Disclaimed.
Author's note: Just a question for the readers; are the one scene at a time chapters working or should I do multiple POV's in the same chapter? Commentary would be appreciated.
A Well in the DeadLand
By Marz
Chapter 10
Poisoned Refuge
He was drowning. The darkness bore down on him. It washed through him. He tried to call for help but it poured into his mouth and clotted in his lungs. It filled his stomach, stretching it until he felt he was about to burst.
"Harry! Wake up darling. The Key is escaping."
The darkness drew back, fleeing from his mother's voice. He opened his eyes and gasped for air. The nightmare came more and more frequently now. Whenever he slept the darkness came for him. His mother always saved him though. An instant before it was too late, before he was over whelmed, her voice would bring him out of that terrible place. He shook his head to clear it.
His mother was right. Despite being nearly mummified with rope, the Key was halfway out the car. She had managed to roll down the window somehow, and had wiggled herself through the space. She seemed to have become stuck though, as the windows were child safe, and the bit of glass that wouldn't roll down was digging into her stomach. Harry grabbed her belt and pulled her back in. Her head bounced off the side of the car and she kicked her legs trying to get away from him. She screamed but the sound didn't get past her gag. He wrestled her back onto the seat.
The driver wasn't giving him nearly so much trouble. She sat passively in her seat and didn't even move without his instructions. He supposed the Key was becoming resistant to the Imperious Curse because she wasn't really a human.
The Key glared at him and grumbled through her gag. She certainly looked human. She was rather pretty too, with large expressive eyes and a snowy complexion. He reached out to touch her face. She turned her head away, and the sounds coming through the gag became high pitched and panicked. He looked into her eyes and saw fear. Instead of touching her, he pulled out the gag.
"Keep your hands off me you pervert!" she shrieked hoarsely. "My sister's going to kick your ass! She'll twist your head right off your skinny chicken neck!"
Harry waved his wand. "Silencio."
She knew there was a spell on her, but didn't seem to care. Her mouth kept moving and from what he could tell her language was growing more foul by the second. He stretched and looked around. He'd spelled the car to repel notice, but he wanted to make sure nobody had seen the Key's most recent attempt to get away. The rest stop around them was silent. There were a few eighteen-wheelers parked at the far end of the lot, but the drivers showed no interest in them.
They'd been traveling west for almost two days straight. He wasn't sure what state they were in at the moment, but it was unpleasantly hot. They'd stopped a few times for petrol, food, and bathroom breaks, but Harry hadn't slept. He was worried the driver would get loose from his imperious if he let himself relax too much. His mother said she would keep watch while he slept but he was still too worried. It was only when the driver began to slump over the wheel that he relented and allowed them to park.
The Key was still glaring at him, but her mouth had stopped moving. He lifted the silencing charm.
"I have ta' pee," she said.
"You just went," Harry said, frowning.
"That was twelve hours ago!"
"You haven't had anything to drink," Harry responded.
It was true. The Key had refused all food and drink. Even under the imperious he couldn't get her to take more then a few bites, and if he didn't tell her to chew and swallow, she'd just spit everything back out again.
"The human kidney produces at least an ounce of urine every hour whether you drink or not. The average bladder only holds twelve ounces of fluid."
In that moment, her voice reminded him strongly of someone else, another know it all, someone from school, maybe. He tried to think of her name, but it wouldn't come to him.
"You're making that up," Harry said.
"Am not. I got an A in physiology."
"Like that's impressive."
"A's the highest you can get."
"A stands for average."
"Maybe in the freaked out English school system. Over there I'm sure F is the top grade and it's perfectly fine to kidnap random people too!"
"You are not a person," Harry said coldly.
"I am to a person!"
"Prove it."
"How am I supposed to prove it? You can see, me can't you?" She twisted around and kicked at him with her bound feet. He pushed her feet away. "If I'm not real why are you putting your hands in the way?" She tried to kick him again.
"I said you weren't a person. I never argued that you didn't have physical form."
"Well aren't you so smart!" she said glaring. "Well you're about to have a lot of very real pee all over the back seat of this car if you don't let me go to the bathroom!" she shrieked.
Though he didn't want the Key to think she'd won, he didn't want to ride in a smelly car for another few days either. He waved his wand and the ropes faded to nothing.
"If you try to run I'll stun you," he said, climbing out of the car, and following her across the parking lot.
"Whatever!" she huffed.
He checked the inside of the lady's room. There was no one inside and the windows were too high and too small for the Key to climb out. She took forever. He'd been waiting outside the door for at least twenty minutes before she emerged. She walked past him and headed straight for the car. Something wasn't right. The Key glanced back at him, and her eyes rested on the bathroom door, just a second too long.
"Let's go then," she said.
He raised his wand. "Petrificus Totalus!"
She froze and fell over. He went into the bathroom again. His suspicions were warranted. The Key had found a discarded lip liner and written a message on the wall. "Please help me", followed by a description of him, the car, the plate number, her own name, and her sister's phone number. She noted that he was armed and dangerous and very insane. She even wrote the date at the very bottom. He erased it all.
When he got back outside the Key was right where he left her. Ants were crawling on her face and she couldn't move to brush them away. He felt a grin spread across him face, but at the same time a small voice from deep within him called out. This is wrong. This is cruel. This isn't you. He tried to focus on the voice, but it faded back into the darkness. He lifted the curse and the Key jumped to her feet, shrieking and brushing off ants in a panicked dance.
"My sister's going to kick your ass!" she shrieked again.
Suddenly his mother's voice was in his ear.
"Harry, get back to the car now. They're coming!"
He grabbed the Key's arm and pulled her into motion. He opened the back door and shoved her in. She tried to jump out the opposite door but he froze her again just as her fingers touched the handle. Tires screeched and he turned.
THWAP! THWAP!
The parking lot was filled with a hissing sound as the air escaped the car's rear tires. A dark haired woman in leather pants stood in the back seat of a blue convertible. Her crossbow was already reloaded and aimed at his head. The front doors popped open and two teenage girls sprang out onto the asphalt. One had short blond hair and nose ring. She was armed with a broadsword. The other was Asian and swung an ax back and forth in front of herself in a complicated whirling pattern.
"Drop the wand and put your hands on your head!" the dark haired woman ordered.
Harry brought his wand to bear and the woman fired. He didn't need to use magic. He side stepped the bolt and it sailed over his shoulder into the parking lot behind him.
"Stupefy!" he shouted.
With inhuman speed the woman dove over the hood of the car, out of the path of the curse. She hit the ground with a neat hand spring and was running towards him in the next instant. The two teenagers were trying to circle around behind him.
"Serpensortia!" he hissed.
Suddenly there was power poring though him, more then he could ever have summoned on his own. The air around him glowed and wavered, and in the next instant the ground was covered in a writhing mass of serpents, the smallest of which was twenty feet long. He did not need to speak. The serpents knew what he wanted.
The teenage girl with the sword shrieked as an unnaturally large cobra reared up in front of her. She swung at it but the snake darted back, out of the way. The dark haired woman stumbled as a python coiled around her ankles, but she kicked it loose a second later, rolling to avoid a pit viper that dove for her face. Harry turned, looking for the girl with the ax. There was thump on the roof of the car.
He glanced up and the girl dove at him, landing on him and slamming him down on top of the snake covered ground. She slapped the wand away, and pinned both of his wrists above his head with one hand. She was incredibly strong. He felt the bodies of the serpents sliding beneath him, as her weight pressed down from above. The girl held the blade of the ax to his throat. He could see fear in her eyes. He felt nothing, even as the blade started to dig in.
"Call off the snakes!" she ordered.
"Why would I do that?" he asked.
He felt her stiffen as a snake slithered over the backs of her legs. He could hear the woman grunt and curse as she fought, and the other teenager called for help. His mother had warned him that the Key was protected by a cult of super strong women who called themselves Slayers. He was a bit surprised he hadn't run into them earlier. He was more surprised at how young they were.
"Call them off!" the girl ordered again.
He could see she was near panic.
"No," he said.
"Call them off or I'll cut your throat!"
"If you cut my throat, who will tell the snakes not to kill? You don't think they have this much self control on their own, do you?"
The girl looked around again. An Anaconda had wrapped itself around the dark haired woman pinning her arms and legs, and several smaller vipers sat curled by her face. They lunged at her as she tired to move, but they did not bite. The blonde girl with the sword was not faring better. The ground around her was littered with decapitated snakes, but now she stood frozen. A cobra had coiled itself around her shoulders and its tongue flicked against her chin. Another cobra was slowly slithering up her leg.
"Let them go! Let them go or I'll kill you!" the girl said.
She was starting to tremble with nervousness. The snakes not busy restraining a Slayer had all migrated over to him, watching with cold interest.
"You're going to kill me?" Harry asked. "Are you a murderer then?"
"I'm not! You are!" she said, her eyes darting from one snake to the next.
"I haven't killed anyone, and I don't intend to. Put the ax down and I'll let you and your friends leave."
"You've got Buffy's sister!"
"She hasn't been harmed. I need her to help me with a spell, and then I'll let her go too. I don't want to hurt anyone, but I will defend myself." Harry wanted to smile. He'd always been a terrible liar, but now the words came so freely. He never realized how much fun it was to be the villain. Even with a blade to his throat, he felt in control. He felt powerful. A small part of his mind cried out that this was wrong, but in the rapture of this new sensation, it was easily ignored.
"You'll let us go?" she asked.
"You have my word."
"And…and you aren't going to hurt Dawn?"
"Of course not."
The girl looked toward the woman with the long dark hair, but her view was obscured by the myriad of snakes. The ax fell to the ground with a faint clank. The girl let go of his wrists and stood up, her back to the car. Harry raised his hand and his wand flew back to him. He stood in front of the girl, and the snakes closed in around them.
She was only an inch shorter then him. Her dark brown eyes reminded him of someone he knew. He tried to remember who, but the image in his mind was dark and unclear. He remembered a girl, who had come up to him, after…some meeting. They'd stood under the mistletoe. He tried to remember more but the details slipped away. Harry took a step closer to the Asian girl, and she retreated, her back pressing against the side of the car. Her eyes darted down at the vipers that had begun to wrap themselves around her legs. Harry stepped closer. His legs pressed against hers and he leaned forward. His hands rested on her shoulders. He touched his lips to hers.
The darkness was back in his mind. It was flooding through him, and he realized that it was the source of power he was feeling. He felt freed by it. He had things to do, but they couldn't weigh him down. He had no worries. He had no responsibility. He had nothing and it was the best thing he ever felt.
He tasted something salty on his lips. He opened his eyes and saw tears running slowly down the girl's face.
Why do girls always cry when I kiss them? he thought. At least she isn't as weepy as Cho.
Suddenly the darkness vanished. His mind was clear and he blinked in surprise. Cho, his not quite girlfriend from last year, she cried because Cedric was dead. He looked down and saw he was grabbing a stranger, who was shaking in terror. He stepped back, stumbling over the snakes that surrounded them.
"I'm sorry," he said. "Oh Merlin, I'm sorry. I…I…I didn't mean to…"
He ran to the other side of the Volvo and unfroze the Key, pulling her from the car and dragging her to the convertible the Slayers had arrived in. He shoved the Key into the passenger's seat and petrified her again. He started the engine and shifted the car into gear. He didn't really know how to drive, but the vehicle lurched forward as he stepped on the gas. When he was on the other side of the parking lot he aimed his wand back at the Slayers and the snakes.
"Finite!" he shouted.
The snakes evaporated into mist. The dark haired woman was on her feet instantly, charging towards him at an impossible speed, but his foot slammed down on the gas, and she couldn't keep up. As the woman shrunk to nothing in the rearview, Harry took a deep breath. He looked at his own eyes in the mirror, and saw the green was tainted with streaks of unnatural black.
What the hell is wrong with me? he thought as he turned onto the interstate.
The question worried him for another hour, until his mother appeared in the passenger seat.