The morning after dark

[Melodie Lowe]

Melodie wandered the dark alley, carefully stepping across the stones, not wanting to trip over in her heels. It was dark and cold and she couldn't see anybody around. She was angry, worse, she was livid. As she walked along her eyes strained to see what was before her. Melodie angrily kicked a stone, sending it bouncing along the cobbled street into the darkness before her. She wanted to scream but she couldn't. Her throat was so choked up, she just wanted to burst into tears. She stumbled over the stone she had kicked and fell to her knees, grazing her hands on impact. Melodie pulled off her heels and threw one of them against a wall "Stupid bloody things" she muttered as she kicked the wall with her bare foot, stubbing her toe and causing it to bleed. She hopped up and down, her hand holding the toe, pressing tightly in an effort to stop the bleeding.

Melodie stumbled along in the darkness, hobbling, keeping the pressure off of her toe. She groaned as dirt began to collect around the open wound, causing a stinging sensation to travel through her body. She looked up momebntarily and her eyes caught sight of another pair of eyes, shining through the darkness. As she got closer she recognised the man only just in the dim light. "Chase?" she whispered, holding her toe.

 

[Chase Blade]

Chase was walking through Bleak Street, thinking about what he had done to Maddiie, knowing it had been necessary, even though it had been unprovoked. Chase didn't regret the decision to do so, he had thoroughly enjoyed being able to fight with her without having to hold back, or be restricted as to how he could fight. Chase heard somebody call his name and he spun around, his eyes grew wide as he saw who it was: Melodie Lowe, the one person he hadn't wanted to see.

Chase did not want to fight Melodie, but he knew that she would mention something about what he had done to Maddiie, he also knew that she would listen to his side of the story first. But what would Chase say when she asked? It had been unprovoked, unreasoned, and unwarranted. Chase knew that she wouldn't forgive him for what he had done, but he didn't care, he was a Death Eater, and the only friends he needed was his fellow Death Eaters, and his fiancee.

Chase hid the apprehension on his face, knowing that it would only confuse her more, but he didn't want her to be confused, he wanted her to be scared of him and he would succeed in that venture. Chase knew what would happen if he tried to attack her, and he wouldn't regret the choice to do it, he would relish the oppurtunity to silence anybody who would be able to sell him out as a Death Eater, and right now those people were Alex, Melodie, Maddiie, and that stupid Auror.

Chase chuckled slightly as he looked at Melodie, he thought it was about time for him to say something to her, he knew she would have already knew it was him, but he wasn't sure if she did know his secret, maybe Alex and Maddiie would have known better then to endanger Melodie's life, and had just kept it to themselves. Chase couldn't put all his hope in that though, so he turned to Melodie, his voice thick with venom, "Melodie." Chase said, sighing. "Why in the world are you here?" He asked.

 

[Melodie Lowe]

Melodie looked up at Chase, her mascara was smeared across her face where her angered tears had been wiped away. Her eyes were ablaze as they met his. How could he do this? He was Chase, he was no death eater. The Chase she knew wouldn't hurt a fly. But he had changed. And he had hurt one of the people that meant the most in the world to Melodie. Maddiie had been safe and happy when Abby and herself had let her go back to Alexander. Chase had almost undone all their hard work in a matter of seconds. He had almost killed her.

Melodie stammered, not knowing what to say. In the end she managed to string a sentence together "I-I've got alot on my mind" she said, it wasn't the full truth, but it wasn't all luies either. She knew she couldn't tell Chase that she knew about him, about what he had done to Maddiie. If she confronted him, she would surely be killed. Melodie wanted to hate Chase, he was just like the horrible death eaters that had driven her parents away from her. The same people who made her parents fake their own deaths and leave Melodie with no family at all.

She took a deep breath in. She felt so queasy, but she kept her mouth shut. For now at least. She knew Chase must be suspicious as to why she was in Bleak street in the forst place. The juxtaposition of the sweet girl standing in the dark part of the alley was so unusual. She was so sweet and innocent. But inside all Melodie felt was rage and anger. She wanted to slap Chase, give him a good talking to. But she couldn't put herself on the line like that. Her two baby boys were at home with Izaak, and they needed her. She couldn't get hurt. She looked down at her toe again. It was hovering over a pool of blood on the dirty ground. A thought crossed her mind, were death eaters attracted to blood? Is that what had bought Chase here? Melodie shook her head. That was only vampires, wasn't it?

 

[Chase Blade]

Chase sighed softly, and looked at her, she was scared already, though it could be mistaken as anger from anybody who didn't know better. Chase knew she would want to hurt him, he knew she would want to make him pay, but he also knew she wouldn't think that he would hurt her, she would be wrong there. Chase would make her pay for ever meeting him here, and he would not show mercy on her, there was nobody here to stop Chase, and that was how he liked it.

Chase hadn't expected her to be so confused that she could hardly even talk, but maybe she was just acting, he knew better then to underestimated anybody, even if they were pregnant. Chase wondered whatever had happened to Maddiie's baby after he had attacked her, whether she had had a miscarriage, or whether Chase had forced it out of her. He smirked at Melodie, wondering how she would feel if he did the same to her, Chase could risk it, he wouldn't care.

Chase wondered what she was thinking, whether she was surprised to meet him here, or whether she had been wanting to meet him, it didn't matter why she was in Bleak Street, she wouldn't be for much longer. Chase would either drive her away, or he would kidnap her, and torture her. It would be easy for Chase. He smiled darkly at the thought of another victim, he knew that she would hate him for it, but he knew that she would have already hated him.

Chase continued to watch her, he would make the first move, and she would never see it coming. Chase was entirely different to the one that she had thought she knew, and he would prove that to her now, it didn't matter about what she thought she knew about him, what mattered was that he was about to take her out of the picture, whether he left her in a coma, or whether she died by his hand was still entirely up to chance. Chase smirked, "Goodbye, Melodie." He said, and he raised his wand at her. Crucio! He thought.

 

[Melodie Lowe]

Melodie watched Chase. He was calculating his next move, and so was she. Her eyes darted back and forth, they were looking for a place to run, or even a person to scream for help. But their search failed. There was no way out. There wasn't a soul in the alley but Melodie facing Chase, facing her death. Tears began to sting her eyes as she saw the look in Chase's eyes. He was a true death eater and he would clearly show no remorse for torturing or leaving her for dead.

Melodie closed her eyes and prayed she wouldn't die. But it was pointless, she was going to die. Aiden and Lucas would not only be fatherless now. They would be without a mother too. She shut her eyes more tightly, the thought brought on pains to her chest. She didn't want to die. She wanted to beg for mercy. Why had she come to Bleak street in the first place? It was a bad idea from the start.

She looked down at her stinging toe, there was no way she could run fast enough on it to escape his clutches. She was done for. She couldn't even call for help. Melodie tried to reach for her wand but her fingers were worried and clumsy. As she saw Chase's hand move to his wand and raise it to her she shook her head "No, no, no" she found herself begging as she backed away from him. But it was no use. In a matter of seconds Melodie's bones felt as though they had been set on fire and her head cracked right open. Her hands held her head as she screamed out in pain.

Melodie fell to her knees, not even feeling the pain of the impact. This pain was much worse. She couldn't think. Her whole body seemed to be bound with pain and it ached as she tried to stand up. She tried to think of her boys, she tried to gain motivation. But he was too strong for her. She fell to the ground, grazing her head on the way down, causing blood to streak through her hair and form a pool on the ground. She was done for, nobody could save her now.

 

[Chase Blade]

Chase found the corner of his mouth curving up into a smile, there was nowhere for her to run, and there was nobody around for her to run to, it was only her and Chase, and nobody would be able to hear her scream. Chase would make sure she didn't feel a thing if he did kill her, but for now Chase would just enjoy watching her squirm. Chase was far from the person anybody had remembered him as, and nobody would be able to stop him right now, not even Eden.

Chase had a murderous look upon his face, and her begging only made him feel more angry, he was not here to see the pointless beggings of a girl, he wasn't here for that girl at all. Chase would make her pay for not only ruining his day, but also having the mere knowledge of him being a Death Eater, when Chase was done with her she wouldn't remember what had happened here today, or what had happened to Maddiie. It would be one blank memory, as if it was a nightmare.

Chase would torture her, and she wouldn't remember any of it, that just made it a lot more fun for him. Chase laughed slightly and lowered his wand, "You bore me, you know that? At least when I tortured Maddiie there were people around to watch, and there was even Alex trying to kill me." Chase said, knowing that she would be scared out of her mind sooner or later, and Chase would torture her to insanity, and nobody would be able to help her.

Chase wondered if Melodie was even going to defend herself or not, that was what had made the torture of Maddiie so fun, he had had several people trying to kill him for what he was doing, "So how's Maddiie lately? Is she still in Hospital, or do I need to pay her another visit?" Chase asked, a murderous look on his face, and a trace of venom in his voice. Chase aimed his wand at Melodie again, this time he would go for the lasting damage. "Crucio!" He said.

 

[Melodie Lowe]

Melodie opened her eyes, only to see a smile across Chase's face. He was enjoying watching her suffer and scream out in pain. Her body ached as she twitched on the floor, her hands clutching the sides of her head, trying to ease the pain. She wanted to fight back but she couldn't. As she had fallen to the ground, her wand had fell from her bag, landing behind a dumpster, lost in the darkness. She tried to reach for it, but her body was in too much pain. She was paying for sticking her nose in where she wasn't welcome. He sure was making her regrett trying to stand up for Madddiie.

Chase's words echoed through her head. She was boring him. She tried not to listen, knowing he was only trying to aggrivate her more. She thought how horrible Alexander must have felt, trying to save Maddiie, but not being able to do anything about it. Melodie wished somebody was there to try and save her, her strength was fading fast. She could barely speak through the jolts of pain travelling her body.

"You won't get away with this!" Melodie cried, trying to crawl towards her wand, trying to bear the pain. The reference to Chase paying Maddiie another visit made Melodie angrier, gave her a slight bit of power. The motivation moved her body closer to her wand. But not close enough. She was stopped in her tracks as Chase yelled "Crucio" again sending even more pain through her frail body.

 

[Chase Blade]

Chase watched the emotions flicker across her face, and they only made him want to kill her faster, but Chase had a worse plan for her. Chase would leave her insane, and that would only make him laugh, he was enjoying torturing her, and no amount of begging would stop him right now. Chase was lost in the moment, and not even Alex coming along to try and kill him again would stop him right now, he was a Death Eater in whole, and he was going to make sure that stayed secret.

Chase watched Melodie trying to grasp for her wand as he tortured her, "I don't think so." Chase snarled, pointing his wand at her wand. "Accio wand." He said, catching Melodie's wand as it zoomed at him. Chase would give it back when he was finished, as much as he would enjoy a challenge right now, it was so much more fun with no resistance, that way he would be able to watch her suffer as he did it. Chase would make sure she didn't remember any of that, but the mark would still be there.

Chase smirked at her, wondering what she could be thinking as she writhed on the floor. Chase would make it short and sweet, but for now he would just keep watching her squirm, it was fun to watch for Chase, but he knew that she wouldn't think so. Chase had made an enemy today, and it was too bad she wouldn't remember any of it when it came down to it, he would make sure that she would never be able to to tell anybody about Chase being a Death Eater.

Chase glanced down at Melodie on the ground, she looked pathetic in Chase's eyes, and he would be glad to be rid of her, if only he wasn't letting her live. Chase walked around the alley a little, making sure to keep his eyes on her, it would all be over for her soon, she wouldn't remember any part of her life, and she wouldn't remember Chase's secret, or what he had done to her today no matter what those doctors tried to do. He pointed both wands at her, "Crucio!" He said.

 

[Melodie Lowe]

As Melodie's hand got closer to her wand Chase snatched it from her and held it over her as if to tease her like a child. But this was no childs play, Chase wasn't the school bully. This was no game, Melodie could be killed. Her body trembled as she bit her lip through the pain. She felt so un coordinated, the dark wasn't helping. Why had she been such a fool as to not telling anyone where she was going? Nobody would even know anything was gone, nobody would notice she was gone.

Melodie wished so hard for Izaak to come and rescue her. At least her boys would be safe. She had done the right thing making Izaak their god-father. She knew he would care for them well. Melodie wasn't able to be brave at all. She felt so small, so helpless. She was so scraed of death, it was such an unknown thing to her. She looked so pathetic, crumpled up on the dirty ground, blood and dirt staining every inch of her body and clothing. There was no way out. She looked up at Chase, her eyes filled with tears of fear. But he showed no compasssion towards her as he held both wands up and commanded 'Crucio!' again, sending messages of pain and aching to her brain.

As her bones lit on fire Melodie squeesed her eyes shut as tightly as she could. Her fingers glung to the ground, pulling gravel as she tried to pull herself up. But her efforts were wasted, she was too weak. She had fought and lost the battle. She had to give up. In her last effort she called out "HELP!!" she cried, before collapsing into a pile of dirt, twitching helplessly.

 

[Chase Blade]

Chase chuckled softly as she rolled back and forwards on the ground and she called out for help, he couldn't help but feel a little bit of sorrow for her, if she hadn't been a part of the unfortunate turn of events that had led her to find out Chase's secret, they might have been able to be friends. But that just couldn't happen now, Chase couldn't have anybody ruin his secret, and he couldn't have a whole army of Aurors coming after him. Chase needed to live long enough to marry Eden.

Chase turned to look at Melodie, she looked pathetic lying on the floor, but there would be no pity from Chase, he was here for one reason now, and that was to silence her, and he would do his job, or he would kill her some other time. Chase would make short work of her, and then he would go after Alex, and he would be sorry he ever got in Chase's way. Chase knew that Alex would be more then happy to fight Chase, and he was glad about that fact, Chase would be happy to end his miserable existence.

Chase knew that Melodie hadn't wanted to see Chase like this, and she couldn't be exactly happy with how this was all turning out right now. Chase would make her pay for meeting him today, and even thinking about giving him some kind of lecture, that wouldn't have been practical, he was not one to mess around with, and they would all realise it soon enough when they saw Melodie lying in a hospital bed, insane. He pointed his wand at Melodie again. Stupefy! Crucio! He thought, smirking.

 

[Melodie Lowe]

Melodie prayed that somebody would help her, that somebody would stumble across them. But deep down she knew she was wasting her prayers. She was cold and alone in this. It was never the way she wanted to die. She wanted to die happy, peacefully, among friends. This was the complete opposite. She was being tortured to death with nobody to save her. Melodie's fingers traced the graze on her head, gathering blood on their tips as they went. She looked at her hands, now covered in her own blood. It was the beginning of the end.

She whimpered as she pulled her knees into her chest, wrapping her arms around them as if to comfort herself. This couldn't be happening. Ut was too horrible. Chase was her friend. Not a murderer. She tried to block out his voice, but he was too loud. There was nobody in the cold dark alley so his voive echoed through it, like a giant towering over her. This was Melodie's worst nightmare come true.

She thought of all the things she wished she had done. She wished she had introduced Adam to his sons, that she had told Abby she loved her more often, but most of all she wished she had forgiven Sia. She could stay mad at her parents, but Sia hadn't really done anything wrong. Melodie was snapped back to the harsh reality before her as Chase stood over her and sent the most pain she had felt yet through her trembling and whimpering body. She threw her head back in anger and pain and caused the bleed to become stronger. She felt faint, it was a wonder she wasn't knocked out yet.

 

[Chase Blade]

Chase watched her pull her legs up to her chest, she looked like an idiot. Chase could see her thinking, he wondered if she still considered Chase a friend after all of this. He shoved the thoughts out of his mind, Chase was a Death Eater, the only friends he would ever need were the other Death Eaters, and his fiancee. Eden. What would Eden think about all of this? Would she be proud, or would she dispise Chase for doing it? He tried to push the thoughts out of his mind, but it was hard.

Chase turned to Melodie, he would have to finish her soon. Every moment they wasted here, was a moment where somebody could stumble across the two of them, and Chase could get in a lot of trouble for what he was doing. That's if I'm caught, of course. Chase thought, smirking. Chase wondered what thoughts were going through her head, and whether or not she would tell anybody about this if she remembered any of it later. Chase wondered if they could ever be friends again after this.

Chase knew he would have to get out of there now, he could hear people moving around outside, and any number of them could wander in here, and see what was going on here. "It's really a pity you had to stumble across me today, Melodie. Any other time it wouldn't have had to come to this. Just remember not to tell anybody about who did it, and I wont have any need to come and visit you again." Chase said, winking at her. Chase knew she wouldn't tell anybody, because she was scared enough as it is.

Chase threw Melodie's wand to the ground next to her, and disapparated with a loud pop, knowing that somebody would hear that and run to see what was going on. He hoped it was Izaak, that way he would be the first to discover her, and that would only make it so much sweeter for Chase next time he saw her, for she wouldn't ever want to meet him again now. Maybe they could be friends some time in the future, but for now Chase would just have to keep going as her enemy.

 

[Izaak Finch]

Thankful for the peace that had finally befallen his friend’s apartment, Izaak collapsed in an exhausted heap. Children were hard work, he realised that now and as much as he adored Aiden and Lucas, twins were a nightmare to babysit. If it wasn’t one screaming for a want he could not decipher then it was the other and if by chance one was ready to fall asleep then the other would wake it with screeching wails. But by some miracle both of Melodie’s boys were now sound asleep. Lulling his head to the side, Izaak stared with glazed azure irises at the television set. He wasn’t even able to muster the energy to laugh out loud at the sitcom that was being screened. It was times like these when his thoughts usually soared up to his baby girl in the sky, musing over all the different things he would have loved to have taught her, how he was sure she would have taken every aspect of her mother’s beauty save for a pair of eyes from her daddy, her quirks, her first words, the things she would have loved and the things she would have loved to hate. It ached only a little to do so when he remembered that she would never be, but she was worth his every thought.

In the midst of smiling at a memory he had shared with a pregnant Isabella during his first real encounter with Cassie, Izaak was hit by a sudden chill. It shuddered eerily up his backbone, right to the nape of his neck but even following its physical manipulation, it remained pinned inside of his mind. There was no telling where this sudden bout of telepathy came from, but Izaak knew that something was wrong, something was very wrong. And there was only one person he could think it to be about: Melodie. Snatching his iPhone from the coffee table, Izaak jabbed in his sister’s number without missing a beat and to his absolute relief, she answered and on top of that was more than okay with taking over his job as the twin’s babysitter. The five minutes that it took her to get to the apartment were excruciating but it gave him time to make a quick judge of where his friend might have ventured off to.

Barely a word was spoken as his sister entered through the front door with a knock. There was but a mere reassurance from Izaak in the mere seconds before he disapparated to wherever the hell his instincts would lead him. When he appeared again he was doused head to toe in shadows and pressed up against the wall of some sort of suspicious alley way. Izaak did not have the vaguest idea of where inside his mind he had pulled this dreary scene from but as the sound of a woman’s whimpers and a pop, much similar to the one he had just made, reached his ears Izaak realised that nor did he care either. "Melodie!" He screamed through the night’s thick blanket, his hysterical voice growing hoarser with every shout of her name thereafter as he sprinted as fast as he could in the direction of her sobs. It was then that he saw her, just a shuddering bloody mess on the ground. And it was then that his heart tumbled into his stomach. "Melodie! What happened?!" Izaak’s own voice was choked now as he dropped to his knees by her side and scooped her up into the safety of his lean and muscular arms. A hand reached across to try and stem the flow of blood that was streaming from her head wound, but it was no use. Instead it just stained his perfectly white t-shirt a frightful shade of crimson as he cradled her helpless body against his chest. "I’ve got you, it’s okay, I’ve got you Mels." The muscles in his torso began to quiver relentlessly, in a mix of shock and fury. Whatever low-life that had done this to her had him to face now. They were not going to get away with this, not if Izaak had anything to do with it.

 

[Melodie Lowe]

ID # 7273099

The floor was cold and hard, but Melodie's body could scarcely feel it. Her limbs felt numb, most of the pain had gone but she was left quivvering on the ground. She pulled her knees in closer to her chest as she heard footsteps approaching. He was back to finish her off. Melodie trembled as the tall figure moved closer and stood over her frail body. Her eyes opened slightly as she heard the figure speak her name. Her freezing body shook as the familiar sturdy arms held her safely from the ground. Izaak had come to save her, he held in his arms Melodie's life, her last few breaths she would take.

Melodie should have been reassured by Izaak's voice telling her it was ok, but fear was still thick on her mind, as was the blood seeping from beneath her hair. It dripped across Izaak's tee shirt, spoiling its bleache white with violent crimson red. Melodie closed her eyes as she lay in his arms, weeping silently. The cool breeze stung her open wounds as it travelled over her body. She could feel Izaak's torso quivver against her. He was scared, ans he had every right to be. His best friend had been left for dead in a dark alley, attacked by someone she had trusted. Even though she couldn't think straight, one thing was clear in Melodie's head; she could never tell who did this to her, or she would surely be dead.

 

[Antoinette Dupont]

It had been the hardest thing for Antoinette to watch her grandaughter be lead to the dark part of the alley. She had tried to stop her, but there was nothing she could do. Melodie was still in denial towards the fact that her dead grandmother could still be speaking to her, and even more in denial that she would get hurt if she continued on her journey of revenge. Antionette had to watch as her grandaughter was put into the worst pain possible and she couldn't stop it happening, which hurt her the most. She had done all she could to save Melodie, and to her suprise, not all of her efforts had failed. Antoinette was doubtful that visiting Izaak would at all alert him to what was happening to Melodie, but as she brushed over him, he obviously felt a jolt and his mind listened to her whispers. As Izaak arrived at Melodie's boody Antoinette stood behind him and watched with kind eyes. "You are her true hero" She whispered in his ear, gently brushing her hand across Melodie's wounded head. She watched him cradle her in his arms, he had saved her, and for that Antoinette would forever be in debt to him.