DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, that's JK Rowling's creation.
NOTE: Thanks to those of you who've reviewed so far. :) The more reviews I get, the faster I'm likely to update. Responses to the current reviews are at the end. Hope you like chapter 2. It's not as long as 1, but I'm working on it. :) Chapter 3 and 4 are almost finished. Hopefully I'll get 3 up soon.
As I See It - Chapter 2
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The woods are nice out here. It's not a bad day, really. For once it's not too cold up here in Marin County. Actually, it's usually rather warm about where we are during the summer, but many times in the autumn and winter the weather can get downright ugly here. Fog, rain, wind, and biting cold. Well, what you could call biting cold for the northern California region anyway. I hear it gets even colder out in the central valley area. I can't tell you for sure, I've never been there. When there's everything to do within a half hour of you here in the bay area, why would you want to leave?
The sounds of three pairs of feet crunching along in the underbrush, the faint passing of a big rig on the distant highway, and the occasional muttering from Pike are the only sounds that fill my ears. While this hike is invigorating, I'm not sure I really want to put this off for too much longer. I want Pike's death to be long and drawn out. No, I really do.
Oh god dammit. This newly-developed bloody conscience of mine is going to be the end of me, I swear to god. It's really pissing me off. I think I'm just gonna have to make Jose dispose of himself and then have my fun with the bastard in front of me. Ooooh yes, I will have my fun. And when I'm finished he'll know never to cross me again. I can feel the smile creeping uncontrollably across my face. This is going to be good.
Pike's voice snaps me out of my reverie, "Hey cocksucker, you think this is a good place to die?"
"No," I inform him, "We're still not far enough from the roadway. The screams will be heard from here. Maybe a bit further?"
He looks at me like I've grown another head. "What the fuck are you talking about. You won't have time to scream, I'm just going to shoot you in the head." He starts to raise his pistol. I decide it's time for a diversion.
"You might want to wait on that one a bit, Pike. Jose here has something he wants to say."
"What?" Pike looks past me at Jose. "What the fuck?"
The sound of a gunshot rings out through the forest, followed by the thump and clatter of a large man and his weapon hitting the ground. Thankfully the trees out here are evergreen. The needles and leaves will help to absorb the noise. I won't have to worry about the driver hearing and coming to investigate.
The look on Pike's face is great. He almost drops his gun in shock. His eyes are wide and he's doing a GREAT impression of a fish.
"Imperio!" His eyes glaze over and his features go slack. Yes, I want that gun. He hands it to me. I also want any other weapon he's carrying. I watch as he reaches into his boot and pulls out a cheap-ass looking 4" blade.
"Is that all you're packing, Pike?" He nods.
I remove the clip and empty the chamber of the gun before banishing it to some place about 50 feet away. Now it's time to release him from the curse. His eyes snap into focus and it takes him a moment to realize where he is. "What the fuck??"
I smile at him. "It's called the Imperius Curse, Pike," I tell him, "you can't fight it. I could cast that on you and make you take a jump into the Golden Gate from the bridge. But that would be pointless. I want you to suffer."
Pike bursts into action. I block the punches he throws at me with ease. He's sloppy. Every punch is telegraphed. I seriously doubt he's had any experience other than beating up restrained innocents. I make my move, stepping close to him, redirecting his latest punch and using his energy to bring him down. I make sure he goes down fast and hard. Screw the Aikido way, I want him to hurt. There's no protecting my opponent in this case.
I scurry about five feet away and watch him get back up. We repeat the dance. Again I take him down, but harder than before. He staggers back up to his knees. I launch a kick to the side of his head and watch him keel over. He's out cold.
"Enervate!" I watch his eyes snap open. He's groaning. His head must be hurting. I'm wearing steel-toed boots. He's got a nice angry red bruise forming on his left temple.
"Get up, you worthless piece of shit!" I growl.
Slowly he gets to his feet. He's swaying unsteadily. That's fine. He'll be writhing on the ground momentarily. "Immobulous!" Yes, I like this little Freezing Charm I learned way back when. I think I first heard Hermione use it. Stupid wretch. Both she and Ron left me to fend for myself when all they had was eyes for each other. It seems I've had a wonderful history of choosing friends who are unreliable or end up dead. I sigh.
"Don't worry Pike," I mutter, "you'll be completely aware of everything that's going on. No, I'm not possessed by the devil. As far as you know, I *AM* the devil!" I laugh maniacally, watching his eyes grow even wider. I bring my face inches from his, looking directly into those frightened blue eyes. "And better the devil you know than the one you don't," my breath whispered across his face.
"I should have killed you a month ago when I first kicked your ass. I thought I could make you see that I really have no desire to pull any more jobs for your boss. I don't know how you got mixed up in that guy in the first place, Pike. You used to be a good guy. Now you're just a fucking slave."
His eyes flash with anger. Yes, I'm touching a nerve here. I think I shall touch a few more. I decide it's time to release his head from the freezing charm. My hand twitches and I watch as he regains control of his head. His body is still nicely frozen in state -- looking like he's about to topple over. Fortunately for him, the spell prevents that. I could have frozen him in mid-fall and he'd stay that way. I've done that before; managed to catch my mentor just as I tripped him. It was rather funny. I laughed about that until he kicked my ass for it later on that night. Yeah, I hurt afterwards, but it was beautiful. The photo I got was even better!
"Let me explain the predicament you're in right now, Pike. You're currently frozen in place. I've allowed your head free movement because I feel like having a little verbal interaction. But you will not speak unless I give you permission to speak. When I believe you've got a firm understanding of my rules, I will release you completely."
"FUCK YOU!" Pike interrupts.
"Crucio!"
Pike's screams are music to my ears. I release the curse almost immediately. Muggles don't take too kindly to this curse. They have a MUCH lower resistance than ordinary Wizards. I release the freezing charm completely and watch as he collapses to the ground. He's twitching. You can sometimes learn a lot about a man by the way he twitches.
Sometimes.
Pike on the other hand is a weak bastard. His writhing is purely nervous reaction. He's not even fighting it. Maybe he realizes he deserves it? I watch as the convulsions stop. His breathing is ragged, and I'm sure his pulse is racing.
"Get up!" I bark.
He slowly gets back to his feet.
"The Cruciatus curse is one of what wizards call the Unforgivables Curses, Pike." His eyes grow wide and his mouth falls open. "Yes, Pike, I am a wizard."
He gapes at me some more and starts mumbling nonsense.
"No, you heard me correctly, Pike. Yes, there is such a thing as Magic. No, it's not something just anybody can learn. And no, I'm not the only wizard you've ever met. Generally though, most of us can't stand to live in your world. I, however, am on an extended vacation from the wizarding world."
Oh, the contortions his face is making as he's trying to comprehend everything I'm telling him! Music to my eyes!
"You see, Pike, I meant what I said when I told you I'm done. I'm through doing these annoying jobs for your pathetic boss. I want you to learn a lesson here today." He lunges for me again, but I'm quicker. "Crucio!" He falls to the ground screaming again. This time I wait a few moments before releasing the curse. He's gonna be twitching for quite some time now.
"You really need to stop trying that shit, Pike. It's just gonna hurt you more than necessary. And believe me, this hurts you a *LOT* more than it hurts me." I feel my heart steel over again. The conscience I'd been developing has decided that it needs no interaction here. I smile.
"Trust me, Pike, I'm being lenient on you. There are worse wizards out there than I. Most wizards who aren't afraid to use the unforgivables would be holding you under the Cruciatus curse for MUCH longer than I did."
I watch as he slowly stops twitching again. His breathing is still ragged, but much better. I step closer to him and watch as he curls up into a fetal ball. "No more!" he screams, "Please stop! I'll do anything you want, just make this pain go away!"
He starts to sob uncontrollably. I force him onto his back and grab his neck just under the jaw, forcing him to look at me.
"There are three unforgivable curses, Pike. You've felt the Cruciatus. You've seen and experienced the Imperius." His eyes show a mix of fear and uncertainty. More fear than uncertainty.
I smile before continuing, "Yes, Jose was under the Imperius curse. The Imperius curse gives the caster complete control of another living being, whether it be human or animal. I made him turn that semi-auto on himself. He was another worthless piece of crap anyway. I really didn't need to kill him, but he was a threat. I don't like threats, Pike."
I let this information sink into him as I stand back up.
"There's one more unforgivable curse, Pike. You've heard the muggle bungling of the phrase before. It's called Avada Kedavara. It's the deadliest curse known to man, also called the killing curse. There has only ever been one person to survive the killing curse and you're looking at him. What does this tell you?"
His voice cracks as he replies, "That you're some kind of freak?"
"Crucio!" I'm really getting tired of this guy. I leave him under for a full ten seconds before releasing him. He screams himself hoarse. I can tell his vocal cords are only one more curse away from shredding themselves. If I have to do this any further, he's going to be completely useless and I might as well kill him completely.
I hear a voice coming from a distance behind me, "What the fuck is going on here?"
I turn around to see the driver approach, pistol in hand.
"Avada Kedavara!"
The driver falls dead in a flash of green light.
I turn back to Pike and drop to one knee, closer to his head. He's curled up into a fetal ball again.
"I really didn't want to do that. But now you've seen the results of the third unforgivable. When the coroner finds him, they'll be able to find no reason for his death. None at all. To them, it'll look like he just died for the hell of it. Now listen to me and listen good, Pike. I'm only going to say this once. You will stop pursuing me. If I ever see you again, I will kill you. You know that I am perfectly capable of it. In fact, I will personally see that your head gets mailed back to your mum in a nice little gift box. Do you understand me?"
"Yes!" he sobs.
"Good," I reply, "there is only one more thing I need to do before I leave you here."
He looks at me in fear, his eyes wide with terror.
"No, I'm not going to disfigure you or anything. I'm DEFINITELY not going to rape you. You're not my type. I'm not into snivelling bastards. I'm just going to modify your memory a bit. Obliviate!"
His eyes glaze over. I've cast the spell strongly enough that he will remember none of my being a wizard, thus protecting the ever-sacred Statute of Secrecy. "You will eventually make it back to your boss and you will tell him that I am no longer available. You will tell him that anybody he sends after me will not return to him alive. He will receive their head in a box. Probably in pieces. If you come after me your parents will receive your head in a gift box. Any searches you do online to locate me will come back empty. My servers will have eaten themselves by now. Any of my equipment you find will yield no information at all, their disks unusable. As of this moment, Prongs has retired. Go to sleep, Pike. When you wake up, follow the sunset and you will eventually reach the highway."
I wave my wand hand and cast a mild sleeping charm on him. Now it's time to apparate out of here.
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Review Responses:
Taligator: Not sure what role your favorite man's gonna play in this story as of yet. You'll just have to wait and see. (...And you'll see sooner than everybody else being as you're my beta!)
BlackSakura: Thanks! :) I hope you like where this story ends up going.