WHO: Theodora Travers. WHAT: Vignettes about her Assignment. WHEN: Various days over the last week. WHERE: Various. WARNINGS: Implications of animal death.
I trust you have the tools, Bellatrix had written. Theodora wiped back the sweat from her face, leaving a dirt stain behind. She had tools, alright, a wand, access to ageing animals no one would miss, a library full of curses and hexes with explicit instructions. She had people she could turn to. Multiple, in fact. But she wasn't reaching out to any of them.
Because when she succeeded, she was going to show that she could do it on her own. Without their help. Without relying on anyone else to finish the job for her.
Right?
She heaved a heavy garbage bag into the hole; her wand light caught the end of the plastic and the fur peeking out at the end where the bag had slipped. Red like her stained hands. Red like the splatters on her blouse. Slick with blood and soil like the soles of her feet.
* * *
The remnants of her dinner swirled down the white toilet bowl. She hadn’t kept anything down all week.
It was just stress, she told herself as she washed her face and rinsed our her mouth. Stress and nerves that would pass when her task was complete.
She looked up at her reflection above the bathroom sink. Her face was pinched, paler than usual, dark circles under her eyes. There was a spot of canine blood on the side of her neck, normally hidden by her hair when it was down rather than roughly tied in a knot to keep it off her face while she hurled.
No one told her about this part.
* * *
Sunday. 11pm. It was supposed to be Mother’s Day, but Theodora hadn’t wanted to bother with the mess that was home this year. Or at least, that’s what she told herself.
She waited in the dark, observing the house of her assignment, making final notes on who came and who left at what time and when.
Not attending dinner had nothing to do with the look on her mother’s face if she knew what Thea was doing. Nothing to do with the disappointment she could practically feel emanating from Ian if he ever guessed.
She roughly brushed back the tears that pricked at her eyes unbidden.
She was just busy. That’s all they needed to know.