The Night of the Demon
Immediate prequel to The Longest Night
"This is the long term ward dear," said Healer Strout, ushering trainee Healer Lewin into the Spell Damage ward on the fourth floor in St Mungo's hospital. "This is for those patients who have permanent spell damage," she said sadly.
Sarah Lewin followed the older healer into the ward and glanced around. There were three beds. The two closest to them held a witch and wizard who were sleeping. Sarah recognised them. "Frank and Alice Longbottom..." she faltered.
"They were tortured into insanity by you-know-who's followers," said Healer Strout in a hushed voice. "They have been permanently incapacitated. They don't even recognise their grandson."
"Noth- nothing else can be done?" asked Sarah her voice trembling. Healer Strout gave a small smile. Sarah's wide blue eyes were filling with tears. If the girl was going to break down crying at any tragic case she probably wasn't going to fare so well in her chosen career path.
"Absolutely nothing," she assured her. "They had a dangerous job, you know, as aurors. Now our other resident is a strange case." Strout drew aside a curtain at the end of the ward. An emaciated old witch sat in an armchair staring fixedly at them. "How are you today Xena?" Asked Healer Strout.
Xena's dark eyes fixed on her. "Soon – she said hoarsely, my mistress will come for me soon." Her eyes swivelled to Sarah. "We will be reunited," she said in a more forceful voice. Sarah blinked and twirled her blond hair nervously in her fingers.
"She has been like that a lot lately," said Healer Strout to Sarah. "I don't know what she means by it. Anyhow, years ago, the auror psi-division fought a terrible dark witch, one of whom it is not even safe to speak... lest her atrocities be remembered." Sarah swallowed. She had heard such rumours of an immensely powerful dark witch, before her time thankfully... The dark witch in question had been given the epithet "the Demon," in modern history books, but the specific title she had awarded herself was literally never spoken or written. It was a greater taboo even than saying Voldemort's title in public. Healer Strout continued; "The Demon attacked Xena by reaching into her chest– for she had the power to phase through living people at will - in order to stop her heart. But the Psi-division finally caught up with her in the nick of time and prevented her from giving Xena the touch of death. She lashed out at the aurors with terrible force. Many of the psychics did not survive the ordeal. Xena lived, but was never right again afterwards. She lost the use of her right arm and as you can see it has become withered. She is prematurely aged as you can see and can't seem to focus on reality. Currently I think she is reminiscing about the ordeal which reduced her to this state. Not sure who her 'mistress' might be..."
Sarah shuddered and quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Kill me now," shouted Xena, "let me escape my mistress!"
Sarah jumped. "We don't do that..." she stammered.
"Calm now Xena," crooned Healer Strout as she drew the curtain back in place. "Come now Sarah, you have yet to see the facilities in the tea shop."
That night Healer Strout made a routine inspection of the permanent residents ward. She held a globular lamp in one hand which gave off a shimmering light. There was a terrible wind outside which seemed to blow with unnatural force. How it wailed. A hissing and a wailing filled the ward... The light of the globular lamp sparked out and suddenly a bloodcurdling hiss sounded:
"Try harder Xxxena, really reach! Don't you want to be free of your nightmaresssss? I sstarted them so I can make them ssstop."
Healer Strout advanced to the end of the ward and drew back the curtain. To her horror, Xena was hovering in midair, about a yard above her bed!
"I'm trying, but you're so far away," she moaned.
"Look, it'sss the dismal old harridan!" Exclaimed the chilling voice. "This doesss not concccern you sssso, beat it!" Healer Strout felt herself knocked backwards as if by a heavy blow. She rushed out of the ward and switched on her alarm to summon help. Sarah met her oh the stairs. She was dressed in a pink dressing gown. Her blue eyes were wide. "What is it, is a patient unwell?" She asked.
"Get upstairs, in the permanent resident ward..." gasped Healer Strout pushing Sarah up the stairs. The healers burst into the ward and rushed towards Xena.
The terrible hiss seemed once again to issue from the ether: "A death sacrificcce... it'sss the only way. And make it the girl, the old hag hasssn't enough life in her!"
In a trice Xena was on her feet, wielding an ugly knife with a curved blade. Amazingly she wielded it in her withered right arm! The shadows in the ward deepened still further to become impenetrable blackness. There was a concussion of air and Healer Strout was sent hurtling into the wall, knocking her head with such force that she fell unconscious. "Yessss DO IT!" Hissed the Demon.
Xena leapt at Sarah who was utterly unprepared for an attack. The knife went down with deadly force and there was a spray of ruby blood and the young witch keeled over.
"I am acrossssss!" Shrieked the Demon in triumph. Xena collapsed to her knees.
"What have I- what have I done!" she moaned.
A terrible shadow loomed above her. An overpowering stench of rotting flesh filled the air. "You have done well..." gloated the Demon. "And asss promisssed your nightmaresss will end..."