A/N: A birthday fic for the utterly wonderful johnsarmylady.

Prompt...hound of the Baskervilles.

Words...petrified, shivering, phosphorescent.

I do not own Sherlock and friends.

Moor Fear

The practical,

Calm,

Unsuspecting

Physician

Has found the lab door

Unresponsive;

Locked shut.

Nothing apart from white tiles

And smooth benches;

Nobody here

In the room

With him,

But...

~0~

Skittering sounds

From a far hidden corner;

Soft and low growling,

Approaching too near.

The room is now full

Of dim light

And dark shadows,

And skin-pricking tension,

And something

To fear...

~0~

A single brief

Petrified glance

Brings no comfort;

No safely lit exit,

No easy way out.

The erstwhile unflappable

Dauntless ex-soldier

Is filled with a sharp,

All-pervading

Self-doubt.

~0~

The light from the torch,

Held in shivering fingers,

Defines fearful contours

He'd rather not see

As shapes flicker past

On each surface before him;

A hint of whatever

Dark demon

Might be.

~0~

One hope,

One small chance

To escape from what stalks him;

A cage draped in sheeting

With unsecured lock.

He stumbles towards it,

Propelled by pure instinct

As reason gives way

To cold panic

And shock.

~0~

Closer and closer behind

Is the hunter;

Relentless, unstoppable,

Hot on his heels.

He dives through the door

And secures the bolt quickly;

Aware how a helpless

Prey animal

Feels.

~0~

What now?

He tries hard

To regain his composure,

To settle the rush

High adrenalin brings.

He's trapped and alone

With a still-prowling monster.

A noise,

Unexpected;

His mobile phone rings.

~0~

He knows who has called him;

He whispers an answer;

Distracted by breathing

And movement close by.

Vague glimpses through cotton

Of something unearthly,

A hand to his mouth

To suppress

Any cry.

~0~

He peers through the gloom

At the hound;

He can hear it;

A hunger-filled howl

And an echoing tread.

And now,

He can see it;

A faint phosphorescence,

Each hair on its body,

Its eyes glowing red.

~0~

Then...

Everything changes;

His refuge uncovered;

The room bathed

In harsh

Unforgiving

White light.

He's dazzled and dazed

At the swift transformation

His heart rate increases

All muscles tense tight.

~0~

He blinks and looks round,

Quite bewildered and shaken;

All signs of his

Dreadful encounter

Have gone.

He listens, bemused

To his friend's explanation

Of what his ordeal

Had depended upon.

~0~

No spectre,

No monster,

No gigantic hound;

It's only

In nightmares

Such creatures

Are found

~0~