M is for Mask (Dorian)

[Simon Montague]

It had been close, the spell's glow flew just mere centimeters from Simon's face and Dorian would have the pleasure of seeing Simon flinch, but nothing else.

Suddenly there was a noise from the carriage, soft sounds that became screams and out of the door a figure appeared disheveled and clearly stunned.

They were drawing a crowd now and Simon knew he'd never get out of there with his most recent prey. That hurt him in a way a physical wound couldn't. He was angry. Still he knew when to run and when to fight, with Dorian slightly disabled it was time to run, there would be time for other tortures later. Sending a quick spell toward the carriage it burst into flames surrounding the girl as well. Dorian had to choose between rescuing the girl and pursuing Simon.

"Take care of that wound, and look after our girl. I'll be seeing her real soon." he taunted before running and apparating away in the distance.

[Dorian Humbert]

It all happened suddenly. The girl appeared in the door of the carriage and almost instantly was surrounded by flames. The imposter was dashing away, taunting Dorian and threatening Christine. Dorian would be unable to pursue the imposter and pull the girl from the fire in time. This, of course, was the idea. Dorian dashed toward the carriage, shooting a stream of water at the fire that licked at the screaming girl's skin. He reached her and pulled her from the flames with such force that they both fell to the ground. "Are you alright?" he asked hurriedly as he rolled her off of him and struggled to his feet. He looked in the direction the imposter had ran, but it was of no use. The villain had disapparated.

The girl was still screaming, and Dorian looked to her. She was sitting in the dirt, her clothes burnt but she was seemingly unharmed by the fire. She was looking at her hands which were covered in blood, as was the front of her clothes. But it wasn't her blood that she was staring at. Dorian looked down and realized that he too was covered in blood, the gaping wound in his stomach continued to ooze red liquid and had splattered them both as they escaped the flames. He pressed his hand to his stomach again to stop the bleeding. Kneeling to match the girl's level he asked again, with more sincerity, "are you alright?" The girl's screams faded to a whimper as she nodded slowly, then burst into tears and wrapped her arms around him.

By now, the onlookers had notified the MLE and officers were arriving. Still clutching his stomach, Dorian passed the girl off to a female MLE officer who wrapped the girl in a blanket and walked her away from the burning carriage. Two more officers were extinguishing the fire and pushing back the curious crowd. Dorian knelt on the ground a while longer, another officer crouched alongside him as Dorian ordered him to send a message to the Auror department. The latest attack from their serial killer had been thwarted, but the killer escaped. He's either using polyjuice potion, or is a very powerful metamorphmagus. The officer insisted on taking Dorian to St. Mungo's, but Dorian wouldn't hear of it. The killer knew about Christine. And thanks to Dorian's own foolishness, the knave also knew exactly where to find her. He had to get back to the Avalon as quickly as possible. It might already be too late.