Deducing Tragedy Part One: See No Evil

No matter what others may think, I am not a fool. I always knew that they would find me that neither would ever truly believe I was dead. I knew for certain that at least one of them would search the ends of the earth for me. Because they were not fools.

Really the taxi, pulling put my gravel driveway, could be anyone. A few times over the past couple months it had been someone asking for directions or turning around but this time was different. This time I knew it was one of them. My Monster or my Knight.

To be honest it didn’t matter who it was at this point, because either way my charade was over. The Monster knows and will come for me. It was probably Mycroft’s fault, he probably told his brother where I was and that of course would tell the Monster. Why couldn’t he just do this one thing for me? Keeping this one secret could have been the difference in the outcomes of this story.

The car came to a halt and I heard the doors open. The cabby carried the suitcases up onto the porch were I was sitting a while his passenger stood very still next to the car. When the taxi was gone the man moved. Walked across the gravel until he reached the wooden steps.

“For a dead woman,” he said, “you look very well.”

“I find that death becomes me,” I sighed standing up and moving to walk over to the railing near the steps. But that idiot of a cabby put the luggage in the way and I tripped, falling face first down the stairs. Strong arms reached for me but my momentum was too great and we both toppled to the ground.

I felt warm, firm, muscle beneath my hand as I began to push myself up into a seated position besides him. My hand never left his body as I moved in closer to him, my fingers running down his arm. I guess I just want to relish in the moment of it. To just sit there and know that the man who was always a question in my mind was here; he came.

He said up too, his hesitant hands cupping my cheeks as I closed my eyes and tries not to cry. “Hanna… don’t EVER do that to me again.” he whispered and I laughed, my hand folding over his.
And then he held me, whispering in my ear how he would never let me go again and I promised to stay by his side. We stayed that way for a long time, long enough for the sun to star its decent and a chill to fill the air that surrounded us.

"I knew I would find you," a chilling voice slithered into the atmosphere. I froze my grip tightened when I heard the pop. His limp form fell against me and I closed my eyes.

"Really my dear," his hand slid over my head gripping my hair. "I told you-" he tossed me onto the stairs, away from my fallen knight. "-I told you I would protect you from the monsters!”

There was another pop and I sat up in my bed. My breath ragged as I lowered my hands into my face. A nightmare, it’s just a nightmare. But it was always the same nightmare, my knight comes for me and he dies for it. But this time… my dream was different.

I wouldn’t consider myself like sleeping beauty; the girl trapped in her sleep, waiting to be rescued. She didn’t and couldn’t do anything to save herself. I did- didn’t I? I left my home, my friends, I left Sherlock to try and help bring the Monster down. That counts doesn’t it?

I stood up from my bed and walked over to the window. I tried imagining the night sky, the stars and the moon; the way the silver light felt down to the earth and illuminated the world, but the image was broken and brief. I hadn’t seen such a thing in so long that my memory was failing me. I sat there for hours trying to remember but my mind wouldn’t let me. I could only really focus on one thing…

“How long are you going to pretend you don’t know I'm here?” his voice woke me from my concentration and I froze where I stood. Loud steps crossed the room and I felt shaking hands grab my shoulders and turn me to face him. “Or did I actually surprise you this time?”

“You shouldn’t have come here,” I whispered closing my eyes. “Sherlock-“

“No,” he cut me off. “You are the one who shouldn’t be here. You’re supposed to be dead.” His voice hissed with anger and his grip on my shoulders tightened.

“I-“ I began but stopped when he grabbed my hand and started dragging me through the house. “Sherlock? Where are we going,” I asked as I followed him blindly. We were moving too fast for me to track our path with my mental map of my temporary home.

He didn’t answer me but I heard the slide of the back door and the rush of cool air as he marched across the lawn. When we hit the wood of the dock I knew what he wanted.

“There,” he said tossing me roughly towards the end. “Now, off you go.”

“Sherlock…” I whispered, “Please, don’t do this.”

“DO IT,” he shouted at me. “After all the trouble you caused I think this is more than reasonable.”

“Sherl-“

“No,” he growled taking a step forward. “You don’t get to talk; not now. You had two months you say something- anything! But instead you were quiet, made me take time from the cases to track you down-“

“NO ONE ASKED YOU TOO!” I bellowed back as hot tears fell down my cheeks. “No one asked you to find me Sherlock! I told Mycroft to keep you out of it!”

“Yes well you should have known-“

“Known what?” I demanded. “How am I supposed to know anything about you Sherlock?”

“YOU KNOW EVERYTHING,” he shouted. “You’ve know my every move since before we ever met-“

“That was before I-“ I stopped my sentence short and shook my head. “I thought I knew you Sherlock, but I was wrong! I thought you were good… maybe even kind… that you kept your promises-“

“What are you talking about?”

“Your promise Sherlock,” I whispered; my tone shaky as I slowly began to raise my voice. “Your promise to a broken and scared girl all those months ago. I told you the Monster haunted me, that when I was alone he came back. You promised that I would never be alone again. But then you left, and the moment you were gone he came back! He-“ I broke down. My head fell into my hands as I began to cry, remembering what the Monster did to me.

“Hanna-“

“That’s when I knew,” I stopped him, my hands dropping to my sides. “I knew that the man I thought you were was a fantasy. A ghost in my mind that I projected onto you-“

“A ghost?” I could hear the frown in his voice. “What do you-“

“had the same nightmare every night since I left Baker Street,” I said turning away from him, to face the lake. “I dream that I'm sitting on the porch when a cabby pulls up. A man gets out, whether it’s my Knight or my Monster I don’t know, until he speaks. It’s my Knight of course, he came for me; he would always come for me.

I sighed, taking a step towards the edge, “but as surly as my Knight came, so did my Monster. He kills my Knight and then kills me… the last thing I hear are his tormenting words.”

“Hanna-“

“I only just realized tonight,” I cut him off, taking another step forward. “Do you know your place in my dream Sherlock?”

“I- I- I don’t know.”

I tuned back to face him, my heals at the edge of the dock, “you have none.”

He paused, “w-what?”

“You have no place in my dream,” I shrugged slightly, shaking my head. “My Knight…. His name is Tomas Mathers, he is also… my Monster.” he said nothing and I looked up at the sky. Feeling the cool air wrap around me, like a ghost of a hug. The waves rose and broke against the dock, its sound the only reminder that time passed around us.

“You brought me out here for a reason Sherlock,” I said closing my eyes. “To complete the story the way I told it… for me to jump into the lake and die.”

“Han-“

“Goodbye Sherlock,” I said opening my eyes and giving him a weak smile.

And then I stepped back.