And I am back, people! Sorry for the long wait…and if this chapter does not make sense, I apologize :)

"I am speaking to others using my mind"

I recommend you to read my One Shot before you read this chapter, otherwise you'll probably get lost somewhere in the middle.

Chapter Five – Preparation Part 2
Kimaine James
Sunday

22:55 came much quicker than I would have liked. My frayed nerves were making my thoughts muddled, and the nervous anticipation that was thick in the air didn't exactly help. Let us not forget the anger rolling off a certain redhead. I glanced at a determined Kerri stood next to me, her face pale and ready. A dark thirst shone in her eyes – her thirst for revenge. Seeing this made my stomach clench with uneasiness and worry.

Please don't do anything stupid, Kerri, I thought desperately. I cannot lose you, too.

The arrival of Adrian and Professor Bulero interrupted my train of thought. My brother's face was carefully blank as his eyes roamed over the five of us standing before them. I could see that he was still upset about my confronting him yesterday, and I felt a little bit bad. He deserved it, though. Adrian hesitated briefly when his eyes met mine, and worry was evident in the way his shoulders immediately tensed, before sagging slightly.

I was still angry with him, but I wished I could do something, anything, to show him that I would be fine; that I would return alive and well.

But if I could not even reassure myself, how could I ever hope to reassure Adrian?

"I take it that you are all well-rested and fed?" Professor Bulero said in a voice that dared anyone to tell him otherwise. His question was met with slow nods. "Good. You will leave within the next two minutes. You will be Portkeyed to the outskirts of Hogsback – right on the mountain pass leading into the little town. There you will be expected to activate the Telepathic Communication spell you learned yesterday, as well as activating the Invisibility spell on your cloaks."

Professor Frost rushed into the room, her cloak nearly slipping off of her shoulders. The scarlet-haired professor flushed and mumbled a quick apology. "I just wanted to wish all of you luck!" she said quickly, with a bright smile at the five of us. "And take care, Kerri."

The redhead nodded with pursed lips. "Of course, Professor."

Ice blue eyes narrowed and turned to a silent Lefu. "You look after my little girls, alright?" she demanded.

I snorted lightly. "Professor, we're only slightly younger than you."

"Thirty-two is plenty old," she said with a sniff. "But promise me, Lefu, that you'll look after Sasha, Kerri and Kimaine."

The African dipped his head. "Of course."

"Good. I expect to see each and every one of you in a few hours – unscathed, you hear me!"

"We will be fine, I assure you, Professor Frost," Sasha said quietly. She offered a small smile at the Professor.

"Everyone, quickly grab the Portkey or it will leave without you!" Bulero called.

There was a mad dash as the five Ravens tried to find a spot on the old pocket watch. We made it with seconds to spare, and were immediately whisked away. I landed on the ground with a thud and groaned. Even after all of these years, I couldn't manage to keep upright. Luckily I wasn't the only one who fell – Kerri grumbled as she stood and brushed herself off.

"Let's do the spell," Lefu commanded quietly.

I shivered as a cool breeze lifted my hair. I closed my eyes and tried to find my way to my magical core. Thanks to all of the practice the last two days, I was able to find the pulsing ball of neon green energy that was my magic fairly quickly. With a few prods, I managed to pull loose four strands. I gently tugged at them and guided them through my body and out of my wand. They hesitantly reached out, and after a few seconds touched the four magical strands belonging to my companions.

Luckily we'd done this spell a few times today, so our magic quickly accepted one other.

"On the count of three," Lefu whispered.

One.

Two.

Three.

"Bevry my gedagtes, kommunikeer met dié wat saam met my praat."

I winced at the sudden feeling of having four presences in my mind. "I think it worked," I thought to the others.

"Agreed. Everyone, active your Invisibility cloaks immediately," Lefu commanded.

I whispered the activation code and sighed as I shimmered into nothingness. I felt strangely weightless. It wasn't totally unpleasant.

"Let's go. Covington, go with West and approach Hogsback via Gaika's Kop. If you don't know where it is – it's the only other entrance to the village. It's basically directly on the other side of where we're standing now." The two girls nodded mentally and silently disappeared up the mountain. Lefu then addressed me, "James, you and Alders need to keep watch for the first three hours. Keep an ear out for any information you might overhear. Also, if there is an opportunity, I'd like you to enter Camp Zimbini and gather as much information as you can. Understood?"

I sent him a nod. "What will you do while all of this is going on?"

"I'm going to try and infiltrate their HQ – in other words the house they kept the Seer in. Alders, please send me an image of the area surrounding the house."

Instantly, a large white house flashed into my mind. Its walls were dirty, and the house was clearly old. It had a large front porch, and the house was a double storey. Surrounding it was a large forest, and a few meters away stood the Camp Zimbini.

"Thank you. Good luck, you two. I'll see you when I see you. Shout when there's trouble, alright?"

With that, he left. I pushed out with my magic until I felt Kerri and walked over to her. "Let's go," I thought.

Together we started walking down the Hogsback Mountain Pass. The road was a few kilometers long, but it was nothing that we couldn't handle. The air was, unsurprisingly, bitingly cold. I muttered a heating charm that managed to help only a little bit.

For some reason I felt like a ghost wandering around in the Muggle world – no one could hear me, no one could see me. Hell, I couldn't even see myself. It felt weird, and it felt weird knowing that my thoughts were no longer private. Sasha, Lefu, Kerri and Vasilisa could check into my mind whenever they felt like it and see what I was thinking. It was kind of scary to think about.

Thoughts were meant to be private.

"We're almost there," Kerri sent to me. "It's just down this street and into that path leading into the forest."

I followed her soft baby blue magic into the dense forest. I kept having branches smack me in my face, and my feet made loud crunching sounds. After a few minutes, I've had enough and wordlessly silenced my shoes. It thankfully worked. Ahead of me, Kerri snorted aloud and did the same.

"We're idiots," she told me.

I agreed whole-heartedly. We continued walking for another ten minutes before Kerri finally told me to crouch down. "Is this the place?" I asked.

"Yeah. Okay, so I think we can disable the Invisibility cloaks for now. But we'll keep up the Thoughts spell thingy, okay?"

I hummed in agreement and quickly deactivated my cloak. It didn't really make any difference – I could barely see my own hands. "Now what?"

"Now we wait. I'll keep an eye and ear here. You can tune in with Vasilisa, Sasha, and Lefu to see how they're doing."

I wasn't so sure if that was a good idea.

Sensing my hesitation, my ginger friend sighed exasperatedly. "Look, I'll tell you as soon as you're needed, okay? I just want to make sure that we'd be ready in case of an emergency."

That made sense, unfortunately. "Why can't you be the one tuning in with the others?"

I could practically feel Kerri roll her eyes. "You know how quickly my attention wavers, Kim. Besides, you're better at this spell than I am. I wasn't able to see through someone else's eyes for longer than ten minutes. You could do it for an hour."

"Fine," I grumbled. I sat down on the wet ground and shifted around until I was comfortable. I closed my eyes and focused hard on the strands of magic connected to my core. I searched until I found a pulsating red strand – Lefu. I followed the strand for a few minutes until, finally, I arrived at its owner. "What's up, Lefu?"

"Not much. I can't talk right now. I'm about to try and enter the house. Why don't you check on Vasilisa and Sasha?"

"You just don't want to talk to me," I said with a pout. "Alright. Good luck, Lefu."

I tuned in with Lissa next, only to quickly become bored as all they were doing was spying on some low-level Death Eaters.

I sighed. It was going to be a long night.

Two hours had passed already and our presence had yet to be noticed. My legs were aching from staying in the same position for such a long time, and frankly, I was dead tired. And worried. Kerri had run off on her own a while back to "gather information the easy way".

"The easy way?" I'd whispered out loud.

The redhead had nodded energetically. "Yeah. I'm going to use a glamour, which will manipulate these woman-deprived men. They'll be putty in my hands."

I had grimaced in disgust at that mental image. "Um, no. I don't think this is a good idea. What if something happens? Gross, Kerri."

Kerri had then rolled her eyes at me. "It's really not that bad, Kim. I am capable of defending myself, remember? I am quite good in offensive magic! I'm not an Alders for nothing." She'd paused to smile reassuringly at me. "Anyway, see you later!" And with that she'd transformed into her Animagus form. The beautiful grey wolf had nuzzled my side reassuringly before bouncing off into the surrounding forest.

That was the last time I saw her in an hour. Add that to the fact that she was purposefully blocking her thoughts…

"Don't worry so much," Lefu's tired voice sounded through my mind. "She's fine, I guarantee you."

I winced slightly at how loud his voice was. "Why are you so loud?" I complained quietly. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. I broke my leg, but I fixed it."

My mouth dropped open in shock. "How the hell did you manage to break your leg?"

"I was spotted and chased."

"Stop being so purposefully vague," I snapped. "What happened to the Death Eater?"

For a moment, he remained quiet. I already knew what he was going to say. "I got…rid of him."

"Lefu," I groaned. "I thought we'd agreed not to kill-," I stopped 'talking' abruptly when I heard approaching footsteps. From the sound of it, there were two of them. As they neared, I quickly activated my Invisibility cloak.

One of the figures had casted a Lumos as they stopped walking. The light lit up their trademark bone-white Death Eater masks. They were dressed in the Death Eater robes. The one who had casted the Lumos was slightly shorter than his companion. Their heights led me to believe, however, that they were both still fairly young.

"This sucks," the taller of the two, said. "Why are we the ones stuck with midnight patrol?"

"Quit complaining," the shorter one said. "We're still new."

I nearly choked at his voice. Oh my gosh…

A deep chuckle sounded through my head. "I almost feel sorry for him," Lefu said conversationally.

I did feel sorry for the guy. His voice was…squeaky. Like, really squeaky.

"We may be new, but we still know everything that's been going on," Tall said. He pulled something out of his pockets and pressed it to his lips. Upon closer inspection, I recognized it as a cigarette. He flicked a flinger and a little flame appeared which he used to light his cigarette. He took a long drag, and blew it out through his nose.

Squeaky coughed slightly. "Well yes…but what we know isn't really that important," Squeaky said with a dark scowl. He glared at the cigarette and snapped, "Put that awful thing away!"

Tall pulled the cigarette from his lips to stare at Squeaky incredulously. "Not important? You call slavery not important?"

Slavery?

No way. That couldn't be right, could it?

"It's not important as-," Squeaky was rudely interrupted as Tall shouted an unfamiliar spell. To my shock, it came right at me. The sickly pink light missed me by mere centimeters.

"What the hell, dude?" Squeaky demanded, his voice even higher than before.

I sat, frozen. "Lefu," I thought with increasing panic. "He knows that I'm here."

"But that's impossible-,"

He got cut off as a different spell struck me, throwing me into the air. I screamed as I hit a tree. It hurt like a bitch. With shaking arms, I pushed myself up, only to be pushed down again. Tall stood above me, mask ripped off and glaring murderously down at me. "Who are you?" he demanded.

How the hell could he see me? I was supposed to be invisible, for Merlin's sake.

"I asked you a question," Tall growled. He crouched down and roughly grabbed my hair. I bit my lip to stop myself from gasping out loud. "Who. Are. You?"

"H-how?" I whispered as I stared up at him. I was right to say that he was young – his face was that of a nineteen year old. By his accent, he was clearly from around here.

Tall narrowed his eyes and put a hand around my neck in a chokehold. "I can see magic," he said simply. "Now tell me who you work for."

See magic? Was it even possible?

I suddenly realized I couldn't breathe. The hand around my throat was too tight. I started struggling, throwing my body around in an attempt to get away. Fat tears started to roll down my cheeks – not tears of sadness, but of frustration.

Spots swam through my vision, and I could feel my limbs growing heavy.

"Stay calm, Kim," Lefu snapped. "FOCUS! OPEN YOUR EYES, NOW!"

I coughed and forced my eyes open. Everything seemed hazy, and Tall's figure was swimming in front of my eyes. "L-let me g-go!" I choked out forcefully, pushing some of my core magic into that command. It didn't work, so I repeated my command and thrust as much magic into it as I could.

Tall was thrown backwards. I fell to the ground, coughing and gasping in as much air as I could.

"That fucking bastard!" Lefu growled from his side, though it was obvious he was distracted. Probably in a fight. "Are you alright, Kim?"

"Never been better," I sent back sarcastically. Thankfully my heartbeat started to slow down and I was able to think somewhat clearly again. I slowly stood up, taking my sweet time. I rolled my shoulders to relieve some of the tension and cracked my neck before looking down at the fallen Tall, and Squeaky staring at me with shock. I guess my invisibility spell wore off, then. I grinned at Tall.

The little fuck was going to wish he never messed with me.

Ten minutes later, I was feeling quite pleased with myself. I stepped over the corpse and walked down the path that the two lowly Death Eaters had come from.

"What did you do to them?" Lefu asked warily, attention fully on me once more.

"I didn't do anything," I thought back cheerfully. "It was mostly Kerri's doing."

The wolf trotting next to me let out a bark of laughter. She'd arrived just in time to stop me from hexing Tall into oblivion. She'd lunged for his throat instead. "Squeaky had died from fright, I think," Kerri piped up helpfully.

"What happened to not killing anyone?"

"I forgot," I said cheekily. "Besides, I didn't do the actual killing. No guilty feelings are going to plague me in my sleep. The little shit was going to kill me, Lefu. My throat still hurts. This is payback. Kill or be killed, and all that."

"Wait, what's the time?" Kerri questioned.

A pause. "Around two pm."

Kerri whistled, impressed. "We've been at this forever. I feel like I'm on a high, though. Must be the adrenaline, eh Kimmy? Any useful info yet?"

I agreed with her. I felt way too happy and awake. Truthfully, I felt like a completely different person. I didn't feel like Kimaine James anymore.

I couldn't find it in me to care.

"I got something," Vasilisa said, suddenly joining the conversation. "It's good."

"Tell us, then!" I said impatiently.

"Not right now." There was a flash of white from her side, followed by, "Oh crap, I need to go!"

I frowned, mildly concerned. What happened?

I had no time to further dwell on that thought as I suddenly found myself in the middle of a Death Eater circle. Twenty wands were trained on Kerri-the-wolf and me.

For some unexplainable reason, I wasn't scared or even nervous.

I was excited.

"Let's do this!" Kerri sent at me, before howling and lunging at one of the Death Eaters. Said Death Eater yelled out in pain as he went down.

I whipped out my wand and yelled out three stunners in quick succession. Three Death Eaters fell.

"Keep them busy," Lefu commanded. "I'm going to enter the house now!"

Didn't he already go to the house? Whatever. I sent a mental nod and ducked, narrowly missing a Severing hex. I did a quick head count – there were still eleven standing Death Eaters. Brilliant.

"CRUCIO! CRUCIO!"

Shocked, I turned and stared wide-eyed at Kerri. She was back in her human form, pointing her wand at a writhing Death Eater. Her eyes were wild with glee and she laughed mockingly. "Not so strong when you receive your own medicine, are you?" she taunted.

"Kerri-," I said, slightly uneasily.

"Shut up, Kim. I know what I'm doing," she snapped. "Well don't just stand there, take the assholes down!"

I had no time to dwell on her strange behavior as a punch landed me right in my nose. I cried out and, as I fell, shot off a burst of raw magic. The Death Eater cried out and crumpled to the ground. I felt some satisfaction at the way his arm was bent at a completely unnatural angle. I shouted a stunner, quickly taking him out.

Another Death Eater, one that seemed vaguely familiar, hit me with a minor Jelly-legs jinx, making it difficult to stand. I quickly cast a counter curse, just in time to duck out of the way of the Killing curse.

Someone was getting serious, jeez.

I paused as I noticed one Death Eater standing away from the rest, arms crossed. He noticed me staring and offered me a small mocking smile. "Your journey ends here. Goodbye, Kimaine James," he mouthed. For a second, I was confused. What did he mean, and how did he know my name?

The next moment, the clearing exploded, and everything faded into darkness.

Vasilisa West

"What was that?" Sasha questioned, her eyes wide.

We'd both heard an explosion, we'd seen the fire…and we'd noticed two of our own missing.

I stared into the distance at the fire. Surely not…

"They're fine," I said flatly. "They wouldn't go down that easily." I hoped.

"But…no one can survive an explosion, right? Not even them."

I scowled at Sasha in the darkness. "Stop being so negative, Covington. They are perfectly fine, okay?"

I wasn't so sure, though, as I continued to stare at the fire. Shaking my head, I said, "We need to move on with the mission."

Wordlessly, we once again entered the forest. I wasn't exactly sure where we were at the moment, but we'd heard a commotion up ahead so we'd come to investigate. A few more steps forward and we were spotted.

"STOP RIGHT THERE," the larger of the two shouted. "STATE YOUR NAME AND BUSINESS."

I smirked. I wondered if they would know who I was. If they recognized my name, I could definitely use it to my advantage. "Vasilisa West," I said in my most arrogant voice. "I'm here for reasons that don't concern you."

The Death Eater considered me for a moment. "And who is she?" He gestured rudely at Sasha.

Hmm. "She's my…friend, you could say."

Sasha looked terribly confused at the quick acceptance my name had gotten.

"Who have you come to meet, West?" The Death Eater's female companion questioned. "Your family currently has no business here."

I lifted an eyebrow. "How would you know?" Inside I thought, just accept my reason and go away.

The woman stared at me contemplatively, seeming suspicious. "Why would a member of the Jaii Ming be here?"

I closed my eyes in irritation at the mess up of the name. "It's called Jang Mii," I said slowly, as if talking to a child. I opened my eyes again and glared at her. "And like I said, I'm here for reasons that don't concern you."

The woman pulled out her wand and pointed it at my chest. "No matter how important you think you are," she spat, "You still need to answer my question!"

I narrowed my eyes. Who did she think she was? I may not look it, but I was her superior, not the other way around. She was nothing compared to me. "I'd put that wand away, if I was you," I said coolly. When she made no move to do so, I smiled and said, "No? Alright then." With that, I grabbed my wand and shouted, "Reducto!"

Sasha gasped and rushed forward until she was stood next to me. She stared down at the bloody corpse with wide eyes. "What the Hell, West?" she cried. "We're not murderers, dammit! We're here to fight for the Light side! We don't kill! It goes against the Ravens' code!"

I didn't react to her little outburst. I glanced calmly at her and said, "I thought you were raised by Major General Fredrick Covington."

She paused, wondering how I knew that. Finally, she defensively said, "What's my father got to do with anything?"

"I'd have thought you wore a permanent poker face." I didn't give her a chance to say anything as I Obliviated the male Death Eater and knocked him out with a Stunner. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Sasha asked, though she obediently followed me.

"We're going to sneak into their Head Quarters."

Kimaine James (italics is flashbacks)

When I opened my eyes, I immediately wished I hadn't.

A headless corpse was right next to me. Its skin was a dark chocolate brown, letting me know the ethnicity of the person – no, child, for the corpse was tiny. I rolled over; ignoring the burning pain this movement caused, I emptied my stomach on the stone floor on my other side. Absently I noticed that I was crying. My tears dripped into the sick, and I couldn't find it in me to care. All I saw was that tiny, tiny corpse.

"Oh God," I whimpered as another wave of nausea hit me. My body shook with horror. I had to get away from here. This was…this was terrifying. Where was I? How did I get here? Where the Hell was Kerri? My tears slid down my cheeks as I stayed in my awkward position: half twisted around and supporting my weight on my arms. What's going on?

A soft, amused chuckle immediately halted my crying. My body tensed up at the unfamiliar voice and slowly approaching footsteps. After a few seconds, slightly muddy dragon hide boots was suddenly in my vision. "Get up," the voice commanded, not unkindly. When I refused to move even a muscle, my arm was grabbed and I was harshly pulled up into a standing position. "When I tell you to do something, you do it," was hissed into my ear. I flinched away and coughed; the man's breath was like fumes to the brain. His grip tightened and he roughly pulled me closer to him to look him in the face. He had wild curly blonde hair that reached just past his ears. The man had an oval-shaped face and a sharp chin that jutted out, completed by a too-large nose. "Hello, Kimaine James. Long time no see."

I had no idea who this man was, or how he knew my name. I've never seen him before in my life.

Seeing the incomprehension on my face, the man started laughing: a deep, guttural sound that grated my ears. "Wow, this is amazing. You don't even know who I am?"

I narrowed my eyes, but stood still. His grip on my arms tightened, causing a sharp pain to shoot through my body. Confused, I lowered my gaze to my arms, only to nearly gasp out loud. My cloak – the supposedly indestructible invisibility cloak – had pieces missing. My left sleeve was gone, noticeably having been burned away. My left arm was an angry red, covered in what I believed to be third-degree burns. But…why could I barely feel the pain? And how did I get burnt?

"You are under the effects of a Numbing Potion, Kimaine. You won't feel the pain for hours to come."

I tore my eyes away from my ruined arm to glare at the blonde Death Eater. "Who are you?" I growled, trying to hide my relief at not feeling the pain. I seriously hated feeling pain.

The blonde let go of my arms so suddenly that I wasn't able to keep myself in a standing position, and I fell harshly to the floor. I winced from the pain, but was able to keep my mouth shut. I wouldn't give this creep the satisfaction. The man walked over to the child's corpse and kicked it, sending it all the way across the room. The thud it made as it hit the wall sickened me to my stomach, and it took all my willpower to not throw up. This was a Death Eater, after all. They had no respect for anyone, let alone the dead.

"I'm hurt that you don't remember me, Kimaine. I met you once, many years ago. You lived in…Fort Beaufort, I believe," he said conversationally as he conjured himself a nice, wooden chair to sit on. "You were, hmm. You were ten years old, a small, pretty little thing. So were your friends." The man smiled down at me. He waved his wand and a bottle of Firewhisky appeared in his waiting hands. He opened it and took a long sip. "It was in July, so that meant during winter. It snowed the day I met you. Remember me yet?"

I blinked as his words swirled through my mind. It sounded familiar, and could it be that he was talking about-

No. That's impossible.

"Still not? Hmm, let's see. You were playing in the forest, along with little Senna and Linique." The blonde man took another swig of his Firewhisky as he patiently waited for me to connect the dots.

Two faces flashed into my mind.

Short inky-black hair, chocolate coloured skin and large brown eyes. Linique September.

Curly light blonde hair, pale skin and doe-like emerald green eyes. Senna Roux.

A sharp pain stabbed at my chest and tears instantly welled up in my eyes.

Senna and Linique.

He was talking about Senna and Linique! How the hell did he know who they were-

Unless-

Unless… "You fucking asshole!" I screamed. I shot up from the ground and lunged at him, my arms outstretched and hands ready to wrap around his throat. Tears blurred my already unclear vision. I hardly felt it when I was hit with a Leg-locking curse that caused me to fall to the ground.

"RUNNING WON'T GET YOU ANYWHERE!" The ghostly and gruff voice of the Death Eater called out. "JUST GIVE UP ALREADY!"

I frantically shook my head, trying desperately to block the images surfacing in my mind. GO AWAY! I screamed at it. GO AWAY, DAMMIT!

Strong arms wrapped around my waist, locking me in. "Gotcha," the Death Eater whispered. A dark chuckle was the last thing I heard as he Stunned me, and my world faded into nothingness.

"Are you remembering?" the blonde man asked, his body looming threateningly over my own. He crouched down next to me to stare hardly into my eyes. "Do you know who I am?"

I cried into my hands, still trying to shake those images away. I shook my head, feeling like a deranged lunatic. "Go away," I whispered brokenly. "Stop talking, just stop talking. Go away, you asshole!" My voice was hysterical.

The blonde man chuckled amusedly and ruffled my hair. "I do have a name, you know. I'm Balthazar, remember? Or, what was it you called me in your head? Death Eater One?"

I remembered him. Oh God, I remembered him.

He was the one who chased us in the forest back in Fort Beaufort.

He was the one who grabbed me and Apparated me away from my friends.

He was the one who summoned the Dark Lord after also capturing my best friends, Senna and Linique.

Thanks to him- thanks to him – this man called Balthazar - they were dead.

The words of the Dark Lord flashed through my mind. The words of that day – the day everything changed.

"Let's end this, then."

My blood froze, and I swear my heart stopped beating for a second.

This was it. This was the end.

Voldemort hissed a spell in a language that could only be Parseltounge. A black light with red lining escaped the wand and engulfed the curled up forms of Senna and Linique.

I remembered screaming at him, though my exact words were lost in my memory.

The Dark Lord gazed calmly at me. "This is another one of my creations. They will be dead within five minutes." With that, he turned around.

I'd screamed at his retreating back, crying and angry and confused. Why was I still alive, when he'd killed my two best friends? Why would he abduct the three of us, only to leave me alive? It made no sense then, and it made no sense now,

"Do you want to die, girl?" the Dark Lord hissed. "No? Then we are done here."

"I take it you remember now?" Balthazar questioned as he straightened up once more. "Good. VIC, BRING HER IN!" he shouted over his shoulder.
My eyes widened as the previously unnoticed metal door swung open. I noticed Kerri in the arms of a tall woman, struggling to get out of the tight grip the blonde woman had her in. "LET ME GO, YOU STUPID DEATH EATER!" Kerri screamed. Her wish was granted as the woman suddenly let Kerri go, which made the redhead fall painfully to the floor. "You bitc-," Kerri paused as her eyes landed on me. "Kimaine?"
I blinked a few times as my eyes roamed up and down her body. She, too, was covered in what I guessed to be third degree burns. On her forehead there was a bloody gash, the blood still fresh and dripping down her face and into her eyes.
"Y-you is alive?" Kerri whispered, her eyes wide and filled with tears. Her voice was so small and child-like, that I felt a pang in my heart.
"Of course I'm alive. Why wouldn't I be, Ker?" I was genuinely confused. I mean… wait. I was in what I would say is the Death Eater Head Quarters. How did we get here, exactly?
"She told me that you're dead," Kerri said. Her eyes were still impossibly wide. "She said that you'd died in the explosion."
Explosion? "What?" This question, however, seemed to refresh my memory. I remembered, now. We'd been on a recovery mission, and had run into a group of Death Eaters. While fighting, I'd noticed a man – who I now recognized as Balthazar – standing apart from the group. He'd smiled, and then blew up the entire clearing.
Well, that explained the burns, then.
Thank God Kerri was still alive. I turned my head to glare at the still-seated Balthazar. "Who is she?"
Balthazar smiled at the dislike in my voice. "That's my sister, Vic. A real bitch, really."
This made the woman growl angrily at her brother, her eyes blazing. I noticed that her blond, dirty hair was extremely long, even though it was tied in a high ponytail. "Fenrir is going to-," she started, only to be interrupted by her brother.
"Eat me? Please. I'm not scared of Greyback. Really."
I watched the bickering between siblings, feeling quite confused. Kerri, however, was glaring at Vic with hatred in her eyes. Suddenly remembering that we were connected via that Telepathic spell, and hesitantly reached out to Kerri. Kerri, can you hear me?
Kerri's head snapped up and she looked at me with wide eyes. Wow, we're stupid. They are stupid, too.
I had to agree with the ginger. Who are they, exactly? All I know is that Balthazar is the one who captured Senna and Linique, but I really don't know about his sister.
Kerri shot me a pitying glance. Kim, that's terrible. I didn't, I hadn't realized that this was Death Eater One, the guy who kidnapped you back in 2007. These siblings were part of the group, including Fenrir Greyback, who had kidnapped that Seer girl and who we believe to be her younger brother. From what Malkira had gathered, Balthazar is a very unstable man. His mood changes with the blink of an eye.
I nodded minutely to show that I was following her so far. Much to my annoyance, and slight relief, the siblings were still arguing. Thanks, Ker. I see. Yes, I've been privy to see his mood changes.
Kerri grimaced. Lovely. Um, so Vic was the one to cast Avada Kedavra, thus ending Xander's life. I mean, sure Greyback was the one who basically ate a bit of him, but Vic killed him.
I stayed silent as I allowed this information to sink in. If I knew Kerri at all – which I did - she would probably kill Vic before the mission was over.
The siblings abruptly stopped bickering as the loud crack of Apparation reached our ears. The man that had appeared was someone I recognized from various memories I'd seen – Fenrir Greyback. Behind him were another three masked Death Eaters. Greyback looked furious. He stalked over to Balthazar and decked him, drawing a surprised shout from the younger Death Eater. "What did I tell you to do, you fucking idiot? I told you to extract information from Kimaine James and Kerri Alders! Did you do it? No! Why not? Cause you are a fucking idiot!" the werewolf seethed. Next, he turned to Vic. "What about you, Victoria? Did you do as I asked?"
The blonde woman flushed and shook her head no. The werewolf opened his mouth to no-doubt shout at her, but she shut him up with a glare. She stalked to me, her wand drawn, and shouted a curse I didn't recognize. Despite the fact that I wasn't supposed to feel any pain thanks to the Numbing Potion, her spell hit me hard. I cried out and curled into a little ball, trying to block everything out. The spell stabbed at my skin, little pinpricks of pain that made me feel as if my skin was melting off. I don't know how long she held the curse, but slowly I could feel my mind letting go. I stopped writhing and laid still. My arms were slack as I stared up at the ceiling blankly.
"What did you do to her?" Kerri cried. Her voice sounded distant.
"This is just a little spell that I created," Vic replied. Her voice was also distant. It was as if I was underwater, in a bubble separated from the rest of the world. "It is a mental attack that makes you think your skin is melting. The pain gets so intense that after a while, the brain shuts off, allowing the castor to extract the necessary information."
Kimaine. Stand up. Stand the fuck up and snap out of it!
Kerri's mental voice was painfully loud, compared to her previous words, but they hit me hard. It drove the message home. I was once again completely aware of my surroundings. The twins were once again yelling at each other, with the occasional snide comment coming from the werewolf. I knew that this was going to be our only chance.
Calmly, I sent to Kerri: This is our only chance to get them. I don't know where my wand is, so I'll have to take them on wandlessly. However, this means that I have to break this Telepathic connection between us. I know that you would probably want to take on Vic and the werewolf. While you do that, I shall attack Balthazar. I'll help out where I can.
Kerri seemed hesitant. I can do it, I guess. Suddenly, her hesitation melted away and was replaced by a seething anger. I'm going to kill the bitch and her fuckbuddy for killing Xander. You're on.
I barely had any time to respond before Kerri suddenly transformed into her Animagus form. With a snarl, she jumped into the air, lunging for Vic's throat. I jumped up from my position on the floor and focused on my magic. After a few split seconds, my neon ball of magic shot out through my hands and hit Balthazar square in the chest. He flew back through the air and hit the wall. He sunk down next to the corpse. I heard a series of cracks as Greyback and his backups Apparated away, no doubt to call reinforcement. I heard a bloodcurdling scream coming from some other part of the house, and I knew that the battle has truly begun now. My attention snapped back to Balthazar as I noticed he was trying to tell me something. I narrowed my eyes as I walked closer to his collapsed form. "What?" I snapped.
The blonde Death Eater had a smile on his face as he softly whispered, "Your friend is a spy."
I laughed. "That's absurd. Just the words of a desperate man."
"No, I'm not talking about Alders." He paused, coughing into his hands. I felt a hint of pride as blood splattered onto his skin. I'd hit him good. "I'm talking about someone else, also close to you."
All who came to mind was Vasilisa and Lefu. Neither of them would ever betray me. "Stop talking shit," I snapped and sent out another burst of raw magic. Balthazar screamed as his arm broke. Now he was furious. He slowly stood up and removed his wand from his robes. He pointed it at me, and with a small smile, said, "Sweet dreams, and sweetheart, I'll see you in Hell."
Oh no you don't, I thought. I ducked out of the way of the green Killing Curse he sent my way. I shot off a Reducto, which hit his right leg. I thought that it would stop him, but I was mistaken. The blonde Death Eater was determined to end me. He shouted a string of curses, so quickly that I was unable to dodge all of them. I screamed as a Cutting Curse hit me, nearly taking my arm off. I fell to the ground and quickly conjured a table to hide behind. Shit, this hurt. He'd hit my wand arm, too. Bastard.
I heard Kerri shouting off curses. I wondered when she's transformed back again. Kerri laughed in response to a scream, but her laugh immediately cut off. The scream belonging to Kerri had me shooting over the table, only to stop in my tracks. A thin line ran along her pale throat, oozing blood. It was clear that her throat's been slit. Time slowed down as Kerri's eyes frantically searched around the room and stopping as her gaze met mine. Her eyes immediately filled with tears and her right hand lifted in a vain attempt to stop the blood flow. "Kim," she mouthed as she fell down to her knees.
No, this wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. I was dreaming. This was an illusion made to break me. This isn't real.
But still I watched, frozen in place, as Kerri started crying, but struggling to breathe. She fell back, and I rushed forward to break her fall. Blood was everywhere. It was on me, too. This was real. This wasn't some elaborate plan to break me. No, Kerri was really dying.
Wet eyes gazed into mine. "I love you," my ginger friend mouthed. "I'll see you in heaven, Kimmy." Her eyes suddenly lost their light, and she was gone.
I stared at the rapidly cooling body of my best friend. This reminded me of the death of two other girls. Of how they had died right in front of me. How I was unable to help them.
My heartbeat was loud, drumming in my ears.
My heart felt as if it was breaking. But deep inside, it wasn't my heart. It was my magic. The light bulb overhead shattered and the room was plunged into darkness. There were shouts of confusion coming from Vic and Balthazar. My body started to shake, and I leaned down to hug my fallen friend to my chest.
To her cooling body, I whispered, "I'm sorry. I love you Kerri."
To my magic, I whispered, "Destroy them."
Obediently, my magic burst out of my very core.
The room was bathed in a neon green light, and my world once again faded into darkness.

Vasilisa West

The fighting stopped as a sudden wave of magic threw everyone to the ground. The magic was neon green, and I recognized it as Kimaine's. Using this distraction, I quickly hit the two fallen Death Eaters with a Reducto, which swiftly ended their lives. Covington stubbornly didn't say anything, already used to my love of the Reducto curse to end a life. We'd already taken down about thirty Death Eaters together, and it really hadn't been easy. Luckily they weren't as skilled as some of the older Death Eaters. Instead, she said, "Something's happened to Kimaine. We should check on her."
I agreed. After making sure that the Death Eaters were, in fact, dead, we hurried out of the large hall we were in. The house was small, which made navigating through it fairly easy. I deduced that the magic had come from upstairs, so that is where we went.
What we found was a complete bloodbath. In the middle of the room were two collapsed figures. From their hair color, I knew that it was Kimaine and that Kerri-girl. They seemed to be unconscious. Further away, against one wall, were the remains of a blonde woman. Her face was unrecognizable, and various body parts were missing. Her clothes were torn and bloodied.
On the opposite side of the room was another corpse. It was a blonde man. He was largely undamaged, though there was a gaping hole in his chest where his heart once was. Next to him was another tiny corpse.
"What…?" Sasha asked in a shaky voice.
I shook off my shock and hurried to my fellow Ravens. I reached down to touch Kerri's shoulder, only to rear back as if shocked. Glassy eyes stared up at me; the tears on the pale cheeks not yet dry. "Alders is dead," I said, shocked. How had this happen?
"Her throat's been slit," a calm voice said. Whipping around with my wand at the ready, I was about ready to kill the speaker. I relaxed when I noticed it was Lefu Zorn, one of the Ravens that were also a part of this mission.
I was suspicious, however. "How do you know?" In the back of my mind I wondered why Kimaine was unconscious.
The large African walked closer. "Her throat is literally slit. You can see it."
I shook my head with a frown, even though what he said was true. "But how would you know that before you even saw the body?" Distantly, I remembered the words of the one Death Eater, what he'd said before I'd killed him at the start of this mission. He had said that we had a traitor in our midst. I hadn't believed him then, but now… Lefu couldn't possibly have known how Kerri died without being present.
"I saw it," the African said simply. He was saved from explaining further by about a dozen cracks. We were in the middle of a circle, with twelve wands pointed at us. One man I recognized as Fenrir Greyback smiled a feral smile at me and said, "You're not getting away now, little Raven." Greyback turned his attention to Lefu next, and dipped his head in greeting. "So nice to see you, Lefu. Though I am wondering why you didn't come out to play earlier when your friend was dying."
I fucking knew he was a traitor!
Shut the fuck up, he sent me through the link, his voice vicious. You don't know what's going on. Just shut your mouth and don't say anything.
To Greyback, Lefu said, "Ah, I apologize. I was just enjoying the show your little toy put on." A confused Greyback followed Lefu's gaze and landed on the mangled body of the blonde woman. His lips tightened and it was clear that her death shook him.
A chuckle drew my attention to the door (what's with people appearing in the doors?). Standing there was a tall girl. She was dressed in black skinny jeans, black knee-high boots, a black tank top, and a black leather jacket. She had bleach-blonde hair that was pulled into a high ponytail. Her skin was lightly tanned. As she slowly and gracefully walked closer to Greyback, I noticed that her face was heart-shaped, and her eyes were an impossible violet.
Curiously, Greyback had paled upon noticing the girl. "Wistful," he hissed, his voice filled with hatred and a hint of fear.
Wistful? As in that girl who sends out information about the Death Eaters?
Wistful smirked, her cool confidence radiating throughout the room. "Yes, that's my name." The blonde's voice was filled with amusement at the werewolf's hostility. She lowered her eyes to the ground, still with that confident smirk on her face. "Let the games begin," she said, and lifter her eyes once more.
This seemed to be a signal of some form, for suddenly five more figures appeared in the room. They were covered in heavy cloaks, and their faces were shadowed, making it impossible to make out their faces. As one, the five figures lifted their right hands, wands drawn. Together, they started to chant in a language I recognized as Afrikaans. The Death Eaters were panicking, even more so when they found themselves unable to move. The five figures' voices reached a crescendo, they were almost shouting now. Magic swirled through the air, a swirl of different colors. There was a protective bubble that had formed around the Ravens, and I knew without a doubt that it had been Wistful to cast the spell.
The blonde's violet eyes met mine across the swirl of magic. Slowly, she smiled, and started chanting along with her five companions. Over the roar of magic I was able to hear numerous cracks as Death Eaters arrived on scene, only to be immediately frozen by the rainbow of magic. Wistful threw her hands into the air, magic crackling around her as she manipulated it to do her bidding. Slowly, one by one, Death Eaters clutched the space over their hearts, only to collapse seconds later. "You won't be able to Apparate away, Greyback," Wistful told the panicking werewolf in a gleeful voice. "We've constructed Anti-Apparation wards. We're not stupid enough to allow you to escape from our grasps a second time."
And with those words, Greyback seemed to enter a crazed frenzy. He cried out, a sound that was more animal than human, and lunged for the throat of an unsuspecting Firefly, who happened to be stood in front of me. Blood splattered my cheek.