Falling Apart (open)

She dove into the bathroom as if it would save her from her pain, her misery. She sat on the ground, and silently thanked Merlin that Myrtle decided to flood the toilet again, for no one could notice her tears. She let out a dry sob at the information she had just received from her mother.

Dearest Hunter,

Your Father has come out of prison – he had his four years in prison. Please don’t panic about it, honey; it’s fine. We’re safe for the moment, nothing’s happening.
Love,
Mum.

She would’ve believed her if she didn’t see the blots of blood all over the parchment, or the PS written by her little brother.
PS: This is Gabe – Please come home soon. He’s hurting mummy again and now he’s began hurting me.

She choked back a river of tears at the tip of her eyes and blinked furiously, rubbing at her piercing angrily, as if everything would just go away if she did. Her shirt lifted a little, revealing the scar-like tattoo of her name on her waist, as well as many scars she had received from her father. And since her shirt was completely wet, it stuck to her shirt, making her even more pissed.
Her world seemed like it was falling apart, as she lay there, motionless, on the wet ground mixed with tears and water, as Myrtle’s cold hands patted her shoulder in comfort, and she whispered words to her sweetly.

“It’ll be alright kiddo,” she whispered to her, “You’ll get through this – there’s not much left until you go back home and protect your family, just like you always did.”

“But what about now?” She cried angrily, “Who’s there to protect them now?! Gabe’s too young for any of that, and he’s untrained for it all!”

“You do know you were 6 when you started training, right?” Myrtle asked her sarcastically, causing Hunter to try and shove her out of the way angrily. But unfortunately for Hunter – Myrtle was a ghost, a ghost who was currently laughing her ass off.

“Shut up!” She scowled angrily, not noticing someone coming in.

It had been just days since her fight at the bar, but Grayson was nonetheless cautious. She had been watching people's movements whenever she went over to Azorat, as though one of them might attack her again unexpectedly.

Damn it, just when she thought she had things under control, Irithuriel was out to get her again. Though she secretly wondered if he just wanted her for his team.

She sighed as she entered the bathroom, not really bothered if there was anyone else. And Myrtle might help her keep distracted, even though that girl got too annoying at times. She hadn't visited this place frequently, only at times wherein she was bored and sort of edgy, wanting to get away from people.

"Guess we're all having bad days, huh?" The Gryffindor remarked as she saw another student sitting on the floor. "Is it Myrtle? You can just ignore her, she's a little lost anyway," she said, not listening to the ghost's protests.

She finally noticed the Gryffindor in view and looked up at her, before realizing that she looked a complete mess. She quickly wiped her eyes and crumbled her parchment, trying to make herself look as decent as possible.

“It’s not Myrtle,” She assured her, standing up, “But she can annoying at times...” She turned to Myrtle, who was violently protesting. “We both know you’re fighting a losing battle here.”

She turned back to the Gryffindor, suddenly suspicious of her. Who could this person be? She’s only seen her in passing once or twice before, and didn’t know her name. Her eyes travelled to a small bump where a dagger could be kept. She subconsciously had to touch hers to make sure it was still there, if anything may happen. She calculated her movements carefully. Not drunk She assumed, after each mental measurement has been made. She doesn’t seem as if she’s about to attack me...

She allowed herself a small smile in her direction, even though she was still mildly suspicious of the dagger she may be keeping hidden.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” She began, “What your name is? I’m sorry I don’t know it... I know I’ve seen you only in passing once or twice, but I never really caught your name or anything...”

"Yes, never knew how annoying ghosts could be till I got acquainted with Myrtle," the Greek girl commented with a small grin towards the ghost's direction. "No worries Myrtle, I still adore you. Much better than people, I would say."

Grayson noticed the Ravenclaw looking at her, as though examining a specimen of sorts. It didn't make her self conscious (nothing ever did, these days) but it did make her curious. When was the last time someone had observed her like that? It was a little eerie really, and so she asked with a raised eyebrow, "Something seems to be troubling you? I can leave if you want." The older girl looked like she needed the place more anyway.

"My name's Iris, but you can call me Grayson," the Gryffindor replied with a small smirk. "And might I ask for yours?"

She looked back at Myrtle and smiled an actual genuine smile – something that doesn’t happen often. “We all love you really, Myrtle.” She tried patting her on the shoulder, but as she was a ghost, ended up patting the air instead.

She realized that this Grayson person looked as though she realized she was examining her.

“You don’t need to leave,” she quickly assured her, shaking her head quickly, and plastering a little smile of her own on her face. “Well, hello Grayson, pleasure to meet you. My name is Hunter McCoy – I don’t mind if you call me Hunter or McCoy.”

She poked her hand out for her to shake, making sure to hide her own dagger which was up her sleeve. It wasn’t like she was about to use it, anyway. Well, she wasn’t going to, unless she was forced to, at some point.

“If I may ask, why are you here?” She tilted her head ever so slightly to the left, “Usually, people come to this place for three reasons: Clearing your head, talking to Myrtle, or doing something illegal.”

She didn’t like how she was terribly blunt, but it was one of her weaknesses.

"Nice to meet you McCoy," the Gryffindor replied with a smirk and shook the older brunette's hand. "And you should really be more subtle about your dagger's hiding place. Wouldn't want anyone to find out, would you?" It was a common place where Grayson used to keep her blade, and she could see the Ravenclaw's attempt at wanting to hide it by the motion of her arm.

Raising an eyebrow amusedly at the girl, the Greek girl shrugged, "None of the above actually. Though the thought of doing something illegal sounds good, I'll have to come up with an idea now," and grinned lightly at the older girl.

"So how about you? If Myrtle here wasn't making you cry, what was? I don't mind if you don't tell me by the way, not like I know you so I don't really care, that much," she added, the bluntness in her statement obvious. She did not know the Ravenclaw, so she had no right to ask questions, but curiosity was a bad thing at times.

She showed no emotion when Grayson mentioned her dagger. "You sound like you speak from experience," she replied smoothly, raising an eyebrow, but then she shrugged. "Although it's not like I'm in a position to talk."

She took out her jeweled dagger and stuffed it into her belt, hiding the dagger extremely well. "Better?" She asked her, plastering a smile on her face.

She tilted her head slightly at the girl's words. "Might I suggest using that middle stall for hiding it, since it's the least likely anyone will look?" She pointed at said stall, and poked at it, revealing two different cauldrons full of potion that belonged to two different people. "See?"

She showed no emotion as the younger Gryffindor asked what she did. "I was crying because my father is an abusive bastard who deserved to rot in prison, yet has managed to bail himself out legally and is back," She stated, unable to keep the darkness out of her voice, making her sound really scary. Then she realized something. "You haven't answered my question. Although I don't really mind, it might be nice to bond over our - er - stay here." She added sarcastically for good effect.

"I am speaking from experience because I do have a blade as well," the Gryffindor replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "I probably haven't had one as long as you have, but when you're a street kid, you tend to pick up a few things."

Iris nodded her head slowly, "Much better really. Is that a family heirloom? Or was it custom made?" She questioned, having noticed the fancy embroidery on the hilt. "Thanks for the advice McCoy, I'll keep that in mind in case I do plan something evil," she said with a sarcastic tone and shook her head amusedly.

"Abusive father? Hm, that must fucking suck, huh?" The Greek girl was never the one to sympathize with people, no matter what the problem. Although she did know what it was like to have a deranged family because only a mental mother would try to kill her own daughters. "I just felt like coming here, so I did, no particular reason," she muttered. "Sure, bonding sounds great," she scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Street kid, huh? That must suck," In all honesty she hadn't said that because she was being sympathetic, she was saying it for the sake of saying something. She only sympathizes with people she cared about. She looked back at the Gryffindor, "If you don't mind though, can I see said blade?"

She brought her dagger back out, examining the jewels, before putting back in her new hiding place. "I stole it when I was six," She shrugged, as if stealing something so obviously precious, and carefully made, at the age of six was nothing. "I needed to protect my family somehow, so why not do it with a nice-looking blade?"

She rolled her eyes at the girl's next words, but decided to play along. She curtsied and said, "Glad to be of service to you," sarcastically.

She nodded seriously at her next words, although she was secretly very glad that Grayson hadn't sympathized with her. She never liked sympathy - no one ever understood. "I have quite a deranged family."

She then raised her eyebrows at the Gryffindor, but just shrugged, "I don't completely believe that," She stated, "But I don't know you, know don't know me, we don't give a flying fuck about each other, so I shouldn't be nosy." Even though she was a nosy person. None of my business anyway, she reminded herself.

She shrugged again, not commenting at Grayson's obvious sarcasm.

"Not really, managed to learn a few things while being out," the Greek girl muttered. It was true; though she despised being on the streets, she had to admit it was much better than all the foster homes she had been sent to. After all, she wouldn't be who she was today, had she stayed with those horrible people.

The Gryffindor shrugged and took the blade from it's case, underneath her robes. It was of a black and white hilt, metal having a curve on one of it's side. It was the one which Alec had gifted her, but she still had kept her previous blade around.

"Stealing daggers in your childhood? Talk about fun," she smirked. "That's actually not bad, McCoy. I hope you succeeded in protecting your family after having pulled off a stunt like that. As for deranged families, join the club."

She laughed lightly at the Ravenclaw, before shaking her head amusedly. "Believe whatever you want, I don't give a damn. But it is the truth. After all, not everything needs to have a specific reason, right?"

"Probably a lot better than not being able to get away," she muttered, not quite sure if Grayson heard, although not quite caring if she did either. She bet having no one to control her and being able to roam free was much better than a useless mother and an abusive father.

She looked at the blade Grayson showed her, and couldn't help but think it a little bit plain. She took out her blade once more and broke off two of the big rubies on it, before muttering a quick spell to make the gems attach themselves to either side of the blade. Before the Gryffindor could say anything, she shrugged and stated, "it was looking a bit plain. And if you don't like it, you could always sell them."

She managed a small, genuine smile at the mention of protecting her family. Her family seemed to be the only genuine thing in her life anymore. "Thanks," She muttered, although she didn't let her voice betray her tough exterior. And without showing sympathy to the other girl, she stated, "And I hope you succeed in doing whatever you do."

She shrugged at her next words. "Personally, I think everything happens for a reason. Who knows? Maybe my father was let out from prison so I can finally punish him the way he should be punished. Maybe the fact that I was never caught every time I stole something meant that there's something bigger for me in the future." She shrugged again, not really caring if Grayson didn't agree with her views on things. Most people didn't anyways. And it wasn't as if she was trying to impress her or anything.

As she thought all this, she found herself subconsciously fingering her lip ring, something she did out of habit, and for no reason at all.

"Yes, it was. I found it sort of lucky I could escape whenever foster parents were trying to hurt me," she stated in agreement. Though she had hated living with such people, she knew she would have rather run away than suffer in silence. Of course, in some cases, she was just tempted to cause harm the way they did to her.

She just raised an eyebrow at the Ravenclaw's actions, as though saying, 'What the fuck did you just do'? but shrugged and kept it back. "Luckily for you, that was not my new blade, in which case I would be pissed off by now. But thanks, if I ever starve to death or something, I'll sell those." Iris wasn't sure herself if it was a joke or serious, but with the way fate had been treating, she would probably end up homeless one day.

"I personally wish you'd give him hell, because sounds like he definitely deserves it," the Greek girl replied. She was going to do the same to her 'mother' right after leaving Hogwarts. After all, no one would hurt her and her sister and get away with it so easily. Especially some bitch who was unfortunately related to them. "Maybe you weren't caught because you were good at it, ever think of that?" She asked amusedly.

[ooc: okay, THIS is the blade which Alec gave her; ignore my previous post : http://www.trocadero.com/101antiques/items/469840/catphoto.jpg ]

She nodded at her response seriously, able to relate to what the girl was saying. "The only reason I still live with my father is because I need to protect my family," she murmured quietly, not quite caring if she was heard.

She shrugged at Grayson's look. "If ever in need, I have a few more to spare," she stated dryly, but had a tone of seriousness in her voice, as she couldn't tell if Grayson was telling the truth or stating a joke. Either way, fate was a terrifying thing.

At her next comment, she grinned at her, and laughed humorlessly, "Oh, I'll be sure of that. In the mean time, make sure you give whoever you're angry at a good kick in the balls, why don'tcha?" Before the Gryffindor could ask about how she knew she was angry at/ hurt by, she quickly explained, "Your anger vibes can reach here, I don't need to be an empath to see it."

She shrugged at the amused girl, "That may be true, especially since I've been training since age six. Or five. I've lost lost count. But I still believe that me not going to jail or a detention center is fate somehow."

"Fate is a selfish bitch," she muttered, "Who knows what it's planning for it's own personal amusement?"

"Well, my family is so fucking messed up that no one really cares about each other," Iris scoffed with a humourless chuckle. "Except for my sister, she's the only real family I like to think I have, other than my foster parents."

She looked at the Ravenclaw for a moment before letting out a sigh and smiling lightly, "Thanks, I appreciate that. But I really hope I won't need to resort that sort of measure." She hated taking help from even her friends, let alone a half stranger.

"Good kick in the balls? Oh sweetheart, I'll be doing more damage than that," she murmured with a wicked smile on her face. "Just let me out of this place and if we ever become friends, maybe you'll be lucky enough to hear about it." The brunette grinned lightly, "It is actually nice that people can sense my anger, gives them a sort of warning."

"I've always wondered how is that I haven't ended up in jail," Iris mused. "Actually, I nearly ended up in juvenile centre once, had it not been for the interference by the orphanage, but eventually even they claimed me as a truant. Anyway, so far, I'm glad we met."

She nodded her head in agreement, "Most selfish indeed. And with a sick sense of ironical humour."

"Siblings are awesome," she agreed, neglecting to mention anthing about her previous statement, as it was none of her business, and she didn't have a reply to it anyway. Who would've wanted to hear a fake sympathetic, I know how you feel, with a fake smile plastered on their face anyway?

"I nearly got sent to a couple of foster parents," she stated after a moment, "The child services thought my mother was unfit. It is true an' all, but they would've sent my brother halfway across the continent, and I couldn't let that happen."

She shrugged again at her statement, "I really hope you won't need to either," she replied quietly, her voice with a very slight undertone of sympathy, nearly unnoticable. But the thing was, she did know how Grayson felt, mostly because her father had driven them into bankruptcy due to the alchohol he bought.

She couldn't help a small, twisted, yet knowing smile from planting on her face at her words. She didn't comment on it, although both of them knew what she was thinking. "I'll be impatiently waiting," Her face twisted into an obviously sarcastic excited face.

She snorted at her next words, but nodded her head in agreement afterwards, "Personally, I find it amusing how they know I'm angry, but they're terrified because they don't know when I'm going to lash out on them." She gave her a twisted grin, remembering the times when people fell to their knees, begging for mercy.

She never gave it to them.

She chuckled at her next statement, but nodded in complete agreement. "It's as if we're a TV show and she's just flicking through."

She paused for a moment, before slowly saying, "I love how everyone automatically assumes that Fate is a female."

"Yes, they are," the Gryffindor murmured in agreement. "I think I have a brother also, but things did not really go well between us the last time we met." It almost made her wonder where Game had to run off too, and figured he was maybe on one of his missions. Though a part of her almost wanted to believe he wasn't who he had claimed to be.

Iris smirked humourlessly, "Consider yourself lucky McCoy, because not all foster families are a walk in the park. Believe me, I've been sent to enough houses to know that fact to be a true one."

"Eh, most probably I won't need to. And plus, I have got people around to help, so don't worry, it'll be a long while if I ever decide to bother you," she muttered. She could always go to Alec or Kait for help, though she had a feeling she'd probably go to the Priduex. There was also Hades, but she was sure he'd be sick of her antics by then.

She grinned and nodded her head in agreement, "Anger is a dangerous thing, but an angry girl is simply all the more dangerous." The world does not really expect the female gender to do much damage with their anger and frustration and Iris always had the pleasure of proving them wrong.

Not a sadist, she just did it to those who deserved it.

"Seeing as fate is a bitch, I suppose the applied gender is accurate," she mused with a shake of her head. "I am really liking 'her' less and less by the minute. Hope she has something nice in store for me later on."

Hunter shrugged at Grayson's words, "That must suck," she murmured, more to herself than to the Gryffindor. "Well, good luck on your next meeting, you might need it."

Families suck, she thought to herself bitterly.

"I do," she agreed, "I saw some of the foster parents... they seemed like control freaks."

She shrugged again. "It's completely fine, I'm not worrying. But the offer is always there, since I'm well off..." she trailed off, knowing that the younger girl wouldn't listen to her and would most likely say that she wasn't a charity or something. It was what they all said.

"...especially if they think the girl is weak," she sgreed with her, "That's when the shitstorm happens. " The female population had it harder than anyone else and has been underestimated since the beginning of time, yet the male population never knew what what up their sleeves... until it was too late.

Hunter found it to be the best part about damaging men.

She snorted at her next words, "Yeah, you got that right!" She stated, grinning, but she sobered up a moment later, "I hope she does. For both of us. You don't seem like a bad person, Grayson, and you seem as though you've been through some pretty tough shit. So I sincerely hope you get what you're looking for.

"Funnily enough, I do not think I will be seeing him again," the Gryffindor replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "But since I barely knew him, I'm not upset about that. Either way, thanks for the luck, I could use it whenever."

Iris smirked lightly at the girl's words. "From what you mentioned, I do not think you are that much better off than me; you need help too. However, I am not that much of a bitch to turn down generous offers, so like I said, I appreciate it. I've been denying help for a long time, maybe it's about time I accepted some."

"I don't think guys really understand just how strong we are," the brunette replied with an amused look on her face. "In my opinion, they need to be more careful with what they say and do and more importantly, they need to stop underestimating us so much." Although, she had to admit it had the advantages, especially while fighting.

Expect the unexpected, right? Clearly, not all men seem to think that applies with the female population.

"You do not seem like a bad person either McCoy. You are one of my kind, aren't you?" Iris questioned with an almost smile on her face. "It's getting harder to find people like that these days, because no one can understand what I've gone through unless they've experienced a bit of it for themselves. Sounds cruel probably, but I don't care," she muttered with a sigh.

She shrugged one shoulder offhandedly, but replied sarcastically, "Well, use that luck to your heart's content, because I have more."

"Well, I do have horrible circumstances, but my mother is a well-paid healer," She exlplained, before adding, It's just that my father decides to spend all our money on alcohol, in her head darkly, "Well, I guess I am glad you'll take up my offer, because you'll leave me heart broken!"

She put a hand to her chest dramatically, and mocked a hurt look on her face. After her act was done, however, she met the girl's eyes, "But seriously, I have enough money to help you." Helping the people in similar positions to her was something she took on as a sort of life mission, even though she'd never admit it.

She could be a nice person after all. Who Knew?

"I think guys are too stubborn to realize women are not the small fragile beings they were a few centuries ago," she stated, her face revealing slight amusement, "And the fact that they have an obvious weakness does tend to put them in a position where they have to stop doing all those things or they will be in immediate pain. Unfortunately, guys tend to be a bit thick too."

Kicking a guy in the groin was very fun when they were idiotic.

"If by 'one of your kind' you mean a person with a tough past and a deranged family, then yes, I am one of your kind," She replied smoothly, biting back her own smile, "It is quite hard to understand something that hasn't happened to you. I mean, I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but it is quite nice to have someone to have shared your experiences."