The Price of a Life

In the South-Easterly corner of Britain, a small community of Muggles had set up a town, that had just barely gained status as such, which housed just over two thousand people. It was enough, Alistair believed. There weren’t too many and though some would attest that it wasn’t enough, that wasn’t it from where he was standing. The rows of houses that wore similar facades were laid out before him like a buffet, for him to work through slowly, from one end of the table to the other. Alistair did not have any plans to wipe out the whole village. He knew from personal experience that death was far easier than it was to be the one left living. To die was a great adventure, to live also, but to live knowing death is a greater pain we all wish we could avoid. It was from a hill that overlooked the small hamlet that he weighed up his options. He was here now, he wasn’t going to take the flight option, but he couldn’t help but wonder whether this was wise, or moral or just.

Probably none of the above, he thought sardonically, closing his eyes for a moment in order to steady his nerves. It had been a long time since he’d been on a raid and even longer since he’d murdered someone in cold blood. He wondered idly if Azkaban had taken the stuffing out of him in order to do that but he pressed this thought into the back of his mind, trusting that his wand knew what to do even if he disagreed somewhat with what was to come. There were women there, women and children and above all they were innocents. Alistair pocketed his wand hastily, deciding quickly against having any involvement in the raid unless absolutely necessary. He brought his fingers up to pinch the bridge of his nose and he shook his head, sighing gentle as she steeled himself, half of his mind having a battle with the other as they both fought their corners as one, desperate to do the right thing, took on the other half, desperate to protect its host.

Hearing a handful of pops behind him, a signal of Apparation, Alistair turned. He steadied himself mentally and looked at the Death Eaters before him. He removed his wand from his pocket and flicked it, making a small pedestal appear. With a second flick, a sand-timer appeared and settled itself atop the pedestal, the sand all in the bottom of the timer. He swallowed hard and looked at the Death Eaters, taking in their faces, their determination to do good by their master. Alistair straightened his shoulders and lifted up his head. Gesturing to the timer.

“You’ve got an hour,” He told them before flicking his wand, sending the timer spinning over, allowing the first few grains to fall. “Begin.”

Alder had apparated to location where Alistair was going to be. The mission for all Death Eaters were to cause havoc in a small muggle community. THAT Alder could do. He had seen the other Death Eaters ready to begin. When Alistair gave the signal and the timer had started, he was ready.

Alder apparated in his dark smoky form above the village, seeking out the first area to attack. They all seemed so tempting with stupid muggles to destroy. He didn't know where to go first.

Naomi wasted no time. She was ready to show them her worth. Yes, she was ruthless and cruel. She had shown them through her words, her attitude- now she would prove it to them in a body count. She wasted no time, not even pausing to fix her mask, before she turned into the garden of a home. She walked up the yard and knocked on a door.

A boy of about fourteen answered the door. "What're you, some weird sort of travelling salesman?" he asked.

Naomi smiled beneath her mask. "Yes. Mummy of daddy home?"

"My mum is. Dad's at work and-"

She pulled out her wand and he stared at her for a second confused. "Avada Kedavra!"

A flash of green and the boy fell backwards. She stepped over him and closed the door, locking it. First blood had been drawn. Daddy gone? Let's make sure his family was waiting patiently for him when he arrived.

This errand was such a shame. Muggles going all to waste when Beatrice could have thought of many more interesting things to do with them. Just because they had no magic, didn't make them completely useless; they made perfectly acceptable hat-stands, for instance.

Still, Mister Marcheti wanted them dead and Beatrice was not averse to making things dead. The enchanted hour glass turned over, and she sauntered down the streets of Lower Hornmarsh, aiming for the centre of town. The small community may only just have achieved the official title of town, but Beatrice knew that some of the original houses would have existed for centuries.

Like all towns, the true centre of Lower Hornmarsh was its watering hole. True to her instincts, there was a cluster of older structures, ramshackle buildings and houses clustered around the pub and town square. While further up the road, where Beatrice assumed the other Death Eaters were already getting on with business, the houses were made of identical brick with tile roofing; these were farmhouses and cottages.

With a careless flick of her wand toward the upper storey of The Rabbit & Swine, Beatrice regretfully set fire to the pub. It was a pretty place. Nice leadlighting. On another night, she might quite have enjoyed a drink there. But now was no time for regrets, for merrymakers were often ignorant of dire peril. Beatrice blasted those lovely windows in, just to create some proper chaos.

Now she ducked around a corner, since those cottages needed some attention too...

Sofie was not a child killer. She walked down the village, her eyes at the abandoned park at the end. She looked so very normal there, dressed normally and looking completely nonthreatening. A soccer ball rolled from across the other side of the street and hit her ankles. She picked it up and threw it back to the little boys who had lost it, smiling warmly.

She walked on and reached the end. The park had long stopped being for children, now to be occupied by young people a little younger than Sofie, all getting their kicks one way or another. Sofie's mask was in one hand and she fixed it on as she neared. One couple withdrew from their tangled embrace and a boy threw his spray paint can aside. A smoking boy whistled and one of the girl's turned. "Get out of here. You freak, this is only for our friends."

"Friends?" Sofie asked. She flicked her wand. The fences around the park grew to twenty feet high and the gate locked. "How good are they, is the question?"

She paused. "Let's see who is the worst friend. The worst friend loses- he or she is punished by watching his friends die. So, any volunteers for who gets to live?"

They all stared around. "Don't believe me?" She flicked her wand and the girl who had called her a freak screamed as she fell to a beam of green light. "All right. Make your cases. Who deserves to die first?"

And with that, they all began to volunteer each other.

Alder came to settle at a lovely rural cottage. He fastened his mask onto his face and knocked onto the door. A man answered the door. When he saw Alder's mask, he shot at it with a large shotgun. Naturally, it bounced off it and Alder laughed. "May I come in, sir? Avada Kedavra!"

Alder saw the man fall to the ground with his eyes still opened, and his gun still poised in his gloved hands. "Excuse me," he said to the dead man. In the living room, he saw a woman and her three kids. What had he done? They stared at him with lifeless eyes in the reaction to their loss. He stared at them back. He knew how it felt to lose his family. And he wasn't about to kill of the rest of them.

Instead he walked out of the house without another word.

Lucifer apparated to where he'd been instructed to go. He landed in a muggle community. He thought to himself for a second. His mind going wild. Sure, he's been a Death Eater for a while, but he's never been sent on a mission. This was his first mission and by the looks of it some others had already started. He wanted to show his worth. He walked towards one of the house he was by and knocked on the door. A girl around his sister's age opened the door.

She looked confused. "Hello. May I help you?" Lucifer smiled down at her.

"May I come in?" Lucifer asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea. My mum's not home and my little brother's asleep." She said quietly.

He grinned wickedly and pulled his wand out of his inside jacket pocket. "That's a shame then, darling. Avada Kedavra!"

He watched the girl fall to the ground. He stared for a moment at the lifeless body of a teenage girl, whom he just killed. He shook his head and turned around. Now was not the time for him to feel bad for a muggle.

Lucifer walked back out towards the street and looked around at all the mayhem. He sighed and walked over to the next house. This needed to be done. Orders are orders.

By now, the centre of town blazed merrily away. Time being limited, Beatrice had kept her attentions to the roofs and upper storeys of houses as she passed; they would collapse inward later, demolishing the rest of each structure as they burnt out. If they burnt out.

In the meantime, the muggles seemed to be distressed by their inability to contact the usual authorities. The magic saturating the air made it impossible for them to use their telephones or computers. As she circled back to the panicking people milling around in the town square, Beatrice could not keep the smile from her face as she pulled her mask down to obscure her identity.

"Incendio!"

An inebriated man screamed and toppled over as the spell hit. Perfect. As friends began to run towards him, Beatrice had no trouble picking them off one by one with the freezing charm.

Time to get this done. She had to show what she was capable of, and she had to show that she wasn't going to show mercy to anyone. No matter who they were. Children, women, men, she wouldn't show mercy. Especially not to the men. Alexis fixed her mask on her face and she proceeded to walk through the village, picking out where she would strike first.

Eemiemeenieminiemo.

She sang in her mind, pointing to the houses. Her finger remained pointed to the one on the far right and she smirked under her mask. Alexis walked over to the house calmly and she knocked on the door lightly. The door opened shortly after to reveal a young man, probably around her age, and he stared at her.

Alexis quickly took her wand out and without a moment's hesitation she said, "Avada Kedavra!" She watched his body collapse to the floor after the flash of green light and she looked down at the body. "It isn't very polite to stare." Suddenly she heard a scream come from the stairs and she looked up to see a younger girl, staring at her in horror.

The girl turned to run away and Alexis pointed her wand at her. "No you don't! Avada Kedavra!" she said. Another flash of green light and the girl's body fell backwards down the stairs. She pocketed her wand, and walked out of the house, closing the door behind her, making it seem like nothing happened there.

Ne'Os stood towards the front of the group of death eaters listening. He had managed to find some potion and already could see his skin was a less sickly shade of green. Not that anyone else could tell he was invisible. He would love to see his victims fall not ever seeing who killed them.

The hourglass turned and the sand fell. Ne'Os would let his work speak for himself. He doubted anyone but those looking for him would know he was there. He tore off away from the others. He found a small farm set off away from the others. He walked into the front yard. He could hear the clucking of chickens and the occasional moo of a cow. He drew his wand and placed it on the lock if the front door. It glowed golden for a second and opened allowing the invisible man to step through the threshold.

He let his eyes adjust as the room was dark. His orders were to kill the people in a way that the muggle authorities couldn't explain, and that's just what he intended to do. He silently stepped into the front parlor and noticed a human male laying on the couch fast asleep. He moved so he could crouch over him studying the man's face. He placed his wand just under the mans chin, and whispered "Avada Kedavra." He noted the man would appear to have died in his sleep; he would need to correct this issue after he had cleared the rest of the house.

He moved to the kitchen where he found a woman drinking a cup of tea and reading a book. He silently moved behind her and read a couple lines before he repeated what he ended her life the way he had the man. He even sipped at her tea a bit before he moved up stairs. Not finding anyone else in the house he moved back to the kitchen. He carefully picked up the limp body of the woman and carried her to the parlor. He then placed her in a armchair and positioned her so that she appeared to be sitting. He left the man where she was but he made sure the man's eyes were open and the woman's were closed.

Leaving the farm behind he moved on to see how the other progressed. It appeared even with the potion he was still far from being cured. He figured he could manage one more house before time expired and his magic with it.