Predator’s Pursuit

As Rufus left the room, I closed my eyes and started to piece together all the information I had received. I finally had some answers which made my mind feel more at ease, but I still wasn't out of the woods yet... literally.

Looking down at the device on my chest, I sighed to myself.

"Not a permanent fix... I can't just assume it's all good for me either..."

The device on my chest was circular and had many runes inscribed on it. The runes all glowed a deep red and I noticed whenever my obscurus went to pulsate, the red runes would glow slightly. At the very least, this device seemed to be working which was the first good thing to happen to me in the months in this forest.

"The Blackfang clan…"

While Rufus displayed kindness to me, I had to remember where I was. This was the middle of the black forest, and the only things I had seen so far were out to get me. I wanted to believe that this vampire clan had good intentions; however, I'd be stupid to think that they didn't withhold some information from me.

Then again, Rufus probably didn't feel the need to remain guarded around me as I only have the appearance of an 8-year-old boy, which is probably why he decided to give me some insight on what this clan is and how it's built up. With him explaining these details to me it showed he deemed me as no threat currently. The second any sort of 'spy' notion was dropped, he just saw me as an unfortunate boy who would someday die due to his obscurus.

"1989..."

The year that Rufus told me it was put me in line with the canon story of Harry Potter, but noticeably my age didn't necessarily line up with the time Harry would start his years at Hogwarts. I was, in fact, one year younger. By the time I was 11, he would be 12, and the Chamber of Secrets arc would start. Then again, I only assumed I was 8 years old... I could be older for all I know, but how could I tell that? It's not like I had an ID or anything.

"If I were to assume someone placed me here for some reason... then this could be some sort of hint to my purpose. They've put me far away from Hogwarts and possibly made me a year younger. They want Harry to have a 'normal' first year, in line with what is supposed to happen... Maybe to build up connections and such like he usually would. If they wanted me to fully interfere, they would have placed me near Hogwarts or in a bin in Privet Drive..."

There were still far too many questions. The thing is, though, even though I was in the canon, I didn't see any point for me to go to Hogwarts. Sure, I would have a good amount of insight there, being able to guess what events came next, but going to a school like that in my state, knowing what was going to happen next, seemed silly as of right now. I probably wouldn't even be allowed in the front door with an obscurus in me...

"It all leads back to my obscurus... This device is ancient and only helps delay it eating away at me. If I could just find out some way to control it... or some way to suppress it myself, then maybe I could survive through this."

Thinking over all these points, I felt a wave of fatigue hit me. I had been constantly on edge all the months so far I had been here, and now, even though I was locked away, I finally felt somewhat safe. Even if this clan had evil intentions, they seemed like they won't act until their head returns. That gave me time... time to rest and think.

Closing my eyes, I fell into a deep sleep trying to get some rest.

.

After leaving Axel in the prison, Rufus headed off to meet the other commander and generals of the clan. He wandered through the clan, which was made up of tents and some ruined brick buildings that they used to rest in, and found himself at a specific small building that was used as the clan's headquarters there.

The tents and buildings in the clan also showcased a hierarchical structure. Commander, Generals, and the head would be in the buildings, and the thralls would be chucked into tents dotted around.

Opening the doors to the building, Rufus headed in and was greeted with a number of different vampires all sat around a round table. In the middle of the table was their clan's insignia, the black bat with four wings coming out of its head. Rufus silently headed towards the head of the table and sat one seat away from a well-adorned seat, most likely the seat of the head who was currently absent. As he sat down, one of the vampire commanders spoke up.

"Well? What's the story with that obscurus?"

Rufus sighed and replied to the commander, "He's no spy at least. I used the secrecy sensor that the head had in his stores, and it showed no sign of lies in the boy's words. His story is honestly pitiful. He has no memory of how he ended up here, chucked into this forest with no way to fend for himself and due to the stress of being here ended up developing an obscurus... That device the head has is keeping him contained for now, but that will only give him maybe 2-3 years at best before he still dies."

The rest of the vampires at the table all showed awkward expressions hearing Rufus's words. They felt pity for the boy, but a lot of them there felt it was best to just chuck him out or even put him out of his misery. The device would give him time, but he would still die. It was slightly cruel in a way as it was just giving false hope to someone so young.

"Then what do we do with him?"

A general at the far end of the table spoke up to break the silence. Rufus, hearing the general, spoke coldly, "Nothing. We can't do anything until Felix gets back."

"But... Isn't this putting our clan at risk? That device will suppress the obscurus, sure, but he is still a ticking time bomb. I feel a sense of unease walking near that prison now, just thinking that at any moment he could burst out and attack us from the inside."

Rufus thought about the general's words for a moment before speaking. "I'd be inclined to agree, but this boy is different. He's no normal young boy; he seems to have a grasp on his emotions, and he seems exceptionally mature. If he was a 'normal' boy, then I'd have the same concerns, but I don't think he will go on a rampage any time soon..."

"However, if he does end up like that or show any signs of retaliation, Kill him immediately."

All the generals and commanders at the table nodded, hearing Rufus's words. The head's words were absolute here, and they had to respect that the head had some sort of reason for keeping the boy here.

"That being said... We should enlist more people to survey our perimeter."

"Why so, Rufus? Did you see any beasts that dare to try and attack us here?"

Rufus thought back to Axel's words; he explained to him that he was chased by an old man, and Rufus was sure he knew who that man was. If that man followed Axel here, he might just be crazy enough to forgo the pacts held within the forest and storm in demanding the boy. He may even try to sneak in and steal the boy away forcefully.

"The boy... Axel, explained to me that he ended up here as he was running from an 'Old wizard' who seemed to be hunting him down. He understood the man's words as the man spoke in English, and he told me the man had scars and blotches on his face... I'm sure you all know which man he's probably referring to?"

The faces at the table all dropped and became solemn as they heard Rufus's words. They all knew exactly which man he was referring to.

"Jason Blightheart... surely he wouldn't be foolish enough to burst into here just for the sake of a boy?"

"You'd think that, but Jason is a madman. When he's dead set on something, he will become obsessed and do anything to obtain it. Unfortunately, Axel landed in this man's sights."

"If that is the case, Rufus, how is the boy not caught? Jason, while crazy, is an extremely adept dark wizard... it doesn't make any sense that he's managed to evade the capture of such a wizard?"

Rufus scratched his stubble for a moment, thinking on that point. He could only come up with one theory in his mind as to how Axel evaded capture to this point.

"We can assume that Jason is aware of what Axel is, an obscurus. I know that Graham would refuse to have such a thing in his household unless there's some sort of security measure to keep it contained. Jason probably knew that if he took the obscurus back immediately, Graham would have killed it straight away. I can only guess he probably retreated to create a place to contain the obscurus before heading out again after Axel."

The rest of the vampires in the room held their suspicions for a moment but realized that Rufus's words were probably the only thing that made sense up to this point.

"How long do you think it would take them to create a room or place to house an obscurus?"

"If it was any other family or clan, I'd say a few years... but the Blighthearts have a deep history. Some of their magical knowledge spans back to ancient times, and Jason is adept in his research. We can assume it probably will only take him a few months to create a room like that... unless he already had plans to capture an obscurus before, which I wouldn't be surprised about..."

"And if that is the case? If he already had plans before?"

Rufus's eyes narrowed as he looked at the rest of the table.

"Then I would suggest we secure our perimeter immediately."

.

In the middle of the forest, there was a rock home created by a young boy trying to survive here. Ever since that boy left, the place had been occupied by beasts that ate away at the supplies left behind.

Above this place, a dark apparition appeared and landed in the middle of the camp. As the apparition materialized, a man with a hunch appeared from within the smoke and immediately pointed his wand at the beasts surrounding. He fired off spells at each beast, killing them instantly. Green rays shot out from his wand, ripping away the soul of each beast that made its home there.

Burning the corpses of the beasts, the hunchbacked man, Jason Blightheart, scanned the surroundings for a moment before musing to himself.

"That subject is probably a lot further from here now... If I remember, it ran off in that direction."

Looking over to some bushes where he remembered the tracking spell he casted a few weeks ago led to, he smiled as he started to walk fast in that direction.

"I'll definitely find you, my dear subject. We've got a lot of work to do together in the future... You better not be dead..."