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| Anything but sweet | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 15 2013, 03:13 AM (98 Views) | |
| Roberta Halden | Jan 15 2013, 03:13 AM Post #1 |
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As she neared the tiny village, Robbie’s eyes darted from place to place. She’d been on edge since that black day a few days prior. In just over twenty four hours, she’d gone from a fist fight with Fletcher, to being caught in the middle of a battle of the two most powerful wizards in the world, to being strangled at the hand of the Dark Lord, to beatings and torture at the hands of a man she’d come to find out was her true father. Then to put a cherry on top of the shit sundae that had made up that day, she had been forced to lie to everyone she knew about what she found out that day. Robbie adjusted the scarf that she had been wearing since that terrible day. The bruising and welts had faded but the marks were still visible enough to make people stare. Reed’s handiwork. She woke up every night with nightmares about that moment. The moment that she had been completely and utterly helpless. She’d survived simply because she didn’t matter to the dark wizard. He’d been distracted by Reynolds. Only a few days had passed and her body was still sore, despite the healer’s potions and cures. There was nothing they gave her that could numb the pain completely. It had been suggested to Robbie that perhaps it was the emotional toll that was causing her to feel the pain. She understood the reason behind the suggestion… she’d never told anyone what she’d suffered while she’d been held at Maverick’s house. She had sworn not to. So she stopped telling anyone that she was hurt. She just suffered quietly and hoped that it would eventually fade. As she arrived in Hogsmeade, Robbie couldn’t help but notice the odd feeling she was getting in the pit of her stomach. It was just another sunny Hogsmeade day. Kids were wandering the streets and milling about in the different shops, but something felt off. She stepped into Honeydukes. She had agreed to meet Daegan later and she wanted to bring him something sweet to make up for her foul mood as of late. He had been unbelievably understanding but she couldn’t help but feel guilty. Within a matter of a minute her mood could bounce from angry to weepy to frightened and back again. She was distracted all the time. She’d only been to a handful of classes since the attack but she couldn’t concentrate and Reynolds had been lenient on her. He’d been a witness to at least part of her torment that day. He’d called her into his office the other day and tried to talk to her about what happened after she’d bolted from his office. She couldn’t talk to him about it even if she’d wanted to. She’d sworn an unbreakable vow. Reaching for a large bar of Honeyduke’s chocolate, Robbie made her way back to the cash when she first heard it. A loud echoing bang that caused the windows to rattle in their frames. Robbie dropped the chocolate and withdrew her wand with one fluid movement. She wouldn’t be dealt with quite so easily this time. Crouching low, she darted behind a shelving unit filled with blood flavoured lollipops and cockroach clusters. She waved at the other students in the store to get down. To hide, but everyone was too curious, none of them seemed to understand that something deadly was coming. She knew. She could feel it. Seconds later the huge window at the front of the store exploded inwards. Screams filled the air as shards of glass sliced and wounded many of her classmates. All of them rushed back toward the back of the store but Robbie could see the scarlet blood against their paled faces. Most of them were superficially injured but there were others hurt worse. Avery Brooks came into Robbie’s line of sight. Her hands held to her throat and her eyes were wide and terrified. A look Robbie knew all too well – she could see it every time she looked into the mirror. Robbie looked for a way to get closer to her. To help her housemate out of the shop. Avery turned to stare at Robbie but neither girl made a sound. Avery’s long blond hair was stained and matted on one side from blood dripping from her scalp, but when she pulled her hands back Robbie knew why Avery had stayed so quiet. A long thin shard of glass was embedded into the other girl’s throat. Robbie got to her feet and cried out a warning “Don’t…” But before she could finish, the blond girl tugged the glass free. Blood gushed from the wound down the front of her uniform, the white shirt now a dark crimson. A second later she dropped to the floor and stopped moving. Robbie blinked away the stinging she felt in her eyes. No. She’d cried enough during the last battle. She would shed tears for the lost once the war was over. She couldn’t afford to do it now. “… always did have a bit of a sweet tooth, that one did.” A deep voice rumbled as Robbie sank back down to her previous hiding spot behind the large shelving unit. She could hear at least two people entering the shop through the now shattered window. “Well, you’re in the right place, love.” The second voice was soft and melodic. A female and she sounded so young. “Why not pick out a few treats to bring back to her? Look it’s all on sale.” Her tinkling laughter sent a shiver down Robbie’s spine. “I’ll stay away from the stuff over here, this little bint sprayed blood on everything.” “How inconsiderate.” That high pitched laugh rang out again. She couldn’t bear it another second. She’d just watched a fellow Ravenclaw bleed to death in front of her only seconds before and these two were chuckling about the scene before them. Rage flooded through her, washing away the sadness in seconds. Without a second thought, Robbie brandished her wand with a few short jabs toward the duo and managed to hit them with a binding curse. The pair was forced together as a long slender white rope from Robbie’s wand wrapped around them firmly. From ankle to chin, they were encased in the unbreakable rope. The fell to the ground with a loud thud. She cast a quick stunning spell at the pair and moved toward them. Her eyes flashed menacingly as she stared down at them. “Well, well, well… looks like we have a stroppy lil one ‘ere.” A low tone spoke from behind her. As she whipped around, her wand was jerked from her grasp. |
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| Maverick Shepard | Jan 19 2013, 04:36 PM Post #2 |
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They’d plucked her name from a rickety old man who ran a pub in a nearby village. It took two curses to break the geezer; one cruciatus and one of Garrish’s favorites: the lacerandam. When the second spell struck the elderly man in the chest, his scream pierced the highest frequency that Maverick could hear, before it barreled into silence. When his arched back settled back into the metal chair they had him bound to, the old man breathed out her name so quietly, Maverick had to lean forward to catch it. “Amanda Novak.” Barely a whisper. “She’ll know more than I… Honeydukes.” After putting the man out of his misery, they were off. Cloaks billowing behind them as they each stepped forward and disapparated in turn. Each purposeful movement he made into Hogsmeade was a casual step toward a much sought after goal. No one could tell by looking at the deadpan face that accompanied the cavalier strut, but Maverick Shephard was on a mission. If he accomplished this task, brought Reed the coveted object, he’d be rewarded beyond all the others. A person, one slippery little secret keeper; a girl by the name of Amanda Novak, whose life ambition it was to serve patrons delectable chocolate-covered treats in exchange for galleons. This wasn’t going to be difficult in the slightest stretch of the word. Maverick’s body moved with calculated grace. Through the rubble, around the dead bodies, and past the charred remains of village stores, until his eyes met a wooden sign that read Honeydukes. Yes, Maverick thought with the barest, shrewd smirk at the corner of his lips, this was going to be a piece of cake. “Gruper, Ferris,” Maverick’s sharp intone called his two lackeys to attention. “Clear out the candy shop, no onlookers are to know what we’re here for.” “Oh, I do love a bit of play time,” Ferris cackled, rubbing her hands together. “Leave the girl alive,” Maverick warned her, leveling a strict gaze at the two. “She’s for me.” “’Course, ‘course,” Gruper agreed before dashing off with Ferris at his side. With the pair of them gone, Maverick looked back to Garrish. “Check for leftovers. Make sure none of Reynolds’ men and women leaves Hogsmeade alive.” Garrish nodded and then swiftly ducked away from his leader. Maverick’s eyes were set upon the now broken window of the shop. He watched a young girl crumple to the floor, her blood coating the area around her. There was not a shred of emotion on his face. Necessary death was part of war. The girl shouldn’t have been in the way. But then, his eyes met something else entirely. A familiar head of brown hair, attached to the slender figure of his eldest daughter, brandishing a wand to aim at Gruper and Ferris. She didn’t stand a chance. Maverick stepped forward, but paused briefly as Robbie expertly tied the two, obviously useless wizards, together and stunned them where they fell. He was impressed, and struck motionless as he watched her approach them. She had his fire, that was for sure. And skill with a wand, another Shephard trait. Before he could approach her, and ferry her out of the shop, Garrish swept past him with his wand withdrawn. “Well, well, well… looks like we have a stroppy lil one ‘ere.” Garrish’s wiry frame approached Robbie. He snatched her wand from her hand and tossed it behind him. Maverick caught it. He was caught in a horrible moral dilemma. There was a mission to fulfill, he was surrounded by followers of Reed, and yet his daughter stood defenseless against a wizard that would kill her in a heartbeat. It should have been an easy decision, but the right move escaped him. Maverick didn’t have a fallback. He was Reed’s right hand man, or he was not at all. If he spared Robbie, saved her life in front of a fellow dark wizard, he’d be killed immediately and without a chance to make things right. But, if he let Robbiesocks die, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself, regardless of how he spent the previous twelve years of his life. “Damnit,” he hissed as he moved into the shop. Anger rolled off of him in waves. Silently, he struck Garrish with a curse from behind, and watched as he slumped to the floor. Luckily, having no idea that it was Maverick’s wand work that compromised him. Maverick’s eyes moved slowly from his colleague’s unconscious body, to Robbie whose eyes were stuck on him like glue. Maverick returned the stare without speaking. Finally, a scream, wailing and uncontrollable, broke the silence. A blonde girl, slight of frame and trembling from head to toe, was shouting for help. Without thinking, Maverick flicked his wand in her direction, knocked her backward and silenced her completely. Just because he’d save his daughter, didn’t mean that he’d suddenly decided to be a good guy. “I suggest you get out of here, through the tunnel, if you want to survive another day.” Maverick tossed Robbie’s wand back to her. “Preferably before these three wake up.” |
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| Roberta Halden | Jan 25 2013, 09:37 AM Post #3 |
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The moment that her wand was wrenched from her grasp Robbie knew she was in trouble but when she turned to face the evil grin of the wiry dark wizard behind her, she was stunned to find that her fear was easily held under control. If anything, she was more furious than she was scared. She’d been through hell and back recently and this arrogant twat was nothing when compared to the terror she’d felt when she had been face to face with Reed. She’d been completely helpless under his merciless torture and despite everything, that moment had taught her what true terror was. And she’d survived it. Barely, but she was still here and it was going to take more than this pathetic wizard to frighten her. He was nothing compared to the barely contained dark malice that Reed embodied. Her anger is what grounded her in this situation. She was wandless and alone but she would not be cowed by this pathetic excuse for a man. She squared her shoulders up as she tried to figure out her next move. It was then that she spotted him. It was only then that a true fluttering of fear rushed through her. Maverick. Her father. She watched as he lifted his wand and couldn’t help but be surprised when the dark wizard that had taken her wand suddenly crumpled to the floor. Robbie’s eyes never once left Maverick’s. Even as the dark wizard fell. A rush of emotions were currently overwhelming her. All the pain and confusion and fear that she’d felt the last time she’d seen him were swirling around within her. She hated him. At least she told herself she did, but the memories that had been slowly coming back to her throughout the last few days told a different story. In those memories, she had seen a man who had adored her and Sammy. A man who’d been madly in love with her mom. But more than that, she’d seen a man with a tender, caring side. The kind of father that she’d always wished she’d had. The kind of father she’d wished Thomas Halden could be. Everything Maverick Shepard wasn’t He’d given them away to a man who could barely stand them. A man who stopped only just short of physically abusing them. He’d neglected them, berated them, treated them with nothing but distain and contempt. That was the life Maverick had sentenced them to. And above that, he’d taken away every good memory of a father that they had ever had. Every happy memory of their childhood had been replaced with nothing but fear and pain. It was then that Mandy began to scream, dragging Robbie from her thoughts. Robbie knew the girl from her many visits to Honeydukes. She was only a few years older than Robbie. She’d graduated from Hogwarts several years before and she seemed to enjoy working at the sweets shop. Robbie whirled around to shush the girl, but a flash of a spell whipped past her to collide with the young blond. Spinning back around to face her father, Robbie’s eyes were filled with rage. How dare he attack a helpless witch who’d done nothing but be terrified. “I suggest you get out of here, through the tunnel, if you want to survive another day.” Maverick tossed Robbie’s wand back to her. “Preferably before these three wake up.” “You lost the right to ‘suggest’ anything to me. Ever.” Robbie scowled as she caught her wand. “And I suggest that you get out of here before Reynolds and the Ministry show up and obliterate your entire group.” She moved away from Maverick to Mandy’s side. The girl was still alive, just unconscious. Robbie got to her feet and glared at Maverick. Anger was thrumming through her. Her muscles were tense and she was prepared to move quickly if she had to. She did not trust this man, despite the memories that told her a different story. No matter what she remembered about their few years together, he’d spent the last dozen years or so following the word of a madman. He’d abandoned his family to serve Reed. It was not something she could ever forgive, though to be fair, it didn’t look like Maverick would ever ask for her forgiveness. “I may have sworn an oath not to reveal certain details that you ‘oh so gently’ let me in on, but I have no loyalty to you or your goon squad. My loyalties lie with Professor Reynolds. I am not about to walk away.” |
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4:27 AM Jul 11