Pepper says OW. (notsalt) wrote in find_horcruxes, @ 2010-01-30 16:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | adelaide macfusty, boyd macfusty, effie pepper, octavius pepper, regulus black, sturgis podmore |
RP Log: The Full Moon
Who: Pepper & Effie, Addie & Boyd, and Regulus (with a small dose of Sturgis)
What: Doom.
When: Saturday evening.
Where: Tinworth.
Rating: R.
Status: Complete!
The dinner went on longer than they'd anticipated. It wasn't until the waitress reminded the group of the impending moon and the restaurant's closing time that they snapped out of the spell the good time and good food had cast on them all. Chairs shuffled backward, people waved good-bye. Other diners at Steak Neptune were idling as well, lingering in the foyer by the hostess table. A few were drunk, a few more were helping the drunk ones, while the other two seemed to be waiting for their coat tags. Pepper was paying with the maître d', tipping him heavily, his belly full of scallops, steak and mashed potatoes. "Unfortunately," the older man was saying--nodding appreciatively as he pocketed the extra galleons--it seems that we are having some issues with our connection to the floo network. You should, however, be able to just step outside and apparate with little worry." Pepper raised his eyebrows, something turning in his stomach. He shrugged it off, tucking the rest of his money away. "Thanks. Have a good evening." "You too, sir," the maître d' replied, bowing slightly before retreating to the kitchen. Pepper turned and reached for Effie's hand. She was standing talking to her cousin Boyd and his wife, Addie. Everyone else seemed to have taken the staff's direction, and had moved outside. "Apparently they've got issues with their grates. He says we need to just go outside and apparate." He paused, peering out the French doors that served as Steak Neptune's entrance. The sky was dark, and there was little to see except the glow from streetlights and other buildings. "Oh," Effie replied simply, biting down right away on her lower lip as her gaze followed Pepper's outside. It felt incredibly strange to her that she would be so frightened by something like the outside, but it had become devastatingly clear over the past few months that the fear and caution was necessary. And so, her fingers tightened around Pepper's and she comforted herself enough by thinking that they wouldn't tell them to do it if they thought it would be unsafe. "Well, all right." Boyd turned to Addie, shrugging, not hardly thinking a thing about the small detour as he linked his arm through his wife's. It would only be a short hop and a shorter skip to get to a safe place to Disapparate, and the odds of anything happening within that short length of time and that short jaunt had to be minuscule. The whole of the mainland was open for werewolves to be romping about, and for one night -- one bloody night -- Boyd preferred to keep optimistic. "All good up there?" he called forward, wondering if there was a reason for the furthered pause. "Before I forget, Eff, we're still on for the Thursday night gatherings, yeah? I want to see about setting one up for this week. The new house is going to be perfect for it!" Addie was more than a little excited to host her first get-together at the new place, made even better by Effie and Pepper's news of their marriage. If nothing else, the four of them could make a time of it, since there'd be no awkward feelings of being a single in a room full of married couples. She gave Boyd's arm a squeeze at the chill outside. "Nothing," Pepper mumbled in response to Boyd as they moved towards the double-doors. He held the door open for the other three, unable to shake the eerie sense of something being off. It was probably nothing. Just a chill from the wind, he thought to himself. That or just a general sort of fear, due to the nature of the evening. He'd dealt first-hand with the aftermath of the last massacre against Hogsmeade and while it seemed unlikely that Tinworth would be targeted, Pepper knew he wouldn't really be comfortable again until he was at work. They had stayed at the restaurant too long. "Yeah! We really need to start doing those," Effie replied enthusiastically to Addie, forgetting temporarily about any of her previous worries about going outside during the full moon. It was easy to do that with just a little bit of champagne and a good dinner while her friends were right there with her. She paused before walking any further out of the restaurant, keeping her hand in Pepper's and tucking in next to him before spotting Regulus. "Those are bad for you, you know," she called teasingly. Regulus Black had left the table five minutes early to have a smoke, finding it an uncouth habit to indulge in at the dinner table. "So's hanging out with you sorry lot, but yet I inflict myself with you all the same," Regulus responded with just enough sarcasm to keep it from being a true insult, a sideways grin on his mouth. So yes, he felt like the odd one out for more reasons than one - he was the only "single" person here, especially after Celeste's refusal to come with him tonight, and of course there was the whole being-vaguely-friendly-with-Mudbloods thing that he was going through with Octavius Pepper, but oh well. He didn't expect the good times to last; for as big a fit as Celeste had pitched earlier in the month, Regulus vaguely intended for this to be his 'last hurrah' with his more questionable friends. At least a last hurrah that wasn't called as much by name. The moon was full and fat over them, and it frankly made Regulus a bit nervous. "Did they indicate where was a good apparation point? This is pretty out in the open." "Ah, just have a look 'round. If there's no one standin' nearby, cannae see the point in searchin' for anythin' better," Boyd replied. Right, so there was optimism, but there was also retaining enough caution. The snappier the departure, the better, even if he could swear by the odds of anything terrible happening being slim. Of course, it was right when one considered that the odds of something terrible happening were slim that that something terrible would inevitably happen. Then again, if you keep spinning between the two points, it didn't make a whole lot of a difference in the end. Superstition. "Think I see somethin' off that way that's mostly shielded -- just by that tree?" Addie's line of sight drew directly to the tree Boyd had pointed out, and that meant the moon was in full view. Right, then. Time to get out of here as quickly as possible. She glanced up at Boyd. "Maybe we should look into getting us specific apparition wards on the new place? No one else lives on the island and all..." Pepper watched the moon warily, a waif of a cloud sitting in front of it like something straight out of a horror movie. All that was missing was a string of panicked chords from an out of tune organ, and some combination of howling, maniacal laughter and high-pitched shrieking. Pepper shivered before picking up pace toward the tree Boyd had spotted, pulling Effie along with him. Then suddenly it was as though the world was in slow motion. Pepper heard the running first, the sound of paws heavily thumping the ground, and quickly, like a low rumble in the distance. He stopped suddenly, stupidly, looking out to the deserted streets of Tinworth. It actually was werewolves. Oh, Christ. "Run! Run!" he yelled in a fit of panic as he started moving again, gripping Effie's hand tightly, afraid if he let go of it for even one second, that would be the end of it. Looking back over his shoulder Pepper saw them coming up through the village streets, smashing windows, growling, howling, leaping blindly, angrily (and seemingly starving) at everything they came across. There was a moment that seemed to go on forever, where Effie was torn between understanding why Pepper was pulling on her arm so hard and seeing the werewolves coming at them. It was a moment of hesitation, of realizing that this was actually happening and it wasn't just something she was reading in the newspaper and they had to get the fuck out of there -- and everything was suddenly very clear. She made no noise, didn't even scream or echo Pepper's shouts to run, she just ran as well as she could in high heels -- fucking high heels -- and a skirt with her husband's hand in hers. Regulus had always wondered why people just didn't apparate away when these things happened. He'd always assumed that if he saw a mad, frothing army of werewolves running in his direction, he'd have his wits about him well-enough to apparate to somewhere far, far away from said army of werewolves. But there wasn't even a question of it now. There wasn't time - they were already here, and the half-second it would take to get his mind cleared enough to not splinch would be one half-second too late. He ran, not wasting his breath with swearing, and for once thanked Patrice Nott for his grueling practises every week. While there wasn't necessarily as much a reason for Boyd to panic about something with very large claws and teeth hurtling at him as anyone else, he rather had the thought that running was precisely the ticket when it came to such things that were not dragons. Addie's hand still in his, he immediately pivoted on the spot, and it must have been God's own gift unto him that he didn't catch his feet up in his own or in hers. Back inside was the safest bet, and it was far away now that they'd been walking, but he had his wand drawn just in case a few extra seconds needed to be bought for everyone. Gnashing teeth, claws scratching the ground, snarled breaths -- it was starting to get close. Or maybe it sounded like it was getting closer because Boyd was not looking around to check. Adelaide didn't need to be told; she was already digging her heels in to make a break for it back to the restaurant. Like Effie, all she could do was swear under her breath, that she knew she should have worn more sensible shoes. Damnit! Pepper turned his head back over his shoulder again, watching the onslaught of wolves, praying that the clearing would provide them the opportunity to get the hell out before the pack caught up with them. They were all tearing off as fast as they could manage, watching the approaching mass, so distracted by what was behind them that they missed the great, hulking brute that leaped out from behind the very tree that was meant to be their savior. Pepper at the head of all them turned back to face the direction he was running just in time to see it coming right at them. Immediately he pushed Effie out of the way, clearing her of the wolf before it crashed down on top of him, heavy like a ton of bricks. The wind was gone from his stomach, preventing Pepper from calling out as its claws started tearing at his upper body, its mouth going straight for his neck. Dazed and winded, Pepper struggled against the beast with as much effort as he could muster, attempting to pull himself away--to bloody fucking kick, even--but he was failing miserably as the werewolf shredded his clothing, and skin. Pepper felt the oozing warmth of his own blood spreading across his chest as the air returned to his lungs and he started screaming, completely and utterly terrified. Suddenly it was another one of those moments from before. Effie was on the ground, having tripped over her own feet when Pepper had pushed her aside, and she paused for just a tiny, split second and everything seemed to move in slow motion. As she stumbled to her feet, she watched as this giant monster attacked her husband. She was too stunned to do anything but stare. And then, there was the blood. Just like that, things started moving too fast again and Effie was screaming. First for Pepper, then for help, then she didn't even know as she tried so hard to find her wand. The scream reeled Boyd full around, and he didn't see them at first -- not looking straight ahead -- but then his eyes dropped enough to spot Effie on the ground. And then Pepper -- it might've been Pepper, but he wasn't stopping to take the tally and see who was missing from the dispersed and bolting number -- underneath a hulking form. He shoved Addie as not so much a push, but a nudge, to keep running for the shelter. "Go," he told her. Alright, alright, alright. Basic training, now. In the event of someone being rendered limb from limb, first step was focus on where he needed to be. Here was good as any, especially since nowhere was looking to a safe spot to stop on. The rest was pure instinct, his mind operating by only processing what he had to do in that moment and not thinking of how scared shitless he ought to be; Boyd levelled his wand, fingers gripped so tightly on it that his knuckles were white as he raced around to find the werewolf's front. Next: target the eyes. Every creature recoiled once they couldn't see. "Ruptispecktis." Straight in the face. It reared back. Regulus had pivoted on the ball of his foot as soon as he'd heard screaming. Effie had hit the ground, but it wasn't at all like horsing around on the Quidditch pitch. Wolves were drawing near her, and one had already-- Oh Merlin, that screaming mass of person under the werewolf's jaws was Pepper. Unthinkingly, Regulus swerved around and raised his wand; he knew his wand-work wasn't strong in power, but he was quick enough. Boyd had already gotten a good spell in. The werewolf clawed at its eyes and howled, but Regulus didn't give it enough time to get over Boyd's spell. "Extensio!" The Racking Curse was sure to slow down the monster, and if it was a little dark artsy, well - he doubted Pepper would be complaining. "C'mon!" Regulus yelled at Boyd, already making his way toward the fallen wizard. Addie didn't even think, just kept running until she'd reached the restaurant's door, banging on it fiercely and screaming for help. Pepper was in the seventh layer of hell. He felt somewhere between ice cold and on fire, shaking and spasming, blood gushing from deep wounds to his chest, his neck, his face, and his stomach. He'd been gutted like a fish. This was his worse nightmare. A boggart taking shape of what Pepper was most afraid of in life would be this very moment in time, being attacked by what he had spent most of the fall trying to defend the rights of. He couldn't really focus on the moment, however, just the seering pain and the temporary blindness that had taken over him. With the weight of the wolf gone he attempted rolling a bit and trying to drag himself in the dirt, but he couldn't seem to move more than two or three inches. It took everything within Effie not to launch herself at her husband, just to see if he was okay. Okay being used quite loosely, of course. He was bleeding everywhere and she could see the wounds and good fucking Merlin. But, he was moving and that was good. All that mattered was that he was moving because that meant he was still alive and he might get out of this in one piece and the stream of consciousness didn't allow for one second of remembering that there were other werewolves. So, she followed Regulus right to Pepper and it again took everything within her not to just grab him and Apparate away -- but that would be a terrible idea. She was talking, she knew she was talking, but she didn't know what she was saying. Telling him that he would be okay, promises that everything would be fine, really, everything would be fine. Boyd arced his wand around, not leaving a second's breadth from when Regulus finished his spell. "Pertrificus Totalus!" He knew his aim was spot-on, it had to be this close-up. The beast staggered over, still a mess of guttural barks and snarls as it froze in place. And Boyd finally let out a breath, trying to figure out what the hell to do next. That one barely held dragons at bay when used, simply because of their sheer strength and tenacity; there wasn't much telling how long it would subdue a werewolf, but likely not long enough to go wasting these seconds. If there was a chance to get out of there, it was definitely now. Boyd kept his wand fixed on the creature, not even breaking his vigil as he shouted: "GRAB 'IM AN' RUN!" Regulus had gotten most of Pepper's weight on his shoulder, but Effie was certainly taking on a fair share of her own, or at least as much as she could in heels. Regulus, slight despite his height, was grateful for the adrenaline rush as he hauled Pepper's arm over his neck and held on tight, teeth chattering slightly. There wasn't time to think about the howls that he still heard behind them, closing in, nor did he notice beyond a vague sensation the feel of warm blood dripping against his shirt. His wand he held in a vice grip, ready to do whatever was necessary should they be attacked by another beast. Regulus couldn't run, not exactly - it was a strange, limping gait, as Pepper was more-or-less dead weight weight, but it would have to do until they were safely inside somewhere. Addie's pounding fists on the door didn't relent. It took six seconds before she realised that she had her wand, and she could call for help with it. The Ministry would come, there was sure to be someone on alert, wasn't there? Addie ripped open her purse and yanked out her wand. No, no, not the right hand. Left. It was the left! She jerked it out in front of her, muttering, and used the heel of her shoe (kicking backward) to continue beating on the door. By the time Regulus and Effie had hoisted Pepper up he was sobbing and shaking. "Oh Christ, oh Christ," he muttered almost inaudibly, still not registering much beyond what was now (as they lobbed as fast as they could back toward the restaurant) tearing and blistering agony. Halfway there it got the best of him and he passed out, fully slack between his wife and someone who, rightly (and if he could observe the situation outside of being unconscious), should've been overjoyed to see him mauled. The maître d' who sent them outside in the first place finally opened the door at Addie's insistent banging, looking terrified. "Hurry, hurry!" he snapped holding the door open only enough for her to get by. Her mind had been whirring around at top speed before, but now Effie had but one singular goal -- to get Pepper in that damn restaurant. There weren't any other thoughts in her mind, except for once he went slack. There was just a flicker of panic that went through her at that alone because there were only two things his not moving could mean and she didn't really want to think about the worst of the two, so instead Effie ignored those thoughts, the fact that she could feel his blood soaking into her clothes and dripping onto her, and that there was a very real chance that the werewolves were about to attack them all again. Instead, Effie clenched her jaw and barreled forward with Regulus until they finally, finally reached the restaurant. "Let us the fuck inside right fucking now," she swore when she saw the door only ajar just a bit, something that was normally uncommon for her but this was not a common situation. "Incarcerous!" Boyd shouted, the split second he noticed the werewolf started rocking, even as the former spell's hold started to break. Ropes materialized, pissing the beast off further as their binding warped its frame -- it practically screamed out its displeasure -- but those restraints only had to hold until everyone was inside. Still, with the scent of blood on the wind, its packmates were getting wise to a fresh kill, and Boyd knew it wasn't just nerves amplifying the sound of growls and heavy paws colliding with earth. The others would catch up, and he could not run as fast as they could. He gave the werewolf one last look before racing toward the restaurant. Gryffindor or not, he liked living. Addie must have been right by the door, because they were let in - Effie first, with Regulus dragging Pepper shortly there after. Regulus's shoulder felt numb, and he let Pepper go to the ground as soon as they were safely inside the establishment. Boyd was still behind them, and as Regulus waited for him to clear, he took his wand and frowned in panicked concentration at the wards of the restaurant. "Are your wards regulation?" he snapped at one of the witches who had been manning the front door. She nodded, attempting to speak through her tears. "I-I think so... we had a meeting on it... they said that everything was pretty secure i-i-in case o-of..." "Got it," Regulus muttered, and set to work on adding a few wards of his own. So they weren't regulation. He frankly didn't care. "Boyd hurry up," he muttered while he frantically swished his wand from one corner of the door to the other, strengthening what he had time for. While Adelaide knew a thing or two about wounded animals, she had absolutely no idea what to do in the face of a severely injured human. But there were a few things that were universal: that bleeding wound needed to stop bleeding. To the waitress, she demanded, "We need towels. O-or a large table cloth. Something to stop the bleeding." No sooner had the waitress embarked to the kitchen, the sounds of Apparition filled the air. One by one, emergency personnel flooded the restaurant, and from the sounds of it, there were several outside the restaurant, too. The doorway was cleared by the time Boyd arrived at it, and he just about threw himself inside, jamming his feet into the carpeting to stop, and reversing his momentum to force the door shut. "This gonna hold?" He looked to Regulus, taking a second to find the breath that he was sorely out of. "Tell me this'll hold, 'cause I sure as fuck cannae stop one o' those from burstin' in here." Immediately there were two medi-witches kneeling at the ground beside Pepper, taking in his visible wounds--a gash down the side of his face, sizeable chunks of skin ripped out from his collarbone and neck, deep gashes spread along his chest, some sort of puncture wound to his stomach--and the massive bruises that were starting to blossom all over the place. The waitress returned in a panic from her quest for tablecloths, handing them to one of the people attending Pepper. The medi-witch pressed the material to his neck, binding it with a silent sweep of her wand. "We need to get him stabilized," she was saying, holding her hand out for more tablecloth. "There's too much blood. Holy Helga just look at his ruddy neck," she added, mostly to herself. Without Pepper's weight and an immediate goal for Effie to concentrate on, she just stared agape at the medi-witches doing their jobs and working on Pepper. Her hands were held out in front of her, both with blood -- his blood, oh god -- on them and shaking involuntarily. Hearing what they were saying and watching what they were doing and suddenly realizing that her husband could very well die made the whole situation more than just a little unbearable. "Oh god, oh god." "Effie," Addie stated, hurrying over to her nearly panicked friend. Shock still had a hold on Adelaide, and maybe she should use that to help Effie. She grabbed the other girl's hand, gave it a squeeze. "Maybe... maybe we should go in the kitchen? Wash the - blood off your hands? We can get out of their way, let them help him?" "I... think this'll hold..." Regulus muttered in answer to Boyd's question, but if his eyes were a little wide, well, he wasn't absolutely certain he was telling the truth. He knew his wards were generally considered very good, but he'd never faced off against an army of werewolves, for Merlin's sakes. "I... well, it's good that the DMLE's arriving." And indeed they were. With every pop of apparation, there was more and more personnel in the establishment. A tall, blond hitwizard began barking orders as soon as he'd arrived; Sturgis Podmore was at least ready for this bullshit, as was the slight girl shadowing his every move. "Get him in, get him processed, and start apparating these people outta here. Side-along, people, get it done. That door's not gonna hold for long." "...apparently it won't hold," Regulus concluded as an aside to Boyd. The howls outside the restaurant had reached a fever pitch. Boyd could only blink in response, setting his jaw as if it might somehow help brace the door should anything try to ram through it and claw his face off. Other people within the restaurant were vanishing with the D. M. L. E. upon the order to evacuate, and he could see Addie across the room with Effie, both being met with one of the new arrivals. Feeling he needed to do something more than wait around until he was told to leave himself -- there were still a decent number of other civilians waiting for their turn to be seen out, and he wouldn't even think to accept any help until they were gone -- Boyd directed his wand at the nearest table, hooking it with a spell and dragging it across to the doorway. More obstacles certainly couldn't hurt. The pops of Disapparation, now, were starting to pick up speed. "Is anyone going with him to St Mungo's?" the medi-witch asked loudly, standing up as she and her cohort used their wands to lift Pepper's body--stiff and immobile--rising him into the air and upright so they could side-along apparate him without the risk of his flailing about. The tablecloths were already soaked through with blood. "We're taking him now. CII floor." Effie was holding onto Addie's hand for dear life, but she knew that that statement meant she needed to let go. She did and did so quickly, not wanting to hesitate and mess anything up or get in the way. "He's my husband," she said, curling her hands into little fists and inhaling a deep breath. She was teetering on the edge of crying and not, but there was no way she was doing it now. Not yet, not in front of all of these people. But, she didn't want to go alone. She couldn't, not really. Turning to look at her friends, trying her damn hardest not to look nearly as panicked as she actually was, she quickly asked, "Can one of you come with me, please?" Addie gave Effie hand another squeeze, though she doubted that Effie could feel it. A short nod followed, though she glanced with terrified eyes at her own husband. She did not want to leave him there in a restaurant surrounded by werewolves. "...Boyd? I don't want to leave you here." Addie's voice was verging on begging. And Boyd knew better than to argue when time was such a precious commodity. He gave Addie a quick nod, half-jogging over to her. "Let's go." The medi-witch nodded, giving just a nod of warning before they Apparated off with Pepper to the hospital. Effie just gave the slightest glance from Addie to Boyd before doing the same thing. While being attacked, she would have been more worried about splinching, but right now she was fully determined on her destination. Regulus hesitated a moment, stared at the bowing doorway, then glanced nervously at Podmore who was giving him a glare to end all glares. Yes, yes. Definitely a good time to apparate to the hospital and get things sorted out there. |