone across the street heard yelling and looked through her window to see the body. You were on the way anyway and I need an extra set of hands." Before Aylia could ask more, he said, "Here."

Without hesitation, he pushed open the door and rushed up the stairs, Aylia trailing behind.

"Enola?" Aylia said in surprise, spying her sister over the body, her hands pressed into the wound.

"Out of the way," Elwin ordered.

Enola instantly moved as Aylia got out several rolls of gauze and handed them to Elwin. He packed them around the wound, leaving the blade inside of the young woman.

"Keep her alert!" Elwin said in a panic, pressing as hard as he could to slow the bleeding.

"Hey, hey," Aylia said, coming onto the woman's other side. "My name is Aylia. Stay with me, okay? My husband is trying to save you. Hey, hey, look at me. Look at me."

In their worry over the girl, neither Elwin nor Aylia noticed as Enola slipped her hand into the girl's pocket and withdrew a small piece of paper.

"Elwin, we're losing her!" Aylia cried.

"Feel for a pulse!" he replied, adding more gauze. "Just under the right side of her jaw, you should feel a small divet between her throat and her artery. Tell me if you feel it beating."

Aylia felt, found the divet, and said, "Only a little. It's not regular."

"Keep talking to her," he ordered.

"Hey, hey listen," Aylia said, forcing the girl to look at her. "You're going to be all right, you hear me? You'll be okay. Look at me."

She tried, meeting Aylia's eyes a moment before they fell closed. Feeling for a pulse, she found nothing.

"No," she whispered, her eyes growing wet with tears. Looking up at Elwin, she said, "She's gone, Elwin."

He sighed, dropping his head a moment before letting go and stepping back. All three of them had blood all over their hands and, in the case of Aylia, it also covered the front of her dress.

"We did all we could," Elwin said wearily, looking over at his wife who was still staring at the young girl with sorrow.

"I know," she said softly, quickly wiping away a tear.

Before they could say more, a harsh creaking echoed through the building. All three looked at each other, their eyes wide and their hearts beginning to pound. Here they were, alone with a dead body, covered in blood.

"Miss Holmes?" a surprised voice said. "And Miss Holmes?"

"Mrs Tewksbury," Elwin and Aylia said at the same time.

"Inspector Lestrade," Enola said in surprise.

"Enola Holmes," he remarked, stepping farther into the room, coming closes to Aylia who was on the opposite side of the bed as Elwin and Enola.

"Lestrade," Enola said, "she's- she's-"

"Dead," he said with a nod. "How'd that happen?"

Enola hesitated a moment before she said quickly, "Oh, no, no, no. I'm investigating a case, the disappearance of a girl."

"What, that girl?" Lestrade asked.

"No, no, no. H-Her name is Mae," Enola explained. "She works at the Paragon Theater, the matchstick factory. She was a dancer. She's friends-"

She broke off. In the silence, they all suddenly became aware of a metallic clinking. Then, with a final clink, the door behind Aylia opened. She jumped, rounding on it with wide, frightened eyes.