Chapter 9
Mike began rummaging around the basement, tossing a number of items in the beat up backpack he always wore to school. Instead of holding algebra books, it now held sneakoscopes, Peruvian instant darkness powder, and shatterproof flasks of potions, among other helpful magical items.
"What? Why are we going there?" asked Bella. "We haven't even taken out all the Seattle vampires yet!"
"We're going to straight to the U.S. Magic Department in the capitol. Attacking the roots instead of the symptoms," he said as he shoved a book entitled Poisons and their Antidotes in his stuffed backpack.
"Well what does that entail?" she pressed, her deductive powers once again showing their weakness.
"It means we're going after the bloodsuckers with power, not just the cronies in Seattle," Jacob explained grinning. "As long as I get to fight, I'm at your service, Mike."
"Sort of. This is a reconaissance mission. We think Secretary of Magic Scott is dealing with this... this evil conspiracy. The plan is to break into his offices and steal any information he has about his dealings with vampires. If we're right, and he is double dealing the wizarding world, then we may be able to discover this evil conspiracy's plans."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Bella grumbled. "Slaughter everyone in our way?"
"Hopefully it won't come to that. The Department is particularly well guarded with Aurors and Security Agents willing to defend the Minister's secrets. But if we get them reasonably distracted, we may not have to slaughter them at all."
"And how would we do that?" Jacob asked. "Challenge them to a game of Clue?"
"I call Miss Scarlet!" Bella piped up.
"Don't be obtuse!" Mike snapped. "If you had turned to page D5 in the Style Section of the paper, you would have read that to win the international community onto his side, Scott is hosting a gala in two days time and inviting the Ministers of Magic, Head Aurors, and Head of International Magic Cooperation Departsments from around the world. Supposedly throwing this big party and showing off the American Department will convince the magical government officials from around the world that he has control of the vampire situation here.
"But that's just the source for the distraction. Kirk was looking for a diverse team like us to be able to accomplish the real mission. The Magic Department is located underneath the Capitol Building in D.C. Officials will come into an undisclosed location via portkey and then be escorted into the tunnels underground leading to the Department, where the gala will be held. Kirk has provided us with the location in our packet here where the officials will portkey into. Contacts in Britain are planning on delaying a few of the guests to make them easier targets. We'll jump them, disguise ourselves as them, and make it into the Department. The rest is up to us."
Bella and Jacob were contemplating silently when suddenly above them they heard a large boom that shook the foundations of the house. Bella didn't hesitate and flew up the stairs. "CHARLIE! Billy!" she cried. They were fine, huddling in the living room behind the couch, next to the tall bookcase. The TV had fallen off the stand and the glass shattered. Then the second boom came. A bookcase toppled and Bella dove, holding the bookcase off her father and his friend by inches. Books fell regardless and Charlie struggled to lift Billy away and into his wheelchair.
"CHARLIE! What's going on?" cried Bella.
"I know as much as you do, Bella!" he grunted. Another bang and sizzle. Mike and Jacob were up the stairs now. Mike peered out the curtains and a beam of light sailed through, shattering the glass as he ducked in the nick of time.
"Those guys from the alley found us. Mr. S, you were the secret keeper! You didn't tell anyone but Billy, did you?" Mike called over the attacks.
Charlie contemplated. "I think I told Renee."
"On the phone?"
"On her Facebook wall," replied Charlie.
"Honestly, Charlie, what is wrong with you?" groaned Bella, throwing the bookshelf to the ground.
"Dad, Mr. Swan, you need to get to La Push," said Jacob in a tone of forced calm. "Can you get them there, Mike?"
Mike grimaced and picked up Bella's old copy of Wuthering Heights, which had fallen from the bookshelf. "Portus. There. You have 2 minutes to get everything you need and then both of you hold on to this book and it should take you to the beach at the reservation where we went surfing a few years ago." He turned to his companions. "I'm going to take off the protective enchantments. As soon as the enchantments break, they'll be coming, and we're apparating out of here."
Mike started murmuring incantations and the attacks became more violent. Bella had to duck behind the sofa twice due to stray spells. With a flash of light, Charlie and Billy departed. "Ready?" asked Mike. Bella grabbed his arm. Right as the front of her house blew to pieces, she was sucked into the void.
When she could breathe again, they were all in a house she didn't recognize. It wasn't as homey as Charlie's dwelling, but it looked like she had stepped into a Pier 1 catalog, complete with the gently wafting scent of potpourri.
"Mike?" inquired a middle aged blond woman as she edged into the polished living room. "Sweetie, I haven't seen you in ages! Are you okay?" Bella recognized her as Mrs. Newton from her brief stint at the sports goods store the Newtons owned.
"I don't have much time, Mom, I'm on a mission!" he complained as she pulled him into a tight hug. He pulled away and dashed up the stairs as his mother "tsked."
It was then she recognized Bella. "Bella? Bella Swan?"
Bella halfheartedly smiled. "Hi, Mrs. Newton."
She gasped. "MICHAEL NEWTON!" she screamed up the stairs. "DID YOU GET BELLA IN TROUBLE WITH YOUR VAMPIRES YOU KEEP CHASING AROUND? I TOLD YOU YOU'RE ENDANGERING YOUR FAMILY, YOUR FRIENDS, AND OUR WHOLE LOVING TOWN!"
"She got herself in trouble with vampires!" he called as he ran downstairs, his backpack slightly more robust. "I'm not her babysitter!"
Mrs. Newton positively growled. "He could've gotten a job as an Arithmancer in the big bank in Seattle, you know! But no, he had to continue chasing around some silly vampire dark magic mumbo jumbo conspiracy and get everyone killed or... or changed, you poor dear."
Bella was insulted, and complained that she chose to be a vampire, but the effect was lost because at the same time, Jacob was complaining about being completely ignored, as usual, and "what was the point of being a hunky, 6'5" werewolf with beautiful long hair if people treated you like chopped liver in the face of a shiny vampire?"
Mike ignored all three of the complainers. "Sure, whatever, Mom. By the way we're being hunted by some unknown group of wizards that want to kill us, so if they come knocking just get out of the way. I'll be in Washington, D.C. at the Magic Department."
"Well at least call some time, Michael!"
"Sure," he promised, though he was unlikely to fulfill it. He grabbed Bella and Jacob's hands and again disapparated. When Bella opened her eyes, it was no longer rainy or tense-before her lay the iconic Capitol Building, shining in the reflecting pool by the moonlight. On the lawn, a group of scruffy protesters had set up camp.
"Let's join them! Camping is something I own at," Jacob said enthusiastically.
"It'll give us the time to plan that we lost in the attack on Bella's house," Mike replied. He put on the cheery, "popular-kid" persona he had adopted at muggle high school to approach the campers. The most visible signs, posted like a picket fence around their campsite, seemingly said "Beer for our soldiers."
"Hey, bro," said Mike to one of the protesters. He was probably like 25 and sported a luscious beard. "I totally agree. If someone's old enough to go to war, he's old enough to drink a beer."
The man blinked at him incomprehensibly. "Beards for our soldiers, man. Not beer. The shaving policy of the military is totally discriminatory. Bearded men have just as much a right to serve for their country as shaven men."
"Of course, I totally feel you, man," Mike corrected lamely. The man grunted and welcomed him into the campsite.
"That was incredibly smooth, Marshmallow" Jacob said sarcastically.
"Shut up," said Mike. "We're here aren't we?" He unstrapped a compressed tent from his backpack and enlisted his friends in popping up the tent. The tent was larger on the inside than on the outside and was decked out like a miniature apartment.
Bella's eyes bulged in shock. "I guess you kept these in the back of the storeroom." He didn't laugh. Maybe Mike was much cooler than expected, but his sense of humor was still definitely out of touch with hers. Then again, Bella wasn't well known for being very funny.
"Mind taking first watch?" asked Mike.
"I'll take all of the watches," she replied. "Not having to sleep has some benefits."
Jacob and Mike soon knocked off in the tent, leaving Bella to contemplate whether her father was okay, whether her house was still standing, and how they were supposed to take down Secretary Scott.
Five minutes later she sighed. She got nothing.
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Hello, all! Happy Lent, if you believe in that sort of thing, and if not, then happy Thursday. Thank you to my loyal reviewer, NaomiTrekkie, you're all kinds of awesome. (Thanks to Hufflepuff's friend, as well; your advice is appreciated!) I'm getting quite a few hits but not many reviews, so hopefully you guys are enjoying this, but if you wanted to write in a few lines of your opinions, it would be much appreciated. I currently have a bit of writer's block on this story, but not to fear, I'm stuck on Chapter 20, so we have quite a bit of leeway. Adeiu!
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