So, university has ended for the summer! Woot, that's right it's time to party to fuck down and have a whole wack of great (not just good) but GREAT times! I've begun to make a bucket list, one of these things on the list is; go to bars, and take advantage of being young and 'womanly' haha. Or so I've been told thats to GO on my bucket list from my friends. I hope you all have your own bucket lists too, and I hope you all make the most of the summer months to come!
Anyways, enough about me and my gawking over summer, lets get onto the story, shall we?
Chapter 53:
The Serpent's Prophecy
Can't move... don't want to. It'll make it real. "Oh god," I breathed out; it was all I could bring myself to say. There were no sounds to hear other than the beating drum of my heart and the steely cry which rang through my mind, over and over again. What had just happened? What where – who where those... things? . . .
Moody had finally caught up to me... I could see his shadow cast upon the moonlit forest floor in front of me. Suddenly his wand illuminated the clearing; leaving nothing in the darkness. My eyes raked the across the fallen leaves, stones and dirt finally coming to rest upon my fallen wand; I could have laughed at the irony, it was nothing more than a mere foot away, directly in front of me.
He pulled me off the ground and I stood there in limply; still in shock of what I'd witnessed...
"We should... we should search the forest – they can't have gone far," my voice sounded like an echo of myself, as if I had no control over my words... spilling out without a thought. "I have to find her."
He shook his head. "No boy," he growled. "They won' 'ave stayed a moment after; where ever they've gott'n to 'is nowhere near here. I promise you that."
"Then what do you expect me to do?" I yelled, rounding on him. I could feel the blood running through my veins, my shoulders and hands shaking with shock and anger. "I can't just leave without knowing something; anything!"
"We'll go ta' Dumbledore – He's needin' to know that a student's been taken from Hogwarts," grabbing me by the arm he pulled me from the clearing and up to the gravel path. "This shouldn't 'ave been possible; the schools' at risk now."
"The school?" I scoffed as I stumbled after him. "I don't give a damn about the school's reputation or Dumbledore's for that matter! I just need to know what happened so I can do something about it!"
"You're just a child in the matter; this is out of all of your hands, there's nothing you can do. So who do you think will help you?" He rounded on me furiously. "Dumbledore's the only man who can make this right. We'll go ta' him and he'll find out what mysteries 'ave been hidin' in the shadows of his forest."
When we entered the grand old office the head master stood with his back to the door, petting Fox the Phoenix and muttering to him softly. He turned a quizzical eye towards us but when his gaze landed upon me his expression hardened. No doubt figures I've done something to break the 'thin thread' I'd been walking on these past few weeks...
"Ah, Alastor... Mister Frost; what brings you here at this hour?" He asked smoothly. "I was under the impression you had detention to attend to this evening, is this part of your schedule for such a thing Alastor?"
His mannerism always had a way of bothering me; for such a powerful wizard he seemed to make everything into a simple annoyance or interruption... he may have been one of the good guys but he was manipulative, you could see it in his eyes when he would stare down at you. Moody stepped forwards; silencing me before I could speak my mind. "A girls' been tak'n Albus," he said.
"A girl?" Now he was interested, well at least there's that. He took of his glasses, folding in their thin arms and placing them down upon oak desk. "One of the students?"
"Yes," Moody replied, limping forwards. "Goes by the name Liz Martin, I believe she's in the Gryffindor house?"
"Yes," Dumbledore replied. "I recall her and her friend from last year's Halloween celebration. Spirited little one am I right?"
"I wouldn't know Albus; mind you, she does have a knack for speaking her mind in class."
Where they going to stand there and discuss fuzzy bunnies next or were they going to get to the impending circumstance? If Mad Eye didn't say something soon; about the forest, the shadows... about Liz just disappearing into the darkness with those things for good... well then I'd have to speak up whether the head Master approved or not.
"When did this happen, Alastor?"
I finally jumped in. "We were in the forest; I was tending to my detention duties when someone took off past us; we ran after them Sir. It turned out to be Liz... but someone else had been with her I think. . . I never found out who. There was this a clearing you see, and these... shadows with glowing eyes..? Then she was gone and so where they. Head Master please, I know that you disapprove of me and my house for whatever reason, but I need your help Professor Moody said you were the only one that could help her," I spoke so fast that my words began to jumble up, but he appeared to have understood me.
Stepping around his desk he advanced towards me and placed a kind hand on my shoulder as he bent down to look me in the eyes; "Jason Frost I do not disapprove of you; you are a bright young man, believe me I know better than most and can attest to that fact. Nor do I disapprove of your house; many great Wizards have come from the very house in which you reside. Do not mistake my worry for your future as punishment for who you are; I just wish to see you develop into the wizard I know you can be... and that which this Miss Elizabeth seems to believe you to already be."
I wasn't sure what to say; he didn't hate me? Well, that was news to my ears, but... I welcomed it nevertheless. "She's gone Sir. And," I chanced a glance at Moody who now stood off in the back of the room. "Her father was killed this year by the Death Eaters during their attack at the Quidditch World Cup. I don't know why or how but they've marked her entire family especially her and somehow... in some twisted way this all links back to me. Please, if you know anything...?" My voice trailed off as I looked into his sympathetic gaze. "I just... if this is somehow because of me, if I was somehow the cause for all this destruction and disruption in her life... I'd just - I'd never be able to live with myself if she was hurt. I need to find her before anything happens..."
"Indeed," he said as he stood up straight once again, looming over me with his height as he swept his way back to his files. "You are right to fear; I know more than you would care to... but I agree Miss Martin is in grave danger."
I stood rooted to the spot; this made it all the more real... all the more complicated. Was she actually gone? All I could think was how, in any normal situation like this I would go to her, confront her for her opinion in such situations... and now... now I had nowhere to turn to... she was gone and I had no way of knowing where to. "Will you help me?"
He looked up at me so suddenly I could have mistaken his reaction as alarm. "Of course my Boy. Of course; she is a student of my school is she not? And I am her care taker whilst she resides here within these walls; it is my job and duty to make sure all of my students return home safely and... intact."
I nodded stiffly. "What now?"
"Tell me, both of you," he said, sitting down. "Exactly what you saw."
"Better yet," Moody said. "The boy can show us both." He moved aside to reveal a pedestal on which a shimmering silver bowl sat atop.
"Of course," Dumbledore breathed. "The pensieve will show us everything there is to know about these... shadows of which you speak."
Apprehension once again seeped into my mind...
I stood outside the Hufflepuff common room; there had been no sign of life on either side of the entrance – apart from myself of course. I turned to one of the paintings which hung high to my right upon the wall. "So... there is absolutely no way for you to go beyond this entrance and get someone to come out and speak with me?" I asked.
Dumbledore had asked me to leave – much to my disapproval - while he and the teachers met to discuss the evening's events and the course of action which might follow.
"Well you see," the women in the painting replied tossing her hair dramatically. "I simply cannot do that."
I waited for a reason, but she never gave one; simply smiled, waved and went back to tending to her painted garden. Growling 'diva' under my breath I knocked on the wall more feverishly than before and finally someone emerged.
"Oh," the girl said a shocked and uncertain look upon her pale face. "You're Jason Frost aren't you?" She asked, I rolled my eyes and bit my tongue – as much as I wanted to snap impatiently at the raven haired girl I knew I should not. "What brings you here... you know it's quite late and the rules say that –"
Alas; I gave up on holding my tongue. "Look," I said in a rush. "Is Lisa Hartl around – actually no... if she's asleep wake her; it's important. Tell her it can't wait and that it's... just tell her it's an emergency."
With a nod she reluctantly withdrew herself from the corridor and, not more than a moment later immerged with Lisa hot on her heals. "What's going on," Lisa said groggily as she hopped up and down on one foot, struggling to stuff a sock over the other; obviously just woken up. "Do you realise it's nearly midnight Jas..." her voice died as she met my eyes... I didn't know what she saw but whatever it was it caused her to done the same worried expression as her raven haired companion. "What's happened?"
Suddenly I found I couldn't speak; my throat felt like it was closing up. I gently took her by the elbow and led her away from the curious eyes and ears of her housemates. Her eyes where wide now, with fear and confusion; no doubt she sensed the emotional battle which raged within me. "Liz," I said, my voice shaking a little, I took a moment to regain composure. "Liz was taken." I managed.
I bit my lip until I could taste blood; my thoughts zeroing in on the pain rather than the emotional roller coaster of my mind.
"What do mean 'taken'," she pleaded. "Where was she taken, who was she taken by?"
"I don't know, Dumbledore and the teachers are trying to figure some stuff out... they said I should notify her family... but I don't know how to get in contact with her family because they've gone into hiding... and so I came to you because I know that to her you are family," my eyes where watering by this point, I blinked quickly and glanced away from her. Over the years Lisa and I had gotten along only because Liz was a mutual friend but telling her, telling anyone was so much harder than I could ever have imagined.
She sputtered a bit, dumbfounded by the news. "Well, I – I... she told me that you'd said her family was in danger but... neither of us actually thought anything was going to happen. You don't – you don't think this is a part of the Slytherin's scheme do you?"
I shrugged, unable to find my voice... afraid that if I spoke again I would break.
"This is too dark, Jason," she continued, trying to reason with herself. It no longer felt like she was talking to me. "They wouldn't sink this low... Nicole would never... they're just – they're all just a bunch of kids, right?"
Swallowing hard and taking a deep, shaky breath I prepared to answer. "They – I think they where responsible for her father's murder this summer," her expression turned mortified. "They didn't actually do the killing... but they may have... tipped someone off and somehow that 'tip' lead to his death. So, no, I wouldn't underestimate them if I were you."
"No," she uttered. "No, I suppose not." Turning to the raven haired girl behind her she muttered a small thanks and asked that the news not be passed on. "Jason," she said awkwardly. "She is right about you, you know. You aren't like the other Slytherins at all."
"It's not like I've given her much reason to think so in the last few weeks..."
"What makes you say that," she asked as the door closed and she sat on the steps ahead of me.
I sighed. "Everything... I've been so distant with her... I've been lying to her – and I think she found out; what must she think of me now, unable to be there for her, unable to talk to her while she was here...?"
"Jason, Liz thinks the world of you. She loves you and it doesn't matter what you do because she's always loved you, I think. You two are like two peas in a pod, you'll always be beside one another, always be together."
"And yet," I said. "I may never see her again... and the last thing she saw me do was practicing the dark arts..."
Stiffening, Lisa's composure broke as she eyed me suspiciously for a moment. "What're you learning the dark arts for?"
I swallowed hard. "This isn't the time for accusations, let's just say I'm learning them for a reason and leave it at that."
"Fine," she said. "But she wouldn't care – if I know Liz at all then I know she'd pretend to care, but deep down your still her favourite person in the world and right now I promise you that's what she's holding onto... wherever she is."
"Nothing?" I growled. "How can you know nothing?"
"Frost, hold your tongue and sit down," Snape hissed. "You are privileged to be here in the first place, this council is not made for children."
Seething I scanned the blank faces in the room; how could they know nothing? How could they not have found anything out yet?
"Mister Frost," Barty Crouch Sr. said, pushing to the front of the group of teachers who stood ahead of me. "Might we simply put this aside while we tend to the tournament? Dumbledore is doing all he can and –"
"Put it aside," I was so utterly shocked by his flippant behaviour to the situation that I could not yet feel the anger which would inevitably seethe within. "How can you say that, like... like it's a report or paper to be written? This is a girl's life, Liz's life which could be at stake and you want your bloody tournament to gain priority?"
"Well, no – that isn't quite – I think you've missed my point mister Frost. What I mean – what the real issue is that..." his flustered speech drifted off as Dumbledore excused himself, interjecting upon Crouch's behalf.
"I believe that Miss Martin will take our full priority but the school must continue as usual and in this case that too means that the Tournament mustn't be delayed. I assure you my staff and I are doing all that is within our power to uncover this dark mystery of ours, which has gotten all of our emotions running so high," he turned to the board of staff and Crouch. "But now, we must head down to the lake and ensure that everything there goes safely and as planned. If you'll excuse us Jason, and I do hope you will find it in yourself to join in the festivities of the tournament...?"
They filed out, leaving me standing alone in the teachers' room... how could I go down to such a thing and face my housemates? Or even Liz's friends – when I had been forewarned I should not tell them of her absence. I had only told Lisa because of their close relationship... and for the simple fact that I had to tell someone.
Now, as I stood here... the morning after, with no sleep or food in my system I felt weaker than I had in years. Yet again, I found myself wondering how I could ever have let this happen.
I'd run over the sequence of events in my mind at least a million times, and in each one I'd thought of a way I could have stopped it... had I not been so shocked... had I not fallen... had I used the curses I'd learned... had I not have been so frightened... maybe if I'd gotten up and run after them, why hadn't I? I could have caught them... I could have saved her before she'd been taken. And, who else had been with her in the woods, who had... brought her to spy on me?
My jaw fell slack as I recalled the visitor she'd had during the Yule Ball... "Kevin," I whispered my voice thick with malice. But – surely he would have been able to fight their assailants off? Unless... unless the damnable vampire son of a bitch was with the shadows that took her?
Swiftly I grabbed my overcoat and took to the halls, heading downwards to the lake which all the students currently surrounded. If he wasn't with her, if he hadn't been with her that night then surely he would be down at the tournament...
Darkness surrounded me as I glanced about my prison. This place; no windows, cold and dank smelt of mildew and rotting wood. . . was it to be my new home now? For how long had I even been here, it felt like nothing more than an hour had passed since I'd been dragged away into darkness . . . and apparently it was a quite literal darkness of which I spoke.
After Kevin, if that was even his real name and the other things dragged me away from the clearing my memories of what happened seemed to have faded... had I passed out, or been knocked unconscious? How'd I ever manage to wind up here – wherever 'here' was..?
Was this what my friendship with the traitor was leading to the entire time? Smuggling me off and throwing me in such a bleak pit of a dungeon?
If this is what it's like to be a Slytherin, living in the basement the whole time then no wonder they're all so bloody miserable!
I heard a clatter of footsteps from above, glancing up I could see cracks in the flooring, whereby the only semblance of light shown through. "What is this place?" I whispered aloud.
"Funny you should ask," gasping I whirled around, coming face to face with the very 'boy' who'd taken me here.
"What've you done? Who are you - really?"
"You know who I am," he responded devilishly, creeping out of the shadows he'd been concealing himself to. "Kevin, your 'dear' school friend."
Backing away I fumbled around in my pockets, my wand where had my bloody wand gone?
"You won't find it. We're not that stupid, you know."
"Right," I straightened up. "But you Kevin are no friend of mine."
"Well, I would hope not," he chuckled, a dangerous smirk playing at his lips. "I mean, really? But the cover worked well enough I suppose, don't you think? After all, you fell right into the master's plan, and it seems he's got everything right where he wants it now... it is only a matter of time until it all... clicks into place."
The distance between the two of us was shrinking as my backward steps faltered. "What're you talking about, what plan?"
"Come now," he said, glancing at the ceiling. "There is enough of a gap for you to see for yourself. It's not like it will matter now... will it?"
My eyes wandered upwards, onto the open cracks in the ceiling... cautiously and whilst still keeping a watchful eye on my assailant I pulled myself up atop a dark wooden barrel to get a better look: above us was a dusty room, full of men and women clad in death eaters masks and garb... in their midst sat a high backed chair but I couldn't get a proper look at what sat upon it.
A cold hand snaked itself around my ankle, and yanked me from my perch. Yelping I tumbled to the dirty floor in a heap, a cloud of dust kicking up around me. "Bastard," I coughed. "You bloody, royal git! How could you! You work for them?"
Scoffing he sat back against the barrel, arms folded across his chest. "You stupid girl, you simply don't get it do you? If wizards rule rather than pesky muggles than we'd all be free, there would be no need for hiding. No one would ever truly be sick, what's so wrong with that?"
"HE is dead. As in kaput, fini; no more," I growled. "And you warped followers of his so obviously have no brains of your own! He would have them all killed! He would have all the impure of us locked away, or worse. You wouldn't gain freedom – if that's what you've all been told then he'd simply said it to win you over, onto his side. But if he'd won you'd all have been wiped out too! You're not part of his race, and so you would have been disposed of as well, don't you get it? He was sick, twisted... insane!"
"You really don't shut up do you?"
Huffing I pushed myself off the ground, glaring into his glowing stare. "You disgust me. And whatever this is it won't work. Jason will find me, I promise you that."
"That's just it though, isn't it? He will find you... and then, well, it will have worked perfectly."
"What?" I uttered, my step staggered, my body froze. "Why...?"
"Shhh," he hushed, leaning forwards. I couldn't move away, he was too close... far too close; I felt his breath on my neck. "And when he does, the master has promised his brothers of the night a little... snack. Until then, my dear... cheerio!"
He turned away, leaving me stumbling after his words as he slammed the cellar door behind him, the lock sliding into place. "Wait!" I screamed. "Kevin! Please, Kevin! Why do you want Jason, what do they want with him?"
He hadn't shown his face at the tournament... So the question was to become; was he too overpowered by the shadows, or had he been one of them?
The nights began to drift into days, the days into nights... and still there was no word from Liz. I'd tried to contact her family, but they too were out of reach. And so I sit here, wondering... raking my brain for a reason, for a clue, alone once again in the library.
Dumbledore had failed to find anything in the forest; there was still no evidence or sign of the events which took place. All he'd told me was that if there'd previously been vampires in the woods they were gone. The centaurs hadn't caught sight of anything, and nor had they seen a vampire in days . . . So I sat here; surrounded by book after book on the vampires, their societies... and still I found nothing that would link her disappearance to the forest or its inhabitants.
The glowing eyes were all I could make sense of, the only thing which pointed to vampires, the only thing which linked Kevin to her abduction. And yet, vampire or not, no trace of the shadows were found... no trail... nothing.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I hadn't seen Lisa walking into the Library or heading towards me. She sat in front of me, and cleared her throat . . . she looked awful; eyes red and puffy, fidgeting constantly... always on edge; I could relate. I could understand her pain, better than anyone else suppose. "Hey," she muttered stiffly. "Any word?"
I shook my head, hair swishing back and forth. "No, nothing. They haven't found anything."
"Oh," drawing a shaking breath she slumped back in her seat, lifting her knees up to her chin, hugging them tightly. "I'm sorry but... people are beginning to ask questions Jason; we have to tell them sometime!"
I nodded, my eyes closing tight. "Right, 'course. It's been a week since... right..."
"I can do it," she said quickly. "Tell them I mean. I can tell the other kids... but I think that some of them should hear it from you too. Luna and her friends in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw I can take care of, even Hermione, Ron and Harry. But – if you want to tell someone there are still Fred and George, they'll need to hear it from someone close to her I think. You're the closest... but I could still do it if you wanted, it wouldn't be too too much trouble..."
"No," I cut her off. "I'll tell them, I'll tell whoever I can... you take care of who ever asks I s'ppose."
"She'll be okay Jason, if it was Kevin... he's not evil, he wouldn't actually hurt her"
"Good thing one of us is an optimist..."
"Oi," someone called after me as I made my way into the dining hall, turning I saw Fred, or George? Jump up from their seat at the long table. "Frost, where's your better half run off to?"
"When he says better," another voice chipped in from a nearby crowd. "He really means it."
"Fred, George," I greeted; god I suppose this was it was it? Off to tell everyone and anyone who asked... so be it. "She's..."
"You know, we're thinking of coming up with something that actually makes a cat grab your tongue. That way when people can't speak, like now..."
"They'll have a reason for it and will be able to honestly say a cat had their tongue!"
"Its genius, it is."
I glance at them both; fools, both of them... how do you tell someone you hardly know that a mutual friend may be gone forever? Or worse... dead? "Well I assure you, it's not a 'cat' . . . but this isn't a good place to talk about this – even the halls are quieter..."
"Good a place as any," Fred chipped in cheerily. "Although if you don't spit it out now,"
Chiming in George finished his sentence with a grin on his face, eyes sparkling with mischief as usual; "We'll be forced to, well, force you to spit it out. We want to know where our schemer has run off too! We need her in exacting one of our plans... but if anyone asks you heard nothing about 'a plan'."
"In fact," Fred continued grinning. "If they ask, we were never here – you heard and saw nothing."
"She didn't run off anywhere," I snapped dryly; I couldn't deal with their attitudes now... I should have had Lisa deal with these two... "She was taken, she's in danger and Dumbledore and the Staff are trying to find out the rest."
"What?" Both of them mirrored each other's reactions, speaking in synch – in all actuality it was really quite an eerie thing to see, that is, if you thought too much about it. "Whata' you mean 'taken'," one asked.
"By whom?" The other pressed.
"Basically," I said, straining to keep my emotions in check as my jaw flexed and clenched, teeth threatening to grind in anger, my hands bawling up into fists at my side. "She was kidnapped, and either Kevin is involved or he too was somehow taken by these... shadow things..."
The twins stood their gaping, completely silenced by my news. We stood there, the three of us, silent as stone long enough to draw attention from those nearby. How long it was, before either of us finally spoke I'm not sure... I'd drifted back into my thoughts again, effectively losing track of the situation.
"Here we thought you where the 'big bad' in her life," Fred muttered, humourlessly. "But all along it was that stupid goth kid... oh if I see him around – ever, I'll be sure to give him a piece of my mind."
"Believe me," George murmured. "Our minds aren't too pretty when they're in this state either..."
I nodded stonily, "Yeah, I'll second that... look, if you want, I'll keep you guys up to date, or... something..."
After a brief nod to the twins I wandered off to the Slytherin's, they'd all been silent as the grave since the incident with Draco, and now it was about a billion times worse; I didn't know what to make of it, in a way their reaction to everything that'd happened was suspicious... but they also might simply be proving to me that they where human and did in fact have those big red muscles we like to call hearts in their cold chests.
I don't know how many days have passed... my body feels weak and so cold. This damp dark prison of mine leaves little to track the time or days with. The only light which I've seen comes from above, the cracks in the thick, old wooden floor boards... but there are no windows here, nothing but concrete walls and floor...
I sat here, hugging my legs in the corner of the room, hidden within the shadows. These shadowed states where not simply outside and around me; my mind was riddled with darkness... "Why am I here," I whispered aloud – the simplistic sound of my own voice was all I'd heard for... I don't even know how long. What do they want, those people, up there above the floors? They're familiar in a way which makes my stomach sick. The way they scheme and talk... it's like they're his but he is dead, gone...
Kevin hadn't returned. After the first night, when he'd brought me to this cage of mine, he'd not come back... leaving me only with that dark thought that somehow, in some twisted fashion, this all linked back to Jason...
"Jason," I whispered for what seemed like the millionth time. What I'd give to see him again... and what I'd give to make sure he'd never fall into this trap... I'd give my all if it took it; to make sure they didn't get what they so obviously wanted, I'd give my life before I let them take him off to this place too.
A million times I'd thought it now; I was there only leverage... but if I was not here... they'd have none.
So I sit here, staring out at the wooden ceiling, at the darkened cracks where light would soon pour through... it must be night. I thought, as my eyes fluttered shut, against the darkness and the cold... gladly accepting the memories of warmth and love that sleep would offer, in hopes of refuge.
It was the first night since that I'd taken time to lay down, the first break I'd taken from plotting, and researching since she'd been taken... my mind had simply not allowed me to sleep, and finally I had chosen to retire to bed, and try and force myself to succumb to the extreme fatigue which plagued me. At long last, as I lay in the darkness, staring at the chiselled ceiling I, finally, fell asleep. . . .
In a dark house my feet moved of their own accord as I stood in the shadows, watching a twisted little man crouch over an old high backed chair. It's back faced me...
"The-the master wants to know, if it is working..?"
Then the twisted little man's eye landed on me, he smirked psychotically and clapped his hands
"At last... he has come back to us..."
I still couldn't move, my limbs held in place, moving upon their own accord... I felt myself smirk ruefully at the man before me. But my movements were not mine...
"Is...it working... worm tail... has he come... home-to-me?" The voice emerged from the chair, sick and wheezing, a coughing fit erupted from it... but I still could not see it.
As my heart began to race, my feet frozen to the ground I heard that echoing scream reverberate though the room, through my mind and through my heart. My eyes, turned from the high backed chair to the floorboards beneath my feet, to the shadows which appeared to... illuminate through the cracks...
The darkened cracks began to shake violently, the house seemed to twist and turn, the sound of old wood protesting to the violent forces which stressed it, weathering it down. And the cracks began to widen; inside I could make out shadows more clearly, separate they where, individuals and so many shadows... and one light... one bright and fiery light which shown pleadingly and valiantly against the engrossing darkness.
"Wormtail, get the boy," a wheezing, coughing voice sputtered and spat. Pulling my eyes and mind back to the room in which I stood, as the floor continued to separate. "He is here Wormtail; alas, the missing piece has been brought back unto its proper place."
That voice, which sounded more like a snake than a man hissed with a slick and yet rough vibrato... and beneath me the shadows still preceded, and that precious light was growing dimmer – dampened by those which it fought...
Spindly hands seemed to grab at my arms, and shoulders, pulling me up... away from the fury raging beneath, as we glided back across the floor, back out of the shadows I'd hidden in; back towards the thing in the chair...
"Jason!" I heard a whisper, so soft it could have been the wind through an autumn forest... the fire; the fiery light was no light! My eyes met the frightened green ones which bore up at me from the growing, stretching cracks underneath us... red hair tousled across the face, liquid red; seeping down her neck... blood.
"Liz!" I called, over and over as I pulled and tried to release myself from the hands which lay upon me, those fingers, which felt as if they were perpetually digging down to the very bone in my arms, into the marrow of my shoulders and neck... "Liz!" I call again...
Nothing is there; hands are gone, the floor fallen away, the walls blown away. My eyes meet the red ones which belong to the thing... it exuded evil; taste it in the air, feel it rise within your lungs... Between fits of coughing laughter circles about in the air, pure sick chaos writhes within... and all around...
I woke with a jolt, a scream on the tip of my tongue; lungs heaving, sweat pouring as I gasped for air. I felt as if I had been drowning, seconds away from death... Rolling over I fell to the floor, I scrambled up, stumbling frantically as I rushed into the washroom, to the mirror and the sink basin. Bracing myself against the edge of the sink, my cold clammy hands gripping its damp rim, I stared into the red eyes which bore back at me in the glassy surface. "No," I breathed, unable to look away... "No; not again." I blinked, but they did not dissipate... burning strong as they stared eerily back, into my core, into my soul. . .
Was that place, that dark room in that old house where she was? Where the shadows were... and where I would be? My eyes still shown red in the darkness as I began to splash water upon my face, into my eyes as it stung with an icy fury. . . Ice... Where were my own icy eyes? What thing was within, staring back through my own . . . Red, red staring back, deep as oceans, liquid; dark as blood. . . "Jeepers, creepers," I murmured. "Where'd you get those eyes?"
AN: REVIEW =D
I hope you have enjoyed this - it was a tough one to write.
