Faults of the Fallen - Sequel to Impossible

Chapter 26

I sat alone in the dark. I didn't know what was happening. I was scared. I didn't know what I had missed, or what was planned, and I was scared to fight back.
Sebastian's wand was pressed against my neck, keeping me still. Not that he had to worry. I didn't care. Whatever he did to me would be better than this waiting.
And still I was afraid to move. I needed to know something. Just a glimpse of what was happening.
And then I heard it.
A bloodcurdling scream pierced through the air, distracting me, and, as it happens, Sebastian.
"Don't move a muscle," he grunted at me, before running to see what was happening. It took a lot out of me to convince myself to slowly get up. I knew that Sebastian could come back any second and I'd be dead, but I needed to know what was going on.
"Guys gather round to watch Sherlock go splat," I heard a familiar Irish drawl shout. "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall..."
I felt sick to my stomach as Sebastian stepped back in, wand pointed.
"The boss told me to let you go," he told
me. He grabbed me roughly, pulling me by the collar and put through the passage.
There was a lot of commotion outside. A hundred students gathered around the building, staring up at the roof, where a coat billowed out behind a figure stood on top.
"Oh, Sherlock..." I mumbled as I stared up at him.
I felt our eyes make contact, and a small flicker of hope passed through me as he looked down. What if he's just being an attention seeking dick, who wants everyone to believe he's got something big planned? That sounds more Sherlock than jumping off a building does.
I heard an owl screech overhead, and a letter dropped on me, sealed with a red seal.
I quickly scrawled down a messy "don't" onto the envelope, sending the owl up to Sherlock as I opened the letter.
"I can't believe I brought you into this world I live in. I can't believe you've become so caught up in my plans that I couldn't even keep you safe at Hogwarts. Your obsession with danger could get you killed. Your obsession with me could." I read, teardrops splattering on the parchment. "I'm doing this for you. I can't let you keep believing this. I'm a lie. Everything special about me is just part of my plan of deceiving you, but I can't keep going. I care about you too much to let myself go for ever hurting you.
I love you, John Watson, and I hope someday you'll forgive me..."
I barely had a chance to look up before the gasping and screaming started. I don't know if I was screaming. I felt too shocked to make any sort of noise.
I watched in horror as he toppled over the edge, his black coat flapping in the wind as he fell. He hit the ground with a sickening thud.
I always thought of Sherlock Holmes as a God. Somehow unbound by mortal standards.
But as I saw him laying on the ground as I shoved through the crowds, and with teachers calling my name, I saw him for what he truly was.
A coward.