The Game is On (A Sherlock Fanfiction)

Chapter 1

The next morning I wake up to my mother's hand waving in my face. Or so I thought for a moment. It was the hand that I asked her to get me from the morgue. What? The people that donate their bodies to science don't mind!

I get out of bed and grab the hand. "Thanks mum!" I say and rush to the kitchen, soaking the hand in water and putting it in the microwave.

"What the-?!" A voice from the living room is taken aback. I should have known.

"Ronald Watson. I was expecting you." I turn around and smile.

"Amelia-" my dad begins to explain.

"Yes. I know. He will be staying here the next three months. He can't afford his own flat. And his cat is here, isn't it?" I say, slightly annoyed. Three months. That's enough to get him killed.

"Yeah, basically." Ronald says. I roll my eyes.

As I walk into the living room, the fat ginger cat rubs against my legs. I snarl at it and it scurries away. The telly flashes on with breaking news.

"There was a fire in a tube today, and anyone traveling by that tube is now long gone. The safety inspector affirmed that there is no reason yet why the fire started, but some suspect that a criminal mastermind is at work. And we will keep you updated on that. In other news..." The news announcer mumbles on and on. All I hear is distant buzzing.

Criminal Mastermind. What time is it? 11:06. Oh it's him, isn't it... Moriarty. Jim Moriarty is back. And this is how he's going to do it. Kill hundreds of people and then me. How pleasant.

Just then, I get a text message on my phone.

Meet me at the rooftop. You know which one. -JM

Of course I know which one. I rush into my room and get dressed. I almost get out the door before my father asks me where I'm going.

"Uncle Mycroft is waiting." I reply shortly and walk out the door. I rush down the stairs and call for a taxi.

I eventually get to the roof of St. Bart's Hospital. Sure enough, Jim Moriarty is standing there, waiting for me. He smiles and walks over, slowly and quietly. I begin to get uncomfortable, but I don't show it.

He walks in circles around me, sizing me up. "I've got a deal to make with you." he says, cunningly.

"Yeah, I figured that much." I reply.

"You see, I have people. A very large network of people that are ready to kill your family."

"Who in my family?" I ask.

"Well, there's your father and mother of course, then John Watson, Mycroft Holmes, and Ronald Watson."

"How do I make sure that they're not killed?"

"Here it comes, the deal. You see, my son, oh I can't believe him, Jared. He's had his eye on you for quite some time now."

"So what's the deal then?" I ask. Jared Moriarty. Yes, I know him. He went to primary school with me.

"The deal is..." he nods his head side to side, smiling sheepishly, "You must marry my son, or your entire family will die."

I stand perfectly still, my hands locked together behind me. Inside, my mind is racing. What do I do? I can't let them die. But marrying Jared Moriarty? My father would disown me!

Just then, Jared himself walks out from behind the entrance to the roof. HIs face is pale and his hands are clammy, but besides that he doesn't look bad at all. his black hair is swept back on top of his head and his sky blue eyes study me intensely. I'm paralyzed with fear.

He gets down on one knee and pulls out a small black box with a small, shining diamond ring inside. I purse my lips. What do I do? I'm 22 now, I think I can make my own decisions, but I don't want to get my family killed. I begin to pace back and forth. I stop abruptly and turn towards Jared. I look him firmly in the eye.

"You're telling me that if I marry you, my family will be safe?" I ask him.

"For the time being." pipes in Jim.

I cross my arms and my jaw tightens. I sigh. "Fine. But all I have to do is marry him, right?"

"And you have to at least act like you love him." says Jim. Jared is still on one knee, holding out the box. I look at Jim in disbelief. I roll my eyes.

"Fine..." I bite at the inside of my cheek. Jared slips the ring onto my finger. "When is this wedding?"

"In one week. But until then, you have to spend every waking moment with him." Jim says, slightly disapproving of his son's choice but smiling because he's caught me into a corner I can't jump out of.

Jared walks me down the stairs and back onto the streets of London. It's about 12:00 now. He takes me to get coffee. As we sit at the high table, he won't take his eyes off of me.

"You didn't make your father threaten me. You only told him you liked me and he took it to drastic measures." I state.

"Well, you know my dad..." he looks down. This is embarrassing. I sip my coffee slowly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to go like this. I didn't want him to threaten your family, but he insisted."

I smile slightly, looking out the window. We were good 'friends' in primary school. I mean that in the best way possible. Both of us were social outcasts. We made quite a good team, although we got into trouble a lot. The teachers hated us, and so did the students. I ended up doing online schooling, when I refused to get up so early in the morning and we never saw eachother again.

"I've been reading the newspapers." he starts the conversation. "And your blog."

"I would hope so. My blog has some vital information on it." I don't like being put in a corner! And of all things why this?

"573 types of identifiable dog hair?" he asks as if that's not vital information.

"574." I say sourly. "You don't like pets. You turned down your fathers offer to become a Consulting Criminal so that you could follow your dream to become a Technical Worker. Maybe I was wrong about you. You could prove quite useful in the game."

"The game?" he asks.

"Do you remember in primary school when we would point out people and say everything we could deduce about them from a distance?" I ask.

"Well, yeah."

"Do you see that man over there?" I point across the street. He nods. "Robbed 3 convinience stores and killed 10 people in their own flat." I turn my head towards Jared. "Here's the game. There's about to be another killing." I say, grabbing his wrist from across the table and rushing out the door of the coffee shop.

The man climbs through a high window and into a flat on the 3rd floor. Jared stares in awe. I rush him across the street. We stand on the sidewalks outside. I buzz the floor above the flat that the man climbed into and smack Jared's hand as he pulls his phone out of his pocket. "The police shall not be involved." I say sternly. The floor above buzzes back. "Yes, I was wondering if you could buzz me in? I'm staying in the flat below you." The person buzzes the door open for us. I turn towards Jared.

I smile and whisper into his ear "The Game is On."