Midnight wanderer (Dillon and Lauren)

[Dillon Alford]

Dillon strolled through the shrouds of mist, nettles scratching her arms, various bushes and shrubs entwining around her feet with every step. She sighed and watched her breath come out as a vapour. She wouldn't normally wander about so late, but she was shaken. A dream, a nightmare. It was the same nightmare every night. She would dream she was a baby again, sitting in the garden back in London, playing with blocks. And then she saw someone. She would crawl over to them and hand them a block. The person would smile menacingly and then an excruciating pain, like someone was pulling out her heart and replacing it with a ball of fire. And then she would wake up, sweating. Only it wasn't a dream, not really. It was a vivid recollection of an event that had truly taken place. And the pain she felt every time she woke up from her rampages. Every time the demon took over and she would wake up somewhere unfamiliar with a burning in her chest. She wasn't sure if it was the cold mist on her face, or if a tear had snuck out and was dribbling down her cheek. She heard footsteps and looked around, pulling her dressing gown tighter in her fear.

[Lauren Delgado]

Lauren moved soundlessly in the forest, a heavy black fog swirling around her slim figure, concealing her in the shadows. There. Movement.

Her breathing quietened and she drew her engraved bow and arrow, ready to kill the creature. This was, after all, her routine hunt in the Forest. Her brown eyes widened in recognition.

"Miss Alford?" she asked, and the dark mist that surrounded her body curled away, revealing the woman.

"Miss Alford, this is hardly a safe place to be during times such as these." she warned lowly, then frowned a little.

"Miss Alford?" she asked again, not sure if she had seen a tear on the girl's face.

[Dillon Alford]

Dillon looked around and saw the head of Nula. She screamed, already in her disturbed state she stumbled back slightly. She was distracted for too long. Her mind drifted into a dream-like state while her body started moving itself. She climbed like a lizard up a nearby tree and stared down at Lauren. She hissed and jumped down, pushing Lauren to the ground and clasping her hands around her professor's neck. "Where is Jennifer Yates!" she screamed. "WHERE IS JENNIFER YATES! TELL ME!"

[Lauren Delgado]

Lauren growled and easily pushed the girl off of her, not wanting to harm her too much.

She must be possessed. Lauren deducted quickly. She whipped out her wand quickly, and Dillon was lifted into the air and pinned against a tree.

"I know not of Jennifer Yates." she hissed at the demon in the child.

"Dillon, please try to gain control." she ordered quietly, hoping that the girl could hear her.

"I do not wish to harm you."

But I will. she added mentally.

[Dillon Alford]

In Dillon's mind she could hear a muffled voice, but she couldn't quite hear what they were saying. Meanwhile her body was struggling. "WHERE IS SHE? WHERE IS JENNIFER YATES?" she repeated. Still struggling, she gave up and her body stopped moving and fell limply as she passed out.

[Lauren Delgado]

Lauren watched the girl writhe and continue screaming with a cool and even gaze. Her magic kept Dillon's body in the air, and Lauren levitated her away from the tree and placed her on the soft bed of leaves that covered the ground. She took off her cloak and folded it neatly under the girl's head and knelt calmly by her side. Lauren silently conjured some water for her and waited patiently for her to awake.

[Dillon Alford]

Dillon opened her eyes, expecting to see morning. But she wasn't in her bed and it certainly wasn't morning. "Wha-" she tried to speak, but she was too weak. She noticed some water beside her and took a long sip until only a small puddle of water was left. "Did I hurt anybody?" she asked, not needing to ask how she ended up there. It had happened enough times for her to know that she had lost control. She felt the familiar burning sensation in her chest that always came when she woke up. She clutched her chest and squeezed her eyes shut.

[Lauren Delgado]

"You tried to." Lauren replied, then took the girl by the shoulders so she could look at her properly and check her over. She studied her closely and murmured;

"You didn't succeed."

Lauren quickly dug around in a small satchel around her waist and pulled out a small glass vial filled with a thick silvery liquid.

"Pain relief. Will it work?" she asked, never being one for Potions.

Lauren leaned back onto her elbows and arched an eyebrow at Dillon.

"How long have you been possessed?"

[Dillon Alford]

She shifting to a sitting position and shook her head. "It's not a pain in the conventional sense." she took a deep breath and the pain subsided.

"I've been possessed almost my entire life. Since I was a baby. Luckily I can keep it under control most of the time, but you scared me and I lost it. Sorry about that, professor." she said, sipping the remainder of the water.

[Lauren Delgado]

"Ah." she paused, and her gaze remained intently on the girl.

"I see." Lauren said slowly.

"Most of the time isn't good enough, Miss Alford. Had I not been myself, perhaps another hunter, they would not have hesitated to kill you."

"You must learn to control the demon when he arises." she said to her. "Physically, he will of course be more powerful than you. But mentally." she tapped her head.

"There you can defeat him."

[Dillon Alford]

Dillon bit her lip. "Had a hunter seen me I probably would've killed them. At St Mungos they told me that my power whilst possessed is through the roof. Had I been under any real threat, who knows what that demon would've done."

"I know, I shouldn't be so easily distracted, but I have so much on my mind all the time... And he knows what I'm thinking... he talks to me. Thank god I don't listen to him. He always tells me to go 'kill Jennifer Yates'. I wish I was strong enough to keep him away all the time, but I'm not..."

[Lauren Delgado]

"And then what, Miss Alford?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "Sent to the dementors or shipped to a mental asylum? You don't strike me as one who enjoys death."

Lauren frowned slightly.

"Who is she? Jennifer Yates?" she asked, instantly thinking of ways to protect the woman from the demon that wanted to hurt her.

"You must learn to, Miss Alford." she said, standing up and offering the girl a hand.

[Dillon Alford]

Dillon looked up at her professor, wide-eyed. "Would they really send me Azkaban if it wasn't my fault?" she asked. Previously she had just been worried about the people she was hurting, now she had a lot more to worry about.

"Jenniffer Yates is my mother." she said calmly. She knew her love for her mother was enough to keep that demon hurting her as long as he was possessing her.

"Won't it be hard?" she asked, a little defeated at that time.

[Lauren Delgado]

The woman almost pitied the girl, she really did. But pitying was not in her nature.

"Miss Alford, if word spread that a demon lived within you, they may have killed you by now. Demons don't exactly have many friends." she tried to put it gently. "Most would jump at the chance, and with a valid reason if you allow the demon to take control and harm someone, to lock you in Azkaban."

"Is she alive?" Lauren asked. What does the demon want with the mother? -though, Lauren had just enough manners to know it was rude to pry.

"Very." she said bluntly.

"And painful, possibly." she mused.

[Dillon Alford]

Dillon looked down and hugged herself for warmth. To think that she could end up in Azkaban... it terrified her.

"My mother? Yes she's alive." Dillon answered, smiling for a split second at the thought of her mother.

"Painful? Oh... well, professor, could you please take me back to the school, it's very cold and it's dark and scary." Dillon asked shyly, looking around cautiously.

[Lauren Delgado]

Lauren cleared her throat a little awkwardly when she noticed the girl was cold. She picked up her cloak from the floor, brushed it off and handed it to her.

"Here." she offered.

"Do you still see her?". Okay, she was prying a little. But there was a demon in this child who was fixated on killing her mother- it wasn't exactly an ideal home for Dillon.

Lauren smiled kindly at the girl- a rare thing to behold.

"Come, Dillon." she said, and began walking back to the direction of the school. A cold breeze snaked around her bare arms and Lauren shivered a little. She pulled out her wand from her pocket and cast a spell, so a blurry ball of white light floated in front of them, gently heating their bodies and lighting the way.

[Dillon Alford]

Dillon took the cloak and pulled it around herself.

"I live with my parents so I see both of them when I'm not at school." Dillon said, yet again feeling happier at the thought of her parents and her home.

Dillon was in awe at the ball of light at basked in it's warm glow. She was just glad to be getting out of there, regretting going into the forest in the first place.

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