Meggera had been working very hard at St. Mungo's to finish her training. It was difficult, especially with a baby now, but it had helped her stay active and lose the baby weight from her pregnancy rather quickly. She was back to her original weight, but she was somewhat more curvy then she had been in school. That was normal though from what she understood from the other healers. She just wasn't pleased over having to get new jeans, luckily she had plenty of skirts to wear.
She walked around the halls, some folded blankets in her arms, before entering the e.r. for magical accidents. She had a few children in there that needed to spend the night until rooms were free'd up. She delivered some extra blankets to each of them and pulled the curtains closed around their beds to block out some of the light so they could sleep.
"Mrs. Smith?" she heard a little voice say as she was about to draw the curtains for the last bed.
"Yes Eddie?" she asked, releasing the curtains before moving to sit on the edge of the little boy's bead lightly.
"What about...the monsters..." he said, clinging tightly to the teddy bear his mother had brought from home.
Meggera smiled softly, brushing his blond hair out of his face. "Don't worry Eddie. Monsters don't like the light, and hospitals are never dark. They can't even get in the door." she said with a small encouraging smile. "Now try and get some sleep. You don't want to be sleepy tomorrow for Mommy do you?"
She smiled as he shook his head and laid back, pulling his covers up. She stood and pulled the curtains closed with a soft goodnight before yawning. It had been quite a long day and it was finally drawing to a close. She felt a small chill run up her spin and looked around. She suddenly had the bizarre feeling someone was watching her, but there were patients all around so it was impossible to tell who it was really. She shook her head and walked out of the e.r., pausing at the nurses station to turn in some files to the healer in charge of her training. She made her way down to the lockers, still unable to shake the feeling that she was being watched. It was silly to be so paranoid in a hospital. There were people everywhere after all.
She entered the empty locker room with an exhausted sigh. She couldn't wait to get home and go to sleep. This was one of the longest shifts she had worked during her entire training period. She made her way to her locker and began to change back into her street clothes when she heard the door open. She looked up, expecting to see one of the other women who got off around this time only to have her breath catch in her throat. The person standing there most definitely didn't work here, and wasn't a woman. That wasn't the scariest part though. No, that was the fact that she recognized the man standing there.
Vincent Beurchist. Second oldest child of her families main rival and enemy. He wasn't as tall as she remembered from school, but just as intimidating. Not quite as terrifying as his older brother though, but under the circumstances she was fairly certain he matched his brother at the moment. "You aren't supposed to be in here." she said sharply, clutching her button up shirt closed quickly, taking a few steps away from him.
He didn't seem phased at all by her words. He just stood there in the doorway with his arms crossed, his dark eyes fixated on her, the only other person in the locker room. The silence was deafening. She glanced around, looking for something she could throw or use to draw attention to the locker room, but her wand was on the bench under her healers uniform and the only thing in her locker was her notebook. Perhaps she should just start filling her lungs with as much air as possible to scream? She was just about to start when he finally spoke.
"Quite the little grown up you are now Tepes. No, you're a Smith now, aren't you? Either way, don't bother screaming. I'm only here to deliver a message for your big brother." he said, finally uncrossing his arms and pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket and holding it out.
Apparently he expected her to come over and take the envelope, which she had no intention of doing. He seemed to pick up on this from her glare and instead placed it on the edge of the bench with an annoyed sigh.
"Alright, you've delivered it. Now get out." Meggera snapped, hoping that someone would walk in. Anyone at all. The one time she didn't want privacy in this room and no one else was around.
She watched as he shook his head slowly, his black hair falling into his eyes, somehow making him look even more threatening then before. "In a minute. Just one more thing. Make sure he gets it soon. And don't bother opening it. It's for his eyes only and we'll know if its opened by anyone else." he said, his back turning to her as he prepared to leave the room. "Who knows, perhaps we'll be seeing you again soon, little one."
A chill traveled up her spin as he left the room. She hated when anyone called her that, let alone one of them. It seemed so much more patronizing. She eyed the small envelope, fairly certain she had been about to start hyperventilating before he left. What on earth could they be sending her brother that they couldn't send by owl? Surely they could track him down if they had found her here. She quickly buttoned her shirt and retrieved her wand, quickly shoving her uniform into her locker, and began to poke the envelope lightly with her wand. She expected it to be jinxed or cursed, so she was surprised when nothing happened.
After very reluctantly picking up the envelope and pocketing it she made her way out of the locker room and home, but she was to panicked to sleep that night. She wanted to know what was in the envelope and why they wanted her to deliver it. Surely it was nothing good...or maybe they just liked scaring her which rang true as well.
The next day she didn't have to work so she decided to make the trip to London to see Alex. She wasn't sure she should give it to him at all, but she was curious, one of her weaknesses. So there she was, at his apartment door at 11 in the morning knocking. Her brother was clearly asleep since she had to knock several times and he was extremely disheveled when he answered the door.
"Seriously Meg...you couldn't have told me you were coming." he said with a large yawn, leaning heavily against the door frame.
"This couldn't wait." she said, holding up the small envelope. "You'll never guess who paid me a visit at the hospital yesterday."
He had taken the envelope from her and invited her inside while he poured over the rather short letter ash she explained how she received it. He suddenly looked much more awake as he paced back and forth in front of the couch Meggera was sitting on. She watched him in silence until she couldn't take it anymore. "Are you going to tell me what is says or not?" Meggera asked, crossing her arms across her chest, an annoyed expression on her face.
Alex stopped pacing for a moment, giving her an equally annoyed look for interrupting his mental reverie. "And they came and gave you this at the hospital?" he asked.
"I already told you that. What does it say?" she asked again.
He heaved a heavy sigh and plopped into an arm chair opposite the couch. "Well...remember when me and Nathaniel got into that fist fight in 7th year?" Alex asked, waiting for her nod of confirmation before he continued. "He wants a rematch. He says I cheated when I kicked his ass. He wants to meet in a secluded field just north of Hogwarts near the edge of the forest. He also says that if I don't show they'll kidnap and kill both you and James. He also says if I tell father or grandfather they'll do it as well." he said, holding out the letter for her to take.
Meggera blinked once, letting the information sink in for a moment before grabbing the letter and reading it over. She noticed two pictures were included as well. One was of James by the lake at school with some of his friends, the other was her in the nursery at home rocking her baby to sleep. But..those windows were enchanted. No one was supposed to be able to see in from the outside. And how in Merlins name had they found where she lived?! "Alex...you aren't actually considering going are you?"
"I don't see that I have much of a choice Meg. I can't risk them hurting the two of you." he said with another sigh, shaking his head. "I'll think of something though. I always do, don't I?"
"Alex...you can't go. You know how they are. They'll gang up on you! You wont stand a chance without a wand." she said, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. "I don't care what they threaten, we have to tell gramps at least. He wont let them get to us."
Alex was shaking his head at her, which managed to infuriate her somehow. "Meg, go home. Take care of your baby. Ask your husband how his day was, and don't worry about me. I can hold my own against Nathaniel remember? Even Vincent, he was never quite as much of a fighter as his brother."
She started to protest but he held up his hand and stood up. "Meg, I'm serious. Go home. I'll take care of things and I'll come over for dinner and tell you all about it once its over." he said, guiding her to the door by the arm.
"But Alex..." she started to say, but he had already pushed her lightly out the door and closed it. She stood there stunned for a moment. She couldn't believe her brother had just thrown her out of his apartment. She kicked the door, leaving a small dent in it. "Don't be an idiot Alex!" she yelled through it before storming back to the apparation point nearby to go home.
Two days had passed since she had delivered the note to Alex. He had sent her an owl everyday so far to let her know that he was still alive and kicking and that the meeting hadn't happened yet. She sighed, leaning on the edge of her little boys crib, watching as he slept. She was surprised she had been able to put him down so easily tonight, but she was grateful. She had to much on her mind worrying over the ordeal with Alex and how on earth they had gotten pictures of here in here. The room was hidden from the rest of the house after all behind a secret panel that just looked like another section of wall. She had told Jamison about the letter briefly, but had left out the whole killing her and her younger brother part for now.
She looked over at the enchanted window that looked out over a garden far away. She forgot which one it was, but it was beautiful, even in the fading light of the day. She leaned over the crib, pulling the blankets up around her son before straightening up and tucking her long hair behind her ear when she thought she heard a light foot fall behind her. She turned her head to look, but saw nothing. This made her frown. She wasn't tired enough to imagine hearing things, was Jamison or his mother home early from the store? Usually they weren't back for about another half hour at the earliest.
She gave her son a quick glance before walking to the door and looking out into the somewhat dark hall. She didn't see anyone in the immediate area, perhaps she had imagined it after all? She turned to walk back into the nursery when an unfamiliar hand suddenly clamped itself over her mouth, effectively blocking her scream as another hand dragged her backwards by her hair. She felt herself pulled into someone, but the hand firmly over her mouth prevented her from looking up to see who it was. "Surprise." said a sinister sounding voice before she felt a sudden sharp pain to the side of her head. Everything went dark.
The first thing she noticed was the throbbing pain in her head. Then the fact that she was laying down somewhere. The floor felt cold compared to the air, and somewhat gritty. It must be dirt. Meggera opened her eyes slowly and found that her vision was extremely blurred. It was dark, that much she knew. She was on a dirt floor. Yes that was correct as well. She managed to make out what looked sort of like a window that was letting light into the dark area. She must be in a shed if that was the case.
She pushed herself up slowly, rubbing her head where it hurt the most. She didn't feel any blood, but she did have a sizable bump behind her left ear where she had been hit. She looked around slowly as her vision started to clear. Yes, she was definitely in some sort of shed by the looks of the gardening tools in the near vicinity, and she could hear voices just outside as well. She pushed herself up onto her knees, testing to see if her head could stand the change. It could, it had only spun for a moment, so she got to her feet and walked quietly over to the window.
She could see a forest from here and three figures standing not that far off. The area was sparsely surrounded by smaller trees that weren't quite big or thick enough to be part of the actual something clicked. This must be the place from the letter she delivered to Alex, which meant she knew who those three figures were and what they were waiting for. She heard a cracking noise not to far off and saw a fourth figure walking up over a nearby hill between the tree's, a figure that looked far to similar to her brother for her liking. She watched him walk towards to small group and stop about 15 feet from them mutely, wanting to scream at him to go back, but she couldn't seem to find her voice.
They could easily out number Alex, and while he could hold his own against Nathaniel she wasn't so sure he could take on Vincent and Drake at the same time. She was just glad the fourth and youngest brother, Silas, wasn't here or Alex really wouldn't stand any sort of a chance. She was so focused on her brother that she noticed to late one of the figures striding quickly over to the shed. Meggera cursed under her breath and fled from the window, looking for a place to hide. The shed was so small though that there wasn't much. She started to dive behind a wheel barrel as the door swung open.
She heard a laugh, followed by footsteps and a hand the yanked her up by her hair. "Not very good at playing hide and seek, are you?" said Vincent, pulling her up nearly all the way off the ground by her hair, causing her eyes to water in pain. He shoved her towards the door and she nearly tripped and face planted onto the grass outside but his hand was there again to keep her upright, luckily around her arm this time. Vincent half dragged her over to the small group in less then 5 minutes and she couldn't help but wonder how he could walk so fast.
"What's she doing here? You said if I came you would hurt her or James." Alex said sharply, his fists clenching and unclenching slowly.
"Think of it as a little...insurance that you'll fight fairly this time." said a voice in a somewhat playful tone. Meggera took a minute to place it as Nathaniel's voice, perhaps because of the knock on the head she had gotten. "A Tepes' word doesn't stand for much with us after all. We'll let her go afterwards." he added with a small smirk that gave Meggera the impression he was lieing, but Alex nodded somewhat reluctantly.
"Excellent. Now deposit your wand with Drake and we can get started." Nathaniel said with that same smirk as before that made Meggera want to scream not to trust him, but before she could even halfway fill her lungs Vincent's hand was clamped over her mouth to block such an attempt. "Now now, none of your shrieking today." he said in a patronizing tone that earned him a very chilly glare from Alex.
Drake walked forward holding his hand out for Alex's wand, which he surrendered slowly, then did the same for Nathaniel. At least both of their wands were gone so there would be no trickery...for the time being at least. Drake then walked about 10 feet away, followed by Vincent, who had Meggera in tow. She wanted to bite his hand so badly right now, but his hand was positioned perfectly so that she couldn't get a good bite in. He had clearly been prepared for this.
They were far enough away that they couldn't hear what was being said, just watch the two circling each other. Nathaniel threw the first punch. He had always been the impatient type. Her brother managed to dodge quite easily, but she was surprised at Nathaniel's speed. He was much faster then she remembered, and much better trained in fighting as well. Was that what Nathaniel and Vincent had been doing in Romania for the past few years? Training? Merlin she hoped not. If that were the case her brother had bitten off far more then he could chew with this fight.
The two seemed evenly matched for quite some time, so much so that Vincent was starting to get antsy and pace back and forth, quite difficult while hold Meggera, so he shoved her at Drake roughly. "Hold onto her." he snapped, and resumed his pacing unhindered as Drake took over his position with one hand restraining her by the waist and the other covering her mouth. Meggera's eye flashed between Vincent and the two fighting men nervously. Drakes grip on her was much looser then Vincent's had been, but she didn't dare try anything with him still so close. If only she had her wand...
Meggera let out a small cry when her brother hit the floor suddenly, causing Drake to tighten his hold on her slightly as Vincent laughed. "I guess that legendary vampire resilience has finally run out for your dear brother, little one." Vincent said, flashing Meggera an evil looking grin as she noticed him stashing his wand back into his pocket before starting to make his way over to Nathaniel who was now beating the living hell out of a floored Alex.
If it was possible, Meggera's jaw would have dropped, but as it were she started trying to scream through Drakes hand and struggle to get free instead. They had never planned on this being a fair fight, that much was clear, now she just needed to figure out what to do and how to do it. Drake's grip on her mouth and waist tightened as she struggled and flailed, trying to get free as he hissed in her ear. "Meggera, stop it. Its to late for your brother so stop flailing and drawing attention to yourself."
She would have glared at him if she could, but her gaze was locked on the fight below. Her brother was being held down by Vincent while Nathaniel punched him over and over. She could already see blood staining his knuckles. She had to try something...anything...and fast too. So she did the only thing she could think of. She bit down on Drake's hand and followed it with a very fast elbow to the ribs. It did the trick, he lost his grip on her, cursing. Meggera bolted forward, not entirely sure what she was doing. She knew the two older boys could floor he easily, but at this point she didn't care. She ran straight at Nathaniel's hunched body before clasping her hands together as if she was holding a bat and used her running momentum to take a good hard swing at his head.
Her hands hurt like hell, she was fairly certain she had broken one finger at least, but she got him and he toppled to the side and off her brother, probably not unconscious but dazed at the very least. She didn't have time to be pleased though because a moment later Vincent's hand had her by the throat, slamming her down to the ground. "Fucking Hell Drake! I told you to hold her!" he yelled at his younger brother as he ran over.
"Sorry, she bit me and ran." he said, showing him the bite mark. Meggera would have been pleased to see that she had drawn blood with that bite, but her head was to busy spinning.
"My brother, the wimp. She's part vampire idiot, of course she's going to bite you if you let her. We should've brought Silas instead, at least he isn't fucking soft on her like you." she heard Vincent say bitterly.
She heard muttering before she was hauled to her feet, but her legs wouldn't support her at the moment. Her head was still spinning and her vision was blurred with white dots. She felt herself being slung over someones shoulder, she assumed it was Drake's because Vincent would have probably just dragged her and Nathaniel would probably be trying to wring her neck by now instead. She could hear Vincent's voice talking to Nathaniel and after a few minutes she knew he had woken up from the bash on the head she had given him, but their voices were growing faint. Drake must be walking away from them.
"Don't...move. Act like you're unconscious or he'll come over here and try to kill you too." she heard Drakes voice whisper. Why the hell would he care if his brother killed her, she had half a mind to kick him in the stomach but she was still to dazed to really move. She could hear yelling as she felt Drake put her down on the grass, he had placed her so she was laying on her side. Upon opening her eyes she saw she had been faced the opposite direction of the fight so she could no longer see anything except Drake's shoes. She laid still as she heard the yelling coming closer quite rapidly, recognizing the voice as Nathaniel's. She went icy with fear as he got closer.
"Let me at that little vampire bitch! I'll make her wish she was never fucking born!" she could hear him yelling, followed by Vincent yelling at him to finish of Alex first. She started shaking slightly as she heard his foot falls right behind her and yelped as he grabbed a fistful of hair close to her scalp to haul her up. What was it with this family and her hair?! He hauled her up off the ground and higher so her feet were just barely skimming the top of the grass. She had forgotten how tall he was until now that he had her dangling there, her eyes starting to brim with tears from the pain of being held up by her hair.
"You're gonna wish I had killed you first by the time I'm done with you." Nathaniel snarled, his angry face only a few inches from hers. Her breath caught in her throat at his murderous glare. She hadn't felt this terrified in a very long time. She yelped in pain as he threw her backwards into Drake who managed to catch her before she hit the floor again. "I outta kill both of you! But Dad always said never kill family so...you'll just have to do instead." he spat before the most peculiar expression came across his face. Sort of like he had suddenly forgotten what he was saying or about to do, before slumping down to the floor. Vincent fell a moment later with the same expression before Drake suddenly dropped her and apparated away with a loud crack.
She yelped when she hit the floor, cursing her broken hand and the several bruises she was sure she had accumulated during their rough treatment of her. She couldn't sit up fully, but she managed to roll onto her side to see what was going on. Her grandfather's head suddenly came into view over the two unconscious bodies.
"G-Gramps?" she managed to say, shocked, "Gramps...Alex is...he's.."
"Thats enough talking for now child. Your father is seeing to Alexander. Just lay still for now. Your husband told us you had gone missing without your wand last night, and about the letter." he said, coming fully into view. She watched as he waved his wand and levitated the two men away from her, ropes snaking their way around their unconscious forms. "Are you seriously injured?"
"I...I don't think so...I have a pretty good bump on my head and I'm fairly certain my left hand is broken. I think I'm ok other then that though." she said, wincing as she managed to push herself into a sitting position.
"Well, lets get you back to hospital with Alex." he said, pulling her up easily with one hand and steadying her as she was still sort of shaky on her feet. "Your husband will be meeting us there. I wouldn't let him come with us here." he added, guiding her over to where her father was preparing to apparate Alex to the hospital. They all apparated together a few moments later to St. Mungos.
-END-