Author's Note: I can never visit Shakespeare's Globe because in a parallel world I made horrible things happen there.
Two weeks passed by and nothing involving Moriarty and his game seemed to be arising. This was causing a lot of tension within the flat, because all of them just wanted to know what was going to happen next. Sherlock and John began to take on other cases, in order to keep themselves occupied as they wait for Moriarty's game to continue. They were all constantly checking to see if there were any theatre's about to close down, any announcement of any kind, but still there was nothing. What could Moriarty be waiting for?Why leave the clue if nothing was going to happen right away. It had nearly been a 2 weeks since the last clue was left. One months since the girls had arrived in the flat. Sherlock noticed now that Dynah seemed to spend most of her free time with John, who had now decided was the appropriate time to teach her how to shoot a gun properly. Sherlock debated teaching Tessa how to play the violin, if only to relieve some boredom, however it seemed now that she had taught herself. Even went and bought her own violin,though she still occasionally took his, claiming that the quality of his was better than her own. Jamie spent most her time out of the flat, only returning for a few minutes before leaving again. John was against it, but he couldn't very well force her to stay. Sherlock was partially curious as to where she went everyday , however not curious enough to actually try and find out. He just let her do whatever she wanted. She wasn't in his way, which was better for him and allowed him more time to think. Jamie came back into the flat, breaking Sherlock's concentration as he played his violin. He looked towards the door, and Jamie was slipping off her coat and putting it on the coat hanger, before yelling loudly.
"Tessa! Dynah! We have to go!" Jamie yelled.
"Go where?" Sherlock asked.
"It's nothing. You needn't concern yourself with it." Jamie said, watching Tessa and Dynah get ready to leave.
"We'll be back in a few hours." Tessa yelled as they all ran out the door.
Sherlock watched the door shut, wondering what those girls were doing, but he knew it was something he couldn't get immersed in. They were planning something. He didn't know what it was,but it was going to change the game. He knew Jamie was planning to change the game, and he knew that Tessa and Dynah were planning on changing it as well. The question was how they were going to change it, and if it was going to be for the betterment of them all. Jamie, Tessa, and Dynah were walking down the streets of London, heading towards the Underground.
"Are you sure that's how it's going to end?" Tessa asked. "It seems to me that nobody wins if that's how Moriarty is going to play it out."
"It is and it's going to involve us. I don't want it to because that's going to be the key that makes Sherlock and John lose the game. We need to find a way to change it. To somehow get Moriarty to change the ending." Jamie said.
"How are we going to do that? He's insane. It's not like we can go up and ask him to change this." Dynah said.
"No we can't just ask him to change it. But there is something that we can do. It's not going to be fun. In fact the possibility of one of us or all of us getting killed is about 95%." Jamie said.
"So we have a 5% chance? Brilliant." Dynah huffed.
"Better than no chance right?" Jamie smiled.
The girls returned back to the flat later that night. John was seemingly absent and Sherlock was resting on the couch, with nicotine patches covering his arms. Jamie, Tessa, and Dynah tried to be as quiet as possible and move throughout the apartment.
"You were gone for an awfully long time." Sherlock said. "John went out looking for you."
"Oh well, we'll apologize when he gets back." Dynah said
"He's going to ask you questions about where you went and obviously you didn't think of coming up with an alibi. If you had you would have brought something back to somehow trick him into believing you did something else, besides what you actually did." Sherlock said.
"All we did was go around shopping." Tessa said.
"Where are your bags?" Sherlock asked.
"In the hall." Dynah smirked and went to grab them.
"That isn't all you did. It would take you only a short amount of time to that specific amount of shopping, seeing as all of the stores are close to each other." Sherlock said.
"Is it a crime now to just hang out with your friends? After all that is what normal teenagers do." Jamie laughed.
"You three are anything but normal." Sherlock glared.
"Whatever, Sherlock. Believe what you want." Dynah huffed and went upstairs with Tessa, and Jamie went into the kitchen.
John burst into the flat not to long after they had come back and Sherlock looked at him. He was obviously out of breath, probably from running around looking for the girls and being unsuccessful in finding them, which was obviously true because they were here.
"I can't find them anywhere! Where the hell could they have gone and why didn't they tell me they were going to be out this long!" John yelled.
"Oh relax John, they came back to the flat about a half an hour ago." Sherlock said.
"Why didn't you text me?"
"The girls took my phone. Don't know where it is." Sherlock stated.
"TESSA! DYNAH! JAMIE! GET DOWN HERE NOW!" John yelled.
The girls walked into the room, Tessa with a book under her arm and Dynah was holding an exacto-knife and a stick, probably making a miniature spear. Jamie came out of holding a beaker of sulfuric acid.
"Where the hell have you been all day? Do you know how worried I was? You can't just go out and do whatever you want!" John yelled.
"All we did was go shopping, Uncle John." Jamie said. "Sorry we didn't call but we can't very well use our cellphones here. Roaming charges and all."
"You can't go walking around London as if it's the safest place for you, because as was proven by all the bodies and psychopaths you've seen, it isn't!"
"All they did was go shopping, John. You're acting as if they sought Moriarty out in their spare time. They're not that idiotic." Sherlock said, getting annoyed with John's yelling.
"We'll be back on time next time Uncle John, I promise."
"Maybe we should get you a phone. At least while you stay here, so if you're in any trouble you can get a hold of us." John thought out loud.
"Good luck with that. You want to get 3 teenage girls cell phones. I don't think you have enough money to be able to afford that Uncle John."
"If I can afford to live with Sherlock, then I can afford it. I'll pick them up later. Do not make international calls on them!" John warned.
John went upstairs into his room, the 3 girls just looking at each other before shrugging their shoulders and going back to what they had been doing previously before John's interruption. Sherlock sat on that couch most of the day, simply going through his thoughts. The girls were quiet today, probably still rather stressed out and wanting quiet just as much as he did. John did go out and get the phones for the girls, but they seemed disinterested in them. Jamie looked as if she wanted to dip her's into the sulfuric acid she was holding in her hand. Dynah was scrolling through something on her phone, looking disinterested in whatever it was until she shot up from where she was sitting.
"Sherlock, what if it isn't a theatre being closed that we need to look for?" Dynah asked.
"What are you talking about? Macbeth was the clue that told us that it was a theatre about to be closed down." Sherlock said.
"Maybe it wasn't Macbeth that we needed to focus on. What if it was a place where Shakespearean plays were shown most often. A theatre that was closed down." Dynah asked.
"Shakespeare's Globe? But how do you know that the body will be there?"
"What's the date today?" Dynah asked.
"May the 16th."
"Macbeth was written in 1605. It's the 16th day of the 5th month. 1605."
"John! Tessa! Jamie! We have to go now!" Sherlock yelled.
They all rushed out of the flat as fast as possible and got a cab to take them to Shakespeare's Globe, knowing full well that it would take them about 17 minutes to get there if traffic was light, which knowing London. It wouldn't be. Sherlock estimated about 25 minutes in the cab before they could get to The Globe. When they did finally arrive, they all got out of the cab and ran into the theatre as fast as possible. No plays were going on today it seemed, which was extremely odd. The place was dark, like nobody had been there at all today. Sherlock moved quickly throughout the theatre, with the rest of them following behind him. They all moved quickly and Sherlock led them all towards the stage of the theatre. The room was still and it seemed as though there couldn't be anything possibly living in this room, aside from the 5 of them. Then suddenly, the stage was lit up, the lights causing them all the shut their eyes, seeing as they had not adjusted to the light yet. When they finally did open their eyes, the light was still too strong for them to be able to see anything but each other.
"And welcoming to the stage is the magnificent Sherlock Holmes, and his team of sidekicks. Can everyone give a round of applause?" Moriarty's voice announced loudly.
The room was quiet, and they all looked at each other, not knowing what to expect from Moriarty. Being locked in a playhouse with a madman wasn't eactly their plan when they had come here. It was more to find a body and then to phone Scotland Yard.
"Oh no. Looks like the audience isn't responding well." Moriarty laughed.
The blinding light was turned off and now the entire room was lit and they could all see the audience now. Every single one of them was dead. Some of them in their seats and others scattered across the floor. Some were even wearing costumes. The actors. Sherlock counted roughly 13 bodies. Not as many people as he thought there would be. They were able to see Moriarty now, standing up in the balcony levels of the playhouse.
"Hi!" he said, grinning.
"Wow, this guy is crazier than a nut bar." Dynah said.
"It took you this long to figure that out?" Tessa said.
"No, just needed the right opportunity to say it." Dynah retorted.
"So, how does it feel, Sherlock? Knowing that I have every piece of this game planned out from beginning to end, and you have to rely on kids to make sure that you can actually participate? Really, Sherlock. I expected better from you. But as for you girls, I must say I am thoroughly impressed. Extremely impressed, although Jamie, you should learn not to go off by yourself. There were countless times where I could have just shot you and nobody would know except from a phone call."
"You wouldn't kill me. That would be too boring. We both know that." Jamie said.
"I guess your right. I mean what is the stage without it's players?" Moriarty laughed.
"A boring wooden platform that's support system is some what questionable?" Dynah said.
"Correct!" Moriarty said in his high-pitched voice.
"What do you want, Moriarty?" Sherlock asked. "We're all here now. Tell us what you could possibly obtain from all of this!"
"I told you, Sherlock. I'm going to burn the heart out of you. In order to do that I need to make this whole game that much more personal. You can deny it all you want to, Sherlock, but you have feelings, and they are going to be your downfall. That's the whole fun in this game. If you lose, then you lose everything, but the same result will happen even if you win. Which of course you won't because I control everything here."
"You seem very sure of yourself, Moriarty. But you never know. People could just come on by and mess up your entire plan." Jamie said, smiling at him.
"And how do you plan on doing that, Jamie Kent?"
"Who said I had anything planned? You shouldn't just assume things, Moriarty."
"You really did join the wrong side. If you were on my side you would be having a lot more fun." Moriarty pouted.
"I'm not on a side. How many times do I have to say that!" she huffed.
"What about them, Moriarty? If I lose, what will you do with them? John, well I know you don't particularly care for John, but what about Tessa, Jamie, and Dynah?"
"Sherlock, maybe you should shut up and not put ideas in his head?" John said, obviously trying to protect the girls.
"Oh I don't know. I could kill them. Not sure yet. All depends on the end, doesn't it, Sherlock? But I don't understand the point of killing them. They could be useful later on. I'll be sure to ponder over that thought, Sherlock. Now really I do have to go. The game is still going after all and I have to make sure that I continue to be one step ahead of you. Until next time, Sherlock Holmes. Nice to see you girls again." Moriarty said, grinning and then walking away.
"Sherlock, why would you put that thought into his head? Do you not care about the girls safety at all?" John said, keeping his voice hushed, in case Moriarty could still hear them.
"I did that to ensure their safety. He just admitted to not wanting to kill them because he finds them interesting. They'll be able to get past him a lot easier than we will." Sherlock said.
"We better phone Scotland Yard." Tessa said, trying to change the subject.
When Scotland Yard finally did arrive, Lestrade looked extremely stressed and was about to make another comment about the girls being there, before Sherlock cut him off before he could even say one word.
"They are here, and are helping me. Stop bringing it up. It's not going to change the fact that they are helping me anyways." Sherlock said.
"I just don't understand why they have to be on the crime scene. This isn't something kids like them should be seeing! Not to mention that Anderson and Donovan are now out to get you even more because you've brought kids into crime scenes and other they keep bringing up child endangerment!"
"I wouldn't consider this child endangerment seeing as the first crime scene we went to we sneaked in and it's not like he invited us. Then the next two we just happened to be with them when they found the bodies and obviously the police would need to get statements from us. We have every right to be here." Tessa said.
"I dare you to try and explain that to them." Lestrade sighed. "Now what happened here? Last time you said that the bodies would be found in a theatre that was being closed down."
"This theatre was closed down, multiple times in fact. In the past. Macbeth was also a clue as well. Macbeth was written in 1605. It's the 16th day of the 5th month. It all adds up together." Dynah said.
"Why is there no clue this time? He left one at the last crime scene." Lestrade asked.
"He didn't leave one because it would make the game to easy." Tessa stated.
"I don't understand how killing 80 people is going to be easy." Lestrade said.
"Oh for a psychopath it is rather easy. All they have to do is plan, kill, plan and then kill again."Jamie said.
"Listen, it is starting to look a bit suspicious that you are all finding the bodies. Even the girls are starting to be suspected slightly. Try next time to make sure that you have an alibi for all of these murders, just so you can't be charged." Lestrade said.
"Let your idiot cops say whatever they want about us. Makes no difference to me. They're wrong anyways. Now let's get back to Baker Street."Sherlock said, walking away from Lestrade.
They all went back to Baker Street, not really sure what to make out of the event of the day. John was mostly worried for the girls safety, knowing that their parents had entrusted John to take care of them and make sure that they stayed out of trouble.Instead he had gotten them tangled up into a murderous game of cat and mouse with a psychopathic killer. Sherlock seemed to find John's distress humorous, as did the girls it seemed.
"Honestly, John. I don't know what you expected to happen when you decided to let them stay here. Did you expect them to not become involved? It was bound to happen eventually. If anything it is there families who are to blame if something is to happen to them because they agreed to let them stay with John Watson and Sherlock Holmes." Sherlock stated, playing with the strings on his violin.
"He does have a point, Uncle John. They can't necessarily blame you. I mean they're the ones who let us stray here in the first place." Jamie laughed, dropping down onto the couch.
"It's not okay! I'm supposed to be keeping you our of trouble! Not sending you into it!"
"Then just don't tell them. What they don't know won't hurt them. As long as we come back home when we need to." Dynah said.
"What point would that be at, John? You never did inform me." Sherlock said, looking away from his violin.
"How do I explain this without it ending in you giving me a rant?" John asked himself.
"Oh can I tell him! I like to cause him strife." Jamie smiled.
"This is why Moriarty thinks you're similar to him." Sherlock pointed out.
"We're going to be staying here until we're done school!" Jamie grinned.
"High-school?" Sherlock asked.
"Yes high-school. As well as University." Tessa beamed.
"We got accepted into a special program. Only going home once it's done."
"Why did you tell me this John! If I had known-" Sherlock started.
"You would have said no, which is exactly why I didn't tell you!" John said.
"Do you want me to never be able to think properly again?" Sherlock asked.
"You act as though they haven't been helpful at all this whole time!" John yelled.
"That's besides the point, John."
"I'm feeling rather under appreciated." Tessa whispered to Dynah and Jamie, and they all began laughing.
"Oh it's okay, Uncle John. If we annoy Sherlock so much than we can just move out and find another place to live. Do you think Moriarty would let us live with him if we helped him." Jamie asked Dynah and Tessa, all of them laughing together.
"That isn't funny." Sherlock and John said.
"Really? I think it is. I see 3 people laughing and 2 people who aren't. That means 60% of the people in this room are laughing. Only 40% are not. Thus it's funny because a higher percentage of people are laughing." Jamie smirked.
"Do you see this? This is what we are going to have to live with until they graduate University!" Sherlock yelled.
"Not necessarily. We could live on residence if we had the money, or we could move in when and if we get a boyfriend, though that's not really a priority for us at the moment." Tessa said, shrugging her shoulders.
"We'll be out of your hair when we graduate, Sherlock. Don't worry you little knowledge filled head." Dynah laughed.
Sherlock groaned and began to play his violin loudly in order to drown out all of their voices. The fact that the girls were going to be staying with them until the end of their University courses had most definitely put Sherlock on edge. He wasn't prepared to share his apartment with 3 teenage girls for what could perhaps be years to come. Obviously they would move out when they got into University, but still that was a good 2 years from now. Maybe even 3 before they actually moved out, because some do not move out until their first year is over. Though the girls were easy enough to get a long with and he could at least have an intellectually stimulating conversation with them, he wasn't sure that he could have 5 people living in his flat that was made for 2. Perhaps he could convince Mrs. Hudson to give them one of the other flats for free. That way they could still visit John and be out of his way unless he needed them for something. That could quite possibly be the answer. However it would have to wait until after the game with Moriarty was done because he needed the girls all the time right now, just in case Moriarty left a clue. He knew the rules of Moriarty's game and he knew that the girls had to participate in it. Otherwise they were all dead. Sherlock found it amusing how Moriarty was so focused on killing him, but not the girls. Especially since he had said that Tessa was much like Sherlock himself and that Dynah was like John. Moriarty probably thought in some twisted way that he could morph Jamie into a younger version of himself.
"Sherlock, what are you thinking about?" Tessa asked.
"Moriarty's intentions towards the 3 of you. Why do you ask?"
"I asked because that's what I believed you were thinking about. Why do you care about that anyways?"
"Moriarty is my problem to deal with, and now the 3 of you are somehow becoming a part of it. I don't want him to try to use you to get to me, or to use me to get to you three. Everything he does and says means something. He doesn't just spit out mindless words. He plans everything. He knows what he is saying is right. Which is why I get so wrapped up in his words because I have to analyze every single one of them, and today when he said that you could be useful and that he did not see the point in killing you, I knew that he wouldn't. There's something else, bigger than just getting to me that he has planned and it somehow involves the 3 of you. I just can't figure out what it is." Sherlock said.
"Maybe he wants you to over analyze it because he knows you won't find the answer. He also said that he has to see how the end turns out before he makes a decision. Even he doesn't know what he's going to do after the game." Tessa said.
"I would honestly prefer if he killed us, rather than turn us into psychopaths." Dynah said.
"I'm already on my way to becoming a psychopath so it makes no difference to me." Jamie said,texting on her phone.
"Of course it makes no difference to you, Switzerland." Dynah glared.
Jamie snickered and then looked at her phone, before standing up and grabbing her coat. "I'm going out. Don't expect me back until late." she said before slipping out the door.
Sherlock waited a good half an hour before getting up and slipping on his coat and scarf. Tessa and Dynah looked to Sherlock, then to each other, back to looking at Sherlock.
"Where are you going?" Dynah asked.
"Where do you think I'm going?" Sherlock asked."I'm going to find out where Jamie is going and who she is meeting up with, and I know that she is meeting up with somebody because of the oh so discreet way that she got a text and then left the apartment all of a sudden."
"How the hell are you going to find her? She could be anywhere in the city!" Tessa exclaimed.
"She could be anywhere. But she isn't." Sherlock laughed and with that, he slipped out of the flat.