1- 16- 04- A/N: Alright. This was originally just going to be a short story. Just this chapter. One of my friends gave me a good idea for a plot though (thanks Hollie) and I decided, what the hell, I'll go ahead and write it. So, you all have two choices, you can go ahead and read just the first chapter, which is entitled 'Haunted' or you can carry on to the second chapter which picks back up after OotP, and read the rest of the story, now entitled 'From the Eyes of a Serpents Follower.' (yes I know that was the name of my old fic, but lets face it, that one sucked. Plus, I liked the name and it fit Bella so I decided to re-use it. A bit of author recycling. See, I'm helping the environment.) Up to you. And just as some warning in advance, I'm not sure how often I'll update this. Thanks for your cooperation.
6-26-03- A/N: I'm not quite sure what made me write this. For one, it has no real plot, and for two, I don't like that character its based around, but it was one of those the words just flowed to me and I needed to write them down before I cracked. Either way, its just a little one shot thing but please review. I like to have feedback of any kind on my pieces. Tootles!
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
'Haunted'
The woman leaned against the locked door to her cell, pale hands each grasping one of the cold, metal columns baring her path. But not for long, that was all about to change. From under half closed eyes, she gazed out at those around her. The figure in the cell across from her was curled up on the ground sobbing and moaning. She had watched him come in nigh a week ago standing tall and proud, but it was obvious that he was simple to crack. He would be in the ground soon, along with so many of the others that she had shared these halls with since her arrival.
Peering down the dark, dank corridor she saw that it was almost time. The bars gave a clatter as she stepped away and picked up the cloak she'd worn upon arriving here, a floor length black traveling cloak, and carefully pulled it on, fastening the tiny buttons up the front. Slowly, she lifted the hood over her dark hair, and leaned up against the bars again.
She could see them at work now, two at the end of the hall. Not all of them were on their side yet, so they still had to be careful, but only a few were all they needed. She watched intently as they glided closer and closer to her, unlocking specific cells as they went. The people they passed, leaving them in their cells cried out in protest as the watched their black cloaked inmates flee silently down the halls.
One of the dementors came closer. She could feel the darkness deepen as it approached, the shadows growing longer and the feeling of depression that overcame her whenever one was near intensifying. It glided to a halt at her door, and she watched with bated breath as a single scabbed hand slid from under the folds of its cloak and with a deep rattling breath that made her feel faint, clicked the lock open. As the creature glided on, she blinked several times and allowed the feelings of dread to fade, before pushing the heavy barred door open for the first time in years.
Allowing the door to open just enough for her sickly body to slip through, she paused and slid her shoes from her feet so as to remain silent, and crept down the hall, hoping against hope that the creatures had waited until the few traitorous dementors that still remained had been distracted.
The woman quickly fled down the long hall of cells and whipped around the corner, laying her body flat against the wall. She could see the distant outline of another cloaked person far ahead of her, and decided to follow him, not being entirely sure of her direction. After what seemed like hours but was probably only a few minutes of making her way through a maze of corridors, a wooden doorway could be seen embedded into a seemingly dead end. Her one way of escape.
Anxious to see the sky again, after so many years of imprisonment, she cast a cautious glance behind her, before lifting up the trail of her skirts and cloak and running the remainder of the hall, throwing herself against the door when she reached it.
It flew open in an instant, the wood giving a great shudder, and she caught her first glimpse of the beautiful night sky in years. Dropping the hem of her skirt, she rushed the short distance to the edge of the island and perched herself precariously atop some rocks while looking about. Rain and wind whipped through the air, throwing back the hood of her cloak and tossing her hair in it, the loud crash of the waves against the rocks was music to her ears.
"Lestrange! Hurry up, we can't wait here all day for you to gaze off into space!" one of the men called from aways down the beach. It was a very small island that the prison was on, and there was only one leg of the trip left before they could apparate safely.
"I'm coming!" She called over her shoulder, her voice cracking and horse from being unused for so long.
The woman looked over to where the man was standing, he too, like all the others was dressed in a long, black cape that masked him well against the night sky. He stood huddled together with a group of five or six wizards on the beach, while she could make out two more black shapes moving towards them from the door.
Quickly, she jumped down off the rocks and ran to the group, her bare feet sinking pleasantly in the damp sand, something she had not felt since she was a small girl. As she grew closer, she noticed a small rickety boat had been dragged up onto the shore behind them. She swore under her breath.
"This is your genius escape plan?" Her voice was still raspy.
"Would you rather swim?" One of the cloaked man hissed. "Now keep it down, we still have aways to go before we're safe." She looked at him closely, her dark, lidded eyes boring into his.
"You shall not tell me what to do under any circumstances, am I understood?" The man met her gaze fiercely for several moments before one of the other wizards grabbed his arm and wildly gestured for them to get in the boat. After a tense moment of the two almost daring the other to look away first, the wizard, followed by the woman, turned and crawled carefully to perch on whatever seating remained. As two of the men nearest the front, pushed off the beach and the tiny craft hit the open seas, she glanced around, trying to mask some of the emotion in her eyes. She was free. She could only imagine the hero's welcome they would receive from her Lord when they returned. Unlike her foolish sister's family, the Malfoy's, she had not pleaded insanity to the ministry. She had remained loyal, and she would be rewarded.
The wind whipped about cruelly, causing the overloaded boat to be tossed in the waves as if it were made of paper, and the distant silhouette of land seemed much farther away then it had a moment ago. But even as the rain painfully struck Bellatrix's skin, and a burning sensation seared through her forearm, one thought was lodged firmly in her mind. She was free. Free to wreck havoc on mankind again.
