It's a bouncing, baby.. poltergeist.

Everyone was filtering out of the Ministry now and Jack walked next to Ari, feeling misery and fear gnawing on her nerves. She had thought that maybe this was a part of her life that maybe no one else should be privy to, since it was a very very very grey area in her life.. Okay.. It was a pretty damn dark area of her life. But she knew that there were two people in her life that needed to hear this from her.

She was terrified to tell either of them. Chase would surely make the connection that basically inplied that she would have a family if it had not been for Jack, maybe she would not have lost Andrew and her reputation and her childhood. And Ari.. Well, he always treated Vito like the bad guy, the villain in Jack's story. Little did he know that Vito was nothing.. nothing... compared to her.

Her heart was pounding, her head was spinning, and if she was not careful, she knew the world would promptly begin to follow. She needed to talk to him now. She did not know what he had going after, and she did not want to ruin his night.. But it had been too long. She had not meant to make it this long without telling him. But.. she had almost convinced herself that she should not tell him.

Looking at him, at Ari, who had done so much for her, and thinking that.. Different story..

Her hand reached out and touched his. "Hey, could I talk to you for a second. Alone?" She glanced up at him before leading the way a little ways away from everyone else, not wanting to seem to conspicious by leaving.. but also not wanting to be overheard and not close enough for anyone to see her face. She grabbed the belt loops of her pants nervously and waited. Trying to be the brave Gryffindor who had just improved a speech and met Fenrir Greyback.

In comparison, this was much scarier.

It had been Ollie’s idea to go and get absolutely hammered and so everyone seemed to follow his leave as they took the slow walk out of the Ministry of Magic. Ariel would have quite happily gone home but seeing as his father had offered to get in the second round after Ollie, Ariel didn’t have much choice. He had to go - there were no two ways about it, really. Still, it was better than doing nothing for the rest of the evening. He probably would have ended up cooking something for Ollie and sitting down in front of the TV with a cold beer for a few hours so he could watch some football. That would be his night otherwise and although it sounded a little mundane, Ariel really didn’t mind. He didn’t want to be staggering through London at some god forsaken hour of the night. He would have rather just gone home; he was sure Real Madrid was playing.

“Oll, wait up there mate - yeah?” Ariel called out to the blonde as he bobbed through the crowd with thinly veiled enthusiasm. He soon disappeared though and Ariel found himself straining to try and find his foolish, foolish friend. But of course it was impossible to pick him out from the crowd as soon as he’d disappeared. Ariel didn’t know whether he was supposed to be following and whether to expect to find Ollie outside, or whether to just abandon the whole endeavour and actually go home without anyone’s say-so. Before he could even think about the latter though, fingers curled around his hand.

Ariel turned and his eyes fell to the redhead that was always in the back of his mind. He smiled down at Jack but the upturned lips soon fell when he saw the look on her face. Ariel’s fingers laced with hers and he looked at her imploringly, pleading silently with her to tell him what was wrong. Ariel led her into an alcove, away from the milling crowd, and flicked his fingers at a gas lamp on the wall. It burst into life and he grasped Jack’s upper arms as he searched her eyes for the answers he wanted, the answers he needed from her.

“You better tell me now because I don’t think I’ll be able to handle much more of this suspense.” He informed her, his voice hard yet somewhat on the comforting side.

She felt Ari's fingers latch onto hers, and this would usually be cause for some awkwardness or embarrassment from her because she was.. you know.. weird. But not tonight. She really did like being close to Ari, it was just an adjustment, having to feel like she needed someone and letting others be aware of that. Besides, he still wanted to touch her. She was sure once he heard what she had to say, that would not be the case.

She finally stopped and turned to look up at the blonde boy before her. Jack was a pretty steady person. She was a rock. She was the person that tired and confused and hurting people used for support. They clambered upon her shoulders to rest and gather their bearings. But she could not make it all of the time. Most people needed someone in their life to anchor them. But Jack's problem was not floating away. IT was sinking. And Ari always managed to pick her up.

They milled over to an alcove, releasing their hands so that they could turn to look at each other. Jack's face was fraught with conflict, while Ari looked confused and concerned. She hated seeing that on him. He should not have to worry about her, no one should, this was her own damn fault and people needn't waste any emotions on her.

He grabbed her arms and she smiled weakly at his words, before the smile faded. Her eyes met his, trying to memorize all of the colors because she doubted she would see them so close ever again. "You know at the battle? Well, I went somewhere after. Remember that poltergeist I sorta told you about. Vito? I went to talk to him, because he.. well, he stabbed me. And I mean, I was fine, of course, it was just sort of surprising. So I went to yell at him."

She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "he was injured. The exact same injury I had for a weird reason. And then he got upset and stabbed my shoulder, and then.. his shoulder started bleeding and he made the connection. This poltergeist tried to kill my friends, tried to kill me, ruined my friend's life, and..." She sighed. "And I made it happen. Ari, I literally created a monster."

In all his years walking the same soil as everyone else, Ariel had been told that he had a ridiculously good reaction time. First it had been because of the blood pumping through his veins and then it had been because of the curse that he then proceeded to carry. He’d always recovered from emotional blows quicker than anyone Fenrir had claimed to have known but this...this he couldn’t bounce back from. Jack had caused all of the atrocities that bastard had got away with. Ariel didn’t believe it. He didn’t want to believe it but bonding and creative magic was abnormally strong. Vito was, effectively, controlled by Jack on a subconscious level and with everything he did to those around him and with everything he did to her...it almost made Ariel wonder who was the bigger villain - the Poltergeist or the girl behind the magic.

Ariel knew though, that that villain, whether Jack accepted it or not, was Vito. Yet, at the same time, Ariel’s blood had run cold in his veins as he thought of Chase. She’d lost her entire family in one night and since then things had been far from peachy for her with the Krum bastard ruining her to the point of insanity. That had been Vito. That had been Jack. Ariel felt sick to the stomach at the thought but somehow it made sense. Poltergeists were forged from negative emotions. They were hellish creatures that survived on negativity and pain much like Dementors did. Their life source came from those who created them. Jack, in her rejection, in her sadness and in her self-loathing, had created a monster entirely beyond anything Ariel had observed in his time surrounded by those who would gleefully kill him. Vito, he’d thought about in a passing though he had never met him. Many passing thoughts had been dedicated to Vito in fact. Jack’s Vito-Monster.

“So what?” Ariel whispered, not really trusting his voice...not trusting the anger that was bubbling within him. “You’re Doctor Frankenstein creating Frankenstein’s monster. But worse, this time, huh? Dyllan’s bouncing baby poltergeist. Mary Shelley would have loved you.” Ariel took his hands off of Jack and flexed his fingers. “How do you want me to react to this, Jack, because I just don’t know? I don’t hate you but I...either way you’re ultimately responsible for all of those people...” Ariel shuddered. “That’s grim. Poltergeists aren’t always created off anger and negativity but they sure as hell like it. He hates you at times doesn’t he? He tried to kill you. That has to be your self-loathing Jack. And what? He killed Chase’s family. You were angry with her at the time? Your way of dealing with god forsaken emotions is by projecting them through a Poltergeist!? Now I’ve heard it all haven’t I! Jack...you need to fix this! You can’t just come here and tell me this and expect me not to go off on one. He’s a murderer of your design! What? Do you fancy yourself a thriller novelist? Newsflash, love...this is reality! What he did was murder people in cold blood. What he continues to do is murder people! You are responsible for him! Stop him! Take conscious control!”

Jack watched him carefully, seeing how he was reacting. She knew what she was expecting- digust. Plain and simple. She was disgusted to see what she had caused and she fully expected people to be disgusted by her. On one hand she wanted to stop living this sham as the hero and show herself for what she was, but then she would really have no reason to live, she would never be given the chance to right her wrongs. Besides, she was not sure of who she was anymore anyway.

He began to speak and Jack closed her eyes against his words. She had thought of Frankenstein the next day and realized it was the same.. Besides the fact that Vito was... well, the worst person in the world to be responsible for. She opened her eyes and said, "I want you to react the way you feel to react. I don't want you to tell me 'okey dokey that's okay' because it obviously isn't."

He said she was responsible and she nodded, shovering with him. "I know," she said in a haunted voice. "Every one." He continued on to say Vito hated her and maybe that had to do with self loathing. She looked up and met his eyes briefly before looking away. How had he made such a quick connection? She could not even begin to argue it.

He continued on to say Vito killed Chase's family and she nodded. Then he began to ask if she was mad with her. Jack's eyes snapped to Ari. She may have created Vito but she had never actually wanted any of those deaths to occur. "I didn't even know Chase!" she responded. "I can't control what he does or who he hurts. He has his own mind and will and decision making devices. That's not me." She shook her head. She was willing to take the blame, but she could not lie and say Vito had been a vessel of her revenge on people. If that's true, everyone who had upset her would be gone, she would have little anger left, and Vito would be gone.

He began to say she could not expect him not to be upset and she responded, "Are you kidding? I was fully expecting you to spit on my shoes and tel me to never look at you again. Don't think I don't understand the weight of this." She knew people thought their view was all seeing, but Jack had struggled with this truth for a month or so now, visited graves of those she knew had been killed by Vito, almost all of them people she had never come into contact with. She knew the toll of her actions, she knew how unforgiveable it all was.

She heard his last words and knew she would never be able to explain to argue why it scared her to take absolute control... If she lost it again, who else would understand? Vito gave her a purpose in life. With him gone, she would be nothing. But she did know she had to reign him in. She sighed and said, "He's not going to let me do that. He swore to me he was going to break me. I've been trying, and it's somthing I have to do alone. It's not something I can meditate on for five minutes and resolve. I'm trying. He's tryin just as hard to ruin me though." She didn't dare express her fears.. that he was not going to go after her alone...