Chapter 14: The Right Side

Trey could barely hold his eyes open as he rode in the back of the mail truck that was traveling through Connecticut towards Massachusetts. The morning sun shined bright through cracks of the rear doors of the van as the driver quietly hummed "He's got the whole world in his hands." Trey tried to block out the both the humming and the sun as the last 12 horrific hours of his life kept replaying in his mind. "How did all this happen," He wondered hiding behind the towering bins of mail, "How did I get here?" Trey's thoughts finally consumed him and his eyelids shut tight, he was asleep and the previous evening's events now played in his dreams…

…Halloween's Eve…

"You're late," A deep voice said waking Trey out of his slumber, "You are always late. You get one simple task and you are late." Trey looked around for a minute at the empty bedroom in which he was sleeping. The bed he lay on was the only thing in it. The hard wood floors were scratched and dull. The walls were white with big portions of the paint chipped of revealing the cracks in the sheetrock. Trey threw back the thick blanket and walked over to the door see what the shouting was about.

Once to the door, he opened it only enough to look out of it and saw that they were fighting again. He laughed as he saw "Eta," and "Theta," were fighting again. The descendants of the scourers only went by code names derived from the Greek alphabet in order to avoid revealing their true identities to each other in case there was a mole amongst the group.

Eta and Theta, seventh and eighth in command respectively, were in charge of holding down the fort, which included gathering meals for the other members and Trey. "Did you at least get the right thing?" Eta questioned in his sharp tone. "Of course, I went down to Gino's," Theta replied in his deep Brooklyn accent, "I got the pizzas, the fries and the colas."

"And my alfredo?" yelled Eta. A shocked look appeared across Theta's face. "I knew I forgot somethin'," he said scratching his bald head. Eta's face turned red and he began slapping Theta across his chest. Theta returned the slapping and the two men were now in an intense lick passing contest. Trey laughed at the sight for a few minutes until they heard him chuckling. "Young one," Eta said regaining his composure, "You are awake. Please get dressed. We have work to do." Trey nodded as Eta turned to leave, but not before giving Theta a final slap and then running out of the hallway.

After Trey was dressed in the athletic clothes that were required for training, he left his room and headed down the hallway. The scourers current hideout was a small five story abandoned apartment building in Harlem, a neighborhood in Manhattan. As Trey walked down the creaky old hallway, he paid close attention to not make any noise as he passed Epsilon's room. Epsilon was a valuable, high ranking scourer who had been injured recently. No one had told Trey what exactly happened; only that he should allow Epsilon to get his rest.

The walls on the fifth floor of the building had been removed, turning it into a wide open space. Trey reached the fifth floor to find Eta waiting on him. Trey walked over to face Eta and they gave each other the traditional scourer greeting, a bow that allowed the heads to touch and then after a few seconds returning upright and crossing one's heart wand in hand.

"Young one," Eta said pulling his long black hair into a tight bun, "Your progress has been astonishing. You have met many expectations despite having a limited magical education." Eta pulled out his wand and flicked it twice. Several targets dropped down from the roof of the room. "But in order to fulfill your destiny, you must learn to control the wand." Eta said as he walked over to a small table in the room and picked up a small rectangular box, and then walking over to Trey.

Trey swallowed hard and opened the box. The ebony wand with a gold band on each end lay in the box. Trey reached in and grabbed it with his right hand. The wand's temperature began to rise and began to burn Trey's hand. "It is only testing you," said Eta supporting Trey's right arm, "Do not give into it." Trey bit his lip as the wand was red hot and his hand was stinging with pain. "Now!" Eta shouted and Trey gave the wand a quick flick. "Ignis!" Trey shouted. The hot wand pulsed in his hand and then shot the bolt of energy back at Trey, sending him flying across the room.

Trey landed flat on his back and the wand flew across the room and landed itself back in the box, closing the lid shut. Eta ran over to Trey. "Are you alright?" asked Eta as he helped Trey to his feet. Trey nodded and Eta gave him a few encouraging pats on the back. "We will try the wand again tomorrow," said Eta handing Trey a white oak wand with a contoured handle, "But until then you still must train…now show me." Trey stood in front of the targets and took a deep breath. He pointed the wand and shouted, "Viride!" The green bolt of energy shot from Trey's wand and hit one of the targets.

The target spun around fast and then threw the bolt back at Trey. "Arma!" Trey shouted sending a white bolt at the green one and dissipating it. "Good," Eta said with a smile. Eta then flicked his wand and sent four or five bolts of energy to the targets, making them all spin and then sending the bolts of energy back at Trey. One to the left, then one to the right and then another to left. Trey deflected them all and then looked back at Eta with a sly smirk. Eta sent seven or eight bolts at the targets and Trey went back to deflecting them.

In the door way of the room, the scourer with the brown face and the long black hair watched with pride. After sending Trey a dozen bolts of energy to deflect, Eta noticed him in the doorway. "Alpha, I did not see you there," said Eta making his way to him, "He is doing well. He will conquer the wand soon. I can feel it." Alpha watched Trey split his charm and deflect three bolts of energy at once, which caused a large smile to come across his face. "Yes, he is making brilliant strides." Alpha said.

After defensive charms, another scourer named Mu showed Trey to make potions. Mu was one of the few female scourers. She had short blond hair, slicked tight to her head and rippling muscles that were bigger than some of the male scourers. "This is nectar vitae," Mu said stirring the clear boiling liquid in the cauldron floating above a flame she conjured in the middle of the room, "It restores health, mends bones and repairs organs, no matter how damaged." Trey took a whiff of the potion. It smelled like an interesting mix of flowers and onions.

"Are there any side effects?" Trey asked. Mu smiled and looked at him. "While the potion is repairing your body, it renders your magic useless," Mu explained, "While under its enchantment, you a basically a No-Maj, which puts you at risk of dying a No-Maj death for which no matter of magic can save you." Trey took a hard gulp as Mu began ladling the potion into small vials for the scourers to use. "Mu," Trey asked, "What is everyone preparing for tomorrow?"

Mu finished the last of the vials and looked at Trey. "Ten years ago, on Halloween, enough Descendants of Scourers came into power to try to regain power of our world," Mu explained, "They decided to stage a coup at MACUSA Headquarters, in an attempt overthrow Quahog and his magical elite. They, as we do, believed that magical people should not be separate from the rest of the world. That we should be a part of the regular world, not use magic or attend magic schools. That we should be normal people who live normal lives"

Trey continued to listen as he and Mu left the room and headed down the stairs. "Magic is too great of an ability for humans to have," said Mu wrapping her arm around Trey's shoulders, "Humans are meant to live together as equals, none should have more power than another. That's why the scourers exist. We are here to restore order and balance amongst the human race."

Mu gave Trey an awkward hug at the bottom of the stairs and then went to the table in the middle of the room, where the other scourers were gathering. "Youngin'," said Beta in his thick New Orleans accent, "Come take a seat righ' here." Trey walked over and sat by the large man with dark brown skin and a curly head of hair that was tied in a tight bun like the rest of the male scourers. "I hear you are learnin' all of your magic," Beta said biting the slice of pizza in half, "You gonna be taking down them aurors soon enough."

There was roar of hearty laughs in favor of Trey's accomplishment. "If we actually succeed tomorrow, he won't have to use his magic at all…ever" said Gamma, a muscular woman with tanned white skin, and dark brown hair slicked into a tight ponytail. "We should be preparing, not eating Pizza and bragging on the boy," Gamma said leaving the table. "She will be alright," Alpha said inspecting the pizza before he took a cautious bite, "We will be fine tomorrow. We will launch a victorious attack." The scourers cheered again and toasted each other's pizza slices.

After the feast, Alpha found Trey sitting on the stairs. He walked up and took a seat by him. There was an awkward silence for a moment. Trey could tell Alpha wanted to say something; there was a serious look all over his face. "What do you remember of your father young one?" Alpha asked his voice almost shaking. Trey searched his mind for a moment and a single memory returned.

Trey saw a younger version of himself, kicking a soccer ball around a yard of deep green grass. He looked on the porch and saw Mama and a three-year-old version of Miles sitting on a porch swing. The sky in the memory went dark and his mother motioned for him to come on the porch. The three went inside as the storm approached.

Younger Trey looked out of the window as the hard rain fell, loud claps of lightning breaking the constant rain sound every few minutes. Then there was a knock on the door and Trey went to answer. There were two men standing there, Trey was perplexed as to how the men got there because there was no car on the curb behind them. The men had on identical black suits and glasses. They asked for his mother and Trey ran to get her. She entered the room and the men told her something and then there was a loud scream. Then everything began to spin and then there was darkness.

Trey's thoughts returned to the present. He looked over at Alpha whose face was hard to read after hearing Trey's last memory about his dad. "It's like I know I had a Dad," Trey said searching his mind for more of his father, "I know he was good to us, I know he protected us, but I can't remember what exactly he looked like or sounded like. It's like someone tried to wipe him out of my mind but I can still feel him in my heart."

Alpha rose to his feet and looked at Trey. "As long as your father is in there," said Alpha tapping Trey on his chest, "No one can take him away from you." Alpha's face looked sad and tense. He walked down the stairs and back to the living room with the other scourers. Trey had always felt a connection to Alpha, ever since that odd man in the train station had led him to the original scourer hide out. Trey couldn't place why he felt like he could trust Alpha, but he knew he could.

Trey continued to watch the scourers laugh and drink in the room from the steps for a little while longer. Then there was a thud and then a bump from upstairs. Trey jumped to his feet and pulled out his wand. He slowly made his way to the third floor where the bedrooms were. As Trey tried to creep down the creaky old hallway, he noticed Epsilon's door was open. Trey stopped in the hallway and pointed his wand, ready to attack.

Bump. Thud. Bump. Thud. The noise came closer and closer. Then finally, Epsilon crawled out of the room on his hands and elbows, his palm making the heavy bump and the wooden brace on his arm causing the loud thud. Trey ran over to him. Epsilon was weak as if someone had sucked the life out of his body. He grabbed Trey by the neck of his sweatshirt and pulled him down to his face. "The wand," Epsilon said with his last breaths, "You mustn't let them get the wand." Epsilon collapsed on the floor of the hallway. Trey stood up in went into Epsilon's room.

He walked over to the bedside table, and there was a half-eaten bowl of soup. Remembering a trick Alpha had shown him, Trey plucked a leaf from a small plant on the table. He dropped the leaf into the bowl, it fizzled then dissolved completely. The soup was poisoned. Epsilon had been murdered. Trey ran out of the room and started to go downstairs, but then he remembered Epsilon's message, he had to get the wand.

Trey ran up the stairs to the fifth floor. Once in the training room, he saw a cloaked figure hovering over ebony wand's box. "Gamma" Trey shouted, "You're the traitor. You're the mole." The hood of cloak fell of Gamma's head and she pulled out her wand. "Young one…Trey," Gamma said calmly, "There are more sides in this battle than you realize. You need to open your eyes. You need to pick a side. You need to pledge your allegiance to the right side."

Trey gripped the wand tighter. Gamma's words had confused him. "What's the side I need to choose," Trey asked, "What do I need to do?" Gamma took a deep breath to explain and then BOOM. The wall blew open, sending Trey and Gamma flying across the room. Trey fanned the dust in front of him and saw that the aurors were back. They had been found. He then felt a tight grip on his arm. "Take the wand," Gamma said with a section of wall on top of her, "and get to your brother. He is not safe."

The aurors began to run across the room. Trey grabbed the wand box and ran out of the door. Loud explosions of wall followed him as he ran down the stairs. Trey finally reached the first floor to see the scourers and more aurors engaged in battle. He stood frozen in a corner of the room, using a portion of the loose wall to shield himself. "Young One," Alpha shouted over the bolts of energy zapping back and forth, "Run. Get out of here. Go to him." Alpha used his bright orange bolt of energy to send an auror flying across the the room. He then pointed at the wall behind Trey, blasting it open.

Alpha ran over to Trey and hugged him tight. "Run," said Alpha "Save your brother." Alpha released Trey from the hug, then pushed him through the opening and returned back to the battle. "How do I get to Ilvermorny," Trey shouted. "Follow the moon," Alpha shouted back, "Follow the moon." Trey took off down the alley and ran as far as he could. Just as dawn approached, he made it to a post office. He hid inside as the driver was talking to other mailmen. As he caught his breath, he looked down at the wand. The gold rings were glowing and the wand pulsed inside the box.

The driver climbed in the mail truck and looked around. Trey sat perfectly still, knowing that he was caught. "Thought I heard something," the driver said turning around and starting the truck. Could he not see Trey sitting in the middle of the truck? As he was exhausted, Trey did not dwell on the thought for long. Soon they were driving out of the city and the sun was up.

Trey awoke from his nap as the truck came to a stop. The driver hopped out of the driver's seat and walked around to the back of the truck. The rear doors of the van flew open, sending a blast of morning light all over Trey's face. "Hey! Get out of my freaking truck," The driver said. Trey quickly grabbed the wand box and ran out through the drivers side. The driver chased after Trey for a little while and then finally lost his breath and had to stop.

Trey ran until he reached a small diner in the center of the town. He sat down at the first table and a waitress came over to him. "You poor thing, all out of breath," the waitress said in a soft voice as she placed a menu on the table, "Let me get you a glass of ice water while you look over that menu." The waitress left the table and Trey began to fish in his pockets for his wallet. He still had the money Miss Sweeting gave him to get back to Mississippi. He finally found the wallet and there was folded not in his pocket.

He sat his wallet on the table and began to inspect the note. It was old and tattered. He unfolded the letter slowly as to not tear it. At the top of the letter it read:

To my sons, Trey and Miles

Trey looked past the body the letter and at the closing,

Love you both forever,

Dad.

Trey quickly folded the letter back up and stuffed it in his wallet. But he couldn't help but wonder, how did it get there? It wasn't in there that entire day. He had checked his pockets a million times. Had someone placed it there? Trey retraced the last couple hours and there was only one person he came in close contact with. But he would have? How would he have this letter anyway? Unless…no, it couldn't be possible. The thoughts spun around in Trey's head a million times a second. He finally had to face the possibilities. He took a deep breath and asked himself, "Is my father still alive? Is my father…Alpha."