Chapter Seven – Darkness Supreme
A/N: Arrghh, J.K. Rowling, you're killing me here! I neeeed my book 5! Oh well, guess I'll just have to settle for watching the Quidditch scene in the movie over and over and over and over... hehehe. Anyways. Here is chapter 7. It's kind of a trippy chapter, so if you're confused... I am too, and it's my story.
"Cast the pearls aside, of a simple life of need
come into my life forever
the crumbled cities stand as known
of the sights you have been shown
of the hurt you call your own
love is suicide
the empty bodies stand at rest
casualties of their own flesh
afflicted by their dispossession
but no bodies ever knew
nobody's
no bodies felt like you
nobody's
love is suicide..."
***
Kate opened her eyes. She was alone, floating in space, among the stars.
Where am I...
You know where you are. Kate turned, her body twisting and floating in zero gravity. She looked for the speaker. At first, there was no one there... there wasn't anything cloaked in the shadows behind the stars. Then, presently, a shadow began to emerge.
Who are you? Kate asked, but her words came out garbled. The shadow emerged farther.
You know the answer to that, too. The reply came smooth and thick, and the shadow began to take form. Kate could make out legs... long, like her own, and in the same shape.
Why can't I see your face? The shadow's stomach was visible, then breasts, and arms materialized. A graceful neck emerged from the shadows behind the stars, followed by a face.
The face wore a mask- an intricately decorated mask, with elaborate make-up and a painted smile. The eyes behind the mask, however, were menacing.
You can see my face now, can't you?
No... you're wearing a mask.
But this is my real face. Isn't that what you're afraid of? That there really isn't anything behind the smile? If Kate could have jumped back, she would have. How could this... this thing know what she was thinking? Kate was afraid that there wasn't really a face behind that smiling mask.
But you're afraid of more than that, the masked shadow-woman intoned, licking her painted lips. You're afraid there isn't anything behind *your* mask... that this is all you really are. Kate started.
I don't know what you're talking about, she informed the masked woman.
But I think you do. Kate Bell... aren't you afraid that this is all you are? Just a painted, pretty face?
Shut up! I know I'm more than that! I have value! Kate cried out, turning away from the mask. This was... uncanny, unnerving. How could this thing know her fears... the deepest, darkest ones... This woman resembled that tiny voice in the back of Kate's head that whispered that she was worthless, that nothing she ever did mattered.
Ah, I see now. You're afraid you don't have value... that your friends really don't need you. That you just get in the way.
I'm not. I'm not afraid I know they need me.
Really?
... Kate couldn't respond. She felt her body choke up, felt herself unable to say anything to the contrary of what this woman was saying.
You are worthless, Katherine Bell. You're nothing. This entire mission would have been possible without you... you do realize that, don't you? Ohh, you didn't... that's so cute, you thought you were doing good for your cause? Katie, dear... you haven't done anything the others couldn't have done on their own. You've just been getting in the way.
Shut up! That's not true!
Is it? Convince me otherwise. Kate suddenly couldn't remember anything she'd done that was worthwhile... anything at all.
I know I did something, she argued feebly. I know it...
Convincing argument you have there, darling. Face it: You're worthless.
I'm not worthless... I just can't remember, that's all...
You know that's not true. You know they all hate you.
No... Kate curled herself up into a little ball as the harsh taunts rang in her ears.
Worthless scum. Worst type of wizard, did you honestly think you could ever amount to anything? Stupid little girl.
Shut up... shut up... Deep down, Kate knew that what this masked person was telling her didn't make any sense, that these were only her subconscious fears. Still, she couldn't break free of the masked woman's hypnotically destructive voice... so she retreated deep into her own mind, hiding from her fear.
Oliver opened his eyes, then closed them quickly. Heat blasted across his face, and he could feel his eyes beginning to tear. He put one arm out, then the other, trying to feel for something solid. Oliver's feet were buried in sand, but he pulled them out and began to stumble in an unknown direction, arms out in front of him. Finally, after what seemed like hours of stumbling, Oliver's hands touched smooth stone and the harsh, dry winds stopped battering his raw face. Oliver opened his eyes slowly.
He was surrounded by desert nothingness. Yellow sand dunes stretched out for miles on either side of him, only to melt into faded blue skies. The actual horizon line was indistinguishable from land or sky.
Directly in front of him, there was a towering stone rectangle, vaguely resembling a door. The stone was smooth, with no markings on it. Oliver blinked, clearing the sand from his eyes, and began inspecting the stone. He noticed that at the foot of it, there was a hole- just about big enough for him to fit into. Licking his parched lips, Oliver took another brief survey of the land. It was still a long, faceless desert. Oliver looked back down at the hole, then knelt down . He sat on the sand and swung his legs into the cool air beneath the sand's surface, closed his eyes and mouth, and slid down. His feet touched stone and Oliver opened his eyes, wiping sand off his face.
He was in a low-ceilinged cavern. It was pretty big as far as he could tell, with a smooth stone floor. There wasn't much light, but as Oliver strained his eyes it began to get lighter. It was a moment before he realized that the floor was glowing, growing steadily brighter.
As the floor grew brighter, the ceiling began to rise. The golden sand hardened and darkened into a shiny, jet black stone. After a few moments, the ceiling stopped rising and the floor stopped glowing, and Oliver found himself in a square stone room with shiny black stone walls and a glowing floor. As he looked around, he noticed a dark pocket in the corner of the room. Pulling out his wand, Oliver headed towards the corner, muttering "Lumos!" under his breath. He held his wand out towards the dark corner... only to have it knocked across the floor.
"Don't point that thing in my face!" a familiar voice snapped. Oliver stepped back, suddenly scared.
"Dad?" he whispered.
"Don't 'Dad' me!" A tall, menacing figure stepped out of the shadows onto the glowing floor. The man spoke with a heavy Scottish accent and had dark brown hair. Grey streaks grew back from his temples, and his eyes were an angry brown.
"What... what're you doing here?" Oliver asked, instinctively hunching, trying to become a smaller target.
"I'm here to put you on the right track, that's why I'm here!" Mr. Wood barked angrily. "What're you doing, gallivanting about with that bunch? You know how I feel about the Resistance! You should be studying and getting a job in the Ministry!"
"I don't want to work in the Ministry, sir," Oliver said in a small voice.
"What!?" his father barked. "Why the hell not?"
"I... want to play Quidditch... once the war is over, sir," Oliver replied in a small voice.
"Quidditch! That damnfool game is alright to watch, but to play!? Boy, you're out of your mind! You belong in the Ministry, like that Percy Weasley!"
"Percy's dead, dad," Oliver said, sighing. He'd heard this so many times...
Crack! A fist landed on Oliver's jawbone, a class ring cutting a broad red stripe in Oliver's cheek. The force of the punch sent Oliver reeling, and he fell over backwards in surprise.
"You don't speak to me in that disrespectful manner!" Mr. Wood roared. Oliver stared up at his father in horror, his hand going to the bleeding line down his face.
"Do you understand?" Mr. Wood roared, his eyes bloodshot and angry. Oliver was silent, staring up at his father with a touch of defiance and fear in his eyes.
"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Mr. Wood screamed again, his fist raising in a threat. Oliver looked away.
"Yes, sir," he said quietly, pulling his knees in to his chest and hugging them.
"You know what's wrong with you, boy? I'll tell you. You had too much leeway growing up, with your mother around. It turned you into a weakling, you've got no goals, no respectable talents, only thing you can do is play that damned game! Well all that's going to change real soon, boy, because I won't stand for this any longer..."
Oliver tried to drown his father out, but it wouldn't work. Oliver's deepest fears came pouring out of the mouth of the person he had hoped to never see again, and he simply hugged his knees closer to his chest, trying to block his father out...
Jen and Emi opened their eyes at the same time. They were in a gray concrete room with bars on the windows. They looked at each other, clasped hands, and vanished from the room, to reappear back in the tunnel in the dungeons of Voldemort's castle.
Sirius opened his eyes and felt something he had not felt in a long time... the feeling of cold chains against his skin. Thick metal cuffs were attached to his bare wrists and ankles, and a cold chain wrapped its way around his neck. A cold, dark presence filled the room and without looking, Sirius knew what they were.
Dementors.
He was back in Azkaban.
Immediately, little voices began whispering to him, their words like tiny needles pricking at his emotions, ripping them apart slowly. He saw visions of his friends, all dead, lying in pools of their own blood. He felt anything and everything inside him being drained away, and felt a pool of bleakness surround his heart. Sirius closed his shocking blue eyes and fell limp against his chains, feeling overwhelming despair...
...And the chains cracked. Sirius fell onto the floor, and felt something around him shatter. Opening his eyes, he found himself lying on the floor of the tunnel he had been running through with Angelina. The two girls from the Pens... Jen and Emi... were kneeling in front of him, their eyes closed. Both of them were glowing with a strange light. Sirius got to his knees and managed to crawl over to the wall—his legs felt too much like jelly for comfort.
After a few moments, Angelina appeared on the floor. Her eyes jerked open and she gasped, shaking. Sirius reached out and grabbed her shoulders and jumped, startled. She felt like ice.
Before either of them could do anything, Arabella, Rowan and Ron all appeared on the corridor floor. Jen and Emi stopped glowing and opened their eyes. Emi fell backwards, but was caught swiftly by Jen.
"What happened?" Ron gasped, clutching his chest, his eyes wide with panic. "We were running... and then I was... and now I'm back..."
"Just relax," Jen said, supporting Emi. "We were sucked into a "Porta de los Muertos"... a "Door of the Dead", in English. It sucks you in, then finds your deepest fears. It creates something to exploit these fears, and feeds off of them until you die." Jen gently helped Emi get into a sitting position, leaning against the wall. "We saw it, just before we went in. Since we knew how to get out of it, we got you all out too."
"Where's Kate and Oliver?" Sirius wanted to know, still breathing hard.
"They're still in there," breathed Emi. "They went in first and second, and we weren't powerful enough to get them out. We barely managed to get you out. The others were easietr, because they went in later. The Portal's power wanes with each person to go through it, so it was easiest to get the redhead out."
"How are we going to get them out?" Angelina asked, shivering. Sirius propped her up and slipped off his cloak, then gently wrapped it around her shivering body.
"They have to break most of the spell themselves, then we can finish it off," Jen replied quietly. "There's no guarantee they'll break it enough for us to be able to do anything."
"Can we monitor it or something?" Sirius growled. "Any way to tell if they're getting close to breaking it?"
"Emi already is," Jen replied smoothly. "If you could all just sit in a circle and rest, she can tell you when they're going to break the spell enough. Until then, we all need to get some sleep, I think." Jen looked around at everyone. "Emi can warn us if anything is coming." Angelina checked the time.
"It's eight," she informed everyone. "We have an hour. Emi, wake us all up in fifteen minutes. If Oliver and Kate haven't broken the spell enough, we..." she swallowed. "We'll have to leave them." The others looked down. No one wanted to say anything... it was the entire magical world or two dear friends. Ron lay down, biting his lip. The others followed his example. Ron had time to wonder, just before he dozed off, how Hermione was doing...
Just give up, Kate darling. You don't matter to them, they're not going to come here to get you. Give it up! You can stop it, you know. You can stop the pain.
Shut up... Kate whispered through her tears. Just be quiet, leave me alone...
Pathetic little worm. Leave me alone! Shut up! I'm important! I matter! The masked woman mocked Kate, who was curled up in a fetal position in midair, floating in between mirrors and stars.
Oliver! Kate said suddenly, uncurling. Oliver was proud of me... when I... she frowned, trying to remember.
Oliver! Oliver was never proud of you, Katie darling. Except maybe on the Quidditch pitch, but that doesn't matter here, does it? You love Oliver. And he thinks you're dirt.
No he doesn't! Kate fought, tears streaming down her cheeks. In her vision, the invincible stars began to flicker.
Why is he always fighting with you? Why does he have to find mistakes in everything you do? He never does anything nice for you. Kate didn't want to believe the voice... but she couldn't remember Oliver being nice to her. Still, something inside her refused to believe that.
No, Kate said firmly. I know he cares about me. You can't change that.
You honestly think a girl like you matters to a boy like that? He's probably had dozens of girls like you and cast them all off. You're nothing but a little girl with a crush, to him.
You're wrong, Kate said, smiling wryly at the masked woman. You're wrong about him. You don't know him at all.
I know him better than you think! The woman sounded slightly panicked. She had gone too far, challenged the one thing that Kate seemed sure of, deep down. She had to regain control of Kate's emotions. Time for a shock, she seemed to think. I know him better than you think, she repeated softly, and began to undo the ribbons on her mask.
Stop! Kate yelled. I don't want to see your face. You're a liar. Oliver loves me! I know it! The stars flickered and died. The mirrors cracked, and the woman let out a long, low, dangerous scream.
Kate! Kate, can you hear me? It's Emi!
Emi? Yes! I can hear you!
Quickly... concentrate on whatever it is that's making it weak... and concentrate on me! Kate closed her eyes and filled her mind with Oliver... his look, his smell, his presence. She concentrated on the smooth voice of Emi she felt rolling in her head, and clenched her hands together.
There was a loud shattering noise, and Kate snapped her eyes open. The mirrors had completely shattered, and the naked masked woman had cracked too. As she crumbled, from the toes up, the ribbons holding her mask on came off. The mask crumbled from her face, and as the world created by Kate's fears broke and Kate found herself lying on a cold stone tunnel, Kate saw the woman's face.
It was her own.
"Dirty, disgusting..." Mr. Wood muttered. He began to advance on Oliver's prone figure, which was still lying on the ground. "Get up, boy!"
"Yes, sir," Oliver said quietly, hoisting himself off of his feet and standing in military position in front of his father. Mr. Wood glared up at his son, who was a good six inches taller than he was.
"So, what are you going to do now?" Mr. Wood asked dangerously, his eyes narrowed at his son. "Are you going to apply for a job in the Ministry?"
"I... uh..." Oliver bit his lip. He couldn't work for the Ministry. The Ministry still didn't admit that Lord Voldemort was back in power.
Oliver thought fast. He remembered what his father had wanted him to do with his life... something in the Ministry, get married, raise a family, retire, then die. Get married? Raise a family? Hmmm... Oliver thought. Maybe if I tell him I'm getting married, he'll leave me alone for a bit about the job thing.
"Actually, sir," Oliver heard himself saying, "I've been thinking about getting married."
"Married!?" Oliver's father said, surprised. Oliver never talked about girls with his parents, even when he lived with them. "Who is this girl?"
"Katherine Teresa Bell, sir," Oliver said, quickly inventing a middle name for Kate. It sounded more impressive that way.
"Bell?" Mr. Wood asked, his eyes narrowing. Oliver swallowed. This wasn't a good sign. "Bell?" Mr. Wood repeated. "You mean Joseph's daughter?"
"Y-yes, sir," Oliver said. He suddenly cursed himself... of course his father would know the stories surrounding Kate's father...
"Absolutely not! I will not have my son marry the daughter of a loony!" roared Oliver's father, spit flying out of his mouth as he screamed his fury. Oliver shrank back.
"Sir, she's nothing like her father," Oliver said quietly.
"I don't care! She's his offspring! Anything that comes out of that family is filth," spat Mr. Wood. Oliver's eyes narrowed.
"Kate's not filth."
"Yes she is!" Mr. Wood screamed, his eyes rolling and saliva flying from his mouth. "She's an offspring of that cheating lying scumbag of a father! She'll turn out just like him, you mark my words!"
"No. She won't," Oliver said, anger burning in his chest. "Kate's not like her father at all. She doesn't even look like him."
"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" Oliver shrank back from his father's wrath, the anger still burning within him. "SHE'S SCUM! THE WORST KIND! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU ASSOCIATING WITH A GIRL LIKE THAT!"
"She's not scum." Oliver stared up at his father, fear forgotten.
"What was that?" Mr. Wood asked, snarling.
"She's not scum." Oliver said it a bit louder this time. "She's stubborn, and obstinate, and has a horrible temper, but she's not scum."
Crack! Another blow caught Oliver in the same place, the ring slicing another line in his cheek. This time, Oliver wasn't knocked down. He stood his ground- something he had never done against his father before.
Oliver! It's Emi! Listen to me... whatever it is that's making you go against the illusion, keep it up! We'll be able to break you out soon!
Emi? The girl from the Pens?
Yes! Just... fight your illusion! It's not real!
Oliver narrowed his eyes, tensed his muscles, and dove for his wand. It was still lying on the floor, glowing with the Lumos spell he'd put on it. He quickly dimmed the light and aimed the wand at his father.
"You are not my father," he said, voice shaking with anger.
"True," said the thing. Mr. Wood's form began to glow with a strange, inner red light. His features twisted, becoming demonic and red. "But it doesn't matter. We've got you."
"I don't think so," Oliver said angrily as he began to chant in an unknown language.
What are you doing? The thing that had once been Oliver's father had turned into a demon... something out of Oliver's nightmares. It's body armor was jet black with no shine to it, with a red glow coming out from the cracks in the armor. Two horn jutted from it's head, and it's eyes were two orange slits.
Oliver's chant began to grow in intensity. His wand was also glowing with a strange blue light that cast wavering shadows on the shiny jet-black walls. The blue light then separated itself from Oliver's wand, lying on the glowing floor. The blue concentrated itself, then appeared to make some kind of silent explosion.
When the light cleared, the blue light was gone. In it's place stood a tall, willowy woman. She was naked, but she didn't really have any of the parts that define a woman. Her presence was simply feminine. She has long blue hair, clear blue skin, and she was made of water.
A water elemental, observed the demon, looking slightly worried.
"Well, can't get anything past you," Oliver commented sarcastically. The water elemental grinned, revealing a small set of fangs. She looked hard at Oliver and he tilted his head to one side, as though he was listening to something.
"Would you?" he asked after a bit. The water elemental nodded. "That would be great," Oliver told her. She grinned again, turned to the demon and without missing a beat leapt at him.
The demon raised his claws and ripped them through her translucent blue body. Water splattered on the ground, sparkling with the light from the glowing floor. Slowly, the demon began to laugh.
Is that it? Is that the best you can do, Oliver? Your father was right about you. You are a wimp.
"I wouldn't be so certain," Oliver replied quietly, concentrating on Kate in his mind. The water around the feet of the demon began to twist and swirl. Slowly, it reassembled itself behind the demon to look like a woman again. The woman grabbed the demon by the neck, and the jet black walls cracked and began to shatter.
That's it! The elemental is weakening the Portal's power over you! Emi's voice slid into Oliver's head. Keep it up! The water elemental stuck her blue fingers into the fiery red eyes of the demon, and steam spurted from the top of it's head. It would have been comical if Oliver hadn't been so furious. The glowing floor shattered, the demon shattered, the water elemental burst and the walls fell down. Oliver suddenly found himself hovering about a foot above the tunnel floor. He blinked, and suddenly the force holding him up dropped him. Oliver landed on his stomach, inside the loose circle of rebels, Kate lying on her back at his side.
The two looked at each other for a long moment, their eyes locked. Oliver held out his hand silently, and Kate took it. They helped each other off the floor.
Jen and Emi were sitting on the floor. Emi had a drained, exhausted look to her, and Jen was holding her hand. The others were lying scattered on the floor, asleep. Angelina was wrapped in Sirius's cloak and was leaning on his shoulder. Sirius was leaning against the wall, his head tilted back and his mouth open. Ron was lying on the floor, his limbs flung out in every direction. Arabella was slumped on Rowan's shoulder.
Oliver nudged Ron with his foot, and Kate knelt down and gently began shaking Angelina awake. Sirius opened his eyes at the same time Angelina did, and they both jerked away from each other quickly. Ron made a muffled noise and withdrew all his limbs so that he was a tiny ball on the floor. Oliver nudged him again. Arabella toppled over, waking herself and Rowan up. Oliver finally just kicked Ron in the shins, waking him up effectively.
"It's time to go," Emi said in her breathy, winded voice. Angelina slowly got to her feet, still shivering. She started to slip Sirius' cloak off her shoulders, but he stopped her.
"Keep it," he said. "I don't need it." Angelina nodded, and slipped it back onto her shoulders. Ron bit his knuckles, looking worried. Jen and Emi got up off the floor.
"You are all planning on fighting the Dark Lord?" Jen asked. The rag-tag group of fighters all gave some kind of affirmative. "You're all fools," she said softly. "We tried to fight, and he defeated us. He'll defeat you too. It's a hopeless fight."
"Maybe so," Ron said, shrugging. "But we've got to try." Jen shook her head sadly.
"We really need to get up to the main hall," Angelina said, breaking into whatever it was Jen was about to say. The group's confidence was shaky, and they didn't need some mysterious prisoner to try and convince them not to fight.
"All right," Jen said. "But I'm not fighting against You-Know-Who." Angelina nodded.
"No one is asking you to," she replied smoothly. Sirius helped Arabella and Rowan up off the floor, and they began to shuffle down the corridor, Ron following. Kate and Oliver walked along slowly, with Jen, Emi and Angelina bringing up the rear.
Sirius led the group as a giant black dog. Using the dog's sense of smell, he could track down Lord Voldemort easily. Even now, he was having no trouble at all. The smell of unrefined evil was an almost unbearable stench to Sirius.
Due to Sirius' nose, the group avoided getting lost in the maze of dungeons. It was only eight-thirty when they reached the stairs that would take them up to the main hall, which was where Lord Voldemort would be performing the ritual. After a few deep breaths, they climbed the stairs and hid outside the huge doors that led into the main hall.
"The castle doors are down that hallway," Angelina said, pointing. "Once Harry gets here with the centaurs, you go out the way he came in. I'm not sure where you want to go once you get out."
"We'll go to Edinburgh and lay low for a while," Jen responded. "In case you win, you can come get us there." Angelina nodded, while Arabella muttered something about "stinking ungrateful prisoners".
Ron frowned. He was trying to talk to Hermione, but he couldn't find her. She couldn't be out of range...
"Angelina," Ron said, fear striking at his heart, "Can you help me contact Hermione?" Angelina nodded, looking concerned. She'd noted the slight panic in Ron's voice and hurried over to him. Together, they began to try and find Hermione.
Kate and Oliver both crouched by the giant doors, listening to what was going on inside. There were some slithering movements, then silence. Then there was a dragging noise, and someone whimpering.
"HERMIONE!" Ron bellowed, springing to his feet. He pointed his wand at the door and screamed something that made the doors blast inwards, off their hinges. They flew across the room, crashing into several of the pillars holding the ceiling up. Angelina groaned as Ron flew into the room, wand at the ready.
"Oh, no..." The others quickly got up, readied their wands and followed Ron inside, hoping that what they were thinking wasn't true.
It was.
Lord Voldemort stood in the center of the room. A large black cauldron was hanging in midair over a large fire. Several bodies lay at his feet, pale and unmoving. Blood speckled the ground, and a vibrant green circle ran around the ritual setup.
He had become more serpent-like over the years. His skin had taken on a green tinge, and his eyes were red slits. His lips were thin and pale, and his nose was simply two slits in his face. Long, curving fingers delicately clutched a wand in one hand and a glittering, bloodstained silver knife in the other.
The knife was being pressed up against Hermione's throat. Hermione had her back pressed up against Lord Voldemort's body, and his wand was also aimed at her neck. She was his prisoner.
Ron looked in horror at the sight before him, his wand arm slowly dropping. Angelina and Sirius stood side by side, their eyes wide. Kate and Oliver recoiled at the sight of the Dark Lord, and Rowan looked uncomprehendingly at the scene before her. Arabella's eyes narrowed, and her knuckles turned white as she clenched her fingers around her wand.
"Welcome," Lord Voldemort hissed. "I'm so pleased you could join me."
***
A/N: Wow, that's an evil cliffhanger I've got going there. Bah. Anyway... its too late to be writing anymore. Tell me what you think of this chapter... too long, too short, badly written, well written... whatever. Ohhh wow... I'm incredibly hungry. The next chapter should be the last one in this story. There will be a sequel to this, but it will be longer in coming up because I'm going away for a month in June... or July. One of the J's, I can't remember which. Also, I have exams coming up all this next week, so studying is high on my list of things to do... or rather, it's high on my mother's list of my things to do. Anyway... yeah. So the next chapter might take a while to get up, but it will get up, even if I have to sweat blood. Wait, that sounds bad.
--Lilith
"Now we drive the night, to the ironies of peace
you can't help deny forever
the tragedies reside in you
the secret sights hide in you
the lonely nights divide you in two
all my blisters now revealed
in the darkness of my dreams
in the spaces in between us
but no bodies ever knew
nobody's
no bodies felt like you
nobody's
love is suicide." –"Bodies", The Smashing Pumpkins