A/n: Well it looks like I've written yet another short chapter. Though I think it is rather effective.
Warning: It gets a bit violent at one point. It may be rated "R" but I can't tell. If you think it should be let me know in your review. I'll make sure to change it.
Chapter Twenty:
"Lucius!" Narcissa called strolling causally down a long dark corridor. There was a light flickering at the end. Her voice echoed loudly back assaulting her ears.
There was a muffled reply from the direction of the light. A large figure moved across it dragging what looked like a sack of potatoes.
"Lucius, is that you?" she inquired, slowing down her pace. Her footfalls reverberated against the walls.
"Ummâ yes it is. I'm a little busy at the moment. Would you mind coming by at another time?" His voice sounded stressed but still completely laid back.
"Are you sure? I just wanted to check on you. Did you put the poultice on your wounds?" She kept moving towards the light, though something told her she didn't want to.
"Yes, mother," Lucius answered in a snotty voice. There was a dull thump and muttered curses.
"Are you okay?" Narcissa asked, her footsteps quickened. Had Lucius hurt himself? He usually ended up doing so when he was angry or upset, not intentionally of course. Wizards of high society never participated in such primitive forms of self-abuse. They preferred to get completely pissed and complain a lot.
"I'm fine. Now will you leave me alone? I mean it." His voice became harsh and cruel.
Narcissa gasped in astonishment. No one had ever spoken to her in such a crude manner.
"You take that back right now, Lucius Malfoy." She expected him to come out of the room and take her in his arms. He would say he was frustrated and that he hadn't meant to take it out on her.
"Oh will you please get off your bloody high horse, woman? I said I wanted to be left alone. Is that so hard to ask?" The light silhouetted his form perfectly. His hands were perched angrily on his hips.
No one talked to Narcissa Venus Black like that! The outrage, the scandal. She stamped her foot angrily and charged towards Lucius' outline ready to shove him as hard as she could.
Lucius moved aside at the last second and Narcissa tumbled into the room, conking her head on the far wall. Something wet blanketed the floor. In the dim light Narcissa had a hard time figuring out what it was.
She lifted her hand up and held it right beneath the light. A small gasp escaped her lips.
"It'sâ it's" she stammered, standing up. The liquid rolled down her already stained robe. "Lucius?" She turned to her boyfriend hoping for some form of reasonable explanation.
That's when she saw it. Hanging against the wall behind the open door was three bodies. They hung there limply, blood dripping from their hands and bare toes.
As Narcissa stared at the fingers one of them twitched. "Narcissa," moaned a familiar voice.
"Tommy!" she screeched, he cried out in pain.
She reached for him and tried to discover how he was being hung up. There was no sign of any rope.
"There is a hook lodged in his back," Lucius said, stepping up behind her. His hand slipped into her shirt and caressed her smooth back. "Right about here." His fingers squeezed right where her neck and spinal cord met. "It's hooked around his backbone."
Narcissa pulled away, turning her back to the bodies, the other two still unidentified. Lucius grinned and dipped his finger in a pool of blood on the round.
With it he painted a heart on his bare chest and in it he wrote Narcissa's initials. He drew a bloody red slash right through the centre, slicing through the heart.
"Lucius," she whined, tears of fear rolling down her face. "Why are you doing this?"
He laughed crazily and touched her cheek. "You're so beautiful. It's a pity you're dead."
"What?"
Lucius turned her around and pointed at the body at the end of the row. Narcissa cried out in fright. There was her body, hanging there, with a crazed smile painted across her face in blood.
"You're so gorgeous, Narcissa." He reached over her shoulder and fondled her dead body. "But all beauty must die." Lucius' grip tightened around her dead throat and Narcissa began to gasp.
He fist slammed into the dead face. Narcissa felt its impact. She fell violently to the floor.
His fist grew even tighter and Narcissa felt her throat collapsing.
&
Narcissa sat up in bed clutching her throat and gasping for breath. Sweat rolled down her face and the dark seemed to come crashing down on her.
As her breathing slowed to almost normal she saw Lucius coming at her with that crazed look in his eyes.
It was exactly the same one that he had this evening as he fought Tommy. That look that now frightened Narcissa, that haunted her nightmares. Shivering she pulled her blanket closer and wondered if she'd ever be able to think of Lucius without picturing that murderous smirk.
Slowly sleep retook her and as she fell into its comforting folds she swore she heard Lucius telling her how much he loved her before he stuck a knife through her chest.
She knew it wasn't real just like the nightmare but for some reason she believed Lucius would have no problem killing those he loved if they got in his way.
