tabitha pryce is a cougar. (savaged) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2009-02-20 21:35:00 |
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Tabitha Pryce vs Sirius Black (& Marlene McKinnon) Tabitha crept up the stairs, leaving behind the others to look for Marlene -- she had to be here somewhere. She pushed open the first door she came to at the top of the stairs slowly, but it was empty. She walked farther down the hall to the next door, gripping the doorknob and slowly pushing it open; she peered into the room, smiling when she saw someone on the bed there, facing away from the door -- and completely alone. Perfect. While she may not plan to kill Marlene, she would certainly have fun with her first before taking her back to the camp with her. She left the door open behind her as she stalked carefully over to the bed, hoping she wouldn't wake up despite the noises coming from downstairs. Despite Tabitha's wishes, the sound of the chaos coming from downstairs was loud enough to cause Marlene to stir in her sleep, groaning a little in irritation that they were making that much noise downstairs. They knew she was taking a nap, and that she still felt like hell from the other night, yet it sounded like they'd turned the radio up to full blast down there. "Remuuuus shut the door please; it's loud," she mumbled into the pillow, rolling from her side to lay on her stomach, snuggling into the blankets and gesturing with a sleepy wave of her hand before her arm flopped to her side again, still drowsy enough to fall back asleep within a few seconds whether the door was closed or not. She had to resist the chuckle that threatened to escape from her lips, but she didn't respond to Marlene's request. Tabitha crawled into the bed beside Marlene, leaning over her, looking down at her helpless form. Oh, it would be so easy to kill her right now -- she didn't even know who was in the room with her. Tabitha reached up to lightly brush away the hair away from Marlene's back to expose her neck, taking advantage of the fact that she thought it had been Lupin coming into the room so she wouldn't be suspicious of someone putting their fingers in her hair. She bent down until her mouth was next to Marlene's ear, and although she held back that chuckle it was difficult to keep the laughter out of her voice as she spoke: "Remus isn't here, sweetheart." And then she yanked roughly on the neck of Marlene's shirt, tearing the fabric, before sinking sharp teeth into soft flesh. That voice was unmistakable. The sound of Tabitha's voice was enough to send a jolt of terror through Marlene, her eyes going wide before she could force the rest of her body to move. It was a dream, this had to be a dream. A moment of being too petrified to to do anything passed as the fabric of her shirt was ripped away from the collar, and she felt the now all-too familiar feeling of Tabitha Pryce's teeth piercing into her shoulder, like dozens of tiny knives stabbing her all at once. Marlene wasn't even aware that she'd begun screaming until she heard herself, shrieking for help from anyone who could hear and struggling to push the woman off of her -- only succeeding in getting her feet even more tangled up in the bedsheets. She stretched her arm out toward the bedside table, her fingertips just barely brushing the wand that was lying just out of reach. Struggling to reach further, she tapped at the wand's side with her fingertips to try to knock it closer, only to watch in helpless horror as it went rolling off the far edge of the table and clattered to the ground. Screaming again, this time out of frustration and anger rather than only from the pain and fear, she grabbed for the next closest thing on the table. Her hand wrapped around a still nearly-full glass of water, and Marlene brought it back as hard as she could at the strange angle her arm was bent, smashing it into Tabitha's head with less force than she would have liked. "GET AWAY FROM ME," she yelled, still trying to push the werewolf away. It hadn't been hard enough to break, but it still hurt, and Tabitha recoiled with a snarl, releasing Marlene's shoulder. The water had slopped out to soak both herself and Marlene, and she tried to ignore the pain on the back of her head where she had been struck with the glass. "You bitch," she growled, struggling to try and pin down the girl's arms so she would stop being so difficult. "There's no point in fighting! They're all DEAD, you know. I didn't come alone and all your friends are dead, and their blood's been spilled all over the floor while you slept!" Or they would be soon, anyway, and when they were Tabitha was going to take great pleasure in dragging Marlene downstairs to see the carnage. She dug her claws into the open wound on Marlene's shoulder and pressed down hard. Marlene's rage-filled shrieking found itself caught in her throat as Tabitha spoke, her cries falling silent and her struggles slowing as the reality of what she's said set in. It felt as though all the air had been sucked from her lungs in a moment's time. She was lying. She was lying. And within a few seconds, (now that she herself was quiet) Marlene could hear that the yelling from the ground floor had continued. They were still down there. She was lying. "FUCK YOU. NO THEY'RE NOT, YOU FUCKING LIAR," Marlene cried, tears streaming down her face, both her screeching and struggling rekindled with new energy. She needed to get downstairs; she needed to help the others; she needed to get away from Pryce. "REMUS. REMUS SIRIUS JAMES SOMEONE HEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH" she screamed as Tabitha stabbed her claw into the bite, Marlene's hands clenching the blankets and smothering her screams in the pillow as she tried to fight the excruciating pain. One arm managed to escape Tabitha pinning it down for a fraction of a second, and Marlene grabbed a fistful of her dirty tangled ginger hair, yanking it hard. Ugh, and there was that obnoxious, impossibly loud screaming again. Tabitha snarled, and had been inches away from sinking her teeth into Marlene again when the other woman got her hands in her hair and pulled. She cried out from the sharp pain (as if her head hadn't already suffered enough abuse from the glass) and tried to pull away out of Marlene's grip, but she was holding on too tight. Letting go of Marlene's shoulder, she used the blood-slick hand to claw at one of her wrists, trying to get her to release her hair herself -- and with her other hand, she decided to do something about that insufferable high-pitched screaming. Her free hand shot down to Marlene's face, two fingers going right into that open mouth, curling to scratch her claws along the inside of the girl's cheek, preparing to tear her mouth wide open. Marlene kept her fingers hooked around Tabitha's hair despite the pain that resounded from the werewolf clawing at the arm, knowing that losing her grip would mean losing the one bit of leverage she had. She kept right on pulling, trying to keep Pryce from getting close enough to bite her again -- until Marlene tasted blood, her own blood, in her mouth, and felt Tabby's nail's scraping against the inside of her cheek. Trying not to start gagging over the fact, she slowly released her hold on her hair, hoping maybe that if she stopped Pryce would follow suit, and tried failingly to twist her head, trying to get Tabitha's hand away from her face. There was nowhere that she could go, though; nowhere that she could move, and in a final act of (ironic) desperation, Marlene squeezed her eyes shut and chomped down on the werewolf's fingers as hard as she could, clenching her jaw as tightly as possible, keeping her tongue towards the back of her mouth, not wanting to taste anything when just the idea of what she was doing made her sick. Sirius sat up from the half doze at the sound of Marlene screaming. At first he was wondering if James had gotten in there and was giving her the worlds worst spot of tickling...but it wasn't very likely she would scream that he was a fucking liar. Generally, screaming like that required intervention so he mentally fought the urge to note that he should give Remus a good pat on the back considering she was screaming his name with such vigour (thus must have had a decent amount of practice in doing so), grabbed his wand off the side and padded across the landing swiftly. "Alright, Marzepan, what-" He started, checking in on the sight that would normally have made him wish for a camera. Well, fucking bloody hell, it's the ginger terror that isn't pregnant. He sent a stunning spell aimed at the bitch's head, hopefully before Marlene gagged and ruined what would undoubtedly, under other circumstances, be a cherished memory. "MOVE!" He yelled at Marlene, as if she couldn't get the idea herself. As soon as Marlene's teeth had closed down around her fingers, Tabitha roared in pain -- her teeth bared, she clenched the first of her free hand and began to punch Marlene's jaw. Over and over again, smashing her knuckles against Marlene's face to try and get to to let go. Once she was able to pull her hand free, Tabitha snarled and smashed her fist against Marlene's face once more. She heard someone at the doorway, looking up to meet Sirius' eyes -- the spell was flying toward her, and ducked down, rolling off the bed on the opposite side to dodge it. "You'll regret that," she snarled, grabbing the lamp off the desk; instead of throwing it at Sirius, raising it above her head to smash down on Marlene's face -- it would be much more enjoyable to make him watch his friends suffer. Banking on someone having sense in a moment like this would be insane. If he were completely honest, even he was wishing he'd managed to get two attractive, wet girls in his bed so he really was an excellent example of the bloody weird things that run through your head. Another such example being that there was only one lamp breaker in this house and even that was due to the truly evil invention of the bra...or was it her top? It didn't matter either way. He didn't have time to dwell on it. "Oh no, whatever will I do," Sirius said while putting his hand to his mouth, in a mock-frightened falsetto. The logical thing would have been to blow the lamp and grab Marlene. Unfortunately, logic doesn't enter into it when the bitch killed Agnes and that was the perfect amount of rage to hold on to. "Oh, right!" He followed it up quickly with, "Rock'n'Roll, Marley!" It was the only warning he gave her and he took a run and jump on the bed (hopefully not tripping over the brunette) and dove for the were-bitch. The only part of Sirius's statement that Marlene managed to make any sense out of was the part where he said "roll," which was exactly what she did. She'd gotten smashed in the face with more than enough things over the past year -- just because that damn lamp probably had a grudge against Marlene didn't mean that she was going to let Tabitha add it to the list of things Marlene had nearly been bludgeoned to death with. Rolling towards the foot of the bed, trying to get out of the way (and also trying not to dwell on the fact that this was probably was some sort of sick fantasy come true for Sirius), Marlene also sent a kick in Tabitha's direction to try to give Sirius a leg up (heh) in fighting against the shebeast. The last thing Tabitha expected from a wizard was a physical attack -- so often they relied on their spells that when Sirius did just the opposite, jumping on the bed to tackle her, the lamp was dropped harmlessly to the bed as she fell backwards. The werewolf snarled, furious to have been caught off guard like this, and she was raking her claws down Sirius' back before they even hit the floor. She latched onto him, digging her claws into him as deeply as she could, and tried to roll the pair of them over so she could gain the advantage. Out of the corner of his eye, Sirius could see Marlene leave in a blur of movement. Not a terribly good sign - when did Remus ever yank? - but he couldn't concentrate on that. He was already slightly perturbed by the idea of fighting something with boobs, but it couldn't be helped. Mind you, the last time he'd had someone claw him had been a much more pleasurable experience and he gave her as severe a kneeing to the stomach as he could. He didn't want blood mixing, particularly, as he was already doing a little Postal-at-the-Moon Syndrome lately and he needed to disarm the silly cow. She couldn't believe her prey had escaped -- furious, Tabitha focused her energy fully on Sirius now; she had no qualms about killing him too soon. The knee to her stomach caused her to double over, and she snarled and rolled off of him, clutching her stomach as she stood up. The back of her legs hit the bed and she glanced down at it, noticing the abandoned case there. She promptly snatched it up, throwing it as hard as she could in Sirius' direction. Sirius ducked with a cry of "Whoa!" at the flying case. That was a little unexpected, but if he was pissing her off, all the better. "Rude!" He called out to her in a patronising tone, quirking an eyebrow. If anyone could piss someone off enough to make them angry enough to just go for it rather than throw things like a little coward? "Clearly your husband was the one with manners! Stupefy!" Tabitha was forced to dodge the red spell from Sirius' wand before she could react properly, but it was clear from the look on her face that she was enraged. "How dare you speak about my husband," Tabitha snarled furiously -- Sirius' plan had certainly worked. She lunged for him then, using her weight to push him back against the wall -- and when she noticed the window directly behind Sirius, she grabbed his head and shoved hard, and the window shattered behind him with the force of it. While it wasn't the first time Sirius had been shoved through a window (it was becoming something of an occupational hazard), that didn't mean that it was getting any less painful. He gave an annoying squeal of pain before reacting, picking up the glass pieces from it and throwing some right at the stupid bitches face. He needed a distraction and shiny distractions that cause blindness are always preferable. Tabitha threw up her arms to protect her face from the glass, squeezing her eyes shut, but a few of the shards still scratched her arms. Shaking her head to get the glass out of her hair, she lunged for him again, pushing him back toward the window and against the frame. She drew her fist back and punched him in the stomach, growling. "Don't play games with me!" Sirius coughed violently, feeling slightly naked without a snappy come back. He made a face and took a full three seconds to be winded before grabbing at her hair and giving a hard rip downward, pushing her face straight downward into knee, listening for what would hopefully be a completely satisfying crunch of bone and in turn, maybe it would knock the stupid cow out so he could go find Marlene. The sudden jerk on her hair made Tabitha lose her balance, and she grabbed Sirius' wrist to try and center herself again, but it was too late to stop herself from falling. His knee connected with his target easily, and she felt her nose crack from the impact. "Aughhhh! You little bitch, I'm going to tear you apart!" There was blood leaking from her nose, and she wiped it off with the back of her hand, smeared and mixed with blood that wasn't hers, before she lunged at Sirius again from the floor, grabbing onto his leg. She attempted to bite him, to tear right into his thigh, but his leg moved at the last moment and she missed -- instead, Tabitha growled in frustration and aimed a hard punch right for his ribs. Sirius made a face, though if it was from the disgusting display of blood or the fact that Tabitha Fucking Pryce had just called him a bitch, he couldn't have told you. It was probably a good thing too as the disorientation only seemed to last for a minute before she was lunging and he only managed to just move himself enough to get punched in the ribs. A growl errupted from his own throat at the feeling of it and he aimed a good hard kick upwards... it didn't quite go up high enough to reach the stomach, but anything was better than nothing if it connected, right? The kick to her thigh was hard enough to cause Tabitha to tumble over onto her back, but she didn't want to allow Sirius to gain an upper hand -- she snarled and kicked out at his knees, pushing herself away from him so she could get back to her feet again. Sirius fell back, almost landing on his backside before sending a spell - and chains - out of his wand. He needed to get out of there and check on everyone else. As much as he wanted to have this bitch in the ground, it would have to wait. Hopefully, wherever Agnes is, she'd understand, or he's going to get one magnificent ball busting when he dies. Chains were definitely something new; the heavy metal curled around Tabitha's limbs, and unable to break through easily like she normally would, she struggled against the bonds as they closed around her. A string of furious, almost unintelligible curse words flowed from the werewolf as she fell to the ground, fighting to get free of the binds. She could smell the smoke coming up from downstairs -- fire -- and she knew she had to get out or she would be burned alive. The boy she had been fighting was already gone; with a growl, Tabitha squirmed and fought against the chains, twisting until she managed to get one of her arms free. The chains would leave bruises, but that would be preferrable to being burned alive. With her free arm, she shoved the rest of the chains off her body, quickly standing up, and running out of the room to escape the house before the fire overwhelmed it completely. Finnian Rourke vs Marlene McKinnon Marlene scrambled off the bed and tumbled to the ground with a thud, coughing and gagging and spitting, desperate to get the taste of blood out of her mouth. Her jaw was throbbing and her arm and shoulder were already covered in blood, but as much as Marlene wanted to just crawl under the bed and wait for everything to just go away, Marlene couldn't abandon her friends, her family, to this fight. There was no way she was leaving Sirius alone to fight Tabitha, especially not when he'd just saved her life, and they had to get downstairs to help the others. Marlene was not leaving until she was sure everyone was safe, especially Remus. Fishing her wand out from where it had rolled under the bedside table, Marlene gripped the edge of the dresser and pulled herself up to her feet, shooting a blasting hex at Pryce that missed by a mile, instead taking out the already broken lamp. "Sirius, let's GO," Marlene yelled at him, pausing in front of the open doorway, aiming her wand at Pryce once again as she waited for Sirius to break away from the fight to follow her out. The smell of freshly drawn heretic blood was too seducing to an invitation for an over-enhanced nose; with the speed that God himself granted him, Finn dashed towards the source of such a delicious smell and found her, a bleeding brunette who reeked of hedonism. His arms wrapped around the girl before she could notice and swung her over his head, tossing her into the hallway. His eyes spotted Tabitha -- she could handle that little boy by herself. For now, this girl was His prey. "What are your sins, little girl? You can confess them now -- He is watching. He will show pity on you if you confess them now," he said, head tilted to one side as he stood over her. Leaning over, he grabbed at her arms again, hoping to remove and break that silly little stick in her hands; he had learned the hard way what that stick could do, and the scar on his side was the constant reminder God gave him. The wind was knocked from Marlene's lungs as she slammed into the ground, rendering any sort of reply she might have had to that silent. She didn't have the slightest idea what the man was blathering about, or who he was, or what kind of damage this one could do, but Marlene had no intention of sticking around to find out. "Confess what?! What are you talking about?" she asked, her voice shaking from both fear and anger. She didn't have time to stand around having philosophical discussions when her friends were in danger, especially not with someone who seemed like he was quite possibly going to kill her himself if he got the chance. Marlene struggled to free herself from his grasp, twisting to try to pull her arms free and kicking at his shins, needing him to just let go long enough for her to get away. She kept her fingers wrapped tightly around her wand, refusing to lose it again, trying to aim her wand at him directly enough for her to attack. Pointing her wand at his chest, Marlene cried out a blasting curse, praying the spell would work even with her arms caught in his ridiculously strong grip. Finn sighed; another heretic with no other optional end than death. "God is watching!" he yelled, a half growl. "God will spare you if you confess now! Or burn in the fiery pits of Hell." His eyes were surprisingly pitying and desperate, as if he genuinely wanted God to spare her (the truth was that her end, whether it be Heaven or Hell, was little matter to him, but a good prophet must say the words of saviour). He shook her while trying to reach for the stick. Still, her grip was surprisingly strong for a condemned little girl several years his junior; he could not remove the stick from his grasp. No, God opted to demonstrate again what that stick could do -- he was blasted half way across the room by meagre light, and he scrambled to regain balance and air. Muttering a prayer, he heaved himself up, wincing slightly -- that area of his chest would definitely bruise. Hands scrambling around for some sort of ledge to steady himself, he caught a glimpse of the brunette running towards some room. A loud slam was the shutting of the door, but a silly slab of wood was nothing against a wolf-man. Running at full speed, he slammed against the door, attempting to break it down to get to the prey inside. The bedroom door crashed open, and the insanity-spewing werewolf came bursting inside like a steam train. Marlene shrieked and ducked back behind the desk, pointing her wand at the chair, the trunk, throw pillows, the clock -- sending whatever caught her eye flying at top speed towards the man, hoping that it would slow him down (or, best case scenario, knock him out so that she could get away). "I don't have anything to confess! YOU confess! You're the one who KILLS PEOPLE." The chair collided with the side of his head with a decisive thump, and though it pained him he knew God had warned him in time for him to dodge the incoming trunk. The next pieces of arsenal were safe to find its target; the throw pillows bounced off his torso with little impact. He ran towards her, werewolf-legs carrying him to his target with greater speed than that of an average human, though he had not noticed the clock -- it collided with his head, knocking him momentarily off course and increasing his anger and frustration. "I confess! To God? I am only doing His will, you silly, sinning, dirty little girl!" he said, stumbling off his original path. His feet found the course eventually, and soon was rushing at her with furious killing intent. He lunged at her with all of his weight, intending to sever every limb from her body, one by one. Out of objects to propel at the werewolf, Marlene backed away as fast as she could, rushing backwards away from the vicious man speeding at her. Unfortunately, the bedroom wasn't exactly what one could call huge, and Marlene's back collided against the wall in a few mere seconds, Finnian gaining on her with every moment. He lunged at her furiously, and Marlene shrieked and dove to the side to avoid the werewolf... although not quite far enough. Her legs were still close enough for him to grab with little effort if he tried, despite Marlene crawling even further away from him on her elbows, attempting to get back toward the bedroom door. She slid open the closet door, fishing around for something, anything, that might be able to help her. Did the Potters keep silver in here? Maybe Mr. P had a surprise silver spoon collection she could use to fend Finnian off with. Instead, her hand wrapped around something that the crazy God Warrior would likely find just as repulsive and sinful and appalling. Stretching her arm to reach deep inside the closet, Marlene pulled out the purple bong she'd bought Agnes for her last birthday, it almost feeling appropriate that if Agnes couldn't be here to fight with her, that her bong was. She wasn't sure when it had gotten stored in the closet here, but when a bloodthirsty, murderous werewolf was trying to kill you, one didn't ask questions. "Bye Mr. Bong," Marlene whispered to the glass tube, pulling it out from the closet and smashing it down on the man's head. A delirious smile appeared on Finn’s face; soon the girl would be in the company of those similar to her, burning in the pits of Hell. There was no other appropriate end then the one deemed necessary by the will of God, and God was clearly telling him to eliminate the heretic that could not confess what she had done wrong. Disgusting. He grabbed at her legs, pulling her towards him and threatening to dislodge them with enough force, leaning his head over to bite at her smooth skin (the werewolf affliction caused him to always desire raw flesh, and one still so wholly alive was too tempting for him to deny), but the momentary disregard for anything but carnal desires rendered him open to her new attack. Finn could smell it, the disgusting thing that reeked of hedonistic desires and – he couldn’t even begin to think of what that smell was but it was revolting -- before it arrived, but the revulsion overcame his reflexes and it crashed upon his head with no defence made on his part. It was shameful in every way, like sin slamming upon the very back of his head, and he paid for it in the warm blood that coloured his dirty blonde hair crimson red. He roared, anger clenching his hands around her legs as he grasped for her neck, sheer delusion clouding all judgement, hoping to choke the stupid being into submission. Marlene shrieked as she was torn back from from the closet, flailing and grappling for something to pull herself away. Any sort of support was just out of her reach, the closet doorframe just inches from Marlene's fingertips when Finnian jerked her back by her legs, yanking so roughly that it felt like her joints were about to be pulled from their sockets. The werewolf might not have been much heavier or larger than she was, but both his age and his lycanthropy (and perhaps his faith?) left him quite a bit stronger than Marlene, and despite her best efforts she found it impossible to squeeze out from underneath him and out of his grasp. His hands shot upwards, wrapping around her neck and choking the air from her lungs. Wand abandoned at her side, Marlene gasped and struggled for breath, her hands wrapped against his wrists attempting to pull his claws away. His hold unrelenting, she let go and began instead just beating against his arms, desperate for him to let go just long enough for her to breathe. She knew spellwork as defence was out of the question -- she couldn't even wheeze for air, let alone speak, and she was already beginning to feel lightheaded from the lack of oxygen and blood-loss. There was no way she could concentrate enough to perform silent spells when she already was awful at unspoken magic under normal circumstances. The room was beginning to grow fuzzy, and all she could see was him, with his bloody, bong-water drenched hair and eyes full of livid murderous intent. Perhaps it was the smell of cannabis in the air, maybe it having the bloodflow to her brain restricted, but Marlene attempted to fight him off with one last pitiful idea. "Okay, I'll confess; I'll confess!" she choked out, her barely audible voice failing as she ran out of air. And like a switch the bloodlust replaced itself with his piety; Finn released his chokehold around her neck and pushed himself slightly away for her, allowing the practitioner of faith ample space to confess. God would be happy, he was sure; his duty would be done -- the condemned could safely release the sins that Jesus had born for him before passing away. The man collected himself with a few deep breaths, a few slow inhalations as he tried to reclaim the calm demeanour he expressed before his werewolf nature took over. And he smiled: "Well, girl, let the Lord Our Saviour forgive you of the sins you have committed." Still, Finn was no fool in the midst of combat; though he relented slightly in force, retreated slightly in position, he stayed close to her, ready to pounce at her any misstep. "...Okay..." Marlene stared up at him, trying to catch her breath and think of what would be the best way to bullshit in this scenario. She didn't understand. What lord was she confessing to? The dark lord or something, whatever the purists called You Know Who? Because hell no was she going to be begging for forgiveness or something from him via some crazy over-spiritual werewolf. "I, um... confess my sins..." she began, sitting up slowly as her fingertips inched back to grab her wand, "especially the... sinniest of the sins, since those were really... bad and need to, uh, be confessed..." Yeah, that wasn't working out well. Time for plan two: Marlene yanked her wand up off the ground as fast as she could, aiming it up at the werewolf and screaming "INCENDIO"! Despite the generally dangerous and homicidal situation the both of them were in, Finn's missionary roots found her stumbles endearing and almost cute; he chuckled slightly, offering her a hand of help (and in his brain, the Hand of God) and a kind (that is, if a bloody one could ever be) smile. "It's alright -- God understands your intention, even if you find it difficult. The first time is always difficult, but if you do your passing will be made much smoother," he said, his demeanour benign in an almost bipolar way -- who would've guessed that five seconds ago the calm man was attempting to feast on human flesh? And woe is he -- good intentions gone to shambles, he soon found that stupid little stick pointed at him and sprouting some fire from it, and unfortunately, even dirty clothes were flammable substances. He screamed, realising that his Bible was in his left breast pocket (above his heart, as always) and immediately retreated (there was a sink somewhere, there had to be), ignoring the stupid girl in favour of his faith. Marlene pushed herself up to her feet, ignoring the fact that she felt extraordinarily dizzy while holding her bleeding shoulder. He'd left. He was gone and it had worked and good god, she had to go find the others and get out of there while he was dousing himself with water in the Potters' bathroom. She had no idea who else was in the house or what had happened, but things were starting to sound quieter downstairs, and there was no way that Marlene was going to leave without the others. She limped towards the doorway and hobbled out into the hall, pointing her wand at the bathroom door as she passed by to slam it shut, hopefully to help herself gain a few extra seconds of escape time should the werewolf's makeshift baptism or whatever not take as long as she'd hoped it would. Sharp ears heard the noise of shuffling feet, injured prey trying desperately to leave. And anger -- cold, furious anger -- how dare she do something so blatantly sacrilegious? Nevermind the fact that there was no way she would've known that his Bible was there, but still -- she had nearly burned down the Holy Pages of Scripture! The black cover lay damp under the streaming water, charred and wet. He would make her pay. Easily he broke down the door -- pure physical prowess was match enough to a small wave of a stupid stick, and he spotted the stupid girl, dangerously (or fortunately!) close to the staircase. A delirious grin appeared -- full speed forward, he rushed into the brown-haired, red blooded heretic, pushing her down the stairs in one fell sweep. "Disgusting girl," he said, his voice a half growl, "lay to waste and suffer the full wrath of God." A dash -- he left to rejoin the rest of the group. Marlene toppled down the staircase head-first, her jaw slamming into the bottom step with a terrifyingly loud crack, pain rippling through where she'd already been hit by Tabitha. She flipped over and landed on her right arm at a strange angle, a few of her fingers bending back in the direction that they definitely were not supposed to bend. Trying to scream for one of the others proved absolutely pointless -- even if the wind hadn't been knocked out of her when she'd hit the ground hard, it hurt too much to open her mouth wide enough to let sound escape. She glared after the scraggly-haired werewolf as he dashed off to rejoin the others, resting her head against the bottom step for just a moment while trying to ignore the pain, only to realise that the burning smell wasn't just left over from Finnian running past. Good god, the house is on fire, Marlene realised, her face going completely white. She needed to find Remus before the whole bloody house burned down to the ground... even though it hurt too fucking much even to simply stand up. There would be pain potion later. Right now she just needed to get out of the burning house full of dark creatures that wanted her and her friends dead. Fenrir Greyback vs Remus Lupin There was a fire burning in the fireplace in the den, warming the room and making Remus feel slightly drowsy as he settled down on the crouch, relaxing. He had his wand on him, tucked away on the inside of his patched up robes -- there was strange noises coming from the kitchen, but Remus didn't think much of it at first, knowing they were busy working in there, and he closed his eyes, the temptation of joining Marlene in bed strong in the front of his mind. Fenrir stalked through the house, wand in hand for once, ignoring the fights that had already begun. He wasn't interested in any of the people he'd seen so far. He was after far more specific prey and he was sure they would be here. He rounded a corner in what looked like the sitting room and stalked into the entrance to the house. Right in front of him was a small den and he saw that there was someone in there. And from what he could see, it was a familiar someone. Lupin. The pup. He bared his teeth in a feral smile and prowled forwards, his hand clenched around his wand. "If the pup is here then his bitch can't be far away," he said in an insulting tone. "Two for one. Lucky me." The scent that reached Remus' nose was both familiar and unfamiliar -- he was able to recognise it enough that the signals sent to his brain said werewolf, but nothing more, and he opened his eyes. He turned his head to see Greyback walking into the room, and the shock of it stalled Remus' reaction, but not by much; he was already standing as Greyback began to speak, closing the distance between them, and the younger werewolf took several steps back as he drew his own wand from his robes. He replied to Greyback's taunts with nothing more than a spell -- stop his movements, take him down quickly, don't let him get close -- pointing his wand and shouting, "stupefy!" Fenrir saw the pup pull his wand from his robes and he leapt aside as the stunner flew towards him. The spell passed harmlessly over his shoulder as he rolled and came back up to his feet. He wanted to close in, it was what he preferred, but that didn't mean he couldn't fight like this. "Impedimenta" he bellowed, pointing his wand at the pup and following the spell, trying to close the gap between them. As Greyback continued to advance on him, Remus kept backing away -- until he realised he was, essentially, backing himself into a corner; trapped between the wall and a werewolf. He flicked his wand, growling out a slashing curse. Remus made a dash to try and run around him, to create more space -- he wondered if it were possible to lead him outside, to try and get him into one of the pits in the yard -- but Greyback's spell tripped him up. He grabbed onto the couch to keep himself from falling completely, moving to stand behind it, creating a physical barrier between him and Greyback. Fenrir snarled when he saw the spell heading towards him and he tried to duck away but the spell caught the edge of his left arm, splitting the stolen, ragged robes he was wearing and slicing into his skin. He growled low and menacing at the sharp stab of pain but ignored it. It was nothing, a mere graze in comparison to some injuries he'd received. He gave a snarl of triumph when Lupin started to fall as a result of his spell and leapt at the other werewolf, literally climbing over the couch to get to him. "Stupefy," he barked, trying to keep his wand pointing at Lupin as he clambered over the feeble barrier. "Protego!" Remus shouted, swiping his wand in front of him to deflect the spell with a shield charm. Adrenaline high, Remus clenched his fingers tighter around his wand, but instead of casting another spell, he moved to meet Greyback halfway -- Remus lunged toward Greyback as he climbed over the couch, swinging a clenched fist toward the larger werewolf's face, growling. Fenrir broke out into a grinning snarl when Lupin lunged towards him. So the pup had some fight in him. It was about time the whining fool showed a little backbone. He'd been starting to think the boy really had been neutered with the way he acted. It was nice to know he still had at least one ball tucked away in his pants. He ducked away from the pup's swinging fist and launched himself at Lupin, aiming a punch at the boy's stomach. Remus doubled over from the punch, gasping as the wind was knocked out of him -- wielding his wand like a knife, he jabbed the stick at Greyback's face, aiming for his eyes. With his other hand, he grabbed onto the sleeve of Greyback's robes, trying to keep him close so he couldn't get away (although this only proved to keep Remus close to him, too, so any advantages gained were slim). He grappled with Greyback, trying to kick out the larger werewolf's foot from beneath him. Fenrir jerked his head out of the way of the wand, feeling the end of it scrape along his cheekbone. A low growl built into his chest as the pup grabbed hold of him and struggled and when he felt the boy trying to kick his feet out from underneath him, he let it happen, bearing both of them to the ground and twisting in an attempt to gain the upper spot. As he did so, he kept punching Lupin, determined to subdue him. Not as strong as the other werewolf, Remus was easily taken down to the floor along with Fenrir, unable to gain the upper hand with the relentless punches. Gasping as he landed flat on his back, he kept a strong grip on his wand and shoved it hard against Greyback's side so the end was pressed right up against his ribs. He glared up at the other werewolf and growled out, "Flagrate!" He swiped his wand across Greyback's side, leaving a fiery trail in it's wake, igniting his clothes. Fenrir gave a great yell when the streak of fire ran down his side. He kicked Lupin away and rolled across the floor, beating at his burning robes. He growled low in his chest, the pain and the attack itself waking the beast within. He jerked himself just far enough to get a sighting on the upstart pup and snarl, "Incendio!" He quickly took advantage when Greyback rolled across the floor, stumbling back up to his feet, clutching the side where Greyback had kicked him. Remus' eyes quickly swept across the room, trying to figure out a way to impair Greyback long enough to find everyone else and get out of here. The other werewolf's spell flew at him in a whoosh of flames, and without time to cast a shield spell, he dived out of the way -- and while he had protected himself, the curtains behind him went up in flames, falling from the window to the ground. Remus cursed under his breath as the fire began to spread; he pointed his wand at the sofa and shouted, "Locomotor sofa!" He then flicked his wand in the air to point at Greyback again, sending the sofa flying in his direction, although his aim was off when pain shot up his side from the previous blow he had received. Fenrir had just started to get up when he saw the sofa coming towards him. He gave a wild swipe of his wand and yelled a garbled sound that might have been a spell. It was enough though and the sofa flew through the air, crashing into the wall above the spreading fire and falling into it. He barely noticied the fire itself so caught up in the fight and was only barely aware of the growing heat and the crackling roaring sound of the flames. He snarled again, his eyes blazing with anger, and launched himself at Lupin again, a barked "Expelliarmus" flying ahead of him. Remus ducked his head, raising an arm to protect himself from any falling debris; and in the distraction of the sofa crashing back to the floor in pieces, Greyback's disarming spell hit him straight on, wand flying out of his hand and rolling away near the doorway of the room. There was no time for him to try and retrieve it before Greyback got to him; he tried to back up a few steps, clenching his hand into a fist swinging a punch toward Greyback's face. Lupin's punch hit Fenrir in the face and he heard something crack inside, unleashing another burst of pain and snapping his head back for a moment. It barely slowed him down, he was too caught up in his anger and the thrill of the fight. He leapt at Lupin, aiming to bring him to the ground and completely oblivious to the fire that was beginning to take serious hold of this section of the house. He fell underneath Greyback, landing flat on his back once more, and Remus' head hit the floor with a thunk, leaving him momentarily dazed. Even so, he still struggled to push Greyback off of him, bringing his knees up to push at the other werewolf with his legs. He could feel the heat of the fire getting closer to them, spreading quickly throughout the room and he swung another punch at Greyback's face, desperate to get out of there before the fire killed them both. Fenrir gave a snarl of victory when the pup fell underneath him, a snarl that wasn't altered at all when the boy landed another punch. It was barely a conscious decision that made him lunge forward and close his sharpened teeth on Lupin's shoulder, just the barest memory of another injury, one to Lupin's mate. He worried at the bite, making it deep and messy, revelling in the blood that filled his mouth. As he did this, he grabbed Lupin's arm and yanked and twisted it, doing his best to wrench it out of the socket. Remus cried out as Greyback's teeth penetrated his left shoulder, and he gasped, shoving at the other werewolf to try and get him off of him. He could smell the blood oozing from his shoulder, so much he thought he could taste it himself, and in the midst of trying to shove at Greyback his hand clenched on his shoulder when the other man started to pull and twist his left arm. He felt as if it was going to be torn clean off, screaming from the nearly nauseating pain -- he could tell his shoulder was already broken, unable to move the arm at all. With his right hand he grabbed Greyback by the throat, squeezing as hard as he could, pressing his thumb roughly against the center of his neck to try and choke him. Feral glee ran through Fenrir at the scream he managed to drag from Lupin's throat then the pup grabbed at his throat and tried to choke him. The pressure was intense and he was forced to rethink his strategy... such as it was... for a moment. He let go of the boy's arm and grabbed at his hand, yanking it away from his throat then headbutting him for good measure. The release of his shoulder was a relief, but the pain was still there, a constant sharp, stabbing agony that seemed to spread through his whole body instead of remaining focused on one spot. His hand was easily pulled away from Greyback's throat, and the blow to his head was jarring, but even through the dizziness he tried to scramble out from underneath Greyback and kicked hard at the werewolf's side to try and keep him away. The kick caught Fenrir in just the wrong spot. Perhaps he'd been moving in the wrong direction or some previous injuries had weakened the bones in that spot but he heard the crack when Lupin's foot connected with his ribs and felt the shift and sickening grind of the ends of the bone as he moved. He gave a pained howl and despite the pain... or perhaps because of it, he grabbed Lupin and threw him as far as his ribs would allow him, right in the direction of the fire, before grabbing at his ribs and curling over them, willing the pain to go away. There was heat, but Remus didn't even feel the fire immediately after he landed -- his head hit the fireplace and he nearly blacked out, but despite the numbness he was feeling in his left arm, it wasn't enough to stop him from feeling the flames eat through the sleeve of his clothes, and the smell of burning flesh filled his nose, and he would've felt like gagging if the pain wasn't so overwhelming. He was screaming as the fire burned his flesh, and as it neared his head Remus pushed himself away, rolling on the floor in attempt to put the fire out, and although it worked, it also served to cause the pain from his broken arm to double. His whole left arm was black and charred, smoke rising from the skin -- it still felt as if it were on fire, and he couldn't bring himself to touch it so he could cradle it and ease the pain from his shoulder, so he let it hang limply at his side as he stumbled to his feet. The scent of burning flesh filled Fenrir's nostrils, strong enough to make even a mere human cringe. The smell did nothing more than sharpened Fenrir's senses though and he straightened as best as he could, looking around for the pup in time to see him get to his feet. Fenrir growled and launched himself at the boy with the accompaniment of a screaming, snarling howl as his broken ribs disagreed with that action. Seeing (and hearing) Greyback coming toward him was enough to spur Remus into action, thinking quickly -- he grabbed a somewhat heavy wooden piece of the broken sofa on the ground, taking a step back away from Greyback and swinging the debris as hard as he could at the werewolf's head. It seemed to stun him, but Remus knew that wouldn't last very long -- not with the way Greyback had relentlessly been attacking him just moments before. He quickly stumbled past him, coughing as the smoke from the spreading fire entered his lungs. Remus grabbed his wand at the doorway, tripping over his feet as he hurried to get away from Greyback and look for Marlene and the others. The blow to the head stunned Fenrir for a moment and when he regained his wits he found himself far too close to the spreading fire and saw Lupin disappear out of the room. He shook his head and snarled with anger and pain as he scrambled to his feet. He wanted to go after Lupin but the fire was more of a threat. They needed to get out and he wasn't going to be able to apparate more than one at a time with these injuries. He staggered out of the room and into the corridor, cupping one hand around his mouth as he bellowed, "EVERYONE OUT! NOW!" He then headed for the way he'd come in wanting to make sure all of his people got out. The Escape Andrew and Daniel By the time Andrew was finally able to get the box with the sloth inside up the stairs leading out of the basement, the kitchen was empty -- of people at least, as it was otherwise filling up with smoke from the fire that was spreading throughout the house. He didn't need Fenrir's warning to know that now would be a good time to leave, especially with how much it hurt to cough every time he breathed in the smoke, but he was still light-headed from his fall earlier and it took him a few moments than it usually would to think of heading over to the kitchen window and opening it as best he could so they could leave. He managed to tip the sloth out of the box and onto the counter after some effort -- still having tree branches for arms wasn't exactly making it easy -- and then flipped the box upside-down on the floor so he could step onto the surface himself, as he didn't have real hands to bear his weight. Although he wasn't sure if the sloth could understand what he was saying, he apologised profusely as he grabbed it with his legs, set it on the ledge above the sink, and did what seemed like the most convenient way of getting him out was -- which was to kick him before slipping out himself. The moment he landed on the grass, however, he noticed that he'd somehow managed to knock the sloth into what looked like, of all things to be found in an English village, a tiger trap. Well, he couldn't exactly Accio sloth himself, so after calling out that he would come back, he stalked around to look for Fenrir, hoping he really wasn't going to get killed for this unforeseen mistake. Remus and Damocles He had wanted to check on his friends when he was finally free from the vampire --and then the house started to burn. It wasn't noticeable at first, but he had been accustomed to explosions and minor burnings while concocting potions to know that there was something very, very wrong. He only made it to the family room, looking around for his sister, hoping beyond hope that she was all right. If she wasn't, then he would be blaming himself for the rest of his life for getting her to join the Order in the first place. These kind of thoughts were whirling around his head as he called out for her, even though he was in a burning house. Then he saw a figure coming into the room, for a moment hoping it was her -- but no. It was Remus, and he looked -- well, he didn't look good at all. Damocles rushed to him. "Is everyone all right? Did they make it out?" Because if they didn't -- he wasn't sure whether there was enough time to go to the other rooms to check. Panic was starting to take over him as he saw the fire spreading elsewhere. Remus stumbled and tripped over his own feet, forcing himself to keep walking; he couldn't leave until he knew Marlene and Lily and the others were safe, except he didn't really know where he was going... It was all automatic, delerious from the overwhelming pain from his left arm, and he nearly ran right into Damocles in the family room. He was talking to him, asking him questions -- did they make it out? Remus nodded, then shook his head, and he reached out with his right arm to grab Damocles' shoulder so he wouldn't fall over. "I don't know. I don't know where anyone is... Greyback... he was behind me..." He grabbed hold of Remus' arm -- he really was in bad shape, and it didn't help that he just mentioned Greyback being behind him. What if he found them? But -- what about the others? Damocles bit his lip, willing his brain to work faster -- what was he supposed to do? Should they just leave? He coughed slightly as smoke began to fill the room. "Hold on to me," he told Remus, raising his voice over the sound of something crashing from a distance. "We're going to get out of here." Remus nodded, not in much position to argue otherwise right at that moment. They others must have gotten out by now, right? He couldn't hear anyone else over the the sound of the flames and the house falling apart -- they didn't have a choice. They had to get out now, and then they could call for help... Remus leaned on Damocles for support, unable to stand on his own anymore. Elsie Narrative Elsie stumbled up the stairs and stepped out onto the landing, blood covering her left side and on her face from where she bit through her lip and looking like hell. She needed to find her brother, help him if she could, but she didn't want to draw any attention to herself if she could help it. She peeked out into the kitchen and around the corner into the sitting room. Oh holy mother of fuck, she thought. Burning. "DAMOCLES!" she yelled, giving up on subtlety (it wasn't quite her style anyway). Where was he? The smoke was getting thicker and she was still dizzy - suddenly realised that she had been down in the basement with the werewolves for quite some time. There was a good chance he'd be gone already and she knew she couldn't stay much longer, but she had to give it one last shot. "Damocles!" she shouted again, heading toward the back of the house where she remembered that he'd been. It was getting harder to see, but she thought she saw him with someone else. Was he being attacked still? She made her way toward where she thought he was, but it was getting harder to breathe and she couldn't see anyone. He must have left, or she hoped to Rowena that he had gotten out of there. She couldn't stay any longer, that was certain, and so she clenched her wand and, mind fixed firmly on Damocles' flat, Disapparated away from the burning house. Marlene and Peter Marlene's head was pounding. Every last inch of her ached, she was covered in blood (most of which she assumed was hers), and she wasn't even sure any more if the cries she heard coming from the other parts of the house were real or not. Maybe she was just hearing things. Maybe Tabitha hadn't been lying, and all the others really were dead. She glanced up the staircase, not sure if Pryce and Sirius were still fighting up there or not. Their were crashing noises coming from somewhere, and even though Marlene wasn't in the condition to fight any longer at all, she wasn't going to leave until she was sure of what had happened to the others. Laying in a broken heap at the bottom of the stairs wasn't going to make that happen any faster, though, especially when if Tabitha was upstairs still? She'd eventually have to come back down. Fishing her wand up off the ground, Marlene used the stairwell to pull herself up off the ground, stumbling into the next room, where Pete looked just about as good as she felt, although the crazy looking woman he was fighting seemed to've taken an even worse beating. Marlene would congratulate him later for kicking her arse. "PETE. Where is everybody!? Are you okay!?" she yelled to him, her jaw throbbing with each spoken syllable as she held herself upright by clinging to the doorframe of the room, keeping her wand trained on the werewolf in case she made a move at either of them. Relieved to see another face, as the progression of his fight had made his heart seize with the thought that while he might not be able to get out alive, the others might not as well. This was the last way that he had ever thought that he would die, trapped in his best friend's house by a bunch of gothic freaks. "I'm alive," Peter said as he fired another curse over his shoulder as he retreated from the sufficiently destroyed family room and to Marlene's side. His wand arm was sheered to ribbons, a mixture of nail/claw gouges, drying blood, and loose, frayed skin. His sides had similar markings, what was left of his shirt caked with blood. It was a messy sight, but as he had said, he was still alive. "Anyone else?" Peter asked as he reached out, moving to support Marlene with his one arm that wasn't so damaged. Neither of them were in such good shape right now, but at the moment, he seemed to be able to support his own body weight just a tad better. Leaning on each other, they might actually be able to make it out of here in some semblance of not yet dead. Since getting spared from Damocles in the dining room, his eyes hadn't met anyone else's other than the were-bitch who had been trying to rip him apart until just now. He was hoping for some good news. "Any idea where they are?" "I don't know, I don't know where anyone would be, I was sleeping and-- and Pryce was there and she would've killed me if Sirius hadn't come in right at the last second and I don't know if he's still up there or not because then there was this werewolf with a bible and he grabbed me and we fought and then he pushed me down the stairs and have you seen anyone else? I thought I heard James yelling and oh my god Lily and the baby and the Belbys and," she stuttered herself to a stop, her eyes going wide in terror. "Remus, where's Remus, oh my god," Marlene gasped, pulling herself away from Peter and nearly toppling over to the ground again in the process. Using the wall to steady herself, Marlene spun around to cling to Peter, not sure if she was hurting him or not and not really caring right now because at least someone was still there. "Thank you for being alive; you are not allowed to go and die on me too," she pulled back and moved to just hug onto his good arm, keeping her wand out and ready in case anything jumped out at them. "What do we do?" she asked, only to be answered by a loud cracking noise as a wooden piller crashed to the ground a few feet away, the flames having already eaten through the support beams. He didn't want to tell Marlene that he hadn't seen anyone. They had all been so scattered at the moment that this had happened that there really hadn't been a chance to regroup. Right now, the last thing they needed to be thinking about were the others, though. As worried as Peter could admit that he was, if they spent much longer standing around here fretting, they were going to be causalities themselves. "We move," Peter said as he looked over at Marlene. It was hard to say how well she could do that, but anything was better than standing still. "This place is ready to come down around our heads. The others will get out." Right now, they had to save themselves. "But what if..." Marlene trailed off, terrified of the millions of "what ifs" that she could fill in the blank with, the simplest of which being "what if they don't make it out?" She shut her mouth and swallowed hard as more debris began to drop from the ceiling, not wanting it to be her fault if Peter got killed because she'd hesitated over something she couldn't help. "Right. They'll gonna be fine. They're probably all wondering where we are, yeah?" she asked, her voice quavering on the edge of tears, not really expecting an answer. "Can we get out through the back porch, you think?" "Yeah. I bet they're all waiting outside. They're going to get on us for being a bunch of slowpokes," Peter said quietly, squeezing Marlene's arm lightly. The back porch seemed a good option. There was no telling how much of the pathway to the front door had already fallen in. They could at least see that the family room was still standing. Nodding to Marlene's question, Peter leveled his wand with his bad arm, ignoring the pain that the movement sent spasming through his body. Firing a few cover spells to make sure that they weren't going to be attacked on their retreat, Peter lead Marlene back through the family room. "We'll be fine, Marly. Promise," Peter said as they headed for the door. |