Raw (Emery/Open)

[Cain]

Cain was kneeling in the aftershards of his afternoon tea, not noticing as the hot liquid soaked into his knees, unrealizing as the shards of glass and porcelain dug into his flesh. He was staring at the floor, bracing himself on the carpet as though it might float away with him. His fingers dug into the short plush, trying to anchor himself to reality.

He had screamed and convulsed, clenching his fists on air as he fought an unseen enemy, an echo of the demon in his mind. She had tried to hide, to conceal Herself from the pain in his mind, but instead had brought it to him, the red-hot bolts that struck Her body leaving searing scars on his mind. He shuddered, breathing heavily, his gaze blank and fixed.

Scarlet. He could finally say it, though he was too tired to notice or care how the name came easily to his lips. “Scarlet.” He said again, sitting on his heels, raising his shaking, bleeding hands. His whole body shook from the shock, that he’d felt the torture, both intentional and the unseen, the unknown torture of having the witch torn from his mind. Symbiotic. As much as he hated her, he’d come to depend on her, an unwanted side effect as she invaded every corner of his mind.

“Cain.”

Alex said, looking down at his friend. He lay the boy on the couch, filling his friend in briefly on the details. Cain didn’t hear, his ears filled with a song that he’d hoped to never hear again. “You have the Stone.” He said, standing at last, turning his head heavily towards Alex, a hunger awakening in his nearly dead eyes. Would he never escape it? He wondered at the same time his hands reached to take it. The auror said nothing, simply removing a wrapped object from his pocket, it must have been spelled, there was no indication there was anything that size there before.

Alex was gone, and Cain was gripping the stone, transfixed by the sliver of white that was uncovered. His mind was raw and it offered soothing. He felt ripped in two and it offered healing. He traced the one flat face on the stone and started, dropping it to bounce and land among the shattered remains of tea. He spun and lunged for Emery, lifting the young lad with less ease than his friend. He turned and apparated to Mungo’s Emergency ward.

(Two days before the assault on Mosrael's castle. Same time as Alex and Curse's thread in Scarlet's flat.)

[Emery Fletcher]

She was dead and yet the song still played. A continuous loop in his head. It wouldn't stop. Helpless, Emery laid listless in his savior's arms. A part of him was grateful to finally be out of the tub. Another angry that he couldn't save himself. Like a little girl he had to be rescued. A damsel in distress. Lanky limbs tingled, stung and twitched as feeling slowly returned to the gray appendages. It had been a long time since he had been able to stretch out. He barely noticed that he'd landed in another apartment. It was only when the song grew louder that he noticed a difference. Scared that she was not dead, Emery attempted to fight but he was far too sluggish. His brain slow due to lack of true sleep.

Again he was being lifted against his will, spun quickly and sucked into the tight darkness of magical travel. Emery pried his eyes open only to close them quickly as the glaring flat light of St. Mung's assaulted him. Carefully, Emery opened his eyes again to look into the haggard face of a stranger and yet he knew him. There was something familiar in the haunted flatness of his eyes.

"You know her." It was a statement not a question. Was this the person she was always comparing him to? Even now he could hear her voice telling him how worthless he was, that cain was the true master and he a poor substitute. Was this the Cain to his able?

[Cain]

"You know her."

Cain looked down at the boy as they arrived in Mungo’s. He was surprised to see him looking back, grey eyes echoing the pain he had felt all those months ago. He jerked his chin in a nod. “Yes. I was her. I-I-I don’t know why she didn’t come for me.”

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t known where he was, how to get to him. She was in his mind, she knew everything he did. It was the terror of his nightmares; that she would reappear and take him back. Back to the Stone that stole his soul, back to creating death and destruction all over England. It had been a terrible, horrible relief when she fixated on her new target.

“She— Scarlet is dead.” He said hoarsely as the medical crew worked around them, taking Emery from Cain’s arms and laying him on a gurney. “She’s dead.” Relief was creeping into his voice.