The day didn’t quite go as I expected. It had been a normal day until the evening.

It was about four in the afternoon when I encountered them. I didn’t know their names, their ages, or anything about them. But they were important.

I had Dis-Apparated to the Western Suburbs about half an hour prior. I intended to do some shopping, mainly for some more cigarettes, and things were sold a lot cheaper in the Suburbs than they were in the Valley.

As I walked along the shadowy street, I thought back to Albert, as I commonly did when I bought cigarettes. I always remembered what he had said. He didn’t want to shorten his life any further.

His determination to stay away from smoking amazed me. It made me respect him a lot more, which was strange, as he was four years my junior.

He got through every day of this damned war against his ex-best friend without any buzz from a cigarette. He pushed through on his own. I could never.

I accepted my change from the street vendor and hadn’t even made it ten steps before I had lit one of the cigarettes and placed it in my mouth.

I let the soft paper of it rest on my tongue for a second before I gave a long inhale. The drag made my entire body feel fuzzy. It made me feel happy.

Giving a great exhale shortly after, I watched the cloud of smoke dance in front of my face for a mere moment before disappearing.

Then I took another drag.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. Upon pulling it out, I saw a message from Cecilia.

Where are you?

Sighing, I typed out a response.

Getting cig.

As I was putting my phone back in my pocket, I accidentally bumped into someone with my shoulder.

Looking up, I saw a broad man with a brown buzz cut glowering down at me with bulging blue eyes. This part of the Western Suburbs was the last place to get on someone’s nerves. The people here were drastically different from those in the Valley, and they would not take to anyone from there kindly.

‘Sorry, man,’ I said awkwardly before offering my cigarette. ‘Want a drag?’

He didn’t say a word, so I put my head down and walked past him.

And that was where I first went wrong. Bumping into that man. If I had just ignored my phone, I could’ve stopped it.

I took another drag of my cigarette.

What would’ve happened if I hadn’t started smoking? I wouldn’t have been in the Western Suburbs that day. It could have been avoided.

I thought back to what Cecilia’s reaction had been when she found out that I smoked.

‘What are you thinking?’ she had shrieked as I took a drag. ‘You know what that stuff does!’

‘It’s fine, it’s not gonna kill me!’ I had yelled back in a fit of rage. ‘I’m not addicted or anything!’

‘Jeremy!’ she had continued. ‘Just stop! That stuff is vile!’

A cloud of smoke flew from my mouth. That memory was only from a few months ago. Christmas, it had been.

I found myself on the main path of the Western Suburbs. It wasn’t a road for cars, but rather just a wide pavement. Of course, there were roads for cars, but I was in the wrong area of the Suburbs for that.

‘Oi, boss,’ came a gruff voice from behind me.

I turned quickly on the spot.

In front of me stood a man of about my height. His hazel eyes drilled into me, filled with both boredom and anger. It made for quite a strange mix. He had short black hair and stubble on his chin that sported the same colour. His most striking feature, however, was a long scar on his left cheek.

‘Can I help you?’ I asked. And, when he did not respond, I continued, ‘Oh, do you want a drag? I can give you the pack if you want?’

His fist collided with my jaw before I could have even hoped for an answer.

‘I don’t want your fucking cigarette,’ he snarled.

Slowly getting to my feet, I noticed that three other men had joined my attacker. One of them was the man that I had bumped into.

My second mistake had been not walking faster. If I had turned left just a few seconds earlier, this man would not have been right behind me.

The two other men looked quite similar. They both had black hair cut short, round heads, decent stubble, and they were both just about an inch or two taller than me. The only major difference was that one had green eyes and the other had blue.

‘Jeremy Confussée, yes?’ said the man that had punched me. Upon hearing the name drop, a few heads on the street turned, but people here knew better than to intervene.

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I drew my wand instantly. That was my third mistake. Drawing my wand.

‘You work for him, don’t you?’ I spat. ‘He’s sent you to come get me, hasn’t he?’

‘Put your wand away, you idiot boy,’ he snarled. ‘You can’t fight all four of us.’

‘Watch me, fatty.’

A red beam of light shot from the end of my wand, striking him in the shoulder. He crumpled at the knees, unconscious.

I threw my cigarette to the floor with my other hand.

‘You should’ve just taken the drag,’ I snarled. ‘Who’s next?’

Quicker than I could react, the man that I had bumped into drew his wand and fired a green spell at me. I didn’t even need to hear him shout the name of the incantation. I knew what it was.

An orange beam shot from the tip of my wand, colliding with his spell in the middle. Both disintegrated.

Immediately, the two of us began firing spells at each other. We moved with tremendous speed, and every time our spells hit in the air they created a bang so loud that nearby residents might have mistaken them for fireworks.

‘Truculor!’ I yelled.

The man tossed his head back, wailing in agony. I only let the pain last for about a second, but Truculor was so vile of a spell that that was all that was needed.

‘Stop resisting,’ said the round one with blue eyes. He had also drawn a wand. ‘You will come with us.’

I flicked my wand out to the side. On the side of the road, there had been a plank of wood. I do not know why it was there, but I could use it.

I flung my arm around, sending the plank flying towards the round man. He merely flicked his own wand out, causing the plank to go up in flames.

An orange beam flew from my wand, hitting the ground a few inches away from the four men. The man that I had sent unconscious was just about starting to get to his feet.

From the site of the collision of my spell and the ground, a ball of flame expanded, accompanied by a loud bang.

One of the men yelped as he and his comrades found themselves engulfed in a fiery storm. I loved Detognis.

Before the dust had even cleared, three spells flew towards me, each a different colour.

‘Praesiditum!’

A translucent white shield formed in front of me at the tip of my wand, only disappearing after successfully protecting me from the three spells.

I shot my arm forward rapidly multiple times, firing spells. The bangs that followed told me that my spells had been deflected.

Running forward towards the smoke, I roared, ‘Ardens Sphera!’

Red light shot forward from the end of my wand. In front of me, a large fire appeared and expanded upwards and outwards into the surroundings.

When it died down, I found myself face-to-face with three men. Only the Gods knew where the fourth one was. Each of them were a bit burned and bleeding, but they were still standing. And they were still intent on taking me.

‘How’s that, you little shitheads?’ I growled. ‘Now, what does he want with me? Does he want me dead? Why doesn’t that little prick do it himself?’

‘Don’t you-’

‘You’re defending him?’ I taunted. ‘So you do work for him? Good. I’ll feel no remorse when staring at your charred dead bodies.’

Pain soared through my left shoulder. It was the greatest pain I had ever felt. Glancing down, my stomach flipped. My left arm was gone.

Wheeling around on the spot, I saw the fourth man, holding a sword covered in blood.

‘Immitis Occis-’ I began, but I was cut off.

My body was tossed high into the air. Before I could even cry out, I flew down into the wall of a building.

I was alight with pain. Not only was my left arm gone, but I now definitely had a few broken bones. Cecilia was gonna kill me.

‘Why is your cheek black?’ I remembered her saying when she was just six. ‘Your cheek isn’t supposed to be black.’

I had been in a fight at school.

‘I’m ill, Cecilia, that’s all.’

‘What?’ she had replied, clearly not believing me. ‘The cold doesn’t do that!’

‘I’ve got a really bad version of it,’ I had reassured her as she climbed onto the sofa next to me. ‘That’s all, I promise.’

‘I promise…’ I murmured to myself in the real world.

I climbed to my feet slowly.

‘I’m…I’m honoured…’ I snarled. ‘It makes me so happy…that he sees…sees me as a big enough threat…to do this…’

I staggered forward towards the four of them. Each of them had their wands – or sword – raised.

‘D-De-Detognis!’ I roared, mustering as much rage as possible.

Orange light erupted from the tip of my wand. I’d never used such a strong Detognis before. And, Gods, did it work.

The entire surrounding area lit up with the explosion, and the noise that it created was deafening. My very bones shook as I saw my four attackers disappear into a storm of fire.

I let out another howl of resentment.

‘Immitis Occisio!’

A beam of green light disappeared into the storm. I could not aim as I could not see the four men, but I shot towards where one of them had been standing.

Something slammed into the back of my head. It felt like a brick.

I stumbled forward a few steps before crashing to the ground. The world around me was spinning. I felt like I was about to throw up.

Through my daze, I could see four figures towering over me.

‘I told you that you were coming with us, you little piss-take.’

‘Didn’t mommy teach you not to get into fights?’

One of them spat onto the back of my head.

Another grabbed me by the hair and shoved what had to have been a binbag over my head. The entire world went from blurry to black.

‘Jerry…’ I remembered Cecilia murmuring. She had only been two; she couldn’t say my name properly. ‘Jerry…I’m scared of the dark…’

‘Get in here, then,’ I whispered, pulling my blanket open. ‘No monster’s gonna get you while I’ve got ya.’

‘Thank you, Jerry!’ she yelped as she ran over and climbed under my blanket. ‘You’re the best big brother!’

Then I saw her again, a few years older.

‘Jeremy…what’s happening?’

‘It’s just a power outage, Cecilia,’ I had assured her. She was only seven now. ‘Nothing to worry about. It’ll be back soon.’

‘But I like looking at the Christmas lights!’ she had whined.

‘You can in a minute, don’t worry. The power will come back.’

‘You know I’m scared of the dark, Jeremy!’

‘Cecilia…’ I breathed. ‘I’m scared…I’m scared too…’

And, Gods, was I scared. Such an indescribable level of fear had taken over my body that I felt almost paralysed.

Rough hands grabbed my arm and legs and lifted me into the air.

‘Jeremy! What have I told you about getting into fights?’ my mother’s voice rang through my head. Mere moments after this scolding, Cecilia would ask me why my cheek was black. ‘This is the fifth one this year!’

‘It’s not my fault, Mom!’ I had shouted back. ‘They pick on me! They always do! They never leave me alone!’

‘They…they found me…’ I chuckled softly, pain flowing throughout my entire body.

‘I’ll kill him,’ younger me snarled in my head.

‘Who?’ Cecilia had asked.

‘Whoever it was that’s responsible for this,’ I had growled. ‘Whoever’s taken him from me.’

‘It’s Maltor…’ I breathed. ‘I knew it was…’

The familiar feeling of Apparation encompassed my entire body briefly. My body was thrown onto something that suspiciously felt like grass.

‘Take that thing off your head,’ came a gruff voice. ‘And get up.’

I didn’t have the energy. Everything was fading.

‘Gotta…fight…’ I breathed as I reached up to take the bag off my head. ‘Gotta…wreck these idiots…’

‘You need to stop getting into fights!’ my mother’s voice called.

‘One more, Mom…’ I mumbled quietly as I took the bag off my head. ‘Just…one…more…’