(Thanks again to all reviewers! I didn't manage to email responses for the last chapter, but you're all as appreciated as ever.)
Chapter 9
The rest of the night was uncomfortable. Sam tried several apologies, but after the third time of being unacknowledged or glared at she gave up, and resorted to sitting as far away from Richard's brooding figure as possible. Even Jackie abandoned her attempts at cheery small-talk, busying herself instead with re-checking the wards and muttering about a lack of cigarettes.
By some unspoken agreement, they didn't try to get a second room. Drying charms dealt with any residual rain, and another silent discussion gave Jackie and Sam the main bed. Richard transfigured the wickerwork chairs together into something resembling the hybrid offspring of a hammock and a hanging basket, and took that for himself.
Sam slept fitfully. There were too many lines of thought spinning around her mind for it to lend itself well to sleep. Half-formed dreams rose, breaking again as she tried to see them clearly, pulling her back to consciousness and leaving her to stare at the dark roof. Sound was oddly amplified by the night: it added strange mental echoes to Jackie's soft snoring and the wooden creaks as Richard shifted position on his makeshift cot.
She felt very alone. A shiver ran through her and she curled up, pulling a little more of the duvet over to her side. Was this what it had been like at the start, for them? Lying in a borrowed bed, in a room warded shut against known and unknown enemies? Staring at the darkened walls unable to sleep for the black thoughts swirling endlessly around their minds? She thought she'd accepted the Terrace, everything it meant, but what did she really know? The scale hadn't registered before - she'd never put much thought beyond her own immediate predicament. Now she did.
It was a war. The Muggle world was always torn by battle, the Wizarding one teetering on the brink of some deadly resurgence of a conflict thought defeated, but… Trapped somewhere between the two, the Terrace was a permanent front line in a very different fight. When she thought about it, really thought, it made Sam's head spin. Every day, Richard and his Field teams sought out Sues, destroying those they had to, bringing back those who could be something more. What were they, anyway? Not completely human, but Sue no longer. Caught as much between natures as they were between worlds.
She'd had it easy. She'd been picked up by the best, before her Sue was strong, brought back and fitted in. Questions answered – mostly – when she asked them; given food, shelter, clothes; meeting people who knew what she was, who didn't even need to accept it because it was what they were too. It had been easy to walk into that, be welcomed and looked after and shielded - at least for now - from everything outside.
How did you start something like that? Sam rolled over again and swallowed hard. They'd been in the sixth year, Jackie had said. Maybe seventeen, only a few years older than Sam herself probably was, and knowing only one thing for certain – that everything they'd ever known was a lie.
How did you sit down and decide to declare an invisible war against something inside you? Something that could be you any moment your control broke. Maybe they didn't decide, Sam thought, maybe it… just happened? I didn't decide to be here, but I am now… She could probably just walk away, but they could have done so too. They hadn't. They'd stayed, and they'd started fighting.
The memories rose: of the creature in the basement globe, mesmerising, oily whispers; and of the moment her gaze had locked with that of one of the gliding, predatory Sues' and she'd seen Elsa's face being worn by someone else.
She'd stay.
She'd stay because she'd seen what really lay behind those masks of perfect flesh.
She'd stay because she couldn't just walk away from that.
She'd stay, because now, when she really asked herself why…
"It's not because we want to," she said softly, voicing the thought to try and pin it down, "It's because we're the only ones who can."
"Pretty close, kid."
The sudden voice made Sam sit upright abruptly, prompting a "wsrfg?" from Jackie, who shifted and changed snore patterns. Sam looked over at Richard's 'bed'. His face was illuminated slightly by the faint trails of grey, early morning light creeping hesitantly through the window blinds. To her surprise, there was a faint smile on his lips.
"Usually takes people years to get that philosophical."
"I couldn't sleep," Sam mumbled, oddly embarrassed. She hadn't expected anyone to be listening to her. There was a creak as Richard shifted round, so his now-pale gaze met hers more strongly.
"Give it another go. You'll need it."
"Okay." Sam lowered herself back into the pillow, surprised at how leaden her eyelids suddenly felt. The bed seemed a lot more comfortable than before and she could feel herself drifting. The mad whirl of her thoughts had stilled, leaving only one still glaringly prominent.
"Richard?" she murmured, her words blurring dreamily.
"Yes?"
"Your name… I am sorry, I didn't mean…"
"It's alright. Get some rest, Sam."
The last strains of his voice lead her gently into sleep.
-x-x-
By the time Sam awoke again, it was fully light, and her first bleary glance around the room revealed that the furniture was back to normal. She wasn't sure how long she'd slept for, but was almost immediately furnished with a plate of toast and bacon by a tousle-haired Jackie, who must have gone on a kitchen hunt. Sam perched on the edge of one restored chair and tried to force her taste buds to suggest something other than 'cardboard' as she ate. The fact that her stomach seemed to have been replaced by a clenched ball of nervousness didn't much help. Five in the morning may have brought sudden insight, but in the cold light of day such thoughts were difficult to apply to reality. Did they even have a plan now?
She tried to draw some kind of clue out of her companions, but that proved useless. Jackie was fussing around making the bed the Muggle way. Richard had taken up position half leaning on the window frame, and showed no intention of moving or fixing his attention on anything inside the room. Sam half wondered if he was on guard, but there wasn't much visible out of their window than the tops of other village houses and some fields. His ocular cycle was active, and it took a lot of effort on Sam's part to drag her gaze away from the cycling shades. She shivered slightly. Even after everything she'd seen so far, Richard's eyes were weird.
Following any more of that train of thought became impossible as Jackie dropped down into the chair next to her, prompting a loud creak of protest from the recently maligned wood, and stole some toast.
"Well, I've procrastinated as long as I can stand without starting to redecorate, so - "
"We're going back." Richard finally turned back to the room, to be greeted by a female unison of disbelief. He rolled his eyes.
"Neither of you are deaf, and I spoke quite clearly. We are going back, now."
"Are you crazy?" Jackie stared at him, disbelief etched on her features, "You want us to just waltz back in to the whole hornets' nest? I - "
Richard straightened up. It wasn't, by his standards, a particularly dramatic or sweeping movement, but there was something in his stance that cut Jackie's words short. He caught her gaze; his eyes rippling to grey, and when he spoke his tones were very quiet.
"Nine years is a long time Jackie. I'm not going to give up on h- " - a moment's hesitation, corrected almost too quickly to notice - "Everyone. I don't want to go back. I have to. I - "
"You can be so damn arrogant at times!" Jackie was suddenly on her feet, matching his glare as she stepped forward and jammed a pointed nail into Richard's ribs. "You and your bloody martyr complex! Give up?! I'll be covering your back until they Avada me into the Cretaceous, I'm just a little wary of walking directly into a glittery, seething mass of unleashed Sues!"
"Then you'll be pleased to know they probably won't be there anymore."
Jackie hesitated, with the slightly unbalanced expression of someone stopped mid-rant. She blinked a few times, and then raised an eyebrow.
"How d'you figure?"
"She's had over sixteen hours," Richard shrugged, "Even factoring in how many wards they'll need to break, and what we shall call Conflicts of Interest, if Katryna hasn't reached full dominance yet it can't be far off. When she does, she's not going to stay put."
"You think she'll be after Hogwarts?" The fight had gone out of Jackie's stance, and she now looked seriously worried. Richard shrugged again and gave a low growl.
"Don't know. Initial guess would be so, it was… their original target, but it might be too obvious. I'm… wary of treating this too classically. We don't know how long Katryna's been gaining control for and underestimation of her will be fatal. We need to know where she's headed. There's only one thing that can tell us that." He caught Jackie's gaze, and the redhead nodded slowly.
"The Suescope."
"Exactly. We're going back."
"Um - " Sam had to quash the urge to raise a hand, instead concentrating on making her voice more than a squeak as both gazes swung down towards her, " - am I part of the 'us'?"
She was expecting hesitation, an awkward moment of silence that would tell her what she'd been dreading – that she wasn't wanted, that she'd have to stay here or in the old safe house or something and have to watch from the sidelines…
It didn't happen. Richard's lips twitched, and to Sam's shock he tapped a hand very lightly on her shoulder.
"Katryna isn't to be taken on lightly, and especially not by you. Serenas are a good indicator of Sue activity, but they're never very strong. That said, you've shown a bit of backbone, kid, and I'm loathe to leave you in this pastel paradise. Just try not to get killed."
Sam gulped, but managed to croak an affirmative. What else could you say to something like that?
"Richard, Master of the Backhand Compliment," Jackie grinned slightly, then tapped her index fingers together. "Right, so if we're following your harebrained scheme, our first problem is transport. You might be able to Apparate as easily as you walk, but I have no desire to be splinched across half of Yorkshire and I doubt Sam has either."
"The Floo network is out." Richard sighed, mild disgust flickering across his face, "Looks like we're taking the train."
"You got any Muggle money?"
"What a strange idea."
-x-x-
It turned out that 'taking the train' was a rather simplistic description of the journey that followed. Sam leaned on the window, watching trees and shrubs flash past on the embankments flanking the track, and wondered if this had been typical. It was so long. A slow slightly rickety bus that they were lucky to find from the little village to a bigger town, followed by a long wait for the infrequent local train. That finally terminated at a much larger station, seemingly consisting entirely of coffee shops, luggage trolleys and queues, with the platforms crammed somewhere in the middle. Sam had given up trying to work out where they actually were and just followed Richard, who somehow managed to sweep along unhindered, the crowds parting before him like a biblical sea. He was also the only one who knew what they were doing – Sam had no clue, and Jackie was spending most of her time muttering curses about 'British Rail', whatever that was.
Their current train was apparently the last one they needed, which was in one way a relief – no more rushing around, or waiting on freezing platforms – but also confirmed a far more worrying prospect: They were nearly back.
Sam shivered and glanced back over at her companions. Jackie was staring out of the other window, tapping her fingers distractedly on her forearms. Richard had barely moved since they'd boarded – other than to stare at the conductor and inform him calmly that he had already seen their tickets until the man had wandered off looking rather dazed. Sam saw nothing that helped to dispel the churning in her stomach. There were three of them. Three. And she couldn't even do anything; she didn't have a wand or a spork or anything. The Terrace had to number hundreds…
"We're going to lose, aren't we?" She hadn't meant to speak, but the treacherous part of her brain with a direct link to her vocal chords was being unnecessarily active again.
"I don't know." Richard eased one eye open and blinked at her. "But I don't lose."
"How about control? Ever lose that?" Sam almost clamped a hand over her mouth as Richard's other eye opened and his full glare locked on to her. Why the hell was she saying this? I must be crazy…
Richard's lip curled.
"Don't let me stop you," he said, ice dripping from his words, "You must have gone nearly an entire hour without unleashing a barrage of irrelevant questions, so I appreciate the strain you must be under. Do enlighten me as to your point, kid."
Sam nearly swallowed her tongue. She had to fight the urge to shrink back into the scratchy blue seat cover, and forced the words out.
"I-I mean, you said, Kate… and you… You'd never been sporked either! H-how do we know you w-won't…?"
Richard regarded her coolly for a moment. Then he smiled. It was a rather reptilian grin, with as much warmth as permafrost.
"I haven't had to rely quite as much on raw willpower. My control involves a little more of a deal with the devil, you might say."
Sam stared at him, not quite believing what she was hearing.
"Y-you… you made a deal? With your Stu?"
She hadn't been expecting him to laugh. Strange amusement skirted around the chuckle as his lips twitched again. He leaned forward again, eyes dark.
"Your mistake," he said softly, "Is assuming I was the one who needed a deal."
"If you've quite finished," Jackie snapped, suddenly turning back from her window vigil with a scowl on her features, "We've got more important things to do than bicker."
"Thank you, Lady Obvious."
"I mean, we have one spork, two wands and your razor wit between us. That isn't exactly an arsenal - "
"Two sporks." Richard corrected, prompting an irritated sigh from Jackie.
"You left yours in Katryna's arm, remember?"
Another cold chuckle echoed around the carriage as Richard reached down, pulling a trouser leg up to reveal a thin silvery shape bound to his calf with black material. His lips twitched at the expression on Jackie's face.
"You've played poker with me, Jackie. Ever known me not to have a few extra cards up my sleeve?"
"Yes, well, thank you for telling me," she glared at him, "Honestly, sometimes you - "
"Here," Richard cut her off, swapping the spork into his waist-holster, and tugged off one of his gloves, "I take it you're still left-handed?"
Jackie blinked at the proffered garment. Sam saw the mismatched gaze flick from the dark glove towards the exposed flesh and alight, very briefly, on something on his palm. Then the redhead shook herself and looked back up at Richard.
"I don't need your gloves."
"You're only getting the one. This is a spork-ready situation; I don't need you getting first-degree burns from your weapon."
"I - "
"Jackie," his voice suddenly sounded very resigned, "Everything might have gone to hell in mascara, but this is a Field situation, so I still call the shots. Take the damn glove."
Jackie took it. She pulled it on and Sam turned away, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. She got the impression that something rather symbolic had just occurred, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what. It looks… personal. And I'm just the tag-along hindrance… Her stomach gave another small lurch at the thought, and she returned her attention to the embankments whizzing past outside. It was definitely getting dark again – okay, they had been travelling for a while, and it was November – and the sickly amber glow of Muggle streetlamps were visible, stretching out in punctuated lines across the landscape.
Sam blinked. There were a lot of lights.
"Hey, we're slowing down."
"Right," Richard stood up, swaying with the carriage as the train slowed, "Once out, we'll get a taxi to just outside the wards. Eyes open, Sam, you stay between us at all times. Do exactly what I tell you to, and no pointless heroics. That goes for everyone. Understand?"
Jackie managed a mock salute and a tight grin, but Sam didn't trust herself not to throw up with fear if she opened her mouth, so she simply nodded.
The train shuddered to a halt, accompanied by a faint squeal of brakes. Richard pulled his folded robes out of the luggage rack, unfurled them with a flick of his wrist and swept them around himself as he strode towards the door.
"Drama-queen," Jackie muttered as she headed after him, motioning for Sam to follow.
Finding a taxi was simple enough, and amazingly no one en-route made any mention of the group's appearance. The only comment came from the driver, who cheerily asked if Richard had just graduated. He got a curt 'yes' in return, and a steely glare with enough force behind it to end any other possibility of conversation. The in-car silence was broken only by Richard's occasional directions, and Sam took to staring out of the window again, trying to ignore the taut line of Jackie's lips as the older woman ran her fingers over her newly-gloved hand.
It was surreal. Sam's gaze tracked other cars as they drove past, and lingered on groups of Muggles walking along the pavements talking, laughing. Shop fronts glowed brightly in the fading light, offering newspapers, clothes, groceries - normal things. Yet here they were, crammed into a taxi that smelt of overzealous air-fresheners, heading for a battle they didn't know how to fight, let alone win.
What on earth were they supposed to - ?
The car stopped.
"Out." Richard's voice was utter monotone, but Sam's heart still made a bid for freedom through her throat. It took her three tries to work the door handle, and by the time her legs hit the pavement she was already shaking. Silently, Jackie got out behind her, one hand dropping lightly onto Sam's arm as she steered her away from the curb. After a moment's brief conversation with the driver, Richard joined them and the car pulled away. Sam got a brief glimpse of the driver's face as he went past – he looked as dazed as everyone else who'd tried to ask Richard for money so far.
"How do you do that?" Jackie watched the car vanish round a corner.
"Charisma." Richard drew his wand and his expression hardened again. In the amber light, his eyes were a very strange colour indeed. "Let's go."
Sam was quickly slotted in between the two taller figures as they dropped into step, moving swiftly along the empty, street-lit pavements. She wasn't sure how far away they were and found herself searching for anything familiar, not that she'd ever really been outsi-
Suddenly, it was there, in front of them as they turned a corner. The Terrace took up the entire side of one street, and somehow managed to loom far more than any of its surrounding peers. What was most obvious, however, was the damage. Sam's heart hammered on a few more ribs, as her eyes took in the shattered windows and gaping open doorways dotted at intervals along the building. Smoke was rising out of some of them and sparks, possibly electrical, were visible through a few. Other than that, it was dark, silent, and somehow… brooding.
"Hasn't anyone noticed this?" She mumbled, glancing from side to side to see if there were any evident Muggle emergency services.
"It's charmed. Muggles won't see anything unusual, and we don't get many Wizards round here," said Jackie as they moved forward. "Some of those wards must still be up."
"How nice," Richard swung his wand up, "Reducto."
Sam physically jumped as the door nearest to them was blasted off its hinges by the barked curse, crashing back into the darkness beyond in several different pieces. He swept forward, Jackie propelling Sam along in front of her by way of a free hand on the shoulders. As the darkness enveloped her, Sam couldn't help but shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to see what was undoubtedly waiting for them.
After a few moments of standing still, waiting for the world to come crashing down, it became clear that it wasn't going to, Sam inched her eyelids open. Jackie was standing in front of her, the wand above her head spilling soft light over what was visible of the corridor. It mostly consisted of half-demolished bookshelves and Richard, who was flicking his wand through the air in intricate patterns, concentration set on his features. Before Sam could say anything else, he stopped, then blasted a fallen shelf nearby into splinters and strode towards the opened space.
"Katryna's gone."
"And the others?"
"Them too, as far as I can tell."
"They really left?" Jackie squinted round through the gloom as she pulled Sam after her again, "I mean… all of them?"
"Katryna's strong," Richard muttered, "No one had a chance. They might be Sues, but the Influence counts, even if it isn't much."
Sam stopped paying attention to the conversation. Neither of her companions seemed about to elaborate on any of the more cryptic aspects, and she was getting tired of feeling left out. She trailed behind Jackie as the older ones moved forward cautiously, wands drawn.
Her earlier estimation had been, if anything, too generous a description of the Terrace's condition. The place wasn't just damaged, it was wrecked. Bookcases had been upturned and many bore scars of flame. Doors were off their hinges; light bulbs blasted into fragments, furniture battered and strewn at odd – and in several cases gravity-defying – angles. Even the torches had been reduced to debris, leaving the battered former headquarters lit only by what pale yellow light drifted in from street lamps outside.
As they entered the over-extended room that held the huge fireplace, Sam nudged the tip of her shoe though a pile of charred book covers.
"Why would she do all this?"
"Why not? Lumos," Richard swept his beam of light over the collapsed remnants of the great fireplace. "The Terrace is everything she's not. Guess she thought this would stop me using any of this against her."
"They can't have destroyed everything," Jackie sighed as she pushed a half-collapsed door aside, "Particularly what we need."
Richard gave a short sound that may almost have been a laugh.
"No, that would be your job."
"Richard? Shut up."
Sam blinked. Jackie's tone was light, airy, but there was an edge of steel under her words that Sam hadn't heard from her before. Clearly, whatever he'd been implying had struck a nerve.
Any further consideration of the matter stopped as Sam nearly walked straight into the back of a suddenly frozen Richard.
"Nox," he hissed and the glow around his wand instantly extinguished, plunging the room back into semi-darkness. Sam suddenly found herself shoved back into Jackie, who circled one arm around her protectively whilst the other hand rested gently over her mouth, indicating without words an abrupt need for quiet.
No one moved. Sam could hear Richard's measured breathing, although most sound was smothered by the deafening beat of her heart. What was going on? Why -?
A fresh sound reached her ears – the almost inaudible soft drag of cloth on wood – but before she could even register the noise Richard span round. His wand arced up, light flaring at the lip.
"Luna solem!"
Brilliant white light erupted from the wood, the beam lancing upward into the ceiling as darkness fled before it. For a split second the searchlight blast illuminated a huge, bat-like shadow against the wall, before some unseen force slammed into the dark figure and sent it crashing down into a stack of broken bookshelves. An unearthly scream cut the air, masking the crash as the shelves collapsed and the hex-accompanied, scrambled footfalls as Richard leapt forward. The light was blinding now and Sam had to turn away, burying her face in Jackie's shoulder to cut out some of the brilliance. She couldn't block out the wail, or the now audible sounds of a struggle, and just had to listen until a few moments later when Richard growled –
"Silencio"
- and the screeching stopped.
Sam didn't dare move, and it took a lot of effort on Jackie's part to pry her off. When she did finally let go she turned round, dreading what she was going to see. What she actually saw was Richard pulling his robes back into place, apparently unscathed. He re-lit the room again, this time with the blessedly soft light of Lumos, and Sam was finally able to see his opponent. When she did, her eyes widened.
It was Darek. Or, at least, it looked like him. Sort of. His features were sharper, his skin a deathly pallor rather than its usual shade and there were two dagger-point fangs curling down over his lips. Sam swallowed hard as her gaze met the eyes still flickering active behind the hex-bind. They were entirely black, except for the irises, which were the glistening crimson of a freshly-opened wound.
"Wh-what happened to him?" She goggled, "Kate…er…Katryna did that?"
"No," Richard aimed a cold glare down at his former student, "Damn Stu thinks it's a vampire. Word of advice, Erebus?" He crouched down suddenly, until he was leaning over the pallid face so closely his stray hair scraped the skin, "If Darek was no match for me, you are not even close."
The Stu hissed. Richard stood up, flicked his wand at the ground by Erebus' hands and muttered something. Sam watched in amazement as the floorboards seemed to liquidate for a moment, the Stu's hands sinking into them, and then solidified to leave the paralysed figure effectively welded into the floor. Richard stepped back and made his way back to the group.
"He's not going anywhere," Richard gave a low sigh, "And I think we need to split up. Katryna's definitely not here, so we need to move fast. Jackie, you go see if there's anything left in Field-prep we can use, specifically transport. I'll head to Scanns. Sam, with me, I can watch more backs than just my own."
Sam nodded. She wasn't sure if this was a good development or not – although she guessed at not. Was splitting up a really good idea? What if…?
She couldn't finish the thought, and shot an anxious look at Jackie.
"Okay." The redhead half-turned, but Richard caught her shoulder with his bare hand before she could move, and pulled her back.
"Jackie," there was suddenly a strange edge of concern in his voice, "We've had Erebus. You know who else might be around."
Jackie stopped.
"You think?" She sounded uncertain, "Surely Katryna would want her too?"
"Depends on how much she wants to stop us." Richard said grimly, "Just… be careful."
"Always am," Jackie flashed a tight smile, glancing at Sam as she did so, "I'll see you later." Then she was gone, vanishing into the void of a nearby hallway. Sam watched her go, feeling sick.
"I -"
"She'll be fine," Richard stepped forward, glancing back at her over his shoulder, "Jackie's tough. Stick close, kid." He continued walking. Sam shot a final look at Erebus' paralysed form, shivered, and scurried after Richard.
-x-x-
Jackie crept silently through the corridors, the wand out in front of her casting a soft glow through the gloom. She knew these stairways blindfolded, normally, but the amount of debris that was scattered now meant even she had to be careful. How on Earth the rest had actually got out of here she couldn't think, unless they'd just brought everything down behind them. Gripping her wand in her teeth, she scrambled over yet another collapsed bookcase. When had they acquired so many bookcases anyway? She half suspected the things bred.
She slid down the other side, and suddenly her feet met nothing but air. Instinct cut in and her fingers clamped on the shelves beneath her, pulling her arms at odd angles as they suddenly took all her weight.
Where am I? Shit, shit… Her mental map of the Terrace swirled in front of her eyes and she started swearing quietly under her breath. The shelves she was perched on must have fallen over right in front of the stairs, but she couldn't tell how far out they were. Wonderful, breaking a leg was just what she needed right now. Carefully, she braced herself against the shelf and mumbled around her wand, increasing the power of the lumos spell until she could see better. It wasn't as bad as she thought – if she turned like this, moved her right leg there and lowered herself down like this…
Her feet scraped the edge of the step, and it was at that moment that the book she was leaning on chose to give up the ghost and split apart. Pages skidded under her elbow and Jackie gave a yelp as she slid backwards, her knees buckling under her and smacking the edge of the step hard enough to send agonising jolts of pain up her legs. Her hands windmilled and in the moment before gravity regained interest in her she hunched forward, so instead of crashing backwards down the stairs, she instead skidded down from step to step like a bad cartoon, accompanied by a hail of falling books. The landing was a little cushioned by books that had bounced past her, but not much, and the following ones seemed to be those with the sharpest corners.
By the time the hail stopped, Jackie was very bruised.
"Dammit." She eased herself upright and, after a quick check to ensure that she had no broken bones, she looked around for the missing wand. It had either gone out or was buried under books. The hallway she'd landed in was very dark anyway, and she'd have to wait a while for her eyes to adjust back to the darkness.
It was then that the hair on her neck began to prickle. Jackie hadn't been out in the Field for almost four years, but some instincts never went away. She wasn't alone.
I need light. She quickly began shoving books aside, searching for the telltale lumos glow. Nothing. Her ears pricked. Had she heard something? A soft, damp breathing?
On the plus side, Richard should be able to get to Scanns unnoticed then…
She definitely heard something that time. The wand was nowhere nearer showing itself and she had run out of time. Damn… she really didn't want to do this…
No choice.
Jackie straightened up and held her clenched fists slightly out either side of her body. She let her eyes slide closed for a moment, concentrated hard and muttered:
"Pyros."
Red light sprang up along her arms with a sound like a match striking. The scarlet air swirled up her arms and over her chest, surrounding her in a soft glow. Her eyes snapped open and she focused again on her surroundings.
A low growl suddenly rose through the air and Jackie swivelled round. Her gaze hit the figure still half-hidden in the new shadows her light was creating. Long strands of hair hung down around a distorted familiar face, the features dragged forward and elongated into a snout-like jaw. Sharply pointed, fur edged ears jutted out atop her head and fur was visible across the curled hands resting nonchalantly on the figure's waist. A pair of slanted eyes with slit pupils gleamed strange amber in the light, fixing a piercing stare on her.
Jackie crushed a small jolt of panic.
"Chandra."
Chandra mid-transformation, in fact. The Sue always had been able to pause it partway. Calm down, Jackie. She couldn't afford to give ground to panic here. Chandra had been tough, true, but it wasn't like she'd actually be facing Luce here. If Erebus had been anything to go by, the Sue didn't pay much attention to their residual's experiences. Richard had taken him down easily enough. Okay, that had been Richard, but still…
The time for mental strings of self-doubt ended abruptly as Chandra growled. It was a primal, hungry sound that pushed straight into very old parts of the brain, flipping the switches of ancient fears. Jackie swallowed hard as the werewolf watched her, scorn clear in its eyes.
"It rrrememberrrs me," the growl permeated her words, rolling them strangely in a way that indicated there were considerably more teeth present than would normally be accounted for. "How verrry sweet."
"Still playing with your morphology, I see," Jackie snapped back, trying to draw attention to her face as her hand edged towards her waist, "Tell me Chandra, at what point did giving yourself lycanthropy seem like a good idea? Oh, wait, it's Luce who has to deal with all that crap, isn't it? You just get to be a true bitch."
Chandra regarded her again. Then she smiled. The expression was nothing but teeth.
"Rrrun," she said softly, her eyes glinting in the firelight, "Little birrrd. I waant to see you rrrun"
Jackie felt her fingers brush the spork handle.
"No."
Chandra's eyes narrowed.
"Baad choice."
Jackie was ready for the lunge, but not the speed. She barely had time to bring the spork free before Chandra slammed into her, hands locking onto her shoulders. She had no choice but to go with the movement, stumbling backward even as she brought the spork to towards the toothy grin.
Then everything changed. A shudder rippled through the Sue's body, and suddenly there weren't hands on her shoulders anymore. They were paws. White fangs flashes inches from her face as the spork was torn out of her grasp and Jackie heard it hit the floor somewhere outside her circle of light. She drew back automatically, losing her balance as the wolf pressed her down, and she landed heavily, flames smothered by the deadly mass of sinewy, furred muscle pinning her down. Before she even had a chance to panic the fangs flashed again, hot breath searing across her face as Chandra leaned forward. The wolf was heavy. Jackie's ribs creaked dangerously as her opponent's muzzle contorted, sinking back until it had enough lips to speak.
"Whaat's wrrrong, little birrrd? You should have rrrun for me!"
"I'm…trying to remember…my Field…time…" Jackie gasped through compacting lungs. Chandra gave a growling laugh.
"You aaarrre no Richaaarrrrd." Her head arced back, mouth distorting back to a snout as it opened wide, ready to bite. "Die now."
"I seem… to recall…" Jackie brought her head forward sharply, slamming her forehead into Chandra's jaw with all the force she could muster. It hurt, but it hurt the werewolf more and it gave a strangled yelp, rearing back. Jackie snatched her chance. She threw herself sideways, wincing as the wolf's claws cut into her shoulders and kicked out, catching Chandra across the jaw with her heel.
"Lumos!" Jackie yelled as loud as she could, putting all her desperation into her voice and finally white light speared up from one of the piles of books her fight must have dislodged. She dived towards it and scrabbled frantically, letting out a gasp of relief as her fingers closed around the smooth wood. Wrenching it free, she threw herself sideways again as the air above her was suddenly filled with wolf. Chandra overshot her leap and landed on the stairs in a mass of scrabbling claws and torn pages. Jackie scrambled to her feet and turned to face the Sue, jaw set and wand drawn. Now she was armed.
Chandra howled, the sound rising up through the darkened building as a deathly echo, and her eyes blazed with animal rage. A snarling curled through the air and there was the impression of words in there, but the wolf was too far-gone, the throat too canine now to produce recognisable syllables. Jackie let her eyes narrow.
"… werewolves don't like fire."
Chandra launched herself. Claws flashed against a backdrop of fangs, aiming for her throat. Jackie dropped backwards; sliding down like a counterweight as the wolf sailed over her, momentarily puzzled as its prey vanished. Jackie's back hit the floor and she brought her knees up, planting her feet on the under side of the Sue's belly as it passed over her. Her wand swung up and at the same time as she uncoiled her legs hard she yelled.
"Incendio" Scarlet light swirled around her arm and up into the wand as the spell fired and a massive blast of flame erupted from the tip. Chandra let out a howl of pain as the fire surged around her, the stench of burning fur filling the air, and Jackie rolled as the wolf flew overhead, making sure her wand tracked its trajectory. The doorframe of one of the nearby cellar steps abruptly ended the Sue's initially graceful arc and it crumpled in a smouldering heap, whining. The whine dropped in pitch and quickly changed into a groan as the wolf-shape retreated, and suddenly Chandra's human form was curled up on the floor, her hair smoking.
Jackie stood up slowly, keeping her wand trained on the groaning figure. Her shoulders throbbed but she didn't have time to deal with them yet. She lit the room with Lumos again and looked at her opponent. Most of the Sue's skin was red and blistering, and she had lost a lot of hair.
If there was one thing Jackie was good at, it was flame spells. Although if memory served, that wouldn't be enough to bring down Chandra.
"Get up," she said softly, "I know you're not finished yet."
The groan changed abruptly into a snort and Chandra twisted round. Her teeth, still fang-like even in this form, were bared. Jackie didn't give her a chance to react or transform again, and shot off a few finishing hexes. Their impacts knocked the Sue sideways. Jackie's lips curled around the Petrificus charms, ready to bind the Sue.
It was then things got strange. Chandra ducked aside to avoid the next curse and her hand slipped, sending her arm skidding down the steps. The yelp that followed made even the earlier scalded cry of pain seem nothing and Jackie blinked as Chandra scooted back from the edge like she was on wheels. A new fear was etched onto the blistered features, one that Jackie was pretty sure she'd never produced, even in weak Sues.
"Petrificus artus," Jackie snapped, taking advantage of her opponent's moment of distraction, "Mobilicorpus"
The Sue didn't have time to dodge. She stiffened and rose into the air, even as her attention switched back to Jackie and she growled again.
"Rrrleaaase me!"
"I'd rather drop you," Jackie shrugged and waved her wand, prompting Chandra to start drifting towards the stairs again. The Sue's expression suddenly changed from hostility back to fear and she started twisting against the bind, shudders rippling down her body as her muscles fought their restraint.
"N0! N0 y0u can't!" Her voice caught oddly on the ears, control breaking. Jackie let the Sue drift lower and fixed her with a glare.
"Why not? It's just a cellar."
"She is -" Chandra's voice cut out in a whine and she shook her head violently, as if trying to shake something free, "She - No! I will n0t!"
"Who's 'she'? Kate?"
Chandra snorted, but gave a fresh yelp as Jackie lowered her even further.
"Yes! No! She, she let h3r - " Her voice cut out in a howl as the Sue writhed and suddenly began to change again, hands twisting into paws, fur rising through the skin. The change stopped abruptly as Jackie slammed her into the wall and fired off a few Stunners. Finally, Chandra fell limp, and Jackie sealed the spells, levitating her unconscious opponent back into the room and dumping her on a heap of books.
When she was sure Chandra wasn't about to come to, Jackie changed her attention to the steps. She'd never seen a Sue that frightened before, not outside of a Suppression sporking. Why? She reached the steps and knelt down, shining her light down into the gloom.
She blinked. That was odd. A few steps down, the stairwell was… foggy. It looked like someone had dumped a bucketful of dry ice down there; a thin layer of grey fog was swirling above the steps. Warnings began flaring in her mind. Smoke, any smoke, here was usually a bad sign. She glanced back at the darkened floor and quickly Summoned her spork from where it had come to rest under an upturned table. She caught the metal in her gloved hand and leaned forward, tracing it through the air above the fog.
The smoke drew back as the spikes approached and Jackie swore quietly. She had an idea what the cause of the fog, and reason for Chandra's fear at going into the cellar, might be.
She hoped she was wrong.
-x-