The End (Jasper)

Albina made her way to the bar of the Leaky Cauldron, her movements calm, her face emotionless, as she scanned the room for any threats. It had become a habit over the past three years, the hood of her cloak, though not covering her face, still provided a level of security for the young woman.

"Butterbear," she said simply to the bartender, before taking a seat at one of the stools. This was the safest place in the whole room, or so she thought. She didn't.t look at the man behind the bar as he fixed her drink. Alcohol wasn't an option for her. If h concentration were to be affected in such a way she knew that she would be compromising her own safety as well as the safety of her sister. Her gaze remained cold as she took a sip of her drink.

He gave a flick on his hand and immediately a glass slide across the bar to him. Once it was neatly collected in his hand he took a sip of the nice cold firewhiskey before raising his spare hand to rub at one of his temples. He'd been getting nothing but headaches recently and he was finding it increasingly harder to keep out other peoples voices in his head.

He closed his eyes and began to try shifting through all the voices, blocking each one out individually. He had thought this pub would have been at least quiet but oh how wrong he was. His eyes opened and a second later he turned to look at the woman beside him. She was hiding, he could sense it and it was only a matter of time before he found out why.

He slowly made his way over and took the stool beside hers. "Hello, you as i feel." He said slowly lowering his hood. The hood sometimes helped to dim out a few of the thoughts pushing their way into his head and it helped him blend in with the shadows.

Albina turned to face the man who had addressed her, her expression remaining cold. One of the major downsides of going out to places like these was that there were always men there who would want to get her attention. But she couldn't spend all her time in her apartment or walking the dark alleys to get everything done. This state was becoming suffocating. She knew that most of those men were nothing but bothersome pests, but she could never be too careful.

"Hello," she replied with a slight nod of her head. There was no reason to be rude, that would bring even more attention to her person. She turned away from him to face the tavern once again. She hoped that if she did not show any interest in him he would leave her alone sooner. He was a handsome man and was probably used to women flirting with him. Perhaps the fact that she did not even look at him would cause him to stay longer beside her. Albina shook her head mentally. She was over thinking the simple situation. It rarely happened, the frantic thoughts that were fueled by her nervousness were making her uneasy.

"Ouch." He said placing his glass down on the bar. "Just thought you could do with some company." He said downing his drink and putting the glass back on the bar. "A bottle of firewhiskey please. I'll be over there." He said nodding towards a table hidden at the back of the pub. Somewhere quiet would be nice for a change, he thought.

"It's not good to be cold to everyone you meet you know. Who knows maybe i could have you hide from these men after you." He said turning and putting his hood back up to mentally block out the peoples minds.

Albina froze for a second, her mind racing. Did he know who she was? Most likely he didn't, but that thought did not diminish her wariness, she knew she could not trust him. She trusted no one but herself for the last three years and that was not going to change any time soon. The witch turned her head to face him, meeting his eyes with her cold ones. "Whoever said that I need any help?" she asked calmly, a cold edge evident in her voice. She was never the type to scare easily, but she knew that she was very vulnerable even with all the dueling skill she had against the men that hunted after her.

She lowered her head for a second closing her eyes to gather her thoughts quickly before she looked back up at him. "Please excuse me, sir, I did not mean to be rude. Thank you for your gracious offer, but I already have a husband who is more then capable of keeping me safe," she said with a small polite smile as she left her left hand to show him the silver wedding band there. Of course the ring wasn't hers, it was her mother's, but she always had it on and used it to hide her true identity even further from the world when such a need arose.

He tapped leaned on one elbow placing two fingers onto one of his temples. "I know better than you do that you want help. You've been searching for it for so long that now you can't see it even when its stood right in front of you." He said before making his way to his table.

He lifted his head up to look her in the eye. "Oh really? And what kind of husband leaves their wife scared and alone? I know i wouldn't if i were married." He shrugged taking the bottle of firewhiskey as it appeared and pouring himself a glance. He knew damn well that she never had a husband, he didn't even need to read her mind to know that.

"Drink?" He asked holding up the bottle.

Albina's eyes narrowed and she sent him a cold glare. "Why don't you go and find yourself another witch woe. I said I do not need your help. Is that too hard of a concept to understand?" she snarled at him.

All she wanted was to sit by herself in the bar, to just free her thoughts of worries for a little while. She knew that she could not stay in hiding for the rest of her life, but at the same time she knew that right now she could trust no one.

"Suit yourself." He shrugged. "Just keep your thought to a whisper, the damsel in distress vibes are coming off really loud." He said downing his drink. He didn't know why he bothered sometimes. The only life he should have is one where he's alone, its much simpler that way.

"Just don't come running back to me when your pretend boyfriend doesn't show up to save you from those guys." He said nodding to the group of guys eyeing the girl up from across the bar. "Ciao." He said pouring himself a new glass of whiskey.

Albina's lip lifted up into a snarl once again, her anger rising. "Who do you think I am? I've been fully capable of keeping myself safe for quite some time now. If you want to rescue a damsel in distress, have a look again, there are plenty of them out there. You won't have to search for long," she almost growled at him.

"Those?" she raised her eyebrow in disgust as she looked at the men. "They are nothing more then pathetic fools. They are the least of my worries." she knew that she could easily kill them if they were to attack her. Over the past three years she had killed many of those weaklings to protect herself, what she was worried about were the very powerful wizards that wanted her alive.

"I know exactly who you are Regina Volans." He said pouring himself another drink as if it was nothing. "I know, im good at what i do, i know everything you've been through. You and your sister its such a pity she has to grow up looking over her shoulder all the time." He said leaning back in his seat.

"I don't want a damsel. I just wanted conversation." He said looking over at the guys with narrowed eyes. "What do you know about those guys?" He asked. "I can tell you the athletic looking one in the middle is a very rich man in Germanys favourite assassin. Under his jackets hes packing 4 guns with enough ammo to last him 3 days. But he wont need all those cause he wont miss." He said before flicking his eyes to the nest one.

"The fattish one on the right is... pathetic your right about him. He's just along for the ride." He said before moving onto the last man. "Bullseye." He smirked. "I bet you can guess why he's called that. His aim is so good and strong he can kill with a single muggle paperclip. Under his coat you'll find anything with a point. Believe me if they want you they'll have you and you're sister. The fat one there especially wants your sister." He said narrowing his eyes further, that man was sick. He almost wanted to go over there and kill him himself.

"But don't take my word for it. Go and ask them and see how long you last." He shrugged.

"What do you want from me?" she asked, her voice quiet, even slightly weak. "How do I know that you are not part of their group?" she was caught, she knew that. And the only chance of her getting out somewhat free was with the man sitting beside her. She didn't even know his name, had no idea if she could trust him. But right now she had no other choice.

She laughed slightly as he described the men and what they wanted. "They won't be able to find my sister though me, that much I am sure about. The only thing I know is they she is not in Britain. I don't know what name she lives by now or how she looks like," that was probably the first true thing she told him today. She knew her sister will be safe hidden like she was.

"What is your name? Who are you?" she asked as she turned to face him once again.

He glanced at her briefly from the corner of his eye before returningg back to his drink. He took a quick sip of his drink taking his time before finally giving her an answer. "I told you i was looking for a nice chat." He said before looking over at those guys as she accused him. "You're not the only one with a gift wanted by others you know." He said pulling his hood up further to block out unwanted messages.

"If I was with those men we'd have you by now. But seeing as I seem to be your only source of help that doesn't seem likely." He said taking another sip of his drink as he caught eye contact with the man who seemed to be in charge.

"Now that is not nice." He said shaking his head at the mans thoughts. "Unbelievable."

He turned to look at her again as if just remembering she was there. "They call me Reeper. That's all you need to know."

"Of course I am not, forgive me of thinking of myself first," Albina said, her tone rather light before she sighed.

"And will you help me?" she asked him, turning to meet hi gaze. "Or leave me to their mercy?" she knew that right now he was the only person she could rely on for help. Not that she trusted him fully, but she had no other choice at the moment.

"What are they thinking?" she asked curiously as she looked at the men across the bar once again. The thoughts of those hunters were so foreign, so unreachable.

"What a lovely name. Is that what I am supposed to call you now?" she raised her eyebrow at him, sarcasm heavy in her voice.

He just lifted his cup and bowed his head in reply before downing it all and pouring himself another and downing that one too.

"Don't see like i got any choice now does it?" He said turning to smile at the leader of the gang opposite. "Would you like a photo?" He said just loud enough for the man to hear. "Only i've got to go in a minute and that will leave you without my face to stare at."

"Im pretty sure they want to kill me before your eyes before taking you away." He shrugged leaning forward onto the table wit his eyes closed. He placed the glass on the table and began to massage his temples.

"Well the big bulking looking one wants to pull out my spine and strangle me with it. The one on the right you really don't wanna know and the other one well, im pretty sure he plays for the other team." He said zipping up his jacket. "Man thats disgusting." He said shaking his head.

"Come lets get this over and done with shall we?" He said bringing the bottle to his lips and downing at least half. "Great, now lets go." He said taking her hand and leading her to the door, knowing damn well the men would follow.

"Yes. That is my name." He said before turning back around to face the pub door. "Stand behind me and don't whatever you do look me in the eye unless i say okay?" He said downing a bit more of the drink before passing it back to her to hold and pulling his hood down.

"Lovely," Regina said calmly.

"How are you going to protect me with so much alcohol in your system?" she said with some disgust. The witch stiffened slightly as he took her hand. No one has touched her for quite some time and she knew that the wizard beside her was powerful even before she felt the energy surge through her hand and to his body, enhancing his powers. She stumbled at the initial shock slightly. It would take her some time to get used to her power again.

Regina simply gave him a nod and stood behind him holding the bottle as she waited for something to happen.

He sighed and tapped his head. "It blocks out the pain of what im about to do." He said gasping slightly as she boosted his power. It felt better than even he imagined, no wonder everyone was after her. He took a slow calming breath with his eyes closed and it wasn't long before they snapped open at the sound of the pub door opening.

"Hello lads!" He smiled taking a step forward away from Regina so she wouldn't get caught in the cross fire. "So who's first?" He asked and received an answer as one of the men ran straight for him. Without even bothering to move Jasper waited until the man was close enough before turning to mist so he ran straight through him.

Without a second to waste he spun around on the spot and sunk his hand into the mans back pulling out his confused soul, leaving the body to collapse to the floor. The next one was already on him before he could stop himself.

Jasper caught the man by the throat and brought him so they were looking eye to eye. "Look into my eyes... tell me what you see?" He asked as his eyes turned to dust leaving dark firery pits where the sockets wear. Slowly the man began to turn to dust, starting with his eyes and his insides and slowly working their way out, leaving just his frightened spirit behind and a pile of ashes at Jaspers feet.

He turned to look for the last but he'd gone. Already running half way down the street. "Not so fast." He smiled pulling out a long ghostly chain which his flicked and sent flying around the escaping mans ankles. "Bingo!" He said pulling in the shrieking man.

"What shall we do with this one?" He asked turning his gaze onto the man.

"Oh," Regina said, nodding her head slightly in understanding. She didn't say anything else, she saw his surprise at the power she gave him, her lips pressed into a line. She had no idea what awaited her after they left this place.

The witch watched as he burned the men, taking ones soul out of his body with wide eyes. She had never seen anything like this before. It was powerful magic the bounds of which she was not aware of. And now with her power it would get even stronger then it ever was before. She couldn't help but feel uneasy about the whole situation as she watched the destruction in front of her.

"Send him to the pits of hell?" she suggested with a raised eyebrow as she looked at the last men with disgust. It was a fate he deserved in her opinion.

He smiled. "Good choice." He stood up lifting the man up with him before ripping his unwilling soul from his body. "Stand back against the wall, stay still and don't look at me!" He said taking hold of all three souls and closing his eyes.

He stood still and began to mutter some ancient language making the ground in front of him shake and collapse into a small circle opening up the gateway to help. Shadow like souls all began to try and drag themselves out, in a desperate bid to escape hell. But before they could go anywhere Jasper kicked the two remaining bodies into the pit which immediately were eaten.

Jasper smiled and hung the souls over over the hole. "Take them to Lucifer, a gift from his favourite reaper." He smirked before standing back to allow the hole to refill with land. Once the streets were back to normal his hands shot to his eyes, covering them as they very slowly turned back to normal.

"Ouch!" He said as he slumped back and slid down the wall into a sitting position.

Regina watched with wide eyes as he opened a gateway to hell. She was not sure that what was happening in front of her was real. She had seen nothing like this before. The witch kept her eyes of the man who rescued her, focusing her cold gaze on the hole he had created, seeing the souls that lingered on the edge.

Her eyes remained wide as her body slid down the wall to a sitting position. What has she gotten herself into. The monster in front of her had saved her. She couldn't very well run from him, she knew that it wouldn't get her anyway. She owned him some thanks at least. And that was what worried her.

Though those thoughts took second place in her mind as she tried to clear the horrific images of she had just witnessed from her head. She was never one to scare easily, in fact there were many occasions where she faced dangerous situations without blinking once, but to say that this little incident had no effect on her was a lie. She wasn't scared, she knew that. Regina knew that she was not in danger at that moment and that is what calmed her slightly. But she was still shaken up by what happened in front of her. Her parents always said that she needed to listen to her feeling of fear more then she did, but she never got around to actually doing that. And when she grew up into an intelligent adult, though sound logic was what helped her make most the decisions in dangerous situations, there was still her instinct left. The instinct that told her that she was strong enough to face any dangers.