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“Shush, girl!” Antigonus ordered, not looking at Jessica. “You meddle in things that you know not. American, this is very foolish of you.”

Eden shut her eyes tightly for a moment, hoping she might be alone in her room in the Manor. All she longed to do was be in solitude with her cauldron. Potion-making soothed her; it helped her forget the tragedy in her life, and she was able to just concentrate on the slow stirring of her ladle.

Eden looked into Antigonus’ eyes, seeing a strange mix of hate and love within the depths. He was a man of brute strength – a man that enjoyed power far too much, even if his goals did not seem all that sinister when examined closely. Eden knew very well that her godfather was probably the only person that truly cared for her and her safety besides Jasper. Both seemed to show this in strange ways, if at all. This was the only life that Eden had – her father had ceased to give a damn about her long before his placement in Azkaban. And thus, Eden played along with her godfather.

He pretended to choke her for a bit longer, every person in the room hanging off of what he was doing. Though none of the wolves would state it outright, they desired to protect Eden. Of course it was mainly because of her relation to Antigonus, but also because of her innocence.

“Alright,” Antigonus said quietly, pushing Eden away from him hastily. She flew backwards, coming to a halt in the grip of a wolf named Radner. He held both of her arms tightly. Eden’s back was to the man, but at least she could see what Antigonus was doing.

Finally having no one else in the way of his target, Antigonus took a few quick steps towards Jessica. “Maybe it’s about time I brought your father out. He’s itching to see you. I think I’ll give him the pleasure of biting you… there’s nothing like the blood of kin…”

He turned around and Eden was just barely able to see his mouth moving in the darkness of the ballroom. This was a wolf call, not audible to regular humans. She had seen Antigonus use the call many times as a child.

A tall man in the exact same robes as the other wolves came through the doorway at the other end of the room. His features were not visible over the distance, and he was only a shadowed silhouette edging closer to the people in the room.

OOC: What's your plan here? I was thinking that (with your permission) Jessica's father was turned into a wolf, but still managed to keep control of his ruse. From what you've written, nothing gets past Antigonus, but for the sake of the American organization (the Coven) mayhaps the Wolfram doesn't realize that Jessica's father has been playing him the whole time? Where do you want to go with this...

OOC: Yeah, I was thinking that Jessica's father is a wolf, but has been a spy for the coven the entire time. I guess Jessica doesn't realize this. Perhaps her father never told her because he needed to make his betrayal seem real. You can add in any other details that you see fit.

OOC: I don't remember if I named Jess's father Jack or Hunter, since i use both names interchangeably in other things. I was thinking (according to this post) that Antigonus (although he works primarily alone) needs to buddy up with Jack Crosslin (if he wants the support of the Americans.)

IC:

The entire room had gone deathly quiet as Jack Crosslin slinked into the room. He did not stagger like the other wolves, in fact he strode purposefully with intent in every step he made. The way of the Lycan had fit the tall American wizard.

"No..." Jessica's voice faltered and she was silent.

"Hello, Jessica..." The eyes of her father were cold and heartless, "I see you've managed to join Antigonus and I."

"In spirit but not in deed." The teen regained her composure, "You got me here, aye, but I'll never join you."

"You aren't in the position to be saying such things..." Jack's voice was cold as the wolves began to press in around her.

"I'll hex you!" Jessica spat, and her wand pointed straight at her father, "I'll do it, you know i will. You're a dirty traitor, you said you were going to go in but that you'd come out fully human, you told the President, you told us all--"

"Enough."

With that one word, a blast echoed around the chamber. Tendrils of blue and black energy erupted from Jack's wand, and slammed her back and far into the wall. She fell to the ground in a limp heap.

She lay there, pain shooting through every part of her body. Her father's specialized curse would not allow her to speak for a good amount of time, and she saw past that ruse. her father didn't want her speaking for some reason--this jinx would in no way stop her from spelling....

And yet...and yet....he was a wolf?

OOC: Yes, how about we say that Jack and Antigonus have become close. Jack is the only wolf that Antigonus calls by his first name. Jack is in charge of operations in America.

“Noooo!” Eden wailed, struggling against the grip that Radner had on her arms.

“Keep her still!” Antigonus yelled to Radner, keeping his eyes on Jack. He glanced to Jessica’s limp form before saying, “Go ahead. Yates will be able to heal her if you bite too deep.”

Eden glanced frantically at Jack, then her godfather, then at Jasper. Jasper hadn’t moved from Yates’ hold. He looked rather bored with the whole situation. He was staring off out the window, not giving any notice of what was going on.

“Let her go, please!” Eden bellowed. “What has she done to have such pain bestowed upon her? Do not take children, the most innocent of all beings!” She was becoming too wound up to stop herself.

Radner reached around and grabbed her chin to keep her from flailing her head around.

“Take me instead!” Eden screamed suddenly. “If you have to take someone, let it be me! Jessica is not ready for this life! I, at least, know what to expect…”

“Have you not remembered our deal?” Antigonus asked. “Upon your graduation from Hogwarts, I will bite you.”

“I have not forgotten godfather. I only ask that if you are to take someone now, spare the American, and take me.”

“How noble of you,” Antigonus stated, mocking Eden’s plea. He and his wolves chuckled.

“Listen! I – I know how long you’ve wanted to… bite me. This is your chance. Spare her, and you shall have me tonight. Take her now, and I will never be a wolf. The choice is yours.”

OOC: Did you say that Antigonus's wife used to be part of Ravenclaw? Well then that fits the name 'Wolfram' then, which means Ravenwolf.

IC:

Jessica tried valiantly to get to her feet, but her father's curse had been too strong. She flopped back down and found that she was quite unable to move after expunging all her energy on that miserable lunge for freedom. Her father stepped towards her, his gait steady and smooth...

His boots entered her field of vision, and she felt his presence above her. She could not move, it was pure agony just to breathe in and breathe out...

"Antigonus..." Jack said thoughtfully, calling the Wolfram by his first name, "Wouldn't it be more to our advantage if she were to remain human?"

"Oh, of COURSE!" Yates voice was suddenly spiteful, and it was instantly apparent that he did not trust the American wizard at all, "Of COURSE he wants to spare the one of his own blood..."

"Silence, man!" Jack nearly turned his wand on Yates right then, but managed to keep his anger in check, "You don't know what you're talking about...Jessica is in the spotlight all to often, what with her Quidditch playing. If we turned her now, she goes back to school and then off on the winter playing campaign, the wolf in her will not be able to contain itself and our operations may be jeopordized. I mentioned this to you before, Antigonus, and i bring it up again."

His logic was sound--Jessica was a public figure, and while the advantage of having her as a wolf were certainly large, the fact that she was also watched obsessively by most of the Quidditch world was rather a problem...

"Make her stop playing, then." Yates growled.

"The public will want to know why."

"Make something up then!"

"The world isn't as stupid as you make it out to be, Yates."

"Well then--"

Jack snarled, a loud and terrible sound. The way of the wolf had indeed appealed to his darker, more vindictive side, "We let the Wolfram deicde."

“Ah –” Antigonus looked from Jack to Yates “– I cannot detest such logic, but our forces need to be strengthened if there is to be a war.”

Shocked gasps came from few of the wolves.

“A war, Master?”

“But Wolfram, our forces are not strong enough!”

“SILENCE!” Antigonus bellowed in a growling voice. He turned to the congregation of dark cloaked wolves behind him. “There will be a war whether we like it or not! The Aurors are not unintelligent. They’re breathing down our necks already! One more slip up and the lot of you will be in Azkaban for good!”

“Then what of you, Master?” Yates asked.

Antigonus turned away from the group and walked a few paces. His silhouette was framed by the moonlight, which was becoming thinner as the night had begun to dissipate. Morning was only hours away, and with morning came choices.

“We will not have to face that obstacle if we stay smart. As you all know, I will not be taken down by a silly group of Aurors – not when they do not know my capabilities in wolf form. We must be absolutely discreet about our activities at all times.”

Antigonus glanced over his shoulder at his godchildren who were still being restrained by his wolves. “Take them to the dungeons. A couple nights in there should induce more cooperative tendencies. And Exley –” Antigonus cam very close to his godson “– if you fail me like this again you will be killed.”

As Radner dragged Eden to the other end of the ballroom, Eden desperately tried to reach the pocket of her robes. Just as she felt the hard knob of the handle scrape her fingers, she fired off a nonverbal that knocked Radner backwards.

Antigonus had been conversing with Jack, and at the sound of a body crashing to the floor, his attention turned to Eden. She was sprinting across the ballroom towards him, Jessica and Jack.

The Wolfram raised his palm to the girl, and she was immediately immobilized. She stood as still as stone inches from where Jessica lay on the floor.

“Hurry up you fool. Get up Radner! Give me her wand.”

Radner hauled himself off the floor looking disheveled and in a fair amount of pain. His cheeks had sprouted an embarrassed blush at being attacked by the magic of a sixteen year old witch – right in front of his master. He rushed over to Eden, snatched her wand from her hand and presented it to Antigonus in a low bow.

“Get Exley’s as well, and take them to the dungeons this instant!”

Radner and the other wolves instantly obeyed, carrying Eden’s still body out of the ballroom. As the sounds of their feet became quieter with distance, the only four bodies left in the ballroom were Antigonus, Yates, Jack and Jessica.

Antigonus turned to Jack, looking at him with intrigue. “We will need to work something out. Her Quidditch reputation could be a constraint to our plans.”

“Master, he is only trying to protect her!” Yates yelled angrily, stepping closer to Jack. “He is playing you for a fool!”

“Silence Yates! You are not to speak until you are spoken to from this moment on. I’ve had enough of your ridiculous accusations! Jack has the sense to think things through beforehand – a talent you seem to lack.”

Yates’ anger only rose, but his obedience kept him silent.

Antigonus continued, “Now, the girl will stay here in the dungeons until we work out a solution to this problem.”

“We can’t keep the children here! Marx will have suspicions!” Yates exclaimed.

“Shut up you fool! What do you take me for? Our wolves will be using Polyjuice Potion to impersonate the children while they are not at school. I have told you not to speak, and you deliberately disobey me! Jack, take your daughter’s wand and bring her to the dungeons, then take Yates to the chamber on the third floor at the end of the hall. Punish him as you see fit.”

OOC: I was planning for Jessica, Eden and Jasper to be stuck in the dungeons and endure punishment from the wolves for a few days, and we can see where it goes from there. They can break out, be freed by Jack or whatever else we come up with. By the way, they are all placed in the same dark stone dungeon room but aren't chained to the walls or anything. I hope this post was alright.

Jack grinned wildly when he heard Antigonus speak of war...so things were moving quickly then? All the better....all the better.

Now he bent down and picked up his daughter, taking her wand from her limp grasp. He had won it from her, he had bested her in magicks, but he smiled with a dry irony. Jessica did not need her wand to perform magic...at least not her particular brand.

All the same, Jack pocketed the thing and looked down at his child. She would not be able to speak, yet, for an extended period of time, which should cut off the bulk of her magical ability. While the other wolves gathered up the other two.

He would not let them touch his daughter--she was of a higher breed, a better stock. He could not pretend that he hated being overseas in Britain...he much preferred America to where he was now...

But that could not be helped.

Yates would have to be watched.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Jessica came too, she found that the tendrils of her fathers magic still had a firm grip on her entire being. She stirred and managed to sit up without much pain, and then found that her throat simply would not operate. Now words could be spoken. She was in what appeared to be a dark cold dungeon--perchance a cellar, from the looks of the large barrels around her.

There was a large lump at her feet, and she reached down and prodded it. It groaned slightly, and with a start Jessica realized that this lump was Eden...

~Are you alright?~ She tried to say, but failed. In that moment she wondered what she was doing offering help to the enemy...

But then, Eden couldn't be the enemy...she had risked her life an her liberty to try and save the girl from being turned into a wolf...or had that purely been selfish ambition? She bit her lip and waited for Eden to show some sign of further consciousness.

All Eden felt was warmth. She curled herself up in a fetal position, wondering what had happened. She was docile, unable to move in what seemed to be a strange womb-like enclosure. Her eyes would not open. There was hollow silence. But the warmth continued. The tingling temperature sensation in her extremities reminded Eden of her mother. Her face was only a hazy image now, cracked and blurred with the passing of time. What would her mother think if she saw her only daughter now? Eden did not dwell on that thought. She was an orphan, save for Antigonus, who was more a dictator than a guardian at any rate.

Rather than gradually, it was all at once that the warmth was gone and Eden’s eyes were open. There was silence once more, but she was now in a cold place. Her body ached, as much from the after effects of the Cruciatus Curse as much as the icy, damp floor she lay on. Something cold had touched her back; instantly realizing that she had no idea where she was or what had happened, Eden jumped backward, instantly regretting the decision as pain shot through her torso. A resonating, stinging pain centered in her lip, and when she brought her hand up to touch it, the skin was broken.

The musty smelling room was far too dark to see a mere foot in front of her, but Eden looked around frantically despite this.

“Who is there?” She asked, half-expecting it to be Antigonus himself.

There was a small moment of silence before a deep voice shattered the calm. “Your brother,” Jasper’s voice said. He sounded a fair distance away, and Eden had to wonder how big the room really was.

Eden stopped herself from asking ‘Where are you?’, as she realized it would have been a ridiculous question to ask in the dark. She didn’t exactly fancy being close to her brother right now anyway – not after what he had tried to do. The feeling of hate was too strong, the deep loathing kept her tongue at bay.

In a small way, Eden felt temporary relief. She didn’t know where she was, or how her lip had been bloodied, but at least she and Jasper weren’t dead. But… what of Jessica? Had Jack been successful in biting her?

Jessica still could not speak, could not make any verbal sign to Eden. Waving her hands energetically would have been unlogical as well as foolish, seeing as they were in the pitch dark. Out of them all, jessica reasoned that she was the one who was still the most mobile--she got shakily to her feet and stretched out her hands in an exploring manner, closing her eyes (what good were they to her open?) and unexectedly she found a wall.

Her fingers recoiled at once--she felt traces of magic in the stone--something had been enchanted in this room. She had a feeling that the magic in the air was something keepig them blinded....there was no way that things could be THIS dark...

although in the bowels of a manor, one could never know...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Your brats are causing more trouble than mine..." Jack commented dryly to Antigonus, "At least for the moment. You are right, Jessica's fame is a problem. For the moment I need to keep her quiet and happy--although the way things are going, i don't know if that is going to work. She is as dangerous to our purposes as she is vital...."

“Yes, Eden and her brother can be quite the problem,” Antigonus drawled, sitting down on an armchair in his study. “Exley is not like his father at all. He is too obedient, fearfully subservient to me. His father was too intelligent not to have thoughts of his own, though the boy is just a child…”

“Master,” Yates interjected, who, in his haste to converse with Jack, Antigonus had almost forgot was in the room. “He is no child. He is of age now.”

“I suppose so, but that does not stop him from acting like a child. Did you see how he conducted himself today in defense of his sister? Such behavior should be deeply frowned upon. Wolves do not lose their composure like that!”

“What of Eden, Master? She is an asset to us, just like the Vandenbrooke girl,” Yates stated, cocking his head at the Wolfram.

Antigonus rose from the armchair and stood in front of the warm fire, his back to both the other men in the room. He watched the embers dance in mid-air before falling back down to the ground with the force of gravity.

Not turning from his spot, Antigonus spoke in a deep, meaningful voice. “We will have to do something about her. We need the Wolf’s Elixir, and we need her cooperation. We will continue to deliberate about plans for Jessica and Eden tomorrow, but for now we need rest. Yates, the house-elves have moved Jack’s things up to a bigger room on the second floor. Show him there at once.”
__________________________________

It was only natural that Eden decided to get up and look for a door. She rose from her spot on the ground, getting shakily to her feet, and found her way to a wall. She kept contact with it as she moved along, bumping into what felt like a stack of barrels along the way.

“I can hear you moving. Don’t bother looking for a way out. I’ve tried,” Jasper said in a highly cynical tone. “You might as well sit down and accept that the Wolfram is treating you how you deserve to be treated.”

“And what does that mean?” Eden shot back. “How do I deserve to be treated?”

“With contempt; your actions today were laughable! How do you expect to oppose our godfather so blatantly and still be favored? You aren’t such a little girl anymore, sister. Your likeability is hanging delicately…”

“How dare you!” Eden shouted, her body aching as she started to travel towards the sound of her brother’s voice. She heard rustling, but it was coming from behind her instead. She whipped around, having an eerie sensation that someone was very close to her.

Jessica had heard Jasper speak, and had moved swiftly, silently to grasp him in a choke hold (she was still feeling awfully spiteful) and stopped herself--the figure she had brushed against must have been Eden instead of her treacherous brother.

Jasper was no threat to her--he was seedy in his build, and the spell she had cast on him back in the Slytherin Common was enough to keep him from performing magic at least until the morrows eve. Right now the most he could do was poke his wand in her eyes.

She was similarly bound--unable to speak, but this still left her able to perform magic. She would not, of course, in case Antigonus ordered her father to bind her magicks altogether. That would certainly present a problem. Jessica knew her place in this plan, she was to accept what was doled out to her with no complaint...

But seeing her father as a wolf had been a shock, something that she had in no way anticipated...

Eden was aware of her presence, but no doubt was keeping her trap shut about it. Jasper need not know of her existence, just yet. Jessica flexed her nimble fingers....she wanted so dearly to make them curl around his neck...

____________________

"Yates, i am beginning to think that you do not trust me..." Jack said quietly to the short, squat wizard who grudgingly lead the American up the stairs to the second best bedroom.

"I will make it no secret, your intentions are glaringly clear to me--you're here to overthrow my lord!" Yates threw his nose in the air, "I was first in command until you showed up!"

"Watch your tongue, man, or you will find yoruself without one..." jack said, eyes gleaming.

OOC: Hurries post, g2g....soz.

The cellar room stayed disturbingly quiet as Eden turned around. It was no use to scan the darkness for signs of who was behind her, but Eden knew that she and Jasper were not alone in the damp stone room.

It was only then that Eden wondered how long she and her brother would be in that musty cellar. Antigonus was taking drastic action. What if he had no use for Eden any longer? A bone-chilling shiver flew up her spine at the thought. Could he… would he even bother to kill her if it was true? Perhaps he would forget about her all together. Could this suffocating darkness be her final resting place?

“No…” Eden said quietly. Her hands were balled up into fists. Her body would not stop aching. Images of Antigonus’ face flooded into her consciousness.

The shuffling of feet could be heard directly in front of Eden. She knew who it was though, and her thoughts were confirmed when she felt a familiar hand swiping in the air in front of her, finally grabbing hold of her arm.

“What now? Are you going to try and kill me with your bare hands?” Eden asked in a mocking tone.

Jasper laughed. “If I wanted to kill you, I would do it in wolf form. However, I don’t seem to have enough strength for that. The Wolfram will have planned that. He knows that I wouldn’t kill you though, so…”

“I think you’d kill me; if you really wanted to.”

Where just a second before his voice had been ridiculing, a new gentleness was evident. “Why do you think that?” There was something else apparent in his tone… something that sounded dangerously close to distress.

“Listen… I just think you would. I mean, considering how you’ve been acting lately. Everything you’ve done has been to please Antigonus! I told you not to follow in our father’s footsteps Jasper. Look where it got him! Do you want to rot in Azkaban too? I can’t… I wouldn’t be able to…”

“Eden, please. Don’t get like this…” Jasper pleaded. Eden could read him well enough to know that he realized what was coming.

“How could you do this to yourself!” Eden’s voice was loud and angry. She broke free of Jasper’s grasp and moved away from him, but in the darkness it was hard to be sure which way she was going. “Why do you have to be such a git? I want to tell myself that I still care about you, but you’re making it difficult for us to even be in the same room with one another!”

“Eden…” Jasper’s voice cooed. Eden could feel her brother swatting the air in front of him again. His attempt to decipher her location went sour as Eden jumped out of the way once he got close. “Why are you like this?” Jasper voiced, “I’ve told you why I decided to become a wolf. Is that not justification enough?”

“You’re going to be killed, or rot in Azkaban. I don’t care why you’re doing this, because all I can think about are my own selfish reasons! I don’t want you to die!”

Jasper finally brushed past Eden’s shoulder, and made a frenzied attempt to grab her. He found her wrists and held them tight to ensure that the two of them would stay together indefinitely.

“Let go of me!” Eden cried, feeling very foolish and weak. It was not customary for her to lose control of her emotions so palpably. Nevertheless, she struggled against Jasper’s grip in a futile attempt to break free and find solitude in a far corner of the room.

Jasper’s grip did not cease, even when Eden began kicking at him wildly.

“Eden, stop it!” he commanded, exerting more force on the girl’s delicate wrists. “Will you calm down and listen to me?”

“No, get off me you bloody git!”

“EDEN!” Jasper bellowed. The tone of his voice was eerily similar to that of their father’s, and it momentarily immobilized Eden. She stopped her assault and let her wrists fall to her sides when Jasper let them go. Not two seconds passed before Eden was engulfed in her brother’s embrace. She tried to act disgusted and wriggle free, but he would not let her go. As a resonating sadness settled deep inside of her, Eden contemplated whether or not she truly wanted to be let go…

All Jessica heard were sounds of struggle. She had no way of knowing what was going on, to her perception Eden could be being assaulted rather than embraced. It was no matter for her to sense where the others were--in fact, she could feel Jasper thrashing about looking for the others. It disgusted her....what was this boy's problem?

She remained silent and still, although she had to fight off the urge to send another lancing beam of power at Jasper in the dark. Her aim would be true and straight even in the dimming light.

~I need to do something about this...~ She thought. There was no doubt some enchantment on them all, something preventing her from finding the door, something preventing her from seeing. She let her mind wander around the room, feeling and examining different places for traces of magic...she tried to feel out possibly what enchantments had been used to detain her....foolish British magicks..

It was hard for Eden to decide between the two emotions tearing her apart. The first was disgust. Jasper had tried to bite Jessica, had deliberately planned the whole thing out, and was ready to condemn her to a life of serving the Wolfram. How could she ever forgive him for such an offence? The second emotion was love. Jasper was her brother – the only flesh and blood she had left besides the Wolf himself. How could she not forgive him, when deep down in her heart she truly loved him?

Eden stood there for a while letting Jasper squeeze her against his body, but she didn’t hug back. She hung limp in his arms, too overwhelmed, and in too much physical and emotional pain to respond.

He buried his head in the crook of her neck, and for a moment Eden had a rising suspicion that Jasper would start to cry. What has he been through? Eden suddenly thought. How will Antigonus punish him?

It was a while before Jasper let go, but even then, the two siblings sank to the ground and leaned against the stone wall beside one another. Nothing was certain anymore; not their love, not their piece of mind, and certainly not their lives.

OOC: I was thinking that soon Jack or Yates could come into the room to feed the kids. We’ll say it’s the next day already, since they were all out cold for a while. It’s up to you who comes in. This will be the time when Jasper and Eden realize that it’s Jessica in the room with them. Does that sound alright?

OOC: This post obviously shows that Jack is still on the side of the Americans, but like i said...Antigonus still believes that if you turn someone a wolf it means that they're loyal to him forever. Just roll with it.

IC:

Jack sat alone in the guest bedroom at the large desk, his feet kicked up on the wood. An owl had just swooped in with a letter in its beak, and now the thing was clenched in his grip. Jake Grose hadn't received a reply from Jessica at school, a sure sign that something was amiss. Jack looked down at the younger man's frantic scrawling--Jessica had been instructed specifically to return all letters and keep the information feed going inside the school.

Jack heaved a heavy sigh--now that Jessica was here at the manor far earlier than anticipated, they were blind to the goings on at Hogwarts. The polyjuice potion plan had been clever, but Jack knew Jessica was smart enough to make at least one good friend in the short week she had been at school, one good friend who would have learned her habits already and was already questioning her motives...

His mail had not been questioned--Antigonus trusted him completely, and believed that if he was contacting the Coven, he was feeding false information back to them. At times Jack lost track of what he really was--double, triple, or even quadruple agent? Both sides had such to offer him...

Jake Grose was worried about his daughter.

Jack pulled a pen (he had not yet adopted the tradition of scribing with quills and inkwells) from his pocket and hurridly began to write a reply. Jessica was safe with them, for now. Do not trust any information feed coming from Hogwarts because at this time it will be tainted. I will try to get Jessica back to the school at once. Do not reply until the second moon.

The American pulled his wand from his pocket and summoned a burst of power--tangled webs, arcing tendrils of energy that twisted together in the shape of a Phoenix. Or was it a Raven?

"Bring this where it needs to go." Jack commanded the cobalt being. It looked at him with ferice eyes and gripped the letter in its beak before lighting off into the night, a sapphire beacon in the darkness.

"Clever trick."

Jack turned and Yates was standing in the doorway, suspicion etched all over his face, "What was in that letter?"

"I don't see why it concerns you, Yates." Jack said, looking at the short squat man with a lot of venom dripping from his voice, "You are meddling."

"I am concerned with the safety of the Wolfram." Yates answered, his teeth clenched together so hard that it was a wonder the words were slipping out.

"As am I, he and i are close friends after all." With this comment, Jack reminded Yates of his slipping position among the wolves, "You are not in a good place to be questioning MY motives."

Yates did not respond.

"Fetch the children. Bring them to me at once. I must have words with them about their conduct."

Yates looked at the man sitting behind the great wooden desk. He did not like this man… Jack Crosslin. He had taken everything that should rightfully belong to Gregory Yates: the favoritism of the Wolfram, the power of his position, and his authority. This American was a traitor – Yates continually warned his master of this, but it was to no avail. He would have his justification one day soon though… he would have his revenge. But as it was, he would pay the feigned respect to this man that he was required to do.

With nothing more than a blank expression on his face, Yates nodded at Jack. “I shall bring them to the south cellar wing, then. Master does not want them to be removed from the dungeons, sir.” He almost bit his tongue saying ‘sir’, but did not show any emotion. He quickly hurried from the room, ready to move the children. He was quite excited to see what would happen. If Jack hesitated to punish his daughter, Yates would have to inform Antigonus.
_____________

Eden wouldn’t let herself cry, not even when she felt the tense form of her older brother nestle into her. She was certain that crying would not solve anything, but strength could. She needed her wand… it was the majority of her magical ability. Of course, so were her potions, but there was no way for her to get her hands on them now. They were upstairs in her bedroom in the tallest tower of the Manor. That place felt light-years away…

Calm down, Eden she thought. Pick your brain. What kinds of wandless magic have you learned about? It was foggy, but Eden distinctly remembered her last experience using wandless magic. Antigonus had punished her last summer for cheeking him over dinner, and so her wand had been taken for a week. With nothing to do in the huge Manor without her wand for that period of time, Eden spent her days in the library researching wandless magic. She had tried some herself, but her magic was too wild and uncontrolled. She ended up breaking two valuable vases in the room, and when asked about it by her godfather, she blamed it on Yates.

Just as Eden had begun to give up the hope that she’d be able to perform useful magic without her wand, a bright and searing light resonated through the room. Prolonged darkness had rendered her eyes delicately sensitive, and so she snapped them shut to stop the pain.

“Well, isn’t that cute?” Yates’ voice echoed in a mocking tone. “And here I thought you hated one another.”

Eden attempted to open her eyes once more, and this time she caught a glimpse of a girl’s form in the middle of the large stone room they had been in. It was unmistakably Jessica, and Jasper seemed to have noticed as well – he was squinting in the same direction.

“All three of you, get over here. Jack wants a word.”

Eden didn’t move, but Jasper was quick to rise and meet Yates at the door. His face was marked with the dirt of the floor, and he looked more tired than Eden had ever seen him. It was a moment before Jasper looked back at his sister with a distinct expression of tenderness. “Come on,” he urged, “If you don’t cooperate you’ll get it worse…”

“That’s the first valuable thing you’ve said all day, boy,” Yates commented. “Now, get up you worthless maggots. I haven’t got time to wait around for you! I don’t think that you want me to start using Unforgivable Curses, do you?”

Eden didn’t move. She was taking too long to calculate her next move. Her eyes were still transfixed on Jessica.

Jessica gave Eden an unreadable look--it was hard to see what her emotions were. The American teen was not blinking in the bright light, it was almost as though she had expected this course of action.

Yates watched the trio warily, as though he were hardly able to handle three wandless teenagers on his own. Jessica knew that she could easily overtake Yates easily with just her physical prowess alone, her magical ability aside. He was a strange oddly misshapen man, giving off the distinct aura of a bottom feeder. She hardly knew him save for the case file reports, but she already nursed a healthy dislike of him...

"Come on, move it!" His wand was out now, pointing in their faces.

She moved swiftly, coming at him so quickly he jerked, nearly sending a hex at her. She used this hesitation against him--stepping in fast and hard with an elbow to his throat, crushing him against the stone wall. Her stance was firm and would not be swayed--hers was the sinewy athletic body of a trained Quidditch player, it would not easily sway against the pudgy form of Gregory Yates.

The man sputtered, sparks flying from the end of his wand. She pressed in harder until she wrestled the thing from his grasp. She pointed it furiously in his face, and now stood there trembling before realizing that even though she had overpowered one, there was an entire manor full of them..

She tried once, twice, thrice to disapparate but to no avail. Yates gave a wheezing laugh.

"There's not getting out of here now, girl. You think you're so clever, you and your American father? Well I know your story, my sweet. I know the true extent of your power, I've seen--"

"SILENCIO!" Jessica mouthed, giving her wand a spiteful jab. She could still not speak...

Eden’s heart nearly leapt out of her chest in extreme happiness when she saw Jessica overpower Yates and pin him against the wall of the cellar. Though from what she could deduce, Yates’ intention was to bring them to Jack, and once the American clued into how long his colleague had been gone, he would come to investigate.

Amidst the action, Eden had almost entirely forgotten that Jasper was still a wolf. He was on the Wolfram’s side in this entanglement. She should lest not forget that it was he who had brought Jessica into this situation by trying to bite her. What would his next move be?

Not waiting to find out, Eden made a split-second decision. After she watched Jessica cast a non-verbal Silencio on Yates, she nabbed the wand from the American girl’s hand. She pointed the stubby piece of wood at Jasper.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered delicately. “Incarcerous!”

With the force of the ropes, Jasper was knocked backwards and fell with a thud to the dirt floor. His arms were bound to his torso as the ropes slithered into place tightly. The look of pure shock on her brother’s face was not one of irate anger, but of deep betrayal and sadness.

“Eden?” he uttered quietly, “Why do you hesitate to understand my means? It’s bloody great, what the Wolfram is doing. You need to understand that!” His voice was pleading as he fought hard against the rope. “He will make you see the vision of his plan soon; don’t make things harder on yourself!”

“I won’t understand your means!” Eden spat back, “I will never understand them! You can’t force people to become werewolves Jasper. You just can’t!” She paused for a moment, her heart heaving heavily against her chest. She felt the sensation of eyes staring boring through her back. Whether it was Yates or Jessica, she couldn’t tell. “Of course I don’t want to be hurt or be killed, but is this not something to fight for? I will oppose Antigonus until the day I die. I just can’t see him gain more power.”

She turned around to find Jessica close behind her. “Here,” Eden said, extending the wand to her. “Your father will probably be here soon, we should find a way out.”

OOC: Sorry for kinda leaving Jasper behind....if you don't like that, I'll just have Jack come down and fetch him, or someone else? Soz, mate. And if you want them to get out of there, i have a way to get them back to where they came from....I've written that Jessica can't disapparate, but she can do something else in regards to her powers...

IC:

Jessica took the wand quickly--she still didn't know what to make of Eden, and the faster she got the thing away from the other girl, the better. Growing up with the Coven, Jessica knew that there were double, triple, and quadruple agents floating around the world. She could not be sure of Eden's intentions, but for now whatever was going on had served her purposes. The American teen sent Eden a swift searching look before pointing at Jasper, saying unmistakably without words, "Leave him."

She looked at Yates, who stared back at her with cold eyes. The wand felt warm in her grasp--she was won it from him, it would perform now almost as well as her old one. She tapped her fingers on the wood and thought quickly--what could she do to Yates to make sure that their position was not given away?

She thrust a palm out towards Yates and Jasper, executing a concussive blast of the same red and black energy from before. The tendrils blew Yates back into the chamber from which they had come, and slammed the door shut--Jasper was imprisoned again once more, incarcerated by the ropes summoned by...

Eden.

Still mute, Jessica looked Eden up and down, her mind still spinning. There was such a field of options before her now, and right now the courses of action that saw her out of the building safely and back to Hogwarts was one WITHOUT Eden at her side.

~She saved your life....~ Jessica's conscience told her.

With that, Jessica turned and trotted off, not checking to see if the other girl was following. It was her choice if she wanted out or not... Eden could do her no harm at this point without a wand--and Jessica was confident that if she did try anything that she [Jessica] would be able to easily disbatch her. She forced her mind to go through all the blueprints and plans of the Manor...

She was drawing a blank--she had not expected to be at the manor this early in the plan. She was lost, and time was running out before their presence was detected. She stopped and looked around at Eden, opening her mouth and trying to speak, but the words would not form.

She needed Eden's help.