Quiet time in a loud place

[Alana Finch]

With her blonde hair in a ponytail, Alana looked a lot younger than usual. She was short, so it was easy to confuse her with a student younger than the fourth year she actually was. The teenager had reached the middle of her magical education, and she found herself glad to be back at school for the semester. Next year, she’d be taking her OWL exams, but for now she was still able to enjoy a little bit of free time. The teenager had attended quidditch practice earlier in the day, both anxious and excited about being the team’s starting Keeper. It was a huge accomplishment for the girl, one she hoped would work out well for her. Alana had also decided to join the Student Defense Association, the club that sponsored the dueling tournament each year. She’d never dueled before, but it looked like a lot of fun so she figured she’d give it a shot.

With no homework to speak of, the Slytherin had headed onto the school grounds for the afternoon. She headed straight for the cliffs, eager to enjoy the space for once. With her journal in hand, Alana made her way to her favorite spot on the cliff. There was a fallen over tree there, the branches all gone but the log more than large enough to fit several students. Settling down, Alana opened up her journal and held her quill above the page as she thought of what to write first. She frowned at a piece of paper that was sticking out of it, a note that she’d found in her bag after returning home from Chaos’ house. Half of it was gibberish to her, in a language the teenager knew that she did not speak. It was aggravating. Touching the quill to the parchment, she began to write about the first few days here.

 

[Matthew Cosgrove]

Matthew hadn’t been to the cliffs since the day he found Alana there, he was a lot happier back then. He had been living in blissful ignorance of her situation. Ever since finding out he had done his best to get over her, to find ways to not feel what he did for her, he told himself that she was too young, that she was engaged, that her fiance had been expelled for attempted murder. Anyone one of those one reasons would be enough for most people, but even all three hadn't done much to change Matthew's feelings. He was at least happy that the girl would be easy to avoid, they were in different houses and years so there was little cross over.

The semester had only just started but Matthew was happy that he had been able to avoid Alana thus far, unfortunately he hadn't been able to avoid everyone else in the school. He didn't like being around so many people these days, the smallest things annoyed him. He found himself wanting some peace and quiet and he only knew one place he could truly get that. A place he wasn't actually allowed to go. The cliffs. He made his way up the worn pathway as he had a number of times during his years at Hogwarts and looked to find a good spot to relax when he came across the last person he wanted to see. "Oh cr*p" He muttered as he saw the familiar blonde hair of Alana, she was scribbling away in her journal paying no attention to what was going on behind her. If he was lucky, he would be able to sneak away and she would never know he was there.

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana paused in her writing, looking out towards the water. The lake always looked beautiful and serene. She wished she could feel even a touch of that serenity, but her mind was always racing, always thinking about the next thing that she had to do. Glancing over her shoulder, the teenager felt her heart beat skip before beginning a rapid pace. She forced a smile even though Matthew was one of the last people she wanted to see. The Slytherin had managed to avoid him for much longer than she had ever expected to. In fact, she'd come to suspect that Ivaylo or Havoc had played a part in keeping Matthew out of her line of vision for this long. The school was large and they were in different years and different houses, but it was still too much of a coincidence. In light of what had happened at their house, she really didn't put anything past Havoc anymore.

"Hello Matthew" she stated, her voice cautious, slow as she said the two words. Their last meeting hadn't ended so well, so she didn't know how even this would be received. There was no sense in pretending she hadn't just seen him though. Instead, she closed her journal, the quill holding her place as she waited to see if he would respond or if he'd walk away from her. She didn't know which one to expect at all. She certainly would deserve him walking away from her. Perhaps she even hoped for that. It would certainly be easier than having to actually have a conversation with him.

 

[Matthew Cosgrove]

Matthew knew that this moment would come eventually, the school was big but sometimes you just couldn't avoid someone, no matter how much you wanted to. As soon as he opened his mouth he knew that the chances of turning back without Alana noticing were slim, it was just his luck that she would notice him. Matthew hadn't thought about this moment, mostly because he hoped it would never happen. Their last meeting was so painful he couldn't bring himself to think about her, he didn't want to think about an awkward encounter, more so he didn't want to consider the scenario he wanted, for Alana to apologise and tell him she didn't mean it, maybe even tell him she loved him. Though that really was wishful thinking, he had accepted early on in the break up that she didn't. He had just been a good distraction from her pending marriage.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone would be up here," He mumbled. Least of all you He thought. Not so long ago he would have given anything to be alone with her, now it was the last thing he wanted. It reminded him of the good moments. The yule ball, the dungeon, here on the cliff, everything that came after. It was the good times that hurt the most. "You look good Alana," The words caught in his throat before he was able to get them out. Her hair may have been tied back but she looked beautiful all the same. Why did he have to love her so much.

 

[Alana Finch]

If he was expecting her to apologize for being up there, she wasn’t going to give him one. She didn’t expect one from him either. It was public space, space that the students technically weren’t supposed to be in, but public nonetheless. “There’s plenty of room” she replied with a shrug. As much as she wanted to just get up and run away at the moment, she wasn’t going to do that. Alana had decided to stop running from her problems because that hadn’t worked out so well for her so far. Matthew was proof of that.

Blushing at his words, Alana dropped her gaze for a moment. Then, she looked up quickly, looking by him to be sure there was no one else around. Luckily, or not, she hadn’t quite decided yet, they were alone. That was good because Ivaylo had made it clear that he wasn’t playing around anymore, and she had no clue what Havoc might do. She didn’t want to know though. “Thank you” she replied softly, tucking the note that was sticking out of her journal further in. It had come about halfway out, any more and it might fall onto the dirt. “Did you have a good break?” Alana asked. There was no reason to be impolite to Matthew. She’d done enough damage when it came to him, and though she knew she had no right to presume he’d even want to be friends, she figured she could at least be friendly enough in this moment.

 

[Matthew Cosgrove]

The fact that it didn't occur to Matthew that Alana might be up on the ciffs made him feel stupid. She had been there the last time he came up to get away from the world. Only he'd been a lot happier the last time he found her up here. He smiled as he noticed her blush and for a brief moment it felt like old times. Which only made him feel worse, he wanted to hate her or for her to not want to see him. That would make things a lot easier for him. But this, friends? Was it even possible.

Alana told him there was plenty of room, he could really go and sit anywhere on the cliff and stay clear of her but they seemed to be talking and he was curious to see where it would go. Matthew walked over and sat with her, a little further away than he would have before. At least they were alone, the threat of Ivaylo spotting them out of his mind for the moment. "No, actually. I ran into Chaos, he told me some things, about you, and us. He took great pleasure in it actually but I guess that's just how he is," Matthew sighed. Chaos had only confirm what he already thought but hearing from someone else that Alana hadn't loved him had hurt more than he cared to admit. "What about you? I heard you spent some time at Chaos' house," He felt a little guilty about essentially ambushing her with everything he found out from Chaos but this could be his only chance for answers.

 

[Rome Savage]

Rome with her brother Cairo and their mutual friend, Lanithro, had been minding their own business while stood in the entrance hall of the school, doing nothing but mindlessly annoy someone, lie and generally do what they did best. Since Rome had always been somewhat anger filled and her boredom at aspects of the school had as was to be expected grown slightly more since returning, no longer being first year had provided her with a different outlook on things, and her growing friendship with Lanithro whether she actually wanted it was definitely affecting how she did things, mostly that just lying with nothing else was pretty boring. The girl wiped the strands of the platinum blonde hair from her dull blue eyes as the wind blew through them, she wore her normal muggle clothes and was walking along side both Cairo and Lanithro, they'd been as stated minding their own business, annoying some first year with stories of flying human eating spiders to a particularly gullible gryffindor and had been informed by a boy called Havoc, a relationship of Lanithro's of a better target or targets a little out of their way, but considering that messing with first years had their limitations and were becoming particularly boring the young slytherin had with her brother and friend decided that perhaps this would be the best thing, that a new target, or a set of targets they might face where they were being sent would be far more fun.

Rome was walking with her usual pride and cockiness, and her thinly veiled anger, nothing about the passed holidays they'd just spent at home had dulled Rome's growing and increasingly bad temper, her brother did his best to stop her from over escalating any situation and Lanithro at school usually was there with her as things went from playful to violent to worse. She quickly on the walk to the cliffs spotted two figures standing near the cliffs edge, she stopped and took a moment to take in the sight in front of her, she recognised one girl as Alana, her brief time on the quidditch team so far had made her a little more in tune to those people, and she hadn't exactly been able to avoid the on going saga of the triangle as depicted by the rumours in the school of Alana and her betrothal, now it became clear why Havoc had sent them this way. She glanced at the two of them, still stood far enough away to be hidden, she knew that Lanithro would have his slingshot and therefore would be able to do that to begin with, "Use it, stay here," Rome told Cairo and Lanithro with a small smirk, knowing they'd know what she meant, before walking away from them, and making herself cry, it started off with just a few drops and then she had tears running somewhat steadily down her face, and was able to mimic looking as sad as possible, she half ran to the other students,

"You have to help," she said, practically managing to make herself sound like each word was a struggle against the tears, if there was one thing Rome was good at it was lying, she spent so much time lying it was near impossible to tell whether she was lying or not, "My brother," Rome was able to say before pointing in the opposite direction from where her brother and Lanithro were completely hidden, and Rome just broke down into tears, more false tears enough to throw them off their guard, "You have to help us, he's all I've got," elements of this wasn't exactly false, aside from Cairo, Rome didn't actually have much else, but currently there was nothing wrong with him, and this was all to distract before she figured the real fun would begin, she'd never targeted anyone years above her, but this was exciting.
​

Let's let Rome ruin this party...

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana took a deep breath as Matthew seemed to decide to stay and even chose to sit near her. The Slytherin scooted slightly more away from him, not wanting to give him or anyone else the idea that she was leading him on. She’d been accused of that far too many times for her liking. Matthew’s next words were far from what the Slytherin had been expecting to hear when she’d asked the seemingly innocent question. “You ran into Chaos?" she asked, disbelief in her time. "It sounds like Chaos told you a lot for a run-in” she muttered, loud enough for Matthew to hear with how near he was. The Slytherin had never known Chaos to be so chatty, but of course he would have taken the opportunity to tell Matthew all sorts of things. Alana seethed inwardly. “Yes, I did” she replied in a clipped voice, not happy that she was being bombarded with all of this. She hadn’t planned on telling anyone about her forced visit to Chaos’ home, so she really didn’t want to share details.

Before Alana could say more, the two were interrupted by a younger girl. The Slytherin recognized her from the Slytherin quidditch team. She was a new member, which made her a second year, most likely. Alana wasn't exactly sure. She could barely understand the girl, her crying making it hard to understand what was happening exactly. She exchanged a look with Matthew, wondering if he understood the girl better than she did. The Slytherin put her journal down on the log, where it quickly fell over into the dirt as she stood and put her hands on the girl’s shoulders. “Hey, hey…relax. My fri- Matthew will check it out. He’ll help your brother” she stated, correcting herself. She glanced over her shoulder at the Ravenclaw, having already volunteered him to help. If this girl’s brother needed help, he could probably do more to help than she could. Alana let go of the girl and turned in the direction she’d pointed, taking her wand out even though she wasn’t sure she could be of much help compared to the seventh year.

 

[Matthew Cosgrove]

Matthew wasn't surprised by Alana's reaction, he had been just as surprised by his run in with Chaos. She sounded like she was annoyed that he knew what he knew but he couldn't help that Chaos took pleasure in trying to crush his spirit by telling him everything he had, some of it had come pretty close he had to admit. She admitted that she had been with Chaos over the holidays so now he knew the boy hadn't been lying, which made him feel a little uneasy. "Well I suppose thast makes sense, he is your fiance after all, something he seemed happy to emphasize to me," Matthew left out the face that Chaos had taken issue with his use of the words 'broken up' and his comeback that they had to be involved to break up. He left it out partly because he wondered if Alana herself would take issue with it.

Before Mathew or Alana could say anymore they were interrupted by the arrival of a young girl, he couldn't decide if it was a blessing or an inconvenience. Alana was quick to comfort her and for a brief second he saw a part of the girl he had fallen in love with, what happened next in explicitly annoyed him. "Oh yeah sure, your friend Matthew will help," He said bitterly. He had a bad feeling but he couldn't explain why. Matthew took out his wand and help it down by his side as he followed the two girls.

 

[Cairo Savage]

Cairo had no idea of who this Havoc person was until a few minutes ago, but he was willing to listen to any friend of Lanithro's and was glad to be directed towards a different set of targets. First years were fun to manipulate, especially the first years raised in muggle homes because they believed anything and everything he told them no matter how ridiculous. Convincing first years that flying, human eating spiders were real was easy as taking candy from a baby, but the only drawback was they were too easy to lie to and eventually Cairo grew bored of scaring people younger than him and began to crave more of a challenge. He strolled a step behind Rome in his usual pace and enjoyed the feeling of the breeze through his platinum blond hair which was unusual considering he usually hated the outdoors and would rather spend his time napping in his dorm or reading in the common room. But he figured the contentment he was feeling towards the outdoors was due to the company he kept rather than the actual environment. Rome always kept things interesting and Lanithro added more violence to the mix. Cairo was the more sensible member of their group and unfortunately the biggest party pooper, but someone needed to hold everyone's fiery personalities back and keep them from getting into too much trouble.

Cairo followed Rome's orders when they arrived to the cliffs and stood out of their targets' eyesight. He had an obscured view of Rome as she walked towards the older students but new enough from her stature and general movements that she was putting on the water works. Cairo took initiative and knelt down to the ground, grabbing clumps of dirt in his hands and rubbing it all over his white t shirt before picking up a few twigs and leaves and messing them into his hair. When he thought he looked sufficiently dirtied and worn out he nodded to Lanithro and left the safety of their hiding spot. Rome and the older students were walking in a different direction so it gave Cairo the opportunity to catch up and gather more of an understanding of the situation. He knew that the older blonde girl was in his house and part of the quidditch team, but the boy was unfamiliar. Cairo assumed he was a nobody and knew the prefect's faces enough to know that neither of them were prefects and he couldn't immediately get in trouble for participating in this scheme. After waiting a moment he chose to reveal himself and ran towards Rome with the most terrified expression he could muster and a shaky tone to his voice. "Rome!" He shrieked as he approached the group. "I got away. But it's looking for me. We need to get out of here!" He quickened his breathing to sound like he was panting, feigning exhaustion to seem like he had ran longer than a few meters. He wanted to do more than pretend like he was both exhausted and terrified but being part of the distraction was all he could do for the time being. Turning violent from the beginning without any build up wasn't exactly in his nature. ​

<i></i>

 

[Lanithro Styx]

Lanithro Styx was informed by Havoc Zhefarovich, a cousin with a hidden agenda, that there was a new target, or targets but be careful with the female. Lanithro was aware of Alana and her relationship with Chaos, but the target was none other than lovesick Matthew Cosgrove, a seventh year. After thinking of a plan, and after manipulating and the first years with lies and bullying, it was time for something new. First years were entertaining, but there was only so much adventure and entertainment that they could offer. Hearing the tip, he told his friends, if one can really call them that, and they were interested in a new challenge, much to Lanithro’s delight. He borrowed one of his brother’s slingshots, and would love to practice it. He just needed a moment to pounce, and after so much of the twins and their charade, Lanithro would launch his attack. He crouched in the hiding place as Rome turned on her crying with such authenticity, it even impressed him. That was saying something. While she was working on Alana and Matthew, he looked over to see Cairo working himself over as well. Lanithro smirked and said nothing, but he shifted so that he was still out of sight, while Cairo ran to his sister, sounding like a frantic first year in a panic. Shame he could not transfigure himself into something amazing, otherwise he could be the monster. He was not included in their act, so he prepared himself, crouched and ready to fire the slingshot. He promised not to hurt Alana, but Matthew was free game. Lanithro smirked deviously, as he waited for the signal that he should launch his attack. After all, Lanithro was not exactly good at lying, or acting like they did. He was more the violent type, and would always be. He just hoped that his aim was as good as his brother's.
​

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana narrowed her red eyes at Matthew. She couldn't believe that he was mad at what she said. She wasn't even exactly sure what had bothered him. That she had volunteered him? That she had called him her friend. "You're a seventh year, Matthew" she reminded him, her tone full of the annoyance that she felt "so you're obviously the best chance we have of helping." The teenager couldn't believe she had to explain this to him. As a young boy ran towards them, Alana was just about to ask her Slytherin housemate if this was her brother, but he ran up to them. He spoke about something, and Alana's eyes widened. It wasn't uncommon to come across creatures in the forest, but here on the cliffs? "What's looking for you?" she asked, her voice full of apprehension.

 

[Matthew Cosgrove]

Matthew wasn't really sure what had bothered him about Alana's words. Did he not like being called her friend? Maybe not it was a shadow of what he wanted to be, or what he used to want, he didn't really know anymore. Still there was something about the whole situation he didn't quite like. Maybe he was judt being paranoid but after seeing Chaos in the holidays he would always be a little on edge about being caught with Alana by anyone, even two second year Slytherins.

Clealry his reaction bothered Alana but he didn't care. The fact he didn't care alarmed him. It became clear in that moment how far they had come from what they had been. "I err.. I just have a bad feeling," He looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was around watching them. These kids might be scarred of something for real or maybr Havoc sent them, who knew. He raised his wand in front of him. "Ok, what was looking for you?" For now he was going to givethe kids the benefit of the doubt but it was a rism, of the four of them, he was the only one who would be a target for an ambush.

 

[Rome Savage]

Rome was pretty pleased when things started to go her way, with the tears still streaming down her face the older girl put her arm around her and was trying to comfort Rome as she cried for her brother, she looked up at the older boy with her tear stained face as he seemed to be annoyed at the idea of him looking for her brother, or by something that had been said, "Please," the girl added as desperate as she possibly could, not sure how else she was going to deal with this, but knowing that she could very easily play it by what happened. The moment her brother did appear and walked straight over to them, "Cairo!" she exclaimed showing joy in her voice as the tears continued to stream down her face, she put her arms around him and held him tightly in a hug, thanking some god with quickening breath. The girl pulled away from her brother and just nodded at him, the tears still streaming down her face.

She glanced at both Alana and the boy as they both asked what it was that was after them, or looking for them, "I don't know, it all happened so fast," she told them as she continued to pretend to be feeling a strong sense of panic, she glanced at her brother and then the other two, "It doesn't matter what it was," she managed to say although as she spoke if she hadn't been pretending, acting then it would be obvious that Rome was one step away from just full out panicking, "We have to go now," but even as she said this, her voice lighter, but louder, between the tears and the heavy breathing, Rome just pretended to pass out, falling directly into her brother, knowing that she would catch him. Rome and her brother, had often done elaborate schemes to annoy people, and this just meant they were good at it. She was able to pretend to pass out without fear of hurting herself because she trusted her brother, and she hoped that Lanithro had been listening enough to hear what she'd said.
​

 

[Cairo Savage]

Cairo continued feigning a mix of exhaustion and fear as Rome pulled him into a tight hug. When she pulled away he softened his expression slightly to pretend like her presence comforted him though his expression quickly turned back when Rome mentioned the thing that was chasing him. The 'thing' in question did not have any thought behind it and Cairo wanted to expand his lie on it more to keep their dramatics believable and make Lanithro's involvement with the slingshot more terrifying for the older students but before he could open his mouth to speak, Rome fell on him, pretending to pass out. He caught her and held up her body weight as best he could while attempting to look scared of the non-existent thing chasing him and the pretend exhaustion that was supposed to have taken over his body. "Rome?" He queried to his pretend unconscious sister. "Rome?! Can you hear me?" His voice cracked while saying her name the second time which he hoped sounded fearful. "She must have passed out from shock." He stated, unsure of what else to do. He couldn't think of anything else to add to his sister's dramatics. He wished Lanithro would interrupt with his slingshot already. ​

<i></i>

 

[Lanithro Styx]

Lanithro awaited silently for the vocal signal, and he watched in amazement on the acting of the twins, and somewhat jealous that he could not do stuff like that. Sure he had his own talents, but these two put his acting skills to shame. It was truly something that he needed to do, and if he could, he would. Lanithro placed his rock into the holder of the slingshot, and aimed. Oh he knew where to aim. Havoc specifically wanted this boy to hurt, and what better way than to hit in the groin? The best part about this was the fact that Havoc sent them. Havoc, the boy that was essentially a gentleman and a fun sucker in every way (for Lanithro was not aware of how he truly was). Lanithro smirked as he heard the signal, and murmured, “Let’s see how much this hurts!” Lanithro let the rock fly, straight toward the boy’s groin, before loading up several more and shooting them to hit every part of the boy if he could, while hoping he would miss Alana, out of fear that Chaos might actually hurt him over break for bringing some bruises to his future wife. They were getting married, so they would have to care for each other, right?
​

 

[Alana Finch]

The situation went from bad to worse quicker than Alana had expected it to. Even though the brother and sister were united, there was still the threat of something out there. Alana begged to differ that it didn't matter what was after them, but before she could voice her concern, the girl had passed out into her brother's arms. Alana let out a little shriek as it happened, glad the girl's brother had caught her. "We have to go, Matthew. Now!" she stated, wondering how they were going to manage with a passed out girl, but knowing that they had to. Well, he had to. She wasn't going to carry anyone.

Moving forward, Alana had her wand in her hand. Something whizzed by her shoulder and then there were several somethings whizzing by. She had no idea what it was until she got grazed with one on the side of her leg. Alana let out a cry, gripping her leg as she quickly limped for a tree to shield herself. Gone were thoughts of helping the siblings and certainly of helping Matthew. He was a seventh year and could care for himself magically than they could.

 

[Matthew Cosgrove]

For a brief moment Matthew forgot his misgivings when the girl collapsed into the arms of her brother and Alana shrieked and yelled that they had to get out of there. He forgot he had been mad at Alana for whatever petty reason he had in the moment, he just knew he had to get the second years away from the cliffs and whatever was chasing them. He did find it strange however that neither of them had managed to tell him or Alana what was chasing the, were they really that scarred or was something else going on.

Matthew didn't have much time to think about it as suddenly he felt something whiz passed his leg. It was a rock or something, the amount of force it went passed him with felt like it was catapulted in his direction. It was an ambush. Matthew suddenly felt stupid for falling for it. Of course it was an ambush, he had been caught with Alana and he was being made to pay. He pulled out his wand and held it out in front of him, "Protego," He yelled, a shield erupted from the tip of his wand and the remaining rocks that came flying towards him bounced off the shield and harmlessly to the floor. Once the rocks were no longer a threat he turned to see what happened to Alana, she had found shelter behind a tree. Good. The last thing he wanted was for her to be hurt. Matthew walked over to her, all evidence of his early mood gone. "I should have expected something like this, I told Chaos I'd stay away from you and I failed, I'm sorry I got you in this Alana, and I'm sorry for how I acted earlier, you don't owe me any kind of explanation for what you told Chaos or any of it, clearly I read more into whatever it was we had than you did and that's my fault," He turned to the two siblings and shook his head. "I'm guessing there in on this, no doubt on Zhefarovich orders, god knows there's plenty of them around her to bark out orders,"

 

[Rome Savage]

Rome knew that Lanithro had started throwing the rocks, she could tell by the way the girl, Alana had acted beside her and seemed to run off and Rome just kept herself still, until she heard the boy speak, the target that they were after seemingly having to figure out what they were doing, and well, Rome decided that if he knew they could be a little less acting and a little more brutal, and it was then she opened her eyes and looked up at her brother with a smirk, she was enjoying this, Rome got to her feet and smirked at the boy they'd been sent to say a few words to, the older target and she was really looking forward to it, she wondered what he might do when Rome had made her move, and she glanced at him with a small smirk, wasting no time, "We're not Zhefarovich's minions, we just like picking on people like you," she lied easily before creating a fist with her hand and walking towards him, and then without holding back, she vented all her anger and punched him, aiming straight for his crotch, knowing that this was likely the second signal to both Lanithro and her brother Cairo that they were perhaps done with the politeness, and that it was just time for a little bit of all out violence, which Rome always enjoyed.
​

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana was in pain, but nowhere near the amount of pain that Matthew would have felt had he not used a charm to protect himself. The Slytherin was glad she'd gotten herself out of the way as rocks were thrown everywhere. As he moved towards her, Alana braced herself. He was obviously being targeted, and she was afraid that round two would begin soon. Matthew reached her and spoke. She looked up at him, her red eyes narrowing upon hearing that Chaos had acted as if he had any sort of ownership over her. He didn't. "What do you mean, what I said to Chaos?" she blurted out. She was obviously missing something here.

Before she could delve deeper into that, Matthew said something else that made Alana give an exasperated sigh. "No, I don't th-" she began before the girl came and interrupted. The Slytherin crossed her arms to listen. Not a moment later, the younger Slytherin punched Matthew in a place that made Alana gasp aloud. Her hand went to her mouth in shock at this vicious attack. She could no longer doubt that he was the intended target.