Remember last chapter when I said I was going to get back to replying to reviews? I lied... I'm not quite ready to get back into that yet because I'm still not 100%, so consider that last blob of replies a little treat for you all for being the most amazing reviewers ever. Seriously, though, you guys got me up to being the 4TH MOST REVIEWED story on all of of PLL FanFiction. Out of almost 5,000 fics. Like... that's incredible. Now let's see if you all can get me up to number 1 ;) okay, I'll strike a deal: get me up to at least 2nd place by the end of this story, and I'll come up with a prize. I haven't thought of it yet... send me your ideas!
On a heavier note... before you guys start reading this next chapter, I'm going to warn you here: it is creepy. REALLY creepy. I got chills just WRITING it, and at several points I had to just STOP WRITING because it was freaking me out so much. Just the context of it all... it had to be done, of course, but putting it into action really REALLY wore me out. Just prepare yourselves is all I'm saying. Also, if you guys don't review after I gave myself nightmares for several nights writing this chapter, I'm gonna be really upset. REVIEW YOUR FACES OFF PRETTY PLEASE!
"Everyone! Attention everyone! You have to leave!"
Emily and Hanna scoured the grounds of Hogsmeade, trying to find all the students and send them off, but no matter how hard they tried, no one would listen. Who was going to listen to a bunch of teenagers telling them that a new Dark Lord had arisen?
No one.
Suddenly, a loud whistle was heard, and everyone covered their ears as they looked up to the sky, where the sound had come from. On top of one of the cottage roofs, Paige McCullers stood her ground firmly, taking in a large breath as she filled her lungs with air, preparing for her upcoming speech.
"Everyone, listen up!" she boomed. "Unless you want to die today, drop your Honeydukes nougat and evacuate! I need some of you going this way - " She then pointed to the right, toward Hogsmeade station, where the next train was about to load. "And I need some of you going that way!" She then pointed to the post office. "Either way, spread out! Don't try to band with your friends, just get the hell out!"
Everyone paused, looking up at her in confusion, but that just got her even more riled up. "Didn't you hear me? Did I stutter? DON'T JUST STAND THERE! Unless you want to be killed by the Heir of Slytherin who's after anyone who tries to get in her way, leave! NOW!"
Finally, all the witches and wizards in sight started taking her instructions. They fled every which way, bumping into each other as they did so, finally realizing how serious the situation truly was.
No one would listen to a bunch of teenagers telling them that a new Dark Lord had arisen. That is, unless one of those teenagers was Paige McCullers.
While this all was happening, Paige just smiled smugly as she got down on her butt, slid down the groves of the roof, and leaped down to the ground where Emily and Hanna were standing.
Emily blinked twice, not knowing how else to react. "That was... impressive."
At the sight of Emily, Paige softened. Her smug smile transformed into one of warmth as she reached up to prop her hand on Emily's shoulder. "You know there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you, right?"
Emily nodded her head, able to tell that Paige really meant that. "Yeah. I do."
"So what, do we board the train?" Hanna asked nervously.
"Spencer and Aria are still in the castle," Emily reminded her, shaking her head. "We have to find them and get out of here."
"I already talked to Spencer," Paige interjected. "She's not leaving."
"Well then we're not either," Hanna said firmly, reaching for Emily's hand. As Emily squeezed Hanna's hand back, she realized the gravity of this situation.
Over the past seven years, the girls had grown closer as friends, finding newer and newer ways to bond with each other. But this year especially, they had become more than just that.
They had become a family. And family meant nobody was left behind, or forgotten. There was no way they would leave Spencer and Aria behind, or any of their friends, and there was no way they would forget them, either.
They were all in this together.
"I'm so glad you guys said that," Paige breathed, before breaking into a mischievous grin. "Because we have some business to take care of."
"What kind of business?" Emily asked, but before she could even finish her question, Paige pulled three brooms from behind her back, holding them up into the light.
"Quidditch business!"
"No way am I riding a broom," Hanna muttered, but Paige just silenced her with her hand.
"The other one is for Caleb," she explained. "I snagged them from Sprintwitches since there won't be enough time to get ours from the dorms."
"Why do we need these?" Emily asked.
"Spencer thinks Melissa got here by flying car," Paige explained in a hushed tone, contrasting greatly to the hum of frenzy around her. "It's somewhere around the school, and we need to find it. Now c'mon!"
"Wait! What do I do?" Hanna asked frantically.
Paige whipped around. "Go talk to McGonagall. Some students didn't go to Hogsmeade. We need to evacuate the school, too!"
With that, Paige darted ahead, weaving her way through the crowd of wizards going in the opposite direction, at top speed of course. Hanna and Emily stared after her in shock, and, despite the danger that she knew she was in, Emily found herself smiling.
She knew whom she had chosen.
Meanwhile, on school grounds, Spencer took a long, quick stride down the corridor, making sure to move quickly so that she didn't lose track of Melissa. Granted, she didn't know where Melissa was quite yet, but she felt she was getting closer. It wasn't like Melissa to just leave. She'd want to stand around and gloat about it, Spencer just knew it!
Suddenly, Spencer stopped in her tracks. She would've kept going, but something made her blood run cold, rendering her unable to move, almost as though she were paralyzed herself.
A disembodied, sinister voice rumbled throughout the corridor, and if Spencer looked closely enough, she'd be able to see the walls start to shake.
Ignoring the chills shooting straight up her spine, Spencer inched her way over to the wall, pressing her ear against it.
Come... CLOSER.
Spencer froze. This was the same voice that she had heard in her dream.
This was the voice of the Basilisk.
Come... CLOSER.
Keeping her hands pressed against the wall as she did so, Spencer followed the Basilisk's request. But as she started moving forward, the mysterious voice started muttering something else. She stopped moving as she listened in.
And kill. KILL.
No sooner had Spencer stopped moving than she had started back up again.
KILL. KILL.
Spencer then disconnected herself from the wall as the voice grew louder and louder.
KILL. KILL.
She raced to the stairwell, stomped her way down the steps at rapid speed, and leapt to the ground as she broke into a run, following the voice that dripped with a type of evil she never even knew existed.
KILL. KILL. KILL.
After running for several minutes, Spencer halted to a stop, holding her hand out against the wall beside her as she caught her breath, trying to stop her heart from exploding out of her chest. But as she tried to quell her heavy breathing, the voice changed again.
Come... CLOSER.
Afraid to go against the Basilisk's wishes, Spencer stepped forward, continuing to do so until the Basilisk told her to stop.
It never did.
Closer. CLOSER.
Spencer kept walking forward, not daring to do so much as blink for fear of getting attacked by something. Anything. But when she reached the girls' bathroom, she stopped.
Of course. The Basilisk was leading her to the Chamber.
It was leading her to her sister.
It's like hide-and-seek, Spencer thought grimly as she marched into the bathroom. She and Melissa used to always play hide-and-seek when she was little. But that's good.
I always win.
"Oh, it's you again," Myrtle moaned as she remained suspended in the air, in front of window near the ceiling. Spencer ignored Myrtle as she made her way over to the snake-engraved sink tap.
"Not now, Myrtle," she snapped. "I'm in the middle of something."
"Well, well," Myrtle said testily. "Looks like determination runs in the family."
Spencer then felt surprisingly cold breath on her ear, and realized Myrtle had floated down so that she was directly next to Spencer. "Just make sure you use that determination correctly, unlike your sister."
Spencer's heart suddenly sank as she realized the connotation behind Myrtle's words. She suddenly realized what she was dealing with. Who she was dealing with.
Her sister was the Dark Lord.
Her sister. Was the Heir of Slytherin.
Her sister had betrayed her, gone against her, gone against the entire wizarding world, just to get what she wanted.
Spencer thought back to all of the times she and Melissa had fought. It would be over something stupid, something petty, and while Spencer always resisted the urge to slap her, while it crushed her heart every time her parents took Melissa's side, she knew deep down that there was love behind it all. That deep down, Melissa would do anything for Spencer, and Spencer would do anything for Melissa.
But that was all wrong. None of that was true, and Spencer knew that now.
Melissa was pure evil. And if she had to kill Spencer, she probably would.
Kill. KILL.
Pushing these thoughts aside, Spencer knew this wasn't the time to feel sorry for herself. It was time to end this.
Taking a deep breath, she said it.
"Open."
Well... THAT was cheerful. I snuck in a couple of references: one from the show, and one from one of my all time favorite Disney movies on the planet, Lilo & Stitch. If no one gets it, I'm gonna be really mad, because it's basically the THEME of the movie. But don't make the references a priority if you can't get them, guys. Let me know what you thought of this chapter! Spencer is about to enter the Chamber, which makes way for a world of emotion and action that will make your head explode. Can't wait for you all to read it, and I'll see you on the other side!
