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“There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures”

The drop of blood from the Caretakers inhuman amber eyes fell onto the table, the words he spoke aloud as he read from Shakespeare now lost to him as his mind was no longer his own. The old book, Julius Caesar fell to the floor in a thunderous bump which awoke Emory Corrigan from his slumber. He turned to look at the porcelain white naked body that lay next to him. She had not stirred yet and he did not intend to wake her. Isa needed her sleep. Slipping out of bed, he pulled himself into the pair of jeans he had left on the floor and a t-shirt before picking up his wand and heading out into the Dormum to find the source of the sound. If this was Bunny messing around with her inventions he swore he was going to Fiendfyre the whole fucking thing down. Making his way into the main common room, Corrigan was greeted by the sight of the Caretaker, covered in blood.

“Bollocks”

Jumping to action, the Welsh wizard hurried over to the Caretaker and placed his hands beneath the large man’s shoulders. “Come on, Caretaker. We need to get to the map. Don’t fight it, just let it happen and it’ll be over before you know it. I’m sorry I know it hurts”

Sound could not escape the Caretakers breathless lungs, his body shutting down from the pain that coursed through his veins like fire through a corridor. Once the pain reached his heart, that would be the end. With every second, his control waned. He could feel the strength of Master Corrigan carrying him towards the centre of the room. What happened next was always the same. His vision became blurred and he slipped into nothingness.

With a last ditch effort, Emory finally got the Caretaker to the other table and sat him on the chair. It was an old oak chair, the table top replaced with an enchanted map of the world. The blood from the Caretakers eyes dropped upon the map, which zoomed itself forward to America, then California and finally the city of San Jose. “…Winchester….” The unearthly voice whispered. The map reverted to world view as a few more drops hit the page, moving again to America but this time to a tiny town in Texas called Blue “…Candy Lady….” Reaching for his wand, Emory fired a simple light from its tip, a beacon to alert the other ORO members. They had work to do.

Vision returned to the Caretaker, his body quivering from the pain. What had just occurred was scrying. It was an awfully dark piece of magic. Salty tears began to flow down the scarred visage of the lonely creature, mixing with the blood that had already escaped, the sting in his eye dreadful to the last. He could feel master Emory wiping his face with a hankerschief, truly beneath his broken exterior he was a kind man. “Thank you, sir” As his vision cleared, the Caretaker could see more of his dearest Regulators filling the room. Embarrassment and shame took hold, he got to his feet and bowed his head. “Excuse me” He hurried off down one of the many dark passages of the Mysterium Dormum.

Emory looked at the gathering Regulators with the exhausted look that he had perfected. ”Alright ramblers, let’s get rambling. We got two hits”

Interacting with Everyone

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As the room began to fill out with his fellow Regulators, Emory glanced down towards the scry map again. He watched as the Caretakers darkening blood spread out to the blank page next to it and began to scribble the information that had been passed on via the possession. It was extremely dark magic, the act of scrying. It entailed full possession of a beings mind, a far more painful type of hex than many of its siblings. Blood magic was dangerous and volatile and the Welshman was unsure why it was insisted by those in charge that it was used. The Caretaker had suffered through it for as long as he had been a part of the Office, it was something that darkened the hearts of those that witnessed it. Athos had been the first to arrive, questioning where the scry map had signified their cases would be.

”Both stateside, California and Texas”

Richard had been the next one to speak up, eyeing the map himself. ”We’ll split up into two groups, we can cover more ground so to speak that way” Swiftly following Gloves was Bunny, who for once didn’t seem overly chipper, that was a plus. Emory liked her, she was good to have around and kept spirits up when they were down but that didn’t stop her constant clattering around an annoyance.

Isa had done nothing to hide the fact that she had spent the night in Emory’s bed. Then it was no secret they had a physical relationship. Even Emory himself was unsure of what exactly was going on. Was it a comfort thing? A lot of sense had left the world for Emory and his memory had been giving him a fair bit of trouble lately. Blocks of time gone, like smoke in a strong wind disappearing before your eyes. A day apart might help him clear his head…maybe. Hearing the slight joyish tone of her voice, Emory knew what had to be done.

”I’ll take a team to Cali, Isa you go to Texas”. That girl did love her sweets.

Tariq and Zara were the next two to enter the map room. Emory had known Tariq the longest here, they were sorted into slytherin together and grew up at Hogwarts very much in arms reach of one another, not that it mattered, friends they were not. Zara was an interesting creature, beautiful and strange with such hints of sadness. She reminded him of Daisy, far too much than he was willing to share, the pain was still roar, it always would be.

Before long, Arthur, Kieran and Nickie joined the table. Three very different and distinct personalities. Arthur was the longest serving Regulator left in the office other than Emory, so usually it was those two that took on leadership roles, although depending on the case others were brought on point as well. He wad probably Emory’s closest friend. Nickie had been one of them for two years but she hadn’t really seen the type of things some of the others hand, she was in a way, an innocent. Kieran had his own demons, specifically one of the wolfie variety but he had been nothing but a godsend during his days as a Regulator.

Felix, Florian and Natalia were the final Regulators to enter the room. Felix was another one that Emory had known since his school days, he was a good friend of Daisy’s rather than Emory’s but he was a good guy non the less. Florian was someone he held a respect for, the dark arts were dangerous to be around yet Florian took it in stride. Natalia got shit done, which meant she was ok in Emory’s book. With all the Regulators now in place, Emory, being the first responder to the scry, had to take point as per their rules.

Picking up the now finished document of blood, Emory began. ”OK so, according to the scry we have two cases. In California, the famous Winchester Mystery House which has been plagued by so called hauntings has turned up a few bodies recently, all deaths unexplained. A friend of ours in their law enforcement is saying each body is lacking a soul. Fun stuff. Second job is Texas, child deaths, they seem ritualistic in nature, There’s a local legend of a Candy Lady which seems to be connected. Right then, we’ll split up and do our things. Isa will lead the Texas group which will be her, the Pink Elephent Squad, Kieran, Natalia, Arthur and Sebastian. Nickie, Gloves, Bunny, Florian and Zara are with me. You have an hour, get your gear, say your goodbyes and I’ll start apparating the house. Die well everyone”

“Die well” had become the motto of the ORO. Life expectancy for a Regulator was generally two to three years, so most who come in can only hope for a glorious death worth a damn. In reality, many die badly, in pain, alone and in the dark.

interacting with

Interacting with