Briallen Bevin and the Snatcher's Cave

Chapter 19: All About Noah Pierce

"And so then he says, 'Are you really only twelve? You look so much older,' and I just giggled and then he kissed me again and it was so romantic," said Chante Nguyen as she folded a skirt and put it in her dresser.

"You're so lucky, Chante!" exclaimed Kimmy Moseley from her bed as she rolled from her back to her stomach and giggled stupidly. "What else happened?"

Briallen rolled her eyes. It was their first day back to school and though classes didn't officially begin until the next day, things were already back to normal. Chante was talking about some boy from the Legerdemain School of Magic in California that she had met while on vacation in Los Angeles; Kimmy was continuing to live vicariously through Chante; Noelle Dugan was sitting on her bed strumming a guitar; and Cass Elwood was, as always, a place unknown.

Briallen shook her head, as Chante went on about all the fun things she claimed she did in Los Angeles, and put away the last of her clothes. Once she was finished unpacking, she pulled the colorful red, purple, and silver poncho her Grandma Apokni had made her over her shirt and headed down to the common room to look for Toby.

"Hey, Bevin," said Benjamin from the couch in front of the fireplace. "Which one did your grandfather get you?"

Briallen smiled, knowing Benjamin was asking about a broomstick. "The Nova Flare. I haven't really had time to use it though. The day after Christmas we had to leave to go visit all my other relatives, who are Muggles, and I can't take it to school... but Grandpa is letting me keep it at his place so I can use it a little bit this semester, I hope. On the weekends maybe."

"That's cool. I wish he'd gotten you a Nimbus 2000, though."

"Only so that you could borrow it," said Briallen as she sat down next to him. Briallen had began to look to Benjamin like he were an older brother and he had started to treat her like a little sister. Being an only child, this made Briallen very happy because she had always wanted a brother or sister, even if their relationship only began because Benjamin wanted to impress her grandfather. He had even given her a Christmas present, which had made Marisol insanely jealous, though it was just can of broomstick polisher.

Briallen didn't really understand her friend's infatuation with Benjamin. He was cute, she supposed, with his button nose, droopy eyes, and long hair, but he wasn't gorgeous. Not like Gavin Ellison. Briallen sighed woozily as she thought of Gavin. He was the first boy who had ever made her feel like she would faint when he spoke to her.

"Are you alright?" asked Benjamin. He reached his palm to her forehead.

She hadn't realized she was still looking at Benjamin when dozed into her daydream of Gavin and felt her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment. "I was just thinking of... pankcakes. I really want pancakes today."

Benjamin chuckled and used the hand he still had on her head to playfully push her back. "I'm sure."

"Have either of you seen Noah Pierce," demanded Conall Lonigan, suddenly charging over to Benjamin and Briallen.

Benjamin's brow furrowed. "No, but he should be around here somewhere. He had to stay for the holidays since his dad's on tour in Australia."

"I know. He was supposed to meet me out on the pitch for a quick game against Billy and Dusty over an hour ago. I thought he might have forgotten so I came back up here to look for him, but I can't find him anywhere."

Briallen's heart started pumping faster as she thought of the snatcher. The calm of winter break had almost made her forget there was somebody kidnapping students, but now the knowledge came flooding back. She remembered how she was last to be attacked and how it was likely the kidnapper had seen her and Marisol and Toby in the window the night he dueled with Takashi Wu. Without saying goodbye, she jumped up and ran off to the first year boys' dormitory while Benjamin and Conall tried to figure out where it was Noah could have disappeared to.

"Toby!" shouted Briallen as she dramatically burst into the boys' bedroom. Dante Garcia and Abraham Cohen, who had been in the middle of a heated argument over the disappearance of one of Dante's Quidditch action figures were so startled by entrance that they immediately stopped what they were doing and stared at her. "I think it's happened again. We have to find Marisol! She might be in danger!"

"What?" asked Toby as he closed the book he had been reading. "What are you talking about, Briallen?"

"The-the bad man! You know who I'm talking about! Now, come on!" said Briallen frantically as she began to pull Toby out the door. Toby gave in and followed Briallen who refused to let her grip on him loosen.

Briallen and Toby ran to the fifth floor hallway as fast as they could, and even leaped the final distance from the moving staircase to the landing. They reached the portrait of an abacus that served as the entrance to the Wenlock tower in less than a minute.

"Okay, Miss Brains, what now? The combination is changed once a week and there are hundreds of thousands of possibilities - maybe even millions!" said Toby as he pointed at the portrait. "Seven bars with... seven beads each... "

"Calm down, Toby," said Briallen smoothly as she removed her wand. "I've got another friend in Wenlock. He told me a secret about the portrait just in case I'm ever in trouble and need him."

"Him?" asked Toby, now completely disinterested in the abacus.

"Hayden Van Vlerah. He lives in The Village; Marisol's mentioned him before. I went to lunch with him a couple of times during winter break. Mostly because he followed me, not because I invited him, but he's - he's nice."

Toby frowned. "Not you too..."

Briallen tapped each corner of the abacus three times, beginning with the top left corner and moving clockwise. After she tapped the last corner, the portrait swung open. "Don't tell anybody that we know how to get in here, okay? Just say it was a lucky guess or something."

"Yes, ma'am," said Toby playfully. "Anyway, what would I do for fun if I turned you in?"

"Exactly."

Briallen and Toby walked cautiously into the Wenlock common room and looked around in awe. It was an open, airy room filled with large, floor to ceiling windows two stories high, and resembled a green house aside from all of the red, white and black decor. Strangely, and luckily, there was nobody in the large common room to question how or why two Withers students were in the Wenlock tower.

"This is strange," whispered Toby as they walked quietly to the stairs that they hoped led to the girl's dorms. "I wonder where everybody is..."

They reached the first room quickly and Briallen opened the door slightly to peek in. They lucked out - it was a first year girl's room. The only girl in the room though was Jessica Marriott, who was best friend with Christabel Lewis, the first student who disappeared.

"You wait here. She might freak out if a boy comes in," Briallen whispered to Toby before she entered the room. "Jessica? Hey, do you know where Marisol is?"

Jessica didn't move from her place at the foot of her bed where she had been writing in what looked like a diary. "How did you get in here?"

"Uh, Billy Kenji let me in."

"Billy is outside looking for Noah Pierce."

"He came back up here real quick to get a hat. It's cold outside, you know."

Jessica grunted. "I'm sure. Marisol went to the library."

"Okay, thanks," said Briallen as she began to back away towards the door. "Um, one more thing, Jessica: Where is everybody?"

For the first time, Jessica looked at Briallen. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when we came into the common room there was nobody there. It's completely empty and dead quiet. I just thought that was weird because my house's common room is packed full of people right now."

Jessica stared at her and Briallen couldn't tell if the look on her face was because she was scared or because she thought Briallen had said something stupid. "There was nobody around when it happened. It was completely silent."

"Wh-what?" asked Briallen, stuttering, unsure of what Jessica was talking about but feeling nervous just the same.

"The day Christabel disappeared. We were just walking down a hallway and next thing I know, she's gone... she didn't even scream."

Briallen's eyes widened and she thought of only one thing: Toby. She ran to the door, yanked it open and looked around frantically for her friend who had disappeared from the stairway. Briallen ran down the circling steps and into the Wenlock common room. "Toby! Toby! Toby Wesley Davis, you come out here right this instant!"

Toby appeared at the bottom of the staircase leading to the boys tower. "What? I was just looking for your friend Hayden."

Briallen hugged him quickly and then smacked him in the arm. "Jessica said that the day Christabel disappeared it was really quiet, just like right now."

"Where's Marisol?" asked Toby, now concerned.

"She's in the library, according to Jessica."

"Let's go then."

* * *

"Nope, I haven't seen her, and if she's not on the check-in list then she hasn't been here at all today," said Mrs Shan as she continued to shelve books from the stack floating in the air next to her.

"Is it possible she just didn't trip the check-in charm?" asked Toby, hopeful.

"No. The charm is like a blanket, set to span the entirety of both doorways. There's no way she could get past it so that she wouldn't check her in." Mrs Shan began to pull the floating book stack to the next row of shelves. "I'm really sorry. Maybe you should try her head of house?"

Toby and Briallen left the library, shuffling their feet sadly. "I doubt Professor Alembic would know where Marisol is," said Toby. "She's got to be around here somewhere."

"Maybe she's helping the others look for Noah," suggested Briallen. "She does have a thing for Benjamin and she would see it as an opportunity to get closer to him."

"She's crazy to think she has a chance with him," said Toby with a snort as they entered the hallway lined with suits of armor. "He's a fifth year and she's a first year. He'd never agree to go out with her."

"Gee, thanks for the support, Toby, my former best-friend," said a voice behind Briallen and Toby. They both spun around and shouted with joy when they saw Marisol standing there. Once hugs were exchanged, the questions began.

"Where have you been, Marisol? We've been looking all over for you!" said Briallen, trying to sound as if she were scolding Marisol, even though she was too happy to sound properly angry.

"I was in the library."

"No you weren't, we were just there."

"You must've just missed me then. We probably went in and out different doors."

Briallen put her hands on her hips. "We're not stupid, Marisol. We asked Mrs Shan to look at the check-in list to see if you were there so that we wouldn't have to search that huge, old library for no reason. Where were you really?"

"I can't tell you right now. It's a secret."

"What do you mean it's a secret?" asked Toby, incredulous. "We're your best friends, we're not supposed to keep secrets from each other! Especially after looking all over the place for you, worried crazy!"

"Just trust me, Toby, please? I'll tell you soon and - hey, Briallen, where did you get that necklace?" asked Marisol curiously as she reached out to get a better look at the talisman that Hayden had given Briallen.

"It was a Christmas present. It's a protective talisman."

Marisol looked at Briallen and then at the talisman, doubt in her eyes. "From your grandfather?"

"No, from Hayden Van Vlerah."

"You accepted a talisman from Hayden Van Vlerah?"

"Yeah, why? You seemed to like him before."

"It's just... it's nothing. Never mind."

Briallen put her hands on her hips. "No, you have to tell me now. What's wrong with accepting a gift from Hayden? He's nice and his family is nice. You go on about how wonderful he is all the time!"

"I totally and completely agree, Briallen. Hayden is a sweetheart and he looks like he could model broomsticks in Quidditch Weekly but... the Van Vlerahs are a strange family. They practice old magic - magic that most witches and wizards don't believe in."

"So? Talismans are real. There's a store in The Village that sells talismans."

"Not the kind of talisman you're wearing. I doubt the one you're wearing will work, especially if a Van Vlerah made it. And if it does work, it won't be in a way that you like."

Suddenly Benjamin ran into the hallway in a frenzy. His cheeks were pink, his hair was a mess, and he spoke hoarsely, "Hey - you all! Into the dining hall, now!"

"What? Why?" asked Toby.

"All students need to report to the dining hall for an emergency assembly!"

"That's stupid. School hasn't even officially begun yet."

"It has now," said Benjamin, still breathing heavily. "Noah Pierce has been kidnapped."

"I knew it!" whispered Briallen to Marisol and Toby as they did what Benjamin said and made their way to the dining hall. Benjamin ran off behind them to the library to collect all the students he could, even though there was now an announcement blaring throughout the school in Dean Bevin's voice declaring the assembly. "When Conall came into the common room asking about Noah, I knew something happened. That's why I went and got Toby and we came to find you, Marisol! Ever since Mr Hoody saw us, we've been targets."

"Then why did he take Noah Pierce? I was off on my own most of the morning. She had plenty of opportunities to kidnap me!" whispered Marisol, as she sat between Briallen and Toby at the Withers table.

"Really? Then maybe there was a reason Noah Pierce was kidnapped. Maybe Noah saw him," suggested Toby.

"Her! The kidnapper is a woman!" argued Marisol as quietly as possible, even though there was little chance of them being heard amongst the hundreds of chatting students in the dining hall.

"No way!" Toby argued back.

"Marisol, you have to sit at the Wenlock table," said Wenlock prefect Amir Alajabiri as he placed his hand on Marisol's shoulder. "I have to be able to do a proper head count. Billy, Dusty, I'm sorry but you guys have to come back to the Wenlock table too."

Billy Kenji and Dusty de Soto had been sitting not far from Briallen, with Conall and Benjamin and the rest of the Withers Quodpot team. In fact, almost every Quodpot team member at Bergamot was currently sitting around Conall at the Withers table. Even though they were rivals, most of them were still friends and they obviously felt bad for Conall for losing not only a friend but one of his best team members. Reluctantly, everybody returned to their own house table and once there was room available, Briallen got up and went to sit next to Conall.

"Does anybody know what happened to him? Or when he was last seen?" asked Briallen carefully. She knew how attached Conall had become to Noah and she wanted to be careful not to upset him any more.

"Miss Winsome last saw him. She said he was helping her clean the brooms for her Flying class. That was four hours ago, though," mumbled Conall. Briallen was surprised to hear that fact. She couldn't imagine anyone willing to spend their free time with such a horrible woman.

Benjamin spoke up. "Noah is one of the few students that Miss Winsome actually likes. He helps her out a lot by cleaning and setting up for her. I actually saw her crying when I was looking outside for him."

"Miss Winsome? Crying?" asked Briallen, doubtful such a thing was possible.

"It looked like she was," said Benjamin with a shrug. "She was outside the broom shed with her head in her hands. It was too windy to hear anything, though."

Before Briallen could ask any other questions, her grandfather's voice suddenly reverberated throughout the dining hall. "We have some unfortunate news! As I'm sure you've all heard by now, another one of our students is missing. Noah Pierce was last seen four hours ago outside by the broom shed. If anyone believes they saw him after that time, or knows anything that could possibly help us to find him, please speak with your head of house immediately. Now, normally we would not hold an assembly to announce a disappearance, especially after such a short amount of time, however, Noah is not the first. I am aware that rumors have been circulating regarding Izolda Brodzki, Takashi Wu, and Christabel Lewis. I do not want to alarm you all but measures must be taken to ensure the safety of everyone - those students I just mentioned are also considered missing, and suspected to have been kidnapped. The Ministry has been contacted and the Minister of Magic himself has sent us some help."

Cal Bevin paused and waved his hand toward the students. The door to the dining hall opened and in walked twenty witches and wizards, all wearing the same straight, black robes with a red triangular patch on the shoulder and flat, circular caps upon their heads. They walked in a straight line, their shoulders back, heads high, and hands clasped firmly behind their backs. Briallen watched the wizards as they walked by, her eyes wide with fear, curiosity and wonder of who these militaristic witches and wizards might be.

"These are some of the Ministry's best Aurors. They will remain at Bergamot until we solve the disappearances, or until we feel we are safe again. They will stand guard around the castle interior and escort students when outside. Nobody is to leave the castle without an Auror. When traveling within the castle you will be required to travel in groups of at least three. A curfew of nine o'clock will be instated. Those floors and rooms that are not currently being used will be locked and I strongly discourage wandering about the castle during this time," explained Cal Bevin.

Students at all of the tables were groaning and protesting now. Briallen glanced down the table at Toby, eager to talk to him, but he seemed to be in an argument with Cass Elwood. She wished now she hadn't moved so that she was near him and Marisol and they could talk. How were they to continue their own investigation into the disappearances with all of these restrictions?

Cal motioned for the students to quiet down. "I'm sure you all believe this will be a great inconvenience to you but it is necessary in order to keep you all safe, which is not only your parents' greatest concern, but the greatest concern of all the staff here as well. Now, the prefects will take you back to your dormitories where I ask that you please remain until tomorrow morning. Do not worry, however - lunch and dinner will be served in your common rooms."

With her grandfather obviously finished with his speech now, Briallen hopped up and out of her seat and ran over to Toby and Marisol. "What are we going to do now?!"

"I think we should leave it alone now, is what we should do. Look at those guys," said Toby, motioning towards the Aurors. "They look like marines! I think they'll do more than we could ever do, and they'll do it better."

"They don't know half of what we know, Toby," said Marisol. They were standing in a circle between the Withers and Wenlock tables as the prefects started separating everybody into groups to take back to the dorms.

"Then maybe we should tell them what we know! They're the professionals, Marisol, they're trained for situations like this."

"The only reason they're here is because a celebrity's kid went missing. If it wasn't Noah Pierce that was missing, none of this would be going on, but because he's Noah Pierce, son of the Kemp Pierce, the fact he's missing is going to be all over the news! Minister Everard has to make it look like he's doing something about what's going on here now that everybody outside the school will know about it!"

"Dean Bevin said that if we have any important information we should tell our head of house! I'm going to tell Professor Morra everything we know," said Toby matter-of-factly.

"No, Dean Bevin said that if we knew anything about Noah's disappearance to tell a teacher. They won't care otherwise! This is all being done because of who he is!"

"Toby, Briallen, come on," said Ava Hudson, one of the Withers prefects. She had a large group of Withers students around her, ready to return to the dorm. Briallen didn't want her and Toby to leave Marisol just then, though, not in the middle of a fight.

"This isn't one of your stupid, silly little secrets, Marisol! This is serious!" spat Toby angrily before storming off to join the other Withers around Ava. Marisol looked like she was about to cry and Briallen wanted to comfort her but Ava was shouting for her to join the them already.

"Marisol, he's just in a bad mood. I'll owl you later today, okay?" said Briallen as she quickly patted Marisol on the back and then ran over to Ava and the others.

"My secrets aren't silly or stupid," whimpered Marisol, now standing alone.