Temporal Illusion
Chapter 4; A Witch's Eyes
Southampton Airport – Arrivals
Harry leant against the wall that ran along next to the concourse cafe. Jez was at his side while Cameron and Tamarack seemed to have taken on a defensive position just in front of them. It had been only a day and a half since he and Jez had walked in on Tamarack while she was feeding from Harry's Soulmate but in that time Harry had gotten to know her better than he'd gotten to know any Vampire in a long time, which wasn't saying all that much really. He'd befriended Vampires on several occasion in past lives and even if he hadn't dreamt of those lives, their faces were familiar to him. But he'd always felt uncomfortable around Vampires and he still felt it around Tamarack. Harry's body refused to relax around her, his wings strained against his control to wrap around him and every time she made a sudden move Harry reacted and on a few occasions he'd slipped into the moment in surprise.
She'd noticed this and Cameron and Harry had talked it over for hours in his head but there was nothing Harry could do about it and Tamarack made sure to take care around him knowing that he didn't one hundred percent trust her even if Cameron had vouched for her many times. Harry had had another couple of flashbacks and he'd come to accept them. He'd found himself in a more pleasant memory of playing the violin in front of a huge audience of people and had the memories of a mute musician in the Napoleonic wars and even with the poverty stricken way he had grown up as John of no name he'd gotten a sense of peace from him that the other memories had yet to give him. John, and thus he, had strived for years to master the violin even with the few scraps of coin he could gather together until a member of the Royal Musical Society had heard him playing for money and taken him in for a hot meal and tutored him. John had died at fifty-eight as a musician in the Royal Household and hadn't known anything of his past lives.
That had been the second of two new memories he'd learnt of and the other hadn't been so pleasant. He'd woken up to the sight of Jez and Cameron restraining him and Cameron had had bloody claw marks down his chest that were clearly from Harry's struggles. Lucas Aralias hadn't died a pleasant death. Lucus had died a death that made even Ryn's death look peaceful. Lucus had been a Witch Hunter's son during the American Witch Trials. His parents had used him as bait to lure in a pair of Witches and then managed to kill one while the other escaped. The Witch had come back for him a few nights later and taken her revenge out on Lucus, skinning him alive before setting fire to his body with a spell designed to keep him alive.
Jez had had to call the Zoo to get Harry off sick for the day and it had taken most of the day to draw Harry out of his horror. Luke had been a mere twelve years old and it was hard for Harry to get his mind back to his normal level of an eighteen year old let along get over being skinned and burned alive which to him had only just happened. Cameron had been horrified as he witnessed all of it.
"Here they are." Tamarack spoke up drawing Harry out of his reverie.
"Isn't that Quinn?" Cameron asked.
"As in Hunter Redfern's brat?" Harry whispered touching the small of Cameron's back with the tips of his fingers.
"You've met him?" Cameron asked, though without much surprise. Harry shook his head and shrugged at the same time. He didn't really know, he just got the impression he had. Eventually he'd relive the lifetime that feeling came from but until then it was a fleeting bit of information on the edges of his mind. "What's he got to do with Daybreak?" Cameron asked as Harry moved to the side slightly to look over the crowd and the approaching two figures that were clearly odd even to him.
Quinn was a tall man with the odd pairing of a young face and old eyes. Not as old as Harry but still old enough to give him away as either an Old Soul like Harry or as a Vampire. Part of him, made up of mainly Liam and Nicolas, told him he was a turned Vampire. The woman at his side though moved with a certain grace but she seemed human to Harry. He wouldn't rule out the possibility that she was more than that but she seemed more like Liam or Imazato.
"He turned onto our side a few months ago." Tamarack grinned at Cameron cheekily. "Got onto the same thing as you have. Found his Soulmate. That's her. Rashel the Cat. An Ex-Vampire Hunter. They torched Redfern pretty badly and broke out a ton of slave girls from a rebel group of turned Vampires."
"And how many slaves weren't so lucky?" Jez spoke up quietly.
"People change, Jez." Cameron told him simply. "Daybreak wouldn't have sent him out here unless they trusted him."
"And she's human and his Soulmate." Harry spoke up. "He can't hide anything from her." Even though he said it he still moved up closer to Cameron's back to reassure himself. Jez moved up on his right hand side, effectively the three shielded Harry.
"Tamarack." Rashel nodded as she and Quinn stopped opposite the four. "And you must be Cameron Drache."
"They're humans." Quinn spoke up and Harry frowned as he saw Jez twitch ever so slightly and look down at the ground on his right. Harry pulled him back knowing the symptoms so well and in a fluid move he moved in front of him. He felt a mind touch his own but instead of fighting the mind, so much more powerful than Dumbledore or Voldemort as it was, he let it enter. Let it feel lifetimes that he could only guess at the age of, at least fifteen thousand combined years stretching back thirty thousand years. Pain and horror filling hundreds if not a thousand or more deaths. Quinn recoiled and staggered backwards before his Vampire reflexes caught him. He looked sick to the stomach.
"Don't pry into our minds just because we're humans." Harry whispered quietly but he had everyone's attention, including Quinn who was pressing his hands into his knees trying to control himself. "You'll only find things you can't comprehend." Harry calmed down somewhat when Cameron looped an arm around his waist.
"Vampires do it all the time, Harry."
"I know..." Harry trailed off. "But next time he wants to know about us he should just ask."
"I am sorry." Rashel spoke up and offered her hand to Harry who after a moment took it. Harry could tell in the movements of her muscles that she was an extremely good fighter. "It is a habit he's never really gotten out of."
"Once a Vampire always a Vampire." Jez grimaced.
"This is Harry and Jeremy." Cameron spoke up continuing regardless of Jez's correction to the use of his full name. "They know about the Night World."
"How did you find out?" Rashel asked in a conversational tone.
"I told Jez after I began recounting past lives." Harry said rather bluntly.
"He's the Old Soul." Quinn spoke up as he straightened and rubbed at his head.
"You only got a glimpse." Harry snorted. "Imagine having it all in your head."
"No thanks." Quinn grunted. "Five hundred years is more than enough."
"Tamarack tried something similar yesterday and is still recovering from the headache." Cameron laughed. "It seems only I can freely move around in his head."
"And why is that?" Rashel asked.
"Because I let him." Harry said bluntly and touched Cameron on the arm, a gesture that he knew the two Daybreakers noticed. "Could we take this somewhere else? It is you guys that seem to think everybody is hunting me."
"A good idea." Rashel nodded. "Do you have room for us in your car or should we get a hire car?"
"I brought my car." Jez told them.
"We're here to protect you." Rashel looked from Cameron to Harry. "We'd rather go with you."
'Are you okay with that, love?' Cameron asked him silently and Harry turned to look at him.
'I...' Harry couldn't even think the words clearly and just let Cameron feel his emotions on the subject of letting Redfern's heir guard him.
"Quinn can ride with Jez." Cameron turned back to Rashel and Quinn.
"We're supposed to protect you, we can't do that from another car." Rashel pointed out.
"I have nothing against you, Rashel. I was once like you, a Hunter, but the only common denominator I have with Quinn is that his father drained all of the blood from my body as painfully as he could." Harry said it almost too quietly to hear. "Until I can trust him you might as well call somebody else."
"Listen kid..." Quinn started.
"Don't call me a kid." Harry whispered even as he turned around to head for the multi-story car park. Cameron quickly reached his side. 'I just don't like being treated as a child.'
'And you're older than he is.' Cameron's happy laughter in his mind soothed out the jagged edges of his mind a little more every time Harry heard it and this was no exception. Harry shared a small smile with him and took his hand in his own and squeezed it tightly.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
"Alexis!" Tacara screamed as she tripped.
"Tacara!" He span around and skidded to a halt and dropped to her side, hoisting her to her feet. "We have to run or he'll catch us!"
"It's too late. He's too fast."
"I won't leave you, Tacara. I never have and I never will. From cradle to grave!" Alexis told her. "Now run!"
It was too late though and Alexis turned to see a tall figure emerge from the mist of Boston Harbour. "It's too late." She shivered violently as he held her up. "I'll hold him off, you run."
"I'm not leaving your side, Tacara." He told her simply.
"How... sickening." The Vampire leered at them.
"Quinn." Tacara sneered hatefully. "You dirty dog."
Quinn laughed and Alexis seethed. A flash burst behind his eyes and all he saw was hate as he drew his knife and leapt at the Vampire only to get caught by the throat effortlessly. He was tossed to the side like a limp puppy and just managed to right himself as his sister from birth raised her hands and called forth her powers. A flash of orange struck at Quinn but he dodged with inhuman speed and in a second the only family he had crumpled to the ground as the Vampire snapped her neck.
Alexis howled as pain gripped his very being but a voice told him that dying wasn't so bad. That he'd get another chance.
Harry heaved in a lungful of air as he leapt up from the bed. He glanced around, finding himself alone so struggled to pull himself together without Cameron to help him and with a Vampire in the house, especially Quinn he found that difficult. Part of him, the Alexis part of him, wanted him to find a way out of the building and never return but the rest of him was torn between a mix of other emotions.
He shuddered a last time and pulled on his jeans and a loose shirt before grabbing a blanket and putting it around his shoulders revelling in the feeling that mimicked wrapping his wings around himself. He was shivering as he walked quietly out of the room and into his flat, letting his eyes adjust to the early morning light that told him it was barely four in the morning. He walked into his own living room and took it all in with a glance.
He saw Rashel standing with her back to him looking out of his window at the street beyond but the sofa was empty, as was the rest of the room. "Where are Cameron and...?" He couldn't bring himself to say his name right now.
Rashel twisted around and her hand went to her waist and half pulled out her specialist sword. It took a moment for Harry to realise that she had only stopped the movement because he had slipped into the moment. He took a moment to study the way she had twisted, it was beyond the skill of many that he had seen before and in complete contrast to Imazato's grace. She was clearly used to striking without warning.
He pulled them out of the moment and pulled the blanket around himself tighter as she halted her reaction and slid the sword away again. "You took me by surprise."
"I didn't mean to." Harry told her simply and walked further into the room. "You didn't answer my question."
"They're up on the roof. Quinn wanted to check it out before daylight and Cameron..." She trailed off at Harry's wince at Quinn's name. "What?"
"Nothing." He looked past her and out of the window wishing that he could connect to his Soulmate's mind like Cameron could do so easily. "Why aren't you sleeping?"
"You were making too much noise." She told him honestly. "I didn't want to wake you and I don't sleep much anyway."
"I wish I didn't." Harry told her.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
Harry turned towards his kitchenette and put the blanket on the arm of the chair so he could make a hot drink to still his shaking limbs. "I wasn't having a nightmare. My past lives are unravelling in my mind one after another."
"All of the deaths?" She frowned.
"You're faster than Cameron at working that out." Harry said without humour. "Normally I just get glimpses of the lives, major moments and that sort of thing, until I dream about the death and then I remember everything."
"That can't be pleasant." She agreed and accepted the tea from him and sat opposite him.
"No." Harry said simply. "The major problem is that even though my old lives were over years or centuries ago I remember the deaths as if it just happened."
"Do you feel them?" She asked.
"I think I remember somebody telling me that death is painless." Harry mused. "I'd like to see if he's ever tried it himself."
"Have you ever been murdered?" She asked.
He nodded and she seemed to be smart enough not to bring it up again. "Have you ever been to Boston before?" Harry asked to make conversation.
"I've spent some time there. It's where I met Quinn. He used to live there and he's spent much of his life there." She told him with a small smile when talking about him.
"How much do you know about Quinn?" Harry asked her. "Is he open to you about everything in the past?"
"He is." She nodded. "He's a good guy."
"What about all the people he's killed?" Harry asked clenching his mug in his hands. "Has he told you all about those?"
"Yes." She told him. "And I know he regrets all of them."
The mug shattered in his hand and he knew his wandless magic had done it more than his actual strength. Rashel flinched as tea sprayed across the table and Harry jumped back. "Regrets them!" He scoffed but was saved from saying more when the door opened and Cameron burst in and quickly found Harry.
"What's wrong?" Cameron had his arms around him in an instant and Harry felt the energy drain from him as he fell shuddering against him. "A new one or more of one?"
Harry smiled and pulled away from him but stayed close to his side as he saw Quinn silently slip into the room and firmly shut the door. "New." Harry told him quietly.
"Awakened?" Cameron asked pressing a kiss to his hair as the two others watched on in silence. Harry looked at his Soulmate and smiled, this was becoming almost a routine and Cameron knew all the most important things that Harry took in though he rarely asked about the last one, the death. Normally he could work that out himself from what Harry did when he awoke or even within the sleep.
"Not until the last moment." Harry told him quietly.
"What do you mean by that?" Rashel asked.
"Old Souls don't always Awaken in every life." Quinn told him. "Some always Awaken at a certain ages and others Awaken because of something."
"And other times not at all." Harry said, wanting to silence the Vampire. He couldn't listen to his voice right now.
"So this last one?"
"He Awakened a few moments before he was killed." Harry said simply.
"That's a little..." Rashel trailed off, not being able to find the word for how horrible that was.
"It's my denominating factor it seems." Harry shrugged and pressed closer into Cameron's side. "When my life is in danger I Awaken. Sometimes that's allowed me to protect myself and other times not. When I was Liam in the Second World War my family was killed by a Shapeshifter and I Awoke and was able to fight them off."
"And this one?" Rashel asked.
"Alexis." Harry said simply though right now he felt more like Alexis than anything else. The Alexis that had just watched his surrogate sister murdered for befriending a mere human. Him.
"And Alexis?" Rashel corrected herself.
"He Awoke but it didn't do him much good against this monster." Harry told her. "He hunted us down and he killed us like we were toys, two fourteen year old children. One a Witch and one a human. Just because they'd relied on each other to survive."
"What happened, Harry?" Cameron asked him.
"She tried to make me run but I didn't want to leave her." Harry told him but at that moment his eyes found and locked onto Quinn's and the Vampire flinched at all the pain hidden behind the cold emerald irises. "I Awoke and something in me made me attack him but he was too fast and just threw me to the side. Her magic did nothing and he just snapped her neck."
"And you?" Quinn asked quietly.
"You know." Harry whispered and Cameron tensed up. "I knew yesterday at the airport that I'd met you before. You hunted Tacara and me down through Boston Harbour because you were ordered to."
Rashel drew in a sharp breath and made to speak in Quinn's defence but to Harry's surprise Quinn touched her on the arm. "No, Rashel." Quinn shook his head. "I don't remember yet but I will do and he's probably right. It probably was me. I was working in Boston Harbour most of the time."
"It was 1872." Harry told the room. "It's one of my more recent memories. But as deaths go it wasn't so bad compared to the others."
"Harry!" Cameron gasped and turned to face him properly. "Don't ever say that!"
Harry just shrugged before turning to look at Quinn. "You'll understand if I don't want you around today at work."
"Harry..." Rashel tried to speak up.
"I trust Cameron and he trusts Tamarack who vouches for the two of you." Harry said simply. "But whether I, Harry, trusts Quinn isn't in this. It's whether Alexis trusts him and right now he doesn't which means every one of the people I have been are telling me to stay away from him. I can't have him protecting me when I can't trust him not to snap my neck."
"He wouldn't..." Rashel started to argue.
"He already did." Harry told her simply before turning for the bathroom to wash and shower. Cameron followed him as far as the bedroom but they'd never even seen each other that exposed yet so he went off to change while Harry went into the bathroom. He stripped down and walked into the shower and as the hot water soothed his muscles he let himself cry. For Tacara and through her for all the friends he'd had over the span of thirty thousand years.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
That afternoon – Marwell
To avoid attracting attention to them Harry arrived at work on his own and knew that Tamarack had snuck into the place ahead of him, leaving Cameron, Rashel and Jez to follow under Cameron's leverage once the park opened. It wasn't all that necessary for Jez to come to work with him for the day and Rashel had pointed that out and the others had agreed when they all met at the hotel but Harry had just shook his head and they'd dropped it. In truth he just didn't want Quinn and Jez to be alone together and Cameron had realised this.
Throughout the day he'd seen Cameron and the others but he was hyper aware of Tamarack's eyes on him whenever he wasn't in the manor. Perhaps it was just because he knew she'd be watching his every move. Rashel was just as bad in that it didn't matter to her how strange it looked for her to ignore the animals and just watch the people.
He was sitting inside the spare cage inside the medium cat exhibit feeding small bites of meat with vitamin supplements to Jeka through the wire mesh when the group approached just after lunch and Jeka noticed them first and started to raise herself from the ground. She lifted her hackles and snarled and Harry knew it was at Cameron. At the Dragon.
"Easy girl." Harry told her and without thinking about it he reached three fingers through the fence and touched the side of her neck. Her head spun back to face him and his fingers moved away from her pelt at the movement before Jeka surprised him by moving her neck back to make contact with his fingertips, clearly asking for more. Harry smiled and stroked her pelt.
"Harry!" He heard at the same time he felt Cameron's mind touch his own and he let the two merge together and his eyesight unfocused though it didn't completely disappear. Cameron got a few flashes of the things he had been thinking about while sitting down. A quick image of Alexis and Tacara playing with a small leather ball in Alexis' family's garden and another image of Tacara playing with her magic as the two children sat cross-legged facing one another. Harry felt Cameron letting them wash into him before speaking again. "Are you stroking Jeka?"
"It was accidental." Harry excused himself letting the memory of his instinctual reaction float over to his Soulmate. "She doesn't like the Dragon. None of the cats do which is ironic since most of the Amaru seemed to like having cat Shapeshifters to guard them."
Harry let go of Jeka but didn't pull his hand back yet and laughed when she turned and licked the salt from his fingers and hand. He gave her the last of the meat bites and stood up and worked his way through the pens and out onto the road and into the crowd of onlookers that had been watching him feed Jeka.
"Anything different today?" Rashel asked him analytically just as Tamarack appeared seamlessly out of a crowd of people making Cameron and Jez jump rather amusingly. Harry looked at the old Vampire Hunter.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you." Harry told her in way of answering her. "I have to go see what David has in store for me."
Rashel nodded and the group began to walk down through the park at a leisurely stroll. "She's wondering why Circle Daybreak sent her and Quinn out to protect you."
"What did you tell her?" Harry replied letting his Soulmate feel his anxiety along with flashes of battlefields throughout time. Some that Harry didn't even recognise. Yet.
"Nothing more than what Tamarack told them. That you need protection until you fully Awaken or get to Circle Daybreak and that you might know something important that's worth protecting." Cameron assured him. "I know you want to keep who you are or were a secret. Tamarack knows you're older than anyone else and are in that prophecy but only Jez and I know about your wings and it'll stay that way."
"Thanks." Harry said it even though he knew he didn't need to.
Harry stopped at the door that led into the Manor and the vets' labs and smiled at the group. "You'll just draw attention in here. Linger in the outer room if you want." Harry told Rashel before slipping inside. He kissed Cameron briefly before unlocking the private door a disappearing inside. Right now he didn't really want to be surrounded by so many people even if it was just Tamarack and Rashel that were additional. He put up with it purely because he knew that Cameron was relieved to have the two excellent fighters nearby if something happened.
"Harry!" He heard David yell from one of the labs as he walked past the door, heading for the staffroom to grab a drink of water. He sidetracked inside and smiled at his boss but then lost the smile and politely greeted the other man in the room. "You remember Doctor Ammen from a few weeks ago?"
"Of course." Harry nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you again."
He saw David's eyes widen in surprise before the other Doctor smiled and returned his greeting in French. Harry found himself surprised that he could even speak the language but then again it wasn't too much of a surprise, as it was he could speak Japanese, North African and who knew what else, including a variation of the ancient Incan language. Clearly he had some French in there too.
"I didn't know you spoke French, Harry." David laughed. "That's a pleasant addition."
"Addition?" Harry asked with a frown. "Addition to what?"
"Perhaps I should explain?" Doctor Ammen smiled. "My consortium is arranging an extended trip this year beginning in October. We will start with some time at the Pima Medical Institute in Las Vegas and after Easter will journey to the African Tundras for the study."
"Why the long stay in Las Vegas?" Harry asked. "And why tell me this?"
"The stay in Vegas is because it is Pima who are funding the expedition and we need a chance for the entire team to get to know each other and get everything ready for the study." David explained. "The reason we're telling you this is because between Marwell and Doctor Ammen's consortium we are bringing four students with us. We would like you to come along and we have our eye on your two friends. Your professor has already forwarded your references to us and if you agree to come he has agreed to give you the year for study with us. Pima Institute is quite capable of seeing to your education and the shortened time should not be a problem for any one of the three of you."
Harry stared at him in shock. "You want to take me to Las Vegas and then the Andean mountains?"
"You seem surprised." Doctor Ammen observed.
Harry looked at David who nodded to him. "Marwell is putting in quite a bit of money into this program so I get a lot of say in who the students are that will go but that doesn't mean I chose you out of hand." He told him. "We wouldn't offer if we didn't want you or your friends there. We've sent letters to your friends so you may talk to them about it and get back to us but we do need an answer as soon as possible."
Doctor Ammen pulled an A4 envelope out of his bag and handed it to Harry who smiled and took it. "I'll take a look tonight and talk to my friends about it." Harry promised. "It's a great opportunity." Regardless of everything else happening in his life right now.
"Alright then, Harry." David smiled. "Zachery wanted your help over in the snake pit this afternoon and even though you know a lot about them for a student you could always make more time for them."
Harry nodded and quickly made his way out of the building, finding Jez and Tamarack sitting together in the visitors' room. They were leaning together and Tamarack actually had her eyes closed while Jez was just looking rather unfocused. It took Harry a moment to realise what they were doing and suddenly wondered if he and Cameron did that. A grin spread across his face, a true smile of happiness for his friend. He and Cameron had known that Tamarack and Jez were hitting it off but they'd been rather tight lipped about it and Harry hadn't even realised they were Soulmates.
Not really wanting to force the two out of it but knowing that Cameron would be horrified to know he'd ditched them he prodded Jez in the side and a moment later Jez was looking at him in surprise. Tamarack's eyes snapped open and she was standing before she realised it was Harry. "Having fun in there?" Harry asked with a smirk on his face.
"Harry." Jez stood up and touched his arm.
"I know, Jez." Harry smiled at his best friend and leaned over and kissed him on the forehead whispering to him as he pulled away again even though he knew that Tamarack's hearing would pick it up even from a hundred metres away. "I'm happy for you."
"Quinn called." Tamarack told him after a moment. "Cameron and Rashel went to the hotel to talk to him."
Harry paused with a frown but even if Alexis had his way and Quinn was still bad Rashel wouldn't let anything happen to Cameron. He handed the envelope to Jez. "You might want to have a look at that. It's an offer for me, you and Nicky. You don't fancy coming with me to play with snakes I suppose?"
Harry saw the instant Jez took that in and laughed. "Don't joke, Harry." Jez was scared of snakes.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
That night - Marwell
It was late that night when things started taking a strange turn for Harry. He was dreaming normally for a change even though it was a nightmare replay of the last night's memory of Alexis but he was woken by a flash of light through his window and the clamouring of animals that didn't like to be woken. To start with he thought it was merely lightning but he didn't hear any thunder to accompany it and when he reached the window he could easily make out a sky full of stars.
He pulled on his shirt, jeans and jacket before pulling on his trainers and made his way out of the on call room, grabbing his radio on the way and turning it off the alarm only mode. He was outside of the building and heading through the aviary cages when he saw a second flash just to his right and ahead of him, near the large cats.
"Security?" Harry spoke as he brought the radio up to his mouth. "I've seen a couple of bright white flashes, the second near to the big cats. I'm going to have a look but can you send someone."
"Sure thing, Harry." One of the three night guards told him. "We'll swing around with the car. It's probably just some kids with a torch but be careful."
Harry wasn't too worried but he still approached the area with care and as he walked up through the path between the tiger enclosures and the lion one he couldn't hear anything like kids making trouble and slowly the part of him that was more Imazato, Liam and their kind took over his movements and he became that much stealthier as he moved and the part of him that was Alexis and John sighed and moved to the side since they couldn't help now.
As he reached the central area of the enclosures for the lions he frowned at the empty space. This was where the light had come from but he couldn't see anything out of place at all. He lifted the radio to his lips. "I'm in the lion viewport but I don't see anything out of place."
"We'll swing around the enclosures." The security told him and Harry knew they were close by. He put his hand in his pocket to get his keys to open the door into the pens and was just about to unlock them when a massive weight struck him square in the back and threw him forwards into the Perspex shield that separated the younger male lion's, Mika's, enclosure from the public and the radio slipped from his fingers and cracked as it hit the ground. Harry pulled himself to his feet but felt some force holding him against the Perspex.
"Where are you?" Harry demanded as he realised he was being held by magic, probably by someone under a disillusionment.
A figure appeared from under a spell and Harry narrowed his eyes at him knowing it was pointless moving into the moment right now while he was being held by magic, it wouldn't fade and he'd still be stuck in place. "The Minister would like a word, Mr. Potter."
"Then the Minister can call and make an appointment." Harry glared at him. "Let me down."
"I have my orders." The man laughed and flicked his wand. Harry couldn't avoid the lance of red light that hit him nor could he hold in the surprised cry as the mild pain curse struck him. "But it didn't say when to bring you in. Might as well have a little fun. You did abandon us to fight the war after all."
"The war ended you freak!" Harry snarled.
"There's a new war, Mr. Potter." The Wizard sneered. "And you're needed to fight this one."
"I won't fight another war for you!" Harry told him.
"You will." The Wizard laughed and spat out his next spell. "Crucio!"
Harry managed not to scream for all of a few seconds but as soon as he did the spell ended and Harry coughed out blood and tried to ignore the pain in his back as his wings tried to push through the magic holding him up against the Perspex. He could hear the sound of claws on the sheet and realised that Mika was right behind him and beyond the Wizard, through the other window was Ketian, prowling his own boundary.
Harry felt the magic fail around him and slumped to the ground but before he could rid himself of the pain so he could properly slip into the moment the Wizard grabbed his arm and tried to apparate except that Harry lashed out with his wings at the very instant the Wizard tried to take them both away and his apparition failed and simply lurched them a few metres in the direction he wanted to go.
The fell apart as they landed and Harry's winged arched up into the air in a cone, protecting himself from all sides even as he firmly felt the part of him that was A'Zia burst into being. A'Zia was the one that could fight with his wings and Harry felt confidence flooding his body until he realised where they were. The small jump had taken the two of them about ten metres into the East and straight into the middle of Mika's enclosure and the four year old male wasn't happy with the visitors and his roar shook the air. The Wizard stumbled to his feet and turned to Harry with shock on his face as he saw his wings but the move made him turn his back on Mika who leapt across the gap between the Perspex window and the two of them and slammed into the Wizard's back. Harry winced and dove out of the way as the lion and his, soon to be dead, prey tumbled passed him and his wings beat down, lifting his feet several inches off the ground before he tucked them behind his back.
Harry winced as the lion closed his jaws over the Wizard's skull and crushed it. Happy that the Wizard was now dead the lion stepped off of the body ignoring the blood on its front claws and teeth. Mika might have been born in this very zoo but his instincts hadn't suffered and they fed them in ways that didn't let them get complacent. Harry wanted to open his wings but he knew he couldn't get off the ground if he slipped into the moment long enough to dodge the lion's pounce. Before he could slip into the moment and run on foot the lion lowered his head and slowly walked towards him, seemingly happy with Harry's presence.
Harry sighed in relief and his wings disappeared into his back. Mika growled slightly but didn't seem angry at Harry for invading his space and merely closed the space between them until his head was right in front of Harry's lower ribs. Harry slowly reached out with his hand and touched the lion's head and stroked him gently, getting a purr from the predator. All of a sudden though Mika snaked his head around and crouched down to the ground, clearly sensing a threat but before Harry could react a hand grabbed him on the back and his world went black.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Ultan let the shaft of his spear lean against his shoulder as he crouched down to the ground his warriors spread out around him to protect him while he studied a track left in the mud. The rain came down over them just as it had all day but they were battle-scarred warriors and it didn't really slow them down even though they wore little more than loincloths and leather bracers around their forearms, chests and legs.
Ultan gave his second in command a small affirmative gesture and without words the group burst back into motion, tracking the group of Vampires through the forest around their city. They'd been hit two nights ago and four children had been killed as well as two dozen of their soldiers so Ultan and his men had been sent out by the King to track them down and kill them or die trying.
When, ten hours later they finally caught up to the group it was child's play for the fifty warriors to encircle their came. They were making so much noise that Ultan thought they might have been able to run through the camp without being noticed. No sooner had they settled into ambush positions, Ultan and those around him signalled the attack by bursting out of the trees and bushes. Ultan killed three with deathly swings of his sharpened wooden spear, a slightly crude weapon but with enough force it cut through Vampire skin just like a stone tipped spear and they only fell to wood.
The battle was bloody for both sides. The dozen warriors were a match for Ultan's fifty men but they'd surprised them and that gave them a slight edge but even so the battlefield was still strewn with dead and as Ultan squared off against the female leader of the Vampires it was clear that the victors would still go back home defeated. Ultan met her dark eyes with calmly assessing ones and something came over him, he'd been calm and collected throughout the entire battle, even as his warriors fell and he'd been emotionless but now an emotion rose through him but something else was there, guiding that emotion into a practical thing, fuelling his tired limbs. His grip on the spear shifted and that surprised him, he'd always fought the exact same way but now everything about his stance was changing. He was moving into a fighting stance he didn't even recognise.
It was almost as if something was taking over his body and then he knew that he'd thought these Vampire's before, a long time ago. This one in particular. She was familiar to him and at that epiphany he realised he was about to be killed. And he accepted that just as easily as a calm and saddened voice spoke in his mind. They'll always be the next time.
"Maya." His voice was soft but the words seemed to slam into her. "Found him yet?"
He surprised himself by laughing and her expression went from surprised, to realisation and finally onto anger. They both lunged at each other and Ultan drove the spear through her side, puncturing the flesh and muscles of her left abdomen. The strike wouldn't kill her though and before he could pull back she'd grabbed him by the shoulders and he felt her teeth ripping at his throat.
Harry gasped in a breath as he woke up in a dark room. He was covered in sweat and as he got over the panic induced by being murdered, once again, by Maya he took in the room. It was dark enough that it took a moment for his eyes to focus on the walls and the door and finally onto the man standing next to the door.
"Shacklebolt." Harry frowned up at the Auror and was a little surprised that he had trouble associating the man with his current life. He'd literally lived several dozen others since he'd been involved with the Wizarding World. "What do you want?"
"My orders are to watch you until the Minister comes to talk to you." Shacklebolt told him.
"So you're not going to help me?" Harry asked.
"Dumbledore's left you alone since you ran, Harry, but he gave me orders not to lose my anonymity." Shacklebolt told him simply.
"So the Order of the Phoenix are just cowards after all." Harry spat as he straightened in his chair. "You let me fight Voldemort for you and then tried to force me to be a permanent weapon and when I try to make myself a life you come and kidnap me. Torture me."
"They didn't torture you, Harry." Shacklebolt pointed out.
"So 'Crucio' isn't torture anymore?" Harry sneered and Shacklebolt tensed. "Jameson didn't mention anything about that."
"So automatically an Auror is telling the truth?" Harry shook his head. "This place will never change."
Shacklebolt took a step forwards towards Harry but then froze mid step. Harry sighed and relaxed in the comfort of his moment before starting to study his confinement without watchful eyes on him. He was in a hard stone chair with magically strengthened manacles attaching him by the ankles and wrists and putting him against the backrest in such a way that he couldn't release his wings so using them to shield himself from magic was out of the question and so was any escape right now. He'd have to wait for them to move him somewhere else and then he could simply slip into the moment and walk away.
Harry let time continue and Shacklebolt continued towards him but Harry spoke before he could. "If you're not going to help me Shacklebolt then I don't want anything to do with you, or the Order, or anything else to do with the Wizarding World. Just stand in the corner and shut up."
Finished with his rather Liam-like comment he turned his head to the side and ignored the Auror who facing somebody he clearly didn't know anymore backed away into the corner.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Four hours later
Harry turned to look at the group entering and had to stop the part of him that wanted to sneer at the Wizards although he wasn't sure which part of him that was. Perhaps it was Harry Potter given some backbone by his past lives.
"Begin session one." The Wizard leading the group spoke as he waved his wand towards the ceiling. Harry glanced up and saw a newly shinning blue crystal set into the ceiling. Looking back at the man Harry decided that he wasn't an Auror and by the cut of his clothing he wasn't just a Ministry lackey either. "Do you know who I am?"
Harry snorted in amusement. "Should I?" He answered with a raised eyebrow.
"I am the Minister for Magic, Augustus Lemming." Harry choked on his laughter at the name. "What is so funny?"
"Nothing." Harry bit his lip. "Just a Muggle thing but it does seem to fit with the Ministry."
"I am here to question you." Lemming told him as he pulled himself up to his full height which was probably a good half a foot taller than Harry when he was standing. "The device in the ceiling is magically enchanted to detect lies and to also record this session. A recent invention by a bright young witch, I believe you know Miss. Granger."
"I'd prefer not to." Harry said simply and glanced up. "What do you know? I told the truth."
"State for the record your name." Lemming asked in a less than amused tone.
"Liam Goldrick." Harry said easily and saw the frowns at his supposed lie. The four Wizards in the room, including Shacklebolt, looked up at the crystal but it was still blue. "What do you know? I'm still not lying."
"Minister?" An Auror Harry didn't know leaned over to the Minister's ear but didn't bother to lower his voice. "How can we be sure this is Harry Potter?"
"Look at him." The Minister waved a hand. "Everybody knows what he looks like."
"Are you Harry Potter?" The last man asked him with a look in his eye like he'd just worked out the perfect plan.
Harry shrugged. "I can't really deny that. Yes." He said honestly. He'd already proven to Shacklebolt that he was Harry Potter after all and who knew whether that conversation had been recorded. "And as Heir apparent to the Potter line I demand to be released immediately."
"That's not possible." Lemmings told him smugly. "You are being tried for the murder Auror Finch."
"And this Auror would be who?" Harry asked plaintively.
"The man you killed at the zoo." Shacklebolt told him.
"You mean the scumbag that Mika killed." Harry corrected them. "Finch made the mistake of apparating us into the middle of his enclosure."
"You could have protected him." Shacklebolt frowned. "You're easily capable of doing magic to a level higher than the average Auror."
"Clearly not since I don't know how to cast the Cruciatus Curse." Harry deadpanned. "If you ask me Finch got what he deserved."
"So you do not deny standing by while a Ministry Official was killed?" Lemming asked.
"I don't do magic anymore, Minister." Harry told him simply and smirked when they looked up at the crystal only to find that he had told the truth. "I don't even have my wand anymore. I did my bit for this disgusting world and that's that."
"I'm afraid not, Mr. Potter." Lemming told him. "As punishment for being an accessory to the murder of a Ministry Official you will be held captive until you can make up for your transgressions by dealing with a problem we have."
"You mean you have created another psychopath and can't kill him yourself?" Harry scoffed. "I'm not fighting another war so you can forget it."
"It seems your options are rather limited right now, Mr. Potter." Lemming sneered and turned for the door.
"How well are we hidden here, Minister?" Harry asked the man's back.
"Very well, Mr. Potter. None of your pathetic Muggle friends will find you here." Lemming sneered and left the room and Harry glanced quickly up at the crystal to find it glowing a soft red at his words. He brought his eyes down and smirked at Shacklebolt who had obviously realised what Harry had done.
"It seems we're not so well hidden after all." Harry sneered. "Let me guess? The Ministry building in London?"
Shacklebolt wisely didn't answer his question and flicked his wand at the crystal to shut it off. "Who is Liam Goldrick?" He asked eventually.
"I told you, I am." Harry shrugged.
"But you didn't lie." Shacklebolt frowned. "How is that possible?"
"You have no idea." Harry told him simply and turned his head to once again ignore the man. He'd let Shacklebolt take that little bit of information to Dumbledore and let the old man struggle over the riddle for a while. Maybe he'd give it to Granger to look up but he doubted she'd be able to find any mention of a street kid that disappeared in London during the war. Maybe the stress of the riddle would cause the old man a heart attack.
Harry didn't look towards the door again for a few hours and was rather amused when two Aurors ran in and shut the door tightly behind them. "We're under attack!" They hissed to the Auror that had long since replaced Shacklebolt. Harry had been expecting Dumbledore to show up at any minute to try to get Harry to play their game but it didn't look like it was going that way.
"Shield the door." The Auror set to guard Harry ordered but Harry was shocked when the two new Aurors turned on the original Auror.
"Avada Kadavra!" One hissed and with a flash of green light Harry's vigilant observer collapsed to the ground.
"What the fuck was that?" Harry swore as the two men turned on him.
"We have orders to kill you." One told him in a rather offhand manner. "Our mistress was concise. We were to capture you if possible or kill you if it looked like you'd agree to their demands or escaped."
"Doesn't mean we can't have some fun in the meantime." The second one smirked. "Watch the door." He turned nasty eyes on Harry as he ordered his comrade and his spell lashed out with an almost silent 'crucio'.
Harry stared at the red beam of magic that had shuddered to a halt a mere foot from his chest and looked around frantically for a way to avoid the magic when he slipped back out of the moment but almost ten minutes of struggling didn't help him out of his chair. But it did let him think on the man's words though, he'd said that they were ordered to kill him if it looked like he'd agree or escape. Clearly he wasn't close to agreeing so the attack they'd mentioned must be somebody's attempt at breaking him out and whoever they were they'd have to unshackle him which meant he could simply walk out of here regardless of who his 'saviour' was.
Sighing at his luck he tried to force his body to relax and had to force himself to release time from his hold and accept the excruciating pain of the curse. The pain still came as a shock to him though and after a few moments he could taste blood on his lower lip. He retreated into his mind, hiding within the sanctuary of hundreds of lifetimes but his entire mind was shaking under the onslaught. The glittering crystal spires in his mind were beginning to crack and the fog that covered the lives he hadn't yet glanced was beginning to shrink away from him. He floated within his mind wishing that Cameron was with him and staring in horror as his mind was slowly broken apart until something happened that he couldn't accurately describe.
One moment he'd been scared of losing what sanity he had left and the next the fog was so far away from him that hundreds of lives flew around his mind, absorbing into the crystal spires of his consciousness, becoming a part of himself. Image flooded his mind, memories of a hundred thousand places, hundreds of lives and many millennia of lifetimes. What had started not even a few weeks ago as dreams of individual lifetimes had become a flood of emotions, memories and lives. He was truly Awakening under the touch of the pain curse and as his eyes snapped open his eyes burned with a hatred for the man before him.
Their eyes locked and the Wizard went pale but before Harry could even break out of the spell he had on him the door burst off of its hinges and the two Wizards were flung clear across the cell and into the wall with sickening crunches. Harry blinked a few times and drew in a deep breath to soothe his shuddering muscles before looking directly at Tamarack and Quinn. "You found me?" Harry frowned. "How?"
"We had some help from witches in Circle Daybreak." Tamarack told him as Quinn walked towards him and grabbed the manacle over his right wrist and with a colossal heave snapped the iron in two pieces letting Harry take his hand back. Quinn made quick work of the other three restraints before stepping back. Harry stood up but his limbs gave out from the after affects of the curse and he felt Tamarack catch him under the arms. He stood on his own after a moment. "We didn't know which cell you were in but we heard you screaming. What were they doing to you?"
"You don't want to know." Harry told her as she helped him walk towards the door and into the corridor. A quick gaze up and down it told him that the two Vampires had made quick work of the half dozen Aurors. "They were working for whatever psychopath this world has come up with most recently. Didn't want me around to fight her. Who's that?"
His eyes had found a man standing at the end of the corridor in front of one of the ornate lifts within the Ministry building. He was wearing a simple suit but looked perfectly comfortable in it. "Our help from the witches of Circle Daybreak." Quinn grunted simply moving to cover their back as Tamarack helped Harry walk along the corridor toward the Witch.
"There's an emergency exit down this way." The man informed them softly.
"They'll follow us." Quinn pointed out.
"Tamarack. Take Mr. Potter out of the emergency exit. Quinn and I will lead them off and meet up with you at the rally point." The man told them. Tamarack nodded at the order and Harry realised the Witch was pretty high up in the hierarchy of Circle Daybreak.
Harry let Tamarack walk him down the corridor but he could feel his limbs slowly getting weaker. His head was bursting with new information and he wanted nothing more than to lie down with Cameron and smooth it all out but right now they were in danger. Harry could have simply walked through the Ministry but he doubted he could get through the traps and spells they'd have up now without help and that meant staying with Tamarack.
"How did you find me?" Harry asked, barely hiding the worry that Circle Daybreak could find him at anytime.
"The Maiden of the Witches arrived to speak to you and we were waiting for the morning to come speak to you when we saw the body on the TV and the report that you'd been kidnapped somehow." Tamarack told him as they walked through the corridors. "The Maiden and her bodyguards used their magic to track you through Cameron."
"Where is he?" Harry was starting to sound desperate but he really needed his Soulmate right now and he didn't care about Tamarack knowing that.
"He's waiting for you at the rally point." Tamarack promised. "He wanted to come but..."
"He's not a fighter." Harry sighed. "Tamarack, what they did in there..."
"What?" Tamarack stopped walking. "Are you injured? I don't smell much blood."
"They used a spell that causes pain. It's worse that being burnt alive which, well, I've felt." Harry shuddered. "I've been Waking slowly ever since I saw Cameron but now it's just opened out."
"That's good right?" Tamarack asked with a frown.
"It's about three hundred voices screaming in my mind." Harry shivered. "I've just had three hundred lifetimes of memories open themselves to me. I can't go on much longer."
"Just hold on. The exits right there." Tamarack half lifted him and together they broke through the exit only to be hit by a face full of wind. It was late at night, under an open sky but the worst thing was that they were standing on a roof top and Harry could tell from the amount of wind and the sound around them that they were on the roof of a very tall building. "Shit." Tamarack swore.
"I think the exits lead to places throughout London." Harry said as they walked towards the edge of the roof to look for a way down. "Can you survive that?" He asked looking at the fifteen story fall.
"No." She told him. "We'll have to go back..."
"What?" Harry asked as she stopped talking.
"We're about to have company, the Wizards are on our trail." She told him. "And I don't see another hatch into the building."
"The exit probably replaced it." Harry sighed and backed up to the edge of the rooftop. Tamarack moved to half shield him but Harry made himself stand on his own just as a half dozen Wizards burst out onto the roof.
"Stop right there!" The first one shouted. "You've got nowhere to run!"
"Tamarack." Harry grabbed her arm in a tight grip when she bunched her muscles to attack. "You can't. Not against that many."
"We have no qualms with you, girl." The Auror said again. "Move out of the way so we can take him and you can walk away."
"Sorry but my friend would never forgive me." She said rather primly, as if taking down six Aurors was a normal daily warm-up before the gym.
"Then you'll die." The Auror spat and opened his mouth to cast a spell.
"Don't panic." Harry whispered before he grabbed onto his Vampire friend tighter and tipped himself, and her, straight backwards off of the edge of the building. She cried out in surprise before Harry felt her body go through a number of shifts and they rolled over as they fell as she almost instinctively put herself below him. Harry looped his arms around her torso.
"Harry?" She shouted over the wind as they plummeted. "Getting killed wasn't in the agenda!"
"Chill out, Tamarack!" Harry shouted back just as they reached the tenth floor. "Hold on!"
She tightened her own grip to his arms and Harry gave out a relieved breath as he spread out his wings, letting the wind push them up behind them as they fell, preventing another roll that would put Harry underneath the Vampire. With an almighty burst he thudded his wings down to slow them down and then locked them in place to turn their downward velocity into horizontal. His muscles screamed at the extra weight of a full person but he could lock his wings in place quite easily even if he'd suffer for it soon.
Their fall quickly turned into a glide and soon his wings were giving them enough lift to keep them in the air. He gave a few small strokes of his wings to keep them moving where he wanted and steered instinctively. It felt great to be in the air after the last day of captivity but he could have done without the additional weight so he could actually fly and not just cruise.
"Oh my god, Harry!" Tamarack gasped. "Are those wings?"
Harry looked down at her where the back of her head was under his chin. She was looking at his right wing, barely visible in the darkness but to a Vampire they'd be obvious. She reached out to touch his wing. "Don't Tamarack." Harry warned her. "If you put off my flight we might fall out. There's barely any thermals at night and it's only because we're over the city that I can stay up."
"You have wings." Tamarack pointed out.
"Yes, Tamarack." Harry assured her. "You're not going crazy. Where are we heading? I've only got a short time before I collapse."
"The rally point is Waterloo station." She told him. Harry nodded to himself and let his right wing loss its balance slightly to turn them west where he could actually see Waterloo from where they were. "Can you make it?" Tamarack asked worriedly and Harry knew she must be able to feel the tremors running through him.
"I'll get us as close as possible." Harry told her tiredly and concentrated solely on heading in the right direction and soon he was worried about missing buildings. He spotted a large garden about a mile south of the station and dropped towards it and by the time he was a few metres above it his wings couldn't remain rigid anymore and the two tumbled across the ground into a heap.
Harry quickly pulled his wings into his back and rolled over onto his back. "Harry?" Tamarack asked. "Are you alright?"
"I've been better." Harry told her sarcastically.
"Can you walk?" She asked.
"Help me up and I'll see." She lifted him to his feet but as soon as she let go his legs gave out and he would have fallen face first except she caught him. Harry felt his vision greying out but it wasn't until he felt Tamarack lift him completely into her arms that he let himself fall unconscious, finally letting the memories of his over lives overwhelm him.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Tamarack walked out of the trees in the park that was their rally point with a sleeping Harry in her arms. His sleep wasn't peaceful but it was quieter than she'd heard the time she'd crashed at his apartment. She was having trouble imaging what his mind was doing, she knew it was tough for Old Souls to finally accept their past lives and the more times they'd been reincarnated the harder it got. Circle Daybreak had a few Old Souls, five at last count and the oldest was believed to be the oldest in the world at nearly twenty thousand, but she knew that Harry was as old as they came. He remembered a time when the Shapeshifters ruled which meant his first life was at least thirty thousand years ago and even assuming only one lifetime every century that meant three hundred lives to remember and she already knew that he'd had two this century including this one so that number could go either way.
She shuddered at the thought and decided to give more respect to the five Old Souls in Circle Daybreak. She spotted a small group and her eyes picked out the familiar features of Cameron, Quinn, Rashel as well as their four Witch guests who'd arrived the night before to speak to Harry.
Cameron spotted her and rushed over and she didn't resist as he took Harry into his arms. The young man was very light, even for his small stature but after seeing his wings she wasn't surprised. If he was built to fly then he's be as light as possible. When their descent had begun to slow she'd thought she'd gone crazy until she heard the heavy thud and felt the jerk as the wings had come down into her field of vision. She'd thought, for a moment, that Harry had hidden being a Shapeshifter and had turned into a bird but the wings had stretched at least five metres to either side of them.
"Cam?" Tamarack whispered as she leaned in so that Quinn couldn't hear her. "We fell from a roof top. He flew us away."
"He..." Cameron looked at her. "Please, Tamarack, don't tell anyone. Only Jez and I know in the entire world."
She gave him a small shake of the head to show she wouldn't just as Rashel came over. "Is he alright?"
"He's tired." Tamarack said before seeking out the Maiden. "He told me they tortured him and it caused his memories to open up completely."
"Oh god." Cameron pressed a kiss to Harry's forehead. "He'll go insane."
"Have faith, Prince." Aradia spoke up as she walked over and without needing to see touched Harry on the forehead. "His mind is strong."
Harry's eyes opened at the touch to his forehead but he didn't make any noise as his eyes found Aradia's sightless eyes before she continued to speak. "It's not safe here for him now. We must return to America where he can be protected."
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
End Chapter