Caught Up [Alex]

[Max Kameren]

It was a regular Tuesday afternoon in the offices of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, blessedly peaceful for once after two years of turmoil from the Shadowloved. The tense feeling around the auror and hitwizards’ offices seemed to hit fever pitch in the months after, when a ward under their purview was kidnapped and likely killed right under their noses. Though the official story was that of incompetence in Argus Crabbe, the Department’s Head, whispers of corruption still lingers. It was enough to leave aurors staring sidelong at each other in the bullpen, wondering whom they could really trust when danger made its surefire return.

BOOM.

Without warning the joint storage area between the two departments suddenly exploded in a cloud of white dust, sending magical artifacts flying and a gust of fine white sand billowing out into the hallway. What sounded like a physical conflict yelped from the center of the chaos, followed by the heavy CRACK of apparition that left the explosion silent.

That is, until a skeletal man scrambled through the doorway. His hands were mangled and bony gripping the doorframe, and his attire was soiled and ratty. He was thin enough to see every bone even through the fine coating of sand covering his body. The hollow cheeks of his face were obscured by a thick matted beard that grew past his spindly collarbones and into his dark hair. The only feature that seemed to name this man human over animal were his glassy eyes, wide with fear as they darted back and forth around his surroundings.

Max didn’t recognize the place where he stood, though he had been there thousands of times before. He was overwhelmed and panicking, his senses buzzing with activity for the first time in months. The auras around him formed a sea of surprise that swept his attention like a vast ocean and he fumbled in its current for something to hold on to. He took another stumbling step into the aurors’ offices before he froze dead in his tracks. Recognition registered, deep in the sea of auras.

Alex.

Max ran in the direction of his uncle’s aura, his feet finding a familiar path and taking him to the Head Auror’s office before anyone could catch up with him. Without announcing himself Max barged in the door and fell past the office threshold, scrambling up and lunging forward for the figure standing in front of him. All eight of Max’s fingers squeezed into the shoulders of the man staring at him; This Alex wasn’t imagined, like the Curse Kameren that kept him company in confinement. He was solid, real.

A cackle escaped Max and he grinned, tears welling up in his eyes as they met the same even emerald green. “Alex. You’re alive,” he rasped. It was all he could say before the office’s wards activated and pulled Max away, subduing his arms and legs and muffling his delirious laughter.

[Alecsander]

BOOM.

Alex was poleaxed, not by the explosion that rocked the halls of the Department of Law Enforcement, but by the aura that exploded as from nowhere, broadcasting not only the desperation of the creature making its escape, but mirroring back the myriad emotions of those around him. He'd been pacing, trying to balance the many threads he was juggling when the force of the aura drove him to his knees.

Max.

It could only be only one person, and he didn't have Max's power but hadn't he been there, practically raised him? It was as familiar to him as the nose on his face, as ingrained as the roadmap of family scars crossing his body--he couldn't mistake it for anything else. For anyone else. He'd just barely regained his footing when his door burst open (an old, ingrained irritation niggled--again?) but it was unimportant. If Max was back Alex would let him burst into his office whenever he wanted. The traps set off, wrapping Max nearly head-to-toe in webbing.

A cackle escaped Max and he grinned, tears welling up in his eyes as they met the same even emerald green. “Alex. You’re alive,” he rasped.

He finished stumbling to his feet, this close to Max it was hard to focus. His nephew was barely human in appearance, and his power seemed as uncontrolled as when he was a child. Alex's mouth opened, but words abandoned his tongue. Instead he enfolded his cackling nephew in a fierce hug, as if he was unable to believe his eyes--his mind--and must rely on touch. The webbing holding him suspended dissolved, but Alex found it difficult to focus long enough to work on the rest of Max's bonds. He frowned at the door, slamming it shut, and closed his eyes. Focus. He only had decades of practice blocking out distractions of all types. He needed to put it to good use now. As the rest of the webbing faded away, Alex summoned his cloak and wrapped it around Max's too-thin body, before carrying him bodily over to the fireplace and taking him to the Estate.

---

H-OME. H-OME. H-OME! The silvery shepherd barked, racing around Elle's heels before dissolving into mist.

[Elle Callahan]

It was a typical day at a magical school for Elle Callahan. A few kids had come down with a common cold so she had to brew some pepper up potion. She had enjoyed the routine task keeping the students in the wing until the potion was finished and it was administered. The colds were not bad. A few doses of pepper up and they'd be running around the school again. A few second years trotted in after a jar of blubbertubber pus had spilled in herbology, splashing onto a few students. That stuff was nasty and a tiny drop could cause nasty boils. Elle had just finished the ointment that would dry up the blisters and sooth the skin when a silverly figure slid appeared in the infirmary. Elle nearly dropped the ointment on the ground when the ghostly hound spoke in Alex' voice.

Elle bit her lip as the hound urged her to go home. Merlin's beard, what was wrong? Alex wouldn't have contacted her at work unless it was an emergency. Elle put down the ointment and summoned parchment and quill, asking for permission to leave and have the potions professor cover the wing if any other injuries came.

Elle spread the ointment on the boils, reassuring the students that everything was fine. She wrapped their sore fingers and arms with bandages and sent them back to class. The headmistress came to talk to Elle and she disappeared with a promise to check in as soon as she could.

Elle used floo powder to travel to the estate, medical bag in one hand. If she was being summoned there was a high chance someone was hurt.

"Alex?" She called out as she strode out of the fire place.

[Max Kameren]

“Alex. You’re alive,” he rasped, still giggling deliriously. He couldn’t believe it. He manages to escape the Shadowloved and stumbles directly into the person he would have gone to first for help.

When the wards bound him Max realized their setting. How had he gotten to the Ministry? Had he apparated? He thought he heard the sound of it below the roar... His senses were still a sparkling cacophony of light and sound and emotion, with reinforcements pouring into the explosion down the hall all the more overwhelming. It had been so long since Max blocked his own aura from others that he was acting as a transmitter, radiating the adrenaline-fueled pain and energy coursing through him in waves. Above it all he was exultant, absolutely thrilled to have found someone he knew and loved and was alive in front of him.

Alex stumbled to his feet and inspected Max with an inscrutable look on his face; his uncles aura was caught in the din of the others and Max couldn’t read him. For a moment he worried his uncle didn’t recognize him. That was put to rest when Alex released his bonds and wrapped Max in a tight hug. The warmth of his embrace did something to calm Max. His hands stopped shaking as the static feeling of panic quieted somewhat in his aura.

When Alex’s embrace became too tight Max bristled and pushed back with bloody arms to put more space between them “Ribs Alex, ribs,” he croaked as his cracked bones protested and he took a deep breath to stretch his chest back to where it was comfortable.

In the meantime Alex summoned his cloak and wrapped it around Max’s thin shoulders, coaxing him into a floo fire that took the both of them to the Kameren Estate.

.

Apparently Alex hadn’t been captured or killed like Max had assumed when they lost the battle. The two wizards reappeared in the fireplace of the Estate looking just as Max had last seen it, not a thing out of place in the bedroom his uncle stepped out into.

Max took a stiff step out of the fireplace and immediately crumbled around the searing pain of his still-broken leg. He had fixed his knees well enough to support him in a mad dash for freedom, but not well enough to stay standing when the adrenaline wore off. He shuddered and dragged his legs down to the hearth while seated, smearing blood from his hands along the hearth.

“You have a healing kit? Potions ingredients?” Max knew the answer and didn’t look up with the questions, preoccupied with the work that needed to be done. His grimy fingers found the holes in his pants ripped from months of climbing his prison walls and tore, easily ripping away the threadbare denim. His naked knees were a sickening sight to see, purple and swollen, like his kneecaps had been replaced with plums sprouting from his too-thin legs.

“Alex?” Elle appeared like an angel of healing from the fireplace behind them.

“Oh thank Merlin,” Max called out to his fellow healer, waving her over to examine his most recent injury. “Elle I need your help! Two fractured patellae, cracked or broken ribs, and a jawbone that was healed incorrectly and needs to be reset.” Max scratched his chin and as he did the long hair of his beard came off into his hand; the hair removal spell was messy and not his preferred way to shave, but in a pinch the healers needed access. When the hair on his left cheek fell away it revealed a deep, forked scar that blared angry red from the base of his jaw halfway up his cheek: a leftover injury that had healed improperly after the battle with the Shadowloved.

Max felt the spark of Elle’s aura bursting into action and directed his attention back to his uncle. He wiped away at the congealing blood on his scraped forearms and lifted his wrists to show the runic symbols. “Think you can break this curse? Slashed the symbols but that’s not a long-term solution.”

[Alecsander]

“You have a healing kit? Potions ingredients?”

Alex helped Max to a sitting position as the boy collapsed, leaving him leaning on the cushioned-strewn side of the fireplace as he fired off a patronus to Elle with the one word he could summon before heading off to gather supplies. He came back into the room with the Estate's healing supplies just as Elle appeared through the fireplace.

“Alex?” Elle appeared like an angel of healing from the fireplace behind them.

“Oh thank Merlin,” Max called out to his fellow healer, waving her over to examine his most recent injury. “Elle I need your help! Two fractured patellae, cracked or broken ribs, and a jawbone that was healed incorrectly and needs to be reset.”

Alex could do certain first aids after so long with the aurors, after so long with his brother, but watching Elle burst into action was almost magical. She always amazed him with how strong and skilled she was, he was watching Max come back together under her hands.

“Think you can break this curse? Slashed the symbols but that’s not a long-term solution.”

Alex took the ragged wrists of his nephew gently in his hands and turned them this way and that. "C-caan do. Best once you're healthy."

[Elle Callahan]

A patronus summons was never a good thing. Especially when one was a healer. The shadowy messenger always meant someone needed Elle’s skills and it had to be done on the downlow. Otherwise said injured party would be at the damn hospital. Very few people summoned Elle to heal them and almost all of them were named Kameren. During the demon war such summons were commonplace. Often daily. It had been a long time since her life had been interrupted with a ghostly plea for help. It made her stomach all knotted. Had something happened to Alex? To Eden? The chit was a mess since Max’s disappearance. Elle suspected her and Alex were secretly looking into it, especially since there was so much pressure to declare him dead. It was odd. Not even a year and everyone was rushing to declare him. Yet it had taken the very same people years to declare the hundreds of missing flux victims dead.

Elle stepped out of the fireplace bag slung over her shoulder, wand at the ready. She had called out Alex’s name, expecting him to summon her to wherever her was but instead a hoarse tenor rang out.
“Oh thank Merlin,” Max called out to his fellow healer, waving her over to examine his most recent injury. “Elle I need your help! Two fractured patella, cracked or broken ribs, and a jawbone that was healed incorrectly and needs to be reset.” Max scratched his chin and as he did the long hair of his beard came off into his hand; the hair removal spell was messy and not his preferred way to shave, but in a pinch the healers needed access. When the hair on his left cheek fell away it revealed a deep, forked scar that blared angry red from the base of his jaw halfway up his cheek: a leftover injury that had healed improperly after the battle with the Shadowloved.

E;;e looked over at the sound, one eyebrow raised as a scarecrow in the image of Max Kameron waived a bloody stump at her. Merlin’s hairy balls. It really was Max. He was absolutely filthy. He looked like he hadn’t seen a shower or sunlite in month. Which was likely true. Had he been undercover for the aurors and only now breaking cover? One look at Alex and Elle dismissed that idea. Someone had captured Max and he had escaped. His captors had not taken good care of their prisoner. Elle strode quickly towards Max, assessing him as she walked.

“You can’t be that critical if you’re still self diagnosing,” Elle quipped as she pointed her wand in her magically enhanced bag and summoned a few packets of herbs. Elle looked at a pile of supplies Alex had brought in and grabbed some things from it too. She natched a small cauldron, dumping the bandages out beside Max. Elle kneeled next to him before dumping the herbs in the cauldron and putting hot and cold water in it.

“Soak your hands,” She said as she placed the cauldron in his lap. The sauve should clean out the wounds and begin the healing process as she dealt with his knees.

“Alex darling, before you start your interrogation can you warm up some bone broth that Glee made the other day? Max likely hasn’t eaten in days.” Elle said as she examined Max’s patella. Elle poked at it with her wand. A green light illuminated his knee, knitting the bones back together.

“That should do for now. If it gives you trouble we can vanish the patella and regrow it.” Elle said as she healed the second leg.

“Think you can break this curse? Slashed the symbols but that’s not a long-term solution.”

Alex took the ragged wrists of his nephew gently in his hands and turned them this way and that. "C-can do. Best once you're healthy."

“He’s battered bruised and half starved but he’ll live,” She quipped as she moved onto the ribs.
[/i]

[Max Kameren]

“You can’t be that critical if you’re still self diagnosing,” Elle quipped.

A pained, bark of a laugh rasped out of Max’s throat. This pain had lived with him for months. It was all he thought about; every movement was agony. In his solitary confinement all he had to think about was his healing training, replaying in his head over and over the process needed to relieve the constant throb. “No, I the only thing I think I can be thankful for is that they didn’t want to kill me.”

Elle plopped a cauldron in Max’s lap and he gasped when the weight put pressure on his knees. He recognized the mixture by the smell and hesitated, glancing up warily at the healer tending to him. If he healed the cuts to his wrists now the runes would re-mend and his magic would be taken from him once again. “Soak your hands,” She ordered.

He looked up at Alex, panic and worry shining off of him like refracted light. He could trust them to heal him and protect him while he was vulnerable. He carefully soaked his hands up to the wrist in the mixture, rubbing them together to do what little he could to remove months of grime from his grey fingertips.

“Alex darling, before you start your interrogation can you warm up some bone broth that Glee made the other day? Max likely hasn’t eaten in days.” Come to think of it, he probably hadn’t. At the mercy of his captors, where his next meal came from was something most out of his control and least of his concern -

“Ah! Fuck, Elle, warn me first for Merlin’s sake.” With a jab of the healer’s wand the shattered bones under Max’s skin shifted until they were reassembled. Though they were moving in the right direction this time, it was hardly a pleasant sensation. He leaned over the cauldron to watch her handiwork, but flinched backward when the movement provoked his injured ribs.

“That should do for now. If it gives you trouble we can vanish the patella and regrow it.” Elle said as she healed the second leg.

“At least it was a fresh injury, will be much easier than my jaw. Thanks, Elle.” Max smiled up at her in pained thanks before turning to his uncle. He pulled his hands out of the cauldron, where on his smooth wrists the rune tattoos now showed stark black against his flesh. “Think you can break this curse? Slashed the symbols but that’s not a long-term solution.”

"C-can do. Best once you're healthy."

“Sooner rather than later.” There was a wavering of worry in Max’s voice, as he covered the marks with his palms to hide them away.

“He’s battered bruised and half starved but he’ll live,” She quipped as she moved onto the ribs. Max set the cauldron aside and lifted his arms to give her better access. Through his threadbare t-shirt it was easy to count the ribs beneath his skin, finding them to stress-test should be easy.

With Elle hard at work Max directed his attention back up to Alex. He was sure he’d missed a lot; whatever the current status of the battle against the Shadowloved, he was sure Alex was at the head of it. "How many else survived the Battle? How did you escape? The Shadowloved who held me were different – have their numbers grown? What happened with the Gate?”

[Alecsander]

As Elle appeared from the fireplace, swiftly bustling into action, Alex headed for the kitchen with a soft pop. Not long later he reappeared with a steaming bowl of broth and a stack of towels. He handed these to Elle and inspected the runes on Max'w wrists, they would be easy enough to deal with, though Max's method had been rough it had been effective. Alex had a more permanent less disfiguring method in mind however. He scratched the back of his neck, looking over the emancipated form of his nephew with concern. He needed to get back to the ministry and handle the situation. He didn't want word about Max getting out just yet.


"How many else survived the Battle? How did you escape? The Shadowloved who held me were different – have their numbers grown? What happened with the Gate?”

"The Ggate was destroyed." Alex was not used to looming over Max, hadn't done for years. He frowned slightly, torn. "Eden, Rowena, Nuriko, many others survived. The Shadowloved have been destroyed..." he looked at the fireplace, eyes distant as he calculated the amount of damage control he'd have to do. He looked at Elle, reached for Max's shoulder and gave it the lightest reassuring squeeze. "We'll talk."

[Eden Fletcher]

Chaos danced around eden as she searched the battle field. She could hear his taunting laughter just up ahead. Warghallow. The bloody bastard was enjoying himself. He was standing above a pile of bodies, as if he were the King of England staking his claim on his newly conquered land. Eden fired a stunning spell at him as she ran towards him. She was too far away to hit her mark, but the colored light caught his attention and he dropped the arm he was about to bite.

The asshat jumped off the pile of bodies to crouch on the ground, pointed teeth bared. Eden skidded to a stop in front of him as the battle around them faded and it was just them. Rage filled Eden as she looked at the monster that had nearly killed her oldest friend. This twisted man had haunted Max’s dreams for months and now it would come to an end. His End.

Warghallow licked his lips before firing off a few spells at the tasty blonde. Eden doged them easily by throwing up a shield. It held for a few minutes under the attack, as she fired off another stunning spell. She was under orders to bring him in alive if at all possible. So she fired off stunning spells and binding spells, in case anyone reviewed the spells her wand had fired before she destroyed the little toad. Eden didn’t need anyone accusing her of murder or avoiding orders. 5 attempts at stunning should be enough to appease even the most idiotic ministry official.

Warghallow knew when he was being toyed with. So he played back. Until he was bored.

The purple light of a particularly nasty torture curse, flew at Eden. She dogged to the side, rolling up onto her knees, wand pointing in the direction of warghallow as she fired off an explarmous. It hit and Eden laughed as the wand flew into her hands. Warghallow, the fool had been running at Eden. He’d been directly in front of her and now he was hers. Eden had forgotten about his knives. She barely started to form the words of a blasting spells when steel slid across her throat easily pairing her skin. Eden dropped Warghallow wand to clutch at her throat, blood spilling out of her hands. Warghallow pushed Eden backwards with one hand, straddling her waist in a mock loving embrace. He cooed at her as he ran a finger down her neck, scooping up blood. He sucked at his finger, moaning in delight.

“Sour and sweet,” He cooed as he hovered over her. He’d been looking forward to tasting her. He reached out a hand to start prying off her fingers. He wanted the blood to flow. He wanted a fast meal before he went back to the battle. Then the world exploded.

Eden woke up unable to take a deep breath. She reached for her throat as she tired to remind herself that it was whole again. She wasn’t bleeding out. She fine. She was safe. Warghallow was not here. She was in home. She was alive. Images of Warghallow sitting on her. Touching her kept coming. Eden reached for the bottle of fire whiskey on the coffee table. Her fingers had just brushed it when the world went dark. Eden stiffened as images poured through her mind. She saw a giant ratty scarecrow screaming as he battle his way out of a dark room and into the light of the auror pit.

Warmth flooded through Eden as the images faded. Max, She had see Max. He was dirty, starved and tortured but it was Max. And Eden knew where he was going to be. The image was like the one she had seen of Alex Kameren when she’d been a little girl. She had seen the demons attacking him in Hogsmeade moments before it had happened. She’d been able to convince Curse that what she had seen was going to happen and they’d been able to go to Hogsmeade in time to save Alex from te demons. Eden ignored the whiskey bottle as she ran to her room to change. She needed to get to the ministry. Except that she had no clearance and she wouldn't make it past the wand check. Fuck. She couldn’t send a patronus message. She didn’t want to alert whoever was behind max’s kidnapping to his escape. Max was so hurt that Alex would need to get him treatment. Which meant going to a safe place...Which was not the hospital. So the estate. It would be the estate. Eden pulled on pants, before flooring. Forgetting to put on her boots. She tumbled out of the fireplace, hair matted from sweat, shirt stained with booze eyes wildly searching the room. She grinned when they landed on Max on the floor being treated by Elle.

“For a second I thought I had dreamed your escape. Hiding in the ministry all this time, my they are clever,”

[Max Kameren]

"How many else survived the Battle? How did you escape? The Shadowloved who held me were different – have their numbers grown? What happened with the Gate?”

"The Ggate was destroyed." The room’s pressure seemed to invert and cause the trio’s ears to pop with Max’s surprise radiating out of his aura. That was good, not what he expected. He figured by his circumstances that the prophecy had gone the Shadowloved’s way. "Eden, Rowena, Nuriko, many others survived. The Shadowloved have been destroyed..."

Max didn’t have words, but the air vibrated with heightened surprise and panic with each name Alex rattled off. He saw his uncle’s eyes move to the fireplace and felt his aura calculating. Max reached out to hold him in place; he couldn’t leave after telling him all that and not explaining. Max wrapped his three-fingered hand around Alex’s wrist on his shoulder, his numb shock barely registering the older wizard’s squeeze.

"We'll talk."

“Alex, wait – What happened? The Shadowloved are gone?!” As his uncle stepped into the Floo and disappeared Max’s whirring aura focused in on the only other source he had for answers. He turned to Elle, putting his arms down and taking Elle by the shoulders to pause her working. “…Ro’s alive? And Eden?”

If it weren’t for the tattoos blocking his magic Max would have thought he’d summoned her. His best friend stumbled out of the fireplace barefoot and wild. The last few months it appeared she hadn’t fared well either; Eden was nearly as disheveled as he was. She smelled like a pub floor.

Without a word Max turned to her and limply pulled her down to his level into a tight embrace that put stress on his healing ribs. It was worth it, to hold his friend and know she was real, alive and right in front of him. When he pulled back he looked her over, his gaze moving instantly to the stripe of red across Eden’s neck. “What happened to you?!”

“For a second I thought I had dreamed your escape. Hiding in the ministry all this time, my they are clever.”

“You saw it?” Max’s brow knit together in confusion. His escape was a blur, a mad dash of panic and pain. He had been too overstimulated after months in the box to absorb much of anything. “Did you recognize them? If they weren’t Shadowloved, who were they?”

His head shook glancing between the two women. The world he thought was happening outside his captivity had turned upside-down. With each revelation he was simultaneously relieved to hear his loved ones survived and afraid for what that meant about his attackers.

The world he had emerged into was not the one he expected to find. He was afraid to ask, but needed to know just how long. “How long have I been gone?”

[Elle Callahan]

Ah! Fuck, Elle, warn me first for Merlin’s sake.” With a jab of the healer’s wand the shattered bones under Max’s skin shifted until they were reassembled. Though they were moving in the right direction this time, it was hardly a pleasant sensation. He leaned over the cauldron to watch her handiwork, but flinched backward when the movement provoked his injured ribs.

Elle rolled her eyes at Max's protest. "You would have tensed up further if I'd given you a warning," She pointed out as she assessed him. Maybe she should give him a pain draught. But he was so thin that he could over dose or just throw it up. He needed food first.

Alex returned and Elle smiled up at him as he handed her towels and broth. Elle handed the broth to Max as she took the cauldron he sat aside and vanished the contents.

"How many else survived the Battle? How did you escape? The Shadowloved who held me were different – have their numbers grown? What happened with the Gate?”

"The Ggate was destroyed." Alex was not used to looming over Max, hadn't done for years. He frowned slightly, torn. "Eden, Rowena, Nuriko, many others survived. The Shadowloved have been destroyed..." he looked at the fireplace, eyes distant as he calculated the amount of damage control he'd have to do. He looked at Elle, reached for Max's shoulder and gave it the lightest reassuring squeeze. "We'll talk."

Elle rolled her eyes as alex deftly avoided the questions and disappeared. He had a talent for leaving without giving anything away. Elle turned her attention back to Max when he gripped her shoulders.

Alex, wait – What happened? The Shadowloved are gone?!” As his uncle stepped into the Floo and disappeared Max’s whirring aura focused in on the only other source he had for answers. He turned to Elle, putting his arms down and taking Elle by the shoulders to pause her working. “…Ro’s alive? And Eden?”

'Yes," Elle said in a reassuring voice. she was about to say more when the fire place lit up and Eden stumbled out of it. Elle pulled herself out of Max's grasp, edging away to give the friends privacy.

[Eden Fletcher]

Rail thin arms encircled Eden as Max drew her in for a hug. She tried not to crush him as she hugged him back. She could feel his bones underneath her fingers. Merlin's bloody balls he was practically a skeleton. Eden stared at Max taking in his haggard appearance. He looked so pale like he hadn't seen sun. Which was likely true.

What happened to you?!”
Eden opened her mouth to tell him about her injury but she just couldn't. Words tumbled out as she touched his hand gently. She didn't want to stop touching him. She couldn't believe that it was real. That he was real.
“For a second I thought I had dreamed your escape. Hiding in the ministry all this time, my they are clever.”

“You saw it?” Max’s brow knit together in confusion. His escape was a blur, a mad dash of panic and pain. He had been too overstimulated after months in the box to absorb much of anything. “Did you recognize them? If they weren’t Shadowloved, who were they?”

"It was weird in its specificity. Like the time I had seen Alex during my first year. The night the demons attacked for the first time. I just saw you in some dark chamber. You were being hurt. Then you just fought back and were suddenly in the records room and breaking into the bull pit. I didn't see who held you. Just you. It was like I was seeing you from their perspective. I'm sorry I didn't see more," Eden said with a frustrated sigh. Her powers were so unpredictable.

“How long have I been gone?”
"Seven months give or take a few days,"

Read more: alohomoraadventures.proboards.com/thread/1024/caught-alex?page=1&scrollTo=4327#ixzz5nrVDbYQz

[Max Kameren]

“How long have I been gone?”

"Seven months, give or take a few days."

A pit formed in Max’s stomach. It was so long, much too long. With pain finally waning and his panic evaporated Max was left in a vacuum. He had emerged over half a year later, escaping captives he did not know, into a world he did not recognize. Eden’s answer had pitched Max’s aura from the static-electric anxiety in the air to cold melancholy.

They had won the battle. His loved ones were alive. The Wizarding World was safe once again. Then why had this happened to him? How had seven months of the peace he fought for been taken away? If it wasn’t the Shadowloved, who did this?

In the realization Max suddenly became aware of how Eden looked at him, the desperation and pining for a friend. Pity at his condition, her fingers feeling his bones whose shapes were easily visible beneath his papery skin. His hair grew just past his shoulders, its natural wave giving way to ringlets that matted into clumps in the back. Suddenly Max realized how out of place he was. He was still war-torn, an echo of the buried past clawing his way back to the surface.

He wanted to join the living again. Max put a hand on Eden’s shoulder and used her weight to push himself to his feet. His still-healing knees cracked under his weight in protest and left him gasping, taking Eden with him back tumbling down to the floor.

“Agh – Elle, do you know if Alex has crutches lying about anywhere?” Where he lay on the floor Max still clasped Eden’s hand in his; part of him feared if he let her go, this would all be another illusion. “And can I take a shower or something, please?”

[Eden Fletcher]

For the first time in seven months Eden could breath. She didn't feel guilt taking a moment now that Max was found. The energy that had been driving her insane was dormant. She didn't feel the pressure to keep moving, to keep searching, keep looking. She didn't need to. Not now. Later, she would start the search for who ever had tortured her friend. She would not stop until she found the culprits and ended them. Eden squeezed max's hand as she told him how long he had been gone this time. He didn't take it well. He seemed to shrink into himself, the room grew colder. Eden shivered but she didn't let go of Max. What if this was dream? What if she was still in the apartment asleep. She had dreamed him home before. If she let go of him would he disappear?

Eden stared at Max, taking in the sight of him. He was dirty, pale, and looked like a skelton but he wasn't riddled with wholes. He was relatively whole and he would gain back the weight. He looked lovely to her. Eden frowned when Max suddenly moved. She shifted as he stood up, moving with him. She tried to take his weight as he stood, snaking an arm around his waist but even as a skellton his full weight was too much for her and they tumbled backwards,

"Merlin's balls, are you alright?" Eden gasped as she sat up, leaning over Max to examine him. did she break him?

---

Elle watched from the edge of the room. She didn't want to leave them entirely alone afraid that some new injury would come forth and Max would need her. Elle couldn't believe that he was here in her living room. He was so thin. A few more weeks and it was likely his vital organs would have started shutting down. His immune system was probably compromised. He was malnourished and likely dehydrated. But she could fix that. What she couldn't fix was his mind. How stable was Max kameren? Mental illness ran in his family. Would the stress of captivity have triggered a mental breakdown? It had for his father. How alike were Max and Curse Kameren? Time would tell.

Elle rushed over when Max and Eden fell.

“Agh – Elle, do you know if Alex has crutches lying about anywhere?” Where he lay on the floor Max still clasped Eden’s hand in his; part of him feared if he let her go, this would all be another illusion. “And can I take a shower or something, please?”

"Accio crutches," Elle said as she waived her wand. she ducked as they flew over her head, landing in front of Max. She probably should have just gone to the still room she had created and grabbed them herself. She had convinced Alex to give her an entire room for potion making and healing supplies. Better to be prepared with how often the Kameren's got hurt.


"Of course. There's also a bath tub if that would be easier, or I could put a stool in a shower."

Read more: alohomoraadventures.proboards.com/thread/1024/caught-alex?page=1#ixzz5slZ1pa1o