It took awhile for him to track Bam down, he was in the Defense Against The Dark Arts room when he did figure out his location, but Interstate was stopped several times by the hushed private conversations of Death Eaters, one conversation upon which Interstate was in the exact room. Bam had been in that room before, one, because his scent was lingering still in the room, and two, because there was a victim to prove it.
Lying in a heap on the ground in the middle of the corridor leading to the Gryffindor Tower, there was a dead Death Eater's body. Interstate dared to inch closer, three other Death Eaters were crowded around the body, and he could hear their quiet annoyed voices. He had no choice but to wait for them to move on to the next room without their pal.
"What's the cause of death?" One of the Death Eaters asked, poking the dead body with his wand.
"Erm…we're pretty sure it's the cursed vampire knife in his back sir…"
"Oh…right…take it out then…"
"We can't sir, it's cursed…"
"So?"
"So if we touch it there going to kill us next. Don't you know the ways of the vampires? Not to mention, it will probably burn our skin anyway, it's cursed! Jinxed!"
"Vampires can't use magic…this is nonsense, you guys are idiots," Interstate saw the Death Eater who had been poking the dead body with his wand reach down and grasp the hilt of the knife in the man's back. Interstate felt the tug of his vampiric instincts.
Kill them… Only this once…Interstate aimed his gun and shot out of the darkness, he saw the other two Death Eaters watch in shock as their friend fell, the bullet whizzing into his heart, dead instantly.
"It is cursed!" One howled, "Run!"
The two ran away with scared expressions, and Interstate carefully inched forward, staying low to the ground as he ran towards the bodies, his gun still in hand, while grabbing Bam's knife out of the clutches of the cold dead Death Eater. He almost hesitated, seeing the pool of blood, but even his real self knew he had a job to do…
This isn't you, you know what you want…you can't hide like this forever, under this name, under this glamour. You have to let yourself out sometime right? Bam wants you out.
"Stop it," Interstate hissed sourly as he made his way through the night, ears perked for any sound at all, wishing he was a full vampire instead of the half-breed he really was. Sometimes he wished like that, other times he wished he could be normal, but then again, maybe the best place for him to really be was in-between. That was knowledge that he kept close to himself, he wondered if Noah Lupin ever considered that crazy notion. That the best place to be…the best thing to be…was right in-between, where you could see it from both sides…the good and the bad. He could hold a cursed vampire knife in one hand without getting burned or hurt by it, and he could carry a wand in the other, and use it just as easily…
The best thing to be…
"There isn't time to explain," Suddenly Interstate stopped as he heard Bam's voice, and then he realized that Bam was talking to him from the room right in front of him, the Defense Against The Dark Arts room. Interstate swept inside.
"Here," he said giving Bam back his knife, Bam took it back, his black eyes studying Interstate coldly.
"It's prophesized that this day would come, you have to let the glamour leave Interstate," Bam said suddenly.
"What?" He said, his mouth feeling dry.
"You have to let me say your name," Bam replied dully, "The Death Eaters think that if they can find it, they can convert you to their side, there looking for your name in any records, no one has been able to find it. You have to let me say it."
"Will I really turn?" Interstate asked nervously. He never knew, that's why no one ever called him it. Would he really go evil? His glamour would disappear, his disguise as being the person he'd grown up to be. He'd never seen what he really did look like…what was this going to do?
"I don't know," Bam whispered idly, "But I know you're plan, you think you can convert Noah Lupin right? Back to our side? Well you're not going to be able to do that like you are now, you're going to have to show him that your different, physically and mentally."
"I'm still gonna be half-vampire right?"
"Right, we're running out of time, five vampires have been slain, most of them near the entrance to the Great Hall, trying to get outside to where the Death Eaters basically have there main base. Noah Lupin's in the school, the information has gotten back to me that he's searching for you…for us. He knows you're out, and he's basically Voldemort's right-hand man as it was…you need to get him back to our side no Interstate."
"Bam, you're talking to someone who never smiles, what the hell is going on?" he asked nervously.
"You're wearing a glamour right? It's hiding who you really are; it's a spell okay? When you were about eleven or twelve…when your parents found out you had wizard blood too, they had to do it. They had to give you human instincts, you were too vampire really, you wouldn't remember any of this of course, your mother used a forgetting spell or something like that. But anyway, once you know, you hear your real name, not the vampire one, the spell breaks and the glamour comes off, which means you get more vampirish…it's like-like Noah Lupin, that's what you turn out like. You'll probably get nightmares every night and stuff like that, I mean, I don't know for sure but that's what it's like for half-breeds."
"Uh," Interstate paused, "This is so screwed up," he murmured running his hand through his hair, "What the hell is going to happen anyway? Am I going to loose it like those other two? Is this why I haven't yet?"
"Yeah," Bam replied with a sigh, "The thing is, you might, you might not, no one knows, and Lupin wants you on his side, he probably thinks that I'd follow you in battle against the good guys."
"So…would you?"
"No. Which is where Lupin is wrong, by gaining you, he's only gaining more information about Potter, about the plans inside the Great Hall, about the kids…stuff like that…"
"So you're guessing I'm going to turn?"
"Something tells me you won't, that thing possessed your own mom, I'd think you'd want her back, even as who you really are."
"Y'all are making it sound like this glamour is gonna to make dramatic changes," Interstate hissed vehemently.
"People…might not recognize you," he said with a shrug.
"Oh Jesus," he muttered.
But that had been his plan right? To find Bam, and then try to get to Lupin? Try to change him back into the Noah that everyone wanted to see, so everyone could breathe easier to know he was there. But what would they do to Noah after they caught him and he was back to normal? Azkaban seemed the only result to that question. Noah had lost it for real…and was Interstate about to make the same mistake?
"Are you going to do this or not? I heard about Lyric, he was the second to last hope, but somehow I figured he'd loose it too…when he looked at me in the Great Hall, I knew the look in his eyes…I knew you would find a way out of this too."
"I know you know a lot," Interstate murmured in a now nervous voice. What was this going to do to him? Would he ever be able to do the things he could before? Or would he end up with Lupin? In a cold prison cell in Azkaban, waiting for death, and dying of starvation without blood…
Or would he end up in the deepest parts of Hell? Regretting every day of his life like a burden for eternity? Wishing he could have done different…
"Hey," Bam said softly, his black eyes flitting to the door behind Interstate, "It's okay…"
And then Bam continued with the sentence, Interstate hearing his name, the word ringing in his ears, a spell being lifted, new thoughts being born. But he had been prepared…
No…he wasn't prepared for this at all.
"We're doomed, we're doomed…"
Lyric groaned at the voice of his sister…
"We're going to all die a horrible bloody death, and the vampires will drink our blood afterwards. What a great way to go! Interstate hasn't come back for hours, the suns almost coming up by now…and there aren't any reports of improvement. The Ministry can't break through, and only half of the Auror's have showed up. We're going to die…we're going to die!"
Lyric awoke suddenly, his eyes springing wide open, and he shot up from the ground, sitting up…taking in his surroundings quickly. The sky above them was still pitch black, but morning had to be closer than it felt. Most of the students were sleeping un-easily, drifting in and out, in and out…
He wondered what was going on, but then suddenly tried to move his hands, and discovered he couldn't. They were tied behind his back, hard and tight, almost cutting into his skin. He put his head against the cold stone wall, he was sitting cross-legged by now. And then spotted his sister not far away, with Willow and Truett sitting by her side.
"Keaton!" he hissed in a quiet voice.
His sister replied to his plead immediately and perked up, turning swiftly around, and smiling broadly. "You're back!" she exclaimed, "You've been out of it for awhile, they hit you with the stupefy one again…"
"Where is Interstate?" he asked, the most important question it seemed at the time.
"We don't know, he left hours ago to find Bam, and then Dad, he was going to try to convert him back to the way he was, so he's not bad anymore…" her voice drifted off as she looked at him. Her stare full of pity, and he felt himself heat up, embarrassed about what he looked like, tied up like an animal…to make sure he didn't hurt anyone again… "It's okay Lyric," his sister whispered, "It's all right…"
"No," he said groggily, tossing his head back on the stone and looking at the ceiling, "its not…we should have never come here, why did Dad take that job? Why did I agree? Why didn't I put up more of a fight?"
"It would have happened sooner or later," Willow interjected softly, "Even if you were back at home Lyric, you're father was getting worse every full moon, and he knew it, even then, he just hadn't said anything, or done anything about it. He could have killed you if you were back home, you two would have been alone."
"Listen, I don't care," he hissed shaking his head again, "I want to know where Interstate—"
Lyric was cut off as the doors to the Great Hall swung open, awakening almost everyone, half-slept eyes opened to watch as four vampires dragged inside a fat, pudgy looking man with an ugly mop of hair. He looked about forty, not old but not young either, that didn't stop the vampires from pulling and tugging him along just as hard.
When they got to the front of the Great Hall, they threw the man onto the ground roughly, the leader speaking up. "We caught him, he's one of the right-hand men, he knows the plans of action," the leader said with little emotion, 'We got him to talk. He says that a vampire has changed sides…"
"Interstate!" Keaton gasped, alerting more people around the group.
The teachers exchanged a look, "And what of this vampire?" Dumbledore asked quietly.
"This rat said he'd heard the vampire spill everything he knew to Noah Lupin, he says the guys are like…like pals or something now."
"And what's the name of this vampire? Shouldn't you be telling this to Bam?"
"He already knows Headmaster, tell them the name!" the vampire yelled suddenly at the man held by three other vampire's knives at his throat, his wand was no where in sight, Lyric wondered what they did with it.
"Loony-," the man's voice said with a squeak, looking down at the knives that were barely brushing his skin.
"Loony the deadly vampire?"
There were a few snickers from students, and even Lyric broke out in a brief smile.
"Lonnie!" The man squeaked louder, "Lonnie! Black hair uh…maybe dark brown hair, tall, real smart, young, earrings on both ears, that's all I know! I didn't see anything else about the guy!"
"That narrows it down to oh…every vampire still alive," Truett whispered under his breath sarcastically.
"You're lying!" The vampire snarled, the knives got closer.
"French accent!" the fat Death Eater yelled suddenly, "Well…well I don't know for sure, but he can speak French! But his accent, it isn't from around here…I've never heard it before, so it must be French…yeah…yeah I think it was French."
"Great, now Dad is getting information from a vampire," Keaton said with a deep sigh.
"Lonnie?" Lyric repeated quietly to himself…and then more loudly, "Lonnie Lightning…"
"What?" Truett asked noticing what he had said.
"Lonnie Lightning," Lyric repeated, his eyes growing bigger, "its Interstate!"
"It can't be!"
"The name Lonnie fits Interstate's hints doesn't it? Starts with an L and ends with an E…Lonnie…Lonnie Lightning."