I got them and I am coming back. It's over.

After Antonio sent his Patronus to his fellow acquaintances, he sat on the ground. He cringed as he inspected his knee. It was time to heal his injuries. Anthony would have gushed had he seen his father's knee - all bloodied and slightly dislocated. An involuntary smile danced on his lips. 

Parents do what they think is best for their kids. That doesn't mean what they think is best. They are human in the end. Antonio loved both of his sons, but Anthony was his pride. Perhaps, he was just biased since Ares was still young and never did anything consciously to be favoured less. It was just that the eldest Avery shared a special bond with his eldest kid. And not to forget, the said boy had a golden heart. Ares knew how to fight for his rights, Anthony knew how to sacrifice. He was kind, compassionate, and saw good in everyone, the fact that worried his father even more. He was afraid that the world would take advantage of his goodness and would leave him tainted. This was the reason why he was so adamant to betroth the boy to Rebekah. As the years passed, he grew quite positive that the match was for better since the Greyback girl was rebellious and he thought she would stand beside his golden child through thick and thin. His boy being in love with her was cherry on top. It was one of the reasons why he was so shocked and disappointed when he heard Anthony's demand to resolve the match. That too with no explanation.

Antonio took a deep breath as he waited for his acquaintances to show up. He ran his fingers through his now wild golden locks. They were wet from that day's struggles. He would have understood if Anthony had given some clue, wouldn't he? He always stood by his family, didn't he? Anthony knew this. Since when the boy started keeping secrets from his father anyway? Did he not trust him anymore? He wondered insecurely as he sighed heavily. It didn't matter what the reason was. What mattered was them being together. He wouldn't let some issue like this to affect the bond he shared with his family. After everything got over, the man planned to communicate with his son and assure him that nothing had changed between them. It didn't matter that Rebekah wouldn't stand by him, for the man himself was going to protect his kid.

"Ah!" A blood-curdling scream echoed across the thick trunks around them as Antonio felt piercing pain in his shoulder. His body arched. His wand dropped, instinctively, from his hand as he used both his hands to push the mop of black hairs away from his neck. So this was what that unknown being was. Avery cursed. That unknown beast was a vampire. Was his magical bind not strong enough to hold that inhuman being? He should have known that Grindelwald won't have simple humans tagging along. The realization, however, came too late.

Antonio struggled. He pushed his feet on the ground and shook his body violently as he tried to free himself desperately. He could hear as the beast sucked on his blood greedily. He could feel trails of his excessive gulps dripping the front of his white shirt. He could sense the drowsiness and heaviness in his eyes as the beast feasted on his now weaker body and his feet left the ground.

No! Antonio wanted to protest. This was too early.

He had to go back to his family. He wanted to scream at that beast. They waited for him.

Please mercy! He wanted to beg. He had to fix his son.

No word, not even a sound left his mouth. His lips dried. They parted as he tried to gulp oxygen. As if the gas would compensate for the lack of liquid in his body. It was too early. His eyelids dropped as the silent horror echoed in his ears.

The silence continued as he felt the essence of his life leaving his body.

Not even a single leaf moved as they witnessed one of the cruellest assault on any living being.

Antonio's mouth closed as he waited for inevitable. Whatever peace was he expecting shattered, however, when he felt himself landing on the ground with a thud on his back. The piercing scream forced his eyes to open. To his satisfaction, the scream belonged to his attacker.

Hearing a scream from Antonio,  Alexa had woken up from her enforced slumber. Seeing the horror of the vampire holding and what looked like drinking from a human struck her nerve. The last desperate cries of her mother rang through her ears. Her blood boiled as she shook violently. Her wolf came out as it attacked its prey.  She wasn't a coward to attack an enemy from their behind, but desperate times need desperate measures. She wasn't yet healed so wasting no second she stumbled behind him. Her right hand kept her prey in its place as its claws pierced through his skin earning a hiss from the blood-sucker and a thud from the prey of her prey.  The claw of a pointer finger of her left hand pierced through the back of the left side of his body where she assumed would lie his heart, the most vulnerable organ of that being. Her ears marvelled in the satisfactory scream.

It was the satisfaction of being able to protect those around her. The satisfaction that came with the fulfilment of a promise she had made to her mother.

Her satisfaction shattered as the vampire put his left hand on her right hand that rested on his right shoulder. His sharp nails pierced in the skin of her paw as he forcefully pulled her nails out of his muscles. Despite having what was supposed to be a fatal attack, he was able to retaliate violently as he just had his fill from his victim. Grand-daughter, a supposed key to the future plans, of the man he served or not, the bloodsucker had no intention of playing around as he went for the kill. Unlike him, Alexa was weak from earlier conflicts and she hadn't exactly had her fill. With his experience, he pinned her down as he neared his claw towards her neck, the most vulnerable place for any wolf.

Alexa was prepared to die. Even in her wolf form, she was sane enough to know she had not many regrets. Yeah, she would have loved to live longer, but she was ready to face her fate. She expected nothing, yet it shook her to the core when she heard another piercing scream. Her eyes snapped open as she saw the figure looming behind her enemy.  The figure that she couldn't miss even in the dark. The figure of her lover.

She had no idea what weapon he had used, but it seemed more effective than her claws for the vampire jerked at the sudden impact. She heard Tom heaving a battle cry as he pulled something out and pushed it back inside the blood-sucker, in what looked like the same area that she had pushed her claw.

Her wolf looked in amazement, as the vampire finally lost his strength and fell face-first on the ground, just beside her. She watched as Tom took a few steps toward the beast to confirm that he was knocked out for good. She saw as the boy, who himself had lost lots of his blood fell on his knees beside her to check if she was okay. Overwhelmed, she pushed her head forward. A silent giggle left his tired, dry, and slightly wounded lips when her wolf licked his face in affection. He retaliated with a warm pat on her head. Heaving a sigh, he just hoped that everything was over. He saw her closing her violet eyes and her fur turned grey in exhaustion.

The piercing scream of Alexa had brought Tom out of his enforced sleep. He looked at the vampire in the corner. He had finally overcome his fear for that beast. Their encounter in the forbidden forest had left the young Riddle scarred. His subconscious reminded him that he was going to use this encounter to remember how he defeated his enemy. Talking about the current encounter, he didn't know what exactly happened. The last thing he remembered was getting dragged by the blood-sucker and being attacked by the beast's long, rotten nails. On remembrance, he put his hand near his shoulder blade. It surprised him when he found it healed. It looked like someone had used magic to heal him. He knew, for certain, that it couldn't be Alexa since she had no wand on her either. On that enlightenment, he looked around. His eyes widened as he saw another man just a few steps away.

Tom took hesitant steps. He didn't know what to expect. The closer he went, it seemed, recognition built in him. Dread filled his body, as he singled out the man who laid on the ground. With his remaining strength, Tom narrowed the distance hurriedly. He stumbled towards the ground as he continued to shake his head in denial and horror.

"Mr Avery," Tom cried out. "Salazar! No!"

Tom took Antonio's hand in his. The elder man's skin felt so cold that it sent shivers of horror through his body.

"Mr Avery, please wake up," he begged as he continued rubbing his hands around the almost lifeless hand to create some heat. His chocolate eyes widened as he inspected the fatal injury on the man's shoulder. Tom's blood ran cold as he cleverly guessed what had happened.

"No!" He mumbled again and again as he got no response.

Tom looked around to see the discarded wand. Desperately, he pounced on it. Holding it tightly, he inhaled a shaky breath. Now was not the time to panic. It was time to be brave, he spoke to himself.

"Hold on,  dad." The words left his lips subconsciously.

As if the word dad was a trigger, Antonio struggled and finally opened his eyes. A small-barely-there smile graced his tired lips. His warm blue eyes reminded the boy of his best friend. Sadness and guilt consumed Tom. For the first time, he felt a gut-wrenching feeling just as a fat tear cascaded down his eye and landed on the face of the man whom he considered an ideal father.

"Vulnera Sanentur," Tom whispered. The first use of the spell eased the blood flow. To be honest, there wasn't much left for the flow in the first place.

"Vulnera Sanentur!" Drained of his strength, his magic took some time to work. Yet, the boy saw his spell stitching the wound.

"Vulnera Sanentur" Tom used the spell again to replenish the loss. He checked Antonio's pulse desperately. To his terror, his pulse didn't appear to recover itself.

"Vulnera Sanentur," Tom cast the spell frantically. Ideally, only three attempts of the spell were enough. However, both of them knew that their scenario was different. For the first thing, both the practicer and its subject were exhausted beyond the measures. Secondly, the subject of the spell had lost his blood by the amount which couldn't be recovered easily by even an advanced spell. Lastly, the wand didn't belong to Tom, so it wasn't exactly dancing on his commands.

"Vulnera Sanentur" The spell was used again. When Tom raised his wand again, Antonio sighed in defeat.

"Leave it, boy." Antonio struggled to use the endearment. This time when chocolate brown eyes met the warm blue ones, they could see determination and experience.

"Let me try once more," Tom pleaded. A big part of him didn't want Anthony to lose his father, especially not when he was on his mission to save young Riddle. He had no idea if he could live with that guilt. "Just once."

"I-I am s-so proud of you, boy." Antonio stuttered, and Tom felt his heart burdening as the eldest Avery shook his head. The elder man's body wasn't ready to take anymore. His body wanted to rest in peace. As his body convinced his mind, he tightened his hold on the boy's hand that still was holding his. He used all his strength to spit out the words from his mouth for one final time. "Just take care of my boy."

~*~*~

2122 words? I hope you liked the chapter. I am not sure how it turned out and if I was able to write emotions properly.

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