Cold Case Set On Fire

Marcus was with Khaat, who was resting after a recent attack from James. Khaat had fallen down a set of outside stairs near Diagon Alley and had broken a couple of ribs. Marcus himself had suffered some deep slashing claw wounds across his shoulder. They were healing but still bandaged and painful. Marcus had those covered with his white dress shirt and his tie, but it was still painful.

"Hey," Brian stopped at the doorway of the master bedroom. "Can you spare a moment?"

"Of course," Marcus said. "She's knee-deep in a book anyway."

"I want you to meet someone--my apprentice--Anabelle. She's downstairs," Brian said. "Is Edward here?"

"Indeed he is. He's unpacking in his room," Marcus said.

"I want him to join us."

Khaat closed her book. "If you're involving Edward, then this is about James. And if its about James, I'm coming."

"Fair enough," Brian said. "Then you two head downstairs."

"I'm not dressed up, though," Khaat said.

"I like the jeans and the white buttondown look, though," Brian said. "Classics always work. Besides, she's an apprentice. Don't overdress for her. She's not that kind of a kid."

"You look fine," Marcus said. "Come on. Let's go meet her."

Khaat and Marcus headed downstairs. Marcus spotted her straight away. Guests were always easy to spot because they always had a bit of a blown away look.

"You must be Anabelle," Marcus said, "I'm Marcus, and this is Khaat."

"Hi," Khaat said. "Evidently, we're discussing werewolves. You must have proven yourself if he's bringing you along to have a deep discussion about werewolves. It's not something he usually does. That speaks well for you. Are you certain you want to get yourself involved with these beasts?"

Suki came in and went over to Khaat. Khaat looked down at the little female house elf. "I didn't know we had a guest, Mistress Khaat."

"It's alright, Suki. How about getting us tea, please? I think we're going to have a business meeting."

"Yes, Ma'am," the house elf said, disappearing.

Brian came downstairs with Khaat's mother, Kate, and with Edward Donohue. The elder Donohue had made his fame and fortune by hunting down and slaying rogue, criminal werewolves. Brian wanted Edward involved. And, Kate was not about to not throw herself into any discussion about James. Well, she didn't know that James would be part of the discussion, but when did they ever discuss werewolves that James wasn't a part of it?

"Okay, introductions are in order," Brian said.

"Oh, Pfft," Kate said, waving away the formalities. "I'm Kate, and you must be Anabelle. Welcome."

"And I'm Edward," Edward said, "Pleased to meet you. Any friend of Brian's is a friend of mine."

"Suki's bringing tea, so why don't we all sit down," Khaat suggested.

Really, it wasn't the estate itself that made her react the way she had. It was the fact that Brian didn't act like most people in his place would. Like her family did. Her parents, siblings and even extended family acted as though they were high class(which technically they were) because they had money.

Annabelle didn't deny her family was wealthy and they owned a large home, but she didn't like to rub it in other people's faces either. She didn't see the point. Her family was much different, though, especially her older brother and younger sister. They both had a habit of going around, flaunting the fact that their family was wealthy and even went as far as telling others they were better than them because of it. Her younger brother hadn't been corrupted with those thoughts, yet, because he'd spent so much more time with her and their aunt before Hogwarts. He'd seen things the way Hit and Lucinda had, and she was grateful for it.

She expected people to start coming to meet her, how many she didn't know, thanks to Brian and she wasn't sure how she was going to handle it. She thought they'd be men as he'd mostly mentioned men before, so she was a bit surprised when a woman came down as well. Khaat, oh so she was Brian's wife.

"H-hello." Hit blinked a couple of times after greeting them, waiting to respond to Khaat about her involvement with the werewolves. But she did nod, again. "I am. I've been involved a couple of times before. And-" she stopped herself short for a moment. She remembered Damitrius' look on things that had happened. "And they took something, someone, who was very important to someone very important to me.. away from them." She finished, her gaze flattering and lowering to the floor.

There was way more to that story than she cared to give, now at least. And she didn't think they'd all want to hear everything about it. Plus, more people had arrived and she didn't think it a good idea to start a conversation with 'oh yeah, I'll get involved because I want basically to kill them" in front of people who didn't know her.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you all as well." She said with a small smile.

"I think we all understand that feeling," Marcus said to her gently. "James took my daughter once. He's taken Khaat more than once, and he took Khaat's daughter when she was just two. I think everyone here would like to see James out of the equation for good." Marcus wasn't certain this would bode well for the Ministry if they were taking someone under adult age into a skirmish with a werewolf, but who was he to question it?

"What's James done this time?" Khaat's mother asked.

"We believe he's taken a child," Brian said. "But not an ordinary child. Her mother was killed a year ago, which is when the child supposedly disappeared. However, what you need to know is that this child is a half vampire. Both her parent's were half vampires. Lorcan D'Eath is the apparently unwitting father."

"Oh lord," Kate sighed. "So, we're potentially looking at a vicious war between creatures, if we get the child out. If we don't, Fenrir will kill her anyway."

"Precisely," Brian said.

"And what does Robert think? Presumably he knows?" Edward asked.

"He does," Brian said. "He says we go. He's working on trying to get us a copy of the mother's autopsy."

"Excellent," Edward said. "So, presuming she was killed by a werewolf, then if we're to rescue the child, he's sent you both here to assemble an extraction team."

"So it seems," Brian said. "And Anabelle is to be permitted to be part of that team."

"I take it you can shoot with some accuracy, Anabelle, or he'd not even considered it," Marcus said. "So, welcome aboard, then."

"Indeed," Kate smiled. Suki brought in a tea tray and set it down and left again. She could smell the pumpkin and the spices in it, and the vanilla and toasted pecans infused into the milk. "Shall I pour?" Brian nodded. "How do you take your tea, Anabelle?"

"Does anyone know where the lair is?" Edward asked.

"I can find it again, I believe," Marcus said, "but if we tried to go in daylight, we'd never make it there alive. It's exceptionally well guarded. We need to go after dark, in mission wear."

"Black clothes from head to foot," Khaat told Anabelle. "It will help you from being seen or spotted." She sized up Anabelle quickly. "Yes, I believe there will be clothes to fit you in the arsenal downstairs. What's the plan, then?"

"We'll have to go in, and distract the pack, while someone gets the child out," Edward said. "Hopefully we can get enough of a rumble going that we can get the child out before James knows she's gone."

"I know you," Brian said to Anabelle. "I know you can get in and out before anyone knows you're gone. Use the same technique that we used in the catacombs. Once you get to her, keep her quiet, and get her to follow you. Go quickly. Make it fast. Don't stop, and don't look back. I'll give you a portkey to use. Take the child, use the portkey, and wait for us. We'll follow as soon as we can. Have you got all that? And--do you believe you can do it?"

With eyes moving to and from the adults that spoke to her and to others, Anabelle listened to everything that was being said though she didn't think she had much to contribute, not now anyways. This was the time to listen and learn, especially about the pack's lair. That was definitely information that she needed to know.

It seemed like it was also time to be embarrassed by talk of her skills.

"I-I guess so." She said, her voice small. Compliments weren't her thing, at all, and she doubted she would ever get used to hearing anything even remotely close to a compliment. Tea was poured for her and she looked at Brian, "it's fine, just like this thanks." She said, looking at the cup in her hand.

Hit flinched. As she listened, and took a sip of there was one thing she thought of suddenly that concerned her. And something that she wasn't sure anyone else had thought of yet. It was a thought that, though she hoped wouldn't be the case, was very real and something they all needed to take into account. "I understand." She said. "But, there's something that's bothering me. Getting her to follow me might be hard to do."

"She's been in the 'care' so to speak, of the wolves and she's no doubt got someone she's taken a liking to. I may be getting ahead of myself with this, but what if she refuses to come quietly?" She asked. "Even if I convince her to come with me, there's no telling if she won't see that person, or people, and say something to them. She is still young, after all."

"I know I can get her out. But I'm afraid of her causing a commotion, whether she intended to or not."

"Well, you're right," Brian said, "We won't know how she'll respond."

"Let me see if I can't pull a couple of strings and see what happened to their personal possessions after they disappeared," Khaat said. "If there are, we might find something of her's that was sentimental enough that she might feel a bit more comfortable with you. Since it wasn't all that long ago, it might raise your odds a bit."

"If that doesn't work, we'll take a few of Angus's cookies with us. I can give you fairly decent odds that the werewolves feed mostly on pure protein. They aren't thinking about sugary carbs like cookies. But our child surely would be," Brian said.

"And if all else fails," Edward said, "we can imperious her in order to get her to come quietly. Not the best solution, but its better than it all going sideways. We'll do our best to keep you two covered, and if you need a bit of a hand to get her out, with an imperious or such, you let us cast that if we can. You don't need that challenge as a student. Nor do you need it on your record at your young age."

"An imperious is a difficult business to cast anyway," Khaat said. "Edward, can you fire it with accuracy the first time?"

"Of course," Edward said. "But, yes, having one of her own possessions would be better, if you can get it, Khaat."

"I'll send an owl, then, and we'll find out," she said. She wrote a hasty note, and sent it with her large bald eagle, Archangel. "It's as good as done," she said. As Archangel left, an owl arrived with a large envelope. Khaat picked it up and opened it. It was the St. Mungo's autopsy report. As the director, she was certainly entitled to read it. She didn't say anything as she read the report. Then, she found the autopsy photos. They were gruesome, certainly, but she looked carefully at the photos. She knew James' work. She'd been victim of it enough. She could recognize his claw marks. These marks, the ones that had done the most of the bloodletting and the damage, hadn't come from James.

"Marcus?" she looked at him. "See what you think." She passed the photos to him. He had dealt with James as much as she had. And he had been with her when she'd tangled with James. He went over and sat with her and looked at the report and the photos.

"Not James' style," he said. "Well, not the marks that matter. Those bite marks and claw marks are too small and thin for James. That has to be Moira. Has to be."

"I agree," she said. She looked up at the others. "Your victim was clawed and bitten repeatedly. There are some claw marks from James but his aren't the lethal ones. The ones that made the kill were from a female. I'm betting it was Moira. The ones that killed her were near the neck and the chest. It isn't something that you're all going to want to see, believe me. It does look by the looks of it, that she struggled but only for a moment. I'm guessing Moira's hit was accurate, and the kill all happened in an instant. The rest of the wounds could have been postmortem."

"Maybe something of mum's that she could remember?" Hit suggested. She knew that if she were in a position like that, she would probably feel most comfortable with something that came from her mother, or that her mother used a lot. But that would have been when she was younger, now anything of her parents just upset her.

She couldn't get too deep into her thought about it now, though, not with everything she had going on. And especially not if she was going to be the one to get the little girl out of the clutches of that pack. She had to make sure she would be completely focused on the task at hand at all times while they were on their mission, otherwise things would go back for everyone.

The only problem she could find with getting a belonging of the mother was whether she was close to her mum or not. At ten years old, Hit could only assume that she had an, at least, decent relationship with her mother. But she never knew what could happen in lives she wasn't involved with.

It made her curious, but not curious enough to bring it up with the adults around her.

She wondered if that was the right choice, though.

It could be that the little Augustine was more comfortable with the wolves, though she couldn't really wrap her head around that thought because of her being a half-vampire, and that might have something to do with why there hadn't been any news of her.. aside from being held captive by werewolves, of course.

That would just make it so much harder to get her out of the den though..

"That's a good thought," Khaat said. "If she has feelings of safety or attachment for whatever we choose."

"Well, now, if we find anything at all, how exactly do you think we'll be able to read her mind from a distance?" Brian sighed.

"We are seers, you know," Kate said, scowling at Brian. For a man who had lived with the Lupin family for so many years, he didn't seem to know much some days.

A second, smaller owl arrived within mere minutes. Khaat took the note from the little owl, gave it a treat and sent it back outside to rest before it returned to the Ministry.

"Already?" Kate asked. "Your father certainly is placing importance on this."

"Yes, he is," she said. She unrolled the little scroll and read the reply. "He says he's determined that all the belongings were relegated to what he calls 'the usual storage unit,' and he says if we want to go look, he'll give us the key for the proper locker."

"You think you're going to go there and do some sort of voodoo over the belongings and come up with, what, exactly?" Marcus asked.

"You should know better," Khaat wagged her finger at her bodyguard.

"I'll go," Kate said.

"I'll go with you," Khaat said. "The more seers, the quicker we'll find something."

"I'm going with you, then," Brian said. "If it brings a lead on this, I'm going along. Anabelle, you want to come? Not much to look at, I'm afraid. Just a warehouse full of crates. Belby and I will need to each take a crowbar, probably, to open crates, but it might give us a bit of an insight into mother and daughter. Perhaps. Otherwise, you're welcome to stay here, and I'm sure they can help get you outfitted for tonight's mission. Either way is fine with me."

"I think.. I'd like to go with you all." She responded softly, biting the nail of her index finger as she looked around at the adults.

"There might not be much to see, but I'd still like to go. You never know what we can find." She added. Hit kept her gaze on Khaat, though she constantly looked down to make sure she wouldn't get caught staring. She had a strange suspicion that she was failing at it though. She never really was good at those types of things.

The Gryffindor found Khaat interesting though, not that she didn't find anyone else interesting. There were so many new people in front of and around her. Khaat was different though, because of what she's seemed to have gone through in regards to Blood and his pack. Hit couldn't even imagine the suffering she and her family could have gone through with the attacks that she had apparently gone through.

The fact that she was surrounded by seers was an interesting topic all on its own.

[OOC: sorry, not feeling good today.]

(np. I can relate. hope you feel better soon)

"I'll get a couple of crowbars, then," Marcus said. Brian sent another owl to Robert asking for the key to the storage locker.

"While the boys are getting what they need," Khaat said, "let's go downstairs to the arsenal and see if we can find some clothes for you for tonight, Anabelle." She accio'd her wand to open the arsenal in the basement. "This way." She got up and went through the large homey kitchen with its wood cabinets and commercial stoves and ovens and walk-in refrigerator and freezer, and opened the door to the basement and went downstairs.

There was a comfortable family room downstairs that was well used and well loved. Past that was a large exercise and training room, and past that was a large indoor pool. In between the training room and the pool, near the changing room area, was a couple of downstairs rooms used for defense of the estate, as well as Brian's wine cellar. Khaat went to a section of the wall that was covered with a display of some beautiful oil paintings, and she tapped an object in each of the paintings. A part of the wall vanished and left and open doorway into a secret room. Khaat removed the age line that was drawn over the doorway that would prohibit anyone under age 20 into the room. She fired nonverbal magic to light the lamps in the room.

The room was filled with various magical and nonmagical weaponry and equipment--anything they needed to keep the estate and the family safe. There were shelves on the back wall, a large gun cabinet on the left wall, a cabinet for knives and swords, a cabinet of various potions and vessels that could be filled to make bombs and other chemical attack weapons, and on the right wall, there were a four vertical rows of vintage wood cubes that held stacks of black pants and sweaters, beside a rack of black hooded cloaks and a rack of black boots for men and women. There was a cabinet of black accessories--gloves and socks and scarves and other things designed to help conceal identity. There were two changing screens in the corner to provide a place for staff members to either try on clothes or to change in a hurry.

She went over to the wood cubes. "The cubes in the far left rows are men's jeans--smaller sizes on the top, getting larger towards the largest sizes on the cube on the bottom. Men's turtleneck and v neck sweaters are in the next cubes beside the jeans, sized from small to large. Women's jeans are in the third row of cubes, and they're arranged the same way. They go from size 2, all the way to plus and tall size jeans in the bottom cube. Women's assorted black sweaters are in the last row. Help yourself and see if you can find something your size. Feel free to use the changing screen if you want to try something on. If I can give you a hint, mission wear is for practicality. You want it to fit well but you want it to give you as much flexibility as you can get--especially the jeans. I like a bit of stretch in my missions jeans, actually, and there are some black jeans with some stretch in there. If I need to run or climb, I want to be able to do it. Your boots need to have a comfortable heel height and you need to feel comfortable in them. Everything needs to fit right. If you don't find anything that has just the right fit, find whatever is closest, and we'll have Marcus tailor them for you. He's remarkably gifted in tailoring and glamour charms, not that we'll need glamour spells tonight. But, you'll want to cover as much of yourself as you can with your missions clothing. You're welcome to just help yourself and take your time. I'll be happy to help if I can."

It was amazing how one place could amaze her as much as this estate did. For a person born into a wizarding family, and having been around magic all her life, magic itself always surprised and amused her. She supposed it had to do with how some people often used it. She had seen a lot of things already, but she was still a teenager and that meant she still had a lot to see and learn about the thing that coursed through her many others' veins.

The girl quietly followed Khaat to the room with equipment and weapons along with clothing and listened as she explained where everything was. Her eyes darted from the woman to the clothes.. to pretty much everything else that was in the room. She was paying attention, but it was hard to ignore the overwhelming amount of equipment that was stored in the room.

That, and she'd never seen so much black clothing in one place. Not even in her own closet.

Hit moved to the women's part of the clothing that was piled up neatly and carefully looked through the sections for clothing that would fit her. She had never liked picking out clothes since she always seemed to be changing sizes, her clothes often fitting one moment and then the next time she used the it would either be too big or too small on her. She figured getting one size bigger than she was used to on the sweater and jeans wouldn't make too much of a difference this time, since she usually liked to go with clothes that fit a little snug. Going loose wouldn't be a bad thing here, especially since it wasn't too loose, she thought.

"Good thing I don't like to wear shoes with too much heel," she said softly, more as a thought to herself than to Khaat, as she leaned over and picked out a set of boots that had very little heel height. "I think these all work." She turned to Khaat, showing her what she had picked out.