The Midnight Club

By Myka

Chapter 3

A/N: First; sorry for the huge delay. But between school and trying to finish another fic this got put on hold. But my interest in finishing this story has increased the closer June comes ^-^

This chapter is not at it's best; trust me, I know. But I hope this will be only temporary until I get back into writing Sirius/Remus once more.

~~~

Sirius stared at the dark sky until there was nothing to see but the moon and the stars. He lowered his gaze back to his surroundings, his heart thumping wildly in his chest and beating in his ears, he closed his hands in two fists, and took a deep breath.

Remus was gone, and right now Sirius couldn't afford to lose his self control. Now he needed to find something that would help him in getting Remus back. The minutes right after a kidnapping were the most crucial ones, he knew, and he had to find something that would lead him to the vampires; if they had just run instead of flown he could have followed their scent in his dog form.

He searched the area nearby and came up immediately with Remus's wand. He placed it inside one of his inner pockets where he knew it would be safe. A second search revealed what he was looking for, or at least he hoped: a nametag, specifically an employee's nametag for a twenty-four-hour supermarket located a few miles from his house. He had been to that place once when he had a two a.m. craving. It was the only clue he had. He put the nametag where it couldn't get lost, transformed once more, and ran.

~~~

Mara landed swiftly on the front lawn of a big, two-story house. Mikael was right behind her.

"Well, that was a bit more troublesome that I thought it'd be," she said briskly.

Mikael frowned at her. "Just open the door, Mara. He's not that light, you know."

"Poor little brother," she mocked. "Lost your strength?"

"Just open the door, Mara. Or do you want someone to see us and call the police?"

"We live in the middle of nowhere, Mikael," she responded as she opened the door. She held the door open and mockingly offered a slight bow, allowing Mikael to enter before her. He glared at her as he stepped inside and placed the unconscious Remus on the sofa in the foyer. Mara locked the door as Mikael stretched the muscles on his shoulder.

"I'm hungry," Mara declared.

Mikael just rolled his eyes at her. "I don't have time for this, Mara. I have to be at work by eleven. I don't have time to go hunting."

"But we haven't eaten anything," she whined.

"I'll bring you something on the way back. You can wait, can't you?"

She pouted at him. "I guess so." She looked away for a second as Mikael seemed to be looking for something among his clothes. "Have you seen my nametag?" he asked.

"What about him?" Mara asked suddenly, having completely ignored her brother. "I could feed off of him; no one would notice."

"No, Mara!" Mikael yelled. "He would notice, and if he tells Gustav, it would mean more trouble than we want."

Mara frowned at her brother and growled under her breath. "Fine. But what should we do with him? We can't leave him on that couch. It's not like he's human. He'll wake up soon, and I don't think he'll be too happy with us."

"Of course he won't! We kidnapped him!"

"But we had no choice!"

"I think we were too rash -- Never mind, it's not like it matters now." Mikael walked over to Remus and picked him up again. "I'm taking him downstairs, Mara. Can you please look for my nametag? I don't want to be too late for work."

Mara rolled her eyes at him but searched anyway.

~~~

Everything felt like a blur, and his neck definitely hurt. Nonetheless, Remus opened his eyes and tried to see where he was, which was in a room he didn't recognize. He placed a hand on his head as he sat up on the bed on which he had been left. He groaned softly and looked around the room.

It was a small room, and it had no windows. There was a small table in a corner, and the light bulb that kept the room lit seemed to be on its last straw, giving the room an eerie appearance. The room seemed to be used primarily as storage space.

The door that was right in front of Remus opened, and a man entered the room, dressed in full wizard clothes. The man seemed to be in his mid-fifties, and his eyes looked tired. "Mr. Lupin?" the man asked as he closed the door.

Remus searched trough his clothes for his wand, but it wasn't there. He backed down a bit just in case, even though he didn't sense any form of hostility from the man. "What is this place?" Remus asked warily.

"You're in my home, Mr. Lupin," the man answered. "My name is Gustav Reid." The man came closer and offered his hand in greeting. Remus refused to take it, and Gustav withdrew the hand. "First, allow me to apologize for the way you were brought here."  

Remus stared hard at him. "Taken, you mean," he replied angrily. "Why am I here?"

"I never meant for you to get kidnapped by my associates, Mr. Lupin," Gustav said earnestly.

But Remus didn't want to hear any of it. "Why am I here?" he asked again.

Gustav stood still for a while then retreated a few steps. Remus was silently grateful for the distance. "We need your help, Mr. Lupin," Gustav said.

Remus blinked. "My help?"

Gustav nodded. "Please hear me out. Half an hour of your time is all I want, then we'll let you go."