[Prologue 1/3] A New Beginning

[This story is not lighthearted, nor is it intended for anyone younger than 16-17. This is a dark story with themes of murder, torture, and violence. You have been warned.]

Sometimes in life, people receive more than others. Sometimes, like in Damien Thorne's case, life gives people absolutely nothing. When he and his twin were born, their parents gave them absolutely everything they needed, but attached a price tag. To Adrik and Alona Thorne, magical power and purity were all that ever mattered. And when Lucedio, Damien's twin, demonstrated magical prowess, they praised and fawned over him, all but forgetting Damien.

And when Damien showed no signs of magic whatsoever, he earned his parents' disgust. This continued until he and his twin were three. Out of nowhere, Lucedio became severely ill. Adrik and Alona tried to buy the best and most expensive healers, but they all said the same thing. "Lucedio will die before his fourth birthday."

As time went on, Adrik and Alona became more and more desperate. Lucedio was their heir and the most magically powerful Thorne in generations, if his accidental magic was any sign.

"Why couldn't that squib have gotten ill instead?" Adrik turned to Alona, exasperation lining his face. Stress frayed his ordinarily perfect black hair. The bags under his gray eyes seemed to suggest he hadn't been sleeping properly for days. "That would have been far easier."

Alona moved behind Adrik, curling her arms around her husband's neck. She looked down at Adrik, her red hair falling with the action. "I've been looking in the library," she spoke smoothly and eloquently as if she thought over each word before saying it. "I believe I have found a book that may solve both of our problems."

Adrik raised his eyes to meet his wife's dark red eyes. "And what would you suggest?"

Alona retracted her arms before walking over towards a small, finely crafted table that sat by the chairs. Her fingers gripped the old, almost tattered book that lay on its surface before pulling it open and flipping the pages. "If it works as it seems to suggest, we get rid of the squib, and our legacy is secure."

Once she had found the page she was looking for, she passed the book onto Adrik, who greedily took the book in anticipation. After minutes of reading, he looked up, a sinister grin taking hold of his expression. "This could work."

Three days passed after that before they could finish all the preparations. But finally, one Thursday night, Alona and Adrik thought they were ultimately going to put their plan in motion. They went upstairs to collect the twins before bringing them down into the sitting room, after they had rearranged it. They pushed the furniture to the edges of the room, which they had originally positioned perfectly to maintain an appearance of superiority. An elaborate circle drawn on the floor was at the center of the room.

They created chains around Damien's wrists and ankles to keep him in place while placing the sickly Lucedio onto the ground, both in the center of the circle.

Adrik took up the book before reading from it, waving his wand at the two twins. "Da huic puero vitam." A glowing red light surrounded Lucedio and moved over towards Damien before fading.

Adrik and Alona waited several weeks before they determined that Damien still had control over his body. Either Lucedio died before they could transfer his mind, or Lucedio's mind was too sickly, like his body, and Damien's mind won out. Either way, the outcome caused them disappointment.

The very next day, Adrik grabbed Damien before the first light. "I'm finally going to deal with you as I should have ages ago."

 He apparated with Damien to an empty Muggle street before pointing his wand at the child. "Let this filth find your body. Avada Ked-"

Before he could finish the words of the curse, two bright lights came from nowhere down the long road. "You'll starve to death anyway," he determined anyway, before apparating away, leaving the child on the side of the road.

What he didn't realize was that Damien would survive on the streets, thanks to a kindly homeless man who came across him in the morning.