PAS DE DEUX III-- TE ADORO
December 23, 1973
Chita Moody was working late. Working late was not something new to Chita, being the perfectionist that she was, but over the last year and a half it had slowly integrated itself into her daily schedule that now she didn't even notice she was being paid overtime. Chita stared again at the pitifully thin file. She had to give Lucifer something; he was smart, damned smart. It was unnatural. Feeling slightly guilty Chita had to admire his brilliance; Lucifer had evaded almost the entire Ministry of Magic for three years, raking his total number of kills up to eighteen. Though there had been no more murders since Evy Roton-Eldrich, enough buildings had been burned and files stolen that his name still struck fear deep in the soul of the wizarding community. Sighing, Chita poured through the file once again. They didn't have much. In fact they had hardly anything, only one eyewitness report. An old muggle woman who lived next door to Farad Oleoresin, Lucifer's sixth victim, had glimpsed a figure fleeing from Oleoresin's apartment around midnight. According to the old bird, who had been senile and half-blind, Lucifer was around five eight and was wearing black. Chita poured through her head, something just didn't feel right. Not being one to hypothesize futily, Chita usually trusted her gut instinct when it raised its head. Her instinct was telling her she had all the pieces, and no place to start from... No Wait... she did have a starting block, 5'8". Which, on the other hand seriously narrowed down the general population...
Unbidden a face drifted into her mind, a black haired face chewing a straw. Sejanus was short, she would guess around 5'7" or 5'8", and it had been dark... What was she thinking? There was no way Sejanus could be Lucifer, he taught Defense Against the Dark Arts for goodness sake! But what if that was all part of the plan, a tiny lying voice in the back of her head sneered.
"Knock, knock," Chita looked up from the file, startled half expecting to see Lucifer standing there in all his evil glory.
"Alastor," she heaved a heavy sigh of relief, ashamed at her own nervousness, "What are you doing here?"
He smiled, causing the single scar to turn up slightly. "I brought take out Chinese, thought you might be hungry. It's not quite gourmet..."
"Thank God," she said, taking the carton out of his hand. "I was about to die of hunger. So far all I've accomplished is that Lucifer is not Sejanus Cox."
"I could have told you that," Alastor said, "He's not Albus Dumbledore either."
Chita felt a rare moment of helplessness, "Which leaves 10 million wizards worldwide. Jesus, Alastor he's a psychotic sadistic maniac. I don't care what Liv says, if anyone deserves Azkaban, it's him."
"You'll catch him, Chita," Alastor said gently, putting aside his chicken lo mein, "If anyone can do it, it's you."
Chita smiled, "Te adoro, Alastor."
He snickered, ruining the moment, "That Spanish?"
She just stared at him, "Te adoro. And now I have to work."
Ignoring his comment about not being loved, Chita turned away from her husband and to the file on Lucifer, opening on a page listing all of his victims in chronological order. Chita had never paid much attention to this before, but something, maybe instinct, maybe not, made her look at it closer.
Dippet, Edwin
Pascal, Adam
Richardson, Titus
Menton, Eiden
Nether, Thomas
Oleoresin, Farad
Augur, Ursula
Roth, Otto
Rutherby, Selene
Dogma, Edward
Cinder, Ella
Montkormik, Bear
Ermine, Rita
Twiddle, Winston
Ender, Nadia
Turbot, Yvonne
Telzbourg, Hugh
Roton-Eldrich, Evy
Chita stared at the list, unable to move. To all Aurors this list was a mystery. The fact that Lucifer's victims had nothing in common had always been a source of great debate in the magical community, most simply wrote it off to madness, but Chita had never been one of the masses. Lucifer was too smart, too logical to be insane... but then again it was as if he simply picked off people randomly, his victims ranging from the Minister of Magic to a file clerk. Though unable to explain why, she felt sure there was something there, in the list... something, but she couldn't tell quite what. Ignoring the signs of obsession and overwork and Alastor's curious stare, she began to mutter to herself, "Dippet, Edwin... E.D...D.E..." then it hit her. The cold morbid logic, the cold morbid genius, hit her full in the face. So Lucifer did have a conscience, or maybe he simply liked games. Either way, Chita felt like she had just been dunked in a pool of icy water, and was chilled to the bone. For Lucifer had left a clue, a clue locked in the names of his victims. Dippet, Edwin... D.E.... Pascal, Adam... P.A... Richardson, Titus... R.T... all the way down to Roton-Eldrich, Evy... R.E.E. Together, the backward initials of his victims, in chronological order, spelled a phrase: DEPARTMENT OF AURORS DECEMBER TWENTY-THREE. Right here, tonight... he would be here tonight...
Suddenly Chita heard a scuffling noise from outside the window, and as Alastor leapt up, spilling his lo mein, Chita ran up to it and threw open the latch. A figure in black was pulling itself over the top of the building. "Lucifer." She almost smiled.
----
Five minutes before, and five hundred feet below, Sejanus Cox was talking to his little sister. Cait Cox was someone he didn't see very often, as she was spending most of her time in Lower Uganda, studying the magical creatures of Africa as part of a post-Hogwarts graduate program. Cait was making the rare visit for his wedding. "So," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders, "How is Lower Uganda?"
"Nigeria, Sejanus," she said in a tone of long suffering she perfected long ago and reserved particularly for her brother. "And it is beautiful."
"More beautiful than England?" He asked.
"There is actual sun in Nigeria," Cait said, adjusting the black hood she had on over her face, "Do you really insist on these ridiculous things..."
Sejanus pulled his hood off with a flourish, "There's a costume party at the pub around the corner, we're going as Death Eaters."
"You're truly sick," Cait grinned from behind the mask.
"The prize is 50 galleons, you can't expect me to live on a teacher's salary forever," he smiled.
"Shh!" Cait suddenly caught his arm, "What was that?"
Sejanus blinked at her, "What was what?"
"I saw someone go up that fire escape," Cait said, worried.
"You sure?" Sejanus stared into the dark night. "I don't see anyone. That's a ministry building..."
Cait started walking towards the offices, "Come on, what if it's Lucifer?"
"What of it's the janitor?" Sejanus growled.
Behind her mask, Cait smirked, "You have no sense of adventure."
Sejanus pulled out his wand; "My sense of adventure is at home with Liv and Gabriel. I'm a parent, I have to be responsible."
"For old time's sake?" Cait said in a pleading tone.
Sighing, Sejanus nodded, "You owe me. I'm getting bad vibes."
"Since when have you listened to vibes?" Cait laughed. "At least the costumes are appropriate..."
Then, they heard a scraping sound on the top of the building; Cait froze and gaped at Sejanus. "Let's apperate up there," he whispered as she nodded wordlessly.
The world dissolved and reformed in a period of a few seconds, and Sejanus found himself on top of the building, standing across from a black robed figure with a mask concealing their features.
Cait gasped.
The figure stood still for a few seconds obviously as shocked as they were, and then, without warning, it disappeared.
"What the hell?" Cait breathed.
"Lucifer!" With a rush of adrenaline, Sejanus wheeled around to find Chita crawling out of an air vent on the floor of the building. She gave a low laugh, "So it was you."
"Chita?" Sejanus took a step forward; "This is all just a big mistake--"
She stood up, her red robes a beacon in the midnight dark, "Don't give me that, you heartless bastard--"
"No!" Cait spoke up, her voice trembling slightly, "Lucifer was here a second ago, he disappeared... we followed him to the top of the building--"
Chita ignored her as drew out her wand from under her robes. "You're master killed my family three years ago when he was passing through Spain. All of them, my stepmother, my father, my five year old brother. They were found with the Dark Mark burnt into their foreheads! You're sick! You're damn sick! ...And now," she gave a low laugh, a manic glint in her eye, "You're dead, Mr. Cox."
"Chita, no!"
A wave of red fire shot out of her wand, straight at Sejanus. Maybe her hand was trembling, maybe her aim was off, but the beam hit Cait, dead in the chest. She fell to the ground, letting out a piercing scream.
Fell... and lay still.
That was the point when all sanity lost relevance, everything seemed to happen in slow motion, but Sejanus was unable to stop the broken record in his head, a constant loop of red fire, connection, and a scream, red fire, connection, and a scream. So Chita thought he was Lucifer? He'd give her Lucifer. Staring through the blind web of rage that coated and dulled his senses like a scab, he leveled his wand at Chita, who was spitting curses like mad. He didn't care, Cait was dead, Cait was at his feet, Cait would never breathe again. Sejanus hissed the only word of Spanish he had ever bothered to learn, "Adios." And then... he said it, said it without feeling, said it without realizing, and yet, said it with every ounce of soul in his body, "Avada Kedrava."
A flash of green light--
A rushing noise--
A slight thump--
With those words, it was as if a spell was lifted; he blinked and saw Chita lying before him, realized what had happened, saw the wand in his hand, felt the numb feeling crawling up his arm...
... And somehow, somehow, Alastor was kneeling by Chita's side, a look of shock and pain and anger stamped across his face. "You killed her," he said softly, his eyes filled with the same manic rage that had been in Chita's, "You fucking killed her!" His anguished scream still echoed as Sejanus turned and ran.
----
Sejanus hadn't come home that night, and it was already well into the wee hours of the morning. Liv was beginning to move from worry into panic as she stared maniacally watching the window for any sign of movement on the deserted street below. Knowing Sejanus, this could all be one huge pre-wedding prank, and for the first time in her life, she wished that was all it was. Liv clutched Gabriel to her breast... so close, as if the baby could comfort his mother, wipe away her tears. But he slept on, unawares of the brewing hurricane about to be unleashed on his family. A knock sounded on the door, and setting down Gabriel, Liv rushed to open it, her heart pounding out the panic and fear coursing through her bloodstream.
"Alastor?" Liv saw him, saw his face, saw the look of pain engraved on it and in an instant she knew what had happened. Knew it had been the worst, for Alastor had aged twenty years in the twenty hours since she'd seen him last.
"Where is he, Liv?" Moody said, stepping slowly into the warm light of her home, his shadow a circle of blackness on the pure white carpet.
She shook her head, first in disbelief and then as an answer.
Moody reached out and gripped Liv's shoulder, shaking her violently, "Where is he? Did he come here?"
"No!" she screamed, wrenching herself from his grasp, "I haven't seen him!"
"Don't hide him from me!" Moody snarled, his brogue threatening, "He's Lucifer! He killed Chita, don't you dare hide him!" He raised his fist as if to punch her, but Liv caught it with amazing strength and held him still.
"I am not hiding him! I have not seen Sejanus!" At the sound of his name, Moody flinched. "But if he came to me, I would damn well hide him from you and the rest your self-important damnable Ministry! Don't ask me to betray him. Don't you dare ask me to turn against someone I love. Get out of here! Get OUT!"
With a wrench, Alastor freed himself from her grasp and aimed himself at her, but before he could come any closer, Liv had her wand out and ready.
"Stupefy."
He fell to the ground with a thud.
----
Liv never visited her brother unless she had to; in fact, she had never even spoken to him since he had learned of her engagement to Sejanus, who, for some unstated reason, he detested. As a result, he had never even seen Gabriel, but desperate times broke all the so-called rules. Hence she found herself, clutching her baby, on his front step.
"What do you want?" he said, gritting his teeth against the cold December wind.
"Help," she stated firmly, as her insides crumbled. For Liv was blisteringly aware that the wind was cold, her life was in shambles, and all bets were off.
"You came to the wrong place," he sneered, trying to slam the door in her face.
"Cornelius," she said, holding the door open with her foot. "I'm your sister. If you loved me at all, at least listen to what I have to say."
"I do love you," Cornelius said dutifully.
Liv laughed harshly, "And that's why I'm standing out here in the snow?" Embarrassed,
Cornelius widened the crack on the door a little more. "You're an officer with the Ministry's law enforcement. I know they have Sejanus in custody, he's not used to being chased, he doesn't know how to hide. You have to get him released, he's innocent."
Cornelius gave her a pitying stare, "Livilla, he killed Chita Moody, and is accused of being
Lucifer, there is no way this man is innocent. I can only thank God that he's in custody."
"Thank God all you want, you have to help me get him out of there!" Liv exploded.
"I have an oath of loyalty--"
"Damn your oath of loyalty!"
"Now Livilla," Cornelius turned bright red.
"Don't you dare Livilla me," Liv screeched. "I has been Liv for twenty-four years, and you haven't cared enough to even notice that!"
"There is no need to get personal!" Cornelius bristled.
"No need to get personal?" Liv raged, "I am about to marry Sejanus, in less than twenty-four hours, how could this not be personal! Answer me that, you little man--"
Cornelius began to tremble with fury, the fact that Liv, his little sister, was 5'8" and taller than he was never ceased to whet his anger. "Sejanus is not the man you thought he was!" Cornelius bellowed, throwing the door open in his fury.
"You're damn right," Liv yelled, "He's ten times the man I thought he was!"
"He's Lucifer!" Cornelius screamed. "Get that into your head, Livilla!"
"Oh no..." Liv said, pointing at him, caught in a fit of blind fury. "Oh no he's not, and you know why? You want to know why, bastard? I am."
Cornelius gaped at her, his eyes wide with shock, "You're crazy."
"Happy Christmas," Liv spat as she pulled up the sleeve of her robe, revealing the Dark Mark branded there for all eternity. Cornelius almost choked, "You're afraid of me. Good. In the spirit of the season, I'll give you an early Christmas present." Liv sneered as she thrust Gabriel into Cornelius's arms. "Where are they keeping him?" Cornelius stared at her, a look of horror and revulsion on his face, "Where is he!" Liv screamed.
"Charing Cross Road, the Law Enforcement offices..." Cornelius stammered dumbly.
Liv smiled, baring all her teeth, "Thank you, brother dearest," and with that, she disappeared into the night.
----
Liv never knew what brought her to the church, only that when she saw its great stony walls and high oaken doors, she knew she had to go inside, only dimly aware of why she was there. As her footfalls rang on the hard marble floor, a tiny man stuck his head out through one of the open office doors, "Can I help you, miss?"
Liv blinked at him, and slowly walked into the brightly-lit room. "Forgive me father, for I have sinned," she said, before she realized what she was saying. Liv had only heard the words before in various movies she went to with Muggle friends from the ballet, and being an atheist, she had no right to use them, but at the moment she couldn't give a shit either way.
The man reached into his pocket for a pair of glasses, and pushed them onto the bridge of his nose while gesturing for Liv to sit down. "How have to sinned, my child?"
Liv took the seat and looked up into the man's eyes, "I've killed eighteen people." She paused and waited for the immensity of this statement to sink in, but the man showed no reaction. "I'm the most feared murderer of the wizarding world, they're calling me Lucifer... the angel of death. I have a son named Gabriel, like the archangel, always thought it was a tremendous irony." She paused, trembling slightly when she thought about where she had left Gabriel... the future he had in store for him once their story hit the papers. "The first person I killed was Edwin Dippet, Avada Kedrava, and I stuffed him in a bathroom. I could have killed anyone; put Dippet had the right initials. Then Adam Pascal, who died after the fifth round of the Cruciatus Curse. Titus Richardson I'm particularly proud of. I conjured a snake and slipped in his bed while he was sleeping. I was going to destroy the Department of Aurors last night, send poison gas through the ventilation system, and kill every one inside. But... I ran into Sejanus on the roof of the building, I got... disoriented... I disappeared; I don't know what happened after that. I'm in love with Sejanus, you see, and I can't let him die like... like I deserve to. He's under arrest for my crimes, they're going to send him to Azkaban... and I can't let him go, even, even if... please, please understand..." she looked up and realized she was crying the salt tears running in intermingled paths down the curve of her neck.
"Why did you kill all those people?" the priest asked, his expression unwavering.
Liv had often asked herself that question before, why had she joined the Death Eaters... and for the first time in her life she knew the answer. "Boredom. I'm a damn monster, aren't I father?"
He just stood there, in a pause to last a lifetime.
"I have to go... turn myself in," Liv said, staring down at her hands. "I can't let him die for me, not when I'm mostly dead already... I... I'm so sorry--" her voice cracked and her head fell into her hands, her body rocking with sobs. Liv knew, with every grain of soul she possessed that she would never see daylight again. She danced a too far precarious dance between good and evil, the aurors and Voldemort that the lines became blurred, along with her sense of black and white; the black and white within herself too intertangled and indistinguishable for her not to tremble, and the precarious balance on which she existed: fall.
Raising her head up with his hand, the priest stared her in the eye, "Give into your better angels, Lucifer. Do not let the gates of heaven turn you away yet."
She looked up into his clear blue eyes; "I just want to rest."
"That will come soon enough," he smiled wryly, "Too soon for all of us, I'm afraid. Save one life, Lucifer, and you begin to pay the debt to the eighteen you cut short."
Liv sat there for the briefest of moments, suspended in limbo, unsure of which way to turn.
Then, slowly, painfully she got to her feet, "Thank you father."
"I'm not."
"What?"
The man once again gave her a wry smile; "I'm the janitor."
ok... authors note time!! Firstly hats off to Blaise who guessed Lucifer correctly. thanks to everyone who reviewed ( :O) ) it really made my day, and thanks specially to Blaise and Person for your constructive criticism. alright, for those of you that asked, I got the names Liv (or rather Livilla) and Sejanus from an old Roman story. Livilla was married to the Emperor's son Castor, but she was having an affair with the Emperor's chief bodyguard, Sejanus. Sejanus wanted to marry Livilla, so they poisoned Castor, but the emperor forbade the match, so instead Sejanus married Livilla's daughter with Castor, Helen. Still continuing their affair, Livilla and Sejanus made plans to overthrow the Emperor (Tiberius if you care), but Tiberius was alerted to the plot by Livilla's mother, who found some letters to Sejanus in her room. Sejanus was executed and Livilla locked in her room by her mother who stood outside the door and listened while she starved to death. very pleasant story, but onto other matters, please read and review, (I reiterate... REVIEW!!!) Constructive criticism is always appreciated, and I want Leef to know this is all for you... I was going to wait a few days so I could type this up leisurely, but instead I slaved long hours over the keyboard when I could have been sewing my pointe shoes, so you better appreciate it :O). see how much I love you, Leef? just kidding, but g'night to all until next time and do review...
December 23, 1973
Chita Moody was working late. Working late was not something new to Chita, being the perfectionist that she was, but over the last year and a half it had slowly integrated itself into her daily schedule that now she didn't even notice she was being paid overtime. Chita stared again at the pitifully thin file. She had to give Lucifer something; he was smart, damned smart. It was unnatural. Feeling slightly guilty Chita had to admire his brilliance; Lucifer had evaded almost the entire Ministry of Magic for three years, raking his total number of kills up to eighteen. Though there had been no more murders since Evy Roton-Eldrich, enough buildings had been burned and files stolen that his name still struck fear deep in the soul of the wizarding community. Sighing, Chita poured through the file once again. They didn't have much. In fact they had hardly anything, only one eyewitness report. An old muggle woman who lived next door to Farad Oleoresin, Lucifer's sixth victim, had glimpsed a figure fleeing from Oleoresin's apartment around midnight. According to the old bird, who had been senile and half-blind, Lucifer was around five eight and was wearing black. Chita poured through her head, something just didn't feel right. Not being one to hypothesize futily, Chita usually trusted her gut instinct when it raised its head. Her instinct was telling her she had all the pieces, and no place to start from... No Wait... she did have a starting block, 5'8". Which, on the other hand seriously narrowed down the general population...
Unbidden a face drifted into her mind, a black haired face chewing a straw. Sejanus was short, she would guess around 5'7" or 5'8", and it had been dark... What was she thinking? There was no way Sejanus could be Lucifer, he taught Defense Against the Dark Arts for goodness sake! But what if that was all part of the plan, a tiny lying voice in the back of her head sneered.
"Knock, knock," Chita looked up from the file, startled half expecting to see Lucifer standing there in all his evil glory.
"Alastor," she heaved a heavy sigh of relief, ashamed at her own nervousness, "What are you doing here?"
He smiled, causing the single scar to turn up slightly. "I brought take out Chinese, thought you might be hungry. It's not quite gourmet..."
"Thank God," she said, taking the carton out of his hand. "I was about to die of hunger. So far all I've accomplished is that Lucifer is not Sejanus Cox."
"I could have told you that," Alastor said, "He's not Albus Dumbledore either."
Chita felt a rare moment of helplessness, "Which leaves 10 million wizards worldwide. Jesus, Alastor he's a psychotic sadistic maniac. I don't care what Liv says, if anyone deserves Azkaban, it's him."
"You'll catch him, Chita," Alastor said gently, putting aside his chicken lo mein, "If anyone can do it, it's you."
Chita smiled, "Te adoro, Alastor."
He snickered, ruining the moment, "That Spanish?"
She just stared at him, "Te adoro. And now I have to work."
Ignoring his comment about not being loved, Chita turned away from her husband and to the file on Lucifer, opening on a page listing all of his victims in chronological order. Chita had never paid much attention to this before, but something, maybe instinct, maybe not, made her look at it closer.
Dippet, Edwin
Pascal, Adam
Richardson, Titus
Menton, Eiden
Nether, Thomas
Oleoresin, Farad
Augur, Ursula
Roth, Otto
Rutherby, Selene
Dogma, Edward
Cinder, Ella
Montkormik, Bear
Ermine, Rita
Twiddle, Winston
Ender, Nadia
Turbot, Yvonne
Telzbourg, Hugh
Roton-Eldrich, Evy
Chita stared at the list, unable to move. To all Aurors this list was a mystery. The fact that Lucifer's victims had nothing in common had always been a source of great debate in the magical community, most simply wrote it off to madness, but Chita had never been one of the masses. Lucifer was too smart, too logical to be insane... but then again it was as if he simply picked off people randomly, his victims ranging from the Minister of Magic to a file clerk. Though unable to explain why, she felt sure there was something there, in the list... something, but she couldn't tell quite what. Ignoring the signs of obsession and overwork and Alastor's curious stare, she began to mutter to herself, "Dippet, Edwin... E.D...D.E..." then it hit her. The cold morbid logic, the cold morbid genius, hit her full in the face. So Lucifer did have a conscience, or maybe he simply liked games. Either way, Chita felt like she had just been dunked in a pool of icy water, and was chilled to the bone. For Lucifer had left a clue, a clue locked in the names of his victims. Dippet, Edwin... D.E.... Pascal, Adam... P.A... Richardson, Titus... R.T... all the way down to Roton-Eldrich, Evy... R.E.E. Together, the backward initials of his victims, in chronological order, spelled a phrase: DEPARTMENT OF AURORS DECEMBER TWENTY-THREE. Right here, tonight... he would be here tonight...
Suddenly Chita heard a scuffling noise from outside the window, and as Alastor leapt up, spilling his lo mein, Chita ran up to it and threw open the latch. A figure in black was pulling itself over the top of the building. "Lucifer." She almost smiled.
----
Five minutes before, and five hundred feet below, Sejanus Cox was talking to his little sister. Cait Cox was someone he didn't see very often, as she was spending most of her time in Lower Uganda, studying the magical creatures of Africa as part of a post-Hogwarts graduate program. Cait was making the rare visit for his wedding. "So," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders, "How is Lower Uganda?"
"Nigeria, Sejanus," she said in a tone of long suffering she perfected long ago and reserved particularly for her brother. "And it is beautiful."
"More beautiful than England?" He asked.
"There is actual sun in Nigeria," Cait said, adjusting the black hood she had on over her face, "Do you really insist on these ridiculous things..."
Sejanus pulled his hood off with a flourish, "There's a costume party at the pub around the corner, we're going as Death Eaters."
"You're truly sick," Cait grinned from behind the mask.
"The prize is 50 galleons, you can't expect me to live on a teacher's salary forever," he smiled.
"Shh!" Cait suddenly caught his arm, "What was that?"
Sejanus blinked at her, "What was what?"
"I saw someone go up that fire escape," Cait said, worried.
"You sure?" Sejanus stared into the dark night. "I don't see anyone. That's a ministry building..."
Cait started walking towards the offices, "Come on, what if it's Lucifer?"
"What of it's the janitor?" Sejanus growled.
Behind her mask, Cait smirked, "You have no sense of adventure."
Sejanus pulled out his wand; "My sense of adventure is at home with Liv and Gabriel. I'm a parent, I have to be responsible."
"For old time's sake?" Cait said in a pleading tone.
Sighing, Sejanus nodded, "You owe me. I'm getting bad vibes."
"Since when have you listened to vibes?" Cait laughed. "At least the costumes are appropriate..."
Then, they heard a scraping sound on the top of the building; Cait froze and gaped at Sejanus. "Let's apperate up there," he whispered as she nodded wordlessly.
The world dissolved and reformed in a period of a few seconds, and Sejanus found himself on top of the building, standing across from a black robed figure with a mask concealing their features.
Cait gasped.
The figure stood still for a few seconds obviously as shocked as they were, and then, without warning, it disappeared.
"What the hell?" Cait breathed.
"Lucifer!" With a rush of adrenaline, Sejanus wheeled around to find Chita crawling out of an air vent on the floor of the building. She gave a low laugh, "So it was you."
"Chita?" Sejanus took a step forward; "This is all just a big mistake--"
She stood up, her red robes a beacon in the midnight dark, "Don't give me that, you heartless bastard--"
"No!" Cait spoke up, her voice trembling slightly, "Lucifer was here a second ago, he disappeared... we followed him to the top of the building--"
Chita ignored her as drew out her wand from under her robes. "You're master killed my family three years ago when he was passing through Spain. All of them, my stepmother, my father, my five year old brother. They were found with the Dark Mark burnt into their foreheads! You're sick! You're damn sick! ...And now," she gave a low laugh, a manic glint in her eye, "You're dead, Mr. Cox."
"Chita, no!"
A wave of red fire shot out of her wand, straight at Sejanus. Maybe her hand was trembling, maybe her aim was off, but the beam hit Cait, dead in the chest. She fell to the ground, letting out a piercing scream.
Fell... and lay still.
That was the point when all sanity lost relevance, everything seemed to happen in slow motion, but Sejanus was unable to stop the broken record in his head, a constant loop of red fire, connection, and a scream, red fire, connection, and a scream. So Chita thought he was Lucifer? He'd give her Lucifer. Staring through the blind web of rage that coated and dulled his senses like a scab, he leveled his wand at Chita, who was spitting curses like mad. He didn't care, Cait was dead, Cait was at his feet, Cait would never breathe again. Sejanus hissed the only word of Spanish he had ever bothered to learn, "Adios." And then... he said it, said it without feeling, said it without realizing, and yet, said it with every ounce of soul in his body, "Avada Kedrava."
A flash of green light--
A rushing noise--
A slight thump--
With those words, it was as if a spell was lifted; he blinked and saw Chita lying before him, realized what had happened, saw the wand in his hand, felt the numb feeling crawling up his arm...
... And somehow, somehow, Alastor was kneeling by Chita's side, a look of shock and pain and anger stamped across his face. "You killed her," he said softly, his eyes filled with the same manic rage that had been in Chita's, "You fucking killed her!" His anguished scream still echoed as Sejanus turned and ran.
----
Sejanus hadn't come home that night, and it was already well into the wee hours of the morning. Liv was beginning to move from worry into panic as she stared maniacally watching the window for any sign of movement on the deserted street below. Knowing Sejanus, this could all be one huge pre-wedding prank, and for the first time in her life, she wished that was all it was. Liv clutched Gabriel to her breast... so close, as if the baby could comfort his mother, wipe away her tears. But he slept on, unawares of the brewing hurricane about to be unleashed on his family. A knock sounded on the door, and setting down Gabriel, Liv rushed to open it, her heart pounding out the panic and fear coursing through her bloodstream.
"Alastor?" Liv saw him, saw his face, saw the look of pain engraved on it and in an instant she knew what had happened. Knew it had been the worst, for Alastor had aged twenty years in the twenty hours since she'd seen him last.
"Where is he, Liv?" Moody said, stepping slowly into the warm light of her home, his shadow a circle of blackness on the pure white carpet.
She shook her head, first in disbelief and then as an answer.
Moody reached out and gripped Liv's shoulder, shaking her violently, "Where is he? Did he come here?"
"No!" she screamed, wrenching herself from his grasp, "I haven't seen him!"
"Don't hide him from me!" Moody snarled, his brogue threatening, "He's Lucifer! He killed Chita, don't you dare hide him!" He raised his fist as if to punch her, but Liv caught it with amazing strength and held him still.
"I am not hiding him! I have not seen Sejanus!" At the sound of his name, Moody flinched. "But if he came to me, I would damn well hide him from you and the rest your self-important damnable Ministry! Don't ask me to betray him. Don't you dare ask me to turn against someone I love. Get out of here! Get OUT!"
With a wrench, Alastor freed himself from her grasp and aimed himself at her, but before he could come any closer, Liv had her wand out and ready.
"Stupefy."
He fell to the ground with a thud.
----
Liv never visited her brother unless she had to; in fact, she had never even spoken to him since he had learned of her engagement to Sejanus, who, for some unstated reason, he detested. As a result, he had never even seen Gabriel, but desperate times broke all the so-called rules. Hence she found herself, clutching her baby, on his front step.
"What do you want?" he said, gritting his teeth against the cold December wind.
"Help," she stated firmly, as her insides crumbled. For Liv was blisteringly aware that the wind was cold, her life was in shambles, and all bets were off.
"You came to the wrong place," he sneered, trying to slam the door in her face.
"Cornelius," she said, holding the door open with her foot. "I'm your sister. If you loved me at all, at least listen to what I have to say."
"I do love you," Cornelius said dutifully.
Liv laughed harshly, "And that's why I'm standing out here in the snow?" Embarrassed,
Cornelius widened the crack on the door a little more. "You're an officer with the Ministry's law enforcement. I know they have Sejanus in custody, he's not used to being chased, he doesn't know how to hide. You have to get him released, he's innocent."
Cornelius gave her a pitying stare, "Livilla, he killed Chita Moody, and is accused of being
Lucifer, there is no way this man is innocent. I can only thank God that he's in custody."
"Thank God all you want, you have to help me get him out of there!" Liv exploded.
"I have an oath of loyalty--"
"Damn your oath of loyalty!"
"Now Livilla," Cornelius turned bright red.
"Don't you dare Livilla me," Liv screeched. "I has been Liv for twenty-four years, and you haven't cared enough to even notice that!"
"There is no need to get personal!" Cornelius bristled.
"No need to get personal?" Liv raged, "I am about to marry Sejanus, in less than twenty-four hours, how could this not be personal! Answer me that, you little man--"
Cornelius began to tremble with fury, the fact that Liv, his little sister, was 5'8" and taller than he was never ceased to whet his anger. "Sejanus is not the man you thought he was!" Cornelius bellowed, throwing the door open in his fury.
"You're damn right," Liv yelled, "He's ten times the man I thought he was!"
"He's Lucifer!" Cornelius screamed. "Get that into your head, Livilla!"
"Oh no..." Liv said, pointing at him, caught in a fit of blind fury. "Oh no he's not, and you know why? You want to know why, bastard? I am."
Cornelius gaped at her, his eyes wide with shock, "You're crazy."
"Happy Christmas," Liv spat as she pulled up the sleeve of her robe, revealing the Dark Mark branded there for all eternity. Cornelius almost choked, "You're afraid of me. Good. In the spirit of the season, I'll give you an early Christmas present." Liv sneered as she thrust Gabriel into Cornelius's arms. "Where are they keeping him?" Cornelius stared at her, a look of horror and revulsion on his face, "Where is he!" Liv screamed.
"Charing Cross Road, the Law Enforcement offices..." Cornelius stammered dumbly.
Liv smiled, baring all her teeth, "Thank you, brother dearest," and with that, she disappeared into the night.
----
Liv never knew what brought her to the church, only that when she saw its great stony walls and high oaken doors, she knew she had to go inside, only dimly aware of why she was there. As her footfalls rang on the hard marble floor, a tiny man stuck his head out through one of the open office doors, "Can I help you, miss?"
Liv blinked at him, and slowly walked into the brightly-lit room. "Forgive me father, for I have sinned," she said, before she realized what she was saying. Liv had only heard the words before in various movies she went to with Muggle friends from the ballet, and being an atheist, she had no right to use them, but at the moment she couldn't give a shit either way.
The man reached into his pocket for a pair of glasses, and pushed them onto the bridge of his nose while gesturing for Liv to sit down. "How have to sinned, my child?"
Liv took the seat and looked up into the man's eyes, "I've killed eighteen people." She paused and waited for the immensity of this statement to sink in, but the man showed no reaction. "I'm the most feared murderer of the wizarding world, they're calling me Lucifer... the angel of death. I have a son named Gabriel, like the archangel, always thought it was a tremendous irony." She paused, trembling slightly when she thought about where she had left Gabriel... the future he had in store for him once their story hit the papers. "The first person I killed was Edwin Dippet, Avada Kedrava, and I stuffed him in a bathroom. I could have killed anyone; put Dippet had the right initials. Then Adam Pascal, who died after the fifth round of the Cruciatus Curse. Titus Richardson I'm particularly proud of. I conjured a snake and slipped in his bed while he was sleeping. I was going to destroy the Department of Aurors last night, send poison gas through the ventilation system, and kill every one inside. But... I ran into Sejanus on the roof of the building, I got... disoriented... I disappeared; I don't know what happened after that. I'm in love with Sejanus, you see, and I can't let him die like... like I deserve to. He's under arrest for my crimes, they're going to send him to Azkaban... and I can't let him go, even, even if... please, please understand..." she looked up and realized she was crying the salt tears running in intermingled paths down the curve of her neck.
"Why did you kill all those people?" the priest asked, his expression unwavering.
Liv had often asked herself that question before, why had she joined the Death Eaters... and for the first time in her life she knew the answer. "Boredom. I'm a damn monster, aren't I father?"
He just stood there, in a pause to last a lifetime.
"I have to go... turn myself in," Liv said, staring down at her hands. "I can't let him die for me, not when I'm mostly dead already... I... I'm so sorry--" her voice cracked and her head fell into her hands, her body rocking with sobs. Liv knew, with every grain of soul she possessed that she would never see daylight again. She danced a too far precarious dance between good and evil, the aurors and Voldemort that the lines became blurred, along with her sense of black and white; the black and white within herself too intertangled and indistinguishable for her not to tremble, and the precarious balance on which she existed: fall.
Raising her head up with his hand, the priest stared her in the eye, "Give into your better angels, Lucifer. Do not let the gates of heaven turn you away yet."
She looked up into his clear blue eyes; "I just want to rest."
"That will come soon enough," he smiled wryly, "Too soon for all of us, I'm afraid. Save one life, Lucifer, and you begin to pay the debt to the eighteen you cut short."
Liv sat there for the briefest of moments, suspended in limbo, unsure of which way to turn.
Then, slowly, painfully she got to her feet, "Thank you father."
"I'm not."
"What?"
The man once again gave her a wry smile; "I'm the janitor."
ok... authors note time!! Firstly hats off to Blaise who guessed Lucifer correctly. thanks to everyone who reviewed ( :O) ) it really made my day, and thanks specially to Blaise and Person for your constructive criticism. alright, for those of you that asked, I got the names Liv (or rather Livilla) and Sejanus from an old Roman story. Livilla was married to the Emperor's son Castor, but she was having an affair with the Emperor's chief bodyguard, Sejanus. Sejanus wanted to marry Livilla, so they poisoned Castor, but the emperor forbade the match, so instead Sejanus married Livilla's daughter with Castor, Helen. Still continuing their affair, Livilla and Sejanus made plans to overthrow the Emperor (Tiberius if you care), but Tiberius was alerted to the plot by Livilla's mother, who found some letters to Sejanus in her room. Sejanus was executed and Livilla locked in her room by her mother who stood outside the door and listened while she starved to death. very pleasant story, but onto other matters, please read and review, (I reiterate... REVIEW!!!) Constructive criticism is always appreciated, and I want Leef to know this is all for you... I was going to wait a few days so I could type this up leisurely, but instead I slaved long hours over the keyboard when I could have been sewing my pointe shoes, so you better appreciate it :O). see how much I love you, Leef? just kidding, but g'night to all until next time and do review...