A/N: Took a little longer than I'd planned but have been rather busy lately. I've recently had a baby so more chapters are coming in between feeding and nappy changing times.

From Dark to Darker

Draco felt Rayne pull him with her into the darkness. He felt her magic trickle a little unpleasantly over his skin, causing every inch of him to tingle with the unfamiliar power, then his feet left the firm touch of solid ground behind as the darkness began to flood his senses.

It was an unusual sensation and Draco found it more than just a little unnerving. Apparating he'd done before but this was nothing like that. When you apparated you could feel your body move, like it was being squeezed through some invisible tube as you hurtled towards your chosen destination, this feeling was different entirely. He felt like a disembodied thought floating somewhere in the great black void that they had stepped into, only vaguely aware of the grip that Rayne still had upon his hand as she guided him somehow through the darkness. The thought of losing her there was frankly terrifying and Draco could just imagine being a lost through until the darkness would finally drive him mad. Trying hard to shove this thought from his mind he felt his body somewhere swallow hard and concluded that all he could do was to pray for the experience to soon be over.

The journey was taking far too long for his liking, apparating was far quicker but then he really had no idea just how far they were having to travel. When the wizarding world had banished the demons just how far away exactly did they have to go to settle? Draco couldn't honestly think of any conceivable place where they could have gone to be away from wizards, not in their mass numbers unless…

The darkness around the pair began to flicker and distort as the world slowly came back into focus. The body that was supposed to hold his mind was returning and Draco was starting to feel normal again. He could feel the rough and slightly painful grip that Rayne had kept on his hand again as a purely physical sensation and he even stumbled a little on shaky legs as she wrenched him fully out of the darkness.

"We're here."

Lucius stood for a moment in the dark, and now completely empty, clearing. Blinking his cold grey eyes into the darkness, had he really just seen what he thought he had?

He cast his eyes rapidly to either side, white blonde hair whipping through the darkness as he turned his head. They had to be there somewhere, in the bushes that was it he'd seen them slip into the dark bushes. Lucius hurried forwards to the spot where he had seen Draco and Rayne, a small cluster of shrubs blocked any easy path through the trees, that had to be where they were hiding.

Frantically Lucius wrenched apart the branches, an almost desperate need threatening to consume him having already taken over his usual calm and cold demeanour. They were not there…nothing was there.

"Damn that wretched girl." He shouted angrily, straightening up again and flinging himself back into the clearing. He wrenched his wand from the inside of his robes and held it gripped so tight that his knuckles paled even against his already pale flesh.

"Her blood will be mine when I find them. I will get what I want." He hissed viciously into the cold air before turning on the spot and disappearing from the clearing with a aloud crack.

Blinking his eyes against the harshness of being able to see again Draco took a few deep breaths as he steadied himself, the feeling of normality flooding back quickly enough to unsettle him.

"You okay?" Rayne asked, the concern obvious in her voice. "I'm sorry it took so long but I wanted to create a bit of a trail, distract anyone if they happened to be following us." She explained gently dropping the grip she had on his hand.

"I'm fine." Draco said, his tone of voice almost even convincing himself. "It's just a strange sensation almost like I wasn't really me anymore. The darkness just seemed to swallow everything."

Rayne cringed slightly as Draco described how the trip had made him feel, this really wasn't going to be easy just getting there had shaken him and until they left it would probably only get worse. "I'm sorry it does take some getting used to. But you're sure you're okay though?" She asked anxiously. "I need you to be yourself again before we go any further just in case things do go wrong. You've got your wand right?"

"Always." Draco replied patting his pocket where he knew his wand was laying passively and within easy reach should anything indeed go wrong. Draco thought Rayne was simply being overly concerned, just how bad could things really get?

Lucius apparated back into the basement dungeon of the Malfoy Manor, his face was a stony mask, lips pursed and eyes that burned with silent fury. That girl was proving to be far more hassle than he had been expecting, what they got from her had better be more than worth all the trouble.

Standing back in front of the large table near the back of the room Lucius slammed the instruments around on its gleaming wooden surface as he performed, once again, the spell that would tap into Draco's trace. As an image slowly began to materialise in the pensive like basin frown furrows wrinkled Lucius's pale brow. Something was wrong.

An image was there , he could see Draco but it was fuzzy and not even a glimmer of his surroundings could be made out. It looked almost as if Draco was suspended in a void of pure blackness, marred every few seconds by a garish flashing streak of blood red. What had that girl done to him? Or more importantly where had she led him to?

Grabbing his wand Lucius tried meticulously to clear the image hoping that it would reveal something more to him than the image of his son lost in the darkness. But no matter how powerful a brand of magic he tried nothing would shift it, if anything Lucius could have sworn that the darkness became ever more stubborn, thickening as if it meant to swallow Draco whole.

Although he would never admit to such a feeling, nor would Lucius ever led it be read in his face, a black pit of fear had settled into his stomach. What would happen to Draco? His son and heir, pride and joy was lost with a demonic creature by his side and all Lucius could do about it was sit and wait.

"Good make sure you can get to it quick." Rayne said as she breezed across the darkened room and pulled open the door a crack.

It was only then that Draco really looked around and began to take in their new surroundings. The room was obscenely dark, walls, floor and ceiling all coloured black. One dim light glowed as it floated above the centre of the room but no matter how hard it seemed to try the room simply swallowed much of it's light making the dim glow dull and sickly.

As Rayne cracked open the door very little more light leeched into the darkness. The occasional streaking flash of blood red was cast across the floor and the low rumble of some loud music in the distance reverberated beneath Draco's feet. "Rayne where exactly are we?" He asked moving across the room to join her at the door.

"A club." Rayne muttered softly peering through the door, "One of the most popular demon haunts. Perfect place to get lost." Rayne smirked at Draco as she spoke. It was strange but as being back in her own realm again began to flood her senses Rayne was beginning to feel much more like her old self again. It was amazing quite how big an effect being in the wizarding world had had on her even in such short a time. But now the sights, sounds and even smells of the demonic realm were restoring her to her former self.

Gazing out across the hallway Rayne's eyes were trained on the thick and heavy doors that marked the way inside the busy club. She knew that it would be packed wall to wall with demons of every imaginable and varying species but right now the black corridor was empty. The door remained closed and the sounds of the music and life inside of the club remained muffled.

"Coast is clear, come on." She said casting a hasty glance back at Draco, "Quick so we can blend in with the crowd, we get spotted out here and we're both as good as dead." She grabbed Draco by the hand without waiting for him to reply and dragged him out into the hallway.

Gliding swiftly across the floor, her footsteps ringing with her haste to reach the door, Rayne dragged Draco rag doll like in tow behind her. Within seconds they had reached the entrance. She paused for a mere second to cast her purple gaze up and down the hallway before shoving open the heavy door and slipping into the thick crowd that lay behind it.

Draco followed quickly, stunned by the mass crowd that easily swallowed the two of them finding someone amongst all of those demons would be like looking for a needle in a haystack and Draco could finally see some sense in Rayne's plan.

Even though she'd explained to him that this was a so called demon hot spot never in a million years had he pictured there being quite so many of them crammed into that one small space. The atmosphere within the club was a volatile mix of power, passion and aggression. It rippled across Draco's skin causing him to shudder at the sensation, it was not only unpleasant but it settled a heavy feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. It was funny how all of Rayne's concerns then no longer seemed quite so petty as Draco felt his flesh crawl every time one of the demons cast their gaze upon him, he wondered exactly what they were thinking as more than once he caught a look of hunger in their eyes.

He felt Rayne tug his hand drawing his attention back to her as she looked concernedly into his eyes. "Come on Draco stick with me, and don't stand still too long they can tell you're not meant to be here."

Her words added to the dread that was slowly making him feel sick but they at least explained the looks that were being cast in his direction. Still didn't make him feel any better though. "What do you mean they can tell?" He asked knowing as soon as the words had passed his lips that he didn't want to hear the answer.

"They can sense magic, power. Yours is different from ours and if you stay in one place too long you'll start to stick out like a sore thumb." Rayne explained as she cast a vaguely worried glance at the crowd around them. "Between that and them tracing me we might as well be wearing flashing beacons on our heads." With those final words Rayne turned and pulled Draco further away from the door and deeper into the choking crowd.

"Then Rayne explain to me again why we're here if it's such a risk." Draco demanded in hissed tones.

"I told you I want a few people to catch a glimpse of me here, or at least think that they did. And if I lose myself in this crowd then hopefully it'll waste some time for those that are already following me." She said without a glance back at him continuing to weave her way through the mass of demons with much greater ease than Draco was having in following her.

Every now and then Rayne would cast her amethyst eyes upwards to catch the gaze of another demon, she'd smile coyly before swiftly turning away and being swallowed again by the crowd. Let them wonder, had she really been there or not? With any luck her idea would work and buy her some time to think of a way to stop those after her head once and for all. All they needed to do now was escape from that place without someone on their tails and all would be well, for a while at least.

Rayne knew just where she was headed even though her meandering path through the crowd seemed little more than random to Draco. There was a door at the far en of the room that led out into a barely used corridor, the perfect place for them to travel back from . No matter how much Rayne was loathe to leave she knew that it would be suicide if they'd stay for too long. The wizarding world was really the safest place for her, or so she thought.

As they neared the door Rayne slowed her pace and passed a glance back to Draco, "Turned out to be pretty uneventful." She smiled, "Once we're out there we'll leave this place, I can tell you'd rather not be here any longer."

Draco had to agree but he was surprised that Rayne made their trip so short. "You're done already?" He asked.

"Yes, can't stay for too long without it becoming too much of a risk to be here. You know what they say…too much of a good thing." She said looking towards the looming door. "And seeing as how so far everything has gone to plan I'd rather not risk it. I know it may have seemed pointless to you but I think it will have brought me some more time."

Rayne reached out for the handle and shoved open the door believing fully that they were away Scott free. Little did she realise the commotion she had stirred with one of the demons as he caught all too good a glimpse of her. He that was now following the two of them out into the corridor, Caleb really couldn't believe his own luck.

A/N: Ending on a cliff hanger...look out for the next chapter to come soon...hopefully!