i know the end

Dorcas Meadowes - July 22nd - Day 1

Dorcas watched her mom plummet to the floor in horror. The mangled creature was latched onto her right shoulder. She couldn’t see clearly. Everything blurred by the tears in her eyes that she hadn’t known appeared. “Mom!” Dorcas fell to her knees and attempted to crawl to her mom’s semi-lifeless body. 

She felt a hand grab onto her shoulder. She was pulled back. She looked up through the blur to see a concerned Evan, his grasp firm and unrelenting. 

Dorcas’ father charged back into the room. A gun in his hands. He must’ve left at some point, but Dorcas can’t seem to remember when. Another creature had previously been crouching near the shattered glass. It noticed his arrival. It cocked his head slowly. Tick Tick Tiiick. Clicking in a way similar to a toy. A breath barely passed Dorcas’ lips before it lunged forward. Taking her father in its decaying, yellow teeth. He barely had enough time to toss the gun in his arms to Barty, who caught it with difficulty. “Shh- oot,” her father gasped out, “in the- the head.”

Barty paused in shock, unsure what to do with the weapon weighing down his hands. “NOW!” They all watched on in horror as the creature tore into the soft flesh of Dorcas’ father’s stomach, ripping out his largest intestine. He weakly attempted to kick it off. Dorcas watched the light in his eyes dim. 

Dorcas squeezed her eyes shut. The unwanted sounds of both her mother’s and her father’s screams seeped into her skull. Her eyes were squeezed even tighter. She clamped down on Evan’s hand that had remained on her shoulder. The same one that her mother would grab to pull her in for a hug. The same one that her father would pat every time she did well on a test. She could practically feel the comforting weight of her parents’ touch engulfing her like an embrace. That weight soon turned constricting. The once comfortable weight was replaced by a squeezing feeling of grief. Dorcas saw stars. 

Regulus snatched the gun out of Barty’s frozen hands. He shot the creature on Dorcas’ father in the head with terrifying accuracy. His hands shaking, he did the same with the one perched on Dorcas’ mother. Who had since been turned into a crimson lump on the floor. No longer screaming. 

A fresh sob crawled its way past her lips looking at what used to be her mom. Another weight reached its way to Dorcas and held her to its chest. This one was comforting. Or at least it tried to be. She saw blonde and let herself be enveloped in Pandora’s honeysuckle scent. Dorcas clutched her shirt and buried herself into Pandora’s chest. Sobbing. “Shh love.”

“Pandora, we need to get her out to my car, I have the biggest one. We can’t stay here any longer,” Regulus gently brought Dorcas to her feet and set his keys in Pandora’s hands. Dorcas didn’t know if she could stay upright, let alone walk. With Pandora’s help, she put one wobbly foot in front of the other and walked outside. 

It appeared that Regulus had a plan. He seemed prepared. But Dorcas didn’t have time to focus on that right now. 

Before she left, Dorcas heard Regulus say one last thing. “Barty, go get all of the guns you can find from the study. Evan, we’re going to have to burn her parent’s bodies so they don’t come back. We can’t have them come back.”

The door closed behind her and she turned her head to look into the street. The roads that had been desolate minutes ago being now overrun by people screaming and sprinting in all directions. It was chaos. Dorcas’ eyes widened and she along with Pandora made their way to Regulus’ car. Her legs were no longer shaking, overcome with a rush of adrenaline. The only thing that was keeping her alive. 

Pandora unlocked the door and climbed into the driver's seat, starting the car. Dorcas climbed in and looked to her left to see two people who appeared to be her age. It was a boy and a girl. Their outfits stood out in what felt like the end of the world. They appeared to be standing with a kid who Dorcas recognized as the young boy from before. They were fussing with the car sitting in the driveway. 

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

Remus Lupin - July 22nd - Day 1

“Fuck!” Remus kicked the car in front of him in exasperation. Teddy began crying even harder. 

“Sorry Teddy, you didn’t hear that,”

Remus ran his hands through his hair and looked down at Teddy who was holding tightly to Lily’s skirt, drying his eyes on the printed flowers. “Lily, we need to find a way out of here. We can’t stay.”

Smoke swirled up in the sky behind the house next to them. Three boys came out, covered in soot. One had about five guns piled into his hands, another was pouring bullet cartridges into a rainbow tote bag that had Hello Kitty printed on it; the two of them had matching buzzed hair. The third boy had dark curly hair and a solemn look on his face, a book clutched under his arm. “I wonder if they would give us a ride?” Lily started walking towards them.

“Lily, I don’t think-”

“Remus, we need help. It won’t hurt to ask.”

Remus trailed after Lily, who turned the corner around the side of the vehicle. “Er- is there room in your car? We have a little boy who…” Lily trailed off looking at the person who was jumping out of the driver's seat. “Pandora?”

The girl spun around and settled her gaze on her own, “Lily? What are you doing here?” 

“Pandora? You know these people?” The boy with the dark expression asked while stepping up into the driver’s seat. 

“Yeah, this was the girl from the bookstore,” Pandora looked back at Lily and Remus, “and this is Remus. I have no idea why they’re here, though.” 

“Well, we came to get Teddy-” Lily began before Remus cut her off, running a hand through his disheveled hair. 

“We don’t have time for this. Pandora is there room in your-”

“Regulus’.”

Remus looked at the black-haired boy who Pandora was gesturing to and continued, “.. Regulus’ car.. for three more?” 

Pandora looked at the boy, Regulus, pleadingly. His hand brushed over his face, sighing, “Fine. Get in now. We don’t exactly have the time to hang around.”

Lily and Remus didn’t need to be told twice. They jumped into the car, Lily pulling Teddy onto her lap since there were only two seats left. As soon as they were in, Regulus sped off down the road. “Well, it looks like we aren’t going to be getting pizza. Damn, I was really hungry too,” one of the other boys in the car joked.

“Barty, that wasn’t funny,” The last boy sitting next to him slapped him hard on the arm. 

“Come on Evan, I was just trying to lighten the mood,” the boy, who Remus now knew was Barty, rubbed his arm.

“No more lightening the mood. Either of you. It doesn’t need to be lightened, the fear keeps us alive,” the driver, Regulus, shot behind him. 

“Yes sir.”

“Barty if you don’t shut up, I’m going to punch you in the face,” a voice spoke blankly from the passenger seat, one that Remus didn’t even know was occupied due to the silence. 

Remus tuned the rest of their conversation out and looked out the window instead, letting the passing trees calm him. He couldn’t believe that his life had led to this. Just a month ago, he was sitting in math class. Solving equations. Zero clue that in less than 4 short weeks he’d be sitting in a stranger’s car, during what appeared to be the end of the world. Just a week ago, he was sitting at dinner, with both his and Lily’s families. No clue that in less than 7 days he wouldn’t experience his mom’s home-cooked meals and Mrs. Evan’s apple pie ever again. Just yesterday, he was shuffling through the books at Flourish and Blotts. Not the slightest idea that he would never see those rows of books again. Remus sat in the back seat of Regulus’ car, Teddy sniffling beside him. He wondered how his life got to this point. He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know what would happen next. But for Lily’s and Teddy’s sake, he would try. 

Regulus slammed on breaks. Remus, disoriented, was thrown into the seat in front of him. He looked up from his spot on the floor, shaking his head lightly, trying to clear the haze. He then saw the reason Regulus had stopped so abruptly. In front of the car were several of the same creatures that Teddy’s parents turned into. It appeared that nearly everyone turned.

 A small cry erupted from outside the car. Remus whipped his head around to see a girl. She couldn’t have been any older than five. She had a tight grip on the stuffed bear in her hands. She just kept wailing. It appeared that Remus wasn’t the only one who saw, or rather heard her. Remus swiftly unbuckled his seat belt and made a move to open the door, trying to save her. Barty, who was seated in front of him, held him in place, preventing him from moving. “Barty, or whatever your name is, I need you to remove your arm. Or I’m going to break it,”

“I want to let you go, but you would only end up dead, too. There’s nothing we can do for her,” Barty looked down at his lap, his face laced with remorse.

“He’s right Rem, it would just end up bad for both of you,” Lily placed a comforting hand on his arm. 

Remus’s head ripped to look back out the window. The little girl released one last scream before a disintegrating body jumped onto her and tore into her skin. Remus turned back to his seat and buried his face in Lily’s shoulder, covering Teddy’s eyes in the process. 

Fresh blood painted the window next to him. 

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

James Potter - July 22nd - Day 1 

James, his friends, and his parents all crowded around the small couch in the family living room. He stared at the screen in front of him. A woman on the screen was talking about the end of the world, but he couldn’t hear her. He thinks she’s talking about the end. Which, of course, is now here. She’s talking about the creatures that are roaming the world now. She calls them “The Mortem” or “Mors”. Blood rushed in his ears. This could not be happening. Not now. James was still a kid. They were all still kids. 

Monty and Effie were sitting next to him, holding onto each other. James tucked into his mom’s side and let her comfort him. This could not be happening. James wouldn’t allow it. 

Marlene and Mary were holding onto each other. Or rather, Mary was in the middle of a hug from Marlene on her right, and Peter on her left. Mary’s face was wet with tears. “I need to get to my mom,” she choked out, holding tighter to Marlene. Marlene wiped her face and kissed the top of her head. 

“I know Mary, we’ll check on her to see if she’s alright,”

James’ mom sat up and turned towards the two, a sympathetic look on her face. “Darling, I can’t have any of you leaving the house. It just isn’t safe. I’m sorry.”

“Effie, please-” Marlene rebutted. 

“I’m sorry dear, I need to keep you all safe. It’s a no.”

Mary started crying even harder and Effie quickly rushed over to engulf her in a hug. Hugging her tightly and whispering in her ear. “How about we call her? What do you think about that?” Mary nodded. 

“Can we call mine too?” Marlene asked from the floor. 

“Of course, we’ll call all of your parents to make sure they know you’re safe. Is there anyone else?”

Sirius on his other side was staring at the television with a blank face. Unmoving. “Reg-” Sirius coughed. “Regulus. We have to get him.” 

“Regulus. Didn’t he say he was at his friend Dorcas’ house? We can call him, see if he has a safe way of getting here,” Monty placed a hand on Sirius’ arm over James. 

James knew how important this was to Sirius. Regulus was all he had left. And James certainly wasn’t going to let Sirius’ brother stay in harm’s way. Sirius would be ruined if he no longer had Regulus. James would be ruined if Sirius was. Also, James cared about Regulus. Even if Regulus wouldn’t think twice about James. He had ignored James the entire week he lived at his house. James still needed to save him. Soon. 

“No. We have to go get him,” Sirius whipped towards Monty, glaring. 

“Sirius, I love Regulus. So, so, so, much. You know that. But we need to get in our family’s bunker,” Effie looked towards Sirius from her spot next to Mary.

“Mom,” James started.

“Jamie- as a mother, it is my role to keep you all safe. That’s what I’m going to do. Keep you kids safe. We will get to Regulus, and we will keep him safe, but not now. Right now, we all need to get underneath this couch.” Effie was interrupted by glass shattering in the entryway. “Monty, move the couch.”

James’ dad rose and started moving. James grabbed Sirius who was sitting still on the couch, glaring at his mom. “Sirius-”

“James. I’m getting Regulus if it’s the last thing I do. Nothing is going to stop me.”

His father finally finished moving the couch and began ushering Mary, Marlene, and Peter underneath it. His mom ran out of the room and returned with a duffle bag in hand. She climbed into the hole after Peter and started down the ladder. “James, Sirius, I need you to get down here.”

Sirius took one glance at the ladder and wrestled their way out of James’ grip. He started sprinting towards the door. “Sirius! No!”

Before Sirius could make it around the corner, a ticking creature with thin, dirty hair slid into the cabinet on the opposite wall. Oh, they’re fast. This is a problem. Sirius tried to make it around safely but he snagged his arm on a piece of glass that had somehow stuck itself into the wall. “Shit!” Sirius started running back to James, Effie, and Monty, who was watching the whole ordeal unfold. Sirius was clutching his bleeding arm. 

Effie scrambled down the ladder, quickly followed by James as Sirius tripped and slid down the carpet into the hole. Falling at the bottom with a crunch. “Fuck!” James watched as Sirius cradled his ankle, howling in pain. The pain in his arm was forgotten. 

Monty crawled in after them, covering the grate back up with the couch hastily. “Why did you do that? Are those things smart enough to know where we are? Can they get in here?” Peter began panicking.

“That’s for the people,” Monty responded, somber. “In these instances, it’s always the people who end up being the worst.”

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

Regulus Black - July 22nd - Day 1

Regulus was panicking. He was completely and utterly overcome with fear.

But he wasn’t going to let anyone know that. Especially not his friends. 

There wasn’t anything wrong with his feelings, but Regulus had a reputation to uphold. Or, at least, he thought he did. The panic was seeping through the cracks that Regulus wasn’t able to seal. He needed his glue. He needed Sirius. 

“Where are we even going? Reggie, we’ve been driving for like an hour.”

Regulus snarled at Barty’s nickname. He was insufferable. “It’s been 15 minutes,” he directed at Barty over his shoulder. “And I already said, we’re going to the Potter’s. We have to get my brother.”

“Ughhhh. How much longer?”

“Not much, maybe 10 minutes.”

Regulus looked over at Dorcas who was sitting in the passenger seat next to him, staring mindlessly out of the window. She had been silent ever since they had left her house. “Hey, are you feeling alright?” He whispered to her. “Dorcas?” He nudged her shoulder and she finally turned around, her face streaked with tears and her eyes puffy. 

She choked back another sob. “Not particularly.”

“We’ll be at the Potter’s soon, then we can rest.” 

The drive to the Potter’s was quick. It helped that at the end of the world, nobody seemed to care too much about speed. In fact, it appeared to be encouraged. 

Regulus pulled into the driveway and threw the car into park. He jumped out and slung a gun over his shoulder. The glass door was shattered. There was blood. 

Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. 

Regulus stepped through the door. The glass crunched under his feet. Tiiick. Oh god.

Regulus turned the corner and saw the creature squatted on the couch. Almost humanlike. But also nowhere close. It seemed the creature saw him. Lovely. 

He took the gun in his hands and promptly shot the creature in the head. It fell off the couch and onto the floor. Limp.

Still no Sirius. Regulus’ heart began to speed up at the lack of his sibling. “Sirius?” he called through the house, his voice shaky. 

He scrambled up the stairs and ran into Sirius’ bedroom, hoping to find someone there. “Monty? Effie?” No response. Hell, he’d even be happy to see James. Anything to know that they were all safe and alive. 

Regulus collapsed on Sirius’ bed. He had to be okay. Regulus wouldn’t be able to survive without them. He couldn’t breathe. No air wanted to enter his lungs, and those that did were shaky. He felt dizzy and faint. Sirius. 

An arm wrapped tightly around Regulus’ shoulders and he whipped around in hope that it was his brother. Instead, he saw Pandora. He wiped away his disappointment and let her pull him into her side and comfort him. Pandora was the only one able to do that. He tasted salt in his mouth and he touched his cheek; it appeared he had been crying. “Hey, Reg. Deep breaths. In,” Pandora brought her hands near her chest, inhaling. “And out,” she pushed her hands outwards. 

With her guidance, Regulus’ breathing slowed and the tears stopped. “We have to find them.”

Pandora rested her head on Regulus’ shoulder. “I know, and we will.”