My, How Things Have Changed...

[Torii Damien]

So much had changed since the famous Harry Potter fell to the Dark Lord. In the years before his brutal reign, witches and wizards could walk the street without fear. But now, with dementors on every street corner and Death Eaters in every building, peace was impossible to find.

Torii rarely wore a wizard's cloak, greatly enjoying the free feeling of Muggle clothing. But she was wanted for opposing Voldemort and his supporters. So today, as she traveled the cobblestone streets of Knockturn Alley, she was clad in a long black wizard's cloak, a hood obscuring her face from view. Only strings of her blonde curls shown through. Her hand grasped her hawthorn wand in a vice grip, reading to cast a hex or curse at a moment's notice.

Torii gazed into the window of the Apothecary, looking at the displays of potion ingredients. She was still a complete failure at the skill, but surely something would be useful. Right? No, nothing but beetle eyes and a large range of poisons. Sitting front and center was a large tub of monkshood. Could be of some use later on. Torii, slowly turning to walk away, made a mental note to stop and buy a sample on her return trip.

Torii reached her destination a few short minutes later. The paint on the sign was cracked and peeling. The windows were shattered. The door was hardly hanging on by only one hinge. The infamous Weasley's Wizard Weases. Torii quickly peered around and crossed the threshold. Sitting where the register once was was the item she was looking for. A small leather-bound book. The witch snatched it up and hit it in her cloak. She quickly made her retreat from the store and back into the alley.

Now that she had what she needed, all she had to do was get back to St. Mungo's before someone on her side noticed she was gone, or one of the enemies realized who she was. But if they did...well, they wouldn't live to tell the tale...

[evie]

It wasn't usual for Evangeline Crowe to venture out too much - she had lackeys and sires to do her dirty work for her - but vampires needed to get out sometimes, too. Knocturn Alley was the easiest and most accesable place for her to go when she wasn't working, after all, now that Diagon Alley was no longer, Knocturn Alley seemed to be always engulfed in darkness. That was always good for a vampire - sun didn't exactly mix well with them.

Her steps were smooth and light, her heels clicked against the cobblestone ground. She wore a cloak - but the hood was not up, and it wasn't completely closed. The opening in the front revealed a slimming dress, red silk, carefully hugging her curves. A black metal choker with a large ruby adorned her neck, as well as similarly designed earrings and a bracelet. She seemed to be rather fancily dressed for a simple trip to Knocturn Alley - but Evangeline was never seen anywhere without the most extravagant clothes on.

More than a few people seemed to recognize her - her platinum curls and dangerously blue eyes weren't exactly easy to miss - and were sure to move out of her pathway as she came near them. While they may be dark wizards and witches themselves, they knew that the Desmodus, especially the leader, was unforgiving and loved to torture anyone and everyone just for the sake of it. Seeing that she held so much power over these low-lives, a smirk crossed Evangeline's blood-red lips, revealing two sharp canines.

Something disrupted her glory though - a something that was shorter than her, that hit her shoulder lightly. Whoever it was still bumped into her though, and that did not bode well. Letting out a small, shocked huff - appalled that one of these people didn't move out of her way - she shoved whomever it was away from her. How dare they touch her?! Her eyes flashed a bright red for a brief moment as she looked upon this cloaked person in disgust.

"Haven't you something to say?" Evangeline demanded, expecting some sort of apology from this peon. Her slender brow furrowed though, when she saw bright blonde curls sticking out from the black hood. Who was this witch? In a swift movement, Evangeline took a step forward, grabbed ahold of the witches hood, and ripped it back. Her eyes widened at what she saw. This was no dark witch, that was for sure! [/color]

[Torii Damien]

Torii hurried along, reveling in the merciful breeze than picked up on the street. The heat under her cloak was sweltering, causing sweat to drip down her face in streams. Black was definitely not her favorite color, but it served its purpose in keeping her face hidden, along with the item she concealed withing it, her wand, her identity, and the mysterious leather book. The crimson leather did not help to lessen the heat in her cloak, but she had to get it out of harms way.

Torii has passed the Alley many times in her past, but never in as much of a hurry as now. She knew that if she was found out, she would be tortured to death--quite literally, to say the least. In spite of her rush, she stepped into the Apothecary to pick up a few pounds of aconite. She continued to keep her face concealed, even as the clerk attempted to flirt with her. She dropped the galleons into his hand and departed without another word, her cloak making a swishing noise as she turned sharply outside the building.

No one gave the young witch a second glance as she walked. There were far too many people wearing cloaks and concealing their faces for her to be special. That was the only promising thing about Knockturn Alley. Everyone in this desolate place had a shady appearance. As Torii moved, her shoulder grazed another figure. She uttered not a word and kept walking. She even ignored the other woman as she addressed her.

Tension crackled in the air for mere moments before Torii's hood was wrenched away from her face, revealing a shocked and horrified expression. She gazed fearfully at the figure, recognizing her at once. "Oh, shit." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Torii could take on an average Death Eater with ease, but this--this creature was so much more dangerous than all of the Death Eaters combined.

[evie]

Evangeline, for once in her long, long life, was quite speechless. Was it really....? No, it couldn't be! Why would an Order Member be so brave - or stupid, for that matter - to actually come to Knocturn Alley, where there was nothing but dark witches and wizards? Once Evangeline regained herself though, her hand instantly went for the wand tucked into her robe, and whipped it out - pointing it directly at the girl, the tip of it but inches away from the young woman's nose.

"This, it seems," Evangeline began, glancing about a bit to see the crowd that was gathering about them, and staring on in curiosity and excitement, "Is my lucky day. How wonderful is it that I decided to come out to Knocturn Alley on the same day that an Order member does as well. The Dark Lord must be watching over me today." Ending that sentiment was an airy chuckled and a pleased sigh.

"Dare I ask, what are you even doing out here? Why would you be so stupidly brave to venture out into this world when you know what lurks out here?" She started again, she might as well give the girl a few more pleasant moments on this Earth - before Evangeline either incapacitated her in order to take her to the Dark Lord for questioning - or simply ended her life right then and there. She would be good for information, though, and Evie would be an idiot not to try to interrogate her first.

The crowd around them had doubled - and it was now quite loud and excited. After all, they were mostly dark witches and wizards themselves, and to see and Order member being caught and punished by a person so close to the Dark Lord himself was certainly exciting. They waited to see what sort of punishment would be dealt to the young woman - hopefully it would be something good. [/color]

[Torii Damien]

Torii's mind swam for several seconds. Caught. And no one on her side knew where she was. This was a battle she would most surely lose unless she could think fast. Luckily, quick thinking was one of her more dominant skills. But the plan slowly circulating in her mind would take time, something she didn't have a lot of at the current moment.

She distantly ignored the other woman's taunts. Words are irrelevant when spoken from the mouth of a monster. She wasn't even paying attention to the fact that a wand was pointed straight at her, aching to have her crumple to the ground lifeless. She continued to ignore her interrogation. No, Torii's peripheral view was focused on the crowd steadily building around the pair. They would have to be taken care of quickly.

One of Torii's advantages was that the other woman didn't know the location of Torii's wand. Inside her robes, her hand clamped her wand, which she pointed at the crowd. Protego! She shouted the word in her mind. A shielding, invisible bubble slowly wrapped its way around the good and bad witches. This would be a fair fight--or, at least, as fair as you can get when fighting a vampire.

In one fluid motion, Torii had both taken a step back and withdrawn her wand, pointing it at the vampires chest. "Do vampires need a heart to die?" Her voice was quiet, like she was whispering it in the other woman's ear. Funny. She wouldn't touch that creature with a ten-foot pole.

[evie]

Evangeline was slightly surprised that this girl actually had the audacity to not only cast a sheild spell around them - really trapping her inside a unbreakable barrier with a vampire - but she actually pulled her wand out on her! The Vampire had half a mind to throw her wand aside and slap her upside the head. She didn't though, she wasn't stupid enough to let go of her wand at a time like this.

But, at the girl's comment, Evangline smiled dangerously. "Unfortunately for you," She began, the hand that was holding her wand tensing, ready to cast a spell at any moment, "We do."

In the quickest of moments, a flick of her wrist that was almost too fast for the human eye to see, Evangeline had hit the Order girl with a spell - an Unforgiveable one. Evangeline's personal favorite spell - Crucio - had been hissed under her breath with a menacing tone. A red light blasted out of her wand towards the young girl - and Evangeline couldn't wait to see the impact.

If she managed to incapacitate the girl - a fate that was almost unavoidable as Evangeline had her wand pointed directly at the girl, inches away from her - once she heard her scream a bit, the vampiress would take her back with her to her Manor, and from there, summon a few of the other Desmodus to either interoggate her there - or help Evangeline bring the girl to the Dark Lord herself at the Ministry. Evangeline would decide what she did once she came to it... She did love a good, torturous interoggation, but the Dark Lord might not appreciate it if she did that herself.

[Torii Damien]

Torii's mouth curved downward in a frown. Well there goes her pan of using Avada Kedavra. Oh well, time for plan B. Wizarding--er, Witching Duel. Or at least, that was plan B. A sudden flash of red light consumed the witch's vision. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground, writhing in unbearable agony. Every part of Torii's body screamed in pain.

"Do what. You. Want." Each word was nearly impossible to utter and forced out through gritted teeth. "It. Won't. Get you. Anywhere." Spasms and twitches continued coursing through her body as she fought off the curse.

Torii shakily aimed her wand at the vampiress as she continued rolling on the ground. Red spots began popping in front of her eyes. "Stupefy." A jet of red light burst from the witch's wand. Unfortunately, the spell went wide and whizzed harmlessly past the other witch's right shoulder.

To make matters worse, her Shield Charm was fading as she lost concentration. She gave up on trying to hex the other witch and focused on keeping the horde of Dark Wizards at bay. Her fate was in the hands of the enemy. Great. She was doomed. But the book wasn't. Ducking her hand inside her robes, she twisted her hand, the book gripped firmly in it. The book disappeared. Hopefully, it would make it to her bedroom in St. Mungo's. If not, the entire Order of the Phoenix was doomed.

[evie]

Ah, defiance was quite an entertaining thing to watch - especially when the defier is twitching and writhing on the ground in pain. Evangeline watched with pleasure as the young girl's body was thrown into spasms, keeping her wand pointed at the girl and throwing all of her anger into her concentration on the spell. "My darling, I don't care if I get anything from this - all that matters is your pain."

It was quite surprising when the witch still had the strength to send a spell her way, and Evangeline was a bit impressed, but thankfully, the spell missed - just barely. This only made Evangeline's smile grow, and finally, with a wave of her wand, she stopped the Cruciatus Curse - she didn't want the girl to fall into madness or go into shock from the pain. No, she needed the girl sane, but preferably weak.

Evangeline could have sworn she saw the witch move and do... something under that robe of hers - but she wasn't sure what it was. Her gaze narrowed and her brow furrowed, but she preferred to think nothing of it. It was probably just another pathetic attempt at a spell that failed. No matter.

The Vampire took a step forward, and gave the girl a sharp kick to her ribs before bending down, and gripping the girl by her robes. "It would seem that you were wrong, my dear," She started, lifting the girl off of the ground quite simply, "You are coming with me." And with that, there was a crack of an Apparation.

[ooc; I don't want to godmode you - so you can choose in your next reply whether or not Evangeline manages to take her back to her Manor, or if she escapes with an Apparation of her own, ^_^ I don't mind either way.] [/color]

[Torii Damien]

[ooc; Fine by me. Add a little suspense. x3]

"All that matters is your pain." Well, you got pain. Happy? Torii's inward screams blocked out all of the other witch's words, except for those few. It was pathetic. Torii could repel Cruciatus Curses with ease up against a normal Death Eater. Did being a vampire honestly make the other witch stronger? Apparently so.

The book was safe. That was all that mattered. The object in the book--a hollow book, to be exact--was safe. If someone found it, the tables would be evened out a little more. If it got to St. Mungo's. So many "ifs" circulated in Torii's mind, each more belittling than the last. Each more crucial. Each less likely.

It wasn't long before Torii's screams turned outward. Her Shied Spell dropped, and the wizards swarmed even closer, laughing and jeering, some snatching for her wand. They were nothing more than spectators at a close Quidditch game. Torii recognized a few of the faces. People she knew, people she'd waved to on the streets, people she'd gone to school with. All taunting her.

Then the pain disappeared, like she had swallowed an entire bottle of Novocaine. Her screams stopped as quickly as the pain, and turned into panic-stricken gasps. The slowly faded as well. The last thing to cease was her twitching. Even though the curse had been lifted, small spasms continued to shake her body.

The red slowly faded from the witch's eyes, clearing the scenery out. Hungry faces glared at her, still snatching for her wand, even though it was safely tucked under her. Her fist shot straight forward as a stumpy little wizard pulled at her hair. Her knuckles connected with someone's nose, and she heard a groan. During the commotion, Torii missed the vampiress's next round of dialogue. The next thing she knew, the air exploded from her lungs. Her skin tightened, and the world went black.