A Most Macabre Show
2002-12-24
Author: Detective Simms
Email: noir@gloomsday.net
Rating: R (for violence and gore)
Category: horror
Summary: Virginia proves her ability to be ruthless.
Disclaimer: The characters all belong to J.K. Rowling, excepting the short-lived Carson Machialli, who is my own brainchild. I am making no profit off of this; it is for entertainment's sake only.
Author's Note: This vignette is based in what I deemed the possible future of the world Faith Accompli has created beautifully in her series Walking Higher (which can be found on http://www.fanfiction.net).
She strolled around inside the circle of reformed Death Eaters slowly, looking over each one in turn with a keen eye. Their voluminous black robes, each like the liquification of night wrapped around human bodies, had the hoods down so that she might stare for a minute into the eyes of her new soldiers. Tom stood a few feet behind her, silent and watchful, regarding her with a leisurely ease that showed how comfortable they were around each other, even in new experiences. So too did the way Ginny walked, a graceful gait that wasn't hindered by all the pairs of eyes upon her.
She paused in front of one Death Eater. He was no one particularly special, and certainly not one that stood out from the crowd of thirteen arranged around the two figures in the center. Carson Machialli, a new Death Eater hailing from the western United States, who had joined with Tom and Virginia's lot almost from the start of their uprising. The man of about thirty stared down at his semi-Queen, features showing a bit of impatience.
"Yes, my Lady?" he asked in a voice that would've been pleasant, if it had not been so gruff.
Ginny smiled in response. A slow, calculating smile that she had not been born with; Tom had taught her how to smile like that. A careful smile that revealed nothing of the wearer's emotions, and proved intimidating for most people to behold. To his credit, Machialli did not flinch, even though Ginny's eyes were looking less and less indifferent by the moment.
"What is your opinion of me, Carson?" she asked in a silky voice reminiscent of the Potions Master back at Hogwarts. Carson blinked at her, a bit of wariness lighting in his eyes. The other Death Eaters remained silent and observant, watching the all-too-possible unfolding scene with passivity.
"I would think my opinion is of little interest to you, my Lady," Carson replied neutrally, settling for the most aloof tone he could manage.
Now Ginny's eyes flashed in a moment of startling blue rage, just for an instant, but it was enough for Carson to rethink his blase response.
"I meant no disrespect," he amended momentarily.
"Of course not. But I'm curious, and this goes for the rest of you," Ginny said in a voice no louder than the one she had been previously using, but by some trick of the wind, perhaps, her voice carried so that the rest of the assembled party heard her clearly. "I want to know what you think of your Queen, who has been so aptly paired with the new Dark Lord you so highly respect and obey." Now her tone ranged from mocking to annoyed to exceedingly disarming.
She spared a glance at those around her, excluding Tom to the point of ignoring him completely, and she so rarely, almost never, did that. Tom remained silent, watching his other half with eyes like a hawk, but inside he was pleased. So she was finally questioning the somewhat dubious manner that these henchmen of theirs followed her orders, in comparison to the hasty and respectful way they followed his own. It was a good time to start too, since they were planning the destruction of the opposing forces in Beauxbatons within the month. It would be good to weed out any dissent in the home forces before going on a major battle.
Machialli tilted his head thoughtfully, and was silent for long enough that Ginny prompted him again. "Go on then, don't hold back on account of displeasing me with your accusations," she said in a deceptively kind tone, a pleasant smile to match. Machialli didn't pick up on the sarcasm inherent in her voice, and plundered on in a way that was steadfastly headed to his own destruction.
"Well, you seem to be weak, my Lady. I've not seen you in battle, as some others have," here he looked pointedly at a smug Lucius Malfoy, before continuing, "I don't know of you to be naturally violent, and frankly, the thought of you killing anyone for our side's betterment astounds me." Now he was really going, and moving foolishly ahead despite the piercing glare Ginny held in her eyes. The other Death Eaters were leaning forward with a sick sense of fascination, knowing full well that something dreadful was imminent.
"And torture!" Machialli continued in a scoffing tone. "Ha! You torturing someone in the way of uncovering subterfuge is unthinkable. Why, I hardly think our Lord chose a fitting person as his consort. You obviously do not equal his stature, and I would think it a great bereavement of our order for him to keep you on as a co-ruler." Carson settled back, silent and pleased with his speech, not noticing the eager looks on the faces of his comrades, or that of his Lord.
Ginny was quiet for a moment, a quiet that seemed more a pause of breath than any real lack of sound, before nodding and speaking: "Thank you for sharing that with us, Carson. It pleases me to know that I now have a chance to prove myself to you all, before our upcoming battle in France." A bit of confusion in the eyes of Machialli and a few others at that, and much more when Ginny turned and began to walk around the circle again.
She had not walked five steps before she suddenly whipped around to face Machialli again, whispering a sharp word under her breath before pulling her wand-hand up in a curving arc. As she did this, a rip in Machialli's robes, and indeed his own skin, began, starting with the point Ginny's hand began at, right above his groin, and ending where her hand stopped, just below his ribcage. Machialli's skin pulled back as if he were some great banana being peeled to be eaten, his organs tumbling out within a wave of thick, black blood.
He fell to his knees, a sharp gasping sound coming from his throat, his eyes wide and staring. Ginny, ignoring the shocked sounds coming around her, stepped forward, delicately stepping over Machialli's spleen, to kneel directly in front of him, her full skirt spreading around her prettily. The man's hands were grasping frantically at the air around her, his eyes now focused somewhat dimly on her own.
She reached up within that great gaping cave that had been his abdomen, up under the rib cage, and found the precise organ she was looking for. Ginny clutched at the now weakly beating heart, and spoke to the dying Carson: "It's a pity you had to underestimate me so horribly, Carson. You were decent in all other aspects." With that last left-handed compliment, Ginny found great pleasure in digging her rather long nails into the heart she still clutched, and watching the effects in the man's face as he succumbed to the final end.
She stood up, having released his heart and gently pushed her former Death Eater back to lie in a heap on the ground, and glanced at the blood on her hands and dress casually. She then looked up at the Death Eaters still on the living plane, and each of them, every single one that remained, dropped to their knees, their heads bowed toward her with an almost reverential overtone.
"I hope that the rest of you, if you have qualms about my leading you, will quickly quash those thoughts. Having a repeat of tonight would not particularly bother me, as there are many others who would love to take your place in the inner circle." After a pause, she continued: "You may rise."
They did, and as they stood, Tom came over to her, a cruelly amused smile on his face. He took her hand, the one that had held Machialli's heart, and brought it to his lips to kiss in a gentlemanly manner. She smiled up at him demurely.
Someone started clapping slowly in the still night, and she turned to see that it was Lucius, her trusted advisor and Tom's right-hand man, one of the few that had followed her orders as if they contained as much prestige as Tom's. Lucius had been around when she had killed Granger, when she had tortured Longbottom, when she had performed all three Unforgivables upon her own brother Ron, and when she had performed countless other atrocities in the name of Tom, and everything they stood for.
A somewhat curious smile graced her face as she arched an eyebrow at Lucius. Others had joined in applauding her, and she looked around at them all. "Yes?"
"A most macabre show, Ms. Weasley. I salute you for it," Lucius explained in his normal drawl, a sinuous smile on his pleasant face.
Ginny bowed gracefully, her blood-soaked hand still in Tom's grasp. "It was my pleasure, Lucius," she replied.