The Attack: Main Thread

Constance knew everything that happened in Hogwarts, Salem, Durmstrang, Beauxbatons and all of the wizarding schools there was on offer. It caught her interest that there was an End of Year Ball at Salem that Hogwarts was attending. After kidnapping children from those two schools, she was not successful in her recruitment. Those children were weak. However, she firmly believed that she damaged them physically and emotionally. Constance did not like how that situation ended and she wanted revenge. Cold, hard, revenge.

To put it simply, more then one person' blood was to be spilled. When she went on a spree, she had to see blood otherwise she would go crazier then she was normally. In saying that, she contacted Widow's from around the world and brought them in for a meeting. There was of course going to be an attack on the two schools. She had slipped past the guards before and she could do it again. Constance had a feeling that it was going to be tough with professors and staff milling about. If she was swift and quick then it would be easy.

Before she apparated, she slipped a few daggers in her boots, sleeve and pants. She had trained with daggers, which was her favourite choice of weapon except a wand. Once her and her fellow widows were geared up, she apparated to the Salem school. She felt a block as she tried to push past the wards that were placed. With further determination, she felt herself break through onto the grounds. She stood on a lawn near a back entrance. Constance had widows taking different entrances. Constance? She would take the main entrance.

Walking up to the main doors, she walked inside, ignoring the absurd looks from students. Constance ran into the main room and smirked to herself. The entire room slowed down to a stand still.

Desmond had a slightly easier time of entering the school, since his daughter was in attendance he flaunted the fact and easily entered the room, giving Constance a small nod before going to find his daughter. An absent father he may be but he didn't want her getting hurt in the crossfire. H smirked finding Louise taking that Murray kid's hand, well too bad hopefully the boy survived to dance another day. 

He stopped before the young couple and smiled pleasantly enough. "Good evening, I hope you wont mind if I borrow Louise for a few minutes?" He noted Louise didn't seem willing to leave but a raised brow and a, do as your told, look she relented, giving the boy an apologetic look before taking Desmond's hand. He lead her to the edge of the dance floor where he could keep his eye on the others and distract Louise long enough to keep her out of the way.

Mycroft had spent most of the ball moving around the grounds with Teagan in tow. Did they want to spend a romantic time together? Most definitely, but was it going to happen? No. The air was too tense of the pair to even relax. He had spent once dance with his soon-to-be-wife, but then he stayed around the main ballroom looking around trying to seem as relaxed as he possibly could.

The whole night was his back straight, his face blank, and his eyes wandering at every possible entrance. He only got distracted as his sister had tapped his shoulder and asked for a dance. He wondered what she wanted, and when she wrapped her arms around him, they began to dance to it.

She was in the midst of a spin when they felt the whole room change in mood. Tense he turned to see that two people had entered, one that caught his interest. The woman looked so pleased at the way students tensed up. He felt his sister grip his hand tightly and he moved forward.

"May we help you?" he drawled out through the silence.

Constance's eyes grazed over Desmond, a faithful widow. Her eyes met his before she looked out to see students squirming with looks of terror. It pleased her. For the older students, there were cold hard stares. Some had glints in their eyes that they could take her down and others had glints in their eyes of admiration. Constance's body was running off adrenaline now, it meant that her senses were heightened and more vigilant than usual.

Her eyes sought one person in particular who seemed to tense at her presence. The headmaster, Mycroft Holmes. There was someone holding his hand who she assumed was the little sister as they had similar facial structures and they behaved as siblings would. The headmaster's voice rung through the quiet room and a few students flinched, constantly looking around them for danger. There were many widows here and could take down many students. She knew that others were staying outside in case that back ups were needed.

Constance looked at Mycroft with a venomously sweet smile,"Holmes, how lovely to see you again. We must catch up again." She continued,"It's always the same questions... who are you, what are you doing? It's simple, there is only one way to explain it." Her stare turned cold and hard,"I am after Tristan Walters, Isabelle Dimonté, Haylen Firestar and Jaden Taylor." Her voice pierced the ongoing silence.

There were a few gasps and whispers of shock, this only encouraged Constance further. "I want them dead with their heart in my hand." She snarled, taking out her wand in her right hand a dagger in her left hand.

It seemed so sudden that silence fell around the room, and the band stopped playing. And it didn't take long for Scarlett to figure out why. With the realisation, she tensed, and her hand immediately unclipped her purse, enclosing around her wand. But she didn't draw it yet. She would only draw her wand if fighting broke out. She heard Clement murmur in her ear piece, and listened carefully. She remembered the instructions given to her at the beginning of the night, and with seeing Louis moving to stand behind Mycroft, Scarlett moved over to Louis' right, eyeing the situation carefully.

Louise reluctantly followed her father, sending Josh an apologetic look over her shoulder. This was worrying, she hadn't' seen her father for almost a year now, when they got to the dance floor she dug in her heels refusing to dance with him, this wasn't' what he was here for she was sure of it. She glared up at him and when the odd woman began talking she recognized some of the names and her eyes widened in shock. "You aren't with here are you?" She looked up at Desmond again, but he wasn't giving anything away, but when she tried to leave and find Josh again she was pulled back and held tightly to her father. "Let go!"

Teagan had really tried not to hope for anything from tonight. Yes, it was the first time she and Mycroft were being rather public with their relationship. It should be a big deal. That small part of her that wanted people to be happy for her wanted it to be a big deal. But it wasn't. And for the most part, she was fine with that.

The whole process of arranging the ball itself had been relatively easy on their ends, since Tess and Mary had taken over for the most part. As Heads of their schools, she and Mycroft had only to attend and support. They'd snuck away for a few minutes of quiet time in the garden as the students were gathering, and had a few dances in the main ballroom. After that, though, they couldn't ignore their duties. Attention was key if they were to keep things safe for the younger witches and wizards.

The witch had moved into the second ballroom, where a large group of students were milling about and socializing. She caught sight of her soon-to-be step daughter and waved at her with a large smile. While they hadn't had much time to get to know each other with school, she looked forward to the summer together, now that things with the Holmes's were cooling down.

Moving through the room, she drifted into the larger ballroom and stopped. Something's wrong. She could feel it the same way she used to during her digs as a Cursebreaker. The hairs at the nape of her neck stood on end and she moved slowly for her wand. All the students seemed frozen, as well as Tess and Mycroft near the center of the room. Every eye was drawn towards-

Her. Teagan paled drastically as memories flooded back to the break before she came into her position. Images of destruction and too-real remembrances of pain slicing through her body as she was bent over backwards with the force of the curse.

With her jaw clenched tight, she gripped her wand close to her body. Ready, but not making the first move. Never taking her eyes off the blonde at the end of the room, she moved slowly towards the center, to stand on the opposite side of Mycroft from where Tess was.

If something was happening, they were taking it on together.

Teagan's Gown:

Tess found the night to be very much enjoyable. From the dancing to Ben coming to the ball and being there for her, everything was coming up roses. She had felt some pull as she had seen the way that her brother and Miss Finn danced in the ballroom earlier. She had been in the sidelines leaning against Ben while it happened, and despite her reservations and her believes about him being a traitor, he looked happy. Closing her eyes she wondered how well it was seeming that he had taken over the family and claiming Miss Teagan as his own, meaning that her blood purity would be ignored despite the lack of purity. Pushed to dance with her brother she took the mature route and danced with her brother.

It was in the midst of the dance that everything shifted in the room. She felt as the temperature dropped and silence loomed over them. The music immediately ended, a sharp note at the end showing it's abruptness. Looking over she saw a woman that she hadn't really seen before. But something about her just made her shiver. Her eyes were so cold, and her brother simply held tightly on her hand. It stung the way he did so, but she knew he was trying to cut the tension. Either the attack was coming, or the stand off would continue.

Her hand moved down her waist to her thigh, her hand ready to get her wand if she needed it. She had known an attack was possible, but to see it, to have a role in it was both frightening and made her adrenaline rush. She pushed her shoulders back, not wanting to show weakness and stared coldly at the woman. She was here to destroy everything over four children at a ball? It wasn't happening.

Her brown eyes shifted to stare back to see an intimidating man already was ready. Looking back at Constance, things began to click. She remembered them clearly at the game. The way their leader had taken over people, had made James kill those innocent children, how they had forced so much destruction on a good day. Her lips became a fine line as she waited for the signal. She might die, it was the idea that loomed over her head. Her eyes desperately wanted to look for Ben, wondering where he was. He needed to get out, he was still sore and she didn't want to see them hurt. So many people were in danger, and yet there she was holding the hand of the man that had to not only protect himself, but the people around him. He was responsible for these people, she could at least help by keeping her out of his hair and not be a burden.

"I'm ready whenever you are" she whispered to her brother.

She wasn't going to run this time. She wasn't going to cry, at least not at this moment. Right now, she needed to be a Holmes. And Holmes shut down emotions, pushed for control and demanded success.

And as Miss Finn moved beside her she knew that they were waiting. So the standoff continued.

Mary followed Victoria back in the castle, smiling happily and trying to figure out what exactly just happened. She didn't know whether to feel happy or guilty or both, but she knew that whatever she was feeling was overwhelming. She kissed Victoria. Looking at the girl practically skipping before her, Mary felt happy and good and like everything will be alright in the world. And then the younger Wormwood skipped over to her brother and something clenched in the witch's stomach.

How would Jake react to such news? Probably not well, it was his younger sister. But then Mary didn't have any more time to think about that. There was a woman standing by the entrance, a Widow, and the whole room felt cold. There seemed to be fear everywhere, coming off of students and faculty alike. Mary reached down beneath her dress and got her wand out of the thigh holster before slowly moving to where Professor Holmes and Tess were standing.

They had been anticipating an attack, but the witch had been hoping it wouldn't happen nonetheless. Her first priority was getting the younger students out and then fight. She wanted to fight this time though, not just run away, and she was ready. Mary caught Tess' glance and nodded to her, hopefully telling her she was ready to receive orders from her or her brother. She looked around the Hall and was glad to see Lydia wasn't anywhere in the room and that Victoria was with Jake. She knew he'd keep her safe, but she would make sure that the witch got out of there as soon as possible.

She also made sure she knew where every Prefect was standing, so that she'll know where to run and shout orders to. Gripping her wand tightly in her hands, Mary finally turned to look at the Widow standing in front of them.

Had she not been on a minimal red alert all evening, Lucelia would probably have been too caught up in her own little world of fantasy to notice the change in the room. The aww's and the few applauses around her and Angelo seemed to dissipate too quickly for her liking, and after another soft kiss to his lips, she turned to where she suddenly felt a coldness come from in the air.

Her wand was tucked away safely down the secret pocket she had enchanted into her dress at where the heartshaped neckline met in the middle, the tip of the handle only visible to her as she looked down to ensure it was there every so often. She gave Angelo's hand a soft squeeze, slightly irked at how these kind of things always seemed to happen at the most irritating times. This was followed by the thought that the girls had gone to so much effort with this whole thing, and that she knew it would most likely end up in a bit of a state after the inevitable fighting.

The Norwegian's legs carried her a few steps forward as she completely nonchalantly removed her wand from it's pocket and held it in an unshaking hand. It's all going to be fine she repeated to herself over and over, holding her wand at her side, ready to draw if necessary but not ready to make a move just yet. The stance she held radiated confidence as she stepped forward further, to where the other Professors and of-age students were forming a defence of sorts.

Vale she thought to herself with a narrow of her eyes, looking at the blonde haired woman with distate. Horrible, horrible things had been linked to her name, her club, her face. If there was ever a better time to feel on top of the world, this was it, because from where she was floating, she could and she would do everything.

Mycroft knew the room was waiting for what was evident, there was no going back. All the plans, all the different outcomes were becoming reality. He always believed that the reason for the attack would be for the idea of destruction, chaos and death, not for the handful of students that had gone missing before. He was still not going to let that happen, and as more Black Widows began to appear around them, he moved forward and pulled Tess closer to the back. He knew the first attacks could come his way. 

He studied the young woman, wondering what caused her to be so destructive and obsessive on those young children. He gripped his wand tightly and waited, the standoff not even bothering to hide the murmurs. 

"I'm ready whenever you are" He heard Tess said. 

Those words hit home for him. He saw Teagan, Mary, Tess, and Louis ready for the attack. He worried over where his daughter would be, but at the moment, all that mattered was defense. His blue eyes scanned the room, so many people protecting those they cared for. Jake to Victoria, Conner to Rhian, all these people were ready for the attack. He had trust in these individuals to save the others and protect themselves.  

"I see...well sorry to disappoint you, but no one is leaving the grounds" he drawled, "especially not any of my students. We-" he signaled the adults around, "aren't letting you. Sorry to disappoint you, but you won't be getting your way." 

"Shuter, seal the front entrances, we'll have no more entering." David heard through his ear piece. He was glad to not be a main part of this battle. He had done as ordered and not interfered with anyone coming in, so if they yelled at him for letting these black widows, he would counter with the following orders thing, if they said he had to take initiative, he would counter with the fact they had yelled about it to him in the past.

He followed his orders, closing the main doors, and sealing them with many spells that he uttered under his breath. The Black Widow's would have to try really hard to get past them.. then they would have him to deal with.

He was guarding on the inside, his wand in hand. He murmured into his ear piece "Doors locked and sealed sir. I stand by for more orders." They knew about his power to turn into a Lion, so he knew if the option presented itself, they would use it.. like if they conjured some bone dragon again or some crazy thing like that

Thana watched as Constance made her threats, she had been fooled by the girl once. But not again.

."I am after Tristan Walters, Isabelle Dimonté, Haylen Firestar and Jaden Taylor."  

At the mention of her friends, Thana instinctively knew what to do. She touched her scar, the one on her right hand. The one matching the name she quietly said. " Lucas"

No more was needed to be said, in an instant he was beside her. Professor Faowind to most. Lucas to her, Lucas was family. They protected each other once, and now it seemed time to do it again. Together they walked quietly next to the other teachers and Prefects. Professor Mycroft, Professor Finn, Louis Clement, Professor Jake, and others that they knew were also taking their stance.

With a pang of guilt at spotting her, Thana saw Tess. She was with her brother as well, there was no time for apologies. No time for words. Thana had been on one side her whole life, now she had the chance to turn the tables. It was exactly what she was going to do. She waited for orders, her body freezing, as if it was stuck. She was calculating, observing. She had trained for these times her whole life. Unlike the others, she didn't have a limit. She would go as far as she had to.

" We are ready" Thana and Lucas quietly told Professor Mycroft. Today, there would be no doubt as to whose side she was on. Lucas and Thana knew each other inside and out. Lucas had his own special abilities, and Thana had hers. They would fight together to protect the people they loved. They would fight together, and if it came to it. Die together.

Brooke was having the time of her life. Never before did she ever imagine she would attend a ball, let alone have such an amazing date for one. Most of the night was spent with him, of course, but she did find a few moments to check on Tristan, not so much to talk as to see how he was doing. The night was still young as Brooke excused herself to pop into the bathroom; dancing made her thirsty, and one too many cups of punch had made her bladder complain.

When she exited the restroom, she couldn't help but shiver - it seemed as though the temperature in the place had dropped suddenly. There was a silence echoing around the place; the music and clacking of heels against floor had vanished, almost as though everything had frozen. Cautiously, she slipped off her shoes and moved slowly back towards the main hall. What she saw made her freeze in fear. A woman she had only ever seen in newspapers and wanted posters, of whom tales were told as horror stories, was now standing in the middle of the room.

Immediately, her eyes searched the room for Tristan, but was unable to find him. That helped to ease her a little, knowing that he was not in the vacinity, and hopefully, he would not return. She knew not the details of what he had faced in the days he was with her, but she knew it wasn't anything good.

The Professors of both Hogwarts and Salem had taken up some sort of protective stance, and she realized that, as a prefect, she was supposed to help evacuate the students. The thought hit a nerve in her, and she forced herself to clear her mind of any and all distractions. She was expected to help, to save students should a fight break out, and she knew she couldn't let anything get in the way of that, especially not fear or personal grudges against the woman who hurt her brother. As much as she wanted to send a curse in the direction of the Black Widow leader, she remembered what happened the last time she let personal vendetta rule her instead of a calm and collected disposition. If there was one thing she could do, it was learn from her mistakes, and it was one hell of a lesson she had with Josh.

Quietly and carefully, she inched her way over to Joe, her shoes deposited in a flower pot. Unclasping her purse, she removed her wand and left the bag on a random table, not caring about the little money inside; she was much more concerned about the safety of the students. Finally reaching him, she caught his eye briefly, trying to tell him that things were going to be okay. She wasn't sure she believed it herself, but it was better than looking scared. "Did she say why she's here?" she whispered to him, having missed Constance's entrance completely.

After her fail with her first attempt - no thanks to Callum - she found herself not in the mood for another game, and so instead, she hung around the punch bowl, keeping an eye out of potential targets. Suddenly, a silence took over the room, and she imitated those around her, turning to look at a woman standing in the middle of the room.

It wasn't too hard to place her - every witch and wizard knew of Constance Vale, not that Janique really cared for the tales she had heard. Sure, some were quite bone chilling, but then again, most horror stories were, and Jani was not one to take those things seriously. Stories such as those of the Black Widow in front of her were usually made up, meant to scare little children and make them behave. It was nothing more than a fairy tale, truth taken and blown up into fiction, something that allowed parents to warn their children with; do this or the black widows will get you.

Why, then, were the Professors of the school so tense? The thought came a few seconds after the Hogwarts Headmaster - Minecot or something like that, she didn't really care - had started a conversation with the woman. She listened with little interest, watching the no-nonsense dispositions of the teachers, and the scared, pathetic looks on the faces of some of the students. Maybe, she decided as she looked around, there was some truth to the stories of old. Not wanting to wait around, she slowly and quietly inched her way back to the entrance.

Her attention was immediately brought back to the current situation when she head the swish of a wand, and she stopped, turning back just in time to see that the Black Widow leader had sent a spell directly towards the man. Her breath caught; the red light could have been a number of spells, but she suspected it was not one of the light ones learnt in charms or DADA, and she quickly realized that things were about to get really messy, really soon.

((OOC: I have permission to GM Constance from Tyler. ))

He noticed the teens moving together around him, and for some odd reason, he realized that they were forming a bigger target around him. Still, Mycroft was positive that this could work, despite the risk, especially as soon it seemed like Constance was only having a few backups when it came to Black Widows. But that ideology soon changed as soon as many were breaking into windows. Forget doors, these widows were coming in.

There was no words, because immediately the mood changed from cold, to utter chaos. Screams were heard and immediately a red light was coming his way. 

"Get down!" he screamed as he immediately threw himself to his left, throwing himself over Teagan and Tess. 

He growled knowing that this was the signal that his Black Widows began to throw spells. Looking down at his fiancée he signaled her knowing that she knew exactly what to do. His sister looked like she was shaking and he squeezed her shoulder. Pulling her up, he looked around.

"Semele evacuate students immediately. Prefects do as you were prepared to do so. Defend, protect, and attack if necessary! McNeely, Tess, get your ass on the field!"

Constance stood where she was, continuing to obverse the students, staff and ministry workers. The cold wrapped around the students' bodies and took what warmth there was in the room. Even in a tank top, she was warm. It was mainly adrenaline that fuelled her and the eyes that watched her every movement. She paced around to the left side of the room, watching students and staff move back against the wall. Constance wasn't oblivious to the fact that students were escaping and staff were pushing them to the exits. Her eyes flickered to a different source of movement in the centre of the room. It was Louis Clement who she had a run in with earlier. She got away from him without breaking a sweat, it was deeply satisfying. She watched his mouth which was muttering words. Constance was not an expert in lip reading but she saw the words seal the front entrances and you know what to do. Rolling her eyes, she saw so much effort in this situation from the ministry. She figured that they were here for amateur protection as well as reliving their youth. Her eyes bore into his before she turned away, completely unmoved by his efforts. She then saw another ministry worker whom she hadn't seen before stand by Clement. She was quite young and might be a one night stand.

Her attention then turned to her fellow widow, Grey. He obviously went to find someone and did he, the young girl looked like she was about to throw a tantrum. A smirk rose upon her lips, continuing observing what was around her. Constance almost laughed out loud seeing the Salem Headmistress's shock on her face. When Constance invaded the school, she cursed Finn in one of the most torturous ways she could. Obviously those memories were still vivid. It made Constance feel sick inside for the corny feel of the students and teachers joining together. It was pathetic. Again, a few more students and teachers joined in but none of them were who she wanted. One of the students caught her eye, this girl had blue streaks in her hair and she assumed it would've been a Ravenclaw student. Her face seemed familiar but it wasn't an interest. She probably saw her at a bar, Hogwarts students were drawn to that.

Her eyes met Mycroft Holmes's last. She smiled again, always polite. "Holmes, you underestimate what powers I have and what I will do to get what I want." Her voice rung clear,"It is quite pathetic that you rely on the ministry to keep the school safe. I came in once, came in twice and now a third time. If I were you, I would think that is a slap in the face." She looked down and saw she had nicked her finger on the dagger blade. She saw it spill down on the floor, the contrast was strong against the tiles. Constance tilted her head, deciding to place her wand back in her pocket. It came to her attention that she may get disarmed but she always had her wandless and nonverbal magic behind her. She waved her hand and felt an energy surge through her. Looking around the room, she threw a few spells towards students. It was a conjunctivitis curse which would damage their eyesight if they were too slow on moving. On the other side of the room, she threw an incarcerous spell which if that also hit them, it was tie them up. Her eyes scanned the room for the students she wanted to kill but they weren't anywhere to be seen. They were hidden through the crowd and Constance had to find them. She had a reputation to uphold.

Her eyes went to Finn, throwing a dagger towards her chest and muttering an unforgivable. The words rolled off her tongue like a lullaby: crucio. One hand was at the ready if the curse had gotten to her and her other hand was free to deflect any oncoming spells. Behind her, Black Widows began pooling out, some going for students and adults. Stopping one heading for Mycroft, she muttered,"His head is mine. Go for the headmistress." With a nod, the widow went towards the headmistress. With free hands, she came at Mycroft, muttering curses and throwing numerous spells. She wanted to take him down.

"This could've gone the easier way Holmes. Hand over the children." She snarled, reaching out to grab his throat. "I want to hear their screams fade away as the blood drains from their body." She continued, eyes never once leaving his.

(OOC - this is my post of what happens just before the red light is casted and she goes to attack Mycroft.)

"Semele evacuate students immediately. Prefects do as you were prepared to do so.

Thana heard Professor Mycroft tell her what to do. She knew why he had chosen her, it hurt but she didn't care. She had been given orders, ones she would follow.

" Yes Professor" she said before turning to Lucas, " I'll get them out, stay safe" she told him. Before turning around and taking charge, she grabbed a knife from one if the passing tables. Hell, there was no way she was going to run in a dress

. She quickly kicked off her heels while she walked, before taking the knife and purposely cutting her dress. Making it a lot shorter than before. She then started getting to the other students. She spotted most of the younger years banding together, " huddling like sheep" she thought grimly to herself.

" Right, you lot. With me. " She said to the students. Before spotting a familiar face. " Jareth! Get your ass out of here!" She yelled at her adoptive brother. This was no time for him to be a hero. " Everyone buddy up, follow me" Thana called to the group. Like sheep they followed.

Quickly and hurriedly, Thana shepherded the group of around 30 students to an exit. Of sorts. One of the Widows had blow. Through it, it was big enough for them to get out. " Right, everyone to the Dungeons!" She told them. It would be one of the safest places, away from the fight. Noticing that for once Jareth had done what he was told, she ordered him. " Jareth I don't know the castle like you do, get them to the dungeons. And if you see any of the four students listed by the bitch, or a Widow let me or Lucas know" she told him, touching her ring. The same one everyone in the Faowind family wore.

Thana made sure the group of students was on their way before she wen back for the rest, quickly she went to the bathrooms, to make sure there wasn't anyone in hem. She only found a ghost. " Look mind sir, Salem is being attacked, le the other ghosts know, and look for any stray students!" She told the ghost. Before coming back to the hall to get more students.


A/n I apologise for my language,

Jareth watched as the ball fell into chaos. In that one moment he saw her. The most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Fierce and cunning. Beautiful and clever. Constance he breathed to himself, trying to make his way towards her.

Unfortunately, his stupid adoptive sister had other ideas, making him leave and go with the group of students. Telling him to behave and kee a watch for the four students listed by " the bitch" as Thana called her.

" But she isn't, she is the most beautiful person I've ever seen" he thought to himself as he was going to the dungeons. It wasnt fair, his stupid adopted sister even had her own FAOWIND ring, something that wasnt hers to have. He sat seething, while his sister and brother were off fighting the woman he had fallen in love with at first sight. He loved Alyson yes, but this woman. Stood for everything magic should of been, how it could be.

All things considered, Isabelle had enjoyed her evening. Okay, she hadn't danced with anyone and a lot of people seemed to be having much more fun than she was, but there had been a ball and everyone was dressed up and it was just generally so nice to be able to call herself safe again that she wasn't going to label it as not fun just because she didn't live out a fairytale.

She had taken a walk out in the gardens alone, shoes dangling from her left hand as she found a spot no couples were sat, where she stayed to look at the fairy lights. They were hypnotising, almost, their gradual twinkling making her eyes light up and fall dark again as she stared at them. For a moment, she wondered if they were real fairies being used, but she doubted it highly.

Soon enough, it grew too chilly for her to walk around uncovered, so she fastened her shoes back onto her feet and went back inside to where the other students were, she assumed, probably dancing cheerfully as they had done all night. Then atmosphere that greeted her wans't one she had expected, though, and curious as ever she wiggled and squeezed her way to a place where she could see properly.

The face brought back the feeling of dread that she had felt in the Psychiatric Hospital, and despite herself, Isabelle tried to scream into the void that surrounded her. The girl's voice wouldn't work, though, and she fell to the ground, landing heavily and probably jarring her left elbow, but that was the least of her worries.

"I am after Tristan Walters, Isabelle Dimonté, Haylen Firestar and Jaden Taylor."

Breaths came short and fast to the witch as she shook her head, slowly at first but turning more violent, in the end looking like she was having some kind of horrendous human to beast transformation. She felt her eyes sting, just as they had in the room that plagued her dreams, and suddenly it felt like the chains were back around her slim wrists, rubbing and catching and chilling.

There were screams and voices and smashing and shattering and lights and it was all too much for her to handle. She grew dizzy, throat closing, body shaking, quaking, sounds going fuzzy in her ears and her head feeling heavy. The rest of her body hit the floor with a soft thump as everything fell to black.

Lucas had enjoyed the evening until Constance arrived. Everything went downhill from there, he was suprised that Thana stayed. Heck, he knew she still dabbled in the Dark Arts. She had openly stated that she would take " the side that has the best chance of winning" . He felt proud that she stayed to protect her friends, and slightly annoyed that his boss. Mycroft, had sent her away so easily.

" You should of let her stay and fight" he told the man, just as the attack started and Thana walked away. She would do as she was told, only because her friends were in danger. Watching her leave and the battle begin brought back memories.

Watching her pick up a knife, kick off those blasted heels, cut her dress, and start to get everyone out. As well as yelling a his younger brother just made him realise how bad the situation was.

Lucas had no time to worry about Thana, instead he focused on protecting the students, and getting rid of the Widows. He fought off one Widow who was attacking a group of students. Some he knew were in his classes. " Buddy up and get to Thana!!!" He told the students, knowing she would do anything to keep them safe. That was what worried him. He lost his thoughts quickly however, as more and more Widows kept attacking.

Cast, dodge, protect, attack, these things kept going through his mind. It would be useless to let his arms change now, too many wands and students were here. He kept muttering and casting spells, praying that he wouldn't have to use an unforgivable. And hoping to holy high hell of Merlin that Thana didn't.