(Amelia's POV)
That night, everyone left in search of AJ. Naturally, Seb went with Amelia and everyone else formed their own groups. It was going great until they found AJ. Amelia went forward and tried to talk to her friend, who refused to say anything as long as Seb was around. Seb checked his phone anxiously. He had texted Chuck that they had found AJ and the Waterbender was usually punctual in his responses. That had been twenty minutes ago and there was no response. What was going on?
Just when Seb thought things couldn't get any worse, AJ pulled out a gun and started firing. Several shots managed to hit Amelia, who crumbled to the ground. Seb caught her and gently stroked her hair as he heard her heartbeat slow down. This was all going so wrong!
Just as he was prepared to avenge his fallen friend, he awoke with a start! Sitting up with his heart thudding in his chest, Seb breathed a sigh of relief when he realized it had all been a dream. His sharp eyes swept the room and he was about to panic again when he didn't see Amelia. Then he remembered that Patrick had given up his bed for her and she was sleeping down the hall. He got out of the bed that Patrick had conjured for him and walked quietly to Patrick's room. He opened the door quietly and was relieved to see Amelia's sleeping form lying undisturbed.
Instead of going back to sleep, he explored Patrick's house a bit. It was a modest two level home with a nice kitchen and dining area. He padded softly through the kitchen, lost in his thoughts. He was so lost that he didn't realize that someone had come up behind him.
"What are you doing?" asked a voice from behind him.
Seb tensed and brought his fists out in front of him. He spun around, ready to fight! Only when he realized that it was only David did he drop his fists.
"I couldn't sleep, so I'm exploring," he replied. "What are you doing?"
"I couldn't sleep, either. Too many flashbacks from the Dandies mansion," David replied with a noticeable shudder.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Seb asked as he sat down at the kitchen table
David shrugged. "I don't know if there's much to say. Everytime I close my eyes, I see the Dandies coming at me and I feel the pain of their torture. It really sucks because there's nothing I want to do more than sleep right now."
Seb nodded. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I had a nightmare too, about what we're going to do tonight. I saw AJ kill Amelia and there wasn't anything I could do to stop it. I've never felt so powerless."
"Sounds like you guys could use some memory charms," said a voice from the doorway.
David and Seb looked up and saw Patrick leaning in the doorway, holding his wand. The end of it glowed with a light.
"How long have you been there?" David asked
"Long enough. Anyway, if you want, I can get rid of those memories for you, make it easier for you guys to sleep," Patrick offered.
David and Seb looked at each other and shrugged.
"Sure, why not?" Seb replied
Patrick pulled out a chair and sat in front of Seb.
"Okay Seb, I want to you to think really hard about whatever memory you want me to get rid of. Picture it in your mind, okay?" Patrick instructed
Seb nodded as he recalled his dream.
"Okay, now look me in the eyes. Ready? Obliviate," Patrick said softly and at once, Seb couldn't remember why he had woken up in the first place.
After helping David, the three of them went to back to bed.
Later that night, everyone stood in Patrick's living room, going over the plans.
"Okay, so we'll all split up. David, you, Pierre, and Patrick will go one way. Chuck, you, Jeff, and I will go another way. Amelia, you'll go off on your own, and Seb will follow behind you. If any of you see any sign of AJ, you'll send everyone a text message that says the word 'red'. If Patrick or I see her, we'll send up red sparks from our wands. Once we find her, we're just going to talk. We don't want any kind of confrontation. Is that clear?" Bob asked
"What if she tries to run?" Chuck brought up
"Well, it's eight against one. I think we can take her," Patrick replied.
"So once we find her, we're just going to talk? What are we going to say?" Amelia wondered
"Well, since I have a background in medicine, I'm going to perform a mental status assessment on her. If it seems that she's slowly losing it, I'll be able to tell," Bob said.
Everyone nodded and prepared to set off. Once they walked into the city, they split up. Amelia instinctively went towards the club area of town, seeing as that would most likely be where AJ would be. She walked inside various clubs, never staying for more than a few minutes, searching for any sign of her friend.
In the last club she went to, she saw her, sitting across the bar, nursing a drink.
"AJ," she said quietly, knowing she would be able to hear Amelia over the music.
AJ turned in Amelia's direction. Her eyes widened on seeing her friend there. Amelia walked towards AJ, who got up from the bar and fled! Amelia ran after her.
"Red!" was all that Amelia yelled as she left the bar, knowing that Seb would know what she meant.
"AJ, stop! I just want to talk to you!" Amelia yelled as the panicking hybrid ran faster. She chased AJ throughout the city, stopping only once they got to the abandoned part of the city. AJ stopped a few feet away from Amelia and turned to look at her.
"What do you want, Rae? Leave me alone!" AJ demanded, her eyes darting around, looking for an escape.
"AJ, please, I just want to talk to you! I'm worried about you. I just want to talk. That's all," Amelia replied calmly.
"Well unfortunately, I don't want to talk to you!" AJ said as her eyes widened.
Seb had walked up behind Amelia and had obviously not forgiven AJ for getting Amelia kidnapped because he let out a growl and bared his teeth at her.
"What happened to no confrontation?" Amelia whispered out of the corner of her mouth
"I don't care. I still don't like her," Seb snarled under his breath.
AJ spun on her heels and tried to run. She didn't get very far before she ran into something solid. Looking up, she recognized the oni. He grabbed both of her arms with one hand and pinned them behind her back. He wrapped his other arm around her torso, pinning her body against his. She thrashed about, trying to get free.
"Now, listen to me, mon chérie. We just want to talk to you. I don't want to have to hurt you, but if you try to run, I might have to do something I'll regret. Do you understand me?" he whispered, his voice low
"Oui," was all that AJ said.
Meanwhile, the rest of the guys had shown up. Bob stepped forward and raised his wand. AJ struggled again, afraid of being hurt.
"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk to you. I was a doctor once. I just want to ask you some questions. Is that okay?" Bob asked, his tone gentle
AJ stopped moving and looked towards the ground.
"Fine," she grumbled.
"Looking at your appearance, it's obvious that you're not comfortable. Your posture is rigid, you're trembling, your clothes are dirty and stained. You also have bags under your eyes," Bob said as he raised AJ's chin to look at him.
"So?" she questioned.
"It's obvious that something is troubling you, so you haven't been sleeping well. What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," she said.
"Bob, she's lying. Her heart and breathing rate just increased," Seb remarked.
"Ah, so something is wrong. What is it?" Bob asked
"As if I'd tell you!" AJ declared.
"Fine, fine, I didn't want to have to do this, but there's no other choice. Patrick," Bob said as he motioned for Patrick to step forward.
Patrick stepped in front of AJ and looked at her. She refused to meet his eyes.
"Jeff, she seems to have a problem looking people in the eyes. Perhaps you could help?" Patrick asked
Jeff took the hand that was wrapped around AJ's torso and used it to force her chin up so she was looking right at Patrick.
Patrick raised his wand.
"Legilimens!"
Almost at once, Patrick was flooded with saw all of her memories, starting from New Years Eve to her last talk with William. He navigated through AJ's mind and noticed that the thoughts were increasingly incoherent and erratic.
After a moment, he released her from the spell.
"Well, it's just as I thought. She is slowly coming apart at the seams," Patrick reported.
"Well then, why don't we use that to our advantage? If that's really what's happening, we might not even have to destroy the Dandies ourselves," Bob mused as he raised his wand.
"Stop! What are you going to do to me?!" AJ shrieked
"Now, don't worry, this won't hurt a bit. Imperio," Bob said.
"Now AJ, you're going to go back to the mansion. You never saw us. I want you to do something for me, though. I want you to kill all of the members of the Dandies. Go now," Bob said and Jeff released his hold on AJ.
AJ turned and walked back towards the mansion.
After they had Apparated back to Patrick's house, Amelia was the first to speak.
"Hey guys, are you sure we did the right thing?"