Her ghost in the fog

[Leah Winters]

It was daylight, although hardly enough to justify it being called an afternoon. The sun dipped low, casting shadows upon the buildings in the large Russian city Leah had apparated to a few days ago. She had been notified of a potential dragon egg trader in the area, and quickly appeared, their stock at the store having run out several weeks ago. They were not scheduled to meet for several more days, but she unfortunately never visited Russia, and wished to take somewhat of a vacation from life in general.

It had been a bit chillier than New Zealand, which explained the light jacket she had wrapped around her narrow form. The buildings zoomed by her as she walked quickly through the streets, her mind focused on finding the hostel she had been crashing at for the past week. It was beginning to get dark, and Leah felt less comfortable walking around at dusk in a foreign land than she did at home.

Others seemed to feel the same way. Doors slammed and cars revved by; people pushed past one another, reaching their homes and shouting cheerful goodbyes to their friends. Leah felt the familiar sensation of being alone, accompanied by the rare but noticeable feeling of being watched.

 

[Afanasy Petrokov II]

Afanasy walked through the familiar streets of Russia, having no purpose other then a midnight walk to get away from the pathetic excuse for human beings he lived with. He wanted to be able to kill them and get their weak and worthless existences over with. He absolutely hated having to share a house, and all that would change soon. He had more than enough money to get outside and buy his own house. Or better yet, have his own house built. Which was exactly what he was having done at this point in time. A giant mansion, the only house that was worth him living in, and he wanted one that would be perfect for him. He wanted a place where he would never have to be disturbed by lesser beings than himself.

Afanasy heard somebody apparate nearby, and knew he would have to investigate, just incase it was somebody who had the misfortune of deciding to come looking for him. The last person that had come looking for Afanasy, had ended up dead at the bottom of a lake, and he wouldn't hesitate to have to do that again. As Afanasy walked through the town towards the source of the apparation noise, he held the same old emotional look on his face, one that never left it, as Afanasy was the kind of person who didn't care for the distractions that were known as friendship, love, and caring for other people. Afanasy was a solo kind of person, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon, no matter what anyone else said.

Afanasy spotted the person who seemed to have made a small commotion but then again, it could just be the regular going ons of the town. He wasn't usually out this late at night, because he was usually in his study in his home, away from all the prying eyes of the world. He glanced at the female, and wondered who she was. As a Death Eater, Afanasy quite often drew a whole lot of unwanted company to himself, and it seemed that today wouldn't be any different. He sighed to himself, and walked over to her, wanting to know who she was, what she was doing here, and he wanted to figure it all out fast. Afanasy chuckled slighly, drawing his wand, and pointing it at the girl. "Alright. One chance, and one chance only. Who are you, what are you doing here." He said, not without the hint of venom from his voice.

 

[Leah Winters]

Night had officially fallen, and the streets were cleared of all humans. Her hostel was too far away to continue on foot, and so she turned and apparated to the general area of the establishment, appearing with a loud crack at the end of a slick wet sidewalk. Leah regained her footing, and stuck her hand in her pocket, grasping the handle of her Sequoia wand. It was too dangerous to be unprepared in a strange and unfamiliar territory, and in seconds that fact remained to be true when a sharp male voice called out from behind her. She whipped out her wand and faced the stranger, sticking it out at him with curses on the tip of her tongue. His threats were full of animosity, and she didn't doubt for a second that he would go through with them. She was no coward, however. "Only one? Pity. The usual is three." Leah narrowed her eyes at her potential opponent, and tightened her grip on her wand. "My name is Leah and my business here is naturally none of your concern."

He wouldn't enjoy that quip. The darkness clouded most of his appearance, but the crescent moon allowed a lighted glimpse of his face, and Leah attempted to place him. She had never seen this man before, and it was entirely possible he knew nothing of her either. She wondered why he would suddenly confront her under the dangerous nights sky, especially because there was a risk that she could've been a muggle. Perhaps he had heard the young Death Eater apparate into the area, and decided to investigate the strange noise. Being a wizard himself, he would understand what the sound was, she realized. "Now, my turn." Leah's voice was filled with confidence, fear having been kicked to the side some time ago.

"Who the hell are you?" She asked. "And why have you drawn your wand on me?" She was at loss to why he would confront her with such bitterness, putting the wizarding secrecy, and his own life at risk. Would he really kill her?

 

[Afanasy Petrokov II]

Afanasy rolled his eyes at the mere stupidity of the girl that was in front of her. She thought she could intimidate him, but she didn't know how wrong she was. Afanasy knew ways to make her run for her life in a matter of seconds, and he knew that she wouldn't be able to hide how scared she became. Afanasy wasn't scared of anything, and there was nothing he cared about enough for anybody to bother even trying to blackmail him with. He had no attachments that anybody should even bother trying to exploit. He smirked and wondered if she would ever give up and just turn and leave him alone for the night. Though it was true he had come out here to investigate what she was doing here, he was really starting to not care, coming looking for her was a waste of time.

Afanasy didn't like the way she showed him disrespect, she was clearly a young one, and clearly she hadn't learned the most important lesson of all, don't mess with Death Eaters that are older then you. But then again, she couldn't know that he was a Death Eater, because she didn't seem like the type to be one herself, and Afanasy wasn't usually wrong about those kind of things. But the way Leah acted, it certainly made him rethink that. She was cocky, and overconfident, as if she expected to be able to win every fight that was thrown at her. Afanasy knew that she wouldn't be able to survive anything he threw at her if he wanted to be rid of her quickly, but he wanted to learn a little bit more about her before he left her here on her own, the thought of that made him smirk darkly.

Afanasy sighed slightly as she started to put on the tough girl act again, and he rose his wand, having it pointed directly at her head, and he sure as hell wasn't scared to use it. He had taken out people a hell of a lot older and more experienced then her, and he wasn't going to let some little brat think she was better then him. Afanasy wondered why the hell she could be so confident, for as far as she knew, she could be staring death in the face, and if she wasn't careful it would come very close to that, because Afanasy didn't really give a poop on whether or not she wanted to know anything about him, because all she would learn from his name, and she would have to work to get that much out of him, if she even wanted to know anything at all.

Afanasy chuckled devilishly. This little girl here, was either brave, or foolish, and he wanted to know exactly which she was, and she would tell him everything he wanted to know. Shifting his wand to the right, he smiled darkly. Stupefy. He thought, watching the spell fly right past her ear. He wasn't here to mess around with some little girl who thought she could handle a full and experienced death eater, and she would learn that all too soon. Afanasy looked at her, his face emotionless once again. "Who am I, and why I do anything, means absolutely nothing to you, because you don't deserve to know anything about me. In fact, you don't even deserve to be any where near me." Afanasy said, making sure that she got the message that said she wasn't wanted. "Now let us try again, why are you here?" Afanasy asked, his wand poised for another assault.

 

[Leah Winters]

Leah wasn't afraid, for the simple yet somewhat ridiculus feeling that she wouldn't die. At least not tonight. She knew the fear that crossed over someones face when they realized they were to die, for she had given them that look and had quickly killed them. She enjoyed seeing the last remnants of hope disappear from their eyes, quickly replaced with the expression of terror and the thoughts of their impending doom. If this man did not tread carefully, he would find out exactly what she was referring to. Perhaps she was wrong about not dying. If so, it did not frighten her. What was supposed to happen would happen, regardless of what she did to try and stop it. Leah was prepared to have her life ended, to be a Death Eater meant to know that your end could be quick and bloody, and it was your duty to die in the field of battle if the occasion called for such a feat.

Leah did not lower her wand, although the man kept his at heads length. She thought this absolute foolishness. He was purely idiotic to accost a strange woman in the middle of the night, even if it were to only assure himself of his manhood. She saw the light of his wand flare up, and the spell shoot directly at her face. Acting quickly, with perhaps a dash of luck thrown in, she was able to move her head out of the way just in the nick of time. "Foolishness." Were the words in response. "And what were your reasons for that? To convince yourself that you have the power?" Leah pointed her wand above his head and whispered, "Confringo" The spell hit an emergency exit ladder, forcing it to explode, and having the pieces clatter noisily behind the man. "Consider yourself warned." Leah felt tempted to use the spell on him, ending the imminent threat effective immediately.

"Have you even considered that maybe my reasons of not telling you anything are the very same as yours?" In actuality she didn't care. Leah knew she was dealing with either an incredibly dark wizard, or a crazed idiot. Probably the latter. It was possible that he had more skeletons in his closet than she would ever have, and telling him her reasons were nothing. "Ah. You are one of the self assumed elite. The kind that believe that everyone should bow to your shadow, and worship your every word." She paused, smiling. It was a dangerous smile, the one that she placed upon her face when she felt the urge to wipe someone off the face of the planet. "I do not. You don't deserve my time."

 

[Afanasy Petrokov II]

Afanasy didn't even flinch as pieces of an emergency exit clattered around his head, for he wasn't worried about anything hitting him, because she didn't have the guts to hurt anyone who could kill her as easily as he breathed. Afanasy wasn't the type to scare easily, and he was going to stick to that idea that should be in everyone's head. Everyone in Russia who had any sense knew it was best to avoid Afanasy, no matter what time of day it was, that was why there was nobody out here at this point of the night, but he could see people watching them from the windows. It wouldn't be that much of a big deal to take care of any bystanders, or people who thought they had seen magical activity. After all, he didn't want any Auror's on his trail, they were a lot harder to take care of.

Afanasy rolled his eyes when this girl thought she was actually scaring him. Soon enough she would realise that she was far in over her head and she wouldn't be leaving this place in the one piece if she started trying to harm him, that much was for sure. He chuckled to himself, dropping his wand to near his waist, and wondering what she would try next. Afanasy wasn't going to let her get the upper hand on him, whether or not she was fighting him. Quite frankly, he had bigger things to worry about then some stupid little girl that thought she was better then him. He sighed to himself, and turned his face back to it's usual blank self, which he tended to do quite often when he was around people who needed to learn their place, and this time was no different.

Afanasy wondered whether or not he would be able to scare her easily, or whether or not he would have to make himself work in order to do it, but then it hit him as to why she was so confident, and cocky. She was a death eater. Afanasy chuckled to himself. "Now I see why you're so cocky. You're a death eater, but only a young one at that. Unlike me, where I have experience, and could kill you without you even realising it. Want a demonstration?" Afanasy asked, and before she could even think about what was going on, he raised his wand, and didn't give her the time to even attempt to formulate a way to block his spell. Crucio. He said, wanting to make her realise that Afanasy didn't have time to mess around with people. "Sorry, but I'm not self assumed, I am an elite." Afanasy said, and evil look on his face.

 

[Leah Winters]

The clouds in the sky shifted slightly to wear the moonlight cascaded across the two beings, revealing them to the other. Leah looked at the stranger, her wand still pointed straight at his face. He was nothing spectacular, a bit handsome, yet not very tall. His eyes were what stood out the most to the young woman. They were deep and dark within his face, with danger imprinted in the iris's. His gaze happened to be the only things that slightly shook her, his voice and words not having the desired effect he wished it to. His stature was well built, hinting that he did not waste his time on trivial sweets and general laziness. He certainly would be appealing in appearance to a normal woman, but Leah was not a normal woman. She did not fall to his feet with his cocky attitude, and refused to back down from such a threat.

"Perhaps. But you'll have a time proving it." His mention of her being a Death Eater was completely accurate, yet his subtle confession of being one himself perked her interests. "You are one too, aren't you?" His wand was lowered, yet she kept her risen, not wanting to fall prey to his clever tactics. "A demo-" Her words were cut off as the painful spell hit her dead on in the chest. Leah fell to the ground, writhing in pain, yet keeping her teeth gritted tight, refusing to cry out. She would not give him the pleasure of hearing her painful female shrieks.

The pain ended almost suddenly, and Leah stood quickly, crying out, "Sectumsempra!" The anger had built up from the immense pain he had inflicted upon the woman, resulting in this satisfying curse. Leah stepped forward, slashing out at the man. "You are self assumed, you fool." She felt calmer, and smirked slightly. "You've only proved yourself to be stupid. I may be young, but don't underestimate me."

The Crucio spell had been frightening. The pain, worse than ever was inflicted by one of experience of the spell. "Now, are you done with these little games? Do you feel more like a man?"