Chapter Twelve: Werewolf and the Vampire
The next two months passed uneventfully, and it was nearing time for exams. Chanteau was hunched over at a table, and Dugger was sitting across from her. Chanteau had reported that Angelique was up studying in the girl's dorm. Madison and Seth, however, were not studying, as was their custom. They were playing chess.
Just as Seth had won their game, Chanteau asked, "I don't suppose either of you is going to study?" Madison and Seth shared a knowing look, then turned to her as if the idea was totally stupid, and shook their heads. "Don't need to," Seth explained.
"Hey Dugger, you don't need to study either," Seth said. "Yeah, come play a game of chess with us." Dugger looked over at them, then back down to his notes, then back to the pair again. "Alright…" He agreed. He started playing Seth, and Madison came to take his vacated seat.
"I'm kind of confused," Madison admitted. "About what?" Chanteau asked. Madison regarded the entrance to the girl's dorm dubiously. "The first thing I expected Angelique to do was come and make me study with her." Chanteau nodded knowingly. "She wants to impress you."
Madison looked flabbergasted. "Impress me!?" He asked loudly. Chanteau nodded, looking back down to her notes. "By the way she's studying, she's going to tie with Dugger for the top scores."
Madison now eyed Dugger dubiously. "I don't think it can be done." Chanteau sighed exasperatedly, "You could if you tried." Madison nodded, smiling, with a blank look on his face. "I can see it… BUT WAIT! I don't try." He said confusedly. Chanteau nodded. "And that's too bad." She said dryly. "Just think what you could do if you did tried."
"Out of my seat," Dugger commanded irritably. Madison followed the command, though he picked the seat up and ran away with it. "Done with your game already?" Chanteau asked. Dugger nodded. "Seth's not much of a challenge to me," He explained. Chanteau laughed, and got back to studying as Dugger went off in search of Madison and his chair.
"It's the one chair to rule them all, doo-dah, doo-dah, it's the one chair to rule them all, oh doo-dah-day!" Madison sang, bouncing around the room, avoiding all of the spells Dugger sent his way. Eventually he came back to the table and deposited the chair, then bounced off over a couch, thus avoiding the hex Dugger had sent that way. Madison peered over the couch, and got hit by the newest spell Dugger had sent that way.
"You can anticipate actions too well," Chanteau complimented him, watching in amusement as Madison started to dance. It was a mix between the mocarina and hoola. "Nice dance choice," She complemented as well. Dugger kept quiet. The reason he was able to anticipate Madison moving up was due to his aura sense ability. But they didn't need to know that.
Later that evening, Madison caught his sister on the way back from the library and pulled her into a secret passage. He and Seth had combed the castle for them back in their first year, and thought they had most of them.
"Now, I know you're having visions, so don't try to lie to me," was the first thing Madison said to his sister. She was remarkably calm for having someone violently pull her into a dark place. Hannah figured out by the tone of voice that it was her brother. "How did you find out?" Hannah asked.
Madison chuckled. "Seth and I routinely check mail going in and out of the school." "Wow," Hannah said. "What?" Asked Madison. "It's amazing that you can get around school security so much." Madison wore an abashed smile. "I trust ye won't report me to Coko?" Hannah nodded.
"Tell me of these visions," Madison said as he sat down on the floor. Hannah sat down as well, and told Madison what had happened in all of her strange visions.
When she was done, Madison asked, "So this was what Coko was eluding to at the return feast?" Hannah nodded.
"Well," Madison said, standing up. "This conversation never took place." "What conversation?" Hannah asked, playing her part perfectly. "I don't know. And what are we doing in this passageway?" Madison continued his part. "No clue Hannah said dryly, stepping out first.
When she turned around to see if Madison was coming, he was gone. She sighed. Maybe she shouldn't have told her brother. The first thing Madison would do was tell Seth and Chanteau. She didn't know if he would tell Angelique.
Hannah had actually gotten to know Angelique pretty well over the year. Where her first impression of the girl had been that she was a bit of an idiot who was obsessed with Madison, she had learned that Angelique was a far deeper person than that.
Angelique's parents had died during her first year at Salem, and Madison was helping her to deal with that. Hannah didn't know how. Madison had never been emotional, and come to think of it, Hannah had never seen him cry. Only get angry. Campbell, the two student's father, frequently got into arguments with Madison, and they almost always ended with yelling. And it happened almost every day they were at home together.
Racking pain shot through her head, and she fell to the ground. "Ahhh!" She yelled, curling into a ball with the intense pain. Her hands went to her head, and everything seem to grow dark… Before everything faded out she heard Madison calling out to her…
Wildes stood at the front of the dark warehouse, on top of a large bow. It was raining this night, and some of the water came through the broken windows of the building. None of the lights in the warehouse worked. Most of the light was supplied by a street lamp outside, and by the occasional flash of lighting.
Around a hundred wizards and witches were assembled here tonight. Their appearances varied.
Vexter was lounging comfortably in a corner. He knew exactly what was going to happen. Wildes descendant was standing next to her. Most of the others moved restlessly, waiting for something to happen. One of them stepped up.
"Show us this 'Raven' you tell us about. If she has indeed risen, let her come forth." Many in the crowd made noises of in agreeance to this statement. In truth, there had been several acts of insubordination against Wildes and her cause. They had all been snuffed out quickly, however. Her followers had trouble believing her, that she had come back from the dead. She smirked. Tonight all of their doubts would be assuaged.
A rasping noise came up from behind Wildes. There was complete silence except for the storm raging outside. Wildes stepped to the side and let the figure come forth. The rasping noise seemed to come from the person's movements.
When the person had arrived at the spot where Wildes had been standing, it lifted the hood of it's cloak. Several people gasped, and a few shuddered.
The face was skeletal, the skin having long ago decayed, but a few bandages were wrapped around the person's face. Now that it was in a direct spot of light, they could see that its heavy robes were bloodstained severely.
It smirked. It was strange for the crowd to see this, as the thing had no skin or lips to stretch in a smile, but only bone. "Is this the army you have assembled for me?" It asked in a rasping voice, yet one that was decidedly feminine. "Yes, Raven," Wildes said, stepping forwards.
Raven turned to her, looking her up and down. "It has been over three hundred years, yet you looked to me the same." Raven swept her skeletal arm to indicate her decayed look. "I cannot say the same for me." She looked out over the crowd again. "We'll need some more." She said.
Wildes nodded, and pointed to Vexter. "He is already working on that." Then, seeing the glare Raven sent the man's way, added, "He's trustworthy." Raven sniffed. "I'll see to that myself."
Raven sniffed the air, though she couldn't be smelling something, her nostrils long gone. "We're being watched," She whispered, then drew her bone wand and whispered a spell to keep the area safe from magical surveillance.
Hannah awoke in a conjured bed in the headmaster's office. She looked around shakily, her vision fast returning to her. Coko was there, sitting at his desk. Madison was relaxed in a squishy beanbag chair, and the Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Cada, was there as well, pacing.
When he had seen Hannah had recovered, Coko smiled at her. "Are you feeling alright?" He asked. Hannah nodded, sat up, and checked her watch. It was nearing midnight.
"I would like you to tell us all that occurred in your latest vision," Coko said pleasantly. Cada had stopped pacing, but Madison had not moved from his reclining position, except for his gray eyes.
When Hannah had fully told her tale, Cada turned to Coko. "Do you know who this person is?" Coko nodded and sighed. "Sadly yes. I know almost everything there is to know about the Salem witch trials." "Do you know how powerful this witch is?" Coko shook his head. "Please fill me in."
Cada nodded. "I'm sure you kept up with the goings on in Britain." Coko nodded, and quickly made a connection. "Are you saying she's as powerful as Voldemort?" Cada shuddered at the name slightly. "Maybe even more so." Coko paled, but recovered quickly.
"Who's Voldemort?" Madison asked. Coko turned his head to the young wizard. "Voldemort is the Heir of Slytherin, and the second most powerful mage in the world." Madison nodded. He knew who Slytherin was. Coko chuckled. "Third most powerful," He corrected himself.
Cada's head snapped to the side and everything was still. "What is it, Lynn?" Coko asked, referring to the professor by his first name. "A werewolf in the school." Coko stood up quickly. "What?" He asked. "Young Marit didn't make it out of the school tonight?"
"No," Cada said, "She must not have. Wait! The werewolf left the building." Coko nodded. "Can you handle it?" He asked. Cada nodded, and left the room, his dark robes whirling. Coko turned to Hannah.
"Now Hannah, I want you to keep Marit's being a werewolf to yourself. They're normal people like everyone else." Coko said soothingly. Werewolves were tolerated better in America than anywhere else, but that wasn't saying much. Hannah smiled faintly. "My cousin's a werewolf. I won't tell anyone." Coko smiled and then turned to Madison.
Or more accurately, the abandoned beanbag Madison had been sitting in. Coko shook his head, and turned back to Hannah. "Don't go looking after your brother, no matter what. Now get back to your house," He commanded. Hannah obeyed.
Madison was the first to come to Emily and Aibyoukai. He wasn't sure whether or not they were alive. Neither seemed to be breathing, and both had severe wounds. What puzzled Madison was that they did not look like the bites from a werewolf, but more like five neat punctures. Blood was all over the corridor. Then he looked up into the darkness of the mushroom cave.
A trail of blood led into it, and into the darkness. There was a magical shield covering the entrance that wouldn't let anyone in or out, but whatever it was had done it. Madison knew a secret passage around this, and was considering using it when he heard some coming from behind him. He went into the secret passage, and into the darkness of the mushroom cave, leaving the bodies behind.
As soon as he got far enough from the entrance, he whispered, "Lumos," and then began to follow the trail of blood. Eventually he came to where the blood trail stopped. He cast the light of his wand around, then nodded to himself.
Madison closed his eyes, not too much of a wise thing to do in his current situation, and drew his wand. Concentrating very hard, he formed the image of a sword in his mind, only a sword, then opened his eyes and waved his wand. And there, on the ground was the sword he had pictured.
He was immensely glad that this had worked. He didn't wand to have to go up against a werewolf unarmed. And besides that, it was good to know he could conjure something. Though he felt severely drained from doing it, he had been able to do that. Conjuring was a form of transfiguration, and very hard to do. This he had worked at a long time, though he had never pulled it off.
He picked up the sword and switched his wand over to his left hand. The sword was into a big, clumsy sword, but a shorter one that could be moved quickly.
Madison heard a growl from behind him and turned, swiping with the sword, as the werewolf pounced. The sword swipe barely nicked the creature's stomach, but that was enough to send the werewolf back a few steps.
He held the sword up, pointing it at the creature's chest. It eyed the sword warily, and then Madison thought of something. He waved his wand at the sword, and it brightened, the metal now reflecting more of the light. The werewolf backed up a bit, and Madison smirked. He had transfigured the sword into solid silver. Maybe this would make up for Madison's fatigue, a result of his casting two advanced spells so close together. He felt like he had just run several miles, except no hard breathing.
Madison watched the werewolf's eyes. They were moving, and changing, and the creature seemed to be alternating from wanting to attack him and wanting to leave him alone. Marit verses the wolf, Madison knew.
He was a shade wrong, however. It was Marit and the Wolf against some other compulsion.
The werewolf let out a howl, and jumped at Madison. He hastened to get out of the way, and brought the sword in front of him and the creature. It jumped back, yelping, then growled, and jumped again. Madison scored a greater blow this time, stabbing into the werewolf's thigh, but received a scratch across the shoulder.
This time when the werewolf backed up, it sniffed the air, then limped away. Madison peered around for something, anything that would make the werewolf back down, when it hit him. Literally.
The two of them slammed to the ground, breaking two of Madison's fingers. Thank goodness my wand is ok, Madison thought as the thing got off him. He stood up, switching his wand to his right hand, and looked at what the thing was. He was stunned.
It was Seth, beyond a shadow of a doubt, but a different Seth. His hair had darkened slightly, and grown quite a bit longer. Fangs protruded out of his mouth a bit, and his lips were bloodstained. His hands were now claws. And the eyes were the most haunting thing about them. They retained the structure of Seth's, but the colored part was black, and the pupils were glowing red.
"Seth?" He asked tentatively. Seth laughed, and this was different as well. There was no warmth to that laugh. It was full of malice and contempt. "You could say that," He said. "But now I am much more than just Seth."
Madison's eyes narrowed. "You're a vampire," he stated. Seth clapped his hands together. "Good, Madison." Madison started circling around Seth, and Seth followed suit. Madison smirked inwardly. This would get him closer to his sword.
"You've got a lot to answer for," Madison told him. Seth smirked, showing off his prominent fangs. "I'll never have to answer for them. And besides, they aren't dead." Madison nodded, still circling. He bent down quickly to get his sword, and jumped at Seth, attacking him.
Seth caught the blow with a hand, and punched out with his other. The claws raked Madison's chest, and he slammed up against a boulder. His head swam with the pain, and he had to struggle to not faint.
He shook his head to clear it of the pain, and jumped at Seth again. Seth again caught the sword, but Madison kicked out as well. Seth stumbled back, but took the sword with him as well. "Why do we have to fight?" He asked as Madison drew his wand. Madison smirked.
"You're a vampire. Everything you do now is for the cause of evil. I'm going to take you to the headmaster-" Seth cut him off with a high-pitched laugh. "Do you think you can take me to the headmaster? Well you're mistaken, you aren't taking me anywhere." With this he pounced, dealing Madison two vicious blows to his ribs. Many of them cracked, and Madison could feel the blood.
He was knocked to his back, and he started to crawl backwards as Seth casually walked towards him. "You could join me," Seth told him. "Being a vampire gives you powers you can't imagine! Think of the things you and I could do as vampires!"
The offer sorely tempted Madison. He stopped his scrambling. Why not? He asked himself. So much power could be his… And he could never die! Just think of that! Then he shook his head. He couldn't live with that. His friends wouldn't accept him anymore, or his family, or Angelique…
Seth chuckled when he saw Madison shake his head. "You don't have much of a choice," He said, looking out past Madison. Madison turned his head, and saw the vast chasm just behind him through his ever-dimming vision. He turned back to Seth and raised his wand.
At that moment there came a loud howling noise, and Seth turned around, a genuinely scared look on his face. The werewolf barreled into him, and they both flew out over the chasm. Then there was a great cracking sound.
Madison had no time to grieve, considering his condition. Breathing was coming harder to him, and his vision was almost gone. He let go, and the dull light of the cavern faded away…