Silver Blood
Chapter 19: Retribution
The muggle world…
The sizzling sounds of the food cooking drifted through the air of the small, warm household. Grace hummed while preparing the spaghetti just for her little baby boy. He was growing up so fast and learning how to say new words. She did however realize that her mother was acting a bit tense, especially after the shopping trip. She wondered if the cold was getting to her.
"Can you believe this? An eclipse, I never thought I'd get to see one," Grace smiled over at her mother, who was currently putting together a puzzle with Alec.
The mother looked up surprised, her expression on the edge of turning to a grin, but she reluctantly smiled.
"Yes...I suppose nature has incredible ways...," she said gently, then continued on playing with Alec, who was giggling as he placed another piece upside down.
Grace sighed and turned off the stove, serving dinner onto the plates waiting on the table.
"Mother, are you ever going to tell me what's bothering you?"
The grandma glanced up, trying to appear surprised by the question.
"Whatever do you mean, dear?"
"Mother, please! Even Alec notices your mood change. What's the matter?" Grace exclaimed.
"Nothing, I'm just worried for Alec's sake," the grandma said gently.
Grace shook her head, "There's nothing to worry about. He's perfectly healthy and normal. Don't worry, I won't let him become one of those unintelligent, delinquents running about nowadays, mother."
The grandma sighed, "It's not that. How about we eat dinner now."
"Good idea, Ted will be home soon. Come on Alec."
The little boy peered up at his mother from the puzzle with his bright blue eyes, then got up and ran to his booster seat. The grandma slowly followed to her seat as well, and soon the three of them were sitting and eating dinner in silence. Grace was the first to break the awkward tenseness.
"So...Alec dear, do you like your spaghetti?"
"Yesh!" he said with a mouthful of the noodles.
Grace looked over at her mother who was eating very slowly and staring at her plate, only glancing up to look at Alec for a second before lowering her eyes. Finally, Grace slammed her hand down upon the table, startling both Alec and the grandma.
"All right, mother! What's the matter with you? Is it something I've done? Do you think I'm somehow raising Alec wrong?"
"No, that's not it at all. Alec is fine the way he is."
"Then what?" she shouted.
Just then the lights above the dinner table began to flicker. The room dimmed and dimmed until it threatened to become pitch black, and then the lights flickered gradually back on. Grace stared up at the lights as well as the grandma, both wearing different expressions.
"Oh great, just what we need. A power outage," Grace huffed.
The grandma just stared up at the lights. There was a bad feeling in the air, and she knew that it wasn't just from the eclipse. A slight whimpering caused her to turn toward the little boy who was looking up at the lights, spaghetti all over his shirt. His expression was that of a frightened child watching his closet open when his room was dark...
"Alec-doo...sweety, don't be frightened it's just a little power going out. We have flashlights. Oh that's right!" Grace sighed. "Ted will probably be stuck at work if there's a power outage warning. Well, I guess I'll just set his food in the fridge."
Grace got out of her chair and picked up the plate made for Ted and wrapped it up to stick in the fridge. Meanwhile, the grandma had cleared the plates and was now helping Alec out of his seat, trying to calm the boy little boy down. The grandma carefully sank away from the table as Grace started working on cleaning the dishes, and took Alec into the living room, sitting him in his comfy scooby-doo chair.
Alec whined and tried to cling back onto her.
"Alec darling, tell grandma what's wrong?"
"Kitty," he murmured.
The grandma's heart pounded loudly in her chest.
"Kitty? You mean the strange looking creature we saw at the store?"
Alec just whimpered in response and clung his small hands to her sweater.
"Alec, you have to tell grandma everything. What about the kitty?" she whispered, so as not to alert her daughter.
"Kitty ish scarey, gra'ma," Alec whined with a pout set on his face.
The grandma's eyes widened, "Wait...where is the kitty Alec? How do you know it's scarey?"
Alec's big eyes stared at her with fear and confusion. The grandma didn't know what it meant. She knew that before Alec had thought he'd seen a cat, a real cat, so he had been happy, but now he was frightened when he talked about the strange animal they had seen outside the store.
"Kitty ish here," he said quietly, a note of fear in his voice.
The grandma opened her mouth to speak but was cut off.
"Mother, what are you doing with him?" Grace came over beside her. "It looks like he doesn't want to sit in his chair."
Suddenly, before the grandma could reply, the lights in the kitchen and living room began to flicker more threateningly. The grandma slowly stood up with Alec in her arms, holding him close to her as if afraid he'd just vanish. Grace turned toward her mother after glancing at the lights noticing finally the apparent fear etched into her features.
"Mother...what's the matter?" Grace asked, suddenly worried that it was more than elderly paranoia.
The grandma shook her head, backing up slightly with Alec still latched onto her.
"Is the basement door finally fixed?"
"Huh?" Grace's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What did that have to do with anything? "Well, yes it is. The new lock was put on a week ago, but— "
"Shh!" The grandma interrupted, silencing her.
Grace looked to where her mother was looking, which was at the lights in the kitchen and even the porch light which all began to flicker violently. Alicia didn't see anything that would concern her, just a little power outage nothing big.
"Get ready to run to the basement," the grandma whispered.
"What? Mother, what's going on?" Grace asked angrily. "And why is Alec crying? Come here baby," she cooed, taking Alec from her mother and rocking him in her arms.
"...get ready," the grandma whispered more urgently.
Zap!
Before Grace could reply the lights exploded, covering them in darkness. She barely could register that the power had finally gone out before she heard her mother's voice.
"Now, run!"
More out of instinct from following her mother's orders, Grace ran after her, deciding to go along with her and then ask her what was bothering her. She ran, Alec bouncing up and down slightly in her arms as she followed her mother in the dark. Luckily, there wasn't much furniture in the rooms leading to the basement, and since they knew the rooms by heart it was easy to avoid any tripping.
Grace was beginning to think her mother had lost it until she heard a strange sound nearby. She lifted her head, while continuing to run, and realized it was the sound of...growling? Suddenly, her eye caught a shadow moving quickly. Something was outside the window in the room they were in...
Her mind was buzzing with thoughts, mostly from panicking. She wasn't sure whether or not to call the police from her cell phone when they got to the basement. Something else suddenly moved elsewhere. She could see the windows rattling back and forth...
CRAAAAASSHHH!
Grace let out a scream as the windows exploded and shards of glass flew past them as they ran. Out of the corner of her eye she could see rapid movements of shadows that seemed too large to be an animal, and too strange to be a person. Alec began crying loudly, alerting the presence of the intruders. A loud, piercing wail erupted from behind them as Graceheard tables and chairs being knocked over.
We're being chased!
Her mind frantically screamed at her to run faster, but she was afraid if she ran any faster she might crash into a wall or table. But hearing the sounds behind her that sounded like sounds right out of a horror movie, provoked her to move faster. They were almost to the basement, it was just around the corner. Grace was panting by the time she saw her mother reaching for the basement doorknob. Without thinking twice, she hurled herself inside with Alec as quickly as humanly possible. Just as the door closed and locked a huge weight pounded against it and Grace screamed from surprise and tumbled backward, almost tripping and falling down.
Grace could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Alec was still crying lightly, but Grace was in too much shock to rock him. Instead, the grandma walked over, shaking slightly, and lifted the small boy into her arms to soothe him. The sounds of hunger wailing from the other side of the door wasn't as loud now, letting her heartbeat slow down to a more normal pace.
"I think they're going away for a little, but only to get more help most likely," the grandma spoke softly, her voice quivering.
"They? What's on the other side of the door? What's going on and how do you know what they are?" Grace blurted out all at once.
The grandma sighed and sat down in one of the cushioned chairs, rocking Alec slowly to calm him down.
"Do you remember the stories I used to tell you when you were a little girl?"
Grace had seated herself on the floor and looked up surprised.
"You mean about the...the wizards and witches?"
She nodded in response. "Well...those weren't stories, they were real."
"What?" Grace asked, thinking her mother had truly lost her mind. "Are you saying you believe there are witches and wizards that did those heroic deeds you said in your stories?"
"I knew this would come some day...Grace dear, listen to me. I have to tell you what happened to me, the very first time I met a wizard...your father."
Grace's eyes widened as she shook her head, not contemplating what her mother was trying to tell her.
"Let me tell you what happened and then maybe you'll understand. It was a beautiful afternoon in July, the day I met your father's family for the first time. We had met in college and had eloped only after two years. He had met my family several times, but I had yet to meet his. I had asked, but he had been reluctant...up till that day, and that's when I found out..."
A beautiful Victorian-style house with white curtains stood towering over a large, green yard. The flowers blooming from the garden by the side of the house only added to the beauty.
A twenty-year-old Rosanna McGowen stepped out of a bright red station wagon in a light blue dress, that laced in ruffles at the bottom. The dress fell a little past her knees and crossed in the back. The gorgeous Victorian house almost beckoned her to enter.
An older man with shoulder-length brown hair pulled back into a ponytail stepped out of the driver's seat. His bright hazel eyes shimmered as they set on his home. He walked over, wrapping an arm around Rosanna as they approached the house.
Rosanna rung her hands nervously. Even though she had spoken to his parents over the phone and they had seemed to accept her, this would be the first time meeting them face to face.
"Nervous?" he asked.
"A little," she admitted.
He smiled slightly before reaching down to ring the doorbell. The sound of footsteps matched her heartbeat as the door unlocked and slowly opened. A small brunette head poked out. The woman had a kind smile and her blue eyes relieved Rosanna somewhat.
"Why hello dear, please come in," the woman greeted.
When Rosanna walked inside she had to blink a couple times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. The whole floor was oddly out of place. The furniture was a strange shape, like the lamp in the shape of some...figure holding a long staff with a sphere on top. The carpet was glittering strangely and the whole atmosphere seemed like it was from a different world.
Immediately, the mother took her for a tour around the house, which wasn't that different from the first floor. More statues lined the walls almost making her feel inferior to them because they looked like they possessed great unknown power.
Finally they all sat down to enjoy dinner. The conversation was very bland, telling her what they did for a living, and it made her wonder if maybe they were hiding something from her...
"So, what do you do dear?"
Rosanna snapped out of her daydreaming.
"Huh? Oh, I'm a designer."
The mother smiled before turning toward her husband.
"Dear...I think it's time."
The father choked on his drink and stared at her wide-eyed. He glanced toward Rosanna who pretended to be more interested in staring at her plate.
"Uh...honey, can we talk about this some other time?" he asked, though it sounded more of a statement.
"No, we cannot talk about it later!" she snapped, going straight into a mode Rosanna had often seen her mother go into with her father.
"They are about to get married!" she said gesturing to the silent couple, both staring at their plates now. "We have to put it out on the table so she has a chance to back down before it's too late!"
The father stared at her appalled, "Honey, I will not put my son on the table!"
"Oh, rubbish! It's a figure of speech!" she huffed.
The father grumbled and shook his head, "Let's just have a peaceful meal..."
"TELL HER!" she shouted.
Rosanna slowly lifted her head, knowing clearly they were talking about her.
"Tell me what?" she asked quietly, hoping to stop the arguing.
The father opened his mouth then closed it, obviously at a loss for words. The mother too had silenced now that Rosanna was curious about what they were arguing about.
Suddenly, she felt her hands being lifted as Cole took her hands in his. He looked her straight in the eye as the parents watched in silence.
"Rosanna...my love," he whispered, "I don't really know how to tell you this, or ask for you to accept what I have to tell you."
Rosanna took a deep breath, "It's another woman, isn't it?"
Cole glanced at her awkwardly before bursting into laughter. It was an uneasy laugh but still, he was laughing. It made perfect sense to her, what else could it be that she'd be given a chance to "back down."
After he stopped laughing he clutched her hands tighter.
"No, no, nothing like that. My family...,no I...we...," he took a deep breath, "My family is magical."
Rosanna tilted her head slightly in confusion.
"What I mean to say is that my father is a wizard and my mother's a witch. My whole family actually, consists of witches and wizards," he said quietly.
Dead silence followed as Rosanna's mind was swirling. Finally, she decided if she didn't look too deep into the words, it was quite obvious. His family just...stuck out. And all the times he had to go to family "meetings." Everything seemed to make a little more sense.
"Are you a wizard?" she found herself asking.
"Uh...well, not exactly. For some reason the magical abilities have skipped my generation, right now I'm a squib. But I want to move to the wizard world to learn magic like my parents. And...," he smiled slightly, an awkward slanted smile, "I want you to come with me."
Rosanna could see the nervous looks on their faces. It was shocking...and a small part of her wanted to run out, but what was she afraid of? Going into a world of magic might be fun and interesting, definitely a new experience. Part of her was prejudice, there was always a little in everyone...but she realized that would only hold her back from learning about his family. And she did love him. It was just a bit...well, shocking. Finally, a small smile came over her. It would be much harder to tell her parents but her mind was made up.
"I'd love to," she answered finally.
"What/" the three chorused in shock.
Rosanna laughed lightly, "I'd love to."
"Well...I...aren't you scared?" Cole asked, wide-eyed.
Rosanna shrugged, "Not really, a little uncertain, but you never know how things are until you try, right?"
"I...great!" he smiled brightly. "Do you have any questions?"
"Yes, I do. Our kids?" she asked.
Cole blushed slightly because of his parents' presence, but smiled.
"it's likely that our kids will be a squib like me, unless...unless we have a girl. For some reason it's the boys it skips. If we have a girl she'll inherit powers to pass onto her kids...," he trailed off.
Rosanna smiled, "Then let's pray for a girl."
Grace's eyes were wide, but a calm expression was etched onto her face when her mother finally finished.
"So...I...A-alec...?"
The grandmother, Rosanna, sighed.
"Well, you did show signs when you were younger, but we never told you so they never grew. We weren't certain you were an actual witch, we thought you were a squib like your father. But we weren't disappointed at all. I lived with him in the wizard world and was that an experience!" she laughed. "I'll have to tell you some other time, but I am pretty certain that you must've had powers because Alec has been showing them all ready and he's younger than you were when you showed them."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Grace asked quietly, the truth having all ready sunk in.
"Same reason he waited to tell me, you don't know how people will react. But our secret needs to be kept secret...that is unless you and Ted move to the wizard world at some point to let Alec grow up as a wizard..."
"Mother...I don't know, I mean he's used to this world and I never knew about it. I'd be such a big change. And Ted...how would he react?"
"Better than you'd think, from what I can see," the grandma smiled. "Besides, Alec would be safer knowing magic and having that to protect him when we aren't there with him. He'd be able to protect himself from this kind of attack," she said, bringing them back to the present.
Grace took a deep breath and put her hand on Alec's cheek.
"I would feel safer if he knew magic. I remember after you told me those stories I always wanted to jump into those stories and live there in my imagination. Now that I'm older I find out I can finally jump into that world and let Alec experience it," she looked up, a big smile on her face. "Ted has been thinking of moving...It'll be a shock, but...Oh mother, I think we will!"
Grace wrapped her arms around her mother, including Alec in the group hug. Just then the door rattled violently as several low, hungry growls interrupted the peace. There were more of them now, by the sound of it. The door was being pushed on by more of the creatures, creaking from the weight and pressure.
They backed up to the farthest wall, huddled close together.
"W-what do we do? Does Alec have powers now?"
The grandma shook his head, "I know he does, but he doesn't know how to use them."
The door rattled louder as one of the hinges broke. Soon, the other hinges followed, bending and breaking one by one. The door caved in with a bang and several large figures lurked in the doorway. The creature prowled into view. It had a huge ugly snout, twice as big as a bobcat's, bringing its huge pairs of long fangs into view. Red eyes bore into the darkness reflecting over any body heat or movements. Its laser vision eyes locked onto the three prey huddled in the back of the room and began advancing slowly, preparing to attack, the other creatures not far behind.
Just as Grace screamed and clung to her mother, as the creature bounced, Alec let out a wail that stopped the creature cold, confusing it before the three vanished in a flash of blazing blue light.
XXXXX
The loud crunch of a glass full of an unknown liquid echoed throughout the empty chamber. A bright crimson red substance trickled from the broken glass, down the long, pale fingers of the holder.
Melarna trembled violently as the shards of glass fell to the floor with the wasted blood of a stag the Death Eaters had recently slain. Melarna felt confident when handing over the "gift" to her lord, but she knew it wouldn't make up for her failure in capturing a small child with the power to predict the future. She had been sure she had chosen the right creature to do the job but apparently the child had been underestimated. Next time she would have a much fiercer and deadlier creature capture him, if there was a next time.
Voldemort slowly rose from his velvet, red chair, his long black robe lined with silver, gently fell to the floor as he stood and advanced toward her. It was the robe he wore when he wasn't planning on having meetings with his followers. He had specifically counted on Melarna to complete a simple task such as kidnapping a child.
"You failed my request again," he hissed right by her ear.
Melarna shivered as his words made the hours on her neck stand. She tried her best not to show it, but knew he could sense her fear.
"I'm really sorry master," she trembled violently, knowing what was coming. "I chose a very good hunter, the child was just underestimated."
She could hear Voldemort take in a deep breath through his slits for nostrils. Even though she couldn't see it, she knew his wand was all ready pointed at her.
"Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
Melarna licked her dry lips and nodded numbly.
"Y-yes master, I...um, the child...H-how could we have known any other powers he had besides vision of the future?"
Before she could take a breath after she finished to felt the familiar wave of pain rush over her body. It was worse this time because he was angry, angry that he finally had an advantage over the whole wizard world and was so close to his ultimate goal. She could feel that anger boil in him as she screamed endlessly, her muscles feeling as if they'd ripped apart. She could feel tears building on the edge but it was over before she could lose control and let them slip. It wasn't because she was sad, no, she was angry with herself, but it was the pain that brought on the tears.
Melarna panted breathlessly as Voldemort pulled his wand back into his cloak.
"We are very close, closer than even Salazar got. With a goal as difficult to reach as this you should have suspected that there would be much more room for mistakes.
"The child you were after, the small boy, he had power of vision, yes, but never assume!" he hissed. "The boy didn't possess powers of a seer otherwise he wouldn't have been able to orb away with his family. You should be prepared for anything! You should've been predicted that a child would be able to produce small magic when defending himself."
He paused, and Melarna heard the swish of his robe as he turned around.
"Next time you'd better not fail me or we'll serve you as a sacrifice to the "creatures" and let them complete your mission."
Melarna shivered but bowed and disapparated out of there.
She appeared in Hogsmeade where she knew it'd be deserted. She trudged angrily into the Three Broomsticks hoping the owner fled without clearing out all the butterbeer. She slumped into a seat and sat there silently in thought. After a moment, she pounded her fist down on the table.
I've failed him twice! I've got to find a way to compensate for my failures...Something that will put me high on his good side before he decides to feed me to those...things!
She decided maybe she'd follow some of his top Death Eaters and steal their victory on a mission. Melarna was about to do that when a strange thing occurred. She heard voices.
Slowly, she slipped out of her chair and out of the Three Broomsticks, keeping low. The voices sounded like they were in the direction of the Joke Shop. She stayed close to the building and peered around the corner. She immediately jumped back and held her breath. She waited for the footsteps to stop so the figures wouldn't be facing her direction.
"Are you sure we're allowed to go in?" a feminine voice spoke.
"Yeah, they said they wanted their most important creations," a male voice answered.
Curiously, Melarna peered around the corner more carefully. A girl and boy were standing near one another, the boy currently opening the Joke Shop door. Were they sneaking in?
Kids these days.
It sounded almost like they were doing it for someone else. Melarna narrowed her eyes to try and get a closer look at them. Her pupils dilated until they were almost too small to see. Her vision closed in on them, locking on a head of thick, wavy brunette hair, and the boy near her had red hair. They looked oddly familiar...
Wait, aren't they the kids from Hogwarts? Yes...their families have been working with Dumbledore and the Order, I remember Malfoy ranting about them. I guess he is useful at times.
She smirked to herself, hoping to find out some inside information. She closed her eyes and shimmered slightly before she disappeared from sight. Her ability to become invisible (since she was half demon) was different from wizards. She could apparate even when she was in invisibility mode.
So as not to alert them, she tip toed just close enough to clearly hear their conversation.
"What do Fred and George want with those?" the (brown-haired) girl asked quietly.
"Nothing much, for safe keeping I guess. They say they'll be useful," the boy replied.
The girl sighed impatiently and looked around her, glancing in Melarna's direction but not seeing anything out of the ordinary.
And why should she? They'll stealing from a Joke Shop, of all places! My lord was right, kids are being taught the wrong way nowadays.
The girl finally turned back to glance at the boy who was currently inside the shop gathering items in handfuls.
"Well, hurry up, I told Harry we'd be quick about it."
Melarna's eyes widened considerably as she almost let out a choked gasp of surprise.
Harry? As in Harry Potter? That can't be, he'd dead! Unless...unless he somehow survived...but that's impossible! It's quite nearly impossible for anyone like a great sorcerer to defeat such a powerful mind curse, let alone an insolent boy!
Melarna scooted closer but was careful not to make any sounds. She wanted to make sure she wasn't hearing things before jumping to any conclusions.
The red-haired boy poked his head out from the shop with his arms and pockets full.
"Hermione, you worry too much," he stated with a sigh.
She crossed her arms over her chest in a dignified manner.
"And shouldn't I be worried? Ron, don't you realize how big this is? So many muggles have disappeared we're having trouble keeping count! Witches and wizards too! Dumbledore can only do so much. Right now they're focusing on protecting everyone else who hasn't been harmed, then they'll try and locate the missing people, but that could take days to weeks!"
"Yeah, but they're working on it. You've got to think positive Hermione, remember, that's what you told me and Harry. They've all ready been gathering the majority of witches and wizards together to protect, it's the muggles they're worried about. I heard some aurors have gone to the muggle world to help. Don't know what good that'll do though," Ron muttered the last part.
Hermione shook her head, "These aren't the only problems...Harry's decided he's the only one who can stop v-v-Voldemort's plan."
Ron groaned, "Not again! What does he think he can do? If Dumbledore and the Order can't do much, why does he think he can do something that'll make a big difference?"
"He says he's almost positive Voldemort doesn't know he's alive so there might be a chance he could stop him once and for all," Hermione said exasperated.
"I don't know how he plans on doing that, but we better get back before he disappears and tries to save the world by himself again."
The girl, Hermione, nodded in agreement as the boy, Ron, moved to put an arm around her, his pockets bulging. In a snap they vanished.
Melarna stepped out from her hiding spot staring at the spot where they were a moment before.
That's interesting. Only the girl can apparate...
With new strength, she smiled a very twisted smile.
I may not know what the Order or Dumbledore is up to, but I now know the Potter brat survived. That is information Death Eaters would die for. I've got to be careful though, if I say anything about it now at one of the meetings, Malfoy or Macnair or one of those idiots will just say they knew that all ready. Then it'd be hard to get the boy with all of them trying as well.
No...I've got to keep this to myself until I am able to bring Him the boy. As master would say, patience is a virtue. I will be very patient while working on my new mission: to lure Potter to me so I can be the one to save my lord from his plan being ruined once again. Or better, bring him alive so He can enjoy torturing the boy to his pleasure until he dies from screaming...Yes, I, Melarna, will be the one to save my master, the new lord of this world.
TO BE CONTINUED...