Chapter 6

The Grim


November 20th, 1928.

I apparated into the forest. I knew exactly where I was, Carlisle and I came into Chicago through it back in 1918. Ten years have passed, a whole decade filled with rage and murder. I still didn't think I got my revenge, Cedric meant too much to me.

I never thought about people who I killed, I never wondered if they had families, if someone's going to miss them. They were bad people and as long as I was serving justice, it didn't matter that I was killing humans.

I chose my wolf form to commit my crimes for multiple reasons.

Firstly, it was a lot harder to identify a wolf as a killer than a person.

Secondly, due to muggle police and Aurors being sexist, everyone was searching for a large male, muggles - for the ones that looked hairier and could resemble an animal of some sort; Aurors – for the ones on the official werewolf registry.

Thirdly, I didn't want to drink human blood, I couldn't explain it, but it turned me off, it smelled good, but I couldn't betray Carlisle's beliefs like that.

Fourthly, the thought of me ripping people to pieces or biting through their necks as a wolf seemed like it was a natural cycle of life. I was an animal, a predator, I needed to hunt to stay alive. Regular wolves killed humans who walked into the forests all the time, wolves didn't feel bad, so why should I? Killing humans while I was in my human form would be wrong, at least in my head it was. I had many different responses to everything when I was human, grief, happiness, betrayal, love each one had its own natural response from me; animal me had only one response – revenge.

I walked through the forest and into the city. It was still dark outside, the only time of day I could travel unless I put on my veil that covered my horrifying red eyes. I didn't like using it as I felt it made my vision worse, and I really liked my perfect sight.

The town had some renovations done to it, it was following the modern world, new shops and businesses were opening up. Cars were parked on both sides of the streets, there were so many more of them than just ten years ago. People were getting more and more invested in this way of traveling, I hoped Carlisle was still getting dividends from Ford, he should be making a fortune now.

A thick layer of snow was already laying on the ground. I breathed in the cold winter air and sighed. Chicago smelled nice when it didn't have a deadly virus going around. I made my way up the stairs to the house Carlisle and I owned when we were staying in the city last time. I prayed Carlisle didn't sell the house and I could stay in it.

I looked around to see there was no one around me and pulled my wand out of my holster.

"Alohomora," I whispered and heard the lock inside the door open. Perfect.

I opened the door quietly and took one step inside. I took a deep breath before closing the door, there were no humans in the house. I took it as a sign that the house still belonged to Carlisle. It was too late to turn on the lights, people might get suspicious if they woke up at night. I draped the curtains as tight as I could and got to the living room. I noticed some of Carlisle's books were laying on the table, a thick layer of dust covering them.

"Lumos."

A small light appeared on the tip of my wand and I put it in front of me. My night vision was better than humans, but it wasn't perfect, especially in places that had no light. I went upstairs and entered a room that was once mine. I noticed a slight, barely noticeable smell of human blood. That's where Carlisle turned Edward, I imagined. I wondered what happened to the boy, Carlisle hadn't mentioned anything about him in a year. I hoped he was okay, for some unknown to me reason, I was interested in Edward Masen, although thinking about him made me feel like I was betraying Cedric and I tried my best to get the boy out of my head.

I walked around my old room, noticing some changes that either Carlisle or Edward made. The bed was now placed straight into the middle of the room, some of the paintings were taken off the walls and replaced with others. I noticed a piano now stood right next to the window, it looked old, very old. I wondered where he got it from.

There was also a bookcase, right next to the bedside cabinet. I never had one when I stayed here. Suddenly, I was interested to see what kind of books Edward liked, and found that we had very similar tastes. I dragged my finger up and down the book spines, reading the titles and the authors' names.

There were two copies of 'Wuthering Heights', my favorite book. I didn't know how many times I read it when I was at Hogwarts but remembered how Cedric always threatened to throw it away unless I read something else for a change. That memory made me smile. I knew Cedric was only kidding, he would never hurt me like that. My books were the second most important thing for me after my loved ones, of course.

The ring on my thumb became too noticeable whenever I thought about Cedric. I liked to believe that it was some magical miracle and that was his way of holding my hand or smiling at me. Whether it was true or just my imagination, it didn't matter, it helped me keep going and living my life.

I dropped my hand when I saw a book I never imagined seeing in a bookcase of a grown man. 'Aron Munchausen's Narrative of His Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia'. It felt like my heart skipped a beat, even though it hasn't done that in more than two centuries. This book was the only one Cedric liked reading, he found it funny, I found it below my age group. I remember giving a copy of it to him on our first Valentine's Day together. I don't know why, but in my head, it was the same book I gave to Cedric. I grabbed it from the bookcase faster than I intended to and turned to the first page. My poorly written poem wasn't in it and I felt like I was going to cry.

"Of course, it's not the same book, Bella. His book is back in his house in 1996." I told myself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid." I continued saying the words with my eyes closed. Suddenly, I hated Edward and everything he was. I hated him for having a piano put in my room, I hated him for copying my tastes in literature, I hated him most for giving me false hope by putting the stupid childish book in the bookcase.

I couldn't stay in the room anymore, so I left and went downstairs again. The sun was just coming up on the horizon, great, I had to stay in the house for a while. I hoped the weather would get worse in a few days, so I could go around the city during the day and listen to the conversations.

I decided to clean the house, there was nothing else I could do until the sun comes down. I started with the hallway that led to the front door. I refused to use either magic or my vampire abilities to clean, I had a lot of time to spare and the house wasn't that big. The thick layers of dust were so satisfying to wipe, the wooden floors and cabinets looked like they were a different color after I washed them with a wet cloth. I cleaned the books and old magazines from the kitchen and living room tables, wiped the dust off of every statuette and décor item that Carlisle liked getting to make our houses feel homier. I had to kill a few spiders that made their homes in most of the ceiling corners of the house.

After I was done with the first floor, I cleaned the stairwell, Carlisle's room, and the bathroom, avoiding my old bedroom. For some reason, I felt like it would hurt me even if I look at it for too long, so I tried to look at the ceiling when I passed it. I probably looked stupid by doing that, but I was the only person in the house, and I didn't judge myself for doing it.

After the house was fully clean, not counting my old bedroom, I went into tireless boredom. I was never able to sit around and do nothing, that part of my character didn't change even after I became an immortal. I caught myself thinking about going into that cursed room and grabbing one of the copies of Wuthering Heights. I stopped myself, if you do that, Edward wins. My thoughts were stupid now too. Maybe living in the house wasn't such a good idea after all, apparently, it was making me insane. What would Edward win? He doesn't even know you. Two versions of me were having a fight.

The time, that my brain spent fighting the idea of going into the room, came to the end when I noticed the sun was finally setting down. How much time did I spend thinking about it?! Edward wins just because of that. I told myself. I reached into my enchanted bag and took out my veil. The wizarding community knew about vampires but still wasn't eager to accept us, even in the future, besides I didn't want to risk people remembering my face.

I put my veil on, clipping it to my hat. I changed my dress to a full black one that I acquired recently, it was high-waisted and covered every part of my body, even my fingers were covered with a piece of see-through fabric. I put on black cotton shoes not worrying about getting them wet in the snow, my dress reached the floor, so no one would be able to see them and I wouldn't feel a difference. I put on my thick black cloak on top of the dress to make it look like I too felt the winter coming.

I locked the house behind me using a spare key that Carlisle left in the key bowl, and went outside. The veil worsened my vision, but I knew exactly where I was going. The piano shop was just a few blocks away. When I saw it, I smiled to myself. And the hunt begins again.

I opened the door and looked around. Old pianos were crumbling the place, some appeared to be in such bad shape, I doubted they even worked. Sweeping the floor next to the back door, which I assumed led to the wizarding world, was a tiny old man with a big belly. A Butterbeer drinker, I guessed. The owner looked at me and then at his clock.

"We are closed, miss. Come back tomorrow." He spoke.

"But how can I enjoy modern music without a gigglewater to soothe the pain?" I asked. I hoped the password was the same as 10 years ago.

"Right through this door, miss." The owner smiled at me and opened the back door for me. "Enjoy."

"Thank you very much," I spoke and entered the room.

It was loud in there; I assumed the piano shop had the same charms put around it as the pub in Indianapolis. They needed it more than ever since the times of prohibition started in the United States, not that muggle police would be able to enter the place so easily, but still a good precaution.

I followed the tiny steps that led me to an open floor pub with high tables put around it and a bar area. I ordered a gigglewater and stood silently next to one of the tables. I listened and pretended to sip the drink under my veil. I noticed a few people staring at me, my outfit was out of place. I scanned the room, trying to hear the information I was looking for, but my ears caught something else.

"Have you seen her here before?" the male voice asked.

"Never." The second male voice answered. This one had a British accent.

"That's strange, isn't it?" the first man continued. "I mean, I can't even see her face. What if she is with them?" I listened closely, who were 'them'?

"Well, why don't I go and ask her?" I froze in place. No one spoke to me before, my appearance made sure of that.

"Newt! Newt, what are you doing?" The first man tried to talk the second one out of coming my way.

"Calm down, Corben. She isn't going to kill me." The second man laughed. I wouldn't be so sure about that, buddy. I thought to myself, it really depended on who were 'they'.

I watched the man walking closer to me. He was tall, definitely over 6'', with brown hair and hazel eyes. He had a friendly smile on his face.

"Hey, I haven't seen you here before." I looked up at him, hoping my veil was thick enough to hide my eyes. He had his hand reaching towards me.

"Isabella Black," I spoke and shook his hand. I was getting close to my original timeline, I knew there were a few Isabella's in my family living around this time, my great aunts and other more distant relatives.

"British family, that's always nice to meet someone from back home." He smiled at me. "Newt Scamander, also from the island."

"Newt Scamander?! Like the Newt Scamander?" I asked without thinking. Crap. Has he published his books yet? Why couldn't I remember it now?

"Uh…yeah that's me. You've heard of me?" he asked.

Crap crap crap. Bella, think.

"Um…Our mothers were acquainted, mine told me a lot about your family." I answered the first thing that came to mind.

"That's so interesting, unfortunately, my mom was never talkative, so I'm afraid I know nothing about you. What brings you here?" He asked.

"Just traveling, you?"

"Oh, I'm gathering information about magical creatures, planning to write a book about them." He answered eagerly.

I couldn't believe it, I was talking to The Newt Scamander, who was gathering information for a book that I would be reading in Hogwarts decades from now. Holy crap!

"I'm sure it would become a success." I tried to contain my excitement as hard as I could, in reality, I was about to scream. It was like meeting a young Bathilda Bagshot or a young professor McGonagall.

"Sorry for asking, but why are you wearing the veil?"

"There was a horrible fire in my house, my face got burned, I don't like the stares," I told him my rehearsed response.

"You know, there is a new burn-heeling paste, it looks disgusting, but it actually helps with scarring," Newt suggested. I knew about the paste, Madam Pomfrey used it on Cedric after the first task of the Triwizard Tournament back in 1994.

"I guess I'll have to try that," I spoke. "Can I ask you a question now?"

"Sure." He smiled again.

"Do you know anything about Grindelwald followers?" Asking that was a risky move on my part, but if I remembered correctly, Newt Scamander fought against him. At least I hoped he did, I wouldn't want to have to kill the author of such an amazing book.

"Why are you interested in that?" He asked, a smile disappearing from his face.

"I want to know what parts of the city I should avoid. I'm just traveling, I don't want to get into any trouble." I tried saying it with a little bit of fear in my voice.

Newt looked at me for a few seconds. I hoped he trusted my little white lie. He looked around and started whispering at me. He pointed out some people sitting at the bar and a few people standing next to the tables. He told me he definitely knows about their side in this war. I observed people Newt pointed out, recognizing their faces. As always, I put my shield around them to see their colors, so I could recognize them later in the dark. My shield was a part of me even in a wolf form. It made tracking my victims much easier.

"Thank you, I think I'm going to head out now, it's getting late," I spoke and offered my hand to Newt. "It was nice meeting you."

He grabbed my hand in his and left a soft kiss on my knuckles.

"Until next time, Isabella Black." He smiled at me. "Don't forget about the burn-heeling paste." He told me when I was walking away.

"I won't." I raised my voice a little, so he could hear me.

I walked out of the pub, thanking its owner once again before I left the piano shop. I walked a block down and hid in a dark catwalk in between two houses. I checked my surroundings and turned into a wolf. I walked in the dark shadows back to the piano shop and stopped in the alley behind it, waiting to hear other people leaving the shop.

I waited a while, the first two people leaving turned out to be Newt and his friend. I let them escape me, they were innocent. It was a few minutes after that when I heard someone else's footsteps leaving the piano shop. I opened my shield and noticed the same colors I'd seen before. They belonged to three wizards who were standing at a table to my right just about an hour ago, the wizards Newt told me to avoid. They would be my first victims in Chicago.

I followed them from a distance, not wanting to scare them away. They walked for a while until they reached a big dark blue house with an enormous black door. I went into the catwalk and opened up my shield again. I could see them moving around in the house. One of the men was already in his bedroom, the other men and a female were in the kitchen. I waited patiently until I saw the couple going upstairs, to be safe, I gave them an hour, they would surely be asleep by then.

In an hour, I walked slowly to the house, trying to hear any conversations happening in there. There were none, only three steady heartbeats and someone snoring. I turned into my human form and jumped through an open window on the second floor. I walked carefully around the house, trying to find evidence these people were on Grindelwald's side. I found what I was looking for in the living room on the first floor. Flyers calling wizards to protect magic purity were laid on one of the cabinets. I smirked and put my wand out of its holster. I used the silencing charm on the house and went upstairs again to put the same charm on each bedroom.

I slowly opened the door to the bedroom that only had one person sleeping in it and turned back into my wolf form. I stepped lightly towards the bed; I could see his face in the moonlight now. He was in his mid-20s, with light stubble on his cheeks and a short goatee on his chin. His hair was sullied and pitch black. If I didn't know better, I would have said this man was a young Severus Snape. I jumped on the edge of the bed and walked until my paws wrapped his body on both sides. The man was a deep sleeper. I let my slobber fall from my cheeks into his chest until his eyes started moving. He was waking up, my wolf nature rejoiced. A few drops later, the man opened his sleepy eyes, and immediately they went large and filled with fear. He screamed and tried reaching for his wand, at the same time trying to get me off of him, but I didn't budge. The man screamed for help; my wolf nature rejoiced even more. With a loud growl, my teeth sank into his neck, his carotid artery burst with the impact of my teeth, I heard his neck brake in a few places by the force that I put into my bite. His blood was everywhere, the pure white sheets would be permanently stained now.

I jumped off the bed and started walking to the other bedroom. The blood was dripping from my fur, leaving stains on the white floors. I heard the two heartbeats still beating steadily behind the door. They wouldn't be beating for much longer. I turned back into my human form and opened the door. Killing two people at the same time was harder, one of them had to wake up before I was finished with the other. But, to my luck, wizards were fools, none of them ran away, none of them apparated, all of them tried reaching for their wand in hopes to kill me.

I turned back into my wolf form and walked deeper into the bedroom. The woman would be first, it was more fun playing with males. With a quick jump, I was already on top of the woman, tearing into her neck. A loud scream escaped her lips, waking her husband up. The man jumped from the bed and grabbed his wand from the top of the nightstand. The woman's screams were still filling the room. I looked at the man's eyes and growled. That's all I needed to, instantly he started shouting spells at me. When the flashes hit me, they bounced off my skin, a growl, that sounded more like a chuckle escaped my lips. The man looked like he understood I was laughing at his poor attempts to stop me. His eyes traveled to his wife, who was no longer screaming, and then came back to me. He pointed his wand at me.

"Avada Kedavra!" The man screamed. Never have I ever had someone send a death spell at me. When the green light met with my skin, it hit me, I was obviously not dead, not even seriously wounded by that impact, but it hurt. Like someone just kicked me in my chest, the pain went away almost momentarily and I jumped on the man, sinking my teeth right underneath his chin, ripping his jugular vein.

After I was done ripping his body parts, I turned into my human form again. My dress, face, and some hair strands that managed to find their ways out of my hat had blood dripping off of them. I used some of the common spells to clean myself and the floors of the house. I put the bodies into their bedsheets and dragged them into the main hallway. I looked for any traces of blood and any clues that I might have left. After a thorough investigation, I failed to find anything. I laid my hands on top of the three bodies wrapped in bedsheets and apparated deep into the forest.

I took the younger man out of the sheets first and ran closer to the entrance to the forest. I dropped him off next to a big tree and put some dirt and leaves around his body. The woman's body I left a few feet away from the young man. The police should find them fairly soon. The last man, who tried to kill me, I put deeper into the forest. That would be his punishment for using an unforgivable curse on me, I hoped the local wildlife would find him before the police could. I staged all three murders as animal attacks and apparated into my house.

The sun was coming up again, another sunny day, urgh…Another sunny day meant another day of me sitting in the house, another day of debating whether I should go into the stupid room and grab the books I wanted. I decided that it couldn't hurt me if I just got in there for a minute, just to grab a book. I started going upstairs when I heard the shrieking of the steps. Oh, I have a better idea. I told myself. I spent the rest of the day taking the steps apart and trying to figure out how to make them stop shrieking, I could use my wand and repair them in a second, but what was the fun in doing that? I was smart enough to figure this out by myself, right? How hard could it be? After a few hours, I gave up. None of my university degrees were helpful with stairs repair. I left them like that because I had no idea how to put them back into their original state.

That night I went to the piano shop again, this time I didn't have to wait long. My victim today was an old man, probably in his 60s. An easy kill. I apparated his body to the other side of the forest.

After a week, the first newspapers wrote about the animal attacks in the forest area next to Chicago. The newspaper that came out a few days after that, made me curious, as it was mentioning The Grim. The victim in the picture had his neck torn, just like all my victims, the problem was…The man in the picture wasn't my victim. Someone was using my name to commit crimes. That made me angry, I was doing the right thing killing the people I've chosen, I was saving muggles. I didn't know what was this killer's reasons. The copycat was good, his victims' wounds looked the same as mine, the police didn't see the difference, but I did. My wolf form had sharp teeth, when I bit through the neck, the wound looked messy and torn, the wounds on the copycat's victims' necks looked staged like they started in one place and were intentionally ripped further.

"The man was pretty much dried out of blood this time." I stopped reading the article when I noticed that sentence. Vampire? But why so sloppy? That kind of killing could be a perfect reason for Volturi to interfere. Since there was no way for me to know if their 'no killing the witches' rule included me since I was a witch myself, I really didn't need them to come here. I guessed my plan was taking a wide turn for a while, at least until I could find the vampire copycat and kill him…or her. The Grim was always thought to be a man, which was not the case, the copycat might be a woman too.

The following night, instead of going to the piano shop, I went to the other part of the city, the part where the copycat murdered their first victim. I stayed in my wolf form and hid in the alleys, trying to hear anything. There was nothing, no screaming, no talking, the city was quiet. I growled in frustration.

A few weeks of my patrol went by, but I still wasn't able to find the copycat. I knew they were still in the city as the newspapers kept mentioning new victims. During the sunny days, I didn't know what to do anymore. I got over myself and was finally stepping inside my old bedroom, only to grab the books though. I tried not to look at anything else.

I went back to my previous hunt after a month of looking for a copycat. I followed a woman from the piano shop to her house and tear through her neck. I cleaned her house and apparated to the forest, exactly where I dropped the first bodies.

My head snapped as I heard someone running through the forest. Vampire. I quickly change into my wolf form. No matter who that is, better they don't know what I looked like. I wait to hear the footsteps come closer to me while hiding in a dent of a rock. The footsteps slow down, its owner is walking slowly now. I take a breath, definitely a vampire. I slowly raised my head from the dent I was in and peak at the vampire. He must have smelled the human blood or maybe heard a loud pop that followed my apparation.

The man was crouching above the woman's body, his back turned to me. He was wearing a dark brown plaid flat cap, a dark beige vest above his black shirt, and a pair of trousers that were wet, probably because he was running through the snow. I noticed he was examining the body, the wound on the woman's neck, and the sheets that I didn't have time to hide away.

"I can hear your heartbeat." The man said and I felt my heartbeat go faster. "Come out now, and I'll promise your death will be quick."

A growl escaped my mouth. How dare he threaten me? I was just protecting the innocent. Vampires were human hunters, everyone except Carlisle's new family and me at one point in time. Why did he care those humans were dying?

I stepped out of my hiding spot in the rock and barked. The man turned slowly and looked at me in shock. My night vision in the wolf form wasn't as perfect as in my vampire form. I could still see better than any human though. I looked at the man and analyzed his face. His hair was tugged underneath the flat hat, his wide jaw suited his face, just like his perfectly straight nose. I would think he was very handsome if he wasn't planning to kill me. His burgundy eyes eyed me with confusion and uncertainty. His face was familiar like it belonged to someone I'd met before. But the only memories that were trying to flood my mind were from my human life, and those were blurry. I couldn't remember where I saw him before.

"That's not possible." The man said. "Oh, well, this would be easier." He said after a second of hesitation.

The man crouched and jumped in my direction. I growled and jumped a second later. Our bodies collided mid-air with a loud crack. We fell to the ground and he pinned my body with his weight. I growled at him and bit his arm. He screamed in pain and stood up from me.

"What are you?" He asked as he examined a bite I left on his right hand. Another growl escaped me when I got off my back and started walking in his direction.

He realized I wasn't a real wolf; real wolves couldn't bite through vampire skin. It didn't matter if he knew that, as he will be dead in a few minutes. I jumped at him this time, pinning him to the ground. The man tried getting off, tried using his vampire strength to overpower me and kick me off, but I was as strong as him. It was time for him to die. With the last attempt to save his life, he tried jumping up while he was still lying on the snow ground. His actions got us up half an inch from the ground, but I was able to stand in my position, unlike his flat hat, which flew off his head.

I growled once again and slowly moved my head closer to his neck. I looked at his face one more time, trying to enjoy the horrified look in his eyes. His bronze hair was wet and messy. I looked in his eyes and saw his fear, but also determination.

He closed his eyes then and took a deep breath. He scrunched his face, preparing for the pain, and whispered: "Wizardella," and suddenly it hit me. The memories were flooding my mind. Wizardella, the name I haven't heard in nearly three centuries. I looked over his strong jawline, his straight nose, messy bronze hair, and his full lips. I whimpered and quickly backed away. It was Him; I knew it was. The wolf in me didn't know how to react to this sudden realization. I was crying inside; my wolf form was crying too.

I looked at the man on the ground. His wide-open eyes were looking at me with even more confusion and interest. He tried getting closer, but I couldn't let him. I was about to kill Him, kill the person I loved most in the world. How could I not realize it was Him?! Damn my stupid human memories, the man in front of me was gorgeous, even better-looking than he was before. If that was even possible…

I whimpered once again and started running away. As I ran, a thousand thoughts flooded my mind. Was that really Him? How could it be? He was gone, for a long time now, he was gone. It wasn't him, my imagination was playing a game on me. But what if he survived? I did, why couldn't he? I was so concentrated on the thoughts, I didn't even hear that the man was following me, not until I was once again pinned to the ground.

"Who are you?" The man demanded an answer. Lying on my back was extremely uncomfortable in my wolf form. "Why did you let me live? Why did you stop?!"

The man, whoever he was, wasn't trying to kill me this time. His eyes expressed the same curiousness as they did before I ran. The man looked so much like my dear Cedric, I didn't care anymore if he knew who I was, I didn't care if it wasn't him. I didn't even care if he kills me, just seeing his face, Cedric's face was enough for me. I whimpered once again and turned to my human form.

The man jumped off me when I transformed and was now eyeing me. I stood up, my vision became clearer, I was afraid to look at him, what if the wolf fantasized the image and the man looked nothing like my Cedric, what if all of it was in vain.

"No." I heard the man whisper. "It can't be."

I looked at the man now. Everything in him made my memories come back. I was right, the wolf fantasized the image. The man in front of me didn't look like Cedric, he was his pure copy. I looked at him and felt my mouth open as sudden want to cry overcame me.

"Cedric?" I asked through the pain, cupping my face in my hands.


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