Twelve inch slid of out holes in both walls every foot or so down the length of the corridor as they sprinted past. As before, a thick slab of stone began lowering itself to try and trap them in. The four teenagers were bruised and bloodied from the juggernaut of traps that crossed their path.
"DUCK!" Snow screamed suddenly, diving into a roll. Everyone except Shyla immediately dropped to the floor as darts whistled through the air toward them.
"Reflecto!" Shyla said, erected a shield in time to stop them mid-flight. Snow quickly crawled into the diminishing doorway and tried to bear its weight to buy time. Shyla immediately squeezed past while the others got to their feet. They wasted no time to get through and ran for the next doorway, which was also collapsing.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Shyla cried out with a flick of her wand. The large slab immediately halted its descent, leaving them enough room to crawl through. "Go!" she said. "I have to hold it up while you guys make it through." Without complaint, they crawled through the opening and were soon followed by Shyla, who managed to wiggle through before the passage crushed her ankle.
"I can't believe you first years." Shyla said, something she had said several time before. "You're wizards, for fuck's sake. Why is it none of you think to use your wand before your muscles? Did you learn all of those spells for nothing?" The boys looked at her as if they had just gotten a stern rebuke and began their slow walk through the ruins once more.
"And this time look out for traps!" she barked at them again.
"Worse than a Howler, I tell you." Yuri remarked quietly to his friends, who tried not to laugh. Snow was in the lead, scanning the floor for any more pressure plates or trap doors, with Yuri and Vlad close behind, looking around for any sign of David or a way out. Shyla was in the rear of the pack, walking calmly through the ruins, wand in her hand and ready for anything that came. As before, they walked for a few minutes before the silence got to them again and they once again began talking excitedly together.
"I'm telling you guys. You have it lucky with all the physical education classes." Yuri sighed. "I think nothing could be worse than Herbology class. The other day I had to replant Mandrakes. Talk about awful."
"That's what you get for pulling the geek card." Snow replied with a smile, which vanished as he walked into a cobweb. He cried out and danced around, flinging his arms frantically trying to get it off as his friends laughed at the scene. He shuddered and hugged himself as they continued on.
"Do you think David's okay?" Yuri asked.
"Yeah, you know that guy. Tough as fucking nails." Snow replied.
"Watch your mouth." Shyla said, warning him with her tone.
"Fucking hypocrite." Snow growled. Vladimir clapped a hand on his back as they tried to put a little more distance between her and them.
"So, you guys are friends again then?" Vlad asked. "I mean, you guys were acting like a bunch of girls for a while there." Snow swung at him backhand, but Vlad easily ducked under it with a laugh.
"Well, I am glad." Yuri admitted. "It was weird tip-toeing my way around in conversation."
"For being so smart, David really is a fucking idiot." Snow sighed in irritation. "I don't know why it took him so long to talk to me."
"Every time he tried, you always ran off." Yuri pointed out.
"I could tell by looking at him that all he wanted to do was yell at me." Snow replied defensively. "I wasn't going to stand there and let him scream at me like that."
"Why not?" Vlad asked brightly. "That's better than what happened in the end." Snow's skin turned slightly pink and he walked without saying anything while they laughed at his expense. "Well, I am glad it worked out this way. Its a whole lot easier in the end." Shyla's arm slid between them, pointing at something.
In front of them, deep in the darkness, was a green light, shining like a star. It wasn't reflecting off of the walls or the floor. It just hung there in space as they continued to walk towards it. The closer they got, the bigger it got, but its shape did not change in the slightest. It looked like hundreds of thin creatures were running past it. Snow put his fingers to his lips and indicated that they needed to remain quiet. They walked as quietly as possibly, but Vlad and Yuri were not very adept at sneaking. Nevertheless, the creatures did not seem to notice them in the least.
Yuri got a good look at what they were. They were vaguely humanoid, almost comprised of shadow. They had just enough substance to block light, but it was like a wisp of cloud before the sun. He had seen them before, early on in the school year in his Defense Against the Dark Arts class. An magical creature that was just beginning to emerge in the world, the Tormentors. For the first time since their appearance, Dementors were not just feeding on humans, but each other. No one knows how it began, or how the first Tormentor appeared, but after the Fall of the Dark Lord, they began to appear in northern towns where the Sun disappeared for months at a time. Somewhere in that cold darkness, Dementors were not old breeding freely, some were feeding on each other in such a way that they absorbed each others essence. Lately, they had been getting braver and began attacking Muggle cities in daylight, and the Ministry was having a hard time covering it up. The Muggles were saying it was some kind of virus being spread by mosquitoes that was making people sick and killing them. Yuri shuddered to think about what would happen if they noticed they were there. Their souls being devoured would be the least of their problems then.
Yuri stiffened as something hard pressed into the small of his back.
"Avada Kadavra!" A jet of green light struck Yuri from behind, pushing him forward a bit, and he fell into the stream of Tormentors, who cried out in a long, horrid shriek in delight as they began to feast upon his flesh, biting into his dead flesh with long rotted teeth.
David paused as he heard a loud shriek echoed through the dark tunnel. It sent cold chills down his spine and made the darkness more foreboding. If Evangeline heard it as well, she said nothing, but swam in place behind him quietly. David could hear Castiel's labored breathing behind them. He was struggling to keep up with his injuries, but he did not complain or ask for them to slow down.
"Did you hear that?" David asked quietly.
"No, nothing." Evangeline replied after listening a moment. "Why?" What did you hear?"
"I dunno." He admitted. "It was like a scream or something."
"The dark is just playing tricks on you." Castiel said, trying to catch his breath. "Come on. We need to keep moving. Sitting here isn't going to do us any good." David nodded in agreement and turned to continue swimming through the dark corridor. It was barely small enough for them to swim through, pushing themselves forward with their hands and feet, they had to turn their heads to talk and breath because the water went just up to their noses when facing forwards.
David was shaking violently again. He was not a big fan of tight spaces, and the tightness of the tunnel was getting to him. He kept bumping into the walls, and each time it felt like they were getting closer and closer to him. His arms and legs were sore and aching because he could not extend them fully as they swam. To make things worse, it was completely black in front of him. Their source of light was floating lazily behind them, occasionally providing a glimpse of the tunnel ahead when someone's body was not obstructing it.
"I seriously don't like this." David said, turning onto his back to float for a little bit. His nose was touching the cold, mossy rock wall of the tunnel. It did not help him relax.
"I don't know. I'm having the time of my fucking life back here." Castiel remarked. He cried out in pain as Evangeline's foot caught him in the head. "That's supposed to be a complement-OW!" He cried out as she kicked him again.
David felt himself move. The stone began to slowly slide across his nose painfully. To make sure he was not imagining it, he reached out and touched it with one finger. His finger dragged across the rocks.
"We're moving." David said quietly, almost not believing it. There were a few splashes of water as they shifted themselves in the water.
"He's right." Castiel replied. "There's a current." The rock was pressing into David's nose, forcing him to turn his face away. His fears were creeping into his senses, overruling his sense of judgment.
"The tunnel is getting smaller." He whimpered fearfully.
"You don't know that." Evangeline replied, her hand squeezing his ankle, trying to comfort him.
"No. No-no-no-no-no-no. No, I'm sure of it. I can feel it getting closer all around me."
"David." Castiel said warningly, but David was breathing heavily and frantically pushing at the rocks all around him, trying to find a way out. The quick movements caused a lot of noise, but also propelled him down the tunnel at a faster rate. His splashing caused water to rise up and into his nose. He immediately flashed back to when he had nearly drowned and lost control. David began screaming in terror, slamming himself against anything he could to try and find a way out. His thrashing caused him to occasionally inhale more water, further propelling him into madness.
"DAVID! CROWLEY! CROWLEY, LISTEN TO ME!" Castiel was screaming as they tried to catch up to him. "FOR FUCK'S SAKE CROWLEY, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN TO ME!" David managed to stop and hug himself long enough for Evangeline to grip his ankle and pull herself closer.
"David. David, are you okay?" She asked, patting his leg rapidly in concern.
"He might be in shock." Castiel said to her. "Just try to help him relax." David bumped his head against the rock wall. It was only a few inches away now.
"This isn't good." Evangeline said fearfully. Castiel said nothing, but was thankful that no one could see the look of concern on his face.
David turned over in the water and began pulling himself forward with his hands. He wanted out of there as fast as he could. The tunnel walls got closer the faster the current got. They were descending down a slope, and the rough stone began smooth and even. David no longer had move to maneuver as the tunnel walls crept closer and closer to his back and chest. There was a long scrape, and then, with a sudden lurch, he came to a stop. He was stuck, the rock pressing against his rib cage. Evangeline crashed into him without warning, pushing him even further. Then, when Castiel slammed into Evangeline, David was pushed so far he cried out in pain as he felt skin tear underneath his wet armor. The cry of pain released air from his lungs, and the water pushed him even deeper, pushing on his lungs, so that David could only take shallow breaths.
"Crowley?" Are you alright?" Castiel groaned. David was unable to answer. His lungs would not fill up with enough air to call out in reply.
"He's stuck." Evangeline said, tugging on his legs.
"That's not the worst of our problems." Castiel replied. David could feel the water level rising up his body. "Crowley, can you see if the tunnel gets any wider up ahead from where you are?" Wheezing, David extended his left arm and barely managed to gasp out, "Lumos". The air that escaped his lungs caused his torso to shrink just enough to be pushed deeper into the crevice, making it nearly impossible to breathe. He squeezed his eyes shut to try and block out the immense pressure on his ribcage, threatening to crush his lungs. Someone grabbed his legs and pulled on them, trying to get him to wedge free. He could hear them speaking, but it was garbled. The water was several feet deep now, and they had to dive down to try and pull him free.
When he opened his eyes, it was to the stinging pain from the globe of light. It floated quietly a foot or two away, right next to a stone ledge. He could feel fresh air blowing across his damp face and could practically smell freedom. He kicked away the hands grabbing his legs. They tugged on his pant leg again, but David kicked again to make sure they got the point.
He thought it through to make sure he understood the risks. If he exhaled all the air out of his lungs, he would be able to squeeze himself further, maybe even to the ledge. But, if the tunnel was too thin, he would be stuck and unable to inhale with no possible way of escape. He could not think of any spells that would make this process easier. He remembered seeing a spell about making objects frictionless, but he had never bothered to look at the spell itself to try and learn it.
Slowly, as calmly as he could, he exhaled all the air he could and became as limp as the situation would allow. The water pushed him across the rock slowly, rubbing against his armor and pressing against his torn skin, which caused him to cry out silently. The pain caused him to try and inhale, but by then, he no longer had enough space to fill his lungs. Desperately, his body tried again and again to fill his lungs with air even though his brain was struggling to regain control. It wasted precious energy and time as well.
He slid his fingers over the ledge and pulled. His body slid painfully for another foot before getting pinched between to rocks again. He was dangling freely over a large precipice to his shoulders, but his chest was stuck. The angle made it hard to get any proper leverage to try and push himself free, and he was unable to breathe. His ribs throbbed and creaked, threatening to snap. On the bright side, he thought, if his ribs broke, he would be able to slide free and breathe again.
His arms flung wildly, despair clouding his thoughts as everything started to get dark. At first, it was just the edges of his vision, but soon everything clouded over as his flailing slowed. Once again, he thought himself, 'You are about to die of oxygen deprivation. Twice in one day. Fantastic.' There was a large lurch and he popped free as something slammed into his legs. He slid over the edge and began to fall through empty nothingness, taking deep ragged drags of delicious air.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Evangeline shouted from above him. His foggy mind dimly recognized the sharp rocks at the base of the waterfall a few feet from where he hung limply in the air. He slowly turned himself so he could see her and gave her a tired thumbs up. Castiel's head popped out from waterfall, obvious pain lancing through his good looks. Evangeline saw this and proceeded to set David down in the water gently before helping him get free.
While he caught his breath, David floated on his back and looked around the large cavern. It was extremely tall, and almost cylindrical in shape, like a massive hollowed out tower in the rock. He lit his wand and looked around with it, shining it everywhere he could. Something about the structure bother him. It did not look right. There were horizontal shelves carved into the wall that formed an upward spiral up the shaft. It all lead up to a veil of light near the top. The veil looked like it was made of light, but it did not provide very much of it. Barely enough to see, in fact.
There was a bright orange flash of light that lit up the entire chamber for an instant. He bobbed as Castiel splashed into the water close by, hitting the water upside down. Above him he could hear Evangeline's sharp intake of breath as she winced. Castiel's head burst from the water as he took a breath, steam rising from his clothes and hair. Neither of them had been expecting him to drop, nor had they expected her levitation spell to cause him to suddenly burst into flames.
"Sorry." Evangeline said in a tiny voice. Castiel just glowered, but he motioned that she could come down anyway. David frowning, having an extremely hard time keeping the smile off of his face. Something must have given him away as his head was dunked underwater before he could react. He turned over as he floated back up, and immediately began trying to rocket the water from his stinking sinuses. Castiel was still glowering, but his eyes betrayed him. Evangeline gently slid herself into the water and swam over to them.
"This water feels disgusting." She grouched, rubbing two fingers together.
"Because it's basically the sewage drain." David replied. "All the rain water that runs through the castles gutters and the irrigation trenches must end up here." Evangeline made a disgusted face, but she said nothing besides a small, "I'm going to need a shower after this."
"There's a twig in your hair." Castiel pointed at her. David swam across the spacious pool of water until he reached the base of the tower where the grooves began. They were rough and uneven, but a notch had been made for fingers, but they were too narrow for his boots to fit. The worst part was that they were not a uniform distance apart. Some looked to be only a foot apart, but David could see a few that would take a leap to reach, maybe 4 or five feet away.
"A ladder?" Castiel asked.
"I don't think so. I can't fit my foot into it to test it out." David replied. Castiel rolled his eyes and pushed David out of the way.
"It's because your shoes are too thick." Castiel smirked. "I don't think that many of the people who came down here were rich enough to afford that much leather for a shoe. My sneakers barely fit."
"Do we have to do this barefooted?" Evangeline wondered.
"You won't." David sighed. "Your feet are small enough. Castiel and I will have to carry ours to the top."
"Oh goodie." Castiel chirped. "And the rocks look jagged enough to tear our feet apart, you always take me to the nicest places."
"You're more than welcome to swim back up the tunnel and wait for the others." David said, arching an eyebrow to match the small smile on his lips. Castiel narrowed his eyes slightly, but a small smile cracked his glower. Castiel pulled off his shoes and tied the laces together, then threw them over his shoulders.
"Try to keep up." Castiel remarked as he gripped the highest step and began climbing.
"Shouldn't be too hard, but I don't want to look up at your ugly ass." David retorted. "Evangeline, you go next."
"So you can ogle at my butt the entire climb? I think not." She replied defensively.
"Wouldn't be that bad, I promise." David said.
"Absolutely not." She said defiantly.
"So, you want be to climb above you? What if you fall?" David wondered. Evangeline's eyes glinted with a bit of temper for a second before she jabbed him in the chest with her finger. It felt like a metal prod spearing him in the ribs.
"David Crowley, I am not some delicate flower for you to defend." She said heatedly. "I am than able to take care of myself."
"I was just trying to be safe." David said defensively, but quieted as soon as she pointed her wand at him.
"Climb." She ordered, motioning for the ladder.
"Are you sure?" A jet of violent orange flame rushed past his face, its blistering heat causing David to flinch defensively.
"Climb, or the next one will take out your eyebrows." Evangeline said, jerking her head to the ladder again. This time, David silently gripped the nearest handhold, and began climbing as fast as he could. Below him, Evangeline smiled to herself and muttered, "Yeah, you better run. Although, I do have to admit, you have a really cute butt." David felt his face and ears heat, but tried to climb a bit faster. Castiel had put a lot of distance between them while they sat bickering. He was moving with the speed and grace of a professional rock climber. David guessed it must have been the results of several years of training at Trinity Academy. In less than a year, David's body was beginning to become rock solid and he was in the best shape of his life, but even with his strong body and training, he was beginning to tire trying to keep up with Castiel's blazing speed. When faced with a gap he could reach across, he would coil himself up, and leap up to it without an ounce of hesitation. Thirty feet up, David's sense of heights kicked back in and he was beginning to feel the tingle of fear crawling around inside of him.
There was a rush of air and something whipped past David so quick that he could hear it ripping the air. Alarmed, he looked up and saw Castiel looking down at him.
"What was that?" Castiel called out, his voice barely audible through the distance. David looked down and saw a body floating in the water face down. Evangeline was looking up at him, her face white with fear.
"I dunno. I'll check it out." David called back. "Keep climbing!" He turned back down to Evangeline and added, " You keep climbing too, okay?" She nodded quietly and David slid himself aside so she could pass him by. When she was clear, he released his grip and tilted horizontally over the water. His stomach lurched to his back and flopped around, then he pulled himself into a dive and penetrated the water surface. Bubbles surrounded him and he floated back to the surface to investigate the body.
David felt a cold hand gripping his heart with anxiety. For a few seconds, he just floated there staring at the corpse. It was a boy, he knew this as much just by glancing at the body, but the only people that should be down here were his friends. The head and legs were underwater, and just the back was above the surface. The uniform prevented him from identifying who it was. Slowly, he got closer and nudged him, hoping there would be some kind of response. David spotted a black blemish on his back like a small burn where a spell struck him. He could not identify what spell was used. It could have been a Stunning Spell, and he just fell off the edge. Any way he looked at it, one of his friends were dead and the rest were in serious danger. His hand was shaking when he reached under the surface and hefted the dead body onto its back.
David saw the face and immediately freaked out, swimming back to the ladder and began climbing again. The face, frozen permanently in pain and horror, had been horribly ravaged. Massive pieces had been missing from it, as well as most of the rest of the body. Something had devoured most of the torso and groin, and enough of the face had been left for it to be seared into his mind's eye. David had managed to catch one other detail about Yuri's dead body. Someone had killed him point blank from behind, meaning that the killer was someone he trusted.
His guts were twisting themselves into knots as he continued to ascend. There were feelings he had never dealt with before, and he could not bear thinking about who had done that to Yuri. He kept seeing Yuri's face while we was still alive. Images, moments they had spent together in the Cafeteria. Laughing, smiling, always positive and happy. Hot tears heated the chilled skin of his face and blurred his vision, forcing him to stop and wait for them to clear enough for him to continue.
He forced himself not to look up. He did not want Castiel or Evangeline to see his face, the situation he was in. It would be too embarrassing, and he did not think he could handle that too well at the moment. He made sure to climb at a clean and easy pace that would prevent him from catching up to the others before the summit. The entire time, there was one question that blurred in his thoughts again and again.
Snow, Vlad, or Shyla?
