Gideon pulled the bags off his broom and into his arms. It was hot. Very hot Chinese food that Duncan better appreciate or he could get his own damn Chicken Fried Rice. He didn't even like Asian food but Duncan liked it and so he allowed certain concession. He preferred Mexican but that was back in America. He walked into the corridor. It was late night and the hall was empty. He started whistling as he turned into the hall where his office was.
"Gideon..."
Gideon dropped his bags and ran to his partner. Duncan had left a trail of scarlet blood from their office to where he had given up a few feet later. Duncan was dying slowly and bleeding everywhere, especially from three lines craved into his face. He was struggling to speak.
"Xan...Xan...Ro..."
"Hush Duncan, I'm going to get somebody."
"Too late." Duncan muttered. "Gideon...it was..."
"Who?"
"Alexander Rouge." Duncan snapped, gripping Gideon's arm. He looked at him and smiled. "Beef or Chicken?"
Gideon smiled. "Chicken."
Duncan moaned. "I like Beef..." He tried to laugh but gave up. He died.
Gideon remembered calling for help and it coming soon after. He remembered them tearing him away from Duncan and beginning to already swear revenge. But mostly he remembered the name.
"Alexander Rouge, I know that name..." His mind searched for a face. He walked into his office for other clues. There was nothing except the reports for Jeremiah. He looked down at his desk. Realization hit him. "Severus."
"Severus, you really were the prefect Death Eater." The Prince was saying.
Severus was standing against his will but he was quivering from pain from various wounds that riddled his body. The Prince had made sure of first opening old wounds before attacking new ones. "But as it turned out, you were Brutus in the Senate stabbing from behind. How many of your brothers did you kill behind their back. But perhaps the worst part of it was you were most of the time Judas at Gethsemane." The Prince leaned over and kissed Snape with his mask. "You betrayed with a kiss."
Severus spat him, sending blood at the perfect ivory features.
"And why did he betray us?" The Prince continued, turning his attention to Kaiya. "Because the product of uninspired breeding." He walked towards her.
She was under the Imperius Curse, standing serenely and erect.
"Hold out your arms."
She obeyed.
"She looks a lot like her mother, doesn't like she Severus?" The Prince asked. "Why doesn't she die like her mother." He traced his wand down her wrists and whispered. "Diffindo."
Thin lines appeared on her wrists and they were sliced open and dark red blood flowed down her arms.
The Prince smiled at his work. He conjured a rope out of nowhere and fashioned a noose. He told her to put it around her neck and she obeyed. He directed her to stand on a chair. He readied the hanging. "There is nothing like over-kill."
Severus looked at the scene play out before him, in desperation. This was not happening! The Dark Prince was winning. But it was not possible! That was not the Prince!
The Prince kicked the chair and Kaiya fell and released her from the spell so she could feel every moment of her terror. The rope was tightening with every laugh. She tried not to panic but got the distinct impression she was failing miserably. She looked to Severus and Remus who were having their own problems at the time. She looked back at the mask. For good measure, he drew his fingers down her face. She would have scream if she could. Blood from three lines began to fill her left eye. She began to writhe as she was beginning to black out. She was running out of options. "Severus...help..me."
Severus forced himself to consider the scene, objectively. This creature could not be the Dark Prince. But he was good enough to mimic every move belonging to the Prince. Every spell they sent at him passed through him like air.
"What the hell is he?!?" Severus shouted. "He can't be human!"
"I don't know." Remus called back. "But he doesn't have a scent!"
"What?"
"He doesn't have a scent! I couldn't hear him come in either!"
Severus' face darkened in thought. Everything was falling into place as he strung together all the killings and the lose ends. "Of course. I know what he is!" He pulled his wand and placed a well aimed curse at the rope. It snapped, setting Kaiya free but only for a second. The Prince caught her in his grip and tightened it to finish the job.
Severus was watching with distant eyes the scene unfold in front of him. Sara was crying for death, pleading with him. No one else was in the room. He could have easily granted her wish but he couldn't bring himself to kill her. It was an odd handicap, one he had never suffered from before. Yet as he looked into her glistening teary eyes, he couldn't imagine anyone hurting her. But he already had. He leaned down and brushed her bleeding face again. It was staining his fingers.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
"Kaiya!" Severus' voice rang out. "Listen to me. I can help you but you have to do as I say."
She nodded.
"Close your eyes."
She looked at him crazy but obeyed.
"You're not here Kaiya. You are in the forest the night I took you away from the Coven! You're safe. No one is hunting you. No one is trying to kill you. You are safe. Listen to me, my Alchemy. You are safe."
Kaiya felt a loud, rhythmic pounding and first thought she was it was her heartbeat but it wasn't. It was the sound of the footsteps running, impacting the soft ground as the person ran. Kaiya felt the person's hair whipping against her face. She spat it out of her mouth and giggled. It must be a game. That's why Drucilla was running with her through the forest. It was a game and soon her Coven Sires would come and find them.
"Drucilla, is Alistair coming?" She asked playfully.
Drucilla was sweating. "No, Chem., your safe now."
Safe? She never knew she was in trouble. She was shrugged and curled into Drucilla's arms. Drucilla whispered a spell into her ear and Alchemy slept.
"Safe..." She said slowly. She opened her eyes and listened to her heartbeat. It was the running of that night. It was her safety.
The Prince's hand began to quiver. Something was happening to him. Severus smiled smoothly, his suspicions confirmed. It was working.
The hand began to thin and appear like mist and without support Kaiya slipped through his fingers, collapsing unto the floor.
Sara was a sobbing heap on the floor. "My God..."
"There is no such thing."
Sara turned around and saw Severus. Her eyes passed over him and to what she held in his hand. She looked at him. "Going to your Master?"
"No." He said softly. "I'm going to give you one wish, Sara. One wish and I swear I'll grant it. Ask me to kill you and your never feel pain, ask me to revenge you and I will. These Death Eaters mean nothing to me. You can have anything you want but chose wisely."
"Promise me Voldemort will never have the Tear."
He nodded. "Never."
The Prince swung around on Remus Lupin. He slammed Remus against the wall. Remus ducked and upper cut him. The Prince staggered and slammed his boot into Remus' chest. Remus growled and slammed his weight into the Prince. He was slid across the floor and slammed into the suit of armor. Remus saw thin lines of black blood streaming over the Prince's pristine mask. He reached up to his brow and wiped the blood away.
"Your pay for that one, wolf." The Prince murmured. "Serpensortia"
A large python flew at him. It landed on his arm and bit him. Remus hissed from the bite.
"I'd say my last peace before that snakes venom fills your lungs." The Prince cackled.
Remus could feel the poison filling his system. It felt like fire. Remus began to cough, struggling to breath as the poisoned tightened.
"Remus Lupin, you bastard, pay attention to my voice!!"
Remus coughed and turned his head.
"You don't have much time, Remus." The Prince was saying. "I wouldn't pay attention to your enemy Snape."
"Once you asked me to trust you." Severus hissed. "Now its my turn. Trust me."
"I...do."
"Then believe me when I say this isn't real."
The Prince had his wand out again. "We shall see."
"It's not real!"
"Avada Kedevra." The Prince shouted.
A green light flew at Remus but he closed his eyes and forced himself to believe in Snape. He opened his eyes just as the green haze passed through him. He was alive. He looked at Severus and nodded.
"Never say never again."
Severus had barely stepped outside of Crosse's when he heard Jeremiah Smith's voice. He closed his eyes and shuttered. His compassion, an unforgivable sin in his profession, had been caught. He was finished. He turned, lifted his chin and spoke. "What is it Jeremiah?"
"You're going to lie to Lord Voldemort. You are going to betray him for a woman."
Severus forced himself to breathe. It wouldn't do if he showed fear. He nodded. "You're half right. Not for a woman..."
"For what then?"
"For honor. For justice. Or perhaps just to ensure that an already powerful evil stays in some way in a state delayed development."
Jeremiah was staring at him, shaking. He looked terrified. "I...I just wished I had the courage to do what you have just done." He murmured.
He and Severus shook hands, nodded and parted all without words.
The Prince had swung around as mad as a rabid dog and now intent on destroying Snape. He raised a hand and Severus jolted up. The Prince's wand laid discarded on the floor. Snape's was no where in sight. Snape stood cradling his broken arm. Blood was flowing freely now from all over his body but he ignored it. The Prince was his only concern.
"You're a smart one, Severus. Always was." The Prince whispered. "Sara Crosse was a beautiful creature, Jeremiah was innocent, Gideon was a faithful Auror and Kaiya was a second chance. Is that why you kept them alive? Even after they knew you had that mark on your arm. They were your second chance weren't they? All of them. They were all some form of redemption for you." He sniffed the air and laughed. "I knew I smelled that odor on you. Humanity, a sickening thing."
"Or the memory of it." Snape said boldly.
"You could have been a god, Severus! You could have lived forever with Voldemort as your king. Now look at you, a cowering shadow of the man you once were!"
"Better to live in purgatory in then serve a Master like him and remain a child like you Rouge. That is what your calling yourself isn't it? But you made one mistake: you are impersonating a dead man. Alexander Rouge doesn't exist anymore. He is shadow, a nightmare that wakes up his victims at night and then is dismissed with a cup of warm tea and kiss goodnight. Rouge is a memory that exists without a soul. He is nothing but a shell."
"Your shell. Your memory, Severus. Even if you destroy me tonight. I'll still be with you. Every time you look in the mirror you will see me. You're open your eyes and see me."
"And when I close my eyes, you disappear. You are defeated not by a incantation or a curse but with a kiss from my daughter."
"You lie to yourself and to me. You will always crave what hides in the shadows. That's why I am here tonight, you created me, Severus. That's how I was able to finish what you started. They wouldn't have died had you not willed it. I am your creation, dear one. You'll never be rid of me. I will remain hidden deep within you as you deny your desires to yourself until finally you lose and discover you have nothing left except me." Alexander lifted his head proudly.
"Your arrogant, Prince. That was always my mistake." Severus said, taking meaningful steps closer to him. "The darkness is only as powerful as the fear that keeps people away from it and without that." Snape pulled his wand out and pointed it at Alexander's heart. "The shadows flee." He whispered. "Lumos."
Remus thought he heard Alexander screamed but it faded. He looked up just as the Prince's body began to fade like smoke. The ghostly faces disappeared with him and soon all that left was the smell of charged air.
Remus stood and walked towards Kaiya. She was resting against the wall, breathing with difficulty but still breathing. He looked back to Snape and nodded. Severus smiled.
"What the...the hell was that?" Remus asked.
"It was a memory." Severus looked at him. "A very powerful memory