Harry Potter and the forced hero
The loud sounds of the nightclub's music from the band blasted throughout the huge underground hall where hundreds of people were packed, all of them dancing. The current band playing was called "Love's blood", and this was often their more frequented venue for gigs.
The lead singer screamed the lyrics into the hall, his fingers plucking the electric-guitar with the eased skill of an expert. The guitar, while clearly battered, was held tenderly, almost lovingly, by the singer. One side of his face was covered with a black hood, while the other half was obscured by a tattoo of a serpent, glaring with plain evil intent at everyone. His clothes were clearly ripped and dirty, but it revealed a perfectly sculptured six-Pac and muscled arms.
His real name wasn't known, but the name he went by, in public and on the stage, was Emerald.
It was common to find many ravers, after the night had ended and the band had long disappeared into their private home, to gossip about the young talented singer/musician and who he was. Some of the rumours, even encouraged by Emerald himself to keep the mystery about him going, was that he had been a rich kid who had run away from home, or that he had once been in a popular band which had discarded him, or simply, that he was a runaway.
But meanwhile, whatever and whoever he was, the young man, or rather, boy, was screaming out words of anger and hate, he screamed of loss, of pain and of agony. And the crowd loved it! Wherever he was going to perform, you could guarantee that there would at least be five hundred people there, if not more waiting outside to dance. It was commonly believed that he would be the next greatest rockstar in that area.
Emerald finally played his last note on his guitar, and let the last vocal word linger before finishing. The crowd went wild, they screamed for an encore, for a replay, even for his bed that night, the demands screamed up at him from the mouths of girls and boys alike! Emerald merely chuckled at the requests to bed him. Normally, he'd never have such problems accepting these offers, but tonight, he'd already promised a particular woman that he'd be with her tonight.
Whistling as he left, he wondered where the hell that damned owner was with his money. He walked over to one of the bouncers, who seemed to be jealous as he took in Emerald's almost perfect body. Emerald sneered and crossed his arms over his chest.
'Where's your boss?' Emerald said in a hoarse voice. His throat was always like this after a concert. The bouncer pointed at a door. Nodding his thanks, Emerald walked to the door, and without knocking, opened it.
The manager had been watching the television, his feet up on the desk and a Cuban cigar in his mouth. As soon as the door opened, the manager sat up, his face intense with fury. 'What the hell is this?!' he demanded, 'What the hell do you want?'
Emerald glared at him as he walked right up to the man, invading his personal space. He spoke simply and clearly, 'You have yet to pay me and my band for the past two concerts, this is the third time.'
Grumbling, the man got up and opened up a small safe, taking out a ball of money and tossing it to Emerald. 'There, you happy?' He demanded.
Emerald scanned through it quickly, before looking at the man in anger. 'You're eight hundred quid short.'
The man swelled up, 'Now see here-' was as far as he got before he was grabbed by his shirt and lifted from the ground. Emerald snarled at him.
'You owe me 1200 pounds, now, we've made you at least £5000 pounds in the last three concerts, and we've been kind in letting you delay the payments, but not any more.' He drew his face close to the manager's own, who was sweating by now. 'So where's our money?' He demanded.
The manager whimpered and nodded towards the safe. Emerald smirked, and nutted the man suddenly in the face, breaking his nose before he threw him into a corner. Going to the safe, he grabbed a bag and put all the money he could inside it, before leaving the office with a final smirk towards the manager who was now unconscious. Picking up his guitar, he walked away towards a restaurant where his interview would take place.
--
'So then, Emerald,' she enhanced the last word. 'Please, tell the readers of "Upcoming and Wondrous Music Stars" about yourself, so first things first, when were you born?'
Flashback
'Happy birthday, Emerald!' Everyone cheered.
Emerald looked around, pleased. A big sign was by the door, saying "Happy Birthday, Emerald, on this day, September 1st!"
End Flashback
Emerald shrugged, 'I never really knew my birthday, but i have one every September 1st.
The woman nodded. 'And how old are you?
'Eighteen,' Emerald lied with ease. He had no wish to go to any school, even when that letter had come on his eleventh birthday; he'd shown no interest of going. Who'd want to go to a place like that? He'd found that out just from the letter, when it was clear that the weirdo didn't use normal ways of getting messages to people, such as email, but they used owls!
The woman nodded, writing down notes before looking at Emerald again. 'So, could you describe your childhood to us? Any specific memories?'
Harry thought back.
Flashback
'Come on!' Rick screamed at Emerald as the red and blue flashing lights screeched to a halt outside of the bank. 'Shit! He swore as one of the security officers pulled out his gun and aimed at Emerald.
Not sparing a single second, Emerald pointed his gun at the security officer and fired three bullets into his chest. He collapsed without any cry. Emerald grabbed the bag full of money and ran after Rick and Shell, leaving behind the screams and cries of the people who he had left behind.
'Come on!' Shell screamed at him as a policeman appeared in the doorway. She snapped off a few bullets at him, causing him to duck for cover as she grabbed Emerald's hand and dragged him out of the bank and out of the alleyway into a waiting van where Dave was sitting in the driver's seat, ready to pull away at any moment.
Once they were in the van, Dave turned the key in the ignition, peeling away from the curb. Emerald looked around confused, two members were missing 'Where's Slit and Jackson?' Emerald asked, concerned over one of his friends. Rick shook his head, 'sorry Emerald, but he didn't make it. And Jackson's disappeared, we don't know where he is.'
Emerald swore as he put his head in his hands, before straightening, his face like a rock, no emotion shown whatsoever. 'Collateral damage,' he said simply, no emotion anywhere in his voice.
Shell nodded, holding Emerald's hand and putting her head on his shoulder, 'collateral damage,' she repeated. She looked down the road and pointed. 'There's Jackson!' She said, her voice full of surprise. Everyone looked where she was pointing, and they saw a boy, only around eleven years old. He was being chased by two police officers, and they were faster than he was.
Emerald sighed and held out his hands. Rick placed a rifle in his hands and he aimed down the sight. Aiming at Jackson's chest, he sighed sadly. 'Goodbye, Jackson,' he said, and fired one shot.
One shot. That was all. But it was enough to blow a hole the size of Emerald's fist in the chest of Jackson, who immediately collapsed. The two policemen instantly ran to him, and looked at the road. But it was nowhere to be seen. It had just…just gone.
Emerald sighed, he didn't know why it happened, but sometimes he could make things happen, like the van go invisible. But nothing helped when a valuable member had to be put down. It was for the good of them all.
'Collateral damage,' he whispered.
End flashback
Emerald sighed, 'none that I really want to share, Ma'am.'
The reporter looked a little disappointed, but wrote down what he'd said anyway. She then looked at his face, still concealed by the tattoo and the hood. She grinned, 'That's a pretty cool tattoo, how'd you get it?'
Emerald smirked.
Flashback
'So basically kid, you gotta have something that makes you stand out from the crowd, something that makes people fear and respect you.'
Emerald looked bored, 'so then what did you have in mind?'
The man smiled, 'this is going to hurt.'
Emerald suddenly felt a blow to the back of his head and he collapsed, unconscious. The man shook his head, 'kids today, always creating havoc, even when unconscious. Right!' He gestured to one of his men, 'help me with the lad and we'll get started.' He rubbed his hands in glee.
End flashback
'Well,' Emerald said, 'Let's just say that I had little knowledge of it until it had been placed on me.'
The woman now leered at him in obvious lust, 'and might you have any other tattoos anywhere else?'
Emerald smirked at her; he knew how the game was played. 'Well, I'm afraid that that's private information.'
She smirked back, 'I'm sure that I can find…some way of getting it out of you.'
Emerald chuckled. 'Well, why don't we find out how you'll do that?'
Emerald threw some money on the table and led the woman back to his private flat for a night of fun.