ABRIELLE'S POV

The three of us entered the shop together, my eyes widening as I looked around. I knew exactly what this place was, in fact it looked exactly like the pictures from the file Mycroft had given me. It was the Black Lotus's trading spot. I knew they were behind this, I just knew these murders were connected, they had to be! It was textbook murder that was made to look just like suicide, only Shan would go through all that trouble to hide a murder. They were efficient, yet they still had the same drop off spot, not to mention, only the black lotus would have their drop off be in the smack dab center of Chinatown. I knew the Black Lotus. I knew their movements, and how they operated, but most of all I knew exactly how Shan thought. Knowing that we had gotten here it was logical to assume that we were close … very close to the gang. Which meant one thing, Shan was here. This was her trap for me. Soon, very soon she'd pounce, but I was ready.

"Hello." John stated snapping me out of my thoughts as he kindly addressed the shop keeper. I looked around at the items, trying to clear my thoughts from previously. I had to forget, I couldn't be caught up in my own problems when I knew that Sherlock and John needed my help solving the case. Granted, I did know who the killer was, but I couldn't tell them. Not yet at least. Telling them now could lead to them figuring out my secret before I want them to, and that was anything but good.

"You want lucky cat?" The shopkeeper questioned, showing John the tiny golden Cat figurine.

"No, thanks. No." He answered, causing me smirk as I watched the scene unfold. See, John was a super kind person and this nice old shop lady was just doing her job and selling things to make a living. It was safe to say not many people came here, so any business was great for her. Now the question was, would John give in and buy the lucky cat just to be the super nice person he was? Or would the lady get tired of asking and stop? Only time would tell.

"Ten pound. Ten pound! I think your wife, she will like!" She exclaimed, giving John a smile. I pinched my hand, trying my best to hold in my laughter.

"No, thank you." He kindly replied, causing my laughter to roll out full force. I mean really, since when did John have a wife. Yeah, sure, he was basically every girl's dream guy with all the perfect traits. He was kind, and funny, and very honest and trustworthy. But no girl was looking for that kind of guy. Every girl was busy dating complete and utter twats and complaining about it, no one was searching for their dream guy … oh no, they were dreaming about him, hence the whole dream part of it. No, John didn't have a wife, not one bit, but that made everything about this situation amazing.

"It makes it that much funnier that you don't actually have a wife." I stated, giggling, holding my sides as the laughs racked my body.

"Shut up." He stated, glaring at me, his grey eyes staring me down as I finally straightened up, a smile still clearly on my face. My eyes glanced outside the face of Shan clearly looking at me from across the street. She was here. She was ready to attack, I needed to get away from Sherlock and John. I needed to keep them safe.

"Fine. I'm going to go look around, call if you need me." I replied. Shan was close and ready for attack, and that meant getting as far as possible from the two people I cared the most about. Clearly Shan would stop at nothing until she got her revenge, and that meant killing anyone even remotely close to me. So I had to leave. I had to pretend like they meant nothing to me, which to be quite honest would probably be the hardest thing I'd ever have to do in this whole ordeal.

"Do you want me to come with you? It could be dangerous." Sherlock replied, grabbing my hand as if he were ready to go with me. I brushed it off, trying to ignore the flutter in my stomach. It was so sweet of him, he actually wanted to go with me, as if the very thought of leaving me alone was outrageous. Not to mention, he genuinely seemed concerned about my well being, a side I didn't think I'd ever see from the great Sherlock Holmes. However, no matter how much I wanted him to go me to keep me safe and content I knew what I had to do.

"I'll be fine by myself, besides you need to help John." I said, my heart panging against my chest in pain as I slowly tore my hand away from his. I needed to do this, and I needed to do this alone. I didn't want Sherlock getting hurt, and besides, if both Sherlock and I got captured John would be heartbroken. Losing me wasn't horrible, but losing both his sister and his best friend in the same day would be unforgivable. I just couldn't do that to John.

"Please be careful." I heard him reply, stopping me in my tracks.

"I will, don't worry." I said, turning to the pair of them and giving them a small smile. I felt horrible. I knew that I wouldn't make it out of this without a scratch. I was planning on getting at least a bruise or two. But telling them I'd be fine when I knew for a fact that I wouldn't just made everything feel completely and utterly horrible. I walked out the door trying to avoid any and all eye contact as I left my one chance of peace. Closed my eyes and popped in my earbuds turning the music up to full blast. I knew it was coming I could feel it. I was the prey, the one luring in the predator. I turned a corner knowing it would lead me out of chinatown and back to the flat, but just as I took my first few steps down the alley someone knocked me down from behind. It was time. The predator was in the trap, it was time for me to shine. I smiled, my eyes still closed and my music still blasting as I jumped up. I spun around, facing the person that I had to be Shan and before she could get another punch in I jumped on top of the fence to my right and spun over her head, grabbing the knife out of my bra as I landed perfectly on my feet. I jumped into the air, kicking successfully kicking Shan to the ground. I walked over to her, but before I could do anything she had rolled out of the way and grabbed something off the ground. I didn't know what it was or why she had grabbed and I didn't want to know either, so I quickly jumped atop the fence, running on top of it in the direction of the flat. I needed to get back home, I couldn't do this anymore. This was too much. She was ready to kill me. She was going to kill me. But … I couldn't back down now. She knew too much. She knew who Sherlock was, and who John was and she'd seen me in their presence. I stopped in my tracks, my body frozen in fear. She could kill them. She was a part of the case they were working on, she was the murderer. They were the flaw in her plan. She needed to kill them to get away with the murder because they knew too much. Oh my god, if I didn't follow through on my plan they'd be dead. I didn't know what to do, should I continue running or should I stay and fight. Run from my problems like I always do or face the problem and risk my family and friends getting hurt either way. I knew I had to stay and fight, no matter how much I wanted to run I had to stay. I jumped off the fence running back towards Shan. I slashed the knife on her forehead, the sweet pleasure of her scream reverberating off the walls as her crimson blood poured down my hand. She grabbed me and swung me to the side, my knife flying out of my hand as I landed with a hard thunk. I had to fight for John. I had to fight for Sherlock. I had to fight for myself. I got up, my head spinning as I tried to make my way back to Shan. Yet, before I could go anywhere a giant object landed on my skull causing me to crumble to the floor in pain. I had fought and I had lost. I didn't know what would happen now, or if I'd make it out alive. But as darkness started to surround me only one thing crossed my mind, Sherlock and John were safe now, and that's all that mattered.