Disclaimer: The characters and situations of Harry Potter depicted in this fanfic are the legal property of J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastic and AOL Time Warner, and have been used without permission.
No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made off of this fanfic, and it is for entertainment purposes only.
A/N: I hope this is an improvement over the last chapter, I like this one quite a bit better I must say. This is where the story really starts, so it was a blast to write. I hope you all like it and please review! Oh and by the way, the betaed version is up on chapter 7.
Chapter 8: Eyes Shining in the Dark
"We're being followed," Andrea admitted to her team, trying not to let the bewilderment show itself in her voice.
There were immediate gasps and whisperings. Those three simple words were something that travelers dreaded. Travelers, like Andrea Gibbers, had frequent nightmares about these words. Death Eaters often followed travelers, sometimes ending in death. The followers of the Dark Lord were always merciless. Then there were the creatures that aided these humans: vampires, demons, serpents, and dementors, they were much worse.
Andrea did not want to give this news to them all, but there was more. How could she tell them that they could not outrun the things that were tailing them? She was nearly certain that they were not human, nothing with a beating heart could travel so fast. Something else was troubling her though, she was frightened; she did not know what was following them. It could be a herd of demons following them, vampires out for sweet blood, or perhaps dementors sent out by their master, Lord Voldemort, to suck out their very souls. Andrea could not understand why she did not know what these things were. She had more than six years experience, even more than the four years that the entire Wizarding world had been hiding.
Andrea had hoped they wouldn't have any trouble trekking through the wild forests of Wales. They had been on the trail for one week and had not had any trouble besides encounters with animals of the non-magical type, fatigue, and issues of going through muggle towns. It had surprised her greatly when Jabir had told her that he had gotten word from Ron. What he had said next surprised her even more, they would be changing their course and heading back the way they had come, back to cavern 34. Her team, two scouts and three other men were not pleased by the sudden change in plans, but they agreed when Andrea reminded them of the hefty sum they were getting paid by Jabir. She herself had been a bit irritated by the news. She would have told Jabir Hassan to take a hike if it had been another one of her past employers, but she had a soft spot for the man. Which is why she agreed and did not quit.
Her heart had sunk when one of her two scouts came back from circling their perimeter and told her of seeing smoke in the distance. The next day she went to see for herself. She did not see any evidence of campfires, but she did find something even more startling: tracks. Tracks that were similar to that of a wolf but twice its normal size. Andrea also found evidence of giant footprints, common to a vampire. The wolf-like footprints were the most unsettling. They were similar to a werewolves but it was common knowledge that vampires and werewolves were mortal enemies.
Vampires were tall creatures, sometimes reaching above nine feet tall. Nearly all vampires had red gleaming eyes that sparkled like rubies, and fangs that pierced the skin. While many believed that being bitten by a vampire would turn the bitten into its attacker, they would be mistaken. It takes a ritual to become a vampire. That's what made vampires particularly dangerous, the creatures were shrouded in mystery.
"Who is following us?" Hermione asked. She wasn't surprised like the others were though; she had heard Ron and Andrea whispering to each other about something following them.
"I don't know, but I do know it's not human." Andrea answered.
A snort of indignation came from the midst of the group. "I thought it was your job to know what the hell is out there, Gibbers. Or is your job too hard?"
"You will show proper respect to the lady!" Jabir roared, hand on the hilt of his sword.
Then the other man, named Worthington (nobody knew his first name), retorted.
"You infidel!" Jabir growled, beginning to draw his sword.
Hermione heard Ron sigh and draw his wand. Ron hurried forward, his wand in his hand and his arm outstretched. He pushed his way past the crowd of about nine people; Hermione followed him closely.
"Do not draw that sword!" Ron yelled emerging in the small clearing that had formed around the Jabir and the other man.
Jabir though did not listen, he charged forward ready to strike. Ron, trying to avoid a gory fight that would ensue, too began to go forward. Hermione though, had other ideas. She grabbed the back of her boyfriend's cloak and held on tightly and drew her own wand.
"Expelliarmus!" Hermione yelled, her wand pointed at Jabir. Immediately the sword flew out of Jabir's hand and hit a tree. And to finish it, "petrificus totalus!" Jabir froze and then fell to the ground.
Ron looked down at Jabir in shock and then turned to Hermione.
"Why did you do that for?' Ron asked, slightly irritated.
"So you wouldn't get yourself stabbed," Hermione answered simply, placing her wand in her robe pocket.
"You didn't need to do that, I had the situation completely under control," Ron disagreed.
"Well, that is certainly showing gratitude," Hermione said, piqued.
"I didn't need any help."
"Would you two please stop bickering! You're giving me a headache," Andrea spoke up, reversing Hermione's spell so that Jabir could stand.
"Sorry about that Mr. Hassan," Hermione apologized.
"That's quite all right Ms. Granger. I did lose my temper," Jabir assured her, bowing, but then standing back up and glaring at Worthington. The other man glared back.
"Andrea what were you saying?" Hermione asked, turning toward the only other woman there.
Andrea closed her eyes and stood there without answering for a moment. She had trouble admitting to herself that she was scared. Fright was something that was a weakness, something that would probably going to get them all killed, or worse.
"I've seen tracks and Scott's seen evidence of a magical fire," Andrea finally spoke, gesturing toward one of the scouts. "What ever these things are, they're following us and these things move fast. We cannot, and I repeat, cannot outrun them. If we try we'll drop dead from exhaustion."
"What do we do than? We can't just sit around and wait for them to get us," Jabir's assistant, Clyde Payton, spoke up, looking grave.
"We continue to move at our currant speed and we prepare for the inevitable fight," Andrea replied.
There were no more questions. They all had their answers, and they couldn't even comprehend what would come next.
Two days later...
Hermione didn't know what to do and she hated it. There were no other options but to stand and fight. She, being the Hermione Granger, wanted to fix this new problem they were now in. But after two nights of very little sleep Hermione came to a very tough conclusion, there was no other option but to stand and fight. And from what Andrea said, they had very little time to prepare for the battle, that with out a doubt would come. Andrea calculated and told them bluntly that at their current place the things that were chasing them would catch them the next day.
Hermione could barely stand the worry and anxiousness. After Andrea had told them all of what they were facing, Hermione and Ron had a quiet conversation on what they were going to do. Hermione knew Ron was tempted to split up from the group and try to lose what ever was behind them, but they both came to the same conclusion: it was a stupid idea. For one thing, if they did leave, it would only buy them a short amount of time until the things caught up to them. The second thing was safety in numbers. Hermione also knew that Ron did not feel comfortable leaving everyone to fend for themselves. Hermione agreed to this also.
Hermione hated being hopeless and unable to figure out a solution, it was her nature. Another thing she hated was being scared. Sadly though, Hermione did not know what scared really meant, not yet anyways.
These mortals who think themselves so great, are nothing but ants to be crushed under feet; small and worthless ants. They wave their fancy sticks around, thinking they are better than everyone else, but the great beings know better. The mortals, or wizards as they called themselves, could easily be crushed. The great beings who haunt the earth have knowledge of its secrets. Mother earth, named Rhea, whispers to them, telling them of history now long gone. How everything came into being, and how one of her sons, Zeus, conquered his father, the god of the heavens; and how the story did not end there. She told them a story that only she knew, of how Apollo, god of prophecy, created what we now know as wizards and muggles. These were secrets that she told them, and with these secrets, the great beings hoped to conquer the weak mortals.
Not all great beings were created equal though; others betray them. The great beings will not admit to how many betray them. The betrayers make it their life's work to being the sworn enemies of the great beings, no matter what the cost. But because both the great beings and the betrayers live in absolute secrecy, very few mortals know the truth.
Hermione was now running for her life, and so were the others. Andrea had miscalculated: the things were upon them faster than anybody had imagined. It was an ominous howl that had alerted them to their presence. They had stopped for the night and were eating what was left of that day's food, when the howl had echoed throughout the trees. And so, like lightning, they were hoisting their packs onto their backs and then beginning to run.
Hermione's hand was clasped in Ron as they ran together. Her legs felt like they had turned to lead and it was becoming harder and harder to keep up with the others, but she willed her herself to continue. Hermione knew that getting separated from the rest of the group would be fatal. They had run about a half of a mile when everyone suddenly came to a halt in a clearing.
They all gasped for breath as they tried to get oxygen into her lungs.
"Form a circle, quickly!" Andrea hissed.
They were all absolutely silent as they formed a circle, their backs facing each other, and their wands out ready to defend themselves. Their breathing was ragged and hoarse. Hermione grasped Ron's hand as she tried to calm to herself.
"If the person beside you goes down, continue to fight, do not pause." Andrea again hissed to them all.
Hermione kept her eyes wide open as she strained to hear the sound of their approach. It seemed like hours as she stood there stock-still, waiting. Ron did not move either; instead he held her hand, ready to protect her. Then, she heard it. A rustling sound of something approaching. Ron obviously heard it too because he squeezed her hand tighter.
"Run when I tell you to. Keep running, don't look back," Ron whispered so quietly that Hermione could barely hear him.
Hermione wanted to protest but she couldn't make a sound, instead a lone tear escaped and slid down her cheek. The rustling sounds became ever louder as they came closer and closer. The first thing Hermione saw were a pair of red eyes to her right, that appeared as if they were suspended in mid air. Hermione's heart continued to beat wildly, thumping against her chest. Then after the first pair of eyes gleamed through the night, more appeared.
"Well look here boys, don't these pretty girls and boys look tasty," the thing in front of her drawled as it emerged into the clearing. It was a vampire, but like no other vampire Hermione had ever seen. It was tall, like Vampires, but she noticed that its fangs were longer than normal and were dripping a pearly white substance. In the moonlight she could also see long fingernails that were sharpened to a point, like a knife.
"Yes they do," another one said, this time behind her, "I haven't had a tasty female in many months, Miroslav."
"Yes, tasty they are," another one, this one to Hermione's left, drawled.
"Leave us be! We mean you and your forest no harm," Andrea hollered, breaking their silence.
Hermione knew, and so did the rest, that their enemy would not back off; hell would first freeze over.
"I do not think so mortal. Our lord and master will pleased at our kill. There is no escape for you, lay down your pathetic sticks of wood and we will make this as painless as possible," the one named Miroslav, who seemed to be the leader, hissed.
Hermione knew what was coming next, there was no getting around it, they would fight for their lives. She also knew that there was little hope of winning. Hermione, book worm extraordinaire, Head Girl, and fighter of two major battles between them and Voldemort, was trying to remember everything she had ever learned about Vampires and their ways. Everyone knew that Vampires could not be killed except by means of cremation or a stake driven through the heart of the beast. But only in their dreams could they build a fire, knock the vampires out, and then throw the bodies onto the fire. There was also a lack of wooden stakes. There were spells that could be used in the defeat of a vampire, but these spells could only buy them time. Even if they managed to wound a number of the vampires, the creatures would recover quickly.
Then an animalistic snarl pierced through the air, and right after it came a scream.
"ATTACK!" their enemies cried, darting forward.
Hermione acting quickly, pushed Ron out of the way, and then she too dived to the ground, avoiding the charging vampire that had been coming straight at them.
"Reducto!" Hermione and Ron, both of them lying on their back, screamed together. The thing stalking towards them, caught off guard, was hit by both curses and was blown across the clearing. With a crunch it hit a tree, and slumped to the ground.
Ron jumped to his feet and joined the fray, aiming curse after curse at the beasts. Hermione followed suit.
The curses lighted up the clearing and Jabir's sword could be heard by all, swinging through the air and making contact with the vampires, usually their necks. Hermione's wand became warm under her hand as she concentrated all her magical energy on her curses.
"Stupef--," Hermione began, but was cut off by something suddenly hitting her back, and knocking her to the ground with an 'oomph.'
Something landed on her and grabbed a fist full of her hair, jerking her head back, revealing her neck to the vampire on top of her. On pure instinct, her arms flew above her head and grabbed hold of its head. She pushed upward with all of her might but it was stronger than her, the vampire took hold of her arms and twisted them. Hermione screamed in agony as she felt the tendons in her arms give way. The thing slammed her arms into the ground and clamped a hand around her wrists, holding her firmly. Then, a piercing pain went through her shoulder, it felt like five knives tearing into her left shoulder. The vampire had dug his nails into her skin with his free hand. She was totally defenseless, her wand having flown out of reach, as she continued to scream. The vampire jerked her head back once more. Then, almost just as suddenly as the vampire had jumped on her, the beast was thrown off of her. Ron's foot had connected with the thing's gut causing the vampire to fly off of her.
Hermione stumbled to her feet, blood running from the wounds on her shoulder, and began to look around for her wand; she soon found it just a few feet away. Wand in hand, she surveyed the fight. Four of them had already fallen, leaving only five of them. She could still see Jabir's sword swinging, she also saw Andrea, and Jabir's assistant, but to her horror she could no longer see Ron. Then she saw him, dueling with one of the vampires on the sidelines. She ran forward.
"INCENDIO!" Hermione cried.
Ron jumped out of the way as the vampire burst into flames. It screeched terribly as it splayed about, waving its arms madly. It wasn't more than a few seconds later that the vampire gave one more horrible wail and with a crack it disappeared, leaving behind a small pile of ashes. She had actually killed it.
"Run!" yelled Ron, just a few feet away from her, "get out of here!"
Hermione shook her head, no.
"Damn it Hermione, run!" Ron repeated, pushing her toward the tree line. "I'll be right behind you."
She stumbled slightly, but by some unseen force she began to run, rather clumsily, out of the clearing. Hermione didn't want to flee but she did. Just out of the clearing, she dared a look behind her as she ran, bad idea. She tripped, landing on her face, but she did catch a glimpse of Ron cursing a vampire who had tried to follow her. Picking herself up, she once again began to run, avoiding fallen branches and dips in the forest floor. She had run a ways when she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. A scream of pain had echoed through out the forest, the sound bouncing off the trees and then reaching her ears. She knew that scream from years ago; it was Ron's scream. Breaths coming in great gasps, Hermione found herself unable to move.
Just as she was about to head back to Ron and join the fight once more, something hit her head with great force. Hermione crumpled to her knees, and just before she blacked out, she saw a tall figure, towering over her, eyes shining in the dark.
A/N: So what did you think? There will only be a short teaser, so I don't give too much away.
Teaser:
"Camps?" Hermione asked, puzzled.
"Yes, camps. Horrid places they are. It's where they take you and you never come back. There are different kinds of camps: breeding, death, and torture camps. Sick the lot of them!"
"Breeding camps?" she said quietly, not liking the sound of that one bit.
Thanks to my beta fanfictionsissy!
Please review!
