"No matter how paranoid I get,

it's never enough to keep up."

A year has passed since the last time you have seen these characters.

Much has happened in this year, including the birth of Jadyn O'Conner,

the child of Jade and Angel O'Conner. Jade had no idea she was pregnant

after her would-have-been husband died, and so when she found that she was

expecting things changed dramatically for her. Takamaru, however, has found

that his beloved friend, Alexandria Marks has gone missing. After having

discovered this, he set out to find her only to find that apparently Jade had

been striking back on her own. The story picks up where Takamaru has

been constantly having attacks placed on the girl and her child; he wants

his friend back and nothing will stop that.

Taka knew that they were looking for him, it was normal. The Ministry of Magic hadn't taken too kindly to him since he destroyed nearly ten of their Magical Law Enforcement. Then again, not many people in this world took kindly to him anymore. He was nothing more than a killer—a man bent on nothing but destruction. He swallowed, the saliva that went down his throat barely moistened it. He had done the one thing that Alexandria had forbade him to do. He was walking through the Ministry of Magic.

What else could he do? He had to make sure that his last contact, last friend, was safe. He needed to know where she was and what she was doing. It had been a year since he had last spoken to her, and he doubted that she was dead. She couldn't be, he wouldn't accept it. Jade wouldn't have it in her to kill someone, hurt them, sure, she did one hell of a job on his heart as it was.

"John, can you do me a favor and get the records from the Japanese Ministry on the O'Conner case?"

Taka recognized that voice. Tabitha Meschelle. He nearly shuddered at the thought of having to be in the same room as her. But wait. Why would she want the records from O'Conner's death? Taka waited as he watched the woman walk into her office and shut her door. This John character walked off through the hallway in the opposite direction as Tabitha. Takamaru quickly followed, his wand out at his side. He slid through the door that John had just gone through, and as it closed behind Taka he locked it with his magic.

After what seemed to be about one hundred and fifty feet's distance the man John turned into another room. This room was unlike most of the other rooms in the Ministry. It had nothing but fireplaces in it. That meant one thing. The Floo Network. Takamaru came out of the crouching position as he walked through the door. His wand came up in a spiraling twirl. A small flash of green light sent the man named John flying across the room and into the wall. He dropped to the floor as lifeless as a rock. His eyes were stuck open staring directly back at Takamaru. Tak rolled his own and walked into the fire place muttering something to himself. He was enveloped by green flames before disappearing from the Ministry all together.

(And now we go to Jade.)

Jade sighed to herself as she listened to Jadyn cry in his crib. Nothing she had done lately was working, and she couldn't think of anything else to do to make the child stop crying. She tried nursing, rocking, reading, even talking to the kid. Nothing. She used her wand to summon the bottle of vodka that sat in the cabinet across her room. Drinking straight from the bottle she felt the tingle go down her throat, and she loved every second of it.

Ever since that night she had taken Alexandria against her will something had been different about Jade. She was less of a human being as she had been before. But then again, how human could one be after having lost the person they were about to marry? She looked down at the child before her. His resemblance to Angel was so evident that she felt water start flowing from her eyes and down her face to her chin where they dripped softly onto her chest rolling between and around her breasts. She pushed the hair that was starting to stick to her face out of her eyes as she cried even more.

What had happened? Why couldn't she just have a normal life? Why couldn't she be with the person she wanted to be with?

Jade, forever we will be together. I promise you; forever!

She gasped as she let out another sob, her own cries masking out that of the child's before her. She let out a raspy reply, "Me and Angel..." she didn't finish, but it was going through her head what she had said eleven years ago when she had been in the dungeons of Hogwarts.

I guess forever isn't as long as it used to be.

She fell face first onto her bed sobbing into her blanket. She could feel the blanket growing quite wet from all of her tears. She could remember how happy she was to have seen Takamaru again for the first time in two years. She had—the whole school had—thought that he was dead. He had been proclaimed dead two years before after an attack on the school. It was then that his heart turned cold towards her. It was then that she never saw that comforting look in his eyes when he looked at her. It was then that she realized he wasn't the one.

"You know, they say that distant is supposed to bring two people closer," Takamaru stepped through the doorway and into her room, "I think I would have to disagree with that statement. Many times we talked, many times we would just sit there listening to each other but not saying anything. Just enjoying the others company and enjoying the fact that they were thinking about you. Many times you told me that friends would be the only thing that we would ever be together. Many times you said it just wouldn't work."

Jade's body had locked up. She knew that her child was in danger...she was in danger as long as he was standing in this room with her.

"I loved—and still love—you with every fiber of my being. I would have given everything to be with you! I would have done whatever it took, but you were so goddamn set against it!" There was a loud bang as her dresser was shattered to pieces from a blast of his wand. She shook overwhelmed with sorrow and pain.

"Everything I did—everything I was about—I did in hopes that you would recognize it...in hopes that you would love me back! You told me..repeatedly that you loved me, repeatedly. Yet, when it came down to it...nothing but friends. So many times I followed along praying for you to write me...even if it was beyond midnight. Many times I sat there thinking that I would love nothing more than to hear from you..."

Jade turned around and she was staring directly into his silver-blue eyes. His eyes that had turned hard over the years, they were no longer that pool of warmth and happiness they had once been. That eager child she had befriended and fallen in love with. No, these were the eyes of a killer.

She stood, her head still having to tilt to look him in the eyes.

"Taka..." came a little gasp, her own eyes were very swollen and her nose running, "I never wanted to lose you as a friend...never...but I am..I was...not the person for you!" At that moment she felt her jaw come to the verge of breaking as his hand collided with hers. She fell to her knees coughing, blood pooled in front of her. Her teeth felt loose.

She looked up, no one was standing before her. The baby was no longer crying. Gasping in fear she jumped up pulling the crib closer to her. The baby lay there his eyes wide staring at his mother. His chest rose with each breath as he sucked on his hand.

"Jade!"

Jade's wand came up as she turned around and she shouted "Avada Kedavra!" Green light ignited from her wand and collided with the figure standing in the door way causing said figure to go flying down the hall where it landed on the stair case only to go rolling down the stairs. Jade swallowed softly holding back all of her tears as she walked down the hall towards the stairs. As she got closer to the stairs she could start seeing the figure down at the bottom. She let out a small startled gasp. It was Tabitha Meschelle.

Jade took in a deep breath, her eyes growing cold. She waved her wand and the body turned into a small plant that she moved with her wand into the living room and placed it in a corner as a decoration. She then walked back up to her child.

(Back to Taka)

Takamaru sat in the living room of his house. His knuckles were white where the force of them colliding with Jade's jaw had been. He chuckled softly to himself. Everything he had said in that room he had meant. He would take nothing back. He sighed as he looked at the days paper. In bold letters it proclaimed that another family had been murdered by Death Eater's. He sighed to himself, falling deep into thought about when he had been acting under the rules of his father.

Takamaru could feel the dark robes brushing his skin as he walked through the foggy night. With his wand he pushed the small iron gate before him open allowing his passage into the yard directly in front of his feet as they stepped forward softly—undetectably. His wand was the color of a bone, it even had the appearance of one. His shoulder length silver hair flickered in the occasional wind, he had long sense taken his hood off from over his head.

He could hear the laughter in the house as he came to the door. His wand pointed at it and he muttered nothing. The lock on the door began to glow a soft yellow light as the lock clicked out of place and allowed the door to be pushed open. Through the door he walked into the living room where two people sat with their child. Takamaru had know these two people for years, had even been best friends during one part of his life. But now, now they were nothing to him. Simply another group of people that he had to remove. Another threat.

"Lauren, get out of here! Take Sam!" Kain yelled as he came out of the crouching position he had just been in. His wand came forth and fired four small sets of orange sparks. Taka used his wand as though it were a sword. The slashing movements that he made forced the sparks to hit random parts of the house. He heard the woman, Lauren, taking the child and running out back. Kain stood there staring the man in the eyes.

"Has this what its come to? Killing the people who stood beside you for so long? Killing your friends?"

"You ceased being my friend years ago!" Taka made another slashing movement with his wand and the air in the room stiffened for a second then seemed to rush at Kain in a seconds time. He could see the air wavering as it approached him, his wand bringing a shield in front of him. The hardened air collided with the shield causing it to shatter and for Kain to go flying back into the empty fireplace. He stood up muttering several incantations causing things to fly towards Taka—they simply were blown to pieces by Taka's magic.

"You were one of my greatest friends...what came between us I will never know. Several times I tried to talk to you, but you said it yourself, we weren't as close as we used to be. We weren't close friends. And So I gave up, on that day. And now, the time as come that I have been summoned to bring you to where you belong. Death." As the words came out of Taka's mouth bright purple balls of light fired from his wand. Kain managed to send most of them in a different direction. Those that hit him, however, broke the bones within the radius of the impact.

Kain let out a soft scream. There were holes in the walls from where the others had hit. Takamaru laughed and set forth blinding red light that seared Kain's eyes as he looked forward. He was no more. Taka moved outside quickly, hunting his prey with skill beyond any other of his kind. It didn't take long.

True, Lauren Hamilton was a vampire, but she was nothing compared to Takamaru. He heard a noise to his left and as he turned to face it was thrown back into a tree. He felt his ribs break as he impacted with it. Lauren stood before him, her eyes were solid purple her fangs flaring.

"Ah, Lauren. So nice to see you again," his words were soft, though the pain from his ribs was evident, "Its been too long." He heard her hiss.

Before he had a chance to think she was atop him again, this time he felt her nails cut through his chest as she went for his heart. He let out a scream, barely managing to get his wand between them. A light flashed and she was thrown back through the tree behind her, breaking it.

Blood poured from the wounds Takamaru was currently trying to heal. He managed to close most of them before she was rushing at the speed of sound at him once more. He felt her hand grab the back of his neck and lift him from the ground throwing him once more. This time his stomach was what caught the tree. He vomited as he landed. He turned around to face her.

Her head tilted towards him, he could see the hatred swelling in her eyes. She came running towards him and green light fired from his wand connecting with her. She let out a piercing scream as she was thrown backwards caught on emerald flames. He watched as her skin melted from her bones and her hair vanished. She looked at him, her face contorted in anger and agony. She came rushing and he fired off the light one more time throwing her twice the distance. He came to her body as she twitched on the ground, week...vulnerable. He heard something crying in the distance. He turned and ran off leaving her lying there in pain.

As he returned he held a small child in his hands. The child was perhaps eight months old. He set it down next to Lauren and laughed as she squirmed trying to keep him away from it. He pointed his wand and muttered something. Blinding red light removed the baby from existence. He heard the shrill screams from Lauren as she launched herself at him only to collide with his fist. She hit the ground, too weak to fight back. He pointed his wand at her; he smiled.

"This is the end."

She was no more.

Takamaru watched the newspaper fade into ashes as he recalled the death he had rained upon that family that night five years ago. He had no regrets.