Battle Of Gringotts

[Kaydence Morgan]

HOGWARTS GALAXIA
Sitewide Battle #2 - Battle of Gringotts

Beginning Thread:
And so it begins...
- Read first to stay updated

The following names are the ONLY ones allowed to post in this thread:

Adonis Maddock
Ashton Wentworth
Autumn Stanton
Cammie Wagner
Centara Zealon
Damien Monroe
Darren Morgan
Erin Emerald
Isis Moswen
Jenelle Meminger
Joshua O'Neill
Juliet Delia
Kaydence Morgan
Keara Sonnet
Osiris Moswen
Shawn Johnston
Tristan Stavros

(If I’ve forgotten your name, please let me know ASAP!)[/center]

- Centara and Isis’ thread is the starter. Please read that first to find out how the battle starts if you do not know already. That thread is not open to anyone except for Centara and Isis. Darren and myself will start the actual battle thread. DO NOT POST IN THIS UNTIL KAY AND DARREN ARE IN GRINGOTTS!! I understand a character or two may be in there already, but please refrain from posting until they enter, whether you character notices them or not. The battle itself will begin when Centara and Isis enter Gringotts, which will make the thread open to everyone involved.

- Opening and closing posts will hopefully be the longest posts in the threads. IF possible, try to keep your posts to three paragraphs. HOWEVER, we will not punish you if your creativity makes you write more. NO ONE PARAGRAPH POSTS. You will be able to find plenty to write about.

- If you have plotted with anyone that has not informed any of the admins of their participation, your post and theirs will be deleted. We have sent two messages asking to be made aware of any interest. If we didn’t hear from them, then we assumed they didn’t want to partake.

- Wand and wandless magic are permitted, wandless needs to be confirmed with administration. Please make sure that you and your plot counterpart have thoroughly discussed what spells will be cast, when and what the consequences will be because of them. Do not post anything that has not been discussed. Visit the Encyclopedia of Spells at HP Lexicon to view all approved spells for the battle. Made up spells are accepted as well under the conditions that both parties have agreed and have informed the admins of what they are. This is to make sure that things don’t get unbelievable and messy. Please respect this.

- Our final request is that all involved with the plot remain as active as possible just so we can have this thing done by the end of the month. The longer something takes, the less interest people can tend to have in it. Also, your partner(s) cannot post without you. Please be fair and considerate of the hard work they are also going to be putting into this thread.

[Kaydence Morgan]

Kaydence had been frequenting Alzubra Alley so much in the past couple of weeks that she was seriously considering buying a second home in the area to keep from apparating so much. It had all been for good reason though. It had been nearly two months since she had come home with plans to take down her brother. The amount of disdain she had boiling up from within her was indescribable. And it only seemed to be getting worse the longer she was in the country. Kaydence had been meeting people nonstop, but all the meetings had been for a purpose. All of the witches and wizards were mostly disgruntled followers and they all shared a common motive. They wanted Darren out of his position of power and they wanted it sooner rather than later. His followers had their reasons apart from hers. They were upset over his lack of action. In the time Kaydence had been gone, he hadn’t made any sort of move or attempt to contact them with news of any planning. Several were also frustrated that the masquerade hadn’t turned out as they had been told. While the attack was devastating, they felt Darren could have done more to exert his power over the Ministry and the citizens they protected. To her, it had been summed up that he had done nothing during his reign to impress them and it was time for him to go. Kaydence couldn’t agree more.

She had been thankful that none had questioned her own motives. It had to have been bizarre to meet with her considering she was their Lord’s sister. She also had been surprised to have received as much intel as she had. With the exception of one, most of her informants had unloaded their frustrations, plans and any information they could give her without question. Under normal circumstances, Kaydence wouldn’t have been told anything for fear of it getting back to her brother. Yet none had asked why she had dis-aligned herself with him. She had done her best to play it off and agree with their own frustrations. It had relaxed many of them and gave her the appearance of being just another angry follower who wanted someone of more skill to take over. Little did they know that she had every intention of being that person. It wouldn’t happen soon, but every possible effort was being made to ensure its success in a reasonable amount of time. Kaydence had no desire to continue planning her brother’s overthrow when she was thirty years old. At the very latest, she hoped to have things finished by next year. The problem was that she had no stable foundation to work off of. All she had was information and empty promises. Well to her they were empty until they were carried out.

Today had been another one of those hundreds of meetings she had since the summer had started. However, this time she had company. “Well that went better than expected,” Kaydence said, turning her head to look at Cammie as they stepped out of Purgatory and into the stifling summer heat. She had reconnected with the woman after years during her last meeting with Centara. Her name had been put on a list of disgruntled followers, so it only seemed natural for her to go and pay her a visit. Besides having a common goal, their former friendship had been rekindled, giving Kaydence a nice distraction from the drama that always seemed to follow her no matter where she went. She had forgotten how much she missed having a female companion in her life. Although the male position was trying to be filled, he didn’t appreciate the things that only a girl could. There was only so much complaining about being forced to tag along on a shopping venture that she could listen to for hours on end. Now there were too many colorful sale signs beckoning her into the shops they advertised for. At least she had Cammie with her to appreciate them. Remembering how the two had taken many trips to the Somerset Mall before it had been torn down during their days at Galaxia, the idea began to formulate in her head. Besides, if Ashton were here he would take one look at the signs and drag her to the nearest bar.

Shopping seemed the only feasible thing for them to do. They needed to be rewarded after a day of such positive outcomes. Kaydence had found out Darren had someone trailing him, an enemy from Poland who was reporting back to Demetri, the man they had just come from their meeting with. The man had promised to inform her of any news the other had to give. Stopping momentarily, she looked down into her purse to find her coin bag. Upon doing so, she noticed the bag weighed considerably less than it did the other day. “Damn,” she said to herself. If she had any intention of shopping like she normally did, then the amount in the bag would not suffice. Thankfully Gringotts was only a short walk away. Kaydence could dip into the family vault, steal a few hundred galleons and be on her way. It was one of the only ways that she could continue to get back at her family and she used it to her advantage. Considering she was jobless also made it necessary to add funds to her wallet. “I need to go to Gringotts,” she told Cammie, using her thumb to point in the direction of the bank. As the two women continued to walk, Kaydence led them off in the direction of Gringotts, hoping that it wouldn’t take too long to get in and out. The way those witches were eying the display windows meant that they needed to get in the shops before the greedy women took everything worth buying. It took only a minute or two for the two women to reach the marble staircase leading up to the entrance.

“Do you need to go in too?” she asked, stopping them once they approached the bottom. ”No, I went in earlier. I’ll wait here.” Kaydence nodded and began taking the steps one at a time. “Alright, hopefully I’ll be out within a few minutes.” She paused momentarily to look back at her friend. “Don’t even think about cheating. That scarf is mine,” she playfully warned, referring to the item she knew they both had seen. Laughing, she turned back around and continued walking upwards. Once she had reached the top, the door goblin bowed to her and opened one of the massive bronze doors leading into the cold and vast marble hall that held nearly a hundred goblin tellers. Kaydence walked through and headed straight for a desk that had just been made vacant by another with the same mission. “I need to get to my vault please,” she requested as she stopped in front of an old and leathery looking goblin. “Vault 21.”

[Darren Morgan]

For as many years as he had been in this position Darren never got over how his plans could change so quickly. All it took was one thing to change everything. The past several months had been dedicated to his next massive attack. Plans had been made, things were starting to take shape and people who he saw needed to be contacted, were. With Isis handling things on the home front, he had been able to spend the rest of his time taking care of things that only he could deal with. He doubted there was anyone whom could convince a rogue werewolf with a lack of respect for any form of authority to consider joining his fight against the Ministry and those unworthy. Nor was there anyone else who could take a young Russian male under his wing, one who had so much potential to do great things and steer him in the direction best suited for his abilities. There were many people who doubted his skills as a leader, but if there was one thing that Darren was going to prove within the next few months it was that he was one. If anyone ever had an inkling of doubt about him and his abilities, then he was going to make them regret. He would make them all regret ever wondering if he could live up to the leadership of his father and grandfather. Darren had every desire to show that not only did he, but that he was going to surpass them and do things no one could ever imagine.

The direction that things were going in was positive. Besides the hiccup with Zealon, the path was clear before him. Zealon was the only thing that needed to be dealt with. In all actuality, Darren didn’t see Centara as a threat. She was a girl with a vendetta who thought that just because she was a member of the undead, she had an advantage over him. He wanted her to think she had one over on him. She may have had numbers in vampires, but he had numbers in something better, werewolves. As Isis had shown time and time again, they were the ones that he could trust. More so now with the news that Centara was planning something. She didn’t overly concern him, but he was not a fan of people who tried to interfere with business. Isis had been dead set on eliminating her from the picture completely. He had listened for her go on for hours about how she needed to be the one to take care of her. Darren eventually decided that he would, simply because he was a giving person, and because he was tired of listening to Isis complain. It would be to his advantage to speak with Centara. Perhaps get her to her breaking point to his amusement. If she was planning something as Isis was trying to tell him, then he needed to know what it was and who she was associating herself with. That way he could pay them all visits to convince them that her word was not the one to be followed. Only if it came down to it. They may not be trustworthy, but more important things loomed over them.

The day had come for his plan to go into effect. Isis had just left to meet up with Centara at the location they had selected. He would be contacted when she had her and he would go to join them. Glancing up at the clock on his wall Darren hoped it wouldn’t take too long. He pushed himself from his desk and stood up. The confines of his office were too much for him. Leaving the office, he walked down the metal staircase leading down to the main floor of Halcyon Nights. It was still the afternoon so only alcoholics sat at the bar with their whiskeys and scotches. The loud music was making his head hurt. He didn’t care much for the place anymore. It had always been Kaydence’s interest. He had merely gone along with it to give himself a cover. No one would expect the owner of a nightclub to be the Dark Lord. Bringing the collar up on his long jacket Darren made his way towards the door. It was disgustingly hot outside, but the jacket never left his side. It was comforting. It set him apart from the crowd but the time was coming where he wouldn’t mind. He wanted people to know who he was and what he was capable of. He pushed open the door and stopped as he was greeted by a ray of sunlight straight into his eyes. Cursing to himself, Darren held up his hand to shield himself from it. As he did so, he noticed two figures walking a distance away. One of them with such platinum blonde hair that she was instantly recognizable. He hadn’t seen Cammie Wagner in years. It had been his own doing. He had been quiet, not speaking to any other follower besides Isis. There was a brunette next to her. He craned his neck forward, keeping his hand over his eyes to prevent the sun from blocking his view. It was when he did that the girl turned her head to the side.

Kaydence. Darren dropped his hand slowly as the realization sunk in. His younger sister was yards away from him. He hadn’t seen Kaydence since the masquerade. He had heard that she had been in the hospital, but left abruptly one day and had never returned. Yet there she was. Walking with Cammie with no care in the world. His first curled at his side. The last time he had spoken to his sister was when he and his father exiled her from the family. Her allegiance had never swayed, but she had gotten herself into compromising positions that questioned her ability to do anything for him. It was the only thing that was acceptable. His feet began to carry him in the path the two women had followed, keeping several feet between them as not to be noticed. Darren had attempted to keep tabs on Kaydence briefly after she left. Last he heard, his sister was off doing whorish things in the Netherlands. He would have never imagined seeing her again. They had never banished her from Austria, but he had thought that they had made their point of never wanting to see her again very clear. Apparently, he was wrong. Darren’s rage continued to grow from inside him as he hastily bumped into the shoulders of oncoming traffic, ignoring the curses and insults from behind him. He needed to get to her. A burning sensation had started in his forearm, indicating that Isis was ready for him, but more important matters were walking away from him. Centara was no longer his priority, Kaydence was.

He stopped as they did, watching Kaydence dig around in her purse for something. If it weren’t for her height and those blue eyes that were identical to their mothers, she would be unrecognizable. Darren wondered if she had changed her hair color to disguise herself. If she thought that would conceal herself from him, she was severely mistaken. It may have caused him to question her identity but it was only for a second or two. He couldn’t decide who he was more upset with. Kaydence for finding her way back to the country and looking so careless or Cammie for betraying him by appearing in public with his sister. The last he knew no one besides Isis was aware of what had happened between him and her. If Cammie had been given knowledge of the circumstances, then she had just put gasoline onto the fire. Her betrayal would not go unpunished. The two began walking again and Darren followed suit. Once they had turned, he saw the direction Kaydence was leading them to. Gringotts. His fingers began drumming the air, finding any way to let his anger have an outlet. She was probably going to take money out of their family’s vault again. How she had been able to continue doing this was beyond him. It had seemed pointless to pursue something as little as money. However, now was a different story. Kaydence was here and she was going to keep up with her daily routines. He would not allow that. He stopped momentarily as they reached the bank and spoke to one another before his sister left and disappeared within the bronze doors of the wizarding bank. This was his opportunity and it had been handed to him on a silver platter.

With the burn persisting in his arm Darren’s steps quickened. Cammie had been left behind. He’d take care of her later. The doors were close to him. He began walking faster. As he did so, Cammie noticed him. The look on her face spoke the words that confirmed his notions. As did the actions following. He watched as she quickly bounded up the steps, inevitably after his sister. Darren took his steps in half the time it would have taken, following suit and pushing the goblin at the door out of his way as he reached the top. He entered the enormous hall. The air was colder in here, making him thankful for his coat. Cammie had stopped in the middle of the lobby, looking around for his sister. He took advantage of her state and approached her. His hand grabbed her tiny bicep, turning her around forcefully. He smirked at the look of shock that he was greeted with. She knew everything. Darren tightened his fingers around her arm, hoping he’d leave bruises to remind her of her failure to warn her friend of his impending arrival. “I will deal with you next.” Those were the only words he spoke, but his deep and threatening tone had made its impression. He threw her arm away from him and continued on his mission to find Kaydence. It took only a few seconds before he spotted her speaking with a teller at one of the desks near a convenient corner where they could chat. Walking calmly towards her, he resumed the grip he had placed on Cammie a minute earlier. “That won’t be necessary,” he said, speaking to both her and the goblin at the desk.

The look on her face resembled her friends. Darren’s own remained expressionless. Without another word, he dragged Kaydence off to the corner he had seen. Once there, he positioned himself in front of his sister, making her unable to move past him even if she was stupid enough to try. “You mind enlightening me on what the hell you’re doing here Kaydence? I thought it was made perfectly clear your presence here wasn’t wanted anymore.”

[Cammie Wagner]

To say that she had been happy to get Kaydence’s owl a week ago would have been an understatement. She had done just about everything that she could think of to do by herself in the past few weeks. She liked to consider herself to be an independent person, able to support herself and do as she pleased, but after spending the majority of the month mostly alone she knew now that she did need the company of other living souls, even if she could pay her own bills. She had asked to be included in on Kaydence’s meetings; she wanted to be a part of whatever was coming up. Having her social calendar empty was not acceptable in her eyes. Sure, she had been to business meetings and a few parties, but it just wasn’t the same. She didn’t feel the urge to be so horribly bitter to everybody that she met so she didn’t even have the same verbal fights on a daily basis like she had whenever she was in school. Out of the few meetings that she had been able to supervise, the concerns that had been placed on the table were all valid concerns that she herself had been thinking while she had been in waiting. Nobody could say that she wasn’t dedicated; she had waited for three years, waiting to hear anything from Darren, for orders anything. She had given up, with great timing so it seemed. The current one seemed to be going well, she was more than happy to sit back and take notes while Kaydence asked the questions. They always met here before the club opened, she supplied them with drinks, peanuts if they were requested, attractive witches doing stretches on stage, it was a fitting enough atmosphere she thought. As their latest interview winded to a close the man rising, staring a little too long at Jasmine, who was working over her routine on stage, Cammie laughed softly as she walked to the door, rubber necking the entire time. Grabbing her large tan bag off the back of her chair and smoothing the front of her shirt down her torso she headed toward the door of hell, keys in hand. Kaydence didn’t stop as Cammie pushed in the chairs and followed after her. Closing the door behind them, she locked the door and followed her friend onto the elevator, not pausing to check in with the day manager of purgatory as they made their way into the sunlight. The second they stepped into the heat she regretted her choice of clothing, she had worn heeled boots because she was meeting with Kaydence, who looked like a giant next to Cammie in her regular shoes, she had almost a foot worth of height on the petite blond. The fabric of her shirt hung off of one shoulder, blue and white stripes running down the length of her body in blocks. One arm was almost naked while the other hand more fabric on it, she wished that she had worn the thing that she had pulled out of her closet first. She had just assumed that the weather was going to be fairer since they had been having almost constant rain for weeks. She had first thought of wearing a tank top and sandals, but her mind had gotten the better of her. At least she had the sense to wear shorts, those of a light tan color, the air hitting her legs should at least compensate for the heat that her torso was going to take.

“Well that went better than expected,” She didn’t have much of a chance to reply since they were already heading in the direction of one of the half dozen stores they had agreed to go into today. Whenever Kaydence came to a sudden stop, fishing around in her purse, she took the opportunity to walk a few more paces, letting her fingers run over a few hats on a rack placed just outside of one of the stores, the moving on to the scarf rack. Her fingers rested on a rather colorful one, waiting for Kaydence to catch up with her, she shifted the scarves around, looking at the ones that were behind them with interest. She was considering picking out a few to hold up to her clothing and face to get a real feel for the color whenever she head Kaydence mutter to herself. Letting them go, the bits of fabric fell back into place as Kaydence closed the distance between them. “I need to go to Gringotts Nodding once, she left her almost purchases behind and followed the girl to Gringotts, thinking that she was going to need to buy some stilts to keep this pace up all day. Kaydence had been graced with long elegant legs, she had been blessed with the curves, just on a far more minute scale. Kaydence was already half way up the stairs and she didn’t need to tag along every place that she went, they were independent people, she could get her money by herself. “Do you need to go in too?” Shaking her head she replied softly “No, I went inside earlier, I’ll wait here” “Alright, hopefully I’ll be out within a few minutes.” She nodded once, there were a few things that she could think of to do in her absence, but she should stay true to her word, she wouldn’t be inside long after all, the sun on her skin felt wonderful. Running one palm along the length of her other bare arm she smiled, leaning up against the marble railing that lead up into the building for a moment, before stepping forward to people watch. “Don’t even think about cheating. That scarf is mine,” “We’ll see about that” She teased right back. This was what she had been wanting all along, to come back into the light, and have her friends around her. She just needed to find a man to keep her warm in the evenings and she would be all set.

The streets were busier than she had seen them in quite some time. It seemed almost like things were getting back to normal, of course there was the ever present worry about when the next attack would come in the back of nearly everybody’s minds. Except of course, those who would know by the burning coming from their forearms if something was about to happen, while she may not be inclined to help out any longer, the dozens of meetings that she had sat in on with Kaydence was enough to convince her of that. Darren was no longer the winning team, the Ministry didn’t seem too much better off either, she wasn’t sure who was about to come out on top but he was willing to wait and see, she needed to know. Thankfully, Kaydence had agreed to let her sit in on the meetings so long as she supplied her with a meeting place, what better than a seedy strip club? Pushing her hair over her shoulder, she glanced down at the small silver watch on her arm; it was a delicate thing she had purchased earlier in the week. The day was halfway over, she watched silently as Kaydence ducked into Gringotts, no doubt needing more money. This week had been a slew of business luncheons, shopping trips and light drinking. She wouldn’t have been in the least bit surprised if Kaydence was running a little low on coin, if she hadn’t been saving up for the past few years she would have been as well. It was just lucky for her that business hadn’t dipped too long, and it was fortunate that she was in dire need of a new non-stained wardrobe. The two of them were working to reinvent the term ‘shop till you drop’ turning her body to look up the street in search of more signs bearing the words ‘clearance’ or ‘bargain’ anything of the sort, she wanted to add them to the mental list she was keeping in her head of stores that needed to be hit next. Reaching into the purse that she had just bought yesterday, she felt for her money bag, double checking it’s weight, she had been to Gringotts on her way to meet Kaydence this morning, and didn’t need to pull out any more money. If she did, she was going to spend herself into a hole. She had enough for a few more stores, and dinner this evening. Granted, she could just go back into her bar and eat for free but she was craving something a tad more sophisticated. Perhaps she could even convince Kaydence to join her.

It had been truly fortunate that she had run back into her. Whenever she had been contacted she had assumed that it was some cruel form of a joke meant to ensnare her formulated by Darren, never could she have imagined that Kaydence had been kicked out of her home, nor any of the other horrible things that had happened to her in the past few years. She had kept the details of her own recent past to herself, after meeting with Centara, she had been forced to realize just how insane the whole thing had been, most of all since nobody was putting much faith into Darren’s leadership skills anyway. Looking down into the folds of her purse she delved further looking for her compact mirror and lip gloss, no sense in standing there doing nothing. Pulling it out she lifted the double mirror to her face and snapped open the circle, rubbing on a dollop of gloss and spreading it with her finger, pushing the tube into her pocket and checking the rest of her face for smudges or frizz in her hair. All of the rain that they had been getting over the past month was brutal on her hair. Her skin was normally fair and since she had not been able to acquire any sort of tan, the rain was vexing her most. Glancing into the mirror she spotted somebody coming closer in the mirror. He was a tall brooding type, with thick dark hair. The kind that would have normally been her type, thankful that she was checking, hopefully without his knowledge she looked closer, he was heading her direction but didn’t seem to be looking right at her, he seemed to be looking at Gringotts, which wasn’t uncommon. Then his face came into view, what little color she had in her face left drained away, wishing that she had colored her hair something darker she turned to look him straight in the face, panic bubbled to her throat. She was torn between just waiting for him, hoping that a deep apology and a low bow might excuse something, anything of her behavior. Her fight or flight kicked in, she didn’t have any desire to be cursed for the next hour as penance, she had seen him do it before and she didn’t want to roll around screaming for his pleasure, he holds no more power she whispered to herself, shoving the still open mirror into her bag she grasped the marble railing of Gringotts and ran inside, the heel of her dark brown ankle boots clicking loudly, echoing once she stepped inside of the normally hushed building. Her eyes frantically scanned for her friend, her dark brown locks not coming into her immediate focus. Shit her brain repeated the phrase over and over again in her mind.

She found herself frozen in the middle of the entrance way, she knew he would be coming up on her soon, urging her feet to carry herself further, her grip on her bag was turning her knuckles white, the anticipation was killing her, she didn’t know how close he was and didn’t want to turn around and watch him, she felt like a child again. Men didn’t often intimidate her anymore, but she was publicly not aligned with him anymore, meaning that she was his enemy. As she took small steps forward, her eyes scanning each counter individually, she needed to find Kay, and quickly. There were dozens of sets of footsteps all around her, small fingers started to work their way down into her bag, closing around her wand which had been hidden away just in case whenever she felt a hand grasp her with force around her right bicep. Her yelp left her lips, her body jumped and her purse fell, luckily her wand was still in hand. As her body was jerked around she found herself wishing that she was either greatly smaller, so as to slide out of his grip or to have more heft, she didn’t want to be so light, he could throw her around easily. She found herself staring directly into the deep brown eyes of her former leader. The face that she had pledged her loyalty, she was terrified, and yet she wanted to ask him why he had abandoned her, she had a million questions, why had he allowed her to fall. She had been so loyal to him, she had done everything he had asked of her until that night, yet she had been left alone in the dark. She wanted to ask him to make it quick, but not a single word left her lips. She stared into his eyes with muted terror, her arm was starting to loose feeling. He was so angry, she felt him push her backwards, leaving her purse alone to be kicked around by the patrons of Gringotts. She was left cowed by the desks, nobody could see her, she was out of the public eye, he could do anything and they would only hear her scream.

“I will deal with you next.” As soon as he had come, he was gone. He left her on the sidelines with rapidly yellowing skin, making his way off toward Kaydence, she wanted to stop, to jump on his back and bash her wand into his head, yet she was stuck. Her hand had clamped instantly against the spot where he had held on. Her eyes watched helplessly as she followed his footsteps over to where Kaydence stood. She could only imagine the terror that would shortly show on her friends face must have looked something like her own only moments ago. Strange how they could sit calmly plotting a mutiny and yet whenever he was still face to face she was intimidated. There was no doubt that he was a frightening man, wishing that she had been grabbed on the arm with her sleeve to cover up the impression of his hand now wrapping around the span of her skin like a horrible tattoo she left it well enough alone and darted for her purse, it was still where she had dropped it, she could take this chance and run, get out of here for ever and leave Kaydence, but she wasn't going to be afraid anymore. With her body still shaking, she slowly made her way over to the siblings.

[Kaydence Morgan]

”Name?” She tugged at her side braid. “Kaydence Morgan.” As the goblin began writing something down on a sheet of parchment, Kaydence rested her arm on the desk, much to the dismay of the teller. She sighed and began drumming her fingers impatiently. The urge to shop was intensifying. Some would call it an addiction, but she considered it to be a good use of her time. It kept her busy and her mind off of all the other distractions in her life. Retail therapy was the best term to describe the effect the activity had on her. She enjoyed getting lost for hours in the endless racks of brightly colored tops and tight-fitting jeans. Piles of intricately woven scarves and boho chic hats and headbands always made her giddy. With everything that had happened in her life, Kaydence was comforted knowing that she still had one thing that had remained with her through all of it. Then again, she was a female. Shopping was like second nature to her sex. Even at a young age, little girls picked and pointed at what they wanted and had their mothers lead them to it before ultimately having it bought for them. Whenever it was her time to become a mom, Kaydence had every intention on continuing the cycle. She did feel bad for whoever the father would be. They would have to deal with her compulsive nature as it was, add another girl into the mix and he’d probably pull every single strand of his hair out individually.

Commotion sounded from somewhere away from her. Quirking a brow, Kaydence extended her head towards the right, but could see nothing. It didn’t help matters that a colossal marble column blocked her way of anything besides corridors leading off to the mine carts and tracks that spiraled every which way to various vaults of Gringotts. Shrugging it off, she turned her attention back to the teller who was still writing away. He was so intent on the words he was writing that she wondered if he had forgotten that she was standing in front of him. Kaydence drummed her fingers to a faster beat. The goblin looked up at her and scowled. ”Patience, Miss. Morgan. The necessary paperwork must be filled out before we can take you to your vault.” She was about to respond when she felt a hand latch onto her arm. A look of confusion washed over her features. Before getting the chance to respond, she heard a voice that she hadn’t in quite some time. ”That won’t be necessary.” Kaydence felt the color drain from her face. She knew that the two would come face-to-face at some point, but with the recent stability in her life she had been foolishly distracted. Turning her head slowly, the similar features of her brother reflected back to her. She had never forgotten what he looked like, but the shock still showed on her face. Darren’s appearance hadn’t changed in the slightest, yet now the darkness that she had remembered had intensified. His face was blank, his movement still. Her older brother was intimidating to say the least.

He said nothing as he dragged her from the counter towards a secluded area off to the side. Darren was only a few inches taller than her, but she was still struggling to keep up with his pace. Her thin heels weren’t helping matters either. Upon reaching the area Darren turned her body to face his, making sure to stand his guard in front of her so it would be impossible for her to get away without making some sort of noise. The look in his eyes indicated that public interest in their affairs wouldn’t bother him in the slightest. It was then that Kaydence suddenly grew very frightened of her current situation and the man whom she had once considered family. ”You mind enlightening me on what the hell you’re doing here Kaydence?” It didn’t seem like he knew her real purpose for returning which gave her some relief. However, he could have just been saving it as ammunition for later. ”I thought it was made perfectly clear your presence here wasn’t wanted anymore.” Sadness instantly flooded her entire body. Kaydence looked down, forming her lips into a straight line. Any mention of her family always hurt, but hearing it come from her brother took the hurt to a whole other level. He knew what effect his words would have on her. He knew how deeply he and their father had dug and twisted the blade into her back. She had suffered for so long at their hands, even after she had left the country.

She felt his grip tighten and she grimaced. Staying silent was not an option. Darren would find some way to make her talk regardless. It’d be best for her to beat him to it. “Well Darren, I was under the impression that there was more than enough land for the both of us here. I kept and have still been keeping my distance away from you until today, but even this wasn’t intentional.” Kaydence looked back up into the black eyes of her brother. “Does it really affect you or whatever you’ve been up to that I’m here? Clearly you haven’t made any sort of effort to track me down and take me out of the picture once and for all. So what does it really matter that I’m here?” Her anger may not have been the best reaction, but her pride had once again gotten into the way. Darren had already seen too much emotion from her. “I’d like to have my arm back now,” she told him, averting her gaze back to her limb. He was squeezing her so hard that she was starting to lose circulation. A tingling numbness was moving its way slowly down her left arm, nearly at her hand. “Darren, let go of my arm.”

[jmj23435]

When her mom had told her they’d be going school shopping today, Jenelle had not been happy. However, she needed new robes this year, and she had to come along to get measured. The promise of ice cream, also added to coaxing her to go. So they had set off. Parking outside the Leaky Caldron, they’d made their way inside and to the back. She tapped the wall and the two of them entered the doorway that stood where the wall was a minute ago. Magic like this simple trick never ceased to amaze her. It was impressive to her. That with a few taps with a wand, the wall made a door. It was interesting for the girl to think about. However, her mother calling her awoke her from her thinking about magic doors. She took her mom’s hand and they set off.

Much to her surprise, however they walked right past the robe shop and the ice cream parlor and the other stores. They came to a stop in front of a large building. Jenelle looked up, trying to guess how tall it was. However, her mother dragged her inside, ending the game. The girl smiled and followed her mom, being on the best behavior as they stood in line. For a 2-year-old, this was incredibly boring, so she looked around at all the people. Two people drew her eyes. They were in a corner, obviously arguing. She wasn’t sure, but it looked like the man was hurting the girl. She told this to Riley who shook her head and told her no to worry.

Her mother told her to stay here while she went and got the money. So, she went over to a bench and sat down. She took a small muggle bouncy ball from her pocket, tossing it up and down in her hand to entertain herself. However, she missed it and it went bouncing away, much to the dismay of the Ravenclaw. She watched it roll away, right to the feet of the man who was arguing. She stood up and bean to walk over there, reaching down and picking it up from the ground and placing it in her hand, “Sorry.” She said to him. Standing up and beginning to head back to the bench. She had a bad feeling about that man. He scared her. Silently she pondered the two who were arguing.

She noticed another woman, standing alone. She was holding her arms and staring at the two. Deciding not to get involved with the woman, as it might be trouble, she looked down at her feet and began to frown. She was bored. And a bored child was never good, Ravenclaw or not. She tried to think of ways to amuse herself, but she could think of nothing. Her thoughts went back to the man. He had a way about him, something frightening and something she didn’t like. He seemed to have an evil surrounding him. But she blinked that away. She was reading to many Divination books before bed, she decided.

[Darren Morgan]

Darren knew his comment would take her back to a place she presumably wouldn’t want to have visited. She needed to be taken back down a step. The fact that she was here was unacceptable. Kaydence had made her bed and was expected to sleep in it. If she couldn’t handle it, then perhaps she should have considered things in the long run before running off with that prat McBain. As the memory replayed in his head Darren’s grip tightened around her tiny arm. She had been so foolish, so naïve. Growing up, Kaydence had always been defiant, but when it came to joining him and listening to his…advice, she had obeyed. He had seen such potential in her. So much that he had been convinced that if Isis’ had not been in the picture, she would have been his right-hand. For all he knew, she could have been even more. That was just it though. He would never know. She had screwed up any chance of making herself out to be someone of importance by deciding not to keep her legs closed. However, if she hadn’t shown her ignorance and arrogance so early, he may have had to find out too late. In the end, Darren was aware that things happened for a reason. Even if he didn’t understand it at the time they occurred, he would later on down the road. This was one of those instances that he was slowly beginning to comprehend.

He smirked when she finally responded. Even in their time apart, Kaydence hadn’t changed one bit. “You may have a point,” Darren agreed, “you being here doesn’t affect me in one way or another.” He looked over to the desks and motioned over to them with his head. “However, when I catch you going in to get the money you’ve been stealing from me and my family, then you’re affecting me.” He had not been oblivious to her constant Gringotts withdrawals. He remembered one particular bank statement in which over a thousand galleons had been withdrawn in a day. Darren had been so angry that he had killed a house-elf after throwing an iron paperweight that resided on his desk in its direction. It would have been too easy for him to freeze the family account, but it was only of his only sure fire way of keeping tabs on Kaydence’s location. There weren’t too many people he could rely on as of late to be truthful with him and to do his bidding. Isis was wrapped up in other duties he had assigned her to be given an additional one. Although she would have taken the task up without question, he had more important things for her to deal with. As he thought of Isis, Darren remembered how she was still with Zealon. He was curious as to what was happening between the two. Given that the tingling in his arm had subsided, he assumed Isis had taken care of it.

Her demand was just what he was looking for. Responding, he squeezed her arm even tighter. “What’s wrong Kaydence? You’ve gotten the attention you have so clearly been wanting. The bank withdrawals? The sudden reappearance in Austria? Walking down Alzubra Alley with Wagner? If you think I’m stupid, then your time away has distorted your memory of the way you left things three years ago.” Darren was interrupted as he felt something roll into his foot. Looking down, he saw a child’s rubber ball. The owner of it, a small girl, shortly joined it. ”Sorry” was all she said before running off. He had never liked children. All the times Kaydence had been forced to babysit their father’s friend’s children when they were younger had been the worst nights of his life. He had always been requested to deal with them since his younger sister lacked the ability to rule with an iron fist. He, on the other hand, was quite good at getting children to calm down and remain silent. After one incident in which a young boy had broken the leg of one of his mother’s antique dining room chairs, Darren had hung him up upside-down in the air, keeping him there for a good thirty minutes until his face had turned completely purple. From then on he had gained the reputation of being an exceedingly gifted babysitter. His eyes followed the younger girl as she moved quickly back over to her bench. He glared at her as she looked back at him. He frightened her and he was pleased about it. Children needed to know their place in this world.

During his time being distracted by the young girl, Kaydence had apparently been up to her own antics. He looked back in time to see her shaking her head behind him. Moving his hand down to her wrist, he used his thumb to force itself on a pressure point. He could see her knees buckling at the pain. Smirking, he turned his body to the side and extended his hand behind them. The red beams from his conjunctivitis curse shot out of it and into the face of Cammie, who he had predicted was the person Kaydence had been. His satisfaction was indescribable seeing her fall to the ground and run her hands over her face. Though it should have been worse, Darren had only used a temporary version of the curse. She’d be blinded for no more than five or ten minutes. It would be enough time to get what he needed from his sister and leave before the two traitors tried to disarm him again. “I see you’re still letting other people suffer for your actions Kaydence,” he said, shaking his head as he looked back to his terrified sister. She was sure to think that he had permanently blinded Cammie and feared what he would do next to her. “Why people choose to associate themselves with you is beyond me. I can assure you that this is not all Wagner will suffer for choosing to stray away from her loyalties.” His thumb pressed deeper into the nerve, resulting in a small sound of pain from Kaydence. “And I see you’re still not good enough to attack when other’s backs aren’t turned.” Darren shook his head in disappointment. “You’re always going to be a failure Kaydence. The sooner you accept it, the sooner you can stop being a waste of people’s times and lives. Then again, perhaps you're doing the world a favor by ridding it of the stupidity that is constantly bringing it down.” He looked back at the squirming Cammie to emphasize his point.

[Kaydence Morgan]

Kaydence tried her hardest not to show any signs of pain on her face. That’s what he wanted. It was becoming increasingly difficult to do so with each time he exerted more pressure on her arm however. She tried to breathe in and out deeply in attempts to calm her frayed nerves. The calmer she stayed, the more she’d be able to tolerate the pain. At least that’s what she was telling herself. It was hard to keep herself focused on her goal as Darren began calling her out for her recent activities. The bank withdrawals had been intention. At the time, she hadn’t care if any member of her family had saw that she was taking money from them. It was the very least she could do to get back at them for everything she had gone through because of them. She would never be in the position she was now if they just been understanding, sympathetic even. It wasn’t like she deliberately got herself pregnant. Her family had been so judgmental. Barely unable to even finish the p word, her father had nearly killed her then and there if it hadn’t been for her mother begging for some other way to punish her. Kaydence had been unable to make contact with her mother since then but she figured it was for the best. Her father would kill her if he had any idea that they were posting back and forth.

At the mention of Cammie, Kaydence’s eyes widened. He had followed them from some point back in the alley. She scanned what she could see of the lobby for any sign of Cammie’s blonde hair. It wasn’t until she looked past the large marble column that she caught sight of her. Her friend looked just as frightened as she was, but there was a fire blazing in her eyes that she hadn’t seen before. Looking closer she saw her friend’s wand in her raised hand. Kaydence shook her head, praying Cammie would see and stop before she did something that was going to get her killed. She kept walking through. Darren’s head was turning back in her direction after a little girl’s toy had accidentally rolled in their direction. She had been scared for the child since knowing first-hand the way her older brother felt about them, but she was scared for her friend more. Darren would be less likely to kill the girl then he would over Cammie betraying him. While in mid shake her brother saw her face. His hand instantly went for her wrist, pinpointing a spot that made her want to fall to the ground yelling. Instead, the only thing she allowed on herself to waver was her knees. She looked on in horror as her brother turned his free hand in her friend’s direction and sent a spell spiraling straight into her face. Kaydence tried to yell out, but couldn’t. The pain was too intense. All she could do was watch as Cammie collapsed on the ground in agony.

Darren turned back to face her, but Kaydence couldn’t keep her eyes off of her friend. She was still flailing about. There was absolutely nothing she could do to get to her. She prided herself on being the type of friend who had the others back under any circumstances. If Cammie had gotten into a bar fight, she would have been the first one doing her best to rip the hair out of their opponent’s scalp. She may have been cruel and often so heartless that it seemed impossible for her to care about anyone than herself, but she knew the meaning of friendship. It was one of the only admirable traits about her. “I see you’re still letting other people suffer for your actions Kaydence.” She hadn’t been the one to tell Cammie to try and distract Darren, but she damn well should have. Cammie was lying on the ground writhing in pain because of her. Because she had talked her into joining her in her ultimate quest to get her brother out of his position of power. Every word that followed cut her deep. Almost as bad as the sudden burst of pain that came from his thumb digger deeper into one of the nerves running into her wrist. She yelped as it suddenly shot through her arm. Her knees buckled even more, causing her to bed over as she placed her hand on his to try and pry his thumb off of her wrist. “What…did you…do..to her?” was all she managed to get out through bated breaths. He ignored her, choosing instead to continue listing her faults as a human being.

During his belittling of her character, Kaydence heard a loud explosion sound from somewhere outside. There were no windows near their seclusion, but she was sure that she had heard a loud boom. If her brother had heard it, however, he chose to ignore it. It was his comment about Cammie’s intellect though that made her blood start boiling again. It was one thing to insult her. She knew she was a failure. She hadn’t been productive in anything since leaving Austria. Her brother would find out soon though that she had been since coming back though. It was another thing to insult Cammie who had done nothing but wait patiently for Darren to make any sort of sign that he needed her aid. He had no one to blame but himself for losing an asset like her. Digging one of her manicured nails underneath Darren’s finger, she did her best to cut at him with it. “I said let go of me!” Kaydence yelled it loud enough for people to hear, but wondered if anyone would actually come running. Besides the little girl, surely someone had to have seen the sequences of events that had taken place already.

[erin]

Erin needed a job. She needed some form of income in order to stay afloat. She bought most of her grocery's from the local farmer's market, but that required muggle money. So, any cash she took out of the bank for basic necessities had to be converted, and the goblins at Gringotts always charged a conversion fee. It really added up over the weeks, she was losing money with out even being able to spend it. Not to mention her jeans had ripped a hole through the knees a few weeks back, causing her to go to the clothing shop to purchase another pair. She also had to get another shirt or two for the coming cold seasons. She was beginning to lose money, and she had no way to replace it. The stress of it was taking its toll and she finally gave in to it. Whether she hated it or not, the need was there to grovel for employment.

Lo and behold, armed with resumes, the girl found herself in Alzubra Alley that day inquiring about employment. Any store would do, even as a night time cleaner. She wondered about visiting St. Everdines and asking to resume her internship there. Becoming a healer was not one of the career paths she sought after the most, but it was better than nothing. She had also sent a few owls to the ministry inquiring about jobs, but she doubted they would hire a Hogwarts drop out like her. She needed experience, and to have taken the right courses. Maybe, though, there was a mediocre desk job available for her to interview for. She was fully capable of copying documents and answering mail. Filing was a damn boring job, but that was also something she could do. If it brought in money, then she would take it, unless if coarse she had to prostitute herself. Well... desperate times...

Erin chuckled at this though. The idea of turning to a brothel as a means of income. She would probably attract the creepy pedophile types, looking the way she did. Shaking her head, she made her way down the street, having dropped off a few copies of her resume to a collection of shop owners and bars down the strip of the Alley. Most people barely gave it a once over, everyone was paranoid these days of who worked for who. They were likely terrified of being watched by a death eater, or being caught by the minstry for associating with the Dark Lord. Everyone was suspicious of everyone, which was rough luck for a job hunter. She hoped someone liked her personality enough to ask for an interview. Only persistence would pay off, as her father used to say.

She ducked in to a book shop for a bit to see if there were any novels or spellbooks she was interested in purchasing. Probably not a brilliant idea whilst being broke and all, but she needed some form of entertainment. Her cottage didn't have access to cable, and she didn't even have a Tv to hook up the cable to. It became mighty boring at night, and she'd already read through the majority if her father's paperback collection. She examined a book that was set on the shelf by the window, opening it to read a few snipets here and there of its contents. She happened to look up at just the right moment to see a familiar face walk by, next to another. Cammie and Kaydence, it was just as well that they were close friends. She could imagine they were two peas in a pod.

She walked up to the counter and purchased the book, keeping an eye on where the two were heading to. She wasn't one for confrontation, but she was in the perfect position to tail those two and maybe catch them doing something dodgy. She especially had a strong dislike for Morgan. Cammie had once caused her a month's worth of recovery at St. Everdines, but she'd been dealt the same blow. They were even in a way. But Kaydence, she had bullied her for years at Hogwarts and had even threatened her in broad daylight in front of a crowd of people just recently. She was itching to pay her back for that, cause some grief in her miserable life. It was not very noble of her, but she felt it was one of those things she had to do. She could see from her vantage point that they disappeared within Gringotts.

She paid for her book and took the package under her arm. By then a few minutes had passed since she'd seen the two walking towards the bank. Off she stalked, moving at a quick pace until she was bounding the steps of Gringotts bank. Pausing to look around, she noticed the tense crowd at the far end of the hall. Curiously, she moved towards the trio, trying to make out what was going on. By the time she reached about three quarters of the way there, the curse was sent at Cammie and she jumped. Her wand was out instantly, and she was cautiously making her way there. She wondered if Kaydence could see her. She could tell she was in distress, a man had her by the arm and she was bent over in pain. There was something seriously not right with the situation.

Erin really disliked Kaydence, a lot. But if there was someone out there who threatened her and caused her to be afraid, the girl figured they were worse. She reached the pillar that the group was closest to and stopped, wondering what to do next. She wasn't sure who to point her wand at, and what to do. Who's side was this man on? She had a feeling that it wasn't hers. She had to tink of something, though.

[Juliet Delia]

Juliet sat on the floor of her vault, sifting through the various contents. It had been virtually eons since she had last cleaned out all of the unneeded items that ended up sitting in her vault when she wasn't sure of what do do with them. Most of them were at least of some value, and of course there were a few that were worth more than her life. What she intended to clean out of her vault were things that she no longer had a purpose for.

She picked up a crystal orb and looked it over, the dust that had become caked onto it floating up into the air and adding to the already stuffy atmosphere. Her nose wrinkled as she tried to hold back a sneeze, attempting to avoid inhaling a rather large dust puff that was floating by her face. Allergies. One of the only things that magic could not seem to rid anyone of permanently. Gratuitously unfortunate as Juliet was willing to pay nearly anything to end the damned things. As the dust puff floated away, Juliet placed the orb into a pile she intended to keep. She stood up and walked to the door of her vault, pulling her wand from her cloak; the dust in the room simply would not do. "Scourgify," she said, her voice echoing in the chamber. As if a tornado appeared in the room, the dust and grime on everything in the room jetted to a central point and disappeared with a pop. "Delightful," she mused to herself as she strode over to a shelf in the back of the vault.

This particular shelf was new in her vault, and full of the items that she dare not keep in her own home. She picked up a vial full of Acromantula venom and shook it about, the liquid contents catching the light and tossing colours in a rather unsettling way. A sealed container next to it held powdered unicorn horn, yet another more devious ingredient in her stock. She was proud of her ability to use these ingredients, but she was not proud that she felt it necessary to own them. Her mother would more than likely wring her neck if she found out what she'd been spending her money on...

Juliet looked at her watch and sighed. Speaking of things her mother would wring her neck for owning, Juliet was due in about 15 minutes to meet a supplier for new Chinese Fireball eggshells, which she had been waiting for over a month to get her hands on. Quality ingredients were getting hard to find, never mind when they were restricted items. Juliet tossed her bag over her shoulder and exited her vault, hopping into the waiting cart. The man would be waiting for her in the lobby, and it always took at least 10 minutes to re-surface from the vaults.

Jumping off of the cart and back onto solid, unmoving ground, Juliet thanked the goblin in the cart, who merely nodded and gave a quiet grunt as he put the cart back into gear and sped away. Shaking her head, she pulled a small sack of several Galleons out of her pocket and made her way to a set of pillars near the entrance to all of the vaults. After examining the product, she handed the man the money, and he promptly disappeared from her sight, into the shadows and most likely out of the building before she blinked. She tucked the red and silver powder carefully into her bag, padding it with a sweater. Merlin help her if it spilled in her purse.

She began to make her way to the doors behind the pillars of Gringotts Bank, feeling that shadow was probably her friend when one had the amount of illegal contraband that she did. Times not to draw attention to yourself include... It wasn't until a low, angry voice reached her ears that she stopped herself. Peering past the pillar before her, only fifteen feet from her was Kaydence Morgan and a man she could not name, but certainly recognized. The scene was clearly not one of jovial reunion, that much was clear. Following Kaydence's gaze across the room, her eyes widened when they fell on a blonde woman, writhing on the floor in what was undoubtedly agony.

Juliet's hand moved to her mouth in a split second to smother the gasp that attempted to escape. This was not a good place to be right now, and she sincerely doubted that she would make it out of Gringotts fully intact if she didn't draw her wand very, very soon. A trembling hand reached into her robes, drawing her wand silently as she drew in a steadying breath. Eeeeasy girl, she thought to herself. Nothing we haven't done before... Thoughts of the Minister's Ball invaded her mind and her stomach churned. She and Kaydence had never been friends, per se, but they had at least been cordial in school. That, and her wholehearted desire for self-preservation, were more than enough reason to have her wand at the ready. She wouldn't walk away from someone when they were in trouble.

She drew another steadying breath and settled against the pillar, listening silently. It was time to wait.

[Darren Morgan]

”What..did you…do..to her?” Darren laughed at her. “How strange it is to see you caring for someone other than yourself Kaydence.” It was the truth. In the years before their meeting today, he had rarely ever heard his sister show any concern for anyone that hadn’t resulted from hearing the latest gossip or without her selfishly including herself. She had been the most self-absorbed woman that he had ever known. Though he agreed that there was nothing wrong with mentioning the family name in conversation, she had always taken it to the next level. He remembered overhearing one conversation when they were both at Galaxia in which she had said ‘Morgan’ six times in three sentences. Her selfishness irritated him, but he had been proud that she didn’t always just use the family name for her own intentions. Before she had gone and ruined her life, Kaydence had been an excellent addition to the Dark side. Her skills with a wand were exceptional. Her looks aided in getting even the most disgruntled of followers back on his side. While on business, she always managed to conduct herself with the utmost professionalism. There could have been nothing but great things in Kaydence’s future, but she had ruined everything. Not only for herself, but for him and their parents. Darren had firmly believed that if his title could have been bestowed upon a woman, that she would have been the first to do so. She had forced everything to change.

“I blinded her,” he finally answered, several seconds later, “I could have done more if I wanted to. You know that. However, I am doing my best to not get the Ministry called on me while we’re exposed like this.” Darren motioned around the room. “You and Wagner are making it increasingly difficult though. If someone doesn’t come over within the next few minutes, I would be surprised.” He glanced back at Cammie. Actually he had been surprised that no one had tried to interfere now. They hadn’t been yelling, but he had cast a spell inside of the wizarding bank. As he looked around not even a goblin had come to investigate. His brow arched in question. It was possible that no one chose to come over out of fear. Unlikely, but possible. Yet the hold he had Kaydence in was more than questionable. People and creatures alike rarely looked the other way when a woman seemed to be the victim of a man’s wrath. Still no one had come. Darren allowed a dark smile onto his face. Was it possible that he had Kaydence all to himself? That he could torture her for all to see and have nothing done to him? The images of her falling to the ground in front of him dead from the killing curse flashed into his mind. Out of all things, that would probably be the one thing to get Ministry officials on him the fastest.

His thoughts had temporarily distracted him. Enough for Kaydence to dig her nails underneath his fingers and began slicing at him. ”Let go of me!” Clearly the girl had learned nothing in her time away from the country. She had managed to cut the skin underneath his index finger upon yelling. As the sharp pain went thought his hand, Darren felt nearly on the edge of blacking out. The rage that coursed through his body had only grown worse over time. That, added with the anger at Kaydence being back in Austria, stealing their family’s money and now cutting him, made him see red. He removed his hand from her wrist and grabbed at her shoulders, ignoring a large blast that had sounded from somewhere outside. Darren forced himself forward, driving his sister into the wall behind them. Her head hit the marble wall causing a loud crack to echo through the tiny space. Kaydence’s shoulders slumped underneath his hands. He moved one of his hands to her mouth. The glazed over look in her eyes didn’t suggest she’d put up a struggle, but he wanted to make sure he was able to speak without any interruption on her part. “You’ve got a lot of nerve,” Darren s told her, his voice deepening. “All I was trying to do was talk to you Kaydence. Merlin forbid you don’t get the chance to talk just to hear the sound of your own voice.” He quickly looked around to see if anybody was walking towards them. No one. Turning back to Kaydence, he did his best to refrain from choking her. “I’m going to consider this your first and final warning to get the hell of Austria and not return. Don’t dig into the family vault. Don’t mention your last name to anyone. Don’t do anything that might cause one of my followers to repeat your name to me. Because I swear to you Kaydence, if I hear anything about you, I will kill you with my bare hands.” He had just begun to press his hand into her jaw when another loud blast sounded from outside. Curious, he dropped his hand from his sister’s mouth and began walking to the nearest window to see what it was trying to capture his attention. “Stay there,” he warned Kaydence as he approached one. If she thought he was done with her, she had another thing coming.

[Cammie Wagner]

Her pace was slow, she didn’t want to intrude upon the meeting, but the fact that he was so close to her, just few feet away from where she was currently standing, she wanted to curse him, she could have done so easily from this distance, but wanted to get her hands on him, it would have been much more satisfying, she wanted to burn his skin from her body. She had so many questions, bubbling up to her tongue; she wanted to know why he had sent her to that house, why he hadn’t been there for her whenever she needed him. A good leader would have helped her, repaid her for the years of loyalty, the effort that she had put forth to train new followers, so much of her own blood, sweat, and tears had gone into serving him, only to be cast aside like a used toy. It was unacceptable; she was worth so much more than that. She may be small, but she was powerful. She wanted nothing more than to confront him, shake him, and pound her fists into his broad chest. She had loved him, not in a romantic way but like an older brother, even as a father figure and he had left her just like her own father had. Kicked her while she was down. Her pace quickened, the fury in her eyes evident, she felt so much more alive than any amount of drinking or shopping could cause her to be. She wanted nothing more than to be even, to bring about the same scars onto his own body. She knew that Kaydence was telling her no, to just leave him alone, to save herself. She was pleading with her large blue eyes, her face petrified but she couldn’t stop. Her body was taking over, her brain was shutting down. She didn’t see the tiny girl, or the ball go rolling into Darren’s foot, she didn’t care to know what was going to happen to her, or how the tiny girl would no doubt be scarred for life if somehow she did manage to blow the man into millions of tiny bits. Her arm was a dark shade of purple by now, pulsing with every step but she could no longer feel the pain.

She didn’t even make it all the way to him, Kaydence was going to have to fend for herself now, and she hoped that she was going to be able to, one moment she was almost jogging toward the siblings, the next, she could feel her head cracking against the granite floors of Gringotts, and she could see nothing. Instantly, fear and claustrophobia setting in. There was nothing, the world was dark, her eyes felt like they were bleeding, like tiny knives were stabbing into her head, her bag fell once again, her wand landing silently onto of it, her hands flew to her face, her blood curdling scream left her lips no doubt bringing about the attention of half the building. The pain wasn’t stopping, it was worse than just being blind, it was dredging up her past, The childhood that she had been running away from her entire life. She had no time to feel if her hair was turning red from her own blood, even if she hadn’t been cursed, it was likely that her vision was going to be foggy from the blow she had took. What had he done? Why couldn’t she see? Loud whimpers left her mouth, only they didn’t sound like her voice, she didn’t know whose voice it was, but it sounded like they were in agony. Her fingers clawed at her face willing to see something, anything, even grey shadows against the total abyss. Nothing she was doing would do anything to lessen the pain, Merlin why wasn’t it going away?

She was seven again, her ribs were still aching from where he kicked her, it hurt to breath, she wasn’t physically able to stand. The world was so dark. He didn’t allow her to turn on any lights in the house, she had been scared of the dark since infancy, but this was the worst. All she was allowed was a bucket of bleach. She had to use the corners of her dress to protect her hands from having to scrub with her bare knuckles. She didn’t like the blisters that the chemicals would leave on her hands, they hurt too much whenever they ruptured. Her had no idea what her face looked like, and the last time that she had brushed her hair. Marlon was away at boarding school, things always got worse whenever he was away. She hated cleaning with bleach almost as much as she hated pulling things from the oven without oven mitts. She was locked there for hours, with just the fumes of the bleach and her raw, bleeding skin. He was likely asleep, he wouldn’t allow her to leave the broom closet until he woke up, or until the company he had left. She had no idea what time it was, she was forced to cry in silence. She wanted to cry now, she wanted to wrap her arms around her frail body and rock back and forth in attempts to get some sort of comfort that she knew she wasn’t going to get from anybody else. She didn’t like the dark. That was where he…she could picture him, swinging open the door to the tiny closest she called home, his large silhouette shining in the darkness, the light behind him hurting her eyes and making him seem only that more intimidating. She had no choice but to watch as he came closer to her, stooping over and grasping handfuls of her dirty hair, balling it into his fist and forcing her to stand, but her legs were so weak, she was shaking like a leaf. He tossed her into the corner, another bruise was added to her body from the corner of the bucket, she was forced to sit in the spilt bleach, and yet still he advanced. Another softer scream left her lips, pleading. She didn’t want to see anymore, she didn’t want to relive it. She could feel tears burning down her cheeks, which was a strange comfort, because it meant that her eyes were still intact she managed to roll over, wanting to get away, she wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear she was terrified.

Yet, as quickly as it had come, it was gone. There was no waiting, she vision was just back, and she could see everything around her in crystal clear clarity. Her hands probed her face just to be sure, grasping her personal belongings she stumbled into a sitting position, scrambling backward against the countertops, sure that a goblin was leaning over to look at her, bringing her knees up she wanted to stop shaking. This was not the first time that she had been cursed by Darren, and no doubt it wasn’t going to be the last, not by a long shot. She was grateful, it had only been temporary, he was giving her a warning. One that she really ought to obey and get the hell out of dodge as soon as possible. She watched in muted terror as Kaydence was slammed up against the pillar, she didn’t dare move to see if she could spot the source of the banging coming from outside of the building. Her body wouldn’t stop shaking, the tears wouldn’t stop falling. As crazy as it was, she wondered if there was something that Darren still saw in her, some way that she could still be useful. She was still angry with him, and wanted an explanation but the fact that his curse hadn’t been permanent must mean that he still cared about her at least a ,little bit. Her eyes were wide, darting around the bank to see if there was anybody coming to help her. She tried to slow her breathing.

There was nobody, nobody was coming to help her; nobody was coming to help Kaydence. Everything seemed frozen, like they were inside of a movie and the world was moving in slow motion. Did they know who Darren was? Had he revealed himself in the short time that she had been handicapped? Her nails were digging into the skin of her palms her hands were balled so tight; it was the ball all over again. Staring around the room now, even some of the players were the same, Kaydence, Darren and herself. She could see another dark haired girl from school that she didn’t know the face of, and who knew who else was fated to be here today. Shouldn’t the ministry be stepping in right about now? Shouldn’t the Auror’s be descending and coming to rescue everybody? Or was the Ministry really as incompetent as she wanted to believe? Perhaps the Minister had abandoned them, in which case there was no force left to oppose Darren except Kaydence, Herself and the few people that were allying themselves with the woman. This thought gave her enough strength to stand, but slowly, regretting the choice of heels for only a moment. Luckily she was used to them and once she got to her feet, was able to stand steadily with the help of her hand grasping onto the ledge of the desk. She dropped her purse on the desk; she wasn’t going to need it anymore. Grasping her compact in one hand and her wand in the order, she threw the tiny, circular mirror directly at the back of Darren’s head, this time her hurt would be evident, he would not be able to ignore it. Her face still streaked with tears she took one step toward him, not daring to attempt to shoot a curse in his direction, he was going to be angry enough as it was.

[Kaydence Morgan]

With every new insult coming from his mouth, Kaydence got angrier. Addition to the increased pain from Darren’s death hold she felt ready to explode. The fact that she could care about someone other than herself was nothing new. It was just frequently hidden. It had begun to expose itself again when she had reconnected with Cammie. The two girls both seemed in a place where they needed the other. Not only to be social, but for that source of comfort they so desperately craved. On her end, Kaydence also needed a distraction from Ashton. He was so overbearing sometimes. He constantly showed up at the most random places and often broke into her apartment just to ask her to accept the fact that he wanted her to be his. She had agreed to it originally not knowing the type of person he could be. After rejecting him, it only seemed to fuel his fire more. His advances were hard to say no to, but she had continued to force herself to say it. If he wanted to be in her life, the only role she could allow him to have was a friend with benefits. That was it. After their epic weekend showdown, Kaydence had sat back and thought about everything. It was in her and his best interest for them to remain what they were. Both had too much baggage for the other to add on to their own. Plus with the increased time that she had been spending on her quest against Darren, she needed to focus her attention on that and nothing else. With every continued attempt though it was growing harder and harder to resist. Eventually she felt like she would break and for that she was glad she had Cammie to keep her grounded and for a female companion who enjoyed shopping as much as she did.

Cammie. It was hard to keep her eyes away from her friend while trying to get her brother off of her. ”I blinded her.” Panic overcame her. ”I could have done more if I wanted to.” Kaydence knew he could of. She was relieved that the damage had been somewhat minimal. Hopefully Cammie wouldn’t have any long-lasting effects from whatever it was he had cast on her. She had been stunned to see Darren now knew wandless magic. Although inevitable given his position, she had never seen it up close. He did it with such ease it was like he had never used a wand before. It had also elevated her fear of him. One had to be powerful to seem so comfortable with wandless magic. At his mention of the Ministry, Kaydence looked around. No one seemed to have any paid them any attention besides Cammie and the little girl. Neither was in any position to alert the authorities so it appeared that Darren would have nothing to worry about. It was unbelievable that not a single outsider had come to see what the ruckus was in their little corner. Given that no one had ever peered around the pillar to see what was happening, she dug deeper into her brother’s skin.

Truth be told, Kaydence didn’t know what kind of reaction to expect from Darren. All she knew was she had to find some way to get him to release his hold on her wrist. The pain was excruciating. She doubted that it was her mind playing tricks on her. The pain was very real. Her brother couldn’t have perfected some new sort of magic that made his victim imagine things that weren’t real. However, she hadn’t been around long enough to know what he had been up to in her time away. Her paranoia was starting to get the best of her again. It had been a newer trait of hers that she had developed in her time out of the country. Though she didn’t feel like she could be blamed. Being more or less forced to leave one’s home country and live a lifestyle of a rogue traveler who needed to keep out of sight from her brother who was the Dark Lord could do that to a person. The situation Kaydence found herself in now could do nothing but confirm that. She continued moving her nail back and forth. She knew that she had gotten a portion of his skin once he had pulled away from her. However, she had no time to react as his hands moved straight for her shoulders and her body went weak. She could nothing as he pushed her backwards. Her body finally stopped moving when her head made contact with the wall. Dark spots clouded her vision, randomly appearing and disappearing. She felt lightheaded and wouldn’t have slid down to the floor if it hadn’t been for Darren holding her body up. While the pain in her wrist had stopped, it reappeared in her head. It even hurt to blink.

Kaydence didn’t know why Darren chose to cover her mouth. The throbbing in her head was so intense that she doubted she could speak even if she wanted to. Her eyes couldn’t focus on his own. She could barely even comprehend the words that were coming out of his mouth. Though she was able to understand his final warning. If heard anything about or from her again, she would be dead. It was one thing to think about Darren killing her, but another thing entirely to actually have him threaten to do it. Her widened eyes felt like pins stabbing the front of her face, but she couldn’t help it. Her life had been threatened and there was nothing she could do about it. No one would be able to protect her. She shouldn’t even have any sort of relationship whether it was friendly or more for fear of her brother finding out about anyone in her life. His hand began pressing into her face causing her head to be pushed even more into the wall. The pain was unbearable. Whimpering underneath his hand Kaydence was on the verge of passing out when another explosion sounded from outside. This time Darren heard it. She gasped as air flowed freely back into her lungs. Leaning over she continued to breathe heavily as her brother retreated to the nearest window to have look for himself. All of this was too much. She needed to apparate home and take comfort in the company of her dog. Her fear grew as she thought about what he could do to the only thing she loved in this life.

It was as she looked up that she noticed Cammie finally regain her sight. Kaydence opened her mouth to call out for her but instead looked on in shock as her friend’s compact made contact with the back of her brother’s head. “CAMMIE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” She took a step forward to restrain her friend from doing anything else to irritate her brother but was unable to. Not only was she light-headed, but she lacked the ability to even stand up straight because of her headache. She wondered if this was what a concussion felt like. “Damn it!” she yelled to no one in particular. Bringing her hand up to her head, Kaydence looked at brother and Cammie helplessly, sick to her stomach of the pain and her inability to do anything worthwhile.

[Darren Morgan]

If he had any question as to why he and Kaydence hadn’t been interrupted, his answer stood in numbers around the windows. The hushed voices and pointing towards the glass and their frames indicated that there was something more important going on outside. Darren’s curiosity was getting the better of him. For something to ensnare the attention of that many people from a situation that involved a man getting the best of a woman, it had to be worth seeing. He had just pushed past an old man with a cane when he felt something small hit the back of his head. His hand went to the back of his head. Rubbing at the spot, he turned his focus behind him, hoping to see whatever it was that had hit him. His eyes instantly found Wagner with wand in hand and looking extremely unhappy with him. Darren glared at her, continuing to rub at the annoying pain as his sister yelled the same question he was thinking. The woman never learned her lesson. He had just cursed her and yet she got back up and looked ready to fight. Though he would have loved nothing more than to curse her into oblivion, more pressing matters were at hand then dealing with a silly little girl who hadn’t fully accepted her place. She had served her purpose after the last night in his bed. Wagner had been devoted, he could give her that. Yet there were no abilities she had besides her supposed loyalty. None that could help take their cause to places anyway. She wasn’t a werewolf or a vampire. She hadn’t spent her life devoted to the dark arts. She had been a girl eager to find her place. She had found it when she befriended Centara and Kaydence. After they had left though, she had been all alone and he had been there to provide her with the necessary comfort.

She had worn out her welcome and was doing so even more now. The hurt was evident in her eyes, but Darren couldn’t fathom what it was she was still holding on to. If there was some sort of confusion on her view of their previous relationship, he had no problem with clearing it up at a future time. With every foolish move she kept making though, she was making him more irritated and less willing to give her the time she so desperately wanted. He wanted to take the steps to close the distance between her. It would have been too easy to put her back on the ground, a victim of another more powerful spell. There were new ones he had wanted to try out. She seemed the perfect specimen. However, when his ears caught a certain word she had been erased from his thoughts as he had done so the last time he had kicked her out of his bedroom. ”Look! The Ministry!” Eyes widening, Darren quickly made her way to the closest window. What the hell could have possibly been going on outside to get the Ministry’s involvement? His question was answered as he looked out into Alzubra. There were clouds of dust everywhere. A building was aflame. Hundreds of people stood watching in shock as the Ministry attempted to keep people clear of a fight in the middle of the alley. It was difficult for him to see the participants, but once his gaze landed on the hair of one of them he knew right away. He knew that jet-black cascade anywhere. “Isis.”

Moswen was in the middle of the street battling with someone he couldn’t recognize but was of similar strength and ability. She was fighting someone like her. Several emotions filled his body. Anger, irritation, confusion, to name a few. Darren was more stunned then anything. Isis was fighting out in public and had caused enough damage to give way to an astounding number of charges the Ministry would inevitably file on her. Her stupidity baffled him. She knew better than to be so careless. However, she would not have gotten this worked up for no reason. Moswen may have been hot-headed, but she knew how to remain civil. It had to have taken something or someone of great magnitude to get her to the point of completely ignoring the entire department of magical law enforcement and continue with the wrath she was unleashing. Several Ministry members were gathered in a small group off the side, assessing the situation and deciding how to best handle it. Meanwhile, the two women, the other one looked like a woman anyway, raged on. He nearly grimaced as he watched Isis slam her opponent into the ground, leaving the others impression in the pavement. That was the bloody Ministry. Taking their precious time to figure out how to handle a situation that needed to be resolved then and there. It would never fail to amaze him how the people they governed continued to look to them for guidance and protection. Now was a clear case of an inability to cease any ongoing damage to innocent civilians.

Then an idea came to his mind. It was perfect. He had been planning for so long to attack the Ministry again and here they were standing outside, doing the very thing he had wanted to prove to the entire wizarding world. They were showing how useless they really were. Darren hadn’t needed to continue planning. They had brought his next attack to him. Technically, Isis and her opponent had, but their lack of action was the ammunition he needed to strike. Turning around, he moved so fast he practically ran towards his sister. As he past Cammie he lifted his arm in her direction, her body crumpling to the ground in pain as an invisible fire raged at her insides. Kaydence had still been unable to stand in his absence which would make her resistance impossible. “I need your arm.” Grabbing her right arm, he tapped once at the area her Dark mark was hidden. It appeared instantly at his touch. A dark smirk appeared on his face as he once again took hold of her arm with one hand. “If you’re trying to play in the big leagues Kaydence, I’m going to let you be the one to get the other players involved.” She looked back at him in horror, her head shaking, pleading with him to not do it. There was nothing that she could do that would stop him though. “You’ve done this to yourself,” he informed her, pressing his thumb into the tattoo. The serpent began moving around her skin, letting him know that his call had been successful. He pressed deeper into her skin which resulted in a groan of pain from his sister. The fire in her arm burning with intensity.

His followers would be arriving any minute.

[Ashton Wentworth]

This morning had started out with such promise, there was no more draft coming in from his upstairs window, there were no more water stains on his ceiling, and the paint fumes had all but left his house. He had been forced to deal with birds for a week after he had made the mistake of leaving the windows and doors open to air out the house. He still hadn’t figured out what to do with the pool house, it was the only thing that had not yet been victim to his sledge hammer. He had only knocked out a couple of walls, thus eliminating rooms that he felt were wholly unnecessary. He hadn’t done too much to the house overall, he had just eliminated almost all of the pastilles, it was still abundantly obvious that he had not been the one to do the original decorating, Only the rooms that he felt were going to be frequented by his presence and whoever he brought back to the house had he changed entirely, like the media room and the bar/pool room. The kitchen served a purpose, but he had specific memories in there, so he didn’t change too much. Now that the project was almost done, he needed to find another project. Besides Kaydence, she was proving to be a very interesting game indeed, while they had started down a rather rocky path for the longest time, things had evened out, he was sure that she was bound to cave any day now. He had an interesting night planned for after he got off work, which served a dual purpose, it would allow the day to go by that much faster since he had something to look forward to, as well as allow him to surprise her. He had managed to bend the no apparating rule to where he could apparate onto the ledge of her balcony, and thus break into her apartment. She always seemed so irritated, but never once had she forced him to leave once she had caught him. Ever since that afternoon in the stairwell, things between them had really taken an interesting turn. She kept pretending to say no to his advances, but he caught her prolonged hesitation that grew each and every time. It was only another week, tops before she caved and was his for the taking, and not in the physical sense. That, at least never seemed to of ceased.

Standing here now, in Rutherford’s office, the same place that he had been standing for over two hours now. He had been called in an hour after he had arrived this morning. Apparently, he had been needed to take part in a meeting that he knew nothing about, he was even less to walk in and find Stavros sitting at the chair waiting. He didn’t dare sit next to him, instead he had perched himself against Fordie’s filing cabinet, arms folded across his chest, ankles crossed, lips tight and his eyes focused on Stavros’s stupid head. He was attempting, once again to apply for active status. While Ashton could help it, he was going to do everything in his power to keep that from happening. It was hard enough working in the same building as the git, much less the same floor. Having to work his breaks around the other man, come in early in order to duck into his office to keep from seeing the man’s jaw was the best option to keep from getting suspended again. He had listened to the whole spiel, he had listened to Fordie ask his little follow up questions and ask for references. He had even stood silently whenever Tristan bragged about his hand to hand combat skills and the extra training that he had taken it upon himself to get. Yet, whenever he said that it was in the department’s best interest to promote him to active status that Ashton lost it, a slow whistle left his lips, as it died down a smirk became glued to his face, his eyes feigning the emotion of being impressed. “Well now” he said taking a step forward and placing his arm on the back of his boss’s chair. The feeling was flooding back to his feet, and it would have been detrimental to his cause to limp at the pins and needles overcoming his legs, they hadn’t been in use for so long he hadn’t even noticed them falling asleep. Using the chair for support and holding very still until the sensation passed, pretending instead to focus on the application in Fordie’s hands. Pointing at the paper beside it, with the quarterly report numbers listed, he was pleased to see that they were above in their numbers, and that Ashton specifically had caught one more ‘bad guy’ into custody. “It seems to me that we’re doing just fine without you” he lifted the report and looked at the blank sheet underneath it; at least Tristan wouldn’t know that it was blank. “I don’t think we have room on the payroll for another active, but you are more than welcome to come work for free” He returned to his full height once the tingling had subsided “Like a slave” Rutherford didn’t look very happy at the comment, but the budget was something that he couldn’t ignore. He tuned out whatever his boss said next, and ignored the arguments from the peanut gallery, sitting half way onto the corner of Fordie’s desk; he attempted to make himself comfortable. He was glad to sit, his boots were comfortable, but he didn’t like to stand still for that long, and his aching feet were thanking him with every second that passed.

Staring out the fogged glass panel in the door, he was reading the backwards letters for what had to be the millionth time that day whenever he felt an aching in his chest. Out of instinct, he pressed his hand to his chest, rubbing softly like he did to ease hunger whenever he hadn’t eaten in a long time. As his hand worked over to the sternum, where his Auror Badge lay against the white fabric of his Cream colored Henley shirt he could feel the source of the heat. Lifting the badge carefully by the leather trim he glanced down at it, the picture of his face was glowing, sparks going off in front of his image’s eyes. His badge had been one of the things he liked more about becoming an Auror in the beginning; they looked so similar to the ones that he had seen in the muggle cop dramas that he had watched so often as a child. Instead of saying “F.B.I” they read “M.O.M” With a bronzed moving holograph of his face. Underneath laid his last name and impressed into the metal was his badge number; almost everybody on the floor had one. While he was sure that Tristan was eyeballing him with yet more jealousy he could feel irritation growing. The secretary had been using the new summoning system a lot over the past few weeks; it would start out like heart burn, and grow in intensity and brightness until the fireworks that started on the badge literally showed up in front of your eyes. Much like the floaters that lingered after having ones picture taken. Glancing over his shoulder to his boss, the irritation grew to concern, their secretary didn’t often ping the department heads if it was one of her pranks, or her wanting to have company other than her abundance of pets. Rutherford seemed to be concerned as well, since he was looking down at his own badge, then to Ashton expectantly. At this point, Tristan had to be more than confused because not only was it a new process, the sorting system but only active employees of the Magical Enforcement floor were able to see them, and then only the ones that were needed were called. His brows furrowed as he rose to his feet, grabbing his new leather jacket off the back of the chair next to Stavros and heading out the door at a brisk walk, the secretary seemed to be gathering people, so the chances were it was not a test. Sliding the garment over his arms despite the fact that he knew exactly how hot it was outside he watched as a few members of the office disappeared into thin air. Rutherford must have explained that Stavros should either stay seated or go back to work and he could guess which one he was going to pick. The floor seemed to be in an uproar, people moving about and rushing toward the windows to get a look at whatever he had guessed was causing the alarm. He stopped only to clear his mind enough to apparate and grab his wand, but in that short time he found a hand wrapping around his forearm, whipping around he found himself face to face with the man he was hoping would know enough about protocol to leave well enough alone. The badge was burning against his skin, and it would continue to do so until he answered the call or appeared at the scene, he could do neither until Stavros let go of his arm. Groaning in frustration he yanked his arm from the man’s grip ”Where do you think you’re going? Our meeting is nowhere near over Wentworth. You’re not going to squash my chances that easily” At this he smiled, raising one arm up he planted it with force into Tristan’s chest, forcing the man backwards. If he wanted to know what was going on so bad he could crowd the windows with the rest of the floor “You’re not ready to play with the big boys Stavros” he stated with a smile. His vision was starting to show fireworks, closing his eyes he let them play on the backs of his eyelids as he imagined himself on the street below.

Before he even had a chance to open those eyes and bask in the relief that there was no more fireworks or burning, the air was filled with screams. Glancing over his shoulder he looked up at the windows of the ministry, he couldn’t pick out Stavros’s face, but it was sure to be there somewhere, smirking he turned to find out what all the commotion was about. It didn’t take long, the sight of damage was overly evident, he was happy to see the first wave attack response team at the ready around him, and a few seemed to be attempting to get the random shoppers to safety. No doubt they were taking them straight back to the Ministry to question them, that would be priority one, defending the building harboring all the witnesses was second, then containing the fight. Wonky order but it worked. Jogging straight over to McNally and Forbes, people who had the cubicle directly outside of his office he didn’t wait to be briefed on the situation, they were just pointing, no doubt this was above their pay grade. Following their eyes he spotted the problem, two women seemed to be fighting, and rather destructively, from this distance he couldn’t recognize either of them, but it was obvious that they weren’t human. They were too quick, too strong to be able to do the things that they were doing and not be already split in half, was impressive. His jaw lowered a fraction of an inch, grasping his wand tighter into his palm he made a hand signal to send them in either direction, wanting them to control the crowds, empty out the stores and get the doors locked, place charms to keep any supernatural beings outside if they thought that they had the time. Merlin it was so loud, it was like they had never seen a fight before, everything seemed to be happening at once. He was going to have to be the one to go straight for them, being that he was the only one with any real experience handling these creatures. Once he had given all the orders he possibly could he checked once to make sure that they were actually being carried out, it seemed like they were. Closer to the fray he could see Rutherford pushing people back into a store and slamming the door shut, charming the door shut so they couldn’t be caught in the fray. The worst thing about fights like this was not the damages to public property, it was the people who couldn’t help but to linger and stare instead of heading to the hills. Violence attracted people in a more than unhealthy way.

Taking his window he began making his way toward the pair at a full run, wand pumping up and down in his arm, he needed to be closer to immobilize them, if nothing else to surround them in a bubble to keep them from harming others, luckily they seemed to be moving back into the street. He was growing closer; he could hear their insults and screams at each other. Since they both looked human, there was no telling what they really were until they let something slip. Some tell-tale little sign that would help him figure out exactly what he was up against. There were hexes that would help against anything, no matter what they really were, but in order to really subdue them he was going to know what they are. He ran an arc around them; they seemed to have only taken out some tables and a few other trinkets along the way. He needed somewhere that he could cast the charm to contain them in safety, if they moved around him too much and broke his concentration it wouldn’t work. Glancing to his immediate left, he saw the steps of Gringotts, he could protect the bank and contain them. Two birds, one stone. Taking the steps two at a time he lifted his wand in front of him, ignoring the stitch that was forming in his side from running so quickly down the cobbled path to get close to them as possible, luckily for him they seemed ignorant of the world around them, only seeing each other. Rolling his wrist he cleared his throat and focused, the words were just about the leave his mouth when he recognized one, a pair of gold eyes glanced at him, and seized hold of the other woman’s long dark locks. Their eyes locked it was the girl who had come into his office a month ago, who had questioned him so in depth about his job and what he did. The same woman that he had been gathering information about in his spare time. His eyes widened, temporary shock filling his body, she was supposed to be working for the Ministry wasn’t she? She was supposed to be one of the good guys. At least he had been right in suspecting that she wasn’t human, one woman had gold eyes, the other red. At least they weren’t the same thing, he had no time to speculate on the cause of the fight, nor to finish the thought about how the girl with red eyes was likely a vampire before he saw the body those red orbs were attached to come sailing into his body.

He went sailing backwards into the reinforced doors, yet the impact was so strong that he felt the door give and the pair of them slide into the room a good few feet. He was lucky that his ribs weren’t crushed on impact. His wand was knocked loose from his grip on the moment of impact with the ground, the air forced from his lungs. He could feel a pounding in his head but he couldn’t stop. He wouldn’t allow them to get away. They were no longer in the street which was a plus, but now the money of every person in the wizarding community might be in jeopardy. Wheezing, he wiggled out from under the body weighing on his chest and scrambled for his wand, badge weighing heavy against his chest. Yanking his jacket off and letting it fall to the floor he needed better range of motion than what that would be able to provide. Shame that no doubt his second jacket since he had been here was about to get ruined, or lost in the fray. He had no idea if the woman was interested in who she had collided into or not, but if so he needed more protection than his bare hands could provide. He was strong, but no match for a rage infused vampire. His hand closed around the handle of his wand and he rose to his knees, he was going to spin and see where exactly the pair were, he would only guess that Isis have moved into the bank by now, wanting to finish off her opponent, something that he couldn’t allow to happen. They both had a one way ticket to Azkaban waiting for them for this, and he wanted to be the conductor on that train. Lifting to his feet he saw that they had landed directly at the feet of a couple, he wanted to turn and cast the spell that so needed to be done to end this mess but the face that he came in contact with stopped him in his tracks. Kaydence. The fact that she was pulling money out was not surprising, nor was the fact that she was in Alzubra in the middle of the day. That was normal behavior to him; she loved to shop and did it almost every day so he could tell. The surprising part was the fact that she was kneeling next to a man, not quite as tall as he was but a close second. He was what he assumed the woman called “tall, dark and brooding” Confusion overtook him. For a moment, there was no fight, there were no beasts pushing him into banks, the pain in his body was gone. He was confused, he thought that their little game had a similar goal, she was getting to play hard to get and she was getting to believe that he was chasing her while he got the satisfaction of knowing that she wanted to say yes, and that she was going to be his, and only his soon enough. This however, was bound to change things. He loathed secrets or dishonesty in a relationship. Granted, he had only been in one relationship before so he didn’t have much experience to talk of, but he knew hypothetically what he wanted.

“Kaydence? Who the fuck is this?” He motioned with a thumb, he didn’t care that she was bound to be more than curious as to why he had just come flying into the building, or why he was already bruised. She was about to find out his job, that was obvious but there was no shame in it. He had chosen his side and he was damned good at what he did, she would have no reason to be upset with him not telling her, he could just blame it on the fact that technically he wasn’t supposed to tell her the specifics, or that the topic had never come up before. Which wouldn’t have been a complete lie. Looking from her face to the other mans, he was tempted to cart him off to Azkaban as well, just for good measure. It would all be Kaydence’s fault and she would have to answer for it. He could just say that he was involved in the fight; there were no other ministry officials on the room yet, nobody to oppose his story. His eyes flashed from anger to hurt, to anger again, he scanned their bodies, and then he saw the finger pressed against her bare forearm. There was something on her arm, the man holding her captive was showing it to him, it was writhing against her skin. It didn’t even fully register until it was too late. His eyes bore down against Kaydence’s. She was a death eater, all this time she had been directly under his nose and he had never known. Of course she had neglected to tell him anything about herself, this was her life. Never mind if this man was her friend or fellow death eater, her boyfriend or whomever. "Kaydence?" His voice was soft, full of question, betrayal. He knew what that symbol meant. All hell was about to break loose.