A Family Forgotten

Chapter 10: First Blood

Warnings: See Chapter 1

AN: Man this chapter just wrote itself! I probably should have paid more attention I class though. Fortunately my teacher didn’t catch me writing this when I was supposed to be taking notes. Please let me know what you think about how the plot is coming together. And how the characters are coming along. Also, if anyone want to make me a banner or any kind of fan art I wouldn’t say no.)

One last thing…there is Anita bashing for this chapter and several future chapters. Although it may be harsh I promise that there is a reason that will be fully address in later chapters. Please bear with me for a short while.

For updates check: http://dreamwind83.livejournal.com/

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The group watched as their Ulfric, Jamil and the pup, Harry, walked out of the shocked restaurant. Even after the trio had left, the occupants of the restaurant were still standing, watching the door.

Harry had terrified, shocked and even awed them a little. Many of the lycanthropes still standing had the pup’s words running through their minds in a continuous loop.

‘Was their Lupa really causing them harm simply by being near them? Did her necromancy really cause harm to people simply by being used near them? If it was the truth what should they do? How badly were they ‘tainted’? How badly was their Ulfric ‘tainted’?’ Were the main questions they asked themselves. They wanted answers now!

“What the HELL is going on,” Jason growled, the first to break the stunned silence.

Shang-Da and Sylvie looked at each other. Neither wanted to be the one to explain even the small basics of what and who their Ulric’s pup was. Sylvie gave a reluctant sigh before unwillingly volunteering to be the informer.

“I am sure all of you noted the purple flames and the power rolling off the pup.” She began. Many people nodded warily. “Then, I am sure you are all smart enough to realize the pup is magical.” More nods from the crowd. “Now,” Sylvie carefully watched the waiting crowd. “The pup knows more about magic than anyone else the pack knows and, yes, that does include Anita.” She hurried on over the murmurs that broke out over that bit of knowledge.

“The pup knows more because he came from a predominantly magical community. A community that has been around for more than a thousand years.” Sylvie paused to note how shocked everyone looked. Well, they would be even more shocked before she was done.

“This community teaches it children about all kinds of magic. One of the kinds they are taught is Dark Magic for informational purposes only but never taught how to use. Necromancy is listed under this type of magic. To use it is forbidden on pain of death. Necromancy is one of several types of magic classified as an ‘Unforgivable’.

“What the heck is so ‘unforgivable’ about it? Harry mentioned that as well and Jamil seemed scared of it,” Stephen asked puzzled.

Sylvie ran a hand wearily through her hair. “It’s called ‘Unforgivable Magic’ because that is what it is.....Unforgivable.” She said firmly. Stephen frowned and was going to say something more but Sylvie raised her had and stopped him.

“It is magic that is both legally and morally unforgivable to use on another being. According to Harry, there are three unforgivable spells and there is one unforgivable spell-class. Necromancy and Animating fall into the Unforgivable Spell-Class. Jamil’s reaction was due to what Harry informed us was the standard punishment for the use of one of these Unforgivables. In Europe and parts of Asia and Africa the punishment for using any of the Unforgivables is one of two things depending on how many times and how you used the Unforgivable. You can earn a life sentence to the wizarding prison of Azkaban, which Harry informs me most people wouldn’t wish upon their worst enemy, or you can be given The Kiss.” Sylvie explained then paused to insure everyone was following her.

“Being a magical prison, Azkaban is nothing like our ordinary prisons. There’s no comforts, like we provide our criminals, only cold walls, barely edible food, and absolutely no way to escape. The ones imprisoned there have their magic blocked as soon as they are behind their doors and the guards are not human. These creatures, I’m told, resemble some kind of demon or vampire and are called Dementors. They look like floating, faceless corpses in black, wispy cloaks. Their presence causes bone deep cold and terror. Their main means of keeping prisoners from escaping is to feed off their emotions, taking all their happy thoughts, leaving only their worst and most horrifying memories. Most prisoners end up completely insane after just a few weeks. For those that earned the harshest punishment.....death.....The Kiss is used. This is administered by the Dementors. They simply lean over the prisoner and give them a kiss that sucks their souls out of their bodies then devours it.”
Sylvie said, finally finishing her explanation.

The whole room shuddered as what Sylvie said fully set in. This was worse than anything the American government used for magical crimes, even when they dealt with lycanthropes, who they saw as less than animals.

“According to Harry, in the last century only a handful of people received The Kiss. That included two necromancers who created an army of the dead to help a Dark Lord overthrow their government and cleanse the country of non-magical people; quite a few witches and wizards who also were trying to help the same Dark Lord; and finally Hitler.” She added.

Jason raised an eyebrow. “Hitler?” He said in disbelief.

“The magical and non-magical governments all agreed that Hitler’s crimes were so heinous that there could be no other punishment to fit his crimes.” Sylvie said flatly.

“Didn’t Hitler kill himself,” Jason asked, confused.

“Apparently that was what we are supposed to believe, since non-magical people aren’t supposed to know about the Dementors and in fact can’t even see them.” Sylive told him.

“Oh.”

Hands crossed over his chest, Stephen spoke, “This still doesn’t answer the question of why he thinks Anita will ‘taint’ us. Whatever he means by that.”

Sylvie sighed. “That I don’t know, Stephen. I am sure whatever makes him think that is something serious or he wouldn’t have said anything. Our Ulfric will let us know why his pup, Harry, believes Anita is a danger or is in danger. ” Sylvie said, hoping her constant reminders of what Harry meant to Richard would keep the pack from doing something to the boy in defense of their once favored Lupa.

The crowd paused a long moment absorbing all this then seeing there would no further answers forthcoming, sat back down to finish their meals and talk amongst themselves about all that had been revealed to them.

Sylvie and Shang-Da carefully watched the crowd and hoped they were all smart enough not to tell Anita what the boy had said. Especially about how obvious it was the pup seemed to have an unwavering hatred for her.

~*~*~*~* Living room, Richard’s Home *~*~*~*~

“Well, lunch certainly didn’t turn out as planned,” Richard muttered.

“I’m sorry,” Harry said, eyes downcast.

Richard moved to sit next to his pup, wrapping his arm around Harry’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Harry. I am glad that you care enough for me, for all of us, that you want to protect us.”

Harry looked up at Richard. “You are?”

“I am.” Richard kissed Harry’s forehead before leaning against the back of the couch. “Harry, I feel, hell, Shang-Da, Sylvie and Jamil all feel just as protective of you as you have shown that you do for us. None of us are mad at you for expressing that care in such a way.”

Harry gave Richard and Jamil, who was standing in the corner near by, a small smile.

“Would you feel okay explaining why you believe that Anita’s magic will ‘taint’ us?” Richard asked carefully.

Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes behind his glasses. “It’s a long explanation but I will try to keep it short and simple.” He said taking a deep breath to prepare himself to talk about a difficult subject. “Basically it boils down to the fact that every time she calls up the dead, whether she is calling their souls or not, she is altering the very fabric of life itself.”

“What of ghosts,” Jamil asked, interrupting.

“Ghost don’t hurt anything. They haven’t been forcefully called, they simply haven’t moved on yet. As such, their presence wouldn’t cause the same harm as Anita’s necromancy does.”

Jamil nodded and Harry continued. “By calling up life to temporarily fill the dead she creates tears in the fabric of the world and in the people the magic touches. These tears eat away at everything and everyone near them until the fabric of life has been damaged beyond repair. This can have catastrophic effects on reality itself if there weren’t beings that were constantly trying to weave everything back together.”

“You mean like Gods,” Richard asked, confused.

“Sometimes. Mostly it is done by avatars or beings that have been specifically created by the Gods to do so. These beings have an intense hatred for death dealers like Anita.” Harry explained.

Richard wanted to ask Harry if he was one such being as he seemed to have a similar hatred for Anita. But at the same time he wanted to first understand what Anita’s magic was actually doing. As it could simply be that his pup didn’t want him or the other near someone who could become the next Voldemort.

“Anyway,” Harry went on, “once something has been torn open it can’t fully heal. Even with the help of one of these beings. When this happens to souls, it causes the person’s mind to degrade and can cause the person to go mad. When this happens to the soul of a baby it can cause such a major chance that they are ninety percent certain to become the next serial killer.

“Also, it is one of the main factors that create ghouls. Souls that were torn are more prone to degrading and pulling themselves back into the realm of the living. Ghouls can only happen to zombies, souls that were called back into their bodies. Things like inferi, which are animated corpses with no souls, can’t become a ghoul as it has nothing to move the body.” Harry told them.

“Jesus,” Richard cursed.

“The only reason St. Louis isn’t overrun with ghouls is a lot of people who were torn and could have naturally become a ghoul without help after they died, were cremated. Also, I can sense at least one other being in this city that is monitoring the death magic and trying to fix all the damage it causes. One last thing you should be aware of is what happens to the necromancer when they use their magic.” Harry said, pausing a moment to see if they were listening closely.

Jamil and Richard both nodded, their minds fully focused on Harry and what he was about to reveal.

“A necromancer who uses their magic regularly will slowly loose all moral inhibitions until there is nothing left inside them but desire. That desire can take on many forms while the necromancer is still alive. Once dead though, that desire becomes an unrelenting hunger and any remaining humanity is gone. Those necromancers become the guards of Azkaban......Dementors.” Harry said solemnly.

Richard heard a small cry of horror and couldn’t tell who had made it. “Anita will be-“ Richard shook his head trying to deny what his former fiancé would become.

“That is her fate if she continues on the path she is on. Have you seen any drastic changes in her? Does something that once would have terrified her not anymore? Will she do something now, that once would have been repugnant to her?” He asked Richard.

Richard felt the cry this time, as it worked it’s way out of his throat. “yes,” it was practically a sob.

Never could they have imagined just how far reaching and how horrifying the effects of Anita’s magic really was. Something cold and hard began to form in Richard’s chest as he thought of Anita. All the changes in personality that had been happening were now all beginning to make sense. He couldn’t help but wonder if this was why she wore her cross less and less.

“How badly have we’ve been torn,” He asked in a quiet but hard voice.

“Jamil, Sylvie, and Shang-Da have barely been exposed and it shouldn’t have any long term effects on them. But you, Richard, and those three lycanthropes we met today have had more exposure. If we kept you away from Anita and her magic, especially when she is using magic, and put you all through a special purification ritual then the long term effects would be almost nil. You would probably just have a shorter fuse on your anger. Of course if you started to be exposed to her magic or similar magic again after the ritual, the damage would grow much quicker than it originally did.” Harry warned.

Richard nodded. Since he was bound to Anita, the purification ritual would probably be worthless. “Anita is the human servant of the master of the city, and part of his triumvirate. She is the master in a triumvirate of her own with another vampire and lycanthrope.” He told his pup.

Harry hissed between clenched teeth. “I would strongly advise all the people bound to her have the bonds severed if they don’t want to become Dementors just like she will.” Harry grabbed Richard’s hands. “I don’t want to think what would happen to the vampire’s, Richard. They are in a sense dead already. I don’t know what they would become.” He warned urgently.

“Harry-“ Richard’s voice cracked.

“It’s okay, Richard. I will do everything in my power to cleanse you and all the others. I won’t let my family become Dementor spawn!”

“Thank you.” Richard leaned forward, allowing his forehead to rest against Harry’s.

~*~*~*~* Unknown Location, St. Louis 11:45pm *~*~*~*~

The room was dark, even for wolf eyes. The floor was nothing more than cold stone with a bit of dirt and, if her nose was correct, blood on it. She was trying to ignore the corner to her left where she could smell the rancid scent of rotting corpse and the horrifying smell of spent sex. She didn’t want to know what all those scents meant. She didn’t want to know if the smell meant the body was still there or if it had been left to rot there before being disposed of. Either way it was a reminder of what was waiting for her.

She was scared beyond anything she had ever felt before. Not even that boy with the eerie purple flames who she had seen with her Ulfric earlier in the evening, called up such terror in her. All she wanted was to escape from this dark nightmare of a cave. The smell of earth and stone told her that was where she was at. It didn’t quite hide the reminder of death that lingered in the corner of the cave.

She cried out as she was once again yanked by the chain holding her leg to the stone wall. A burst of electrical energy passed through the chain and up her leg causing her to thrash violently.

A low dark chuckle sent terrified shivers up and down her spine as her head spun around toward the sound so fast she hoped her neck would break.

All she could see in the dark were sharp white teeth and eerie glowing gold eyes.

tbc...

AN: Just a reminder not to get too mad at the way Anita is portrayed and yes I know that she needs to use her power regularly as is explained in the ABVH books. That will be addressed, don't worry.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway! Please review!