Chapter 5
All Karl could hear while running was their own panting breath as their lungs burned and body begged for a reprieve. They couldn’t, not while still being hunted like prey. The term hunt and prey made them feel sick. Even if their vision was blurring, they kept a tight hold of Raya’s hand, and Raiden was running just in front of them with Izarri and Luke.
They saw him stumble for a split second, his body nearly giving up. They knew they had to do something before they all collapsed and captured. Karl tried not to think about what would happen if they were captured, stomach coiling in disgust.
Eyes flicked around in desperation, begging for a way out.
- Keep running straight. There’s a portkey in the clearing straight ahead. –
They ordered, but with a false tone of certainty and confidence. They knew if they ran for much longer then the hunters would easily catch up and overpower them. Raya was panting heavily, barely having any energy left.
As they crossed the threshold of the clearing, they pushed Raya to join the others by the portkey, then sent a final message before cutting off the mental link:
- Don’t look back and don’t worry, I’ll catch up. –
They swiftly turned so their back was to their family, facing the hunters.
Izarri and Luke were screaming behind them, but reluctantly Raiden made them all grab onto the portkey and they vanished with a vwoop.
In all honesty, their so called plan was just a last ditch effort to protect them all and, like always, keep the attention on them.
They felt something snap in their throat, and let loose as high a pitched screech they could, knocking all the hunters off their rhythm, they clearly weren’t prepared enough, idiots, they thought lightheartedly to try and cover the nerves that were still there, causing their hands to shake minutely.
They latched onto the thread of magic they could feel in the air, left by Raya for them only to follow.
They let the magic flow, and they apparated at the same moment that they felt a searing pain across their middle.
They crash unceremoniously onto a hard wooden floor. However, they were unable to register the multiple wizards in the room talking now positioned with wands held in offensive stances. No, they didn’t focus on any of it as their vision went white and they were screaming at the red, burning yet numbing lacerations on their body.
They collapsed, lying in a heap as they thrashed and screamed. Was this a crucio? It didn’t feel like it, it felt like they were being poisoned from the inside out, everything seeming searing hot or ice numbingly cold.
Through their blurry vision, they could make out some shapes running in and out of the room, and could vaguely make out some muffled sound which were their voices.
Due to the lack of energy, they had stopped thrashing erratically, but now their limbs were twitching and occasionally spasming in pain and exertion, and their voice also broke, so they were only able to whimper or weakly cry.
Surprisingly, they didn’t faint, they were somehow holding onto consciousness by a threat tight around their wrist. At this point they desperately wished for it to be cut, to descend to the void where they could be at peace for at least a few hours.
They felt themselves be lifted off of the hard floor and deposited onto a sofa, positioned onto their back.
They were so out of it, they could only barely tell what was happening, lest of all react to it. Their mind had gone spiralling, they didn’t know whether it was from the pain or because they were devolving into a flashback, they just wanted it to stop, please.
They could barely feel as their jacket and top were removed, revealing all their scars, and the latest addition (because by the feeling, there was no way it wasn’t going to fucking scar.)
They felt faint pressure from hands on them, stilling for a millisecond, then leave again. Karl had to restrain themselves from letting out a whine, the touch had barely been noticeable, but it was grounding from the pain, and it was warm. Voices were talking lowly in concerned tones, then registered someone lifting their head gently with the command to drink. It was Raiden and Raya, when they opened their eyes (when had they closed them?) and they….did not look happy in the slightest. Karl gave them a strained smile and obediently drank the potion, even through the thick texture made them want to hurl. Hesitantly they were able to open the telepathic channel again due to the extra energy from the fast-acting potion.
- I’m okay –
Even in their mind they were quieter than normal
“You’re not okay!” Shouted Izarri, who was kneeling by the sofa, and she was in tears. Oh god, Karl had made her cry. Izarri was gripping onto Luke tightly, who hid his face in her neck and was shaking.
- Well, I will be okay. What about you are any of you hur-
“Please stop…” whispered Luke and oh, didn’t that just break what was left of their heart (Did they have a heart? They were barely a human anymore? Were they even alive?)
“For once, please be concerned more with yourself who is actually injured than us who came out of that unharmed. How do you think it feels for us to have to see you always hurt, because of us. It makes us feel so guilty. Stop being so reckless with your life! Please!” Luke shouted at the end.
Karl and the others could only look at him in shock. Luke was always quiet and hardly ever had outbursts like that, he was the shyest out of all of them, and arguably the least confrontational. Karl struggled to think of what to say in response.
- I’m sorry – They said simply.
They knew it wasn’t enough, and clearly they needed to have a thorough discussion with everyone about feelings and communication. It was something they started a little after the…..Incident and it was like walking on eggshells. They hardly knew had to behave, how to live and it was difficult. So they started therapy a few times in order to heal.
Raya rested her hand on Karl’s head while Raiden sighed.
“While I do agree that we need to have a thorough talk about your sacrificial tendencies-“ Karl huffed indignantly, “We also need to discuss all of our traumas. It would only be fair. For now, however, we need to take time to rest and recover from this.” Raiden said, appearing ever collected and calm, though they knew that appearance was far from the truth.
- Wait! – said S5 in a panic, franticly reaching out and grabbing the fabric of a sleeve
.“Don’t worry, we are sleeping here, but we need blankets and pillows first.” Chirped Izarri, who had calmed down significantly with the promise of talking later, and they all let out light chuckles, lightening the tense atmosphere at least a small bit.
- No, I was just wondering…where are we? Are we safe? Did you tell those wizards anything?-
“Calm down,” soothed Raya, “Don’t worry, we’re safe here, and they are part of the Order fighting against You-Know-Who”
Karl relaxed a small bit, glad that they were safe for the time being, although they still felt half delirious from the panic earlier, and they felt uneasiness at the mention of talking properly later, but they never relaxed fully, especially when they had kept a close eye on those that were still in the room, one of whom, decided to pipe up.
“While I am happy that you are all okay now, I believe we have some questions for you to answer.” Stated a man standing by the doorway, expression still guarded and wary, and the group had to hold back their groans. They were exhausted from fighting, then running, then the panic and emotional talk was catching up to all of them, and they all just wanted to roll into a blanket and go to sleep.
Karlis sighed. They knew the slytherin colours they were wearing wouldn’t help their case, as hospitable as these wizards seemed.
It was Raya who answered, the 13 year old Ravenclaw facing the man, while also trying to shield Karl from his view.
“Yes of course, anything to thank you for helping our idiotic sibling over here.” She teased, trying to lighten the mood.
“We weren’t going to leave them, that’s for sure. First of all, how were you communicating? Clearly you weren’t talking yet you were definitely having a conversation.” He questioned.
Oh geez, S5 hated this part with the questions and trying to see how much they could tell.
“What was all that commotion about earlier?” Harry questioned his two friends, all laying on their beds.
“I thought it was just that wacky portrait bloody screaming again.” Ron commented off-handedly from where he was lounging sideways.
“I overheard something about some random wizards appeared here using a portkey, then another apparated shortly after. They were the one screaming, think they got hit by a curse or a hex of some kind.” Hermione stated with a frown.
“One hell of a curse..”
“Well, let’s find out then” said Ron as he jumped up, and Harry shrugged and followed suit.
“We can say that we want to know for our own safety, if not then we sneak in.” Hermione sighed then stood up silently in agreement.