Fleeing the Darkness, Finding Family
Thanks you all for the wonderful reviews. Glad you all liked it. So, here's the next part.
Chapter 2
On August 3rd, Harry didn't know that his whole life would change. He woke up at his usual time in the summer time, around nine. After doing his daily run, he took a shower. As he stood under the water in the shower, he thought about four days ago, on his 16th birthday.
He got a new broom from his dad. It must have cost a fortune, but Lance told him not to worry about how much it had cost. His dad had also got him a new book, The History of Magic, which was about the history of the wizarding world. He had already finished yesterday, and it was to this that his thoughts turned in the shower.
One thing he had learned that he could commit to memory whole books. This often came in handy. In fact, it had helped greatly when he had taken his N.E.W.T's. (sp?) He had gotten top scores on them.
After he finished getting dressed, he put on his dragon pendant. It was one of the few things that he remembered about his mother, and he rarely took it off even for showers. He felt strange without it, like he was naked. To him, it was a comforting feeling.
He skipped down the stairs three at a time and did a perfect summersault at the bottom, before turning around quickly to block Dudley, who was just coming around the corner, just like he had a sword. Dudley tried to duck under his arms, causing him to hit the wall with a thump. He grinned and stuck out his tongue.
"Show-off." He told him playfully, before following him into the kitchen. Petunia was at the stove, just putting the roast in. She heard the thump and turned around to see the boys coming into the kitchen.
"No horseplay in the house please." She waited for their quick apologies and then continued. "Did you happen to see if Lance was up yet?"
Ry reached for a pancake. "Nope. Still snoring away."
She rolled her eyes. It never fails. On his free days, her husband turned extremely lazy. This annoying habit of his had rubbed off on the two boys, who like him tried to sleep as long as they can. But she drew the line at nine o'clock. Beyond was too lazy even for the Grand King of all Sloths, Lance Hailven. They had an agreement that if he slept in longer, they were free to do anything to get him up. Including a nice old wakeup call called the dump-the-water-on-the-unsuspecting-victim, one of Ry's favorites to wake him up.
Filling up a glass with ice cold water, she winked and handed it over to Ry. With a sly look and a very evil grin, he quickly ran up the stairs two at a time. Moments later, they all heard Lance's shriek as the water was dumped over his head.
"Ahhhhhhh! You little monster! You are so dead!" He gave chase to his giggling adopted son, intent on revenge. But as they came into the kitchen, Petunia had pity for the giggling boy who could barely walk much less stand because of his laughing.
"Okay children, settle down. It's time to eat." She put Lance's plate on the table.
"Oh, Petunia. Pleeaasse! Can I get him back?" The child-in-a-man's-body whined at her.
"No, Lance. You choice to sleep in. You were fair game." This caused Ry to drop into helpless giggles again.
"Ry, sit up at the table." She admonished him. He attempted to pull together, and succeeded somewhat.
After that, there was a bit of talk, but most of the talking was put off in favor of eating the delicious pancakes that Petunia had made. After they were done eating, Ry sat back with a groan. He looked at his stomach. Was it his imagination, or had he just gained ten pounds in fifteen minutes?
"So, what you have planned today?" Petunia was asking Lance, picking up some of the dishes. Ry jumped up to help. She raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't comment.
"Well, I'm thinking of bringing the boys to Diagon Alley today." This caught the boys' attention.
"Really? Can we stop by and get a few books while we are there?" Ry was practically jumping up and down in excitement.
"Books? Why in the name of Merlin do you want to get even more books?" Lance asked in partially feigned shock. Part of it was real though. Why would he want more books? His room was full of them.
"Well, I saw an ad for a special deal for the whole set of Melinda Sky's Collection of Magical Creatures just the other day in the newspaper. You get the whole set of ten books for only five gallons and it is expected to go fast. The deal starts at two o'clock. Please! Can I get it?" Ry had just eaten a bit much syrup in the rest of the family's opinion.
"Maybe." Lance was tired of talking about books. So he quickly got off on the subject of Quiddich and who was likely to win the championship and then the world cup. This led to all the males of the family talking about their favorite Quiddich teams and the debate began. Petunia just rolled her eyes, and started washing the dishes.
Several hours later, Ry and Dudley were in his room. They were going over what they should buy for Petunia's birthday. There were only a few minutes to noon, and they were stumped.
As the minute hand moved to twelve o'clock, there was a scream from downstairs. The two ran down and then stopped in horror.
There was a black cloaked man in the living room, and there was Petunia on the floor. Dudley ran to help Lance, who was fighting the intruder and Ry went to his aunt's side. He felt for a pulse, but found none. He stared in horror at his dead aunt's form then looked up. Lance had just been thrown to the floor.
Without looking, he knew he couldn't help him. It was too late. But he needed to help Dudley. He stood up and prepared to run at the man. But at that moment, the man's red eyes fell on him. A delight came into them, as he saw Ry standing there.
Then, even while fighting (actually, it looked like he was just playing with him and enjoying it) Dudley, he spoke to the frozen Ry.
"Hello my sweet. Why don't you just come over here?" After these words, the door was pushed open. The next door neighbor stood there. Then it was happening too fast to comprehend in Ry's mind. Dudley was thrown to the ground with a knife out of his chest, the man was coming at him, his arms were pulled behind him and held there, and a knife was pressed to his throat, drawing blood.
He saw the arrival of more neighbors and then the world spun as he was lifted. The man held him firm in his arms as he ran faster than he ever thought possible. He closed his eyes, and focused on not throwing up.
Finally, they stopped. Ry was thrown to the ground. For a moment he just lay there as he gasped and sputtered. He crawled backward, rubbing his bloody neck. Aunt Petunia, Lance, and Dudley were gone! Murdered in cold blood by this monster!
He looked up and saw the man, no thing, watching him. The hood of his cloak was pulled back, revealing pale white skin and red eyes. Those red eyes were watching him with hunger in their depths. He gulped and tried to stop his shaking.
"What…do…you…want…with….me? Why?" He gasped this out through the terror that was trying to stop him from speaking.
"You, my sweet. I smelled you from miles away. I wonder why others haven't gotten to you yet. You were so tempting." The last was said with an almost purr that terrified Ry.
The red eyes grew larger with delight, taking in the fear of the boy. It was so delicious. Enough. No need to play with food any longer. He stared at the boy, an idea coming into his mind. Oh, yes. How could he resist? It was too perfect. After all, it wasn't his fault that he was so tempting.
He was there by the boy in an instant, causing the boy to try to flinch back. But he wasn't able to because of the cold hand holding him in place. Then he was biting into the boy's neck, making him scream.
Ry felt the creature's teeth break skin and he screamed. Then he felt the white hot pain as a foreign substance invaded his body.
Pain was all he knew before the blackness of unconsciousness took his pain away.
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The next few days were the most pain-filled days of his life. The pain was unlike anything he had ever known, searing into his veins. It burned and pushed throughout his body.
During this time, he knew the creature that had done this to him had taken him to a cave. There, it watched him through the pain. It did nothing to help, and he hated it for that. He hated it with a deep passion that he had never before felt. It had killed his family. It had taken his life away.
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When he next came to, the creature was gone and he was alone. He was in a cave, obvious from the walls. He took a breath out of habit, and froze. What he heck? Why didn't he need to breathe?
The next thing he knew was a thirst like he had never felt come over him. It filled his mouth, telling him to find something to quench it.
Then he smelt something. He lay still as the most delicious smell came to his senses. It called to him. He breathed it in, trying to take it out of the air.
Quickly getting up, he noticed something else. Before, his skin had always been slightly tanned. This came from spending time in the sun playing soccer and just handing out. The smell distracted him again. He followed it outside.
The sun was mostly hidden behind clouds, and there was a slight chill to the air. But he didn't feel this. He needed whatever that smell was. Needed it like it was water in the desert. Without thinking he was running.
Distantly he noted that he was now running faster than he had ever done before. But this was only noted in the back of his mind, was put away to think about later. He ran.
There, there was the source of the smell. It was a hiker, who was now busy looking at a map, unaware of the eyes watching him. But the hiker did notice when the figure of the small-sized teenager was standing over him, blocking out the sun from one of few places where the sun shot through the clouds to illuminate the rock he was standing on.
The hiker was a rough looking man, who looked like he was familiar with the outside. He had stopped to find out which direction he should take when he saw something was now blocking out the light. He looked up and saw what it was.
It was a boy, who looked maybe fifteen. His skin contrasted with his dark black and red hair and large green eyes that now was rimmed with gold. His clothes were tattered, full of holes and covered with blood. The strangest thing was that his skin literally shone, like millions of small diamonds.
"Can I help you?" He finally asked, trying to get over the terror he now started to feel.
The boy said nothing. The hiker was now terrified. Then the boy moved fast and the last thing he knew was a tearing in his neck and then nothing.
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Harry Potter-Hailven, also called Ry and Hayden, looked at what remained of the hiker who he had just killed. He knew what he was now. He was a vampire, an undead destined to feed off the blood of the living. He really hated his life sometimes. It seems Fate was determined to mess with his life.
He was now a monster. He was no better than the monster that had killed his family. He could never go back.
Ry looked down at his clothes. They were soaked with blood, if they weren't before. He needed new ones. Looking at the pack of his victim, he wondered why not? He was going to hell now, so what was stealing? Shrugging, he opened the backpack. In it where some food, water, and aha, some spare clothes.
Tearing off the clothes he had on, he looked around. He was covered in blood, and smelled like it. He listened and heard the sound of a small stream. After washing, he put on the clothes.
Perfect, they were about the right size. Maybe a little big, but that would have to do. Looking down at his skin, he noticed his shining skin. Now he knew where the myth of vampires only coming out at night came from. This prevented him from walking in full sunlight.
Oh, there goes the possibility of a nice tan at the beach. He thought darkly, chuckling a bit at the reaction he would get at a beach in California like this.
Time to go. Nothing was holding him back. Ry turned his back on the country that had been his home ever sense his birth, and started to run.
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Over the next few years, Ry learned that he could survive off the blood of animals. He stayed away from humans for the most part, except for a few mess-ups. Unknown to him, he was doing a very good time staying away.
Two years after his turning, he came out of the mountains. He tested himself by walking near villages, and was able to control the hunger. He showed a control that had never been seen in vampires as young as he was. Somehow, he was able to control it.
In the third year, he grew lonely for some company. So he went to Paris. There, he continued to test himself. He made friends, the closest people he had been close to for years. He thought of his family often, and it soon became a comfort thing to touch the little dragon pendant around his neck. It was the closest thing he had to family, and so he was glad he had it. He never took it off.
Meanwhile the search for him was called off officially. Unofficially, it still existed. But the Potters and friends reluctantly went on with their lives. All felt the same thing. Guilt, sorrow, anger, and confusion. They all wanted Harry back. But that was not going to happen for a long time.
It was five years after his turning that something else happened in his life, this time for the better.
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Across the ocean, in a little town surrounded by green and wetness, a little pixie-like girl straightened and stared off into empty space, while her family waited for her to come out of it.
When she did, they all could see the sorrow and determination in her face.
"The poor boy." She whispered this. Her brother Edward looked into her head to see what was up.
A small, pale boy was walking alone in a city full of people. He looked around him at all those who had somebody. His hand came up to touch a dragon pendant around his neck.
The same boy later, laughing as Rosalie chased the laughing Edward out of the room. Next to him, a girl rested her head on his shoulder.
He pulled away, looking at Alice. She looked back.
"We're going to go get him. He needs us." Edward nodded, as the rest looked confused.
For the benefit of the rest, Alice told them about the vision. "And all but one possibility shows him with us."
"What happens in the last possibility?" Esme asked.
Alice's face grew sad. "He dies."
Eventually, it was decided that Alice, Jasper, and Edward would go find the young vampire to bring him home. They had no idea where he was, they would have to rely on Alice's gift to show them where to go. There was no way that Alice would allow the young vampire to continue to be all alone.
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Ry was now in New York City. He had 'convinced' a stranger to give him his plane ticket. So now he was on a new continent, with whole new possibilities. Free to travel. So, after letting an old grandma who had seen his clothes and said that that would not do, buy him new clothes, he set out into the city.
He was looking at the statue of Liberty when he felt someone's eyes on him. He turned around, and saw a small pixie like girl looking at him. Seeing him turn around, she smiled and waved.
He knew immediately that she wasn't human. She was like him, a vampire.
