Fall into Darkness
Chapter 6: Acoustic
A carefully curated park of nature, where tourists and hikers alike could enjoy the calm of the woods on wooden platforms with picnic tables to take in the sights of the trees and the mountains. A refuge from the busy realities of city life and the banalities of maintaining career and regular mortgage payments. A place to relax, smell the clean air and revel in the absence of noisy busy streets.
Of course, that's what it had been during the day. During the night, or rather this particular night, the location had been transformed into a threatening and unsafe pit of dangers lurking in the dark.
With increasing unease, Bellatrix had left the path leading down from the visitor's center and made her way into the depths of the darkened forest. She had this creeping sensation in the pit of her stomach, the anticipation that she might be jumped at any moment as she navigated the path down the hill. She passed the picnic grounds and made her way along the wooden stairs to find the forest path below. The further she went down, the more hostile the forest felt. No sounds, no sounds at all except her own ragged breaths and footsteps. Moving through the air was like moving through a thick soup. And the smell. The smell was… a mixture of sickeningly sweet cotton candy, rotting flesh and fresh manure. An alien mixture of contradictions. Ever so often she thought she could see movement from the corner of her eyes, but when she looked there was nothing.
It reminded her of her first night alone, right after the car crash. And her situation had not improved since then. Her niece, proving herself as useless as ever, had managed to get the skin burned off her arm and lost the only wand they had between them in the process. So, she would have to see this through alone.
It was already getting late and this caused her to throw caution in the wind a bit to not risk missing her appointment. She followed the path down the mountainside, towards the conveniently placed 'Lover's Peak This Way' signs, while taking note of the 'Caution: Drop Hazard' signs. Indeed, this part of the park seemed to consist mostly of canyons carved deep into the earth by rivers coming down from the nearby mountains. Looking at the rapids from above, a drop down there would either smash her skull on the smoothed stones or drag her down to her death in the currents, whichever came first. Probably smart to watch her step.
Despite the darkness, she could spot the radio-tower in the distance, its blinking red light a beacon in the dark. She had made good progress, but was wondering why whatever creature had been at the visitor's center had not returned. Bellatrix had already altered the flow of magic in her body and kept her hand raised, ready to bathe the forest with a flash of light if need be. She just hoped it would be enough. Whereas the field outside the visitor's center was out in the open, the shadows and dark nooks in the forest were endless. Still, it remained eerily calm.
At halfway across the path, she reached some sort of muggle machine. Normally, muggle machines didn't bother her much these days, but seeing this was literally the end of the road, she was forced to investigate further. She put her finger to her lips and regarded it: a cable ran over the chasm with the river below. Under said cable hung a caged platform. On the other side, on a lower elevation, the path continued further through the forest and judging by the distance to the radio-tower, Lover's Peak was very close.
This cable-platform would bring her to the other side and it seemed to be self-operated through a switchboard next to the machine. A bit warily, she stepped onto the platform and pulled the switch. Power was, thankfully, still on, and a cage slide shut behind her. The platform was both agonizingly slow and agonizingly noisy when it stirred to life. The screech of metal on metal rattled her teeth and she could only imagine the sound carrying for miles on this quiet night. Bellatrix grabbed one of the bars to hold her balance while it moved, thinking for a moment how this would be the perfect time for an ambush.
By Merlin, sometimes she hated being right.
About halfway through the trip, there was sudden movement from the side of the forest she had just came from. Though she couldn't quite see beyond the treeline, she could certainly see and hear the results of its onslaught. More alien screeches of such a magnitude that it made her cringe while trees were being turned into match-sticks beyond her sight. A tremor went through the mountains and tussled the platform underneath her feet: a sizable part of the cliff came loose and slide down into the chasm while the platform suddenly shook violently. Bellatrix' eyes grew wide when the machine apparently broke, sending the platform into a free-fall down the cable.
The dark witch held on for dear life as the cable-platform contraption sped down until it slammed violently against its docking port on the other side of the chasm. She yelped as the momentum threw her clear out of the cage and sent her hurtling onto the forest floor. It knocked the wind right out of her lungs as she landed on her chest. But that wasn't the end of her problems.
Shadows stirred and the wind picked up as she made her way through the forest. She felt the darkness turning its gaze towards her. The moonlight was blotted out by dark shadows that raced violently across the ground, moving too swiftly to be natural. Darkness gathered between the trees and melted again to reveal the shadow-men. No natural path had brought them here.
She counted five… maybe six… seven? Eight? They moved too erratically against a dark background of gnarled trees for Bellatrix to keep count. One thing was certain: the shadow-men were coming towards her from all sides as she got to her feet. Shadow-men and women, clad in tourist clothes and hiker boots, all moving together as if in a weird alien synchronised dancing event. All were oozing liquid darkness or brandishing blunt or bladed weapons.
Well… at least she knew what had happened to the missing people, though she doubted Sarah Breaker would ever believe her. Instantly, Bellatrix took a defensive stance and made her first move. Like with the ranger, she threw a lumos ball into the air which swiftly exploded, illuminating both the forest and the shadow-creatures. They hissed and they screeched, but it wasn't enough. This dark forest was their domain. These shadows were their sanctuary. And the light from her lumos ball simply wasn't enough to do the trick.
As the creatures advanced on her again, Bellatrix weighed her options. She needed to break the tendrils of living darkness upon these taken people before she could dispatch them. A focused lumos would definitely do the trick, but she was certain that if she would focus on one, the others would swiftly cut her to pieces.
She took a step back, but found herself at the edge of the chasm, trying to think of a solution. The situation she was in was one of desperation and her heart pounding in her chest. Survival was on her mind, by any means necessary. Either she would attempt to cut her way through them or… she glanced down at the raging waters below. Just as she was about to seriously consider throwing herself into the river below and take her chances with the rapids, there was movement from the other side of the path and the sound of something thrown landed on the forest floor. A blinding red light exploded across the glade followed by the sound of shrieking creatures retreating back to the shadows for now.
On the other side of the path stood a man, a muggle by the look of things. He looked to be a man in his late forties, clad in a camo-outfit and a boonie hat. His face, haggard as it was, carried an infuriating smirk. In his hands was a muggle weapon, some sort of rifle. Now, Bellatrix didn't know much about muggle weapons, but she did know that bigger was more dangerous. And this thing looked to big, beefy and ready to be used. In a way, the man reminded her a lot about some of the preppers in Montana. Hell, one of her own neighbours, friendly though he was, was a man who had an entire hole dug in the Earth to prepare for some sort of theoretical war for the last twenty years.
"Bellatrix Black, I presume," spoke the man in a Southern accent. "You're late."
Bellatrix narrowed her eyes. This was the kidnapper, clearly. Part of her wanted to kill the man on the spot, but that wouldn't do right now unfortunately. Not until he'd spill the beans. She'd have to play along for now at least.
"Come on," he demanded. "They'll be back."
"Give me one solid reason why I should listen to a word you say," Bellatrix hissed.
The kidnapper chuckled as he motioned her to follow along the path. "Because that's the way the story goes!"
Bellatrix blinked. That was a… decidedly odd… response. For now, Bellatrix' best course was to follow.
"So you can make sparks with your hands. Big whoop," the kidnapper mocked and handed her a bundle of cylindrical objects. "Try those flares! They're the real deal. Twist the top and hold it up. And try not to set yourself on fire, witchy-poo!"
He knew her name. He knew where to go. He knew what she was.
Both of them ran along the path, sounds of screeching and mumbling of nonsensical ramblings following them. The path led them to a large platform build into the hillside, offering a view of the gullies below and a waterfall beyond. Below them was a small stream and further forest on the hillsides. The sign 'Lover's Peak' above the entrance to the platform signified the endpoint. During the day, this might have been a nice viewing experience with Hermione… Her girl surely would have loved to have shot more photographs and Bellatrix would have sketched her looking out over the gullies. Right now, it merely meant they had nowhere left to run from the shadow-creatures that had been hot on their heels.
"Light'em up, witchy-poo!" chuckled the man as he did something with his weapon to make it click loudly. "I'll take care of the rest for ya."
For now, Bellatrix would fellow his lead. She took one of the cylinders, these 'flares' and twisted the top. A sharp red light emanated from them just as one of the shadow-creatures rounded about the corner and ran right into her. It shrieked in pain as the tendrils of shadows were being torn away from it by the light, leaving it vulnerable.
Three massively loud bangs shattered the quiet of the forest, and damn near taking the enamel of Bellatrix' teeth. The creature's head exploded in a mass of dark globs and burned away like ash.
"Good! Keep'em comin'!"
Bellatrix whirled around her axis just in time to point the flare towards two more runners. More shrieks, more bangs and more jolly laughter.
Hm, it seemed this yank was enjoying himself just a tad too much.
However, the creatures seemed to be getting more clever. Two more appeared, having apparently climbed up the side of the mountain to outflank them from the other side of the platform. Bellatrix took the flare she was holding and tossed it straight towards them. It hit one of the creatures in the chest and staggered the other one. The kidnapper was momentarily startled, but raised his weapon in retaliation. "Nice try, assholes!" he said between bangs. "Enjoy a full face of SCAR!"
Another one appeared, high above them, clambering down the mountain head first on all fours as if it was some shadowy cockroach with four missing legs. The American was already shooting, as Americans were wont to do, and his bullets shattered against the living darkness around it. "Come on, wicked witch! Light that bastard up already. I'm wasting ammo here!"
Bellatrix rushed forward just as the creature jumped down, landed in his arms and rather awkwardly slithered its way to its feet in such a fashion that would snap the spine of a regular human. Just time time to get a flare applied to its shield of darkness, after which the creature was swiftly dispatched.
Calm returned to the forest for now. The kidnapper fired his weapon one last time and the shadow vanished into the darkness it had come from. "See, nothing to it, Black. Nothing that can't be solved by a solid application of good ole American lead and steel."
The thought of Hermione is his hands was beyond revolting. They now stood on the wooden platform of Lover's Peak, the waterfall and the mountain behind them, the lights of the radio-mast blinking red in the heights about. Bellatrix fought the urge to kill him then and there. "Where is Hermione?" she hissed.
The kidnapper chuckled briefly, hand still on his weapon. "I knew you were gonna say that. And I know you are going to create something beautiful, dark and glorious. Once we gain some… editorial control," he grinned.
Bellatrix frowned. What was this muggle idiot even talking about?
"Don't stand there like a moron, Black," he said. "Hand over your diary and come with me."
"My… diary?"
"You got dirt in yer ears, Black?! Hand it over! And no funny business, witch!" he said, gripping his weapon slightly tighter.
Bellatrix grit her teeth, not about to allow this muggle scum to intimidate her. Apparently, the muggle noticed this too and raised his gun menacingly. "My diary?! You muggle idiot, I don't even have my diary!" she shouted.
Immediately, Bellatrix realized her own faux-pas. "… on me," she added quickly. "I don't have it on me. If you wanted me to bring it along, you should have bloody asked me to!"
The kidnapper's eyes grew wide as he mentally seemed to go over his own words to her over the phone earlier today. He finally reached a conclusion after swearing under his breath. "Cock-ass! Alright, here's what we do, witchy woman. You're going to walk ahead of me and we are going straight to wherever your diary is. No funny business, Black. And then you're going to tell the story the way we want to, or your girly's going to suffer bad."
The kidnapper took one hand off his weapon to rather comically make the motion of a cut hand across the neck. This would be his final mistake. Such a threat alone was enough to make her see red, but now that his hands were off the rifle, Bellatrix had no more reason to hold back and grabbed the opening he had given her with both hands. Magic swirled around her as she shot forward with unnatural speed while a magical shield formed around her. The kidnapper had no time to respond as the shield collided with him before Bellatrix did. The magical force splintered the wooden railing and sent the both of them flying down the platform to land onto the forest floor meters below.
Bellatrix sprang to action before the kidnapper had a chance to, her eyes roving over the forest floor and found the man's fallen weapon. With one hand clasped around the barrel, Bellatrix lifted the surprisingly heavy weapon off the ground and gave it a swing to send it flying to the river where it disappeared underneath the rapids. Then, she turned her attention back to the kidnapper. "No," she hissed. "Here's what we're going to do. You are going to take me to Hermione. You will release Hermione. And if one hair on her perfect head is harmed, you will suffer a hundredfold for it! No funny business, as you say! I can hurt you in so many ways you cannot even begin to imagine, arseface!"
Kidnapper hesitated for a moment. Apparently he knew her well enough to fear her magical ability without the feeble protection of his muggle rifle. Without warning, the coward ran into the darkness of the forest, running in a seemingly random direction. Bellatrix let out a shriek from the depths of her lungs, getting ready for a magically enhanced speedy pursuit.
She took off.
A loud clank sounded.
Pain shot up her leg.
Her shriek of anger turned into a shriek of acute agony.
She looked down and saw that her leg was now caught in one of those poacher bear-traps Rusty had warned her about. Great… she had been about as observant as a golden retriever. The unyielding metal had been stopped by the sturdy dragon-leather her boot was made from, thankfully, but it still had her trapped and it still hurt like a bloody buggery. With magically enhanced strength, she clasped her hands around the trap and managed to pull to open long enough to pull her leg from it.
Bellatrix grimaced when she put weight on her foot. Nothing seemed to be broken, but she was definitely limping home. And by now, the muggle was long gone.
Bellatrix snarled in fury, throwing her head back and giving voice to her frustration with a shriek to the heavens. She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. All she could do now is return to the cabin and figure out how to take things from there. She had learned that they were after her diary for some reason. While she didn't know where her diary currently was, she could exploit the fact that the kidnapper wanted it to her advantage. And what was all this nonsense about telling stories? Editorial control?
Think. Think. What had she learned?
The kidnapper mentioned 'we'. So he either had accomplices or worked for someone else. She hadn't seen this particular man at the police station when she had first been called, but it was likely that she was being watched. All of this went through her head while she limped along the river. She figured following the river would lead her back to the visitor's center and she was indeed correct. After about ten minutes of limping, she could see the visitor's center in the distance, up the hill on the other side of the river. If she recalled correctly there was a bridge at the side of the road leading back up there.
The phone she still had in her pocket rang again. She lifted it to her face to see in the dark only to find the screen showing 'unknown caller'. The familiar voice of the kidnapper sounded. "Arseface, huh? Nice one. Nice set of lungs on you too. Now. Enough horseplay. New date. Two days from now. Midnight. Old coal mine. Bring your diary! You be there, you do what we say and you get your girlie back. No funny business."
He'd hung up before Bellatrix had the chance to call him every obscenity in the book. Though she wanted nothing more than to smash the phone on a rock, she managed to summon the will to pocket it instead as she limped over the bridge. The forests had become calmer now, less oppressive. Proper forest sounds could be heard as she made her way along the path. Birds. Insects. It seemed that the darkness had chosen to vacate. She was finally out of the woods and things were looking up.
That's when she heard the chainsaw.
It was a sound she had heard plenty of times back in Montana. The home she shared with Hermione was on the outskirts of Helena, at the edge of the forest covering Mt. Helena. Their prepper neighbour Pete was big on chopping down firewood and was kind enough to share some of his produce with them for the winter in exchange for a good meal. However, the owner of this particular beaver-tooth was quite less friendly.
A burly man, once undoubtedly a logger, appeared in front of her. The man towered over her, both in height and bulk and covering every inch of his body were tendrils of living darkness. He raised the running chainsaw, holding it at if it was a two-handed medieval sword. Right before he charged right at her.
Once again, whatever intelligence controlled these shadow-creatures had adjusted its tactics accordingly. Bellatrix yelped as she managed to side-step the first assault, a lumbering awkward swing, but grit her teeth as her damaged ankle protested with a pang of agony. Again, the thing soundlessly took a swing at her. The nimble Bellatrix ducked out of the way, causing the blade to fly over her head and slam into a metal fence. Sparks shot everywhere as the chain of the blade ripped across it, assaulting both her eyes and ears. The creature, however, was not daunted in the slightest and was getting ready for another swing.
Again, Bellatrix tried her tactic of a focused lumos. Again, it failed.
The creature was large and bulky and whatever darkness she burned away was quickly replenishing, coursing over the body from unlit areas. Bellatrix grit her teeth and tried to pour more of her magic into the spell. In fact, she focused so much that she almost got hit a sudden wild one-handed swing of the chainsaw.
Realizing that she almost had her head taken off, she broke her lumos spell and let the magic flow into a protective bubble instead just before another swing collided with it. The chain ripping across the shield caused the magic to crackle under the strain and Bellatrix felt the weight of the creature's strength bearing down upon her. The dark witch grit her teeth: she realized that all that stood between her and acute bisection was an uncomfortably thin wandlessly conjured magical protective film which was quickly being drained of its power. She'd have to act quickly. Then she remembered she had one more of those flares left.
Taking away one hand from conjuring the barrier meant it would fail even sooner, but if she could pull this off she'd be safe. She reached into her pocket with her free hand and twisted the top of the flare, causing light to sparkle forth. The creature howled and staggered back, giving Bellatrix the opening she needed. She willed her magic outward, deflecting the chainsaw far enough so that she could twist herself into position. With a yell, she shoved the business-end of the flare right down the creature's gob. Its head became a blaze of fire exploding outward and inward. The chainsaw dropped to the ground just as the creature went down like many a tree it had cut down in its life.
As the body was reduced to ash, Bellatrix stood there panting.
"Bugger me," Bellatrix closed her eyes. "I'm getting too old for this shite."
Onward, Bellatrix passed the visitor's center and the empty cabins along the road. Nobody was here anymore. Nobody would come back. The darkness had taken them all. All except her and her niece. But this night wouldn't be complete without one last surprise.
When she rounded about the mountainside and laid eyes on their cabin, she found that hundreds of birds… crows… were circling ominously above it. Their cries. Their sounds. They were just as distorted as the voices of those once-muggles in the forest. When she got closer to the cabin, she saw that the windows had been haphazardly barricaded by bits of furniture on the inside. There was barking coming from the cabin.
"Who's there?" sounded Nymphadora from beyond the barricade. "Please tell me that's you, auntie!"
Bellatrix kept close to the mountainside and tried to keep an eye on the birds. "It's me! What the bloody hell is going on?!"
"I don't know what these things are, but they aren't normal birds!" Nymphadora called back. "They've been slamming themselves to death against the side of the cabin and the windows. A few of them even managed to get down the chimney. I can't open the door or they'll all get inside."
More barking.
She heard them before she saw them, swooping down from the sky and screeching as they came. Bellatrix spun around just as the shadowy cloud was upon her. For an instant, she peered into hundreds of dead eyes glittering in the darkness. She raised the lumos in her hands and the swarm exploded like fireworks. Feathers burned, turned into ash.
The birds circling the cabin suddenly turned away. The flock, if you could call it that, behaved more like a swarm of angry bees, flying closer together than they should. The cloud of birds shot off towards the forest and disappeared into the darkness beyond. It was then that Bellatrix realized something: The darkness wasn't simply the absence of light but something more than that. It was something you could touch and feel. Worse than that, it was something with a mind of its own, something malicious and malign. Things changed when they were wrapped in darkness. They turned into something else, something foreign, and nothing was safe or innocent anymore. Bellatrix let her eyes rove over the trees beyond, clouded in mist and barely lit by the moon above. There was something primal about these woods and the things stalking it. In that moment, she felt like a gnat trying to understand the house it had just flown into. It never could, because it had no frame of reference. In all the wars she'd fought, all the battles she'd been a part of, the enemies were just people. People she could understand and just as easily outwit. But this? Just what the hell was Bellatrix up against this time?
"Are they gone?! Are they actually gone?!" Nymphadora called out, breaking the dark witch out of her trance.
"Yes," Bellatrix said, throwing a wary eye tot the sky. "Now let me in, for fuck's sake!"
Two things became clear as her niece had opened the door. First, she was looking a lot better: she had managed to heal most of her wounds and she was looking decidedly less pale. Second, Max, the golden retriever, stood next to Nymphadora with a wagging tail and greeted her with a few happy barks.
Bellatrix looked at the dog, then at Nymphadora.
Her niece replied by squatted down and hugging the dog, an action which earned her enthusiastic licks to the cheek. "He knew the birds were coming before I did. If he hadn't warned me…"
"And now we have a dog," Bellatrix crossed her arms. "Just wonderful. What are we going to do with you, hm?"
"Max stays!" Nymphadora demanded just as the dog was trotting around then in circles. "He has no one anymore now, except us!"
Bellatrix held up her hands. "I never said he couldn't stay. In fact, I insist he does."
The next twenty minutes was spent being sat on the sofa telling Nymphadora what she had endured in the forest, from her encounters with the shadow-creatures to her ill-fated meeting with the muggle kidnapper, all the dodging Max's licks and vile dog-breath to which she was only partially successful. Nymphadora listened intently, putting her fingers to her lips. "I wonder why they wanted your diary."
"The thought had crossed my mind," said Bellatrix. "It is personal, but not as if I put anything special in there. Certainly no magical secrets or treasure maps. Nothing a muggle could want."
"And yet…" said Nymphadora. "Doubt a man like that would be working alone. And they are definitely not in league with those Taken."
"Taken?" asked Bellatrix. "That's what we're calling them now."
"Better than shadow-men," shrugged Nymphadora. "As for that man now working alone, I think he must have a boss. Way you described him he doesn't sound like the brains of the operation. He's what we would call a 'mook' back at the station."
Bellatrix thought a moment as Max decided to focus some attention on her niece: the dog had instantly more success with licking faces. "I don't have my diary. I don't even know where it is, but… maybe I can fake one. There's a bookstore in town and it might sell leather-bound diaries or something that looks the part. I could fill it up with some gibberish and use some cantrips to make it look older and more used than it actually is.
Nymphadora bit her lip for a moment, as if deciding how much she should say. Bellatrix, having the keen eyes of a Slytherin, leaned forward with narrowed eyes. "If you know something, say it. The time for secrets have passed. I told you the whole truth and held nothing back. Now it's your turn."
Her niece sighed. "There is something you should know, then. It's just… something Hermione told me recently."
That was surprising. "What?" Bellatrix cocked her head.
Nymphadora sighed, casting her eyes down a bit and taking a moment to pet the dog. She was unsure of what to say it seemed… or perhaps how to say it. "Hermione was working on something. For you. And she said she was afraid you'd wouldn't like one bit of it. Which I why I thought you had done something to her and, well, rushed over to Bright Falls to confront you when Hermione stopped sending reports."
Bellatrix crossed her arms. "What was it?"
"Hermione had been in contact with someone to you to follow a special type of therapy for creative people. Creativity as a tool to sooth traumatic minds or somesuch. She was going to ease you into it," said Nymphadora. "Under the guise of a vacation, a romantic getaway."
Bellatrix' eyes grew wide. Of course. The incident. Hermione had been particularly agitated by it. The dark witch made the calculated decision not to tell her niece as she was reasonably certain Hermione had kept it all out of the reports anyway and revealing this might not endear herself to Nymphadora. Still, it made sense of one thing.
"Wait, that bloke at the police station," Bellatrix put a finger to her lips. "The one who said he had spoken with Hermione? What was his name? Emil Hartman, right?"
"That's him. The one you almost assaulted, yes."
"What the bloody hell did Hermione want me to talk to him for?!"
"He's apparently a muggle in the know and is licensed to treat wizards and witches. Still there's a lot of paperwork involved," Nymphadora said. "You've got to understand that there's still a lot of political eyes on the Program and Hermione is under constant pressure to deliver results. Despite the Program's success rate, there's been a few high-profile relapses which have thrown a shadow on all that. You are still considered high-risk. Hermione said she'd been working a final report that would forever clear you by the rules the Ministry had set for the Program, but she said she needed a bit more ammunition. She told me the course offered by Hartman would fit the bill perfectly. I… I thought she was crazy for even trying, that keeping her faith in you would lead to her doom. This is why I came here. I thought you had finally snapped."
So, Hermione hadn't only kept the incident under wraps, but she would even be using it to her advantage to get Bellatrix cleared through the final phase of the Program, where she'd regain most of her freedoms. Bellatrix rubbed her forehead and sighed. "Of course. My girl is a damn Slytherin at times. She knew I would balk, so she disguised it all as a vacation. Clever, clever little mudpup," she chuckled.
Nymphadora looked at her intently. "Wait. Your girl?" she asked. "What do you mean by that?"
Bellatrix smirked wickedly. "Isn't it obvious? Aren't you supposed to be a detective?"
For a moment, it looked as if her niece was burning off a million braincells at once before it finally clicked. Her eyes grew wide and she raised herself from the sofa, startling the dog. "Y-you? And Hermione?!" she exclaimed. "W- since when?!"
"Didn't know that, did you?" mocked Bellatrix. "As long as we're putting all our cards on the table… you need to know why I am so willing and eager to get her back."
"You… The two of you are shagging?!"
Bellatrix was upon her in an instant, grabbing her by the jaw, nails digging in her flesh. Nymphadora was taller than her, but that never stopped her before. "Listen to me, you little twat. Hermione means EVERYTHING to me! Understand that. I'm going to get her back. I'm going to get her back no matter what it takes! It doesn't matter what I have to do or how many corpses I'll have to crawl over, but I WILL get her back. Do you understand me?! So either you help or you fuck off back to merry old Blighty, because if you even think of standing in my way you won't live long enough to regret it!"
With a shove, Bellatrix pushed her down to the sofa. Next to her, Max whined softly.
Nymphadora looked at her incredulously as Bellatrix fished the little box from her coat pocket and tossed it to Nymphadora. "Here," said Bellatrix. "This should show you how serious I am."
Once opened, her niece looked at the rings. Two silver rings, containing both their birthstones and engraved with both their names in ancient runic script.
"I was going to ask her during the trip," Bellatrix whispered as she saw down on the chair near the fireplace, adopting a forlorn look.
"How did… Hermione controls all your finances! Everything you purchase must be signed off by her! How did you even keep this hidden?"
"Almost all finances," chuckled Bellatrix. "I literally am given lunch-money and small allowances to freely spend. I set aside a tiny bit every day for almost two years. Until I had enough to have this made."
"You know you can never get married officially," her niece said. "That would reveal… your affair."
"Doesn't matter," shrugged Bellatrix. "It's just for me and her. Maybe a private ceremony back in Helena, but that'd be all. It'll be enough."
Nymphadora looked at her with mouth agape, hit with a realization that would be akin to seeing water burn. "You love her," she whispered. "You really love her. And… Hermione loves you."
In that moment, it finally all came crushing down upon her. Hermione, missing. Seven days of her memories, gone. She'd almost died five times over the past two nights. Something mysterious was after her, muggles were after her and she was not a hair closer to finding the girl she loved. It finally dawned on her just how worried she was. What if… if she would never find Hermione? What if she would never see her again? The very thought alone was enough to unleash a frenzy of emotions. Anger. Fear. Hatred. Sadness.
She balled her fists while her body started shivering. Tears burst forth as she started sobbing uncontrollably. And to do this in front of the niece whom had once been her enemy caused her no end of embarrassment. Bellatrix folded her hands over her face as she wept. Until she felt something shift in front of her. Two arms carefully folded around her and let her weep until no more tears had come. Where she had held Nymphadora when she had most needed it scant an hour ago, her niece had now decided to pay it forward. Hell, even the bloody dog joined in, wagging his tail and licking her face with zero abandon.
Nymphadora released her, but held her shoulders. "Look, Hermione's my friend and of course I'll help. Considering what happened… I think you'll need it."
Bellatrix nodded and wiped away her tears. "Two days," she spoke in a laboured voice. "We have two days."
"You're right about one thing, though," smirked her niece. "I am a detective. And I'll be going into town to do what I do best. He might be a local or a seasonal worker, but I just bet if I ask around town for a man fitting kidnapper's description, I'm going to find out something. Towns like these have plenty of old blokes with stories to tell or local records at the newspaper too. I'll start looking for anything about the island at Cauldron Lake that disappeared or any local history that might be relevant."
The dog barked happily. Before she knew what she was doing, Bellatrix was scratching him behind the ear.
"Just keep one thing in mind," said Bellatrix. "Those nightmarish birds were here for a reason. Whatever's out there in the forest targeted you specifically."
"Maybe it was just looking for more people to take?"
"Could be. Or it could be that it knows the two of us are connected."
"Well, it never rains but pours. I suppose we should get some sleep. If that is even possible."
Bellatrix stood up from her chair and limped up the stairs. "Well, just keep the dog off my bed. And try not to snore," she smirked.
"Fuck you too, auntie," Nymphadora shook her head.
Indeed. Nymphadora had started to seem more and more like her mother. A comforting thought for Bellatrix before she allowed herself to collapse on the bed.
Her cell was a bit small for two people to sit in, but still leagues better than her old one at Azkaban. With bookcases, plants, a desk, a radiator for heat and an honest to goodness set of curtains, it was a very comfortable private place to retreat into. It was her sanctuary, her refuge and, ironically it being a cell, the only place in the world she considered to be truly hers and hers alone.
And now a certain mudpup was there as well, one of the few people she would allow to visit. Sat on the chair at her desk. Listening while Bellatrix sat cross-legged on her one-person bed with fingers manipulating the strings of an acoustic guitar. Musical instruments were readily available for prisons to stimulate 'mental well-being', but had never considered actually checking one out from the music room until Hermione had challenged her to it.
Fingers of both hands plucked and roved over the strings to form a semblance of a tune. Bellatrix herself wasn't happy with the result, but Hermione seemed suitably impressed.
"I can't believe how quickly you picked up playing the guitar," she said with a smile.
Bellatrix scoffed. "It's just making noise. Loads more work to do, practice to get in."
"Don't underestimate that accomplishment. A lot of people practice for months on something you managed in a week."
Bellatrix chuckled. "That's because I'm an obsessive, perfectionist cunt," she said, not looking up from the guitar. "Your words, not mine."
"I never called you the… c-word," Hermione pursed her lips.
Bellatrix finally "You were thinking it."
A small flash of horror confirmed Bellatrix' suspicion. A grin formed.
Hermione let out a brief grunt of annoyance. It sounded very girlish and silly. "Thinking and saying things are very different."
"You want me to be painfully honest and I'm holding you to the same standard. You may say it. It is the truth."
"It's not very nice!"
"You know you want to."
"Fine!" Hermione spat back. "You are… You are a… You are a c-cu…"
"Almost there," she grinned.
Hermione shook her head. "Oh, you are a complete cunt! Happy now? Cunt!"
Bellatrix threw back her head and let out a laugh. She smirked as she set the guitar to the side. "See how easy that was?"
"Obsessive, perfectionist cunt," said Hermione, smiling at her. "It's why creativity has been such a good influence on you, you know? Whether it's cooking, writing or music. Putting your boundless energy and focus towards creating something rather than destroying it."
"My," said Bellatrix. "Should you discuss your tactic so openly with your test subject?"
Hermione's face fell a little and immediately, Bellatrix raised her hand. "I jest, I jest," she said. Like so many young women, Hermione could be a tad sensitive at times.
"Why not? Open and honest works best," said Hermione. "It's just that you're not used such to such openness."
Bellatrix sighed. "I'm going to muck it up at some point," she replied, her pessimistic nature coming back to haunt her once more.
"Why do you say that?"
Bellatrix looked away. "Because I always do."
Self-reflection. That was something she had learned the past year since meeting Hermione. It was a curious thing, really. Both encouraging and discouraging, in a way. She'd been stuck in a rut, but now took better care of herself by working out more, taking better care of her hair, finding more intellectual stimulation. But the downside was that she had started to second-guess herself… a new and somewhat confronting experience. Doubt was not in her nature. Or so she thought. Truth was she had plenty of doubts, but she had merely pushed them aside until she came to a point that she couldn't hide from them anymore.
"It's alright to doubt yourself. It's not a bad thing to stop and think for a moment," said Hermione.
Bellatrix bit her lip and sighed through her nose. "World used to be a lot simpler," she muttered. "There's my side over here and your side over there. The lines were clear. The rules were clear. My purpose… was clear."
Hermione pursed her lips for a moment. "Was that really better?"
"I have no more purpose," Bellatrix bit her lip for a moment. It was a hard thing to admit. Her world had fallen to pieces after her defeat at Hogwarts and often she felt as if she was still sorting through the rubble.
"Yes, you do," said Hermione. "There's your cooking, your diary, your guitar."
"I have challenges. Challenges and purpose aren't the same thing," Bellatrix snorted.
Hermione kept smiling that often infuriating all-knowing smile of hers. "Challenges pave the road to self-improvement. Self-improvement is a purpose."
"A purpose leading to where?!" Bellatrix snapped. Oh, yes, these visits weren't always peaceful and more often than not they bickered and debated something fierce. Of course, blood status was still a bone of contention between the two of them and a topic not often discussed. In many ways, the girl was frighteningly naive.
"Out of your cell, out the front door and out into the world," Hermione replied.
The dark witch turned to her, gazing into her brown eyes. "And then what?"
"What would you want?"
Bellatrix sighed. "What if I want to stay here? What if don't want to go outside? I had my purpose stripped from me. Everything I've ever known has been turned upside down. In here, it's simple. The rules are clear. I might not have a purpose, but at least I have some semblance of predictability."
"Is that all you want from life?"
"What more would I want?" Bellatrix chuckled and picked up the guitar again. Her fingers ran over the strings and she conjured up a simple tune. "Right now, I want to sit here and play some music for you. How's that for purpose, hm?"
Hermione chuckled briefly. "I'll take it. Purpose doesn't have to be grand or world-changing. Small goals are just as important as large goals. I learned that at Hogwarts."
"Oh?" said Bellatrix over the song. "I sense a story."
Hermione bit her lip, shifting a little as she looked away in embarrassment. For a moment, she went on an intense study of the drapery before biting the bullet and confessing her teenage sins. "I, uhm, started a society promoting Elfish welfare to lobby for the liberation of the house-elves from their self-imposed slavery."
Fingers stopped on the strings and a final false note sounded. Bellatrix looked at the girl with acute incredulity, before throwing her head back and letting out a gale of laughter.
"It's not funny!" pouted Hermione while Bellatrix let herself sink on her back with her guitar on her belly while trying to control her laughter.
"Oh… oh my my my my my," she snorted, turning her head to give the girl a playful look. "You would have had better results trying to coax fish to swim through the bloody air!"
Hermione pursed her lips. "Mistakes of a foolish teen," sighed Hermione. "But I dreamed big and like you I love a challenge."
Bellatrix put her guitar to her side as she lay on the bed. "And what is your challenge, Hermione Granger? Hopefully something less ludicrous."
The young girl gave her a smirk. "My challenge? That would be you, Bellatrix. Maybe you're the greatest challenge I've ever faced."
"Hah!" she replied with a snort through her nose. "You'd have had more luck with the elves."
Hermione smiled back. "I don't think so… I convinced you to play the guitar for me, didn't I?"
A grinning Bellatrix lay on her side and reached out to tap Hermione on the nose twice with her index finger. "That you did. Now how about we make our way to the kitchen, hm? Three words," she said as she hopped off the bed and stepped over to the cell. "Sticky… toffee… pudding…"
Hermione closed her eyes and let out a sound which could only be described as an acute prelude to caramel-induced orgasm. To have her cooking be appreciated to such a degree by others always gave Bellatrix a good feeling, even if the girl was decidedly easy to please.
"Coming?" asked Bellatrix as she turned around and… froze.
The Thing That Was Hermione stood right behind her, with eyes dark as endless voids. "You can't run forever," it spoke with a distorted voice. "I will catch up with you."
Before Bellatrix could answer, massive teeth in a mouth that opened far too wide clamped over her threat and tore into her flesh. As she felt herself dying in a puddle of her own blood.