It had been 3 months since John committed suicide. The flat was empty. Nobody dared to enter 221b, not even Mrs Hudson. The days were becoming longer now. She didn't know how she was going to cope on her own. No John. No Sherlock. Just silence.

Sometimes she heard them laughing together. Occasionally she heard Sherlock playing the violin. She even heard guns being fired at 3 o'clock in the morning. Maybe she was going mad. If this was what mad felt like, Mrs Hudson wanted to stay mad forever.

She cried a lot. In fact, she cried so much it was like she was their mother. It felt like she was their mother.

Nobody ever dropped by anymore. No one came round to ask her if she was okay. She wasn't okay.

She'd gotten used to the loneliness. She locked herself away. She was lonely but safe. Safe from harm. Safe from depression. Safe from everything.

One day, she was contemplating whether or not she should go into their flat. She wanted to see it one last time. She wasn't getting any younger and was becoming weak. She reached for the handle when there was a knock at the door.

Mrs Hudson was confused. She never got visitors. She carefully unlocked the door before gently pulling it open.

"Hello." Said the two strange men at the door.

"Hello. Who are you two,may I ask?"

"Friends of John." One of the men said.

"And Sherlock." Added the other one.

"I'm sorry. I hate to tell you but they're both -"

"We know. We came to see you." The man on the left interrupted.

"Have you seen the sky recently?" The other asked.

"Umm... No. Why?" Mrs Hudson asked curiously.

"Well... It's pitch black." The man on the left said.

"At 10 o'clock in the morning." The man on the right added.

Mrs Hudson stepped outside the door and looked up at the sky. The men were right. It was dark. Really dark.

"I don't understand..." The landlady began.

"No one does." The man on the left said.

"Except us." The other man said.

"Can you please explain what's going on then?" Mrs Hudson asked in a way that sounded like more of a demand.

"Can we come in? You might need to sit down for this one."