Tonight in Flames

[Leah Winters]

Out of Character:

ID #7337183

It had been a warm week, the sun beat down upon the town causing distress and irritation in every adult muggle. The muggle children however enjoyed it; they were on summer vacation and living it up by spending hours outside playing various games. It was quite entertaining to watch someone when they were unaware they were being studied. She now knew why Hades Lutrov made it a personal hobby of his to do so. This was something she had found out over a span of nearly seven days. Her mission in The United Kingdom had been her own doing, she had given it much thought and deliberation and decided that it was time for a second kill. Kill. The word lingered in her mind, making her crave to do it immediately. Wait.

Perhaps this was the confirmation she needed or her current urge to hurry and get it over with could be also reminding her that she really did not want to do this. Leah had always been somewhat torn when it came to killing innocents, she disagreed with killing without cause, and this was why she had to make herself do this. Killing innocents was something of a requirement for a Death Eater, and if she felt torn about doing so, a remedy and a forced murder was imperative. It would be shameful if she were to back out in the last moment, and incredibly harmful to her career if she couldn't bring herself to do something that all Death Eaters found joy in.

Darkness was coming fast. The sun slowly sunk down beneath the tallest buildings, bringing the familiar whistles and name calls from parents to their children to come back inside for dinner. It had been the same everyday, Leah had watched and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike against the one man she had targeted. Achille Durand. It had been easy to find someone for her sick and twisted experiment. Achille was somewhat known in the wizarding world for marrying a pureblooded witch. Many purebloods had been disapproving of this union, for he besmirched their line.

Leah hated besmirchers of the blood, and that hatred was what fueled her decision to end his life. She made it a point to not find out much about him, for fear of realizing he had children, and cowering out. She had watched him walk down this street everyday, and now he was here strolling casually along like he always did with a cheerful whistle emitting from his lips, and his thoughts on perhaps his wife.

She had to act quickly, jumping down from the well shielded tree and crossing the street into a darkly shadowed alleyway. Only a few minutes passed before he had arrived. "Durand." Leah said loudly and clearly. She kept herself in the shadows with her wand pointed at him. Perhaps it was curiosity, or maybe just plain stupidity, but he entered the alleyway with questions on his lips.

"Avada Kedavra" A bright green light flashed through the alleyway, striking the muggleborn down. Second kill. Was the only thought that remained in her mind for more than a second. She had done it.. and felt no regret whatsoever. The body lay in a crumpled heap, no sign of struggle and absolutely no sign of life. "Stupid. You were very stupid, Achille Durand."

 

[Rose Scott]

Rose Scott was a muggle vet, living in a muggle neighbourhood. There was no problem with this, under normal circumstances, but this was the evening that she would finally learn the truth, the answer to a question she had asked so long ago; everything was going to make sense.

It had been a wonderful day, children playing, the odd teenager attempting to get a tan as they lay in their bathing suits on their front lawns. The practice had been particularly void of the usual check-ups, with only a rabbit brought in by a very small girl, because it had been defecating in an 'odd' way. As it turned out, the rabbit chose to display this on the table as Rose had examined him. Sighing, she had explained to the girl that this was normal for rabbits and that she should continue to feed him rabbit food and not human food, as the girl's brother had suggested. There was only one casualty at the practice, that day; a dog who had managed to break his leg by falling from a tree. Rose decided not to bother asking why the dog had done this, but instead handed over to the younger and more eager vet, her shift having just ended.

Rose had walked back home, briefly passing Achille Durand on the way, smiling at him and exchanging pleasantries. It was late. Quite late. And Rose had walked part way down the road on her route home, when she remembered what she had intended to ask Achille. They had only known each other a few months, his peculiar wife having had a dispute with a young man who had been hanging around outside the practice for some time, watching Rose in a worrying way. Achille had popped in after his wife had walked off without another word, but had come back the next to seemingly check if the young man had returned. Achille was a lovely man, aging though he was, he seemed keen on gardening. Rose loved gardening, too, and that was where the initial friendship had come into play. Rose had recently spotted a strange flower in her garden and, believing it to be rare, had intended to ask Achille to inspect it. Unfortunately, this kept slipping her mind, and now Rose practically skipped along the path, taking a shortcut back to the route Achille usually walked.

Normally, dark though they were, the alleyways were safe to walk, and Rose hurried along, taking out her small pocket torch, shining it to make sure she didn't step in dog mess. And then, she could see movement up ahead. That was probably him. Rose had been about to speak, to call his name, when she noticed another figure. A friend of his, maybe? But what happened next caused the hairs on Rose's neck, to stand on end. "Avada Kedavra" There had been no conversation, just these words, and the sudden burst of light. Rose had already turned her torch away, so as not to blind anyone.. But even in the darkness, she could faintly make out the outline of something. Someone.

The torch she had been holding, fell to the floor with a clatter. Rose could hardly move, staring, shaking, unsure of what she had just witnessed. Her hands were behind her a short way, making sure there were no obstacles as she slowly backed away, her breath in short bursts, sweat on her brow. She had to get help. Whoever that was on the floor- and she was almost sure it was Achille- was seriously injured. Injured by what, though? A light hitting him? That couldn't be right. This person had a knife or something. And if she didn't run now, she would be the next target.

 

[Leah Winters]

The deed was complete, and now Leah was left to stand over the corpse with her wand still pointed at him. She gave him a slight nudge with her foot. Nothing. The man was dead, and now the pureblood lineage would not be tainted, and Leah's reputation would be upheld in the highest esteem. She pondered over her own feelings with the matter at hand. Did she feel guilty for ending a life? No, not really. In fact, she felt like this had been a long time coming. Achille was clearly old, and very stupid.

He had ambled into a darkly lit alleyway without his wand drawn, and had been struck down by someone far more superior. Muggle Borns were as idiotic as she had thought. Leah suddenly smiled. She had done it. She had killed an innocent with no regrets, and thus felt far more powerful than she had ten minutes ago. In fact, she quite enjoyed stalking the prey for several days, following him to work and finding out where he had lived. It was invigorating to have the power at her fingertips, and being completely in control of when he would die.

Her smile faltered when the sounds of shoes crunching the pavement reached her ears. She looked around, seeing nothing but darkness, and muttered "Lumos" Her Sequoia wand lit up and pinpointed the female figure staring fearfully at Achilles' lifeless body. She was obviously a muggle, for her fear was both of magic and the dead man in front of her.

In fact she looked familiar. Achille had been seen consorting with this woman plenty of times during the week, and it had been interesting to eavesdrop on a normal conversation. They had spoke of gardening and of her job, and both seemed to genuinely like one another. She was definitely a confirmed muggle, and with that thought Leah had no qualms about killing her too.

It had to be done. She had witnessed something purely evil, a murder without any cause except for personal gain. The muggle would have to be disposed of quickly, before she ran off and alerted the authorities. Leah swooped closer to the woman, her wand pointed out. "Avada Kedevra" She called, watching the bright green light strike the muggle down.

She would have to hide the bodies or else another muggle would stumble upon them, and she would have a greater chance of being caught. "Locomotor Corpus" The muggle levitated in the air and followed Leah into the alleyway, gently dropping beside Achille. She knew the perfect place to dispose of them.

 

[Rose Scott]

She had to run. She had to move. She had to. She couldn't. He feet scuffed only slightly, but her body remained fixed in place with fear. The killer was turning on her. She was going to be next. Rose knew it was useless panicking, but it was difficult not to with a murderer looking her way. And then- a light was shining on her. This was it. She hadn't run and now a strange light illuminated her face, revealing her to the monster. Her eyes had immediately fallen to Achille's body. She couldn't help it. She wanted him to wake up, to stand up and help her. He wasn't going to stand up. Rose knew it. She could go nowhere.

Any moment now, Rose would be joining her daughter. She wanted to live, but equally at this thought, she wanted to stay. Her daughter's death had been the most traumatic event of Rose's life. Not a day went by without her thinking of her beautiful little girl. Her strange little girl. Because, for Rose, this was not the first time she had seen magic, though she did not realize it; her wonderful child had been a witch. She had never been old enough to get a letter to Hogwarts or a wand, but her magic had begun to show and Rose had witnessed it. The first time had been at home when the two were enjoying a meal by candlelight as the electricity had gone out. Conversation had switched to school and friends. Friends who weren't actually friends. Friends who had hurt Abigail. Rose had known nothing of her daughter's bullies, but she could not miss the sudden blue flicker of the candle as Abigail attempted to withdraw from the conversation. The blue flicker had lasted only a few seconds, but it had been odd. Rose could only think of two possibilities; a sudden burst of heat or her eyes playing tricks. She had gone for the latter. It was only now that he thoughts had briefly skimmed across the possibility of what it actually was.

The last few moments seemed so slow, so calm. Rose could not move, could not flee her oncoming death, but she could do one last thing. As she heard those words, saw that magical green light heading for her, Rose closed her eyes and thought only of her daughter, of Abigail Scott. In that final burst of light, Rose was knocked to the ground, landing with a sickening thump. She lay there in the darkness, an innocent muggle. Dead.