It's 221B day, and of course I couldn't resist posting something! This is a direct result of me having watched The Hobbit way too many times... But do I care? No, not really. I love that movie :) Anyway, this story is much darker than my other stuff, so just a friendly warning, this might get intense. It takes place in a kind of alternate universe where Reichenbach never happened. Additionally, I'm not British, so I apologize if I use American-isms.

Disclaimer: Don't own, never will, you know the drill.

Riddles in the Dark

Chapter One: Prologue

oOOOo

John was starting to get worried. Sherlock hadn't texted him in hours, and they were in the middle of a case. That never happened. Even when John managed to get to work during cases, Sherlock was constantly texting him, bouncing ideas off him or just pestering him about coming home. Something was up.

John grabbed his coat at the end of his shift and called out a goodbye to Sarah. She nodded back, and he hurried out the door. Hailing a cab, John pulled out his phone to text Sherlock. As he climbed in the cab and told the driver his address, however, it began to ring.

"Hello?"

"John, it's me."

"Lestrade? What is it?"

The DI sounded concerned. "Have you heard from Sherlock? I can't get hold of him."

John paused. "No, I haven't either."

There was a silence as both men took in the gravity of what they'd just said. John's mind was racing. Sherlock never disappeared while on a case like this, never. If he did, he always answered John's texts.

"This isn't just a normal case, you know," Lestrade said suddenly. "We just got a fax here at the office."

"What does it say?" John asked, swallowing hard.

"Just two letters," Lestrade's voice was barely a whisper. "JM."

As if by magic, John's phone vibrated against his ear. He pulled it back to see he had a text message.

"Okay, hang on, Greg. I've got a text. It might be Sherlock."

He opened the message.

Come and play, Johnny. Embankment. Jim Moriarty x

That was rather short, but I'll try to update soon! For now, please let me know what you think in a review :)

Read and be merry, my friends!