Winter
Shodding Arms Hotel, Knockturn Alley
Room #445
Early morning

It's still dark out when the wix in the fourth floor suite begin to stir. It's a shambling kind of hotel room with a patched uneven floor, a cold brick fireplace, and creaking beds with sagging mattresses. The ceiling is cracked, and the panes in the windows rattle when a cold breeze hits them.

There are traces of long-term habitation of these chilly rooms. The hearth has been used for cooking, boxes and suitcases hold enough clothing to last for months, and a wireless is crackling static. On the table is a blank newspaper, which can only be read at the touch of a wand and the spell Specialis Revelio.

No one is exactly sure how it happened. The take-over by the Confederation of Covens had happened gradually over ten years and then all at once in a matter of months. Tens of thousands have been turned, and many more had fled. London was now a city of vampires, with wix doing what they could to survive, including making unlikely friendships.

One such alliance comprised of the Healer Robin Louvelle, the Killer Hunter St. James, and the Cowboy Garrett Dawson. They had made a go of it, but things were getting more and more dire.

As dawn was starting to break, the locks on the door began to unturn.

Sleep couldn't come fast enough for Hunter the evening before. She shifted in the creaking bed, springs poking at her back as she curled the blanket around her to cocoon herself. It was uncomfortable; this place was uncomfortable.

Being in the Shodding Arms was a dream that became a nightmare. It reminded her of her lover's trysts, of lively humans that pumped warm blood. Nate had left to go back home, and he never came back to work. Maybe he became a victim of the Coven, she'd never know.

She finally woke into the early morning to the sound of creaky floorboards. Hunter rubbed the sleep from her eyes and glanced around the small studio. She saw Robin looking out the windows, Garrett whispering something to him. Per usual, she was the last one to wake up.

Pulling herself out of bed, Hunter slinked towards the pair. "Evening." She yawned, and stretched her arms over her head. "How is it looking?"

The door began to rattle.

He had risen in the afternoon, with about as much sleep as he'd gotten on any given night this past few months. The night was what worried Robin the most after all - they had the sun to themselves in the day, if they could keep clear of those buildings occupied by covens.

They would need to venture out soon. Supplies were running low and he had learned, the hard way, that the best method for keeping peace in any alliance was to ensure the necessities didn't run out.

Robin was just talking to Garrett about trying some place farther out from central London, one of those warehouses. The anti-apparition wards around the city meant it would be a trek but he was ready and able.

He glanced in Hunter's direction as Garrett replied. That was all of them awake, bright-eyed and bushy tailed.

Hunter reminded him of Virgil and sometimes that was a good thing, to be reminded of better times. Today was not 'sometimes'. Today it hurt a little to watch her come up to them with catlike lethargy, so much like the golden haired boy from whom he had heard nothing since the new year.

"We're coming up with a pl--"

The door rattled, cutting him off, and he got up quickly. He had seen no approach on the street, from his perch at the window. Did someone come in through the back in the night?

Robin brandished his wand, and checked the inside of his coat with his free hand - the stakes were still there. "Who is it?" he raised his voice.

Of the three Garrett was the most equipped for hostile situations, but he wasn't on his home turf and that cut a significant disadvantage into his knowledge. As such he had to depend on the other two for the lay of the land whilst he lent his skills to their survival - one of which was the night watch, always when the hours were the worst.

He'd agreed with Robin that they needed to move locations in broad daylight as quickly as they could, and was listening to the man outline a plan to ask him for his thoughts, when Hunter rose from her bed. Robin began to explain, and then the dreaded click, rattle, came. The sound they'd hoped would not happen but knew it was inevitable.

His wand in his hand so quickly the other two didn't see him move, he stepped forward noiselessly. The soles of his cowboy boots were absolutely silent as he moved next to the door, careful not to be too close to the hinges, coiled like a snake ready to strike. To the others he indicated the windows as well; there were two, blocked by thick fabric as makeshift curtains to prevent light from filtering to the outside world. He was always ready for attacks from any direction, they'd come to learn.

The door stopped rattling as Garrett approached. A mumble was heard from behind the door and the lock clicked open, presumedly through magic. They turned the knob and opened the door slowly.

Hunter froze in place and twisted to turn her body towards the door. Garrett stood next to it, wand out and ready. Robin looked as prepared with his brandished wand. She wasn't expecting this visitor and had left her wand on the abandoned bed that was several feet away. Her chest rose and dropped, sweat beaded down her face.

General exhaustion still hung in Hunter's limbs, the unlikely trio had been given a mission to get something or someone and needed to wait at the Shodding Arms. She just didn't know what to expect.

The door continued to open and the frame of a wix came into view. Their wand was raised defensively, the outline of two stakes in their vest.

    "I'm a wix." They seethed under their breath, panting. "An ally"

Hunter looked over to Garrett and Robin to verify. Her calves were stiff, she was waiting to pounce. Sometimes live wix were used as bait to catch other wix for the vampires. Hopefully one of her partners could remember how to identify their target for this mission.

He didn't relax when the door opened to reveal what looked like, on the surface, a witch.

She was young - maybe early 20s - and wore her very long dark hair in a tight bun. Exhaustion was written in her dark skin but her eyes were alert, alive in a way no vampire could possibly manage. It was difficult not to immediately feel protective. This could be her. This could be the cure.

"How far have you come," he asked, taking one step forwards, "as the crow flies?"

Despite the vampiric takeover, communication between wixes hadn't (yet) died out in London city. The Healers of St.Mungo's were still in touch, allowing sporadic messages to be carried by animagi or birds that flew in daylight and secreted themselves at night. That was how they came to talk of the cure.

A research group outside the city limits had formulated and inoculated a single wix whose blood could be used to brew a cure - it was blood magic, sure, but they were long past legalities.

       "Three leagues and a half," the witch replied, the agreed upon response. "I'm Shola."

Robin breathed out in relief, lowering his wand. "Have a seat, Shola..." he waved her over to a chair and then glanced at Garrett and Hunter, to assure them it was alright. "I'm gonna test her blood. We should think about moving out. Soon."

The cure wasn't perfect - it would only work on anyone who'd been turned in the last year - but it was a start.

Their visitor's back was turned to the cowboy behind the door. Garrett silently waved his wand briefly, and the three - four - of them would feel the sensation of something swooping low over them[1]. It was enough for Shola to turn around in surprise, then jumping when Garrett pushed the door shut, not loud enough to slam but enough that she'd add a third pair of eyes on her.

"Did you make sure you weren't bein' followed?" he asked immediately. "If you can't confirm, we're gonna 'ave to move out a lot sooner than soon."

There were wards too on their building, but vampires found them merely irritating like flies if they so much as detected the magic. None of the spells were preventative, only indicative. He gestured to Hunter. "Get ready our things while Robin tests stuff. We ain't waitin' to see if any walkin' leeches show up on our doorstep too."

1.	Human presence-revealing Charm.

     "Yeah." Shola replied, taking the seat offered by Robin. "At least, I think I wasn't followed." It was hard to know, there were just so many vampires out there. Wix, outnumbered.

Shodding Arms Hotel had maintained it's macabre presence in Knockturn Alley. Misfits and eccentric folks, desiring to live on the offbeat path resided there. The nature of it's few residents didn't change when the Coven's had taken over. That was why they'd picked this location.

Hunter went back towards her abandoned bed, slipping a tank top over her sports bra that flattened her frame. She'd felt dower since arriving, though kept most of her thoughts to herself. It was strange, working closely for the goal of wix-survival.

"Robin, I will start to pack up..." Hunter began picking up some of their belongings and sorting it into the extended suitcase that they used to keep their belongings. She tucked her wand into her back pocket. 

Small talk, it wasn't something Hunter excelled at. Her cold exterior, it was hard to melt.

Shola raised the sleeve of her arm and held it out to Robin. "I'm ready."

He was, honestly, relieved that they were getting out of here. Robin lived a nomadic lifestyle before settling down in London and their holing up here at the Arms was beginning to make him stir crazy.

"Clench your fist, like this..." he extended his own arm by way of example. "Yeah, exactly, hold it there."

The moon tattooed on the inside of his wrist was nearly full. At moonrise tonight he would transform - finding a cell would have been matter of fact, before, except now they had someone with them.

Someone to protect.

Robin tapped against Shola's wrist, looking for a suitable vein, and then he told her to relax her arm. It had to be taken from her like this instead of a regular test, which would have been as easy as pricking a finger.

"We're good," he glanced up at the other two when he was done - the process didn't take more than five minutes, drawing blood and testing it in a beaker of tester fluid. "It's her, alright. The cure."

       "I said my name was Shola," the witch grumbled as she rolled down her sleeve. "Stop calling me that."

Robin laughed - oh, look at that, he could still laugh - and smiled an apology before getting up to help pack their stuff.

"Which of you two wants to take point?" he opened a rucksack to put away his healing equipment. "I can bring up the rear, but Shola's gotta be sandwiched with one of us."

Both Hunter and Garrett had more experience in hazardous situations. Robin trusted either of them to lead. They were only going as far as St.Mungo's, though that was easier said than done without floo or apparating.

"I can do it." Garrett's reply was curt but not unfriendly. He knew his companions were in trying times, and the one thing they needed the most was certainty of some sort, in these uncertain times. "Far out 'ere we got time. Do what you need."

He knew the way down, out, and every single possible escape route. "I'll go down to check outside. Ears and eyes open for anyone while I'm gone." There was an unspoken agreement he did not repeat, not in the presence of their visitor - If I don't come back, go on without me. They'd all agreed to it, to increase their chances of escape and keep their morale going.

Despite the boots he wore he made no sound on the steps as he moved down. The front door was shut, lock secured - thank God for that - and all possible escape routes were clear. It was getting dark with the sinking sun a dingy yellow mush and its rays slices of gold wedged through the cracks in the curtains, the air so still and musty that they had escaped notice by way of how stale the place was. Shola looked like she had been right about not being followed.

But there was one thing Garrett was accustomed to, and it was the shadows - stark, brown-black in this sort of aged environment. It was those shadows outside that moved, not inside. He froze, felt the wards flicker as something outside passed. Silent as a lynx, he slipped back upstairs.

The moment he shut the door he spoke, in a whisper. "Ain't no alarm yet, but we're bein' scouted. Let's pick up the pace 'ere." He'd start helping to pick things up in quiet firm haste.

“Garrett can lead, I’ll be close behind.” Hunter cracked her lip and her cheek raised, almost to a smile. Her index finger raised to her lip to quell the laughing Robin. They could have cast silencing charms, or muffling charms, but environmental awareness was important to the trio’s survival…and now Shola’s.
 
Hunter gave Garret a silent nod, and took position at the door after finishing packing their few belongings. She knew the crevices in the wooded floor that caused the boards to squeak and how to get from one side of the room to the other without making any noise. She locked the door behind Garrett and stood with her wand pressed against the door. Her breathing and heart rate slowed, and she waited still for Garrett to come back. 
 
     ”Are you guys always this serious?” Shola asked the friendliest of the wix.
 
“Do you want to survive? I will feed you to the coven.” Hunter answered for Robin, matter of fact, glowering. Her steely gaze at Shola’s back gave the younger witch a shiver. Hunter’s fangs weren’t even out.
 
     Shola leaned into Robin, and whispered, ”Is there something wrong with her?”
 
The door knob began turning and Hunter stepped away from the door to let Garret back in. “I am ready. Shola? Robin?”

       ”Is there something wrong with her?”

"Maybe there's just something wrong with the rest of us," he joked, winking at Shola. "Quiet as mouse 'til we get you safe and sound to St.Mungo's, yeah?"

The young witch took Hunter's aggression in good humor - probably not her first time having to deal with that kind of thing. Tempers ran short these days, and for good reason.

Garrett returned with the good-to-go, though Robin didn't love the idea that they were being scouted.

"Okay, Shola, you get behind me..." he gestured before turning back to the other two. "Listen. You don't have me long. It's moonrise within the hour, and as soon as I turn you got to hightail it with the girl, right?"

There was no point in finding a cell. It didn't take long for him to come to this conclusion - the only one that made sense.