Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its wonderful universe do not belong to me, much as I want it too. I'm not sure if- and I really hope no one did- had the idea of allowing muggles to use magic. Knowing my luck, though, there's probably a story right next to mine with the same idea.
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"Where the hell are they, we've been waiting here for god knows how long," said Aaron as he paced back and forth impatiently. "Zach, are you sure this is where we were suppose to meet if we got separated?"
"What? We've been here five minutes only. You bloody Americans always want instant gratification." Amused, Zach aimed his paintball gun and shot at a spider. He missed and the spider scurried away into a crack.
"Damn straight we do….and your aim sucks." They got separated from their friends after a rather intense game of paintball. They then decided to explore the inner buildings of the abandon neighborhood they were in, and they saw an old church. Aaron, in his infinite wisdom, wanted to check if there was any wine still there. Zach, the only one who noticed where Aaron was heading, followed him. He yelled at the others where they were going, but the others continued on. So, here they were, waiting for their friends, separated. And there was no wine to be found in the church they were just in either, damn it.
Out of boredom, Aaron started to examine his surroundings. It was getting dark outside and they were in a rather large, shabby room. About ten or so beds lined the walls, their sheets were gray with age and, there was a complimentary dresser to each bed. Part of the wall was crumbling and you could see outside. "Where are we anyways?"
"Apparently, this used to be an orphanage. It hasn't been in use for about fifty-."
Interrupting his friend, Aaron asked, "Let me guess, everyone here died a mysterious, gruesome death. So horrible was it that nobody comes here anymore. Yeah, yeah, I was warned about coming to this part of town. Funny though, even after fifty years, people still fear to come here."
"Well, everyone did die but it wasn't gruesome. There were no signs of struggle, no signs of death, not even deadly foreign substances in the blood. It was if everyone just dropped dead, for no reason at all. Apparently it all started here, right in this orphanage. People still can't figure out what happen fifty years ago, and it is still talked about in whispers. You should hear the some of the theories! Some people say aliens came, cloned everyone, and left the clones here but took the people with them. Hell, some people say it was magic," Zach hooted with laughter at the last theory. "But the most logical theory, I believe, is that it was some kind of undetectable virus that killed everyone. That will also explain why everyone avoids this place like the plague."
"Jeez Zach, what a cliché thing to say…and I hate clichés. Anyway, your theory would explain why everyone just left their stuff just laying around. They must have been in a hurry to leave. Well, I'm not complaining, this is the perfect place to paintball. No bothersome police officers chasing us and telling us to stop, no annoying people getting in our way. We are all alone here. And, look, all this treasure is here for the taking." Aaron already had a few trinkets that he took from another building: an ugly ring with a strange symbol on it, a gold cross that he planned to sell first chance he got, and some other useless objects. He began to rummage through the dressers, "God damn it, isn't there anything of worth here besides dirty socks. Hey, look, some cologne." Aaron twisted the lid open and cautiously sniffed, "Hey, not bad." He sprayed some on and placed the bottle in his pocket.
Zach looked up, "And the fact that you are taking these objects from diseased, dead people doesn't bother you at all?"
"Nope, not really." Out of frustration at not finding anything more of worth, Aaron kicked the wall. To his surprise and pleasure it yielded nicely. He was about to turn away but something caught his eye. In the damaged wall, there was a gold chain. Picking it up carefully, he realized there was a medallion on it. The picture depicted on one side of the medallion was of two snakes intertwined with the letter S. On the other side was a picture of an ancient looking man with a long beard. "Fucking sweet, this is what I like to see! Finally, something of worth. My luck is finally changing. Hey Zach, will you look at this?" Aaron tosses the medallion to Zach.
Zach expertly catches it, and recoils at the feel of it, letting it fall to the ground with a thud. For some reason he didn't want the medallion anywhere near him. "No, put it back. C'mon, let's wait outside." Zach stood up and trudged out of the room.
Aaron gazed at the medallion, shrugged, and placed it around his neck. "Hey Zach, wait up will ya." He found the medallion special, and found Zach's reaction to it intriguing and odd.
Once outside, Aaron realized how dark it had gotten. He spotted Zach up ahead sitting on a bench. He sat next to him, and waited. "I wish they would hurry up."
Suddenly, a light flickered in the top window of the orphanage. Zach was the first one to noticed, Aaron was just glaring at the sidewalk. "Aaron, what the hell are they doing up there?"
"How the hell would I know, but at least they're there. C'mon, let's go get them so we can leave this dump." They reentered the orphanage, and dashed up the stairs. Zach, the first one to reach the top, shoved Aaron into the next hallway. Aaron, about to protest, found he couldn't do it that. Zach's hand was covering his mouth.
Zach shook his head and told him to shut up. Aaron, curious, looked around the corner of the hallway and into the room. What he sawed were not his friends but strange men, cloaked and wearing bone white masks. The unknown men were arguing, luckily, otherwise they may have seen the approach of Aaron and Zach. Zach, about to climb out the window to escape, saw that Aaron was getting as close as he could to the corner without being seen to eavesdrop. So Zach stayed, and little did he know that he would soon regret it.
