The next day as John sat eating his breakfast he wondered why he hadn't seen Sherwin, or anyone else for that matter. The crunching sound he was making while eating his cereal was the only sound in the room. John chewed then stopped, then chewed some more and stopped again. "Okay, time to stop playing making the cereal sound echo game. Where the hell was everyone?" John thought. Then another more terrifying thought crept into his mind. "What if they had all forgotten him down here? What if they had left him to starve?" John smiled and then laughed at himself. "I am creeping myself out just like I used to do with my sister when we were left alone in the house." John let his memory drift back to his tumultuous childhood. He and his sister had not had very many good times together. John sighed. As bad as his childhood was, he shuddered when he thought of how poor Sherlock had suffered. Just the thought of Sherlock made John's heart beat faster. "I miss you, Sherlock." John whispered aloud to the empty room.

Around lunch time, John heard the big heavy metal fire door creak open. He wasted no time and ran to see who it was. The young man that stood in front of John was not Sherwin. His eyes flitted around the room and he nervously kept pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and back. He finally held out a cold, clammy had for John to shake. "Hi, my name is Doctor Freed, however just call me Scott."

John shook hands and then introduced himself. "I'm Doctor Watson, or John." He smiled in an attempt to make the younger man more at ease. "So, what happened to Sherwin?" John asked.

Scott visibly paled, making his skin even more translucent than it already was. "Um he was called away on an emergency; I am going to get you ready for tonight."

John nodded as Scott led him through the heavy metal door into the darkened hallway. "Follow me, John. Keep close it's pretty easy to get lost down here. We are going to go to the library. I am sure you will enjoy it, for there are some ancient medical texts that you no doubt find fascinating." Scott seemed to relax a little as John made small talk. John tried to make note of the patterns they were making through the dimly lit hallways, but soon gave up the maze was too complicated for him to remember. John smiled as he thought that Sherlock would already have accurately counted each hallway and have committed them to memory by now.

The library was located behind another metal fire door. Scott put his thumb on an electronic device located near the handle and the door magically opened.

"Open Sesame, "John laughed. Scott just stared back at John as if he were speaking a foreign language. John shrugged and then followed Scott into the library. The light was so bright that John had to blink several times until his eyes made the adjustment. Though the room appeared to be illuminated from fluorescent bulbs, John had never seen a fluorescent bulb that had such a blue-green hue to them. John stood transfixed in an almost hypnotic trance as he gazed into the light.

Scott cleared his throat. "Um Doctor Watson…John?"

John jumped. "Oh, sorry it's just that those lights are so..humm I don't know…well spellbinding."

Scott nodded. "They are that color so that the books are protected. I'm not sure of the science behind it, however, they are beautiful. So are you ready for a little studying?"

John nodded eagerly. "I'm ready."

Scott took a deep breath. "The first thing that will happen is that I will lead you blind folded through a series of patterns. I will take your arm of the left side, then afterwards you will kneel in from of a stone alter. You will take your vows and then head Knight will take a sword and gently tap the left shoulder and then the right."

John laughed. "You've got to be kidding me. This sounds like something from Camelot or Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."

Scott looked at John disapprovingly. "John, if you're not going to take this seriously then maybe…"

John interrupted. "No, I am sorry; it's just well been pretty intense."

Scott's blue eyes bored into John's. "I understand. If you are having second thoughts now is the time to tell me. Once you have taken the oath you will be committed."

John nodded. "I understand and I am not having second thoughts. It just kind of sounds like till death do us part."

Scott nodded back. "That's exactly what it means, John. Once you are committed, you are committed in this life and the next."

John clapped his hands together. "Then let's get to it."

There was very little memory work; there were just instructions that John would need to follow to the letter. After a few hours Scott took John back to his little cell for a rest before the ceremony.

A few hours later John looked at himself in the mirror, he felt ridiculous in the black robe. It was a beautiful piece of work, all silk and so black it glowed with a blue tint, however he still felt silly in it and per instructions John had nothing on under the robe except underwear. A soft tap on his door prevented John from indulging in further speculation. The door opened and Scott stood there with a glittering torch in his hand. He was also in a black robe. John thought that the fire lit torch was a touch dramatic, however he didn't voice his opinion as he and Scott wound their way through the maze.

Outside the initiation chamber Scott gently put a blindfold over John's eyes as he was led into the chamber. A voice from the darkness spoke, "Brother Scott, why do you seek entrance to the chamber?"

Scott answered. "I come here with John Watson, who seeks to be a brother."

The anonymous voice then asked. "John Watson, are you here of your own free will and do you seek entrance to the order."

John's voice sounded far away in his own ears. "What you say is true."

"Then welcome John Watson. Your guide will take you through the dangers of the maze. Follow him to safety and the brotherhood." The voice echoed in John's mind. There was something so familiar about it.

John wasn't given any time to speculate for Scott had already taken John's arm and was gently guiding him in an intricate pattern. There wasn't a sound as John took his cues from Scott. "This is a trust exercise nightmare," John thought as he let himself be led. Finally, they stopped and Scott took off John's blindfold. John slipped off his robe and kneeled before the stone alter. A man stood on the other side of the altar with a hood pulled over his head. When he spoke John felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

"John Watson, you have undertaken the task of a Rosicrucian brother. By swearing your allegiance, you agree to serve the order in this life and the next. You also swear by pain of death that you will never reveal the secrets of alchemy that you will be given. By agreeing to this you will forever be one of us. Do you so agree?"

John swallowed. "I do so agree."

The robed figure then took a sword and gently tapped each of John's shoulders. "Welcome, Brother John." Then he stepped down from the altar and picked up John's discarded robe and wrapped it around John.

The other brothers came and gathered around John and congratulated him. John looked back over his shoulder to where the hooded figure stood. As if reading his mind the figure came forward and stood in front of John. He was so close that John could feel the heat radiating from his body. "Well, at least he's human," John thought in relief. John could barely hear the hooded figure's next words. "Brother John, pull back my hood," he commanded.

John hesitantly reached up and pulled the hood back. All the blood drained from John's face, as he sank to the ground. The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was the smiling face of Moriarty. "John, did you miss me?"

John tried to sit bolt upright and realized he was chained to the floor. For a moment he couldn't remember how he got there and then he remembered the evil face of Moriarty laughing at him. John jerked at the chain, it was a useless gesture, but John pulled with all of his might on the chain. He gasped with pain as he fell over on the other side of the sleeping pallet. "Oh God," John screamed aloud to the empty cell. John had made things worse for himself. He had shortened the length of the chain so that the links cut into his skin. John knew he had to control his breathing or he was going to hyperventilate. He tried to hold perfectly still because every time John moved the metal chains sliced more skin off. For the next couple of hours John drifted in and out of consciousness. He barely noticed when his prison door opened.

"Get in here and get him out of these chains and bring me a first aid kit. Do it quickly or I will make you watch while I disembowel you." Moriarty screamed. A few moments John felt the metal clamps release his ankles. Moriarty came over and effortlessly picked up John and put him on the sleeping pallet. John tried not to whimper when Moriarty washed his wounds and then bandaged them. Moriarty then lay down next to John on the pallet. He reached out and stroked the side of John's face.

"My poor John, I will punish them for hurting you." Moriarty spoke softly.

John could feel his heart pounding. "Was this going to be like his dream? Was Moriarty going to rape him?"

Moriarty smiled. "John, my pet I can read you like a book." Moriarty then rolled himself on top of John holding him tight. Moriarty then bent his head down beside John's and took a deep breath. He nuzzled John's unshaven face and whispered into his ear. "John, I would never take you unwillingly. When I take you, you will be mine. Together we will rule the world. You will see in time that I am no different from your precious Sherlock, we are the same."

"I will never submit to you. I will die first." John spat.

The expression on Moriarty's face surprised John. It was full of grief and sadness. "John, I may be on the side of the demons, but I am not one of them. I will find a more comfortable place for you to reflect on your situation, until then rest." Moriarty then gently kissed John's ear.