Writting Letters

Dear Mom,

"School is doing good! The teachers are pretty horrible, but the food is great as normal. Don't worry, I'm not eating to much, and I'm still sticking to my trainers instructions. I promise I won't gain as much weight as I did last year... in fact, I think I'm losing my weight. I have the headmaster as my potions teacher, but he's actually a good teacher. He's a bit harsh.. but that's how teachers are aren't they? Elijah has been really good to me. You know, since Andrew broke up with me. Stays by me in class, I think you would like him mom! He's so nice, and he's a Slytherin, I know how you wanted me to be in Slytherin... Anyway, I should probably go it's going to rain. Write back!"

Chase stared at the letter written in her hands, and set it aside. The sky was overcast and dark, it was cold, and she was curled up on the grounds under a tree. A light cool breeze was pushing the water on the lake, and the giant squid had disappeared a while ago, and Chase knew it was going to rain very soon. But she didn't get up. The rain started, and her eyes found the four letters that lay in front of her.

The one she had just finished and still had wet ink, to her mom, one to her dad, and one to each of her siblings, Clara and Max. She pulled her knees to her chest and watched as the rain slowly started to drip from the sky, splattering across the letters. She didn't move as the rain picked up, the wind picked up and lashed at her hair and clothes, her red hair flung around her head in small wisps as the rain got heavier. She reached out and wrote one sentence on the end of each of the letters before the rain destroyed them completely.


"I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

Chase didn't know when the tears had started, but she knew they weren't visible when the rain got so heavy she was soaked to the bone, the wind no longer flipped her hair around, her hair clung to her face instead, in odd spirals and curls around her forehead. She stared at the letters as the last traces of the words were wiped off of the parchment in runny rivers of ink.

Ziva hooted from her place on her perch in the Owlery and Elijah looked up from the letter in his hands. His eyes met the golden gaze of the owl and he sighed. The Slytherin balled the letter up and chucked it away, sending a banishing spell after it. He sat down on the stairs winding up to the higher levels in the owlery and opened the box that Ziva had carried from Sofia. Inside was an assortment of different things – all of which he didn’t need. Perhaps his mother thought that there was going to be some sort of shortage on cologne because she was sending him the stuff by the gallon load. It was a good thing he liked the scent otherwise he would have been stumped as to what to do with it.

Elijah sighed again and put the lid back on the box. He set it down on the floor beside his feet and looked around the owlery. He looked out of one of the glass-less windows and watched the rain fall outside. Ziva looked disgruntled and hopped off of her perch to settle herself on Eli’s shoulder. He ran his hand through her feathers and patted her back gently. She hooted and nipped his fingers in a motherly way before taking the box and flying off up to the top of the owlery. Elijah watcher her until he could no longer see the maroon-coloured feathers and then got to his feet.

He left the Owlery and hung back underneath the overhang before breaking out into a run, hoping to get to the castle before the rain soaked him through. But something made him stop. Elijah’s eyes narrowed as he tried to see through the constant, unbreaking sheet of rain that was obscuring his vision and he made out a figure sat down by the lake. Cursing his luck and his conscience, Elijah picked up his pace and ran down towards the lake. It was only as he neared that he recognised the red of Chase’s hair. Elijah felt his heart drop into his stomach and he slowed only when he was about a meter away from her. Elijah leaned down and put a hand on her shoulder. She was soaked, absolutely sopping, so he shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

“Chase, sweetheart, what are you doing?” Elijah pushed his hair back out of his face, sleeking it back with the help of the rain, and looked at the Hufflepuff. No one in their right mind would have been out there but perhaps she’d just chosen not to move. Rain was almost like a way of wiping the slate clean which was why Elijah used it therapeutically at times. But Chase didn’t need odd habits, especially not his odd habits. Elijah took one of her hands in his own and gently squeezed, hoping to invoke some sort of response in her. Merlin, he just hoped she was alright.

Chase stared at the letters for a long time, completely unaware that someone was near her. Someone who had chosen to be her friend was near her, the only one left! She stared at one of the letters, where a name was still slightly visible on the parchment, Max.

Max was looking at the door feebly, he poked his finger at it, and his eyes went wide, looking into the key hole. "Chassy.." He whispered, his voice full of fear. "Not now Max!" She growled her wand still pointed at the man's throat. But.. Chassy!" He whined. "Not now Max!" Chase growled turning her attention to him for a second, hoping her ropes were strong enough. Chassy! The room is full of water!"

Chase cried out and put her hands over her head, her body shaking, unaware that she was soaking wet now. The rain, fell around her, and she vaguely heard her name being said from somewhere to her left.

Bodies..

Chase screamed and ran forward, four bodies were laying on the floor around her, she ran to her brother first. He lay next to a suit of armor that had been crashed down next to him. He was pale, and not moving. Chase leaned down to put her cheek to his mouth, feeling for a breath. None came. Chase ran to her sister, who lay not far from her brother. Feeling for a breath, she had the same result. Her father, her mother.. they were all dead.

Chase felt sobs start to rack her body, but then she felt something on her shoulders. It was warmer and she was jarred into the awakening. She looked up and saw Elijah. Here she was, crying her eyes out, while it was raining, and he of all people came up. One look at him, and she was crying again, hiding her face in her knees, afraid for him to see her in such a weakened state, afraid that he would leave her alone too.

It was cold, it was wet and the rain didn’t seem to want to stop falling. Elijah’s shirt was clinging to his body like a second skin and the jeans he was wearing were seizing up around his legs. A droplet of water slid off of the end of his nose and fell onto his thigh. He smiled a little to himself and looked at Chase. Her face made the smile fall from his lips and his eyes instantly took on a completely different look. Had they been any softer then they would have been like clouds but he was really showing sympathy. One thing he wanted to do, immediately, was look after her. He wanted to make things better, even if he knew that he couldn’t. Somehow he wanted to change everything so it was better again. He wanted to go back in time and stop Vito from ever going to Chase’s house. This wasn’t fair. She’d done nothing to deserve this, absolutely nothing, and yet here she was, suffering because of it.

Elijah slipped down onto the wet grass and pulled Chase into his arms. He lifted her small body onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. Once again he was there, consoling her with his arms enveloped around her. Her ‘friends’ were to be seen. Chase was his responsibility now, he felt. Oddly enough though, he didn’t care. Some probably would have felt burdened, resentful even, but Elijah had taken her on under his own steam and he wanted to help her as much as possible. He didn’t care what in the world he had to do. Money was no problem and Arnold would be overjoyed to see a painting or two wrapped up in brown paper and string sitting in his hallway. Elijah had enough at his disposal to fritter away whenever the need arose.

Chase was important to him and he wanted – no – he needed her to be happy again. There were only so many tears in those eyes of hers and Elijah wished she would run out soon. He didn’t want her to cry anymore. The little flower had had her petals plucked off and she needed them to grow back. With the right amount of coaxing he could get her there but Elijah knew somehow that there was a long road ahead. Elijah didn’t know how she felt, he knew at least a quarter but to lose his whole family would devastate him. His family was select, though. His parents would have been no real loss to him but Rob, Jen, Khaat, Robert, Katherine, Arnold, Fauve...they were his family and to lose even one of them would ruin him – he knew it would and despite the fact that he was aware of that, he wasn’t prepared for it.

Elijah began to rock Chase back and forth, creating a slow momentum. He began to hum under his breath and he found that the way he was holding her and the particular tune was akin to the way he would have held Fauve if she had woken up after a particularly nasty dream. Granted Chase was bigger but it was the same principle. The only upside of Fauve’s nightmares was that she wasn’t out in the rain. But this was Chase. The two were polar opposite in some respects and he wasn’t the father here. He was the friend that she needed and had.

Chase felt herself being moved, and she felt the need to struggle, to get away from Vito, get away from him, he'd kill her to! "No.." She whimpered weakly, lifting a hand, but it fell back to her side. Her clothes were clinging to her now, and the way he had set her on his lap, made her scars stand out in sharp relief. She hadn't really registered that Elijah was there, but at the same time had, and she felt herself curl up against his warmth, the cold rain pounding down on them, hampered only by the fact that there was a tree blocking them, and it wasn't doing a very good job.

She felt a small rocking motion and heard a soft hum, and felt her mind cling to the small source of reassurance. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry.." she whispered over and over again, tears falling against his chest, her hand curled up on his shoulder, her fingers gently pulling at a small strand that had escaped the soaked locks. She stared straight ahead, her eyes had a distant look to them. Her bones were sticking out oddly, and it was easy to tell she had started to lose weight. "I'm sorry... I told her I'd take care of myself.. I told her I'd lose weight." she whispered and curled up against him even tighter, her face pressed against the crook of his neck.

"I tried to protect them, I really tried... I couldn't do it though, he could go invisible.. I couldn't see him! He would have killed me.. made them come down anyway.. would have.. would have made me watch as he tortured them.. instead, I got to hear my mom's screams as he raped her.. didn't know what he was doing.. didn't stop Clara.. Max hit the suit of armor.." She balled up her hand into a fist and cried softly, his hair falling onto her face. "I'm sorry.. I'm sorry..." She whispered again, choking on her own words. "I need to be strong.. for them.." She whispered. "I gotta be.. I survived... I survived." She heard the hum again, and tuned in on it. Listening hard on it for a long moment.

Then she hummed with him. Her voice matching his, water poured down her face, dripping off her nose, her hand found his and she clung to it. Brought it up to her face, and pressed it over her heart, clinging to his warmth, to his life. "I'm sorry." She whispered again, the tears felt like they would never stop, but the rain washed them away again, so she would never know how many tears she had shed. "I need to be strong.. I need to be.." She felt sobs rack her body again, and she started to tense up against him, her whole body going rigid as she started to cough.

She turned her head away from him, coughed and coughed, and finally found her breath again, resting her head against him, her hair now plastered against his face as well as her. She looked up and found his eyes. She searched his face, afraid of what she would see. She was afraid she would see someone who hated her. Someone who would say 'grow up and go away. You're such a baby.' But what she did see? She saw a friend, who's eyes were so soft and full of compassion she wanted to cry harder. Someone was there, telling her it was alright, holding her in the pouring rain.

She reached up, and touched his cheek, as though afraid he would disappear. Afraid he would leave her life forever. Her mind went back to the first day of school. He had held her there too, listened as she cried, and ranted. And now? Here he was again, holding her as she cried. She rested her hand against his cheek for a long moment and then rested her head against his shoulder again. Staring straight ahead. The rain was letting up some, no longer a pour, but more of just a rain, thunder every now and then, and lightning split the sky, but it was rain, constant, and never ending.

"Elijah.." she said suddenly, as though testing the name out, tasting the air to see if it was okay to speak. Afraid a bolt of lightning would strike her down for saying the word. Afraid the world would crash down on her, but instead of all of that, her heart lifted, her mind cleared slightly, and she could see straight. "Elijah.." She said again, lifting her head off his chest, and she looked at him, and then kissed his lips very gently. Just a brush, as though saying thank you, thank you for helping her, thank you for being there, and thank you for not running away when everyone else had. She let her lips trail to his cheek, and then she rested her head down again, her eyes closed, her breathing deep as she waited for him to respond.

((Whoaaa...1,000 posts!))

For once in his life, Elijah was at a loss of how to proceed. This poor little flower was petal-less and Elijah wasn’t sure whether she’d grow them back or not. He desperately wanted her to but the anguish was proving to be too much for the feisty redhead he'd met on the train. She was broken into what seemed like irreparable pieces. Elijah needed to find a way to fix her though. Chase couldn't stay broken forever. Somewhere along the line someone would tread on one of the pieces and cut their foot. He didn't want her to lie broken somewhere, alone and depressed. She needed the light. She needed to step out of the dark and into the light.

Elijah continued to rock Chase and listened to her ramblings. She was apologizing to her family for something she didn’t need to apologize for. Vito had killed her family in cold blood. Elijah didn’t think this man had any conscience what so ever otherwise he obviously wouldn’t have done it. Chase was innocent; she didn’t deserve this. Elijah just had to let her sort through this. He was there but there was only so much he could offer her. The Slytherin began to rub circles into the Hufflepuff’s back, continuing to hum the tune to the song he had written for Fauve. Lullabies worked a treat for everyone it seemed.

“Sometimes,” Elijah murmured, raising his hand to push some of her hair back away from her face. “You need someone to be strong for you. Never apologize to me, Chase. You needn’t ever apologize for yourself.”

The creature sitting in his arms needed to heal. She needed to breathe again. Elijah felt her hand on his cheek and he moved his face slightly, pressing a kiss to her palm. He continued to rub circles into her back, occasionally sweeping some of her soppy wet hair away from the path his hand was making. She thought he was going to leave; he was almost 100% sure. But Elijah didn’t plan on going anywhere, not until she told him to. He heard her say his name and he looked down at the redhead that was leaning against his chest. Elijah looked at her quizzically when she said his name again and made to say something. But the words were made redundant when Chase brushed her lips against his.

Elijah blinked rapidly, not quite understanding how he was supposed to interpret the kiss. When she leaned back against him again, all he could do was tighten his grip on her and hope he was doing the right thing. Women were odd. Most of the time he was able to understand them but this was one of the times when he was at a loss. He rested his cheek against her hair and let the rain wash over them. Rain always wiped the slate clean.

Chase felt her eyes lulled closed as he ran his hand in circles on her back. She curled into a tighter ball against him, feeling his warmth, feeling like he was a bright light in a world full of darkness. That one spark she had to hold onto, like a dying lumos, she had to keep it strong, had to work on strengthening it. She whimpered slightly and looked up at him, her hand going to trace his chin lightly. She had kissed him, she didn't know what had made her do it. But she had felt the need to. It had just felt right, she needed him to understand her feelings.

"We're gonna get sick." She said suddenly, her eyes shut so tight she could see pricks of white behind her eyelids. She let the hand that had run along his jaw fall to his hand and she clung to it with both hands. Not wanting to let go, the rain was still coming down so hard though, they needed to get home, but she didn't know if she could get up. She was so shaky, so weak, and so very very tired. She could feel her eyes relaxing behind her eyelids, and her breathing deepened.

She was near asleep when physical pain shot through her. Her back twisted in agony, and she whimpered and her hands clenched his hand so hard she could feel her fingernails digging into his skin. She hadn't expected a fit, and that's right when it had hit her, when she least expected it. It had been so long since she had had a fit, and now that her body was weak, her mind mentally exhausted, and she was soaking wet, clinging to Elijah's hand for dear life. She cried out and her eyes flew open, she tried to get up, but fell against him again, tears leaking out from her eyes and dripping down her face in the rain, visible because it was a steady stream.

The pain was blinding, and she found herself writhing against Elijah, and she knew she had to get away from him. He couldn't see her like this! It was like an ugly blemish on her life, like a werewolf ran from his friends if they caught him in the middle of transforming, her fits were things she hated people to see. She managed to fall off his lap, but she was still clinging to his hand, his hand pulled to her chest. Her back seemed to be twitching, and then she cried out in louder pain as the scar that ran around her stomach decided to add it's own pain. She was holding his hand so hard, she could feel her fingernails cutting his skin.

"Eli...Eli..Eli.. no.." She cried out and collapsed onto her side, still clinging to his hand, afraid of him coming near her, but afraid of him leaving her alone. She whimpered and finally the fit seemed to subside. She lay there panting hard on the wet grass. A small trickle of blood was quickly washed away from her lips from where she had bit her tongue in her fit. She lay for a long moment, her hands still as tight as they had been before on his hand, but she was slowly loosening it. She was slowly coming down from the roll of physical pain, and her eyes slowly opened to look up at Elijah, afraid of his reaction. "Eli.." She whispered weakly. "no.. no hospital wing.. no.. please... just.. just.. no.." She whimpered and lay there for another long moment, gulping in air.

The rain, whether Elijah realised it or not, was lulling him to sleep – almost begging him to fall into dreamland where his nightmares could plague him; where Alice could plague him. But he and Chase couldn’t fall asleep there of all places. They were getting sick. Elijah could feel himself beginning to get a cold and sleeping outside would do themselves no good. If they were going to sleep then they needed to be inside, in the warm on a couch or in the Room of Requirement.

Elijah had every intention of moving Chase to a more comfortable place and he started to gear himself up for movement, only to have his thoughts wiped as she began to ...well he couldn’t really describe it. Elijah blinked rapidly, not sure what he could do but clutch hold of Chase’s hand and watch. Elijah felt a strangled cry leave his mouth and he twisted his arm as her nails began to dig into his palm. He winced and pressed his other hand down on her shoulder in an attempt to settle Chase down.

“Chase,” He said, his voice stricken. “Come on what the hell is going on!?” As she settled it made Elijah feel better but not by much. He sighed softly and ran his hand through the first wisps of her hair. “I won’t take you to the Hospital Wing...but we’ve got to get somewhere warm.” He murmured softly. Then, he had an idea...Jen and Rob were so bloody useful! “Feel like walking or shall I carry you?” He asked.

Chase took a deep breath and felt her eyes flutter open to look up at Elijah. "I'm sorry.. I'm sorry.." She whispered and pushed herself onto her hands and knees, letting her head hang and her hair fell over her face, hiding it from his view. She didn't know what to tell him, but she knew that he was right. They had to get out of the rain. "Okay.." She said softly, and looked up at him, and then smiled slightly. "I'm sorry.." She said again, and started to push herself to her feet. Then fell forward, her legs giving out.

"I don't know.." She said in response to his question. "I... I think I can.." She said carefully, and reached out, finding the trunk of the tree. She put one leg under her then the other, and then bit her lip. Hoisting herself up, she sighed and realized her legs could take her weight. "Good." she said softly before looking at him with a smile. "No need to carry me, I think I'll be fine." She said with a small smile to him.

"Sorry about.. that.. is your hand okay? I didn't mean to.. grab that hard.." she sighed and looked down at it. "I.. I'll explain when we get somewhere warm." She said slowly, before letting go of the tree and standing there weakly, her eyes on Elijah, but her vision starting to blur. She shivered hard, and realized that his jacket had fallen off her shoulders. Reaching down she picked it up and looked at Elijah. "Here." She said softly, holding it out for him.