Authors Note: In regards to my Red Hood story, please see my profile.
This is an idea that has been floating through my head for about a year. I finally sat down to write it this morning with several cups of coffee and a bowl of chex cereal. It is, of course, a Harry Potter one-shot fic, influenced by Silence of the Lambs. It also draws some inspiration from Spiderman. I do not own Harry Potter, the works of Thomas Harris, or Marvel comics.
Footsteps through the hallways of glass and steel. Convicts of every stripe glaring out of their cells as the Aurors passed. The blinding glare of the magic-fueled fluorescent lighting above, harsh and artificial. This was New Azkaban, rebuilt from the ground up to hold one man. They called him a monster, a mass-murderer, evil incarnate; he called himself Carnage.
The group of Aurors came to a stop at a double door marked with a crimson warning: High Security - Access Restricted. Their leader turned to face them, speaking with the authority of ten years as head of the Auror Department.
"Remember men, once I enter that room, this door will be sealed. No one is to enter behind me. No one."
"Sir, yes sir!"
Without another word, the head Auror went through the door, hearing the locks click behind. Down the hall, on the left side, was another door; through the door and straight down lay the monster's cell.
He was sitting on his cot, staring at the wall. He couldn't possibly have seen the Auror approaching, but as with every other visit, he spoke without turning.
"Good evening Hermione," He said calmly, his voice soft and serene.
"It's Auror Granger to you, Prisoner double-oh one." She snapped back viciously.
"Now, now, is that any way to speak to an old friend?" He had always been able to sound both reproving and sarcastic. She had always wondered how it came so naturally to him.
"We aren't friends." She hated how he could still draw emotion from her.
"We were once. I seem to remember we were a bit… closer than friends at one point." He finally turned to face her. His black hair was longer than it had been in his youth, framing his face; his green eyes burned with an otherworldly fire, tinged with the slightest bit of crimson.
"Harry Potter was my friend and my lover. Whatever you are, you're not him." Her voice was as cold as his now.
"Oh, I was Harry Potter, once. But I've always been so much more. What I am has never changed. I've always been Carnage." Wicked glee chased away the serenity as he revealed the truth of his fractured mind. He was a man who knew he was mad and took great joy in his madness. "Now, Auror Granger, why don't we get to the reason you're here? I doubt you just came to exchange verbal blows after all."
"You killed fifteen people before we caught you. All of them were torn to shreds, bits of them everywhere. You wrote your twisted messages to us in their blood. After fifteen innocent people died, we finally caught you." Her eyes flashed with pain.
"And?" His tongue brushed across his lips.
"The murders have begun again. You have a copycat, calling himself Venom. He's already killed five people." She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking of the deceased.
"Anyone I know?" He sounded… hungry.
"Seamus Finnegan and Susan Bones." Her response didn't seem to surprise him.
"Anyone else? He wasn't asking this time.
"Yes." She maintained her cool, but underneath, she was elated. She was right, he knew something about it.
"Horace Slughorn, perhaps." He stated with finality.
"Yes. Tell me who Venom is." She cursed internally as she let her excitement slip out.
"Now, now, that's not how the game works. I made you hunt me down, he'll make you hunt him down. Carnage rules through chaos. Venom is different. Venom has laws and riddles. But you already know that. Yes indeed. So let's make a deal. Quid pro quo, Auror Granger…"
Outside the the prison, a storm began to brew, lightning splitting the night sky.
Keep in mind, the names of the killers are indicative of a certain pair of alien entities they might possess...