Chapter 2 – Nightmare for Christmas

For a while everything was quiet, no more disappearances or mysterious deaths. Nothing… Everyone just went on with their lives, believing it a freak accident. Well, almost everyone. Elizabeth was still scared something would happen again. She gave up eating, sleeping and always kept watch over William. No one could every have predicted what happened the week before Christmas…

"So… what are you doing for Christmas?" Elizabeth asked William over breakfast. "I was thinking of… you know… staying for the feast."

"After everything that's happened?" William asked. He knocked over his goblet.

"I've got nowhere else to go, besides it'll be fun…" She flicked her wand lazily at the stain. "Will you stay with me? I don't want to be alone."

"You won't have to be, I'll stay, but only because you asked so nicely." He grinned at her, before passing her the bowl of fruit. "Did you buy any gifts? It's a custom that we seem to have acquired throughout our existence-"

"Yes. Salazar informed me of that… I got you a gift too, it's a-"

"Another custom, we generally leave it as a surprise," he cut her short. "I got you something, as well. I'm sure you'll enjoy it." He stopped as her eyes began to fill with unshed tears.

"That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me!" She stood up, ran around to stand beside him and flung herself into his arms.

"Don't thank me yet, you haven't even seen it. It's not that good." He thought about the bathing suit he had bought for her. His fingers were trailing up and down her spine unconsciously.

She stared up at him, confused by the shockwaves the light touch provoked. Charlie never made her feel like this. Unaware of anyone but herself and Will, she leaned forward and pressed her lips softly to his neck, instinctively knowing what to do. At the first taste her knees went weak and she shivered uncontrollably.

She tried to pull away but Will pressed his lips to hers and held her there, though her struggles never wavered. "Will you calm down? I'm not going to hurt you. Elizabeth!"

"Let me go! Don't touch me, William Ranulf!" The hall had grown silent and turned to watch them. "You don't understand. I have to go…" She glanced over his shoulder, only getting a glimpse of Salazar's scowling face, before Will's head came down again.

Instinctively she knew it was now or never. She pushed him away and ran out of the hall and didn't stop until she reached for her dorm.

That was too close, she thought locking the door behind her, as images flashed through her mind, some she didn't recognise. Though one stood out more than others…

A girl with long, black hair was leaning over a body, whispering to it. The blood, red lips glowed with an almost unnatural shine. The girl's voice was nothing more than a whisper, but Elizabeth could hear the malice underlining her gentle tones.

Elizabeth couldn't see anything but the girl's lips and hair, but as she concentrated, the faceless, nameless body emerged, causing her to scream.

There was Charlie, smiling, murmuring something back to the girl. Kissing her!

Elizabeth ran out of the room screaming and ran head-on into William.

"What? What's wrong?" He sat her on one of the chesterfields and sat down beside her. "Elizabeth! Tell me…"

"It's… it's Charlie! He's… and she…"

"Finish at least one sentence please," William said dryly.

She took a deep breath and then spilled the whole story. William just stared after she was finished. "I don't think he ever had a girlfriend like that," he concluded finally. "Now that I think about it, you were his first real girlfriend…"

"I was afraid of that."

"Happy Christmas, Elizabeth." William leaned over her and kissed her shoulder.

"Back on your side! We had a deal. You were to stay on your side and I would stay on mine." She smiled enigmatically at him. "You never break your promises, do you Mr Ranulf?"

"No, I never have and I never will." He rolled onto his back. "Are you going to open your presents?"

"All right, but first…" She put her hand under her pillow, and pulled out a small, neatly wrapped gift addressed to him. "Here you go… your surprise gift."

He took the package and opened it, admiring the portrait of her and the few sweets at the bottom. "Thank you so much, I don't know what else to say." He ran his hands through his sleep-tousled hair. "My gift for you is over in your pile…"

Elizabeth walked to the end of the bed and stopped. "Does it seem quiet to you?"

"Everyone's probably asleep still. Although, most of them went home, remember?" He walked over to his pile and began to open his presents. "You didn't have to give me two gifts! I feel spoilt and really bad. I only got you one…"

"Don't worry, I didn't have anyone to give any to. So I thought I'd give you two." She drew a present to her and began unwrapping it.

Fifteen minutes later, a pile of rubbish and the presents themselves surrounded them each. Will's pile of presents had stopped flowing several minutes ago. Elizabeth's, however, was still as large as before – she wanted to make her first Christmas last as long as possible.

She reached Will's present and slowly unwrapped it – making him wait for her reaction. The small, red swimsuit could've easily been scrunched up into the palm of her hand.

"It's… erm… small." She looked at him completely shocked.

He merely laughed at her reaction. "That's why I got it. It's exactly like you. Small, and lacking vital sections… of your mind-" he added in an undertone.

She stared at the ceiling while he continued to laugh. "I am not small!"

"Compared to me," he laughed. "Elizabeth, you are. I feel like I could break you if I look at you the wrong way." He stopped laughing as she pulled the next one present towards her.

She glanced at the card, perplexed by the content, before reading aloud. "Hope you had fun last night. This is a little something from my night. Take a good look at your friend, it'll be his turn soon…" She shrugged and opened the grubby package.

As soon as she saw what was in it, she screamed, threw it across the room and ran over to William and cried hysterically. "WILL! GET IT AWAY!"

He slowly stood up, looked in the box cautiously and gasped. There was Charlie's decapitated head smiling up at them both. Will picked up the box and threw it out the window. "LEAVE US ALONE!" he roared at the morning sky. He ran back over to the trembling Elizabeth. "Shh… it's all right. It's gone now."

"It is not all right, William! Charlie's dead and buried! He's not supposed to keep coming back!" She stared out the window. "Why is his head coming back to haunt me? HAVEN'T I SUFFERED ENOUGH?" she howled.

"It's just some perverted git's idea of fun. Come on, we'll go find the founders." He pulled her to her feet and they walked out of the room hand-in-hand.

"What time is it?" she asked softly. "Surely not everyone is still in bed."

"It is quite late, breakfast should have already started. Maybe that's where they all are," he shrugged. He tilted Elizabeth's face towards his as they walked around the corner and stood outside the door to the Common Room. "If everyone is at breakfast… we'll have the tower to ourselves."

She continued to stare at him, holding his gaze as he pushed the door open. Then slowly she turned her head and the small smile faded instantly to be replaced by a pale, shocked expression.

All over the Common Room were the bodies of their friends and other Gryffindor students. Elizabeth couldn't breathe, nor could she tear her eyes away from the massacre. Hearts were missing, blood was splashed all over the walls and William was the only other living person in that room with her.

"Don't look at it," he whispered urgently, though it was too late. She'd seen the look of satisfaction and contentment on each of their faces. She'd already seen the two bite marks on each of their necks. She had seen the very thing that had haunted her for weeks - the same horrible death that Charlie had suffered.

At the very thought of Charlie, tears rolled unbidden down her cheeks. "Elizabeth? Let's go…" Will tried to push her along, but her legs turned to jelly. She collapsed into a small quivering heap. "Bloody hell! Elizabeth! DON'T LOOK AT IT!"

He covered her eyes with his hand, picked her up into his arms and carried her out of the tower to the Great Hall, though neither of them had much of an appetite left. William tried hard not to look at the trail of blood on the floor, or the blood dripping from the roof. He desperately bade his mind not to think of what could possibly lay at the end of the blood. He had to be strong, for Elizabeth. He'd sworn to look after her and she had no one else.

When he ran into the hall, he saw no more than fifty trembling students much like himself and Elizabeth. He scanned the room swiftly for help, from anyone, Salazar, Godric or another founder. Anyone who could help Elizabeth calm down… Though it was he who was found first.

"ELIZABETH! WILLIAM! Oh thank goodness!" Rowena's breathless voice rang around them. "Godric, they're over here."

William was pushed none-to-gently into a chair and Elizabeth was practically pried from his arms by Salazar. He watched on helplessly as Salazar asked her a few questions, shaking answers out of her, her face a pallid beacon of anguish, until she couldn't take anymore and fainted.

"ELIZABETH!" He ran over to her limp body lying on the floor, sunk down next to it and cradled her to his chest. "What did you do to her?" he muttered softly, staring into her blank face. When Salazar didn't answer he glared up at him face full of anger and condemnation. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER!"

Salazar's face contorted with rage. His eyes flashed threateningly as his pasty teeth bared ever so slightly. "I didn't do a thing," he said coldly. Salazar moved furiously towards William his wand ready to strike.

"SALAZAR!" a voice roared. Godric moved instinctively between William and Salazar, his face pointed calmly towards his colleague. "Control yourself," he uttered quietly. "There are bigger problems at hand."

Salazar faltered for a moment his eyes never leaving William's face, until a small whimper sounded somewhere near his feet. His gaze fell to Elizabeth's face. Confusion mingled with fear painted her features as she noticed the wand in his hand.

"Have it your way, Godric!" Salazar dropped his hand slowly. He took one last look at the scene, his gaze lingering once more on Elizabeth before turning his back on them all and striding towards the dungeons.

"After the last attack, I'm disappointed to tell you that the school will be shutting down," Godric addressed the hall. It seemed nobody dared to breathe. "Those who left before the holiday shall be informed immediately. All of you here tonight will be leaving in a week. It's no longer safe for anyone." He paused before adding, "I'm sorry."

Once Godric had taken his seat the rest of the Hall began to slowly move again, whispers were heard throughout the hall. Elizabeth and Will looked weakly at the huge Christmas feast laid out in front of them on the wooden tables. No one, it seemed, had touched the food. Salazar, after pacing in his office all day hissing and spitting about how foolish Godric was, had finally consented to Elizabeth's pleas for him to join the feast.

Salazar's face was sullen and still held traces of his recent rage. He didn't dare to look over at Godric or the other founders, and merely contented himself by playing with the little food that was on his plate.

Godric however looked at her, pleading silently with her to do something. She took a deep breath, cleared her throat and said shakily to William, "Will? Have you ever tried this before? It is a thing called chicken, and it's delicious!"

The students turned and stared at her. William was horrified as well. "What? How can you eat after what happened?" he whispered across the table.

"I don't think about it," she hissed back. "I'm helping Godric. Try some!"

He looked at her for a moment, stunned, before finally catching on. Picking up a piece, he smiled. "Smells good, too." The whole hall seemed to be waiting with baited breath, to see what he'd do. He gave a silent prayer before he popped it in his mouth and chewed slowly. "You're right! It is good!"

Immediately the students began filling their plates with ham, potato, fish and other mouth-watering dishes. Elizabeth threw Salazar a triumphant smile and he raised his goblet in a silent salute before going back to his meal. Godric nodded approvingly to her before starting his own meal.

William took this moment to fill her goblet with water and a few ice cubes. She picked it up and looked inside to see what she had, before throwing it across the table.

He watched in horror as a small white, round ball rolled out of it, and as it stopped he saw the shimmer of blue on it. Realising what it was he stood up rapidly and backed away, almost knocking his chair over.

"It's an eyeball! Someone's eye was in your goblet!" one of the other students yelled. "It's looking at you! EEWW!"

Elizabeth picked up a napkin and a spoon, rolled it onto the spoon and threw it across the room. At once before someone started to scream. Everyone glanced around for the person and all eyes landed on a petite Ravenclaw first year. She was staring up at the ceiling. Elizabeth couldn't help herself. She looked up to see the moon with a red ring around it.

"Danger's coming," she heard Will mutter, and she agreed silently. There was only one thing worse than the red ring, and that was the blood that came after it.

Somewhere in the castle, bells began to sound, signalling it was midnight. The torches flickered and died, sending the hall into complete darkness on the last toll causing shrieks of fear.

"QUIET!" Godric's voice boomed. "Everyone remain calm." Unexpectedly, the light returned making everyone scream in terror.

Elizabeth couldn't believe what she was seeing. People's decapitated heads, intestines hanging around the Hall like decorative streamers, tongues lying on the table, eyeballs instead of ice. However the one thing she couldn't tear her eyes from was on the wall closest to her. A large picture of Charlie, drawn in blood with a message underneath:

'Your first friends, your first boyfriend, and your first school! Next will be the worst of all…

YOUR FIRST LOVE!'

Elizabeth ran from the room with William trailing right behind. "Elizabeth! WAIT!" He grabbed her by the arms and held her against the wall. "What did that mean?"

"Whoever it is, they are coming after me. They killed Charlie because he was my first boyfriend. They killed James and Greg because they were my first friends. They killed all those other people because this is my first school!" She tried to get away, to find somewhere quiet where she could be alone.

"What about the last part?" He pushed her harder against the wall. "The 'first love'? Who is that?"

"I don't know! I really don't!" He stared at her mockingly, looking as though he was about to comment, but then just turned on his heel and left her standing there by herself.