Catch Me if You Can, Attack 4 (part 2) (CLOSED)

[Isabella Rothschild]

It was almost time. Rutger and Daniel had arrived with their partners ten minutes before 11:00. They expected that the killer, Kryshna, would attack after midnight, so that gave them plenty of time to go over the plan, familiarize themselves with their surroundings, and get into position.

Voltaire was there as well, and Isabella could tell that he was nervous. So was she, when it came down to it. Yes, they had two skilled aurors and two MLE officers to protect them, but if something went wrong... She didn't want to think about that.

The room was quite large, which could be either a good thing or a bad thing. Isabella wasn't sure. It was located just behind Isabella's office in a door that opened up in the back. The bed, a large four-poster with curtains all around it, was located on the wall opposite the door, but a little off to the right. They would leave the curtains open and bunched up in the corner. Rutger was to stand on the right side of the bed, near Isabella, hidden in the curtains. The room had no real window, but there was a simulated window with an enchantment on it to show the outside weather. A full moon seemed to be shining its ghostly beams right into the room.

In the middle of the room, to the right of the bed, was the crib where baby Conor usually slept. Tonight, he was not sleeping there. The baby was with Rori and Anna Marie, who were being watched by Andromeda Tonks. There was a rocking chair in the far right corner, where Isabella often sat with Conor, singing him lullabies or reading him stories that he was too young to understand yet. Near that was the door that opened into the bathroom, and in another corner was a large desk where Voltaire sometimes worked.

On the left side of the room, close to the door, was a large Japanese-style room divider (similar to this: www.roomdividerstore.com/48-in.-low-cherry-blossom-shoji-screen-in-rosewood.htm) which separated the living room area from the rest of the room. The living room area had a sofa, chair, and coffee table, all designed in a similar Oriental style, but nevertheless very comfortable-looking. In the far left of the room was a larger dresser and a large walk-in closet.

Isabella did not get into her night clothes. Instead, she stayed fully dressed as she and Voltaire slipped into bed. Everyone else began to get into their positions as midnight drew closer. Isabella could only hope that all went according to plan....

[Rutger Kilborn]

Now that the moment was here, Rutger was remarkably calm. Somehow, with the task at hand, the preposterous thoughts that had plagued his mind since the night before seemed to have vanished. Well, maybe not vanished... they were still on the edge of his mind, lurking like a ghost. But all of his attention was focused on what he had to do. He had to catch Kryshna. And he hadn't told Alana this, but he was prepared to die in the attempt, should anything go wrong. If anyone else had to die tonight, he would prefer it to be him. But something told him Alana would not want to hear that from him.

He was hidden in the curtains of the big four-poster bed, and had arranged it so he could see through a tiny gap in the curtains. He would see everything that was going on, and would be prepared to jump out at any moment and go after Kryshna. His body was tense, ready to strike at any moment, but he didn't make a sound.

In the end, the only way he had been able to disguise the sound of their heartbeats was to use an ordinary silencing spell. It would silence any sound they happened to make, but he would need to remove it if they ended up having to fight with Kryshna. All four of them had used the spell on themselves, and would remove it when necessary.

Rutger peeked around the curtains once more, checking that everyone was in place. Daniel stood against the wall next to the door; when Kryshna entered, he would be concealed behind it. Alana was behind the room divider, which would act as a shield. And Sean, though he had protested at first, was situated outside the room in the office wardrobe. It might have seemed unnecessary, but Rutger had not forgotten how close they had come to capturing Kryshna before, only to be stolen away by some unseen force. He had not seen an accomplice, but that was the only way she could have escaped the last time. This time, Rutger wanted there to be no excuse.

Voltaire and Isabella were in their bed, pretending to sleep. There they would wait for the attack to begin.

Somewhere a clock chimed 12. It wouldn't be long now.....

[Kryshna]

Kryshna watched Leander move off through the quiet castle. That uneasy feeling continued within her as she watched him walk off. She quickly cracked her neck before pulling out her wand and muttering a few words in an odd, Middle Eastern language. Very quickly, her image shimmered and shifted to resemble that of what her background was. She became all but invisible, nothing more than a slight ripple in the air.

Quickly, she began moving towards the wall. She had studied the hallway and was informed of the talking suits of armor. With how fast she was moving, she quickly jumped onto the wall, ran along it a moment before jumping up to the rafters and swinging up into them. There would be no way for the suits of armor to detect her, even if they did go off of movement.

It did not take her long before she was outside of the office door of the targets. She dropped down in front of the door and placed her wand on the door knob. With a click, she became visible and the door unlocked and the door slowly began to swing open. She slipped inside quickly and left the door open. This would be done as quickly as possible, so closing the door would have only made things more complicated.

The office was very quiet. She took a fast look around, taking in everything, just in case something went wrong. She then moved towards the other door. Her hand moved to the door handle. It was already unlocked. She then paused and looked around the room once more. Something was still wrong… Her eyes rested on the wardrobe in the office. They narrowed and she sniffed the air. Nothing smelled wrong. She did not hear anything out of the ordinary. But, she decided to be a bit more cautious, and pointed her wand at herself again, casting the invisibility on herself once more.

The door slowly began to swing open. The creature crouched down near the opening door and waited. It peered inside and sniffed the air. Nothing was out of the ordinary there. It peered around with narrowed eyes before, faster than the human eye, dodged into the room. There, it began to move towards the cradle and peered in.

The first problem. She was told to try to get the child and that it would be in the room with them. The creature’s eyes raised towards the bed. It would have to track the child down later. It listened closely to the breathing of the couple. Something was wrong. She had always listened hard to the breathing of those she killed. It was what separated her from them, the need to breathe. She moved towards the bed slowly, listening harder to their bodies.

The heartbeat was off. It was too fast. And it was speeding up. A growl escaped the creature’s throat and it began to back away from the bed. Things were starting to become obvious to her. She knew something was wrong, but it was all a trap.

[Rutger Kilborn]

Rutger knew right away that something was not right. The door opened; its sound was evident, and Rutger could see it through the tiny gap in the curtains. But no one was there. Inwardly, he cursed himself for not expecting this. He knew that Kryshna had magical abilities like the rest of them, in addition to being a vampire and a skilled assassin. But he hadn't expected her to be so cautious. She knew something was wrong.

Rutger was able to see a small corner of Daniel, peeking out from behind the door, and he did his best to make eye contact with the MLE officer. He hoped Daniel would get the message: Close the door. They needed to make sure Kryshna was contained within this room. From there, they would figure out how to catch her. It would be harder if they couldn't see her... but they'd figure out a way. They had to.

[Daniel Leviner]

Although Daniel had used the silencing charm on himself and knew that there was no way that Kryshna could hear him, he was still holding his breath. He had to admit, at least to himself, that he was slightly nervous about the whole thing. It was just the fact that nothing could go wrong that made Daniel a little nervous. Of course, he wouldn't admit that to any one, but he was doing his job and that was what mattered.

He watched for the door to open and as soon as it did, Daniel watched carefully. At least she didn't swing the door all the way back. Moving just a little, he caught Rutger's glance. He already had the idea of closing the door in mind, but the eye contact made him start to move. While Kryshna seemed a little occupied with listening to Isabella and Voltaire's heartbeats, he closed the door before anyone else moved.

[Alana Kalb]

Alana was knelt down behind the screen, her mind and heart racing. It was the kind of thing that excited her, being on the field and knowing just about anything could happen, but it was also the thing that made her most scared. As she shifted her weight to the other leg, she wondered if all the spells used on them would really work, if Kryshna would be able to hear them anyway, no matter what Rutger had told her to reassure her they wouldn't be noticed until they had to be.

Alana was peering out of a slit in the divider, one eye closed to focus better, when the door opened. She held onto her wand so tightly her hand was starting to hurt, but she wouldn't let herself loosen her grip. This, of all times, would be when she would drop her wand in a critical moment. It would be her luck. Her eyes left Kryshna when she heard the door close, and she took a deep breath. Alana had to prepare herself for what was going to happen next as she tried to push the thoughts out of her head that were forming; she knew they were all trained professionals and she knew they would be alright, but that never stopped her worrying about what could go wrong in the past, and it wouldn't change now.

[Isabella Rothschild]

When the door opened, Isabella felt her heart begin to pound in her chest. It occurred to her at that moment that if Kryshna could hear their heartbeats, she would know instantly that something wasn't right. As Voltaire gave her hand a quick squeeze, she could tell that his heart was pounding as well. They were supposed to be asleep, but she wouldn't be fooled for long.

Both husband and wife lay completely still, straining to hear the vampire's footsteps over the sound of the blood rushing through their ears. Isabella thought she heard something, but it stopped abruptly. There was no way she was close enough to the bed. She had figured it out... maybe she didn't know of the others in the room, but she knew that her victims were expecting her.

Isabella still didn't move, not sure what she should do. The plan had been for the two of them to fight back once she reached them, but she had stopped. Should they move? Should they hide?

The door closed with a sudden click. Next to her, Voltaire opened his eyes, looking at her uncertainly. What were they supposed to do? Had she left? Or had someone else closed the door to keep her inside? They waited in the silence for someone else to react, to give them some kind of signal.

[Kryshna]

A feral, inhuman roar escaped the creature’s throat. It was fight or flight mode, and there was no where to run. So, it pounced. The creature bundled up its leg muscles, still having the semi-invisibility up, and then thrust its energy forward onto the bed, bringing her scimitar out and bringing it down in a stabbing motion towards the bed, instantly becoming visible.

Without even stopping to see if it had actually made contact with either of its targets, it changed its perception to that of the man blocking the door. Within a blink of an eye, it had pulled the scimitar out of the bed and was rushing at Daniel. This was the man that had gotten in her way last time. And now, here he was again, in its way once more.

As the creature rushed him, another inhuman growl came out, eyes glowing red. It appeared as little more than a dark movement with two red streaks trailing behind it. It moved to grab at Daniel’s neck, moving around behind him and bringing the scimitar to his neck with another dark growl.

[Rutger Kilborn]

Rutger knew the instant she let out that cry that she would strike. He stepped out from behind the curtains and tried to aim a spell in the direction where he thought she was. He must have missed, though, because seconds later, the scimitar was plunged into the bed, directly between the couple huddling there. For a split second, she was visible, and he lunged forward, hoping to catch her. But just as quickly, she moved again.

Momentarily stunned by the speed of her movement, Rutger did not know which direction she went. She was invisible again, and he looked around frantically, trying to find her. When he saw a sort of reddish streak heading in Daniel's direction, he fired another spell in her direction, but he couldn't tell if it made contact.

[Daniel Leviner]

Daniel was doing his best to watch Kryshna. Maybe it was his fault that he wasn't completely on his toes, ready to attack her when she lunged at him. His mind had gone back to where Sean said, he had seen his death. He wanted Sean to tell him, but then again he didn't.

Just for that quick second his mind had changed onto something else, Kryshna was at him. Before he could even flick his wand for anything, she was at him. Daniel could only hope that Rutger's spell had made contact.

[Alana Kalb]

Everything had happened so fast, Alana wasn't sure if it had really happened or just a trick of her mind due to her anxiousness. In an instant, Kryshna was on the bed stabbing at it, and Alana prayed she didn't hit with of the Rothchild's, but by the time she had switched her wand from its position at the door to the bed, Kryshna was invisible again and she wasn't sure what direction she went in. The fact that Alana was still breathing and she didn't feel anything stab into her, she knew Kryshna hadn't made her way to her.

She peered over the top of the divider in a burst of courage, hoping wherever Kryshna was she didn't notice Alana. She saw Rutger step out from behind the curtain and her breath caught in her throat, hoping he wouldn't get hurt. This was a time Alana disliked having feelings for Rutger, when she spent time worrying for him and not the mission at hand.

She saw him aim a spell in Daniel's direction, knowing that must be Kryshna was headed. It was the door; Alana should have suspected that, that she would want to escape as soon as possible. She stood up straighter to get a better view of the spell, hoping it made contact with Kryshna, her own wand at the ready.

[Kryshna]

This time, it saw the spell coming at it and dodged its head down behind the back of Daniel. Another growl came out as the creature’s eyes dodged around the room, taking all the movement in. A woman behind the divider, Rutger by the bed, and the targets, obviously not sleeping, was lying in the bed. It could only guess as too how many others were waiting. This was not going as planned.

It growled and instantly changed its position. In the blink of an eye, it moved to the divider, dragging Daniel the few steps with it. Its hand’s changed, kukri now in its left hand and held at Daniels throat. Worse than that, though, was the right hand. It had bull rushed the divider, knocking it over onto Alana. The scimitar, now held backwards in the hand, had sliced through the divider and the tip was positioned at Alana’s stomach. She could feel the tip pressing against her flesh. Upon both blades, Rutger could see a crimson streak, a poison he was all too familiar with.

It was now a stand off. The creature’s feral red eyes focused on Rutger’s eyes. It stared at him, unblinkingly, as if daring him to move. The graze that Rutger had taken from the creature’s blade last time had taken weeks to heal. What would a stab to the stomach or throat do? If a spell was cast at it at this point, it would be all over for the two hostages. Daniel could feel the cold air exiting out the creature’s vocal cords as it growled next to his ear.

[Sean Leviner]

Sean's eyes were closed, but he wasn't asleep. He was listening quite intently to the air around him and the room over. He remained, unmoving, waiting for anything to happen. He was waiting for a signal that They needed him, or sign of her partner... They all knew there was someone else involved with Kryshna when she attacked.

It was too quiet, thanks to all the silencing charms, though he could Still hear an obvious struggle. Still, he hadn't been given a signal yet, so he stayed.

He finally opened his eyes, looking through the small crack between the wardrobe doors. If all went well, he wouldn't have to move at all.



(Just wanted to get him in here... and if you're ready Andi? )

[Leander Zarek]

(Lol... soon....)

Leander was more nervous than usual. There was a lot about this plan that he didn't like. At most of the other attacks, he had waited just outside for Kryshna to finish her work, then he'd simply cast the Dark Mark in the sky. He had very little to do with the actual killing, and he liked it that way. But he was also always close by, just in case something went wrong. The last time, he had been in the room just below her, and he hadn't liked that plan, either... and rightly so. She had almost been caught that time. Now he was farther away from her than ever before, and it made him very nervous.

After all, this was Hogwarts, not some house in a muggle neighborhood. Albus Dumbledore was surely not far away... there was a reason why Hogwarts was probably the safest place in the wizarding world. It was because of Albus Dumbledore.

Leander was tempted to scrap the Dark Mark, and wait until he had got Kryshna out of there before casting it. He should be close by, in case something happened. But the Dark Lord was adamant that the Dark Mark be cast above the castle... so Leander hurried through the halls as fast as he could, heading for the Astronomy Tower.

[Rutger Kilborn]

It all happened so fast. Rutger had cast a second spell at Kryshna, but she moved so suddenly, dragging Daniel with her, that both spells glanced uselessly off the wall. Rutger turned, realizing where she was going, but he didn't expect what happened next. She knocked the divider down onto Alana, pinning her beneath it.

Rutger felt like the very blood in his veins was freezing over, and he stood motionless as the blade sliced through the fabric and flimsy wood of the divider. He even cried out Alana's name, but as his voice had been silenced, his lips just moved uselessly. He had no idea if the blade had actually struck Alana, but he knew what the red tint meant. He remembered the poison all too clearly; the two weeks he'd spent in the hospital had been almost as hellish as... well, he didn't want to think about that. He just knew that he didn't want Alana to go through that. Or worse.

He still had his wand pointed at Kryshna, but he knew he would not get a spell out before she stabbed one--or both--of her victims. So he held up his hands in a surrender, then pointed the wand to himself, removing the silencing spell.

"Let them go, Kryshna. This is between you and me."

He reached slowly into his pocket and pulled out the weapon he had taken from the last murder scene, holding it up so she could see it. "I have something of yours. I know you want it back... Let them go and you can have it back."

As he said this, he gave just the quickest glance at Daniel, hoping that he would be able to take advantage of any movement Kryshna might make.

[Daniel Leviner]

Daniel stayed very still as Kryshna appeared behind him. He knew that if he did anything drastic, it could end his life. Remembering what Sean said about his death, Daniel had a feeling that today was not that day. After all, if it was that day, he had a feeling Sean would have attempted to warn him in some way.

He moved with her when she moved. Daniel knew that it was best to go along with her. He tilted his neck back a little as her blade was at his neck. "Let the girl go," Daniel spoke up. "You can keep me if you want. We're not going to do anything to you. If you let her go, he'll give you back your weapon."

[Alana Kalb]

Alana was barely breathing. Her breaths came in short gasps, careful not to raise her stomach too far to make the knife dig into her. She wanted to cry out, to tell Rutger not to say anything that would compromise his safety, but she couldn't lift her arms to rid herself of the silencing spell. That was one thing she was thankful for; this way, only those close enough to her would be able to know she was crying. Alana had never let tears fall in any field operation; then again, she had never been this close to what she thought would be her death. There had been close calls, yes, but never was she in a hostage situation like this. She just prayed one of those standing by would be able to get control of Kryshna before she did something.

She gave a glance to Daniel as he spoke, and she closed her eyes to his words. She didn't want anything to happen to anyone, and she was suddenly frightened for Daniel when she saw the blade was at his throat. She moved her eyes back to Rutger and closed them, wanting his face to be the last thing she saw if something happened to her.

[Kryshna]

Kryshna’s eyes glanced down at the girl at the tip of her blade. The screen had crashed pretty hard into her. One thing was for sure, blood had been shed. Not much, but she could smell it. It edged at the creature, pushed it forward. Her mind struggled against itself, trying to figure out if the creature or the being should take charge. Her eyes dodge back and forth between everyone in the room. Finally, her eyes rested on Rutger

Slowly, using her index finger of her left hand, she pulled down the mask covering the lower portion of her face. This was only the 3rd time she and Rutger had ever met face to face, and, other than that brief moment where she had been feeding on the boy, it was the first he had ever truly seen her face. She almost seemed human, looking at him. But there were too many features that could not be ignored to be fooled into believing she was human.

Even for a vampire, Kryshna was very obviously odd. She was so far from her humanity that it showed on her very skin how inhuman she truly was.

The dark veins around the edge of her face extended down along her neck. They were all the more prominent due to the poor feeding she was given in Voldermort’s care. Tribal markings came down just under her right eye. Her eyes alone gave her away. And the way they were staring into Rutger’s eyes would cause any normal witch or wizard extreme discomfort.

Her pale lips separated as a hiss slipped out of her mouth. Rutger could see the sharply pointed fangs on her upper and lower canines. Daniel heard it right next to his ear as she angled her head towards him. Her eyes remained on Rutger, but her fangs, she positioned right over Daniel’s jugular. Then, she shocked them all. She began to speak. At first, not in a language that they might understand, sounding like a very old dialect of Persian. But, eventually, in a very accented and broken English.

“Muhafaz anta mukine. Lkn bidhal taan. Kill… prey… or kill them…"

Her eyes glance at the couple then down to the girl. They then raised back up to Rutger.

"Bad move? He become dam min dami.”

She tightens her grip on Daniel, giving off a slight growl. Her mouth was so close to Daniel's neck that he could feel her cold lips and sharp fangs grazing his skin as she spoke her threats.

[Rutger Kilborn]

Rutger was frozen in place, staring at her, and he felt a cold chill run down his spine when her eyes locked onto his. It made his skin crawl, but to his credit, he did not look away. He couldn't afford to. One misstep, and both Alana and Daniel were dead.

When Kryshna spoke, he was stunned. Her voice was low and guttural, almost like a growl in the back of her throat, and her words were almost unintelligible at first. Even when she slipped into English, he wasn't sure he understood. But he saw the way he looked over at Voltaire and Isabella, who were now sitting on the bed, wands out, prepared to fight if necessary.

"Kill prey or kill them..." he repeated, trying to understand. "Kryshna, I can't allow you to kill anyone else. If you must kill someone, let it be me. Finish the job you started. Fight me."

Instinctively, he knew that Alana would not like this plan, but as far as he was concerned, he was less important than the others. He had no family, no friends who would miss him, except for Alana. But then something clicked in his mind as he looked at Kryshna. She had attacked everyone else... but not him. Why not him?

"But you don't want to kill me now, do you?" he said slowly. "You tried once and failed... now I'm safe, is that it? You can't touch me now?"

[Kryshna]

An inhuman sound escaped her throat as she glared at him and opened her mouth. It sounded like a hiss and a roar in one, almost horrific in sound alone. Her fangs shined in the low light. She was obviously angry at Rutger’s revelation. Her eyes were practically glowing with rage. Quickly, the creature began to take over. Her pupils dilated.

The creature growled low as it moved its fangs back to Daniel’s neck. It ran the fangs slowly along the tender skin of the neck, scratching it just barely, just enough to let a single drop of blood drip down to his collar bone. It growled in his ear as it smelled the blood.

Worse than that, it moved its right hand lower. Only a fraction of a centimeter, but, the blade entered Alana’s skin. Blood was drawn, but was it deep enough for the poison to enter the blood stream? One way or another, it was painful. Too much struggling from her, though, would only cause the blade to go deeper.

Its eyes remain locked with Rutger. The being was no longer in control and he could tell. It was do or die to this creature. It would kill both of them, if not then something much worse, if he made the wrong move. It continued to growl into Daniel’s neck, threateningly.

“Move… death to girl. Attack… worse…”