Drowning
-The Prologue-
'I'm drowning in sorrow and all the missed'
Hermione's heart pounded as she ran, and she stared in dismay at the unfamiliar scene that surrounded her. Her breath came out in short strangled gasps, and the only sound she could hear was the blood throbbing in her ears. Some grass peeked through the snow that crunched under her boots, but trees around her stood bear. She scrambled past boulders, which were much larger than she. And, They were thickly coated with dust, like a drop of water had never touched them since the beginning of time.
Cold was everywhere, seeping through her cloak and leaving her bones chilled. She had never felt this cold before… and she had also never felt this alone before.
She stumbled and tripped, from the strain of continuous movement. But, something kept pushing her forward. Her mind wanted something… and she knew it was important enough, that she had to keep going.
She suddenly felt a pang of pain, deep in her ribs. She stopped, and she took gulps of the air.
"What are you doing here, human?" a voice boomed. She whirled around, and saw a man. A hood was brought up around his ears, shadowing his face, but she could sense his eyes upon her. Hermione strained her own eyes, trying to see past the darkness, but there was nothing.
"Who are you?" This man felt familiar to her, even thought she was sure they had never met. She suddenly realised they were in complete darkness, with no trace of a moon to lead her. Yet, she could strangely see. Where was she?
The man stayed silent, he drew a raspy breath and pulled down his hood. Hermione breath caught in her throat, and she tried to scream. But, nothing seemed to come out… her mouth went completely dry, and her eyes burned with tears. Tears of fear…
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Hermione sat bolt upright in bed, staring around in the darkness. A cold sweat developed on her body and soaked through her bed shirt. She half expected to see the creature from her dream emerge from the shadows of her bedroom, but she had had this dream before… and she was starting to know better.
She slid out from under the patched quilt and stood in the middle of the room, her legs shook and her knees knocked together. She pulled open her closet door, and pulled down another old t-shirt from the jumble of clothes. She peeled off her sweat soaked one, and pulled the new one on. She lay back in bed, feeling refreshed, as if she had just had a bath.
"Hermione, it was just a dream…" and she turned over onto her side and tried to breath normally again. Her stomach lurched uncomfortably, when she heard a knock at the door. What the hell…? She thought as she stood and peered out into the darkened hallway. There was another knock, this time it sounded more urgent. Voices filtered through the door. People… Hermione sighed and moved towards the door. Then suddenly stopped. The voices continued, and Hermione strained to hear… but, no matter how hard she tried, she could not understand the words.
She took a step back, ready to go back to her room to get her wand, when the door was flung open. Pieces of the iron lock spun across the floor in all directions, and a bulky figure stood in the doorframe. An odd sort of relief flooded through her, this was not the creature from her dream. But, that relief quickly disappeared when she realised this… thing was not human, either.
Her feet felt planted to the spot, as the animal clawed its way inside, many other creatures joining it. They were snarling and snapping their jaws at one another, trying to push past.
A voice inside her head screamed at her to run, and without even thinking about it she tore her way down the hall and into the kitchen. She looked around, trying to think fast, but her mind seemed to be frozen. The only thought that lingered was that she had to get out of this house, alive. She looked at the backdoor hopefully, to see the glass shattered. That meant…
A howl sounded from behind her, and she twirled around to see a monster hunched over and foaming at the mouth, snapping its jaws and snarling at her
Hermione backed into the counter-top, the knob to the drawers pushing into her back. A sick reminder of how trapped she was. She tried to remind herself to breath… but her entire body shook with fear, and the chances of escaping in this state seemed less and less likely after every passing minute.
The creature bared its fangs at her, and his tongue darted out from between its teeth, licking its lidless eyes and darting back in. She stared in disgust, what was this thing? Surely she must have read about something like this before… she wracked her brain, searching her memory. But, there was nothing but emptiness.
Hermione grabbed a kitchen knife from off the counter top just as the creature swiped at her with a long jagged sword. She quickly ducked and lunged forward, piercing the animal's thick flesh with the knife. She felt blood rushing, it was warm, and it soaked her shirt. She wasn't sure weather it was hers, or the things. And, she wasn't sure she really wanted to know, either. The creature fell silent, and toppled over on top of her, pinning her against the counter. The handle of the knife jabbed at her ribs, painfully. Be thankful you didn't get the other end she thought, and took a deep breath. Sudden confidence flooded through her, for a moment's time.
She grabbed the handle of the knife and lifted a leg, pushing a foot against its armoured body, kicking the animal off and pulling out the bloodied blade. She twirled it between her fingers, and half smiled.
She heard claws clicking across the tiled floor, coming closer. One of the beasts howled and lunged in through the back door, leading a pack of 6 into the already over crowded kitchen. More? How many of these things, ARE there?
She suddenly smelled smoke, and heard the triumphant noises from down the hall. My house! She started around quickly, before being brought back into reality.
She turned around and forced open the window, it was just big enough for her to get through. Those monsters could never get threw… Maybe this will hold them off? She thought hopefully.
She took a quick look around the room, and threw herself out the open window and into the dead of night.
'I missed So Many Opportunities'
A/N: So… that's the prologue, how are you liking it so far? I hope you kids don't mind a lot of action… because, that's what I am into writing right now. I don't mind a bit of help; so let me know what you think…I could use your ideas on how to make it better! ^^ Oh, and keep checking back for the first chapter! Thank-you!