Chapter Ten: Dark Tormentor
"So what ye want to do?" Madison asked. Seth shrugged. "It's kind of boring around here," Seth commented, "What with our girls being gone." Madison nodded, then shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess," He said. "Even though I love Angel, it's good to have a break from her." Madison yawned. He and Seth were sleepy in a bored kind of way. It was all good, this break of theirs.
"So how are you and Chant doing?" Madison asked. Seth looked at him in a pleading sort of way. "I'm not so sure… After your two injuries, she's been a bit non-responsive." Madison smirked. "I'm sorry about nearly getting killed and me arm getting smashed." Seth chuckled. "All in all, I'm rather confused."
"Women can do that to you," Dugger commented, entering the room. "Amen to that," A seventh year sitting next to his girlfriend, commented. He was smacked by said girlfriend.
"Anyway," Dugger went on, "They're dueling down in the dueling hall, if either of you wants to." Madison looked down at his injured arm, then at his thigh. Both wounds still stung painfully. "I think I'll pass," he said. It was a true testament to his wounds that he wouldn't duel, a sport he enjoyed very much.
Seth stood up. "I will," He said. Before he leaved he turned to Madison. "Don't get to close to any of the girls. If Angelique finds out…" He left the threat hanging, and left, followed closely by Dugger. Madison snickered, as did Nereida Nary, the only other third year staying at Salem over the break. She moved over to talk to him.
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Seth did remarkably well in the duels, besting some people up to two grades higher than him, but had to stop when a particularly good sixth year gave him a limp.
"Do you want to go to the forest?" Dugger asked. Seth shrugged. "Nothin' better to do." "There's always food," Dugger reminded him. "Yeah," Seth responded gruffly, "There's always that."
Dugger smirked. "What is it, Chanteau is gone, or you got beaten." Seth glared at him, and he shrugged.
When they got to the forest, Dugger said, "I've got some potion ingredients of a sinister nature to pursue, I'll be back shortly." Seth shrugged, and made his way towards a spring he and Madison had found one day.
They loved it in the forest. After a while the giant mushrooms dwindled, and there were miles and miles of caves. They would have liked to explore it all, but knew that it was too big.
The spring comprised of a small pool of water in a surrounding of pinkish crystals. The crystals formed a stairway up to a platform not far from the ceiling, and this is where Seth went.
Almost as soon as he got up there, something tackled into him from behind, sending them falling into the pool. He struggled to get out of the grasp of whatever it was, but the thing was too strong. Then he felt a sharp pain in his neck and everything faded from his sight…
Madison felt a sharp pain in his head, and saw a vision of Seth falling. He stood up, his wand flying to his hand. "I'll be back," He told the unsettled Nerieda. "I hope," he muttered to himself.
What could have happened? He wondered. Seth must be in the mushroom forest. But where? Most likely at their spring.
He headed off to go and try to find his friend.
Seth woke up just a little to the side of the small pool, soaking wet. "What happened?" He asked himself. 'You're one of us now,' a menacing voice told him. Seth immediately stood and drew his wand. "Who are you? Step where I can see you."
The dark voice chuckled. 'I'm you, your dark side at least. And you can't fight me.' Seth looked around, spooked almost out of his wits. "Where are you?" He asked desperately. The dark voice chuckled again.
'I am your dark side, all of the evils you have kept bottled up. You have no need to keep them anymore,' the voice explained. "I don't believe you," Seth said defiantly. The dark voice chuckled once more.
'I know your every thought, can remember your every memory.' Seth's mind worked quickly, trying to defeat his dark tormentor. "What's my birthday, then?" The dark voice chuckled, as if the question was too easy. Perhaps it was. "November seventh. You were born at two in the afternoon.' It was true.
Seth kept on trying defiantly. "What's my best friend's full name?" 'Madison Campbell Anbu Brooks. He's in love with a girl named Angelique McDonough. And you're in love with Chanteau Ronaduce. She's a French girl, a very rich one.'
Seth's dark tormentor let out a booming laugh. 'Oh yes, I know every aspect of you. Because I am you. Together, the two of us can become more powerful than any other witch or wizard there ever was.'
This appealed to Seth. He had always lusted after power, and now it was here in his grasp. There was no small voice inside him telling him this was bad, or not to do this. He nodded his head. "Ok, let's do it." The voice smirked. 'You don't have to talk out loud for me to hear you.'
Seth nodded. 'So what are we?' He asked mentally. 'We're a vampire,' The voice explained. Seth nodded again. It made sense. He reached up and touched the bit marks on his neck. 'What happened to he other one?' He asked his dark side. 'I disposed of him. He was unfit to serve my purposes.
The voice laughed when it sensed Seth's unease. 'Don't worry,' it told him, 'If you do as I say, there'll be no reason to dispose of you.' Seth laughed dryly. 'No worries then, aye?' The voice chuckled again, and Seth liked the sound of it. It sounded like him. And it was the first time the voice was not laughing at him.
Seth looked around the cavern. Everything was brighter, but not too bright as to hurt his sensitive eyes. 'How do I use my powers?' Seth asked. The voice chuckled again. 'Don't worry about them. I'll take care of it.'
'Your friend Madison is coming,' the voice told him. Seth nodded. 'I hope you won't want me to kill him,' Seth told his dark tormentor. It chuckled. 'Not yet, anyway. He could prove to be a valuable ally.' Seth nodded.
"Are you all right?" Madison asked as he rounded the corner. Seth chuckled and nodded. "I had a little trip," he explained, indicating his dripping wet clothing and the pool. Madison let out a burst of laughter.
"And I was thinking you'd… Never mind." He said. Seth smirked. "Let's go to our dorm. Dinner's gonna be soon, and Coko told me it would be really good. "Let's do that then." "Are you actually going to eat?" Seth asked. Madison shrugged.
As they walked to House Gente Seth talked with his dark tormentor. 'So I take it you won't be intruding with my speaking?' The voice chuckled. 'Not too much. If I want you to say something I'll tell you. Otherwise I'll leave it too you…' Seth smiled. "That's good to know."
"What is?" Madison asked absently. "Oh, nothing," Seth responded, cursing his lack of concentration. He would have to be more careful.
"Dichonomus rictu dieko sindar neesum ectum!" Wildes ended her chant with a bang. Literally.
The witches and wizards who had been standing with her, lending her magical energy, were all thrown to the ground, and Wildes herself was thrown up into the air a good bit. She had finally done it, finished the magic that would raise Raven.
"When will she arise, master?" Vexter asked. Wildes slumped against him, tired from the casting. "A week," She said, "Is the anniversary of Raven's death. It is then when she will rise." Vexter nodded, and hoisted the weakened witch over his shoulder to tale her to a safe place to rest.
Hannah sighed and wrote her latest vision down, and sent it to Coko. She would be glad to get back to Salem, where she could talk with the headmaster.