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PATH to DARKNESS by Tyde
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Chapter Sixteen – Descending
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Severus woke that morning renewed with energy. His master was returning from Europe today and the first meeting of all the Death Eaters would take place in a marsh near Bocker. Pushing his covers aside he picked up the mask sitting on his desk chair. It was made of thick black leather and would serve the purpose of not only keeping themselves anonymous to each other, but also to the Ministry of Magic and Muggles. Can't convict if there is no visual proof he thought. Concealing the mask under his robes he tramped down the stairs for breakfast.
'Morning Sevi, how are you feeling today?' His mother looked at him concerned, she always looked at him that way but since he'd finished Hogwarts the look seemed to have intensified.
'Fine thank you Mother' he gulped down some orange juice while scanning the Daily Prophet for anything that may indicate that the antics of himself and Malfoy last night had garnered any interest.
'You just seem a little...' she didn't get the chance to finish before he'd interrupted.
'Distant?'
'Exactly'
'End of school Mum, start of adulthood, all that stuff. It's a lot to fathom' he looked at her. 'Surely you understand? Hasn't been that long since you left school Mum'
Flattered slightly by this complement she looked over at the hot plate that was frying up some mooncakes. 'Always the little charmer aren't you Severus? I just don't want to see you waste away this time. Professor Dumbledore sent us a note to say that he'd offered you a job as Potions master'
'He did WHAT?' Snape's eyes flashed with anger. That bastard, how dare he do that? I already turned him down.
'He said you were going to think about it for a week or two before giving an ultimatum. Have you decided yet?'
The anger rose up inside of the young man and he teetered dangerously on the edge of exploding. If he starting raving about what a bastard Albus Dumbledore was in front of his mother he knew she'd get suspicious. He wanted to grab her by the throat and throw her out the window all the while screaming I will never work for him, ever! But he just munched on a moon cake she plopped in front of him and half-grinned. 'No counting your chickens before they're hatched Mum! I told him I'd consider it, but straight out of school and being a Potions master? Bit too much for me I think, maybe start off small at a pharmacy or something first.'
'Don't undersell yourself dear, you could be great you know.'
'I said I'd think about it Mum, haven't completely dismissed it yet' Not for all the gold in Gringotts would I work for Dumbledore. He gave her a half-hearted smile as if to reassure her.
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At least 40 people stood along the sludgy edge of the marsh with leather masks hiding their faces. Severus shifted position ever so slightly, his feet sending little stabbing pains up his calves. They had been standing there for over an hour waiting for Lord Voldemort and he was thinking if he didn't suddenly keel over from boredom that his feet may fall off. The last owl they had each received from the Dark Lord had said to meet here, to stand there without greeting anyone (even if you could identify them by their robes) and not talking. They were to wait there for as long as it would take for him to turn up. Around the 20 minute mark some women further down the line had gotten into a discussion about the latest robes from Madam Malkins. Apparently purple was all the rage and if you dared to even think about red you should be banished to Azkaban for crimes against fashion. Snape couldn't help thinking they wouldn't last long in the clutches of Lord Voldemort. He resisted the urge to tell them to shut up and instead just stared at the horizon which was littered with little blotches he could only assume were farm houses. A chilly breeze, not uncommon in late June for this part of Scotland, swept across the marsh towards them and several of the Death Eaters shivered. Another hour passed and Severus was slowly being driven mad by the twittering giggles of the women at the other end of the line and also some of the men who were starting to boast about the dark artefacts they had stored in their attics. That's right, a severed hand that will choke people to death on command he heard one proclaim proudly.
Only those that had been standing perfectly and fully alert heard the tiny pop announcing the arrival of their master behind them and the uttering of a curse. The women that had been chattering and the boasting gentlemen were now rolling in the mud of the marsh their screams of pain filling the air. 'When I give instructions I expect them to be followed, to the letter' his cold voice was even. Pointing his wand at their convulsing figures he continued 'Get up you fools! I will not tolerate disobedience in my ranks.' The witches and wizards tried to stand up straight but the pain still emanating in their bodies caused them to slump slightly.
'I see most of you chose to heed my instructions and for that you will not be punished, nor will you be rewarded. Is it so much to ask for obedience from ones servants?'
'No master' they mumbled. Snape's eyes glittered in the dusk light as he swallowed these words being feed to him by the man that had by this time become something of a father to him.
'Good' Voldemort growled. 'As you are well aware for the past few years I have been endeavouring to find a way that would make me impervious to harm. The forests of Germany proved fruitless and deep in the wilds of Africa I have found it. No wizard nor Muggle alive can hurt me, my power is absolute' his voice echoed out over the marsh and mingled with the cows grazing in the distance. Glaring at the witches that had been chattering he lifted his wand almost lazily and shot a bright flash of green at them. The ranks of Death Eaters took a collective breath. The witches however did not, they would never breathe again.
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It didn't seem odd to Severus that Lord Voldemort insisted on private meetings and lessons of terrible curses like Avada Kedavra. He killed countless rats and cockroaches, even a wild boar once. He didn't realise that the Dark Lord had not taken such a personal interest in the others. Voldemort saw something in the boy that reminded him of himself when he was younger. Still a little green around the gills but with an underlying hatred of Muggles that he was yet to discover. He probably knew it in the deepest, darkest recesses of his mind but for now it lay dormant. The other Death Eaters were left to their own devices at times. The Dark Lord brought his Pensieve before the young man who looked at it quizzically.
'What are we to learn now, master?'
'Not learn my boy, but see' Voldemort pushed the tip of his wand against Severus's temple and pulled a strand of thought from it. He swirled it into the empty bowl. He did this repeatedly until soon the bowl was full and bursting. 'I know nothing of your childhood, you will show me'
Leaning forward Snape poked his wand into the mist. An image of him playing Quidditch with his father arose and his master shook his head. 'No, not happy memories. Something else...' An image showed a toddler Severus falling into a cauldron. When he saw his master shake his head he conjured up a vision of him falling down the stairs, out of the window, dozens of unhappy memories for Severus but it wasn't enough for his teacher. Frustrated Lord Voldemort shouted at Snape nearly sending him off his chair 'For Merlin's sake boy, what are you a pathetic Mudblood? Don't tell me all your looming dark power is some sort of a freak accident?' Cowering slightly from his master Severus's head snapped up at the word freak. His eyes glowed a dangerous red and he grabbed the dark leader by the front of his robes spitting anger with every breath. 'Don't you ever call me a freak! EVER!' he positively roared the last word and Voldemort's hard mouth twisted into a smile. The Pensieve had stopped swirling and the image of Hortense Hamilton berating a 10 year old Severus in front of the whole class shone up at him. Echoing around the room he thought he sensed a horde of voices whispering freak over and over again. Shocked at his own outrage he fell to the floor, kissing the hem of Lord Voldemort's robes while muttering how very sorry he was.
Voldemort barked at him 'Think nothing of it. It was necessary for me to see' His mouth twisted back into that chilling smile that years from now would strike fear in the hearts of all. 'You're ready boy. The time has come.'
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He walked down the Muggle street in his best robes, a jaunt to his step. He stopped out the front of number 14 and a smirk spread forth onto his face. Climbing the few steps up onto the porch he pressed the door bell.
A female voice called out 'Just a moment' before he could hear footsteps pounding down the staircase. The door opened up and there stood Hortense Hamilton, the bane of his Muggle school existence. She'd gotten older of course and considerably large. Severus noticed the wide spread to her hips and how the buttons on her blouse seemed to be straining to not pop off.
'Can I help you?' she clearly didn't recognise the thunderous looking young man in front of her. It had been seven years and unlike Hortense's weight gain, Severus Snape had changed in different ways considerably. Not only had his eyes darkened but his stature had changed. He seemingly towered over her, filling the whole doorway. 'Do I know you?'
'You don't remember me? Ickle Severarse?' his voice contained only a hint of a growl and she didn't notice.
Her face lit up and she smiled at him. 'Severus Snape! What a surprise. Won't you come in for a cup of tea? What school was it that your parents sent you off to again? I've just got off the phone to Jenny Jenkins, you'd remember her?' she prattled off a mile a minute while Snape crossed the threshold and followed her into the kitchen. The ire rose in him. It was like she didn't even remember how horrible she'd been to him in school. His hands clenched and unclenched by his side as she bustled around the kitchen. She was babbling something about Jenny Jenkins but Severus didn't care to listen. As she passed him a cup of tea he grabbed a hold of her wrist and smiled. A dark smile that held only his deepest and darkest desires. The tea cup clattered to the floor and smashed on the tiles, sending porcelain pieces and splashes of hot tea into the air. She looked at him confused and as she went to open her mouth to say something he silenced her with a finger to his lips.
'Oh no Hortie, no talking, just screaming' the house around them seemed to swirl into darkness and then suddenly they were in Emerson Woods. The girl fell to the ground and Severus pointed his wand at her. A swish of his wand and Hortense Hamilton was rolling around in the dirt in pure agony, in the unforgiving clutches of the Cruciatus curse. Her scream pierced the night and Severus muttered a silencing charm at the woods around them. He, however, could still hear the screaming and it warmed him to the bone, sending little shivers of delight up and down his spine.
'No one will save you Hortense. They can't hear you. You're going to die lonely in this wood with me Severus Snape standing over you. I told you what my father was years ago, do you remember? But you just called me freak. You don't believe in magic do you, Hortense? You don't believe in wizards either? Always ignorant aren't you? Till the very end.' Tears were staining her cheeks as she tried to sit up, tried to do something that would stop the pain from shooting through her body but she couldn't.
'Kill her now' a slimy voice issued from the trees behind the young wizard.
'But Master, I haven't finished with her' Snape's eyes were burning holes right through the woman writhing on the ground. 'She deserves more pain.'
'I do not say this to end her pain. She's a hapless Muggle, crumbled at your feet Severus, if you do not kill her soon she will go insane and the lasting memory of you killing her will not linger on this side of reality. Kill her now while she can still recognise who it is that administers the final stroke. Killing her is the only way to set yourself free.' Lord Voldemort had stepped out from behind the trees and now rested a slim, pale hand on Snape's shoulder. A feeling of euphoria, just like when Voldemort had administered his mark, snaked its way through Snape.
For a split second Hortense Hamilton was relieved of the pain that had been wracking her for the last five minutes. Her skin still hummed with the after effects and as she stood up to confront her attacker he again raised his wand.
'You failed this exam Hortense. Avada Kedavra!' The rush of power from his wand flattened several bushes surrounding them and with a green flash and a shriek that would echo in his head for years to come, the know-it-all Miss Hamilton lay flat on her back, devoid of all signs of life.
'Nicely done boy' the Dark Lord clapped a hand on Snape's shoulder. 'Nicely done. Raise the sign so all will know.'
A swirl of glittering dark green issued from Snape's wand and formed in the sky the symbol he also had tattooed to the inside of his left arm. A skull with the tongue of a serpent slithering out of it. His face shone in the glow of the Dark Mark and he allowed a tentative smile to play across his lips.
'Your first kill is always the most exhilarating I find. Tell me, how do you feel?' The snake like eyes of Voldemort sparkled dangerously.
'Like every fibre of my being has been awaken. I've never felt more alive' Severus spun his wand like a baton around the fingers of his right hand. 'It's just the beginning, isn't it? Your plans far exceed all our expectations don't they, master?'
'The very earth trembles in fear my boy' his corrupter hissed.
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Author's note: Huh. Chapters seem to be getting longer. Funny that. I appear to be having a little bit of Writer's Diarrhoea (the opposite of Writer's Block of course) in this chapter. I like to keep it around 1,700 words but this is over 2,500 words (according to Microsoft Word counting mechanism – not Fanfiction.net – I don't get how that system works). And can you believe I got all excited and then realised I couldn't post it cause I hadn't fleshed out Chapter 15 year, silly me! Of course that is all irrelevant now that I've posted this up and obviously that means Chapter 15 is up and running. Excuse my pathetic run of talking to myself.