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Post by Curse Kameren on Jul 17, 2011 1:02:29 GMT -5
Curse Kameren was back in his room. He sat on the sterile white bed, his arms crossed and his stare straight ahead. He always hated how white the hospital was, it made him feel like he was dead. That was why during his long stay, when he was first admitted, he transfigured the walls into chalk boards. He didn't do that today. He didn't intend to stay long.
He had had a break, they told him. He didn't realize he did; he was at Hogsmeade, then he was here. He didn't know the in between. He didn't know who brought him here, he didn't know what had stimulated the mental break. All he knew was that he was here, and that by now, it was probably for good reason.
As he leaned back against the headboard, he maneuvered gingerly around his sleeping son. Max had been delivered to the hospital sometime while Curse was blacked out; he had slept here with his father, once the mediwizards got him to calm down. Curse gently laid a hand on the boy's head. He took a deep breath in, but didn't wake. It had been a tiring night for all.
I want to go home, Curse thought to himself, his hand resting gently on his son's back as his green gaze flashed to the door. There were people outside, he could hear them. Who were they? Curse stopped himself, trying to decipher whether his thoughts were paranoid, or simply curious. He needed to judge himself before the doctors did, or he wouldn't get out. He wanted to be home. He wanted to be sane again, to have whatever was broken by the Masked Lady made right again. Her meddling in his mind ruined him. He couldn't live peacefully any longer.
The doorknob turned, and Curse straightened, careful not to nudge his sleeping child. His green eyes were hard on the visitor, the emptiness from the night before still mending as he pulled himself out of the shadows.
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Post by Arianna Blackthorn on Jul 17, 2011 12:40:32 GMT -5
Immediate family only. That was what the Nurse on duty said. Frustrated, Arianna glared at the woman. She had brought Curse into the hospital, and gotten Max, his SON and yet here she was not allowed inside. Really, was the woman daft? A person who knew where to get one's child and that child had strong affections for, belonged in that room. But no, the witch had to follow protocol. Maybe in the next twenty four hours friends would be allowed inside. What if Curse woke up and noticed that she was absent? He'd think she disappeared again, left him and Max. It wasn't true and she needed to be in that room to prove it. This wouldn't have been a problem if they had actually married. Or if they were engaged but to do either of those things, they actually had to be dating. Well, they were but no one knew that. And Ari promised not to tell, even though it was entirely tempting to scream at this witch, telling her that she was more than Curse Kameren's family friend. But then, as gossip always does, it would travel back to the Ministry where in five minutes the entire place would know that she was realigned with Curse Kameren. They'd be the center of gossip again and that would hurt Echo's case.
Pretending to give up, Ari glared at the witch, spun on her heels and took a seat in the small waiting room for the mental ward. When the witch left the station, Ari glanced around and slipped past. She was just outside his room when the annoying witch returned. Words were exchanged, wands almost drawn when a healer noticed them.
"that's Miss Balckthorn, you can let her in," Finally. Ari shot a triumphant look at the disgruntled witch and slipped inside Curse's room. Softly, she closed the door behind her. The room was dimly lit but she could make out the Kameren's on the bed. Ari stepped closer, pausing when she noticed Curse awake.
"Hi," She whispered.
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Post by Curse Kameren on Jul 17, 2011 16:14:03 GMT -5
"Hi," She whispered.
A small part of Curse knew it was going to be Arianna coming through the doorway. It was that ever-present awareness of her that told him it was her. She was here when he needed her, like she promised. Part of him felt like it was too good to be true. He smiled tiredly, holding out a hand for her to take. His fingers still had slight tremors, now more from his lack of antidote in his system than his mental troubles. Her warm hand in his soothed the shaking though, giving his muscles something to focus on.
"Thank you," He whispered back, his brow furrowing with confusion at his own words. Why was he thanking her? She hadn't done anything he knew of, but part of him knew it was warranted. There was something, some part of his consciousness that knew she played a role in getting here before he could be lost. He sighed deeply, wincing slightly as he did; he had been hit in the chest last night, bruising a few ribs in the process. It wasn't a major injury and he would heal quickly from it, but with the bruises fresh it smarted.
Sleeping Max turned over, away from the couple in his sleep. Curse smiled, brushing the boy's hair out of his eyes affectionately. He still had his son, that was what mattered. After a break apparently as bad as this one, he wasn't sure if he'd be trusted again.
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Post by Arianna Blackthorn on Jul 19, 2011 2:23:08 GMT -5
Standing there in the room she was a bit out of place. Like a teenager again or someone who might be intruding. Really, who was she to come here? Yes she said she'd stay, try this whole thing again not run away. But she felt the urges. This was a private moment and she wasn't sure if she earned the right to stay. Then he held out his hand and she grasped it in her own, settling down on the edge of the bed. She belonged here, with Curse and Max.
"Thank you,"
Ari shook her head, he didn't need to thank her. Emotion built up in her throat and she raised his hand to her lips, softly kissing it. God, she thought she had lost him, that the masked lady had won.
"How are you feeling? I'm sorry I hadn't been there...I didn't know about the attack," She whispered her voice laden with guilt. If she had been there perhaps she could have prevented the attack. "Theo summoned me when he found you. I came as quickly as I could...I love you," She blurted out unable to resist the urge to say those words.
She nearly lost him. Merlin, they'd come so close to losing each other again. Arianna would not allow that to happen again. Her gaze moved to where Max was asleep. He'd been worried when she appeared in the house, where his father was gone. It had been terrible explaining to the boy what had happened but she had tried her best.
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Post by Curse Kameren on Jul 19, 2011 3:39:16 GMT -5
Curse closed his eyes as he let out a breath, frowning slightly when he did. He couldn't close his eyes without seeing the masked lady and the broken bars that bound him. They were his biggest scar, one that couldn't be seen at all. The curse had changed him, how he thought and who he was. He hated Mosrael for that above everything else. He smiled tiredly when he felt Arianna kiss his fingers. He opened his eyes. The emptiness was still there, but it was slowly filling in. He had his family here, that helped.
"How are you feeling? I'm sorry I hadn't been there...I didn't know about the attack"
The professor shook his head, squeezing her hand reassuringly. It wasn't her job to follow him around at all hours to make sure he didn't have a mental break down. He was a big boy, he had to take care of himself. He knew how to fight now, knew people who could help him when he needed their support. That was enough. "I'm better." He said simply, a bit of rasp in his voice from the smoke he'd inhaled the night before. He was better, but not good. Hogsmeade was in ruins. He didn't know who all from the Watch was there, how many injured or dead. As was habit at Mungo's, they didn't let him see the Daily Prophet. They were afraid the news would upset him. He was afraid they were right.
"Theo summoned me when he found you. I came as quickly as I could...I love you"
He pushed himself up, careful not to wake Max when he leaned in and kissed Arianna on the cheek. "I love you too. I'm glad you're here." Curse kept his words short and to a minimum; to be honest, a part of him was afraid the pain would come back. He was also exhausted, his mind too tired to struggle to say much more than what he needed to. It didn't matter, to dwell on how close to the edge he was. He had been able to step back, that was the important part. And now they were together again. He looked between his love and his son; this was what was important. The Black Watch was keeping them safe; the same thing could have happened just as easily in Godric's Hollow, were it not being watched over by aurors.
Aurors. That reminded him. "Does Alex know?"
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Post by Arianna Blackthorn on Jul 19, 2011 18:06:46 GMT -5
Everything would be alright. she just had to keep reminding herself that. No matter what happened they could and would work through it. Together. They were both willing, she was sure of it. At least Cursed smiled, abet tiredly. It was something and she latched onto that hope as she stared into his worn green eyes. Were they lighter? The murky depths seemed to be less devoid than they had been earlier. With time everything would improve.
"How are you feeling? I'm sorry I hadn't been there...I didn't know about the attack"
Curse's shaking head stopped her torrent of words. Emotions coursed through Ari and she bit her lip to keep the words from pouring out of her. Now was not the time. She'd wake Max up and he needed his rest. Hell, so did Curse. She was keeping him from much needed sleep. He was better but not best. It would be a journey, she knew that.
"Theo summoned me when he found you. I came as quickly as I could...I love you"
"I love you too. I'm glad you're here."
Ari smiled slightly, his lips warm against her cheek. Still he was reserved and she knew the bars were still in his mind trying to imprison him. Would it ever stop? Would he ever be healed? Was there some way that she could repair the fractions in his mind? Make him whole...an object or something? She vowed to look into that.
"Does Alex know?"
"Yes, he should be here shortly. The aurors were called in to assess damage," She said softly brushing a strand of hair away from his face.
"You should try and sleep. I'll watch over you."
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Post by Curse Kameren on Jul 20, 2011 15:16:41 GMT -5
Curse shook his head; he wouldn't sleep, not today. Going to sleep meant giving in to his mind once more, leaving the conscious world. He couldn't do that quite yet. He couldn't close his eyes without seeing the Masked Lady. The idea of her possibly coming back into control scared him. He couldn't sleep and let her win.
"I'm not tired," He replied, though they both knew it was a lie. There was no convincing him otherwise, however. So the small family sat in silence, their quiet room like a different world compared to the busy hospital outside.
Curse watched as the sky began to lighten outside the window; morning was coming. It had been twenty-four hours since the attack, then. It had gone way too fast, he couldn't remember enough of it. He needed to know the injured, the dead. He needed to make sure his fellow Black Watch members were okay. Should he enlighten Theo on what happened, or just leave it be? He was sure his behavior probably scared the Flying Instructor, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to divulge much more of his secrets. He hated that look he would get when others learned of his illness. It was a lot like pity.
His clouded emerald eyes filled with thoughts as Curse absent-mindedly stroked the back of Arianna's hand with his thumb. He took a deep, tired breath, but his eyes refused to close. It had been a long night, and he wasn't going to let a break like this happen again.
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Post by Alex Kameren on Jul 20, 2011 22:22:51 GMT -5
It was early morning, the sun just breaking when Alex’s team trudged tiredly home from Hogsmeade. They left a different team in their place, but there wasn’t much left to be done. No, that had all been during the afternoon and night as the aurors cleaned up after dark fyres and helped the hitwizards dig people from collapsed buildings. Theodore had managed to get rid of the dark mark haunting the sky while getting a copy of it to study later.
Alex had seen signs of his brother’s magic, particularly in a large collection of iron items wrapped around a light pole. Alex had to work to demagnetize the pole, by the time he was finished sweat beaded on his skin. Merlin’s beard, what had Curse used, raw magic? The metallic man had been described as an attacker, and while he seemed inactive at the moment, still they took precautions.
“Hey, you goin’ home?”
“No.” His voice was rough from the long hours behind them. He didn’t trust himself to speak full sentences.
“Ah. Goin’ to see your brother?”
Alex looked up from the report he was working on. “Yeah.” He paused, but his partner didn’t leave. “I’ll be find. Go home. See Lyra.”
“Well, if you’re sure.” Theodore collected his coat and made to leave, giving one last admonition as he headed out the door. “Take the floo, don’t apparate!”
Alex made a sound that might have been agreement.
--
He arrived at the hospital by floo, cloak over one arm, worn and dirty. He came to Curse’s door, but didn’t enter. Instead he leaned against the doorframe, unwilling to break the peace that existed in the room.
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Post by Curse Kameren on Jul 21, 2011 9:12:40 GMT -5
"Kameren." A robust, dark-skinned nurse impatiently pushed past the younger Kameren brother, who was leaning on doorframe of his brother's hospital room. The Kamerens were back in St. Mungo's, and the staff was thrilled. They didn't even have Callahan to push the patients off onto today, she was off tending to other victims of the Hogsmeade attack. Apparently the older Kameren brother had had a rough night, but with his mental injuries tended to, it was time to pay attention to his physical ones.
The nurse carried a thick purple paste and a silvery-green potion in one hand. She filed in, leaving Alex at the doorframe with an annoyed look. "Kameren," She greeted her current patient in the same curt tone she'd just used to greet his brother, heading over to a rolling tray in the corner to mix Curse's medicine.
"Alex," Curse nodded at his brother in greeting, sitting up a bit straighter. His brother looked spent; he was sure bringing relief to Hogsmeade was no easy feat, it was one Curse didn't envy him for having. He was glad to see his brother, though. Finally, someone who could answer his questions about the aftermath. Finally someone who would answer them. "How--"
"Open." The Nurse interrupted him, giving him a no-nonsense look as he arched a brow at her. He knew damn well he wasn't allowed to ask the question he was about to. She took him by the jaw, glaring at him until he obliged, opening his mouth. "Stick out your tongue."
"Why?"
"Do it." He gave her a strange look, but listened. Sticking out his tongue revealed scabbed-over toothmarks along it, biting deep. It had been numbed until now, now it needed healing. She dabbed the paste in her hand on a tongue depressor, dabbing the paste onto the scab carefully. Curse cringed, but she kept him by the jaw to keep him from shying away. "You bit your tongue last night. Lucky you didn't bite all the way through it, or we'd be growing you a new one today." She let go of him, backing away as he let himself get comfortable again. "I'll be back once that dissolves to do your antidote." She nodded curtly to Alex and Arianna before exiting.
As the nurse closed the door, the sound woke Max. He didn't wake completely, just shifted closer to his father. He rested his head on Curse's chest, the elder wizard wincing slightly at the added pressure to his ribs, but leaving it be. Max was at peace for now, that was worth it. His green eyes turned back to Alex, looking at him expectantly. He knew the question Curse was about to ask.
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Post by Alex Kameren on Jul 23, 2011 2:01:57 GMT -5
Alex came inside the room, closing the door behind him with a soft click. He crossed to the chair by the window, sitting and leaning his elbows on his knees. He was silent for a time, as each Kameren studied the other. He was also searching for the words. He found that after times of stress or tiring efforts, he lost them more readily. Twisted the meanings, stuttered. Skipped whole words entirely. So now, when he spoke, it was with a deliberate slowness.
“Twenty… two dead. Seven businesses-- destroyed, damaged. Houses damaged, fire west of the Broomsticks.” He paused, gathering the thoughts. These things were important. “fourteen wounded, all them go-- going to live.” Alex closed his eyes and rubbed grime into his face.
“She didn’t leave anything behind.”
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Post by Curse Kameren on Jul 29, 2011 9:09:06 GMT -5
Curse sat quietly and listened to Alex recall what happened at Hogsmeade. He was patient with Alex's speech troubles, as they were to be expected, but sometimes it was nearly as hard listening to him as it must have been saying the words. He had questions -- Who were these twenty-two? Were there any names that stuck out to Alex? Possibly Watch members? Which businesses were destroyed? He'd seen Madam Puddifoot's go down himself, he hoped the business's namesake managed to get out in time. He hoped none of the injured were hit by magnetized objects; he'd gotten as far as inventing the spell, but hadn't quite figured out how to smoothly remove it yet. Maybe one of the aurors had done it for him. He wasn't going to interrupt Alex, though. He wasn't going to rub in Alex's disability by impatiently interrupting him.
He let out a deep sigh, Max's head on his chest causing his ribs to ache with the movement. He didn't remember getting hit in the chest, it must have happened later. "Any leads?" He asked simply, a wisp of smoke coming out of his mouth with the words. Must have been from the medicine.
“She didn’t leave anything behind.”
"Yes she did." Curse frowned, inspecting his and Arianna's entwined fingers as he thought about it. Mosrael always left something behind. Something broken or hurt, to warn or scare people. She would have signed her name on this tragedy, surely. Twenty-two dead, there was no way she wouldn't claim responsibility. it was a matter of reputation. The trouble was, where did she leave her mark? The Dark Mark, obviously, but that wasn't technically hers. Did she leave it in the city, or did she leave it on a person? He prayed for the former; he had been marked by the Masked Lady, and it wasn't anything to be taken lightly. He asked an obvious question, albeit a dark one: "who's dead?"
The Nurse returned through the door, sending Curse a poisonous look when she noticed the smoky air. "You've been talking, Kameren. It won't heal you if you don't shut up for a moment," the nurse headed back over to the cart, mixing another batch of the sticky paste. Her dark eyes darted around at the man's family, then back at Curse. Her patient was physically more upset with the visitors around, it was plain to see. Alex had told him about Hogsmeade, then. She sent him a hard look, purposefully nudging past him a bit roughly to get to Curse's bedside. "I think visiting hours may be over, Professor Kameren needs rest." She spoke aloud to the two other adults in the room as she forced Curse's mouth open again.
"Visiting hours just started," Curse pulled away from her tongue depressor defiantly, matching glares with the nurse. She wasn't taking his family away from him. "I'm resting just fine with them here."
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Post by Alex Kameren on Jul 31, 2011 21:15:12 GMT -5
"Any leads?"
“Well, she took that metallic man off the light pole, for one.” Alex frowned. And shattered the pole and spread dangerous shards of debris in every direction while she was at it. He watched the smoke float to the ceiling with a sort of tired interest. He leaned back in the chair, extending his long legs out in front of him. He ignored the nurse when she shoved past him.
“Madame Puddifoot’s dead. Her sto..oore collapsed on her.” That started out the brief list he gave as concisely as possible. He mentioned some of the injured as well, knowing Curse’s interest in all that had happened.
"I think visiting hours may be over, Professor Kameren needs rest."
“No.” The word was clear and concise as the others hadn’t been. He met the woman’s gaze with stubborn determination to dwarf her insistence. “We’re his family. And you’re not separating us.”
He hadn’t been told outright, but he knew. He recognized the signs, the strange retreat, the pain and the horror Curse expressed when in the grip of his mind’s broken imitation of the Masked Lady’s hold over his mind and body. There was no way he would leave his brother alone after an episode like that. Though he had Ari and Max, Max was too young to bear his father’s burden alone, and Alex didn’t trust Ari to walk Rasputin. He’d be nice, though, because she made Curse happy.
But he wouldn’t pretend he had never seen the hesitation in Curse’s eyes when he looked at her, sometimes.
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