Chap6:
Callie paced back and forth in her room, her nails tearing t the black tattoo on her arm, she didn't even acknowledge Alexa when she entered, only stopping when she felt the bloody scratches on her arm heal, leaving no trace. She turned and glared at Alexa who squared her shoulders and glared right back.
"You can't seriously think that you can scratch that off right?"
Callie just glared at Alexa, who walked over and stood next to her, looking at the tattoo with the three scars going through it.
"It's just a tattoo Callie, it doesn't mean anything."
Alexa had to stand back as Callie flipped out, thrusting her arm under Alexa's nose, talking in a quite voice; Alexa wished she would just yell.
"Just a TATTOO! Alexa, this tattoo defines who I am, I have a constant reminder of the mistakes I've made, do you know what it's like to feel it burn and know they are gathering, HE is there, and not be able to do a fucking thing about it?!"
Alexa shook her head and opened her mouth, but Callie cut her off,
"Don't even try to tell me it's going to be alright, because guess what, it ISN'T! I will forever have to like with this fucking reminder of my childhood, of what they did to me! Everyday I have to look at and remind myself that people cannot be trusted! Especially family!"
Alexa watched the girl, she looked into the brown eyes, it was like looking at a fire. She looked at the face, but it was like looking at a brick wall, nothing there except stone.
"You can trust your family, you can trust us, we aren't going to betray you, or leave you, we would go to the ends of this earth for you. Every time we follow you into a fight, it isn't the bloodlust or the excitement that drives us, it's you, we will follow you where ever you go."
Callie looked at her, and for once her eyes were defeated.
"No you wouldn't, you are already lying to me, right now, you said 'we' Carter wouldn't do any of those things, so you see, you can't trust your family, because they just lie and deceive you for their own reasons."
Alexa felt tears well in her eyes and she turned, walking slowly out of the room, but she stopped at the door and turned back, Callie was glaring at her,
"Carter is not part of this family."
With that she left the room and the dangerous girl. Only running once she knew she was out of Callie's sight, she fled down the stairs and into the little common room, they all looked up as she walked in. Eric looked at her face and then concern washed over the confusion, Alexa had never looked angry before, they watched as she walked over to Selena and Carter, they watched as she grabbed Carter by his shirt collar and punched him three times in the face, they watched as she ran out of the room, and they watched as Carter went after her, all too shocked to move.
"He's going to kill her!"
They all turned to Selena who had jumped up and was heading for the door, her face full of worry.
"What do you mean, we fight with each other all the time."
Selena just shook her head and sprinted out the portrait hole. Ben and Dakota followed, Keilly and Alyssa ran up to the girls' dorm, they came back almost instantly, following behind Callie who looked livid. Eric ran to keep up with her and told her what happened. Callie just shook her head and sped up, they all stopped in their tracks when they heard a scream from a couple floors below them. Callie took off again, she flew to the marble staircase, but instead of running down the stairs, she flipped over the banister, landing on her feet in the entrance hall. There was Carter and Alexa. Alexa was writhing on the ground, her mouth clamped resolutely closed. Callie barely even noticed the crowd, her eyes flicked over Dumbledore and the 200 hundred students that had made a circle around the three of them. Some were trying to break through what seemed to be an invisible barrier and she didn't have to turn to know Keilly and Alyssa were the ones keeping them at bay. Callie strode forward, taking her wand out, she cast a silent shield over Alexa, who immediately stopped writhing on the ground and looked at her, her eyes were dark and distant, that was no crucio she had been under, it was far worse. Callie felt rage boil inside her as she looked at the newest member of her group, lying on the floor defenseless, her eyes dead looking. It sent her over the top, she whirled her wand on Carter, she sent one green hex at him, and it hit him in the back, sending him to the floor, writhing like Alexa had. Callie walked over calmly, but had to dodge as Carter sent a dark green spell at her, a killing curse. The gold in her eyes flashed red and she heard someone gasp, her senses were always much more attuned when she was fighting. She could hear the uneven breathing of the crowd and shuffling as they tried to see. She never took her eyes off Carter as he stood up, his wand pointing out at her, he twirled with his wand pointing over his head, his cloak billowing out behind him, and he was gone, Callie waited patiently and didn't even flinch when he appeared only centimeters from her face.
"Come to save your 'family'?"
Carter said the words mockingly, as if it was a joke to him. He looked around at the crowd, his eyes focusing on each person from the group, all who were defending the students and teachers in the crowd with defensive shields.
"They protect them and not you, what does that tell you?"
Callie suddenly felt like a blanket had been drawn around her, shielding her from Carter's harsh words. He seemed to notice it too because he looked around, his eyes narrowing as they rested on someone, Callie turned her head slightly and felt something bubble in her chest, a strange happy sensation, there, with her wand pointed at Callie, was Selena. Her eyes were set but Callie could read they heart-brake in her posture and thoughts.
"You once again choose her over me, fine, I have no more use for you."
Carter waved his wand at Selena, who, being occupied with protecting Callie, didn't have time to defend herself. She flew up into the ceiling, multiple cracks were heard, and then she fell back to the ground, blood pooling out around her. Little fragments of stone fell from the ceiling onto her broken body. Someone shrieked in the crowd but Callie didn't care, she jumped at Carter, throwing him backwards, her wand in her left hand as she punched with the right, she alternated between magic and physical fighting until, Carter gave her a triumphant smile, she watched as his body started to shake and morph.
"CLOSE YOUR EYES!"
Callie looked around desperately, watching as people stared back, quizzically, she abandoned the morphing Carter and ran forward, closing the eyes of the people in the room, she forced the last pair closed when she felt the searing pain in her side, she turned to see the giant snake rearing back, its mouth dripping with blood, her blood. She felt the numbing sensation of poison, then the fiery burn. She dropped her wand and relaxed, pushing the pain out of her mind as she focused on a fiery bird, its bright red feathers taking over her mind, and then she felt her feet leave the ground and she opened her eyes, she was soaring over the rearing snake, her bright red feathers rustling in the wind. She could still feel the burning in her side but it had dulled, the phoenix magic working it out of her system. She watched as the basilisk, that used to be Carter, turned and stuck at her, she twisted and dove through the air, clawing at the face until she felt something gooey stuck to her claws. The Snake let out a hiss as it lost sigh on one side, that was all Callie needed, she quickly morphed back to human form, so did Carter, she stared at the now bloody face of her opponent, letting the eye closing spell lift. There were gasps as people took in the bloodied face, wondering what had happened while their eyes had been closed, all they had heard was a hiss of a snake and the phoenix song.
"What was it you said about never turning your back on your family. You're just a little liar that will be the end of these people. They will follow you down one road and never return. You are nothing but a stupid little girl who meddled in something more important than she was. Just because he chose you as the greatest, just because he trained you—"
Carter was cut off as Callie yelled back at him
"You think I wanted all that!? You think I wanted to be his prodigy?! I would give that all up if it meant keeping my family safe!"
Carter laughed again,
"Keep your family safe! Yeah right! What are you doing right now? You would hurt anyone in this 'family' if it meant you getting what you wanted! Look at what you're doing to me! You are hurting your family."
Callie just stared at him with cold unblinking eyes,
"You were never part of this family."
Carter growled and rushed forward, he grabbed her around the waist and threw her into the wall, she felt her ribs crack but jumped back up, swishing her wand in a complicated motion, slowly walking forward as she continued the spell, she heard two sharp intakes of breath and new two had realized the spell she was about to use, she finished waving her wand when she was three feet from Carter, who looked at her confusedly. Then he let out a shriek of pain, his face draining of color as his heart stopped pumping blood and started pumping basilisk venom through his veins, the poison burning him from the inside out. He fell to his knees, clutching his chest; his rolling going wide and then rolling back into his head as the venom took over, melting his brain and organs into mush. He twitched on the ground for a second and then stopped, never to move again.
Callie stood over his body, breathing deeply, he was gone, her family was safe, well almost all of her family. She ran over to Selena, who lay in a crumpled heap on the floor, her eyes squeezed shut against the sight of Carter dying, pain etched in the lines of her face.
"Selena? Selena, come on, where does in hurt?"
Selena looked at her with a small smile,
"Every where."
Callie smiled back and started waving her wand over the broken body, watching the bones reconstruct, the skin being pushed back out where it had caved in. She watched the ribs start o rise expand and then go back, a sign of breathing. She watched the blood stop pouring out of a head wound and watched as the leg righted itself after being twisted in an odd position. Selena took a deep breath and winced slightly, the pain wasn't all gone yet.
"Thanks."
Callie nodded,
"No problem."
She then turned her wand on her own chest and felt her ribs melt back together. She helped her friend up and walked her over to Ben, who slung her onto his shoulder and took her back to their rooms, chatting amiably with her the whole way, as if nothing had happened.
Eric walked over and gave Callie a one armed hug, telling her to work on her reaction times as if this had all been a practice, Callie just smiled and accepted is hug, deciding one moment of weakness wouldn't kill her. She felt the students flood in around her and the body of her deceased enemy. She scanned the crowd for a face though, and when she found it she pushed her way through the admirers to the nervous girl standing in the corner, everyone seemed to have forgotten Alexa's role in this fight. Alexa looked at Callie nervously, cradling her arms to her body, Callie knew the pain wouldn't have ebbed quite yet. Alexa looked back at the girl and away quickly, waiting for her punishment, but something happened that she hadn't expected, Callie threw her arms around the newest girl and gave her a hug, not a light hug but not a bear hug, a gentle reassuring hug. Alexa smiled and almost collapsed in relief and exhaustion. Callie called Keilly and Alyssa over, the girls help Alexa back to the stairs, and then each took turns magicking her up them. Callie watched Dakota vanish the body of Carter, and she watched as a black snake slithered through the shadows and disappeared out the door, hissing quietly to itself. Callie felt something soft brush against her leg and picked up Mimi. She cradled the black cat close to her chest, feeling the steady heartbeat through the ribs, finding the rhythm reassuring. Mimi clawed her way up onto her shoulders and draped herself around Callie's neck, resting her head next to Callie's ear.
"I have a job for you Mimi."
She heard and felt the cat purr in anticipation,
"Demon seems to have decided that it would be a good idea to alert voldemort of our current station. I think it would be best if we, delayed that message."
Mimi purred again and jumped off Callie's shoulders, rubbed against her owner's leg and then took off out the door, disappearing into the night. Callie heard someone come up behind her and turned to look into the sparkling blue eyes of the headmaster.
"I apologize sir, for the most recent display, I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Dumbledore nodded and went to say something but was cut off as three first years ran up to them, all looking at Callie with admiring expressions.
"What happened when we had our eyes closed?"
"Was there a phoenix in here?"
"Was I the only one to hear a snake??"
Callie just gave Dumbledore an annoyed looked and turned to the kids,
"We both turned into our animagus forms when your eyes were closed, they had to be closed because Carter's form is a basilisk, mine is a phoenix, now got eat dinner."
The three 1 years scurried away into the great hall. Dumbledore turned back to Callie,
"About your form, you said it was a phoenix right? No one has ever been able to transform into a phoenix, or a basilisk for that matter, how did you accomplish such a feat?"
Callie just shrugged her shoulders,
"When I transform I just imagine the feathers and the song plays in my head, then I open my eyes and I'm a phoenix, I never actually preformed the spell for the transfiguration, like most animagus do. Do you mind if I leave sir, I have a family to attend to."
Dumbledore just nodded, knowing she would go if she wanted to go, no matter what he said.
H watched as the girl took off up the stair, her hair flowing out behind her, still a vision of beauty, even after a fight.