A/N: Hey folks, enjoy the next chapter of Symbol. The next update may take a while. I am currently a little busy. But no worries, Symbol has another 15 Chapters in backup.

To the fans of Oddity, a new chapter has been uploaded yesterday. You can enjoy that too.

The Last Doomtreader series will be updated in the next two days. I have already written it. Only a last check is pending.

So, without further rambling, let's go ahead...


Chapter 5


Adam Conrad felt conflicted.

It wasn't everyday the one see's his friend act like a coward and a disgusting human being. Yet, with everything going on Adam couldn't bring himself to fault Roger.

Roger had a life now. He had something he wanted to protect. And if there was anything Adam knew better it was to the lengths people would go to protect something. So, Adam couldn't exactly fault him for his actions.

Yet, what he was doing now was entirely reprehensible to Adam.

"So," Sam asked looking Roger in the eye, "you are telling me that all your education amounts to nothing?"

Adam grimaced from the window he was lounging on.

"You don't understand," Roger stood up agitatedly. "You don't understand pa. And you will never understand regardless of how much time passes. I am wasting my time trying to make you understand. You know what, I am not asking for your permission. I am telling you that I will be leaving the country once my education is done. And that's final."

"So," Sam asked shooting a disappointed look at Roger, "basically what you are telling is that you are a coward."

"Aargh," Roger angrily points his wand at Sam.

Adam whips his wand out and Roger was knocked backwards in a moment. Adam stared down at his best friend who was sprawled down on the floor. A look of disappointment crosses his face. Never in a million years had he expected Roger to draw his wand on Sam.

Sam, for his part, looks entirely nonchalant with Roger's actions. Roger looked at Adam with fear and shock etched across his face.

"Try it Roger, I swear that you won't like the ending," Adam warned menacingly as he stood up from his perch.

Roger shot an angry look at both Sam and Adam before marching out of the room in a huff.

"He really was a coward," Sam said with a self-deprecating chuckle.

Adam grimaced.

"You shouldn't jump to conclusions that quickly," Adam said as he walked over to sit in the opposite chair. "Not everyone is a retired soldier like you."

"Pish posh boy, a coward is a coward. No excuses for that. I just can't believe that my son had grown into such a coward," Sam grumbled.

"Things are different Sam," Adam said massaging his head. "Like he said, you wouldn't understand. This isn't some fistfight or anything like that. This is serious."

"Are you talking to me about war boy," Sam scoffed, "I have been in war boy and survived it. I wasn't much older than him when I did that."

"This is different, Sam" Adam shook his head.

"War is war boy, there ain't much difference in how it is fought. Some jackass in power wants something that others oppose, that's how every war began. Greed and Power – its as simple as that. There is no pussyfooting around it." Sam grumbled looking away.

Adam let out a huff not knowing how to answer.

"I don't see you running eh?" Sam growled. "You both went to same school and attended same classes, right?"

"I am different, Sam. I have always been different. Unlike me, Roger has a kind soul," Adam said looking away.

"Aye, you are different. You ain't a coward. Now get me some tea, this damn leg is killing me. I need a little pick me up after learning that I have brought up a yellow bellied frog," Sam ordered brusquely.

Adam let out a small smile at Sam's grumbling and stood up to heat some tea in the kitchen.

"And remember this boy," Sam called after Adam, "the only way to serve a war is to make sure that you don't become someone else cannon fodder."

"I am not fighting anyone Sam," Adam chuckled as he went about making tea.

"Could have fooled me, sonny," Sam snarked. "You have that look about you."

"Its not my fight Sam," Adam said from the kitchen. "The government will take care of it."

"Correct me if I am wrong," Sam replied chirping, "there is a big baddie out there, who has a bunch of goons, intent on killing people like you and me. The government is struggling hard to catch him. Meanwhile he goes around killing people he dislikes and no one can stop him. Sooner or later, he will be coming for people like Roger or you. So, no one is going to hire you in fear of that gang of ruffians turning up at your working place. I mean, that's why Roger is leaving country isn't it?"

"Yeah, in a nutshell," Adam replied pouring tea into two mugs.

"Then I call bullshit, boy," Sam scoffed. "What are you going to do when he or his goons come looking for you? Wait for government to come and bail you out?"

Adam merely smiled and shook his head.

"Look boy, the first rule of survival is to accept that your life is in danger," Sam admonished.

"I know," Adam smirked placing the tea in front of the ex-soldier. "Trust me, I absolutely know."

"And you still say this isn't your fight?" Sam asked raising his eyebrows as he took his mug.

"Look Sam, let me put it this way" Adam said taking his mug, "I have what seven years of exposure to magic. These guys who will be coming after me or Roger will have more exposure and experience compared to me. Not to mention all the knowledge these old families had hoarded all these time. In a nutshell, if I stand against them they will blow me away. All I can do is that if they come after me is to escape. Considering that I am no big fish, I don't think they will be cautious when cornering me even if they come. So, that would be the only thing working in favor of me. If I foolishly stand against them, then they will crush me like a bug with their full strength. "

"So, there you have it. This is not a fight I could participate in. That's why I am leaving this to people who are trained for this shit," Adam chuckled.

"Still, don't be afraid to throw down if you have to sonny. At least, you will die knowing you fought for what you believed in," Sam chuckled in good humor.

"What use is that if I am dying, you old turd."

"Then make sure you don't die," Sam shrugged.

"Easy for you to say. Haven't you been listening? They will crush me like a bug if I stand in their way," Adam snorted.

"Then, don't let them know. You don't need to ll and shout from the highest building boy. Often the most dangerous ones are those who we don't expect to put up a resistance," Sam said wistfully.

"Gotten a few close shaves, have you?" Adam asked with mirth dancing in his eyes.

"Look," Sam rolled up his shirt to show a scar on his left upper arm. "I got this after a battle during the war. We had entirely steamrolled those Nazi fuckers. Our team was surveying the battlefield to check for any wounded. I saw one Nazi fucker lying down in a pool of blood and dismissed him. That's a big mistake. The next thing I know I was raising my hand to call down some medic to check on some of the wounded when a bullet lodged in my hand. If I hadn't raised the hand, it would have been my head."

"Damn," Adam shook his head in incredulity. "What happened to that fucker?"

"What do you think happened? My entire team riddled him with bullets before he could fire another shot," Sam snorted.

"Lucky you," Adam said shaking his head.

"Yeah," Sam grinned savagely, "Lucky me, indeed."

(*)

Adam stood transfixed in front of the warehouse in a seedier part of the town.

He knew that there was no going back once he embarked on this journey. If anyone knew or even suspected that he was indulging in these kinds of things, a one-way ticket to Azkaban will be confirmed for him.

But, he didn't know what else to do.

Sure, this was all kinds of amoral. To anyone who spouts righteousness, this would be something they wouldn't even dream of doing. But, Adam was a person who lived in the real world with both feet entrenched deeply in it.

Righteousness, Morality, Good, Bad, and Evil, these were all terms that encompass far too much of things in a world. However, they never take things into consideration for individual situations. That is where reality came in.

And Adam was realistic in every sense of the word.

When he was six years old, he performed his first act of accidental magic. Unlike many other children, he never forgot it or dismissed it. From that very moment he knew that he was someone special.

He was a protector – it was as simple as that.

His first bout of accidental magic was done to protect someone dear to him. From that moment on, he had decided to become a protector. If not for finding out that there was a school for people like him and there were others like him, he would have done what he was going to do a long time ago.

Still, Adam had no doubt as to who he truly was. He was far too jaded to believe naïve things like good, righteousness and other such crap. The real world didn't operate on such foolish sentiments. In the real world, there was no stark line of divide between good and evil. There was no difference between light and dark. Everything was a mix of both.

That was the reason that he never found anything wrong with reading and practicing dark magic. He knew that dark magic was a necessary part of the world. Sometimes you needed to hurt people. It was as simple as that. Either to warn them or make them reconsider their course of action, sometimes a little bit of infliction of pain was what required.

So, he never shied away from learning such a thing. And sometimes one couldn't shy away from doing what was necessary. Filled with determination, Adam walked towards the warehouse with a purpose in his mind.

As he entered the dimly lit warehouse under the disillusionment charm, a small smile played across his lips. He had dreamed of doing such things for a long time. Every year he would learn more about magic and every year the pull to do something like this grew. Yet, he had been wary of walking a slippery slope. But, the world had decided for him now.

With a flick of his wand he stunned the man who was guarding the entrance. As the red light pierced his body, he slumped upon the table he was sitting at. There was no one else in the vicinity. It made things easier for him to accomplish.

With a grimace, a knife appeared in Adam's hand. He plunged it into his neck and watched his life ebb away. He didn't take his eyes off the man. He owed this stranger at least that much.

This world was filled with a lot of unsavory elements. The most repugnant of all were the people who knowingly caused pain and grief to others. Not for any other reason, but greed. Pure greed. They took from people because they could. It was a primal level of existence that these people lived.

In the wizarding world, there were people like pureblood bigots who went around flaunting their superior beliefs and killing people just because they weren't born with a wizarding parentage. In the muggle world, there were criminals who used force and other unsavory tricks to instill fear and cause pain.

In Adam's mind, there was no difference between these two.

They did what they did because they thought they could do it and no one was there to stop them. Hence, Adam had long wanted to use the same logic to deal with them. This desire had been slowly growing and growing over the years.

After the last few months, he had learned that no one truly cared for people at the lowest rung of any world. In the wizarding world, no one cared about muggleborns being killed left and right by elitist bastards. Sure, they all spoke of how terrible it was and mumbled and grumbled here and there. But, no one did anything.

But, what if, it was other purebloods or halfbloods who were being killed? Will they have remained silent? If one thought about it, the answer would be no. Because, a dead muggleborn and a dead pureblood are entirely different matters to the people who are in power. The outrage would have been palpable if such a thing happened.

Likewise, no one cared if a gang of criminals preyed upon the poor and downtrodden in the muggle world. But, it ends now. He knew he wouldn't be able to do much in the grand scheme of things. But, he might be able to instill some fear into these criminals and make them think twice about getting into such a lifestyle.

With a determined gait, Adam stepped into the warehouse proper. One down, there are fifteen more to go. By the time this night ends, there will one less criminal gang in the town.

(*)

As Adam looked around the carnage in the warehouse, bile couldn't help but rise up in his throat. This wasn't killing someone accidentally during a fight like what he had done during the break. No, this was premeditated, cold-blooded murder.

This was entirely different.

Adam took a deep breath to drive away the nausea that was threatening to engulf him. Grimacing a bit, he looked around the warehouse and made sure that he hadn't left anyone else alive. While no muggle would believe someone who ran out claiming someone invisible killing people, the moment a wizard or witch hears it, it would create a whole lot of trouble.

Deciding to err on the side of caution, Adam cast a "Homeo Reveallum" to make sure he didn't leave any loose ends. Once he confirmed that everyone was dead, Adam released a sigh before cancelling the disillusionment. Sweeping one last look at the dead bodies, Adam walked towards the small safe in the corner.

A simple "Alohomora" did the trick.

As he saw what could be considered to be small fortune, a small smile lit up on Adam's face. Who knew that crime fighting could be such a profitable job? The best part was that, he didn't need any Pureblood's permission to do this.

Minutes later, Adam was walking away from the warehouse. The moment he rounded a corner, a huge explosion occurred and the warehouse was burned to cinders, taking away any evidence that could be linked back to him.

After all, with those Pureblood freaks running rampant in the muggle world, who would believe that a muggleborn was doing his own cleaning. In a way, those idiots were providing him with proper cover.

If only they knew...



A/N: What we are seeing is the first foray of Adam into his dark side. He is more of a grey character with questionable moral standards.
But don't expect Adam to start hunting Death Eaters from the next chapter. It will be a slow progression to be honest.
Let me know what you think...