Gone Boy | Hayden & Millie
You can do it, the fire-haired witch informed her brain, hoping the stress wouldnāt crack fault-lines into the foundation of her skull. With the way Millieās eardrums pounded the same symphony her heart was racing, she was certain that it wasnāt entirely improbable. āCareful,ā she whispered to Hayden under her breath, before she hopped over the fence that led to the backyard of the Jugson home. All of the work she had been spending nearly every morning at FitWiz had made more of a difference to her stamina than Millie would initially have guessed, and now, all she had to drag up was some of that Gryffindor courage she was supposed to have, no matter her own doubts on the matter.
They had planned this.
They had a plan of action.
This would go okay.
This had to go okay.
Millie tried to keep in mind that there was no guarantee at all that they would find Pierce thereānone at all. All this was, was going off of the only potential lead she had, and checking out the scene with the best, most-conspicuous plan she and Hayden could have come up with. She had back-up, and she had skills and knowledge, and she could do this, whether she had complete faith in herself or not. Maybe heās in there, and maybe heās okay, she tried to tell herself, but stopped after the first stab at optimism. She then tried, instead, to remember to treat this like any other case. There was room for hope, but only to a professional extent. She could bring heart into her work, but her decisions had to come from her head. She couldnāt botch this up. She had worked too hard for this. For this moment, she had to think of Pierce as a victim, and just that, instead of praying to every god, ones she didnāt even believe in, for her best friend to not be dead. Nothing could cloud her judgement, or he really might die.
There was such uncertainty fogging up the path that every step the witch took was one on a minefield. She didnāt have a damn clue whether her next movement would blow her and Hayden up, or would be another step closer in the direction of whatever the destination was to Pierce Jugson.
You will do this, Millie ground her teeth together as she and Hayden crept to the back entrance to the Jugson house, and you wonāt fuck it up.
Hayden crept along the familiar path to the house. Large as the Hufflepuff may be, he knew exactly where to walk so that he stayed in the shadows and hidden away with the darkness. The night was just as quiet as it had been the past few nights of surveillance. Haydenās eyes itched from tiredness and were irritated further by a cool burst of wind. He closed his eyes for a moment before hopping over the fence after Millie with ease and landed softly on the ground.
He kneeled down at the back entrance of the house and took out his wand tapping it gently against the lock. It glowed for a moment and Hayden dug around in his pockets pulling out his two lock picks and got to work. The only sounds that could be heard for several minutes were the sounds of metal scraping against metal as Hayden worked patiently, listening to the familiar clicks he had gotten to know so well over the last several months of honing his craft.
The circumstances surrounding this moment were serious, but Hayden felt oddly calm. He wondered if he should feel more stress; more concerned about what they were about to do and what this could mean. After all, Hayden was sure that if everything theyād deduced was wrong and they were caught, Hayden could lose his job at the Ministry and that was the least of his worries. Dark wizards could lie beyond the threshold. If Millie was hurt, Hayden would have a lot of explaining to do: that meant a trial and a possible punishment by the end. If Hayden himself was hurt, that meant a trip to the hospital he despised so much. Of all the possible outcomes, many more of them seemed to be negative than positive and yet Haydenās heart beat at an easy rhythm and his hands remained steady. Better to be calm than panicking, he thought to himself.
Several minutes later and the door opened. It slowly swung outward and Hayden stood up to his full height once again, pocketing the little picks and taking out his wand. He stepped aside and silently gestured so that Millie could step forward.
Clara Jugson knew nothing of the pair of people outside of her home. She did not know how long they had been watching her and her husband for, there was no realization that their planning would be foiled. No, she was oblivious to all except her inner self. The one where she wrestled with good and evil, right and wrong, freedom and captivity. She loved her husband. She loved her son. And yet both of those things seemed to negate the other. Every time she strode into her sonās room, where Pierce lay, she knew repairs could not be made. He had turned out stubborn, and strong, and secretly, in the depths of her own mind, she was proud of him for his resilient nature, his unwillingness to compromise. Instead he revolted, and as much as she cried, dried streaks the only evidence of this, she also found herself wondering whether or not she had done the right thing in taking him back. Especially when he was never hers.Ā
Instead she simply sat in her living room, a cup of tea next to her, as well as an unfinished finger sandwich. Clara didnāt have much of an appetite these days, unlike Aston, who always found room for more. His conscience was never burdened like her own.
Pierce Jugson hoped for people outside. For rescue. For a moment like in Rapunzel when he could let down his long hair, and have someone save him from his own family. His fraudulent family. They were nothing but smoke and mirrors to him. Lies, deceit, and a penchant for kidnapping were never a good foundation for family building. Yet there he was, trapped in a room with wards, a prisoner in a room that used to hold so many pleasant memories. Now he was just bitter. He loved his mother more than life itself. More than he knew he should. But that never stopped him from trying to break the window that overlooked their backyard. And that never stopped him from trying to convince their House Elf to set him free, even though he knew them to be indebted to his parents. His love did not blind him. Not this time. Instead it only pushed him further, pushed him to a precipice where if the time was right, he knew what would have to be done.Ā
He was done playing their twisted game of chess. He was done trying to be the perfect son. He was done with their lies.
So, as Hayden and Millie scouted their route in, Pierce scouted his way out. His mind hardened with determination, his heart pumping far too fast. Adrenaline pushing away any second thoughts. He needed to be free of the bonds that held him in the room that now seemed to grow far too big for his liking. He couldnāt be Pierce Jugson forever.
