Never Ending Game*A Sherlock, Moriarty fan fic*

Ch. 7

CH. 7

CH.7
STILL FOURTEEN YEARS OLD
(James & Loran)


For the rest of the week the computer’s password was changed before I could even glimpse at anything. James seemed determined to surprise me with whatever it was he was hiding. It wasn’t that I didn’t like surprises but I didn’t like not being able to solve something. James had always been an unsolvable puzzle when compared to the rest of the occupants of town but I was still determined to eventually figure him out as well. Currently I was leaning my head against the marble counter of the bar in Mrs. Moriarty’s kitchen. In comparison to the rest of the place it felt cool and refreshing. Breathing deeply I wondered what it was that he was hiding from me.

He said I would never be bored again once he was done. Was he making a puzzle?  Perhaps he was creating a game of sorts. He had done it before, creating a computer game that was but I had always been able to beat those. Was he simply over exaggerating? No, James rarely exaggerated anything. He made things dramatic but he also kept them from becoming tall tales in any sense of the phrase. The sound of Mrs. Moriarty’s heels clicking against the wood of the kitchen floor caused me to open my eyes. Mrs. Moriarty was typically at work during this time of day why was she here?

“Tired, Honey?” she asked opening the fridge and glancing inside. Moving a few things around she seemed to locate the item she was looking for. Since it wasn’t quite lunch time I figured she was pulling out some sort of treat. As I expected a platter of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies emerged wrapped in a thin layer of plastic wrap.

Lifting my head I sighed. “No, but James won’t let me in his room at the moment. “ I explained my eyes quickly scanning over her. She appeared to be favoring her right thumb slightly and it was a shade off of its normal color making me realize she must have burned herself making the cookies for me yesterday. Jim rarely ate anything sweet since he said that they were typically too addicting and messy so Mrs. Moriarty only ever made them for me.

“How is your finger?” I questioned a bit of sincere concern in my voice. I was sure it would heal but the idea that she had burnt herself making sweets that she clearly intended to share with me made me slightly sad and grateful at the same time. Yes, Mrs. Moriarty had always been friendly towards me when she wasn’t busy with work, work that she honestly didn’t need to do when you took into account the fortune she already had but she despised being idle. Honestly I couldn’t blame her since idleness typically equaled boredom.

She glanced up slightly confused, “How did you know?” Seeing my face she shook her head causing her lightly curled dark brown hair to move slightly, “Never mind. You and James both, there is never hiding anything from the two of you. “My eyes lightened. I had just been compared to James! The idea was more than enough to compliment me although I was sure she hadn’t meant it as such.

“You were favoring your thumb.” I pointed out simply always eager to share how I had come to realize things.

She nodded as she unwrapped the cookies. “Would you like one?” She asked me already handing me two. Something seemed off about the way she was acting…her voice was a little more on edge than normal. Accepting the cookies I nodded still not moving my eyes from her as she glanced nervously towards the door of James’ room. She was wearing casual clothes instead of her typical business attire indicating that she was planning on staying home. It was a week day so it wasn’t like she didn’t have work she could be doing…The way she kept on glancing towards James’ door made me wonder if her and James had gotten into an argument while I wasn’t here. James didn’t mention any but then again James rarely mentioned his mom anyways. My thoughts were interrupted by a question, “Loran, does James seem to be acting strangely to you?” She asked me not moving her eyes from the door.

I laughed lightly. What did she mean by strange? James was always acting strange. “According to what standard?” I asked making her look at me with visibly thinning patience.

“According to your standard, lord knows you are the person who knows him the best.” She sighed but her eyes bore into mine waiting for an answer. It was obvious she was worried about James but I couldn’t really imagine why, for the most part he was his normal self.

I shrugged, “Perhaps, he said he was doing something and he won’t let me on his computer. Other than that he is acting the same. “I explained before scrunching up my eyebrows and returning my gaze to hers. “Aren’t you his mother? Shouldn’t you know better than me if something is off?” I questioned. She winced at my words and her eyes dimmed to a saddened state.

“You know James rarely speaks to me…He always appears to be well behaved but recently your mother and father have been badgering me about the activities the two of you have been doing.” My mouth went into an “o” shape as I stared down at the cookies in my hands. Although it wasn’t surprising that James wasn’t on the best of terms with his mom I was feeling slightly guilty about the issues that originated on my end. “Loran have you two really been going down to the morgue?” She asked me catching me off guard.

It wasn’t like we had been trying to keep it a secret, what really surprised me was that she had no knowledge of it. “Yes,” I confirmed making a frown slip across her lightly coated pink lips.

“Why?” She asked me although it didn’t seem wholly addressed to me but rather towards the world in general. “What could you two possibly find entertaining over there?” She pondered in hopeless confusion. Not knowing what to say I just started eating the first cookie not wanting the chocolate to melt all over my hands. Why hadn’t James told her about it I wondered as I savored the delicious flavor of oatmeal and chocolate together? “Whose idea was it?” She finally asked looking up at me with a flicker of hope that confused me.

Swallowing the delectable sweet I spoke, “James’ why? I agreed of course.” I added not wanting to get him into any trouble.

She let out a long breath that seemed to include all of her hopes for something I couldn’t quite grasp. “I thought you two were only playing around.” She mumbled speaking mainly to herself.

“We still are,” I admitted looking at her confused. “We are solving the puzzles that the police can’t figure out. “ She looked at me with a withering stare. She seemed to have aged three years in our brief conversation already.

“Do you realize that people actually die for these puzzles?” She asked me making me blink slightly.

Slowly and carefully I spoke. “Of course but James says we are doing them a favor by finding out who murdered them. “ I replied. “We also help with non-murder related cases.” I piped up cheerily hoping to improve the mood.

Mrs. Moriarty’s shoulder’s slumped, a rare sight of defeat. “What great mistake did I make while raising that child?” She asked her hands that held her tired face as they propped them up against the marble counter.

She thought that there was something wrong with James. It was obvious she did. Instantly I wanted to defend him and immediately I started to. “You didn’t do anything wrong Mrs. Moriarty. James is perfectly fine, just more intelligent than most kids our age. While most kids don’t have the brain to solve a simple rubix cube he manages it in less than a minute. Your son is an absolute genius and uses it to benefit the people through working with the police. “I finished my rambling to hear the impatient sound of a tapping foot above and behind me.

Turning around to where James was standing outside of his room his elbows resting slightly on the railing of the overseeing section of the second floor. “Loran, you can come back in now. “ He announced a small frown resting slightly on his lips. Beside me Mrs. Moriarty looked caught off guard and almost embarrassed at her inquiries behind her son’s back.

Beaming I grabbed a few more cookies and a couple napkins as I rushed up the stairs. See James was fine I told myself. He had only kicked me out for twenty minutes, ten of which had been taken up by Mrs. Moriarty’s questions so I hadn’t been too bored. As I reached the top James hurriedly ushered me in and slammed the door.

“You don’t need to make me sound glorified in front of my mother.” He stated irritably his eyes bearing into mine as I stood in shock near the door almost dropping the cookies but managing not to since I knew James would get mad if there was even a single crumb on his spotless floor.

“I wasn’t…” I began but was cut off by James fixing my slightly messy hair as he shook his head.

“I know you were just saying what you believe.” He stated before shooting a look at the cookies in my hand and moving over to his own store of napkins. “Try not to make a mess.” He asked patiently as I laughed biting into the second cookie. Admittedly I did drop a single crumb before I deposited the rest of the crumb covered napkins into the trash. James sighed as he pointed the way to his attached bathroom indicating that I needed to wash my hands as he bent down with another napkin to pick up the tiny crumb and re-scrub the floors.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror as I scrubbed all the remnants of the cookies off of my hands. Staring back at me was the familiar and imperfect me. My blonde hair was slightly curly which at times made it a bit of a mess and it fell a few inches past my shoulders. Piercing blue eyes were possibly the best feature on my clean face. Most teens my age had red pimples breaking out across their face constantly covered at times by makeup. I didn’t even wear makeup because on them it smudged, and James was always mentioning how disgusting it looked.

Compared to most I appeared to be a neat freak although in reality it wasn’t me, it was James. On average I washed my face ten times a day, after every meal and when I woke up. After any drinks besides water…Sighing I dried my hands on the spotless white towel that was replaced numerous times a day.

Walking back out I laughed as I saw James sanitize his hands with the large bottle of hand sanitizer on his desk. “Neat freak.” I accused earning myself a shrug from him.

“At least I don’t get sick. “ He informed me continuing to rub in the sanitizer making me roll my eyes.

“Neither do I but I at least live.” James was silent for a bit.

“You are not exactly unhygienic yourself though. “ He pointed out making me shut up. He was correct, although it was because of him. Since I had started hanging out with him I had pretty much stopped getting sick altogether so his cleanliness really did help…still he was a bit obsessive over it.

Sitting down at the foot of his bed I stared up at him, “Your mom is worried about you.” I stated the obvious. Yes, I knew it was obvious but I still didn’t get why he didn’t tell his mom this stuff. It would have relieved her nerves if nothing else.

James sighed rolling his eyes in the direction of the door as if it would reach his mother. “So?” he asked me not seeing the problem.

I buried my head in my knees wondering why James wasn’t at least trying to resolve some of the misunderstandings about him. Recently I had begun to hear a bucket load of rumors about him, they seemed endless but James either didn’t notice them or just ignored them as if they were unimportant. “Your mother at least deserves to know what you are doing.” I told him but was cut off by him sitting down on the bed right next to me.

“Does she?” He asked looking at me with eyes that showed he didn’t agree. Honestly I hated arguing with James but his mother looked stressed out and left out of his life. He treated her like a stranger when she was the woman who gave birth to him.

“Yes.” I stated firmly causing him to chuckle lightly.

“I don’t think my mother wants to hear about the details of what I do.” He pointed out making me sigh as I looked up at him.

“She still deserves to know. She is the one who pays the bills, the one who raised you.” Mrs. Moriarty was always a hard working single mother as long as I could remember. If James ever had a father I had never met him. James interrupted me before I could say anything else.

“No, she didn’t raise me. Raising me implies that she taught me something or took care of me. We have and had maids for that Loran.” His voice was indifferent and I could already tell I wasn’t going to win this argument. Never once had I won an argument against James and if I ever did I was going to have to celebrate. Shooting him one last frown I gave it up.

“Fine, but I still think you should treat her a bit more like your mother.” I concluded which he just ignored. “So can I see what you have been working on yet?” I asked for about the hundredth time my curiosity was overwhelming and I really wanted to know what it was, if he was anyone else I probably would have figured it out already but this was James Moriarty and when he wanted something to stay secret it did.

He chuckled lightly as he shook his head, “Not yet, but trust me it will be worth it.” He promised me kissing me lightly on the forehead shocking me but he just walked back over to his desk as if he hadn’t done anything. In silent confusion my hand instinctively went to where his lips had touched my skin. James was really too hard for me to understand. Here I had been trying my best not to like him as anything more than a friend and he had to do something like that. The sad thing was I knew he didn’t like me as anything other than a friend. Forcefully hiding the slight frown that had made its way to my face I plopped onto his bed my mind wondering back to its state of boredom.

Lying down and looking towards James’ perfectly organized book shelf my eyes scanned over the stock of books, most of which I had read but I still wanted to find something different to read. What Charles had said about skipping into college ran through my head and I wondered if I even wanted to go to college…Probably I concluded, it might be challenging. “What do you think college would be like?” I pondered out loud making James turn to me with a slight frown on his face.

“Dull, although it is supposedly difficult. The biggest challenge there is just a bunch of easy assignments.” He informed me making me roll over so I could look at him without straining my neck.

“How do you know?” I interrogated. Sure James always appeared to know everything and he was rarely if ever wrong but still I wasn’t aware that he had been to college. He looked at me with one eyebrow raised before he laughed lightly.

“I already looked into it.” He explained simply with a shrug. “The teacher suggested it to me in fourth grade.” He added rolling his eyes. “It was just a waste of time. I sat through one lecture and found myself bored within the first few minutes.”

I nodded numbly, so Mrs. Fernstone had tried to get him to go to college…She had offered the same thing to me as well so it wasn’t just Charles who thought we should skip through the grades. “Do you think I would like it?” I asked him lost in thought and he just sighed heavily in response making me look up at him slightly annoyed. “I am not intelligent as you James so I still might find it educational, but I don’t know if I would want to skip grades.” I finished my explanation as he shrugged.

“Trust me I am aware Loran but, I still think it would be a waste for you unless you have decided upon an occupation that you want to pursue which I know you haven’t.” He stated knowingly making me nod in defeat before thinking of something.

“I like solving crimes so I could become a detective.” I told him with a triumphant smile and he just shook his head with a light laugh.

“No you like solving puzzles, and there are too many boring crimes that are committed for you to fully enjoy the job.” He reminded which made me frown.

“Then I can solve those ones quickly and enjoy the complex ones.” I countered which made him smile before shrugging.

“I suppose.” He agreed making me feel elated. I had actually somewhat won the argument! This had to be recorded I thought with extreme happiness which made him look at me oddly before I simply waved him off. A knock at the James’ door surprised me as James shot it a confused look before it opened to reveal his mother standing there awkwardly.

Her hair looked messy, and was sticking up in places from her running her hands through it stress-fully. Her eyes seemed heavy and she looked dreadfully tired as she spoke. “Sorry if I am interrupting anything but your parents called Loran…They said you need to come home now.” She informed me weakly glancing at James as if she wanted to speak to him. James looked at me for a second examining my expression as I nodded in confusion. Why did I need to come home right now? It wasn’t anywhere near dinner time…

“Did they say why?” I asked getting up from James’ bed not even bothering to smooth it out as I left the covers wrinkled up.

Mrs. Moriarty looked at her son for a second before she nodded, “They said they wanted you to stop hanging out around here. “ She summarized. “You received a scholarship letter from Harvard.” She added making me drop my mouth open in surprise, of course the part about them not wanting me around James was nothing new but I had never expected to get a scholarship offer, especially since I hadn't even applied to the school. Thinking about it I supposed my parents had dealt with that since they were always telling me how I needed to make something of myself and stopped fooling around. 

James sat facing his mother with a cold expression resting on his face before speaking directly towards her, something which he rarely did now days. “We are busy you can go now…mother.” He added as I shot him a small glare. She looked shocked by his words and was about to leave before I shook my head.

“Don’t go. You two need to talk and I guess my parents want me home. Mrs. Moriarty you really don’t need to worry about James he really is doing alright, although he is a bit board. “ I added watching her forcing a tense smile on her face as James shot me a look of annoyance as I beamed at him. I win again I thought happily beginning to walk out but stopping to hug Mrs. Moriarty before leaving which caught her slightly off guard but she loosened up a bit and hugged me back.

As I was walking out I could hear Mrs. Moriarty start talking. “Loran really is a good kid.” Her comment surprised me but made me smile as I hesitated before walking down the stairs the last thing I heard was James’ comment.

“She is a genius mother, although I guess you are right.” His words sounded troubled as if he didn’t exactly like admitting that I was “good”. James never cared about those type of things I remembered but the main thing that inhabited my mind as I left their house was the fact that my best friend and idol James Moriarty had just called me a genius. Maybe I would accept the scholarship to Harvard but if I did what would I go to college for? Law possibly I thought to myself wondering if being a lawyer would be as fun as being a detective?

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If you like my fan fiction so far vote it up so it will be easier for others to find. Thank you everyone who reads my story, and for those of you who are wondering when the three characters story intermixes that shall start where the second episode takes place...Other than that I won't give away anything else in this author's note but thank you all for your comments they are definitely appreciated. 

All three of them loved to solve puzzles
They just took different paths
The Villain, the Hero, and the Secretary?
Two of them made sense but the third?
Well, she had her reasons.
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I do NOT own Sherlock Holmes nor do I own any of the dialect that I use from it. What I do own is any additional characters I add into the story and my alterations to the original which make it a fan fiction. Admittedly my fan fiction starts out slower and all parts told from Sherlock's point of view up until the point when he meets my OC will be the same.