WHO: Tori Lynn, Ben Channing, Jack Sloper WHEN: Monday afternoon- night, November 19, 1998. WHERE: Tori’s house. WHAT: Tragedy RATING: R for violence, gore, torment, and other horrible things. Not for the faint of heart.
The phone was ringing. Jack’s father’s heavy footsteps echoed through the tiny apartment. He’d come home for lunch. “Hello?” he said into the handset. “Hey Blake.” a pause. “Sure, she’s right here let me grab her for you.”
Geoff knocked on Jacks door and poked his head in. “T, your da’s on the phone.” He held the cordless handset out to her.
Tori, who had been lounging on Jack’s bed, looked up and furrowed her brows a bit. She stood and crossed the room, “Thanks, Mr. S.” she said, doing her best to keep the worry out of her voice. She took the handset and held it to her ear, “Da?” she asked her voice quavering just a bit, it was odd for her dad to call her out of the blue, “Something wrong?”
“No baby, It’s- well your mother has a big surprise for you.” He said happily. “She’s very excited about it. I know you’ve got plans, but well this can’t really wait, it’s some very big news.” She could practically hear the smile on his face.
Tori furrowed her brows but felt herself smile nonetheless, “I guess I’ll be home in a bit, then.”
Tori apparated just outside of town, on the cliffs where the crashing of the waves would drown out the popping noise the magic made. Hopping on her broom, with her bag over her shoulder, she took off toward her home. Her mind buzzed with ideas of what could be waiting for her, knowing that it was beyond strange for her father to call her like that, especially knowing she’d be home later.
Landing just in front of the gate to their front yard, Tori let her momentum carry her through a leap over the gate. Hurrying up the front path, hearing the sheets her mother had on the clothing line snapping in the breeze. Tori’s eyes focused on them for a moment, an odd feeling settling in her stomach, before she brushed it off and leaned her broom against the house and opened the front door, “Mum? Da? I’m home!” she called out, happily, “What’s the big news?”
Tori could see her father’s outline sitting in his favorite chair. She could see his hair over the top. But he was silent, the whole house was eerily silent. As she looked around her she could see that something was wrong. Things were in disarray. And her father’s wand was cast aside lying haphazardly on the floor at her feet.
Tori felt her heart freeze in her chest, then begin to beat in slow, calculated thumps that echoed in her ears. She could still hear the flapping of the sheets outside, she had forgotten to shut the door. She thought her boots sounded exceptionally loud against the floor as she slowly approached her father’s chair. Her instincts told her to reach for her wand and she barely registered it gripped in her fingertips. She found her shaking voice as she built up her courage and came around the edge of his chair, “D-Da?”
He didn’t move, didn’t speak. As she rounded the front of his chair she saw the large red stain pooling at his feet. Harshly staining her mother’s pristine white carpet. His eyes were shut. After several harrowing seconds Tori realized that he was shallowly breathing, but barely. His hand was bloodied where he had been holding pressure on a wound beneath his shirt. It was then she heard the back door open and scraping footsteps echoing from the kitchen.
Tori stood in shock, eyes wide but blank, ‘What was... Was that blood?’ The sound of a ragged breath from her father shook her from stasis and she spun around toward the sound of footsteps, clenching her wand in her hand. She took a deep breath and lifted her wand to defend herself, trying to hide the way her hand shook violently and trying to make her eyes look less wide and terrified.
The scraping steps continued slowly. Agonizingly slow. The wind blew hard outside and the sheets out on the line flapped more viciously. The sound becoming ominous. Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. It seemed to go on forever until finally a form came around the corner. It took Tori a few heartbeats to recognize her mother. Emileen looked like she had been dragged through hell itself. Her lovely blue cotton dress and was covered in blood as was her favorite white apron that she always wore when she baked. Her hair hung lank and bedraggled over her face as she shuffled slowly forward.
Tori’s eyes grew even wider, if that was possible, and one foot slid back to relax her stance. Her eyes grew a bit narrow as she inspected her mother, shaking her head a bit. This couldn’t be possible... “Ma-Mum?” Tori’s voice shook, then she took a step toward her, “Mummy... Mummy are you okay? What’s happened?” Tori felt tears stinging her eyes, “Mummy!” she shouted when she got no response, taking another unstable step forward.
Emileen’s arms reached out toward her daughter. She took more slow scraping steps toward her, she seemed to be bleeding from a wound at her neck, but it was covered by the pearls she always wore now stained red with blood.
For one split second, Trinity almost went to her, seeing for a moment the woman that had raised her. It was her mother, after all. Then reality snapped back to her, she could hear the sheets flapping in the wind, her father struggling to breathe behind her, and she could see a drop of blood fall from her mother’s pearls and onto the floor between them.
In the blink of an eye, Tori’s hand tightened on her wand and is slashed out between them like whip. Trying to repel Inferi that her mother had become. She turned on her heel, she had to get outside. She had to make the call, like she’d always been taught. She had to run. She had to go.
The thing that had once been Emileen Lynn dodged the rushed spell and hurried after it’s prey. It caught up to Tori in a heartbeat. Grabbing a fistful of Tori’s lovely dark locks and yanking her backward. The inferi’s other frigidly cold arm snaked around Tori’s middle and holding her tight pressing her back into her mother’s blood soaked clothing. Then it bit her. Pain shot through Tori’s body as the dead thing sunk its teeth into her shoulder.
Tori reared her head back and screamed, the sudden change of momentum left her feet flailing for a moment. Her hand was trapped by her mother’s arm, her other was wrapped around the hand holding her head back. Tori’s shout turned into a scream of agony as she began to fight back, planting her feet and bending herself forward, causing the corpse’s teeth to dig into the tender flesh of her shoulder. She brought her arm up as she launched herself back and tossed the corpse back, dipped under the arm that held her hair. A well aimed severing charm sliced easily through her long locks of hair and separated her from the undead.
Turning quickly, she threw her casting arm up and toward the ceiling. Three enormous balls of red energy shattered the roof of their small cottage home and shot up into the sky followed by three violent, reverberating cannon-like blasts that shook the house. The edges of the holes in the ceiling began to catch fire, but the call had been made. She turned back to face her attacker, thrown off momentarily by the uneven ends of her hair hitting her face.
The inferi reached for Tori again, the hair had been swept back from her mother’s face and Tori could now easily see what was hidden before. Emileen’s once beautiful bright green eyes that once were filled with laughter and love where now pure white and as bleak and empty as a winter sky. The coldness in them sat wrong in Tori’s mother’s face. Blood dripped from her mouth from where she’d sank her teeth into her daughter’s skin. There was nothing left in the creature but a chilling, insatiable hunger.
Tori felt the tears stinging her eyes again as she looked upon the walking corpse of the woman who had raised her for as long as she could remember. Emileen had taken Tori in and treated her as her own child. Emileen had loved Tori’s father and loved her as if she had been in their lives all along. Now, with white dead eyes and the blood on her clothes and face, the lifeless hue to her skin, Tori barely recognized her.
There was a crack above and Tori’s eyes snapped up to see the flames beginning to engulf her childhood home. She lifted a hand to block her face from the falling embers and turned to flee the home and escape into the yard. The rush of cold, fresh air from outside mixed with the lightheadedness from the blood loss caused her usually graceful footing to fail and she toppled onto the cobblestone path. Taking a small moment to look up at her burning home, through the smoke, and see the beacon still pulsing proudly. She just had to survive until they got there, they’d surely come running... she just had to keep them alive until then, maybe there’d be a way to save her mother.
The inferi screamed a blood curdling inhuman scream as the embers rained down on her and set her hair alight. It stumbled outside still seeking Tori’s blood. The hands that had once wiped away Tori’s tears, soothed her fears, and braided her hair were now barely more than claws seeking the flesh of the little girl they had raised.
Tori scrambled to her feet and took off running, deeper into the yard, away from the burning house and toward the tree she used to adore. But the lack of blood in her system was beginning to make coordination difficult, balance more so. She felt something hit her from behind and she smashed down into her old wooden swing, taking the majority of the blow to her side as she tried to twist to land on her back in the splinters. Pinned to the ground by the demented, blood thirsty creature, Tori screamed and thrashed, trying feebly to fight her way out of the woman’s grasp. Her head turned to the side as piercing pain once again ripped through her, this time at her neck. Her dark eyes fell onto the clothesline just behind the house, the sheets still flapping in the wind.
The sheets that had been a pristine white when Tori had walked into the house were now splattered red with blood. And someone had ripped apart and scattered the white roses from her mother’s prized garden. The horrid dead thing stank of her mother’s perfume and of death as it sat up pinning her down and raised a clawed hand and brought it swiftly down in a blow that surely would have ended Tori’s life.
A moment passed and the blow never came. The weight of the inferi was suddenly gone. Knocked across the yard by a spell. Warm arms wrapped around Tori and lifted her from the ground. She was cradled to a chest and a woodsy scent filled her nose as she was carried quickly away from where she had been laying in the grass.
Tori screamed, fighting against whatever, whoever, held her. “Let me go!” she shouted, “Let me go! Don’t hurt her! Don’t hurt her!” she screamed, flailing and screaming. Her hoarse shouts were animalistic and violently tearing themselves out of her throat. “She’s my mother! Please!” For a moment, Tori wasn’t the strong girl she had been. She was a hysterical girl, who had just been attacked by her mother and found her father nearly dead. Her father!
“DA’S STILL IN THE HOUSE!” she screamed, now struggling twice as hard, adrenaline kicking in, “My dad! My dad’s still in the house! Get him out! He’s still alive! Save him, Please!”
Aurors and hit wizards were rushing all around her. Some ran into the house others burned down the inferi. It was only a heartbeat before the wizards that ran into the house had Blake Lynn out of the house and on the ground, looking him over and yelling about St. Mungo’s.
Ben kept his arms firm around the injured girl trying to simultaneous hold her back and keep from aggravating her wound. The way she screamed triggered something deep within him. It sounded almost like one of his own in mourning. Pulling her closer, Benjamin held her tight. There was nothing he could say to make things okay for her. There was nothing he could do to soothe her anguish.
“Little Red,” he spoke into her ear, voice even. “We’re here now. You’re not alone.”
Tori struggled, though she was obviously losing her will to fight though from blood loss or exhaustion, it was hard to tell. “Don’t-Don’t let them hurt her! She’s my mom!” she was choked up by a sob. The golden glow of fire lit up her soot, sweat, and blood covered face. Tori let out one final blood curdling scream, one that mixed with one from the inferi, one that sounded a little too much like her mothers. “No! No! Stop it!” she screamed, watching as they mowed her down, “MUMMY!” she shouted before the charred corpse of her mother, smoldering and finally lifeless fell to the ground, already partially ash.
Now that Tori wasn’t fighting as hard, Ben turned her away from scene, shielding her with his body. Carefully releasing her with one arm, he reached for his wand and performed a quick first aid spell on her wound. He gently knelt to the ground, helping Tori to sit. She was shaking like a leaf. With his free hand, he removed his cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders. He then put his arms around her and held her comfortingly.
Tori pulled her knees to her chest, rocking a little as she felt tears race down her cheeks. Her mother was dead, her father lay dying. What was she supposed to do now? She looked back at her childhood home, finding hit wizards trying to put out the fire. Through teary eyes she surveyed the scene, numbness beginning to set it. Then it hit her, “Pumpkin!” she said, tearing herself away from Ben and looking around frantically, “Pumpkin!” Ben stood, keeping pace behind the Lynn girl.
Tori fought through the scattered hit wizards and aurors, doing her best to get back to the garden where the small kitten was known for hiding. “Pumpkin!” she continued to cry out until she made it through the fence and into the backyard.
There was blood everywhere, staining the ground. The sheets were splattered, the destroyed reminisce of her mothers once beautiful garden was littered about, blood stained like the rest. Tori walked forward slowly, approaching one of the bloodstained sheets that lay on the ground. There were bloody paw prints across the white fabric. Tori dropped to her knees and hunched over onto the ground, empty and heart wrenching sobs beginning to shake her form.
“Fucking shit.” she whispered into the ground, before coughing on the sobs she was trying to fight.
It took a few moments, but after they had passed a soft mewl came from beneath the sheet on the ground. It was followed by another, then another. Tori looked up as the blanket began to move and she fumbled forward, ripping the bloody sheet away. She laughed through her sobs, seeing the kitten safe and sound, but bloodstained. She held out her arms and scooped the small animal up, cradling it against her.
With the only other thing left alive in the garden cradled, small, scared, and shaking, in her arms, she turned back to Ben, “Hook...” she started, her chin set and held high and her eyes narrowed in determination, “So, what now?” she asked, a tearstained voice barely disguised by false bravado.
“Your father has been taken to St. Mungo’s. You should go there too,” Ben spoke evenly, maintaining eye contact. He could see the fear in her eyes. He could almost hear her heart rate pounding rapidly. With a frown, he reached for her so they could apparate.
She quickly stepped out of his reach, “No.” she said sternly, “No healers. I won’t go anywhere near them. I can’t do anything there. I want to do something. I want to help.” she said with a determined but desperate tone to her voice. “There has to be something I can do... anything.”
“Right now, anything you say we can’t use, lass. You’re in shock.” Mad-Eye said approaching them, from the other side of the fence. “You need to go somewhere safe. We can set you up at a safe house-”
“No.” she said quickly, “No, I have somewhere I can go.”
Mad-Eye cocked an eyebrow at her and nodded, “I can’t let you back into the house, there’s a bag by the door. Is it yours?”
Tori nodded.
“We’ll get it then.” he waved to some passing hit wizards and barked orders at them to fetch the bag and Tori’s broom, he turned back. “Channing, escort her.”
“I don’t need-”
“You heard me, lass.” he said sternly, “Expect one of the aurors to come talk to you soon. We’ll have a tracker on you, like when you were younger, to know where you are.”
Tori nodded, chewing on a lip she didn’t know was busted.
The two hit wizards returned and handed Ben Tori’s things, “Get her out of here.” Mad-Eye barked, “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“Yes sir.”
~*~
They apparated to a point near where Tori mentioned. Ben stepped away from the girl. “Would you like me to walk with you?”
Tori shook her head, looking up into his eyes, “No, I do have to live up to my nickname, you know, wandering alone and such comes with the territory.” she said, a weak attempt at a joke. She frowned and shook her head again, “Thanks, but I’ve got it from here.” Wanting nothing more than wanting to be alone, she turned on her heel and headed in the direction of Jack’s home, the only safe place she knew of at the moment.
Despite what the Lynn girl may have said, Ben moved as if to find a point to apparate, but instead trailed her to make sure she got where she was going safely.
Reaching Jack’s door, she knocked twice and stared blankly ahead of her. Maybe it was a bad idea... Jack shouldn’t have to deal with this. He had his own problems to worry about. Maybe Tori should just go to the Leaky Cauldron or something.
Geoff sat in front of the telly. He had a beer in hand and had kicked his feet up after a long hard day. He already missed having Jack at the garage, but he knew his boy was off to bigger and better things. He’d raised an eyebrow when he saw the black eye his son had come home with, but Jack had assured him that everything was okay. He took his son at his word and let him go off to his room to write in that funny magic journal he was always scribbling in.
When he heard the knock at the door he groaned. He forced himself to his feet and walked over to the door. When he opened it he wondered momentarily what the homeless girl in the doorway wanted. He waited a moment not recognizing Tori. He waited patiently for some sort of sales pitch.
She looked up at him, dark eyes the same under the grim, blood, and sweat. She stared at him for a moment, opened her mouth to say something, and then stopped. She had nothing to say. She had nothing she could offer to explain why she was there. So she turned, and began to walk away. She didn’t belong there anymore.
Geoff was stunned when the girl raised her eyes to his. He knew her. He grabbed her arm. “Tori, What the fuck happened?”
Jack opened the door to his room and stepped out. He blinked as he saw Tori, if he hadn’t heard his father say her name he might not have known it was her. It was then that it hit him like a ton of bricks. “They said Lynn,” He murmured softly as he realized that something horrible had happened. Jack rushed forward to the door ignoring the pain from his ribs. “Tori.” He said her name and opened his arms to her.
For once, Tori didn’t rush into his arms, she didn’t look comfortable when touched, but she did not pull away from the older man grabbing her arm. She looked to Jack, her eyes empty and hollow, then to Geoff, “I need... Will you let me stay with you for a little while?”
Geoff looked at the little girl that was like a daughter to him. “Of course. You know you’re a part of this family. What happened T?”
Jack stayed quiet but he looked at his friend and he knew. He didn’t really know, but in a way he knew. He took in the kitten in her arms and her bag and knew that nothing was okay. He took her hand and led her inside the flat so she was no longer standing in the hall. Somehow in that moment nothing that had happened to him mattered in the least. All that mattered was Tori.
Tori was silent until they got inside. She looked around at the place that felt so foreign now. Jack was getting blood on him, but Tori didn’t know if it was from Pumpkin or her. She sighed and looked back at the man that was like another father to her, “My... My parents... they’re dead.”
Geoff looked from Tori to his son. “What do you mean? What happened?”
Jack was speechless. Emileen? Blake? Dead? He was stunned at the words. They couldn’t be. Not them. Not that family. Not Emileen with her cookies and her flower garden and her endless love. Not Blake with his quiet heroism. It was almost like she’d told Jack his own family was dead. He kissed her hair and shut his eyes, having no words, but at least being able to comfort her in some small way.
“I-I don’t...” she shook her head, “I went home and.... and... and my mom--” Tori choked on her words as she spoke, the sobs coming back in full force. Her knees gave out and she collapsed to the floor, dragging Jack down with her. Clinging to him like a lifeline, Tori cried. She cried for her father, for her mother, for herself. She cried for the lives she had lost and the life that would never be the same again. She closed her eyes and cried, holding on to everything she had left.
Jack held her tightly. Her embrace caused his ribs to scream at him in agony, but he didn’t care. He barely felt it as his heart shattered into a million pieces. Tori didn’t cry. She never ever cried. It wasn’t part of who she was. He wanted to tell her it was going to be okay, but that was a lie and he wasn’t ever going to lie to her. He sat on the floor with her and stroked her hair and held her close, letting her get it all out. “I’m here. shhh. I’m here. You’re safe. I’m here.” He whispered to her.
She cried for what seemed like forever. After a few minutes Jack picked her up from the floor slowly getting to his feet. He looked sadly to his father who simply nodded back at him. He carried to his room. He used a quick cleaning charm to get the blood and horror off her and pumpkin both. He transfigured her clothes into pajamas and climbed into the bed with her holding her as she cried herself to sleep.