It was January. A cold wind blew down from the north, accelerated by the narrow alleys between tall buildings. As night fell it seemed all the city-dwellers had retreated to the warmth of their apartments. One man was still out, though, as the streetlights turned on. Sirius Black, absorbed in thought, had hardly noticed the shift into darkness.
As he walked the streets he stared fixatedly at the ground before him. His mind was a jumble of questions and memories. It was hard to tell which hurt more – the pain of not knowing, or the knowledge that things would never be the same.
A pair of hazel eyes flashed in his mind's eye. Familiar laughter echoed in the back of his skull.
Was he tortured long for information? Did they use silver? How did he die? The killing curse? Starvation? Blood loss?
He was startled from his morbid thoughts when he realized he'd run into a dead end. Blinking, he stared a moment at the old brick wall, then down at the garbage at his feet. Slowly he turned only to see three figures coming swiftly towards him. He could tell by their stride that they were a confident group. The middle figure walked slightly ahead of the other two. He was obviously the leader of the gang. He caught a good look at the trio as they walked under a streetlight. And Sirius started to worry.
The smallest of the three looked as if he were only 16 years old. He was very thin and dressed in over-sized clothes. He had red-brown hair kept long so that his bangs fell into his eyes. But that couldn't hide the strangely fierce and eager look in the boy's eyes. The next guy was much taller with a slightly built frame. He had dark hair spiked with gel. His jeans were torn and he had a sad hunger in his eyes. The leader was as tall as the last but was much more muscular. He had on a leather jacket and his blondish hair was very short. His eyes clearly showed he meant business.
All three were very pale with dark eyes. No fog of breath was visible when they exhaled into the cold night air. As the smallest one threw his head back in excited laughter, Black's fears were confirmed. They were vampires. And they were now within striking distance. Sirius drew his wand only to have it kicked from his hand by the brunette before he could even utter a spell. The big guy caught the wand and snapped it in two.
Not a word was said as the now useless scrap of wood was dropped to the ground. The trio began to close in on Sirius and when his back was against the wall the young vampire spoke up.
"Can I get first bite? Please let me do it! I promise I'll leave enough for you both!"
"Yeah, like you did with the last one?" Came the low voice of the kicker.
"I got this one." Declared the leader, all the while never letting his eyes leave Sirius. The others fell silent.
"Shit." Sirius thought. "What a way to go. Well at least I'll see Remus…wait – Harry needs me! I can't die here!" And with that Sirius fought to break free.
But the strength of three vampires against a single human being was too much and Black was soon on the ground, spitting blood from his mouth and clutching his side. The smaller vampire went to kick Sirius while he was down but the leader stopped him with a touch on the shoulder.
"That's enough." He said. "I'm starving."
He grabbed Sirius roughly by the collar and lifted him to his feet with ease. He bent down towards his prey – the pulse in his neck was clearly racing.
Sirius felt like his heart was about to leap from his chest as he anticipated the pain of the bite. He looked up into the sky with wide eyes. He saw the thin crescent moon and his mind immediately shot to Remus.
"I'll see you soon." He thought as he closed his eyes…
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A/N: Cliffhanger I know, but it was a logical place to end the chapter. Thanks once again for reading and don't forget to review! :)
