Chapter Two: Rock
The night changes things; it turns them into something they are not. A beautiful, old oak tree can suddenly become a monstrous, obtrusive monster. Even the bravest of folk quiver under the impenetrable darkness and gloom. There is no way to escape it but to wait for the morning light to shine through the shadows, illuminating the landscape and scaring away the breasts of the night.
Those dead hours of the early morning, when nothing moves and nobody lives, are the worst of all. To escape from this horror, we shut our bodies down and force them to sleep. It is a defensive mechanism our body uses to dealing with such devilry.
That night, Holly witnessed the true demons of the night. In her semi-conscious state, the lack of food mixing with the lack of sleep, darkness seemed to engulf her. Every movement she bore witness to was a dangerous foe, raising its wand from behind a tree, and every sound was a deadly spell being muttered somewhere close by. It was not a pleasant night on any levels, and Holly was relieved when the sun's morning rays finally shone through the canopy of leaves above her head. The sudden light caused James's eyes to flutter open, and his limbs to eventually stir into life: finally she was no longer alone.
"How are you feeling?" he murmured as he slowly pulled himself into a standing position. Even though he had slept for a number of hours, there were dark bags under his eyes indicating a rough night's rest. "We'd better get going."
Reaching down, he helped Holly to her feet before walking to the edge of the clearing and looking about. He stood there, gazing out at the unfertile wasteland that stretched before him, and weighed up their options. It was a morning routine that he had somehow slipped into, but it didn't make a difference; it was the same every time. "Let's get going," he said, turning back to face the girl, "We need to keep walking."
Day after long, uneventful day, they had walked down the lonely road. It was seemingly unchanging and never ending, and if the mountains before them hadn't been growing steadily bigger, they would have sworn they weren't even moving. That was what if felt like most of the time, anyway. The two companions shared little, if any, conversation throughout the course of the day, but they didn't need to. There were some things, some actions, that said more than words ever could, and they soon realized this.
"The smoke's stopped," Holly commented nonchalantly, her voice dull from lack of usage. She motioned over her shoulder, back in the direction they had come from. The small village was barely visible down the road but, sure enough, there was no longer a steady stream of smoke rising into the air. She didn't know whether it was a good sign or a bad sign, but it didn't really matter. "Do you think someone has realized yet?"
James, having turned to look for the smoke, focused his view back on the road before him. "I don't think so. None of us were expected back for another day, but I'm sure they will all find out soon. Don't worry, ok? When Sirius finds out he will come out here and get us."
"Do you really think so?" Holly whispered, her voice almost inaudible. Whether or not James heard her, she didn't know. He didn't reply.
The rest of the day continued much as the ones beforehand had; nothing spectacular. It wasn't until nightfall that thing began to change. For the better or the worse was irrelevant. What happened, happened, and there was no way of changing that. If given the choice, perhaps they wouldn't anyway.
Maybe it was just the deceiving tricksters of the night, creating false illusions and playing their wicket little games, but both Holly and James swore that they heard someone, or a group of people, making their slow way along the road behind them. The night can trick people who are foolish enough to get caught in its thick web, but there are some things that aren't worth putting up to chance and coincidence. Safety, especially when such evil forces are at hand, is one of them.
Holly grabbed James's arm tightly and looked over her shoulder. "Can you hear that?" she whispered close to his ear, mindful that her voice would travel in the night. While their bodies may have been disguised by the veil of darkness, even cover of night couldn't mask everything.
The young man stopped dead in his tracks and strained his ears as much as he could, intent on hearing whatever it was his friend claimed to have heard. He held Holly still in attempt to quell any sounds her jittering might have made, giving him maximum opportunity to listen. Almost instantaneously he became aware of a sound made by distant footfalls on the ground. Indeed they were being stalked like prey, and unless they acted fast they would be caught like sitting ducks.
"Holy shit," he muttered, twitching nervously. "Come on, we've got to get out of here."
He looked around feverishly, now wishing that he had taken closer note of his surroundings whilst he'd still had ample time. He made a mental note to henceforth always keep in control of the situations he found himself in, and this involved being in touch with his locality. Even if it meant manipulating conditions to turn the odds in his favor, he would still strive to do so.
He quickly scanned the barren countryside, his eyes piercing the night as they searched through the abysmal darkness. The drumming rhythm of footsteps was growing steadily louder all the while, and he knew he must decide on a course of action soon.
"There!" Holly exclaimed, pointing somewhere into the distance. James followed her gaze and his eyes fell on a large, smooth rock that was looming hauntingly in the darkness less than a hundred yards away. As the warily approached it, it grew bigger and even more intimidating, creeping up on them like a serene iceberg in a still, back ocean.
Quickly the two scurried their way behind the large entity, crouching down low to the ground. Even though the overhanging rock towered far beyond their heads, they still felt the need to duck down. It was a defense mechanism.
"Stay here," James demanded, "and don't make a sound."
Holly nodded stiffly and the young man noticed, to his horror, that there were tears running down her face. But she would have to wait, he could comfort her later. At the present his business was with their pursuers.
Creeping around the side of the rock and out into the open darkness, he peered steadily into the night, looking for any sign of movement. Suddenly, making him recoil somewhat in shock, he saw a small group of people edging slowly along the road, bodies scraping extraordinarily close to the ground. They were clad totally in black robes – at least that looked to be so, it was excruciatingly difficult to decipher colour in the almost pitch blackness of the night – and had hoods pulled down over their faces. The way in which they crawled resembled hungry animals, sniffing the ground in hot pursuit of their prey. It made James sick to the stomach.
He had been standing frozen to the spot and gazing out at the road for a number of minutes, aware that he needed to make a quick retreat back to the rock as soon as possible. He couldn't delay. But instead he stayed, staring transfixed at the Death Eaters lining the road.
"James," Holly hissed, causing his back to stiffen and the colour to drain out of his face. He turned sharply, motioning for her to shut up; it these guys saw head or tail of them, they would be trapped. They were hiding behind a bloody rock in the middle of nowhere. Where did they actually have to retreat to? Sitting ducks. They were sitting ducks.
He knew he had been standing there too long. He could feel it like a light pulling in the back of his neck. This fact was confirmed, however, when one of the Death Eaters stood up and yelled out. Whether they had seen James or heard Holly was irrelevant: they had been found.
"Holy shit! Holly!" he called, abandoning all of his former caution and racing back to the rock. "They saw me. What are we – what are we going to do? We need –"
But he was cut short as Holly's hand descended upon him and clamped firmly down on his mouth. For an instant, just a mere second, he imagined that she was under the imperius curse and was about to feed him to the Death Eaters. It was one of the most distressing moments of his life, and not one that he would forget lightly. The thought chilled him to the bone.
"Shut the fuck up James," she hissed, and he noticed an unnerving power in her eyes that he hadn't seen for days. She appeared menacing and intimidating, and he loved it. His Holly was back and she was rearing to go! Hand still firmly in place over James's mouth, she began to speak in a soft but urgent whisper.
"Let's just think. There must be something we can–"
However, she never got to finish her sentence as she too was cut short. A hole had appeared in the rock right next to them. Neither had seen it generate; one second it wasn't there, and the next second it was. James jumped to the side, alarmed at its sudden emergence, but Holly wasn't quick enough and was swiftly consumed within. The young man stood rooted to the spot, a look of uttermost terror spreading slowly across his visage The ideas currently running through his head were completely unfathomable and he didn't even want to consider their possibility.
Sidestepping away from the rock, as if in a dream, he looked out at the road. At the Death Eaters. They were almost upon him with less than ten yards separating himself from the nearest one. They were taking their time, believing that they had the two trapped exactly where they wanted them. That couldn't be, this couldn't be happening. James knew he had to do something. It was now or never.
He slowly spun back around to face the rock, all the while feeling as if he was caught in an old film stuck in slow-motion, and looked into the depth of the wide hole. Then abruptly, before his very eyes, it began to close back up again. With an inadvertent yelp he quickly made his decision.
Taking a deep breath he jumped, willing his body to be consumed into the vast cavity of darkness that lay before him.