A Birth day

The kids scattered like pinballs, and they started taking out followers right and left. Anise knocked one in the head with a big stick, and he fell to the ground like a rock, out cold. Sam grabbed him and apparated him to the beach to give to the fighters who were already gathering up some followers who had been taken out. Victor fired a stupify and knocked out a woman, and Ginger did the same and knocked out another. Victor grabbed one, while Ginger grabbed the other, and Victor apparated all four of them to the beach to the processors.

Angus drew his wand and was slashing and firing like he held lightning in his hand, and Evan saw four of the followers drop like Angus was mowing right through them.

"Damn," Evan muttered, impressed. "Angus! Your six!" Evan shouted, seeing four or five running up on Angus from behind. Angus whirled around and made several slashing strokes, casting nonverbal spells, and all of the ones who had thought they could take Angus out easily dropped like stones.

"Sam! Victor!" Kate shouted, pointing at the eight or nine Angus had knocked out. "Deliver those to the beach!" The boys scurried to do as she asked.

Aria seeing Angus openly taking down men stood up from her position and fired at three men about to attack Macus from behind " no you do not" she said and cast Bombarda to knock them backwards as she saw Sam and Victor grabbing them and taking them away as she turned to move to Marcus side while firing as she knocked down man after man , " will they never give up?" she asked as she fired yet again " there can't be many left now" but she kne those were famouse last words as a door burst open and lots more men ran out. " me and my big mouth" she said and laughed as she fired again sending them skattering like dominos.

Ruby fired taking down two men each she cuffed and had Anise take back to the main camp now stood up she looked around seing movment to her left she ducked just intime as a spell shot past her head taking out a dagger she threw it right at the mans shoulder on the hand he held his wand and it fell to the floor walking over she cuffed him without a word as she slowly pulled out the dagger from his shoulder.

"Oh, come on," Marcus said, laughing. "Woman, we've got a long, long way to go." Angus happened to glance up, and he saw a glimpse of Marie. He immediately abandoned what he was doing and apparated to go after her. Marcus had just taken down some mammoth man that was several inches taller than Marcus was and a good five stone heavier--all in rock hard muscle. They'd actually brawled a couple blows until Marcus took him down. But now, he turned and saw Angus was gone. A cold, hard fear raced through Marcus, and immediate regret followed. He immediately knew he should have been looking out for Angus. "Oh, God," Marcus said quietly, not feeling good about this in the least little bit.

Angus had apparated into the shack where he had seen a glance of Marie in one of the windows. He headed for the bedroom where he had seen her in the window, but before he got there, everything went black.

Aria laughed and nodded " true " she saiad then watche dhim go after a rather big man she was busy taking down several others but hen she turned back she could not see Angus and looked where Marcus was " we have to fid him" she called to Marcus " go find him I'll stay with Ruby" she said taking down another sneacking up on her then swinging around to take down a second with a raised machete aimed at Marcus kncking the man cold on his back as she waled over and cuffed him " go find Angus we have it" she said seing Ruby take down teo more men and several of her company port in to take them away just as quick.

Ruby looked around and did not se Angus but saw Aria headed her way " marcus is looking for him" she said " focus on the fight " she added and fire behind Ruby . Ruby nodded and took down some one about to jump on Aria's back " thanks" Aria said Ruby just nodded and moved towards the crypt she had seen ealier.

Kate felt a hard icy chill run through her system. Her seer's instincts were now suddenly on high alert. She stopped in her tracks and spun around. One of the first stringers was gone. She immediatley knew it. She just didn't know who. She saw Marcus breaking loose from the skirmish and start to go through the fray. He was already looking for someone. And then she knew. She hit the amulet on her neck to alert all the other team leaders.

"They've got Angus," she told them.

"What!" Robert was immediately on high alert.

"They've got him. I'm sure," Kate said.

"Keep on task," he told her. "We'll find him."

"I'm pulling some of mine to start hunting," Lee said quickly. "We'll get him back."

Nearly 20 minutes went by, and Angus just seemed to be gone without a trace. Marcus was still hunting and then Anise grabbed his arm.

"Dirt! Mud!" she shouted at him, over the soundss of the fighing. "I smell mud. Mildew. Mold. That's where he is! You've got to find him--quick!"

"I'll get him. I promise," Marcus said.

Kate was smelling the same mold, mildew and mud smells that Anise was. It was strong, and her seer's energies were working so hard that all the fighting was just totally being blocked from her. She was racing off by herself. Evan happened to see her running actually away from the camp alone. and not sure why she was running away from the fight, he raced to follow her as hard as he could run.

Angus woke now to darkness, and stuffy, stale air. He ached from being blasted. Where the hell was he, anyway? It was hot. Too hot, and he was sweating profusely. He smelled dirt and mud. Mold and mildew. It stank. He tried to move, and he instantly hit his head and banged his knees. He tried to move his arms and legs and they were boxed in too. He tried to use a lumos spell but nothing happened. He felt around him and felt satin. Satin below him, satin on either side of him, and satin right above him. He had absolutely no room to spare. He reached down for his trouser pockets to see if he had anything helpful, and he came across that stupid little keychain flashlight that Michael had made into a portkey. He grabbed it, drew it from his pocket and flicked it on, and what he saw horrified him. He was in a box. A small, satin lined box. He was closed in. He tried to push on all sides, any side, hoping to open the box, and it moved, but only by the smallest margin, and in its place all sorts of dirt and mud slid in through the opening, threatening to bury him. Bury. Bury him. Dirt, Burying. Oh, God. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He was in a casket. And the casket was underground. Marie’s cackling laughter was the last thing he remembered. She had gotten the drop on him and she had buried him alive. And if no one came in time, her dark cackle was the last human sound he was ever going to hear.

He was filled with complete panic, and he shouted. He screamed for help, screamed for anyone to hear him. He clawed at the satin, tore at the lining, banged with his fists, kicked with his feet, did anything he could think of to make noise. He had to get out. He had to think. There had to be a way. His magic. He tried to apparate. It didn’t work. He tried to use a sonorous. Nothing. He tried countless spells, and none of them worked at all. His magic just didn’t work at all, and he didn’t know why.

And then it began to sink in--he was alone. Nobody was coming. Nobody heard him. They didn’t know where he was. He was running out of air, and that meant he was running out of time. The panic gave way to grief and anguish. He thought of Ruby, of Anise and her premonition that he wasn’t going to come back from this mission. She had been right.  That would haunt her for the rest of her life, and it was all because of his stupidity. His need to try to get this woman. He had plunged headlong into this assignment like any other, and it was now going to cost him his life. Ruby, his kids, they were going to be without him. And Edward. Edward would be completely beside himself.  And Caprice--his only flesh and blood child—he wouldn’t see her birthdays, wouldn’t see her get married, wouldn’t see his grandchildren. It was all going to end right here in just a moment or two from now.  She wouldn’t even remember his face, know the sound of his voice, nothing. He would vanish from her memory as if he had never existed at all. Nobody was ever going to know where he was. They wouldn’t know that Priscilla had murdered him, made him just one more notch on her belt.

He kept shouting. Shouting, banging his fists, and clawing, ripping at the satin, shoving the cotton batting out of the way, but the only thing he was accomplishing was breaking his fingernails, making them bleed as he kept trying to claw his way out. It was an old wooden casket, and he was getting splinters in his fingertips. They were starting to bleed. But if it got him out. He was tiring quickly, and he started to realize it was because he was running out of air now. His throat hurt, and he was getting hoarse from yelling so long at the top of his lungs. He was starting to cough and gasp for air. His hands fell limp. His mind started getting foggy.

“I’m sorry, Ru,…” he heard himself say now in just a whisper, his voice gone. “So sorry…”

Kate was running in the dark, and Robert was behind her somewhere, calling to her, telling her to wait. She felt a panic inside like she had never known. Angus was out of time. He was dying. She had to find him. He was here. She could feel his energies like she could feel her own heartbeat.

“He’s here!” she shouted at Robert. “Hurry! Hurry! He’s dying!”

“Where? Where is he, Kate?” Robert demanded. Kate stood still, the urge almost gone. That only made her panic more.

“Angus!” she shouted. “Angus, where are you?” She got no answer, but then, she saw a flash of him lying limp somewhere. Somewhere close. She started to run off to her left and then she tripped on something and fell. It took her a moment to realize what she had tripped on. It was a fresh grave.  A mound of earth, in this centuries old cemetery. She put her hand on the mound to try to right herself, and when she did, a magical charge ran through her hand.

“Here! He’s here!” she shouted. She began frantically digging in the fresh mound of with her bare hands.

“Kate!” There was another voice now too. “Where is he? Where’s Angus?”

“Evan!” she shouted. “Over here. I’m here. Hurry!” She saw the lit tip of a wand, and then Evan arrived and he knelt beside her on the ground. He laid down his wand and began helping her dig.
“What are we digging for?” he asked her.

“Your brother!” She looked at him, urgent now to get Angus out fast. Evan looked at her, confused for a moment and then it all sank in. A rage raced through him. He stood up and picked up his wand.

“Move,” he told her in an angry tone. She looked up and saw him pointing his wand at the ground. She scooted out of the way. “Defodio!” Evan shouted, firing with all the power he could muster. The earth yielded to him, almost exploding from the grave in all directions. Robert arrived to see Evan ridding a grave of the soil.

“There! I see it!” Kate was pointing. “Get him out. He’s there!”  

“Help us!” Evan shouted to Marcus. “My brother’s down there! They buried him alive! Help us lift him out.”

Ruby and Anise saw the direction everyone ran to and followed Ruby paused in hr tracks as a cold hand sem to run down her spine as she drew close hearing Kate, shaking it off she moved beside Kate "He's going to be okay" she said " but if he's not I'm going to tear that witch limb from limb" she said now feeling the heat of anger boil inside of her at the thought of losing the man she loved. Aria ran over and knelt digging at the ground beside Evam until he fired his spell and she moved quickly brushing off the dirt from the casket they found. tugging at the top she fought against its weight before she yanked it open and fell backwards on her butt onto the top of it before she quickly jumped out to let the others have a go.

Ruby looked at Kate as everyone dug in the ground around the fresh grave and Aria jumped into the grave unphased to tug at the top to get it open. " you will not leave me alone" she said softly to her self her fingers holding the ring he had to give her.

Robert fired a spell to turn the old turnbutton style bolt latches to open them, and then the lid yielded to Evan. There, inside, was Angus. He was covered in dirty and mud and was a filthy mess, and Evan couldn’t tell if he was still alive or not.

“Let me,” Robert said, pushing past Evan to get to Angus. He and Kate levitated Angus out of the casket and laid him on the grass. Kneeling on the ground, Robert could not feel a heartbeat or a breath, but Angus’s skin was still warm. Robert laid his hand on Angus and fired a powerful spell to restart Angus’s heart and to force his lungs to breathe. He left his hand on Angus’s chest to keep Angus’s heart beating and to keep him breathing, and then Angus coughed and started to gasp for air.

“Oh, thank God,” Kate was instantly relieved.

Angus woke, against every expectation he had had, and he saw Robert’s face, and then he saw treetops and starlight, but his vision was limited, and he had a horrendous headache. Angus tried to move, and he reached for Robert. Robert grasped his hand tightly.

“Welcome back,” Robert said, relieved. “You’re going to be alright. I’m right here.” Angus had such a tight grip on Robert that Robert wasn’t sure Angus wasn’t going to break his fingers. It was actually quite painful, but he wasn’t going to let go of Angus. “Just breathe. Give yourself a minute.”

The emotion that raced through Angus was entirely overwhelming. Robert could see that this was all just completely too much for Angus. He couldn’t blame him one bit. Robert touched Angus’s forehead and cast a light sedative to calm Angus. His heart and lungs were working overtime as it was, and Robert did not want them to be strained even more with Angus’ hard panic. The sudden grogginess made Angus panic.

“Calm,” Robert said, in a soothing tone. “Relax. We’ve got you. You’re alright.” Evan knelt beside him. “Let’s elevate his head a bit so he can breathe,” Robert told Evan. They sat Angus up and leaned him back against Evan’s shoulder. Evan wrapped his arms around Angus, unable to let go of him for a moment, grateful and relieved beyond words that they had found him just in the nick of time. And beneath that relief, Evan felt rage. Pure rage. Priscilla needed to die tonight. She needed to pay yet tonight, and he was going to make sure that happened. Evan had never seen Edward use his axe, but he was wishing right now that he had it himself. They sat for a long moment in silence. Evan brushed Angus’s wet and dirty hair off his face. Angus didn’t realize it, but he had clutched tightly to Evan as if Evan was keeping him alive.

“You going to take him to the med unit at the headquarters?” Evan asked.

“No. His body is suffering traumatic shock, so his thinking isn’t going to be on point for several hours. The very last thing I can expose him to now is an environment that is strange to him. I have to get him back to the bayou house where I can tend him properly,” Robert said. "One of you needs to go back to the headquarters for me and get my bag from Nigel and then come along back to Angus's and Ruby's."

"I'll go," Marcus said.

"I'll help you get him home," Kate said. The rage that was coursing through Evan's veins was something he'd not felt before. He was going to go get this bitch. He had made up his mind the hussy was his. He turned and started to walk away in a silent fury of blind rage. Kate tried to call to Evan a couple of times, but Evan honestly hadn't heard her.

"He's going after her," Kate said quietly.

Ruby watched praying Angus would wake she didn't know whether to cry or be angry but when he gasped and sat up she looked to Kate and breathed out in relife turning back she saw Evan walking off, she looked to Kate as she spoke " I'll go after him" she said and followed him " Evan what are you doing?" she called to him " please at least slow down so I can help you get that witch, some one has to make her pay for harming Angus and Im with you on doing that." she shouted to him she ran after him her wand at the ready to kill the one person who harmed her man.

Aria looked at Marcus and nodded " I'll see you at home" she said as she followed after Ruby and Evan from a distance to help if needed but she was not going to interfere.

"Hurry up, then," was all Evan said to Ruby, his steps hard, determined, relentless. "This is the last person she's going to hurt. This ends tonight."

"Aria," Robert called sharply. Unless someone could pull the team together it was going to fall apart. "Wait." Kate handed Robert her medallion. "Don't let my first stringers fall apart. You take this and make sure the rest of them get back alive. They don't need a commander so much as those kids are going to need a protector. Keep in contact with the squad commanders and get my team home in one piece." He handed her Kate's medallion. "I still have mine, but Angus will be in real trouble if I have to leave him."

"If you need me to come back, tell Robert, and I'll apparate back," Marcus told Aria. Then he looked at Robert. "I'll get the bag and meet you there in half a tick." He apparated out to go back to HQ for Robert's bag. Robert and Kate apaprated Angus home.

Aria paused moving to Robert and taking the medallion "Of course " she said " I'll make sure they both come home sir " she said then changing into her dove form she took off after them flying above them with the medallion around her neck as below she saw Ruby ran after Evan and fell in step beside Evan she relayed their position to the squad commanders.

" I agree, enough is enough she's hurt our family and my man for the last time, ever," she said focused on where they were going her wand clentched in her fist as all she wanted now was to make this woman feel the pain she had felt seeing Angus laid in that coffin.