And here's Chapter 10! Enjoy!
I had some awesome help from my awesome friends with this also for the next chapter which I will be hopefully uploading soon.
Really you guys are awesome!
Anyway~! Have fun reading and don't forget to review~!
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"There is much in the world to make us afraid. There is much more in our faith to make us unafraid."
-Frederick W. Cropp
Chapter 10: Fear
Thump…Thump…Thump…
The sounds of knocking echoed through the trashed home. Its echoes eerily bouncing from the walls to fill the entire house with the noise, the sound did not resemble a bang, no, a bang would be strong. The echo was not a booming sound it was a delicate rapping that sent a discomforting feeling to any living being within hearing range. Zoey felt a shiver run down her spine as the knocking continued. She did not dare answer the door, no; if she did she would regret it. Zoey hugged her knees closer to her as she tried her best to ignore the sound.
Ba- Badump, Ba- Badump, Ba- Badump.
Her heart hammered against her chest when the knocking ceased. Did the originator of the knock leave? No. The knocker did the exact opposite. The knocker opened the door with a simple flick of the wand and the door opened with a satisfying click. The knocker entered the trashed house carefully avoiding the broken objects that did no justice to the marbled floor.
Click…clack…click…clack…
The rhythmic pattern of nine-inch stilettos slowly maneuvering in the living room made Zoey freeze, she did not dare move nor did she plan on breathing. Her gray eyes were wide with fear as she bit her lip. She did not want to make any sign of her being in the closest of her room. No, the owner of the heels that seemed as thin as a needle would know. She could smell fear.
Zoey nearly jumped with fright when she heard the clicking and clacking of the shoes grow louder. She was coming up the stairs. She was getting closer. Zoey let out a shaky breath that she later regretted doing. The sounds of the heels had stopped. 'No…,' Zoey thought as she covered her mouth with her hands, careful not to let out another breath or to suck in a gasp, 'She couldn't have heard that… she couldn't have…'
Click…clack…click…clack…
The heels resumed to echo through the house.
Zoey inched farther back into her closest making sure that the coats were covering her small structure. At times like this she was glad that she wasn't the same size as other kids her age. Though unhealthy as she was it was survival. It helped her live through another day.
"Zoey darling?" a sickeningly sweet voice boomed inside the house. It was as if it came from a loving mother but no, Zoey could not be fooled. The person with such a voice was the exact opposite of a loving mother; it came from her dreadful aunt.
"Where are you hiding sugar plum?" her aunt's voice once again filled the house. It was sweet to those who did not know her other side, the side of pure evil. To Zoey her aunt did not sound like a sweet jar of cookies, no, it sounded like a pot full of severed hippogriff parts.
A shiver ran down her spine.
The heels stopped.
'No! No!' Zoey screamed in her head as she tried to sit as still as possible, 'She couldn't have stopped because of that! It's not possible! It's inhuman!'
'Who am I kidding? She's far from human,' Zoey felt tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.
She was scared.
'Someone…,' she prayed, 'Please save me!'
Click…clack…cli-
Zoey nearly screamed her head of when she heard the jiggling of a doorknob. It rattled noisily as if the person behind the door was struggling to pry it open.
'She found me…,' Zoey let her tears fall and wrapped her arms around her frail body, 'She found me…'
Thump…thump…thump…
"Zoey dear, are you in here?" her aunt called though it was obvious that she knew that she was there, "Why is the door locked?"
'To keep you out,' Zoey found herself thinking as she hugged her knees closer to her body.
The combined sounds of knocking and the rattling of the doorknob began.
"Zoey my sweet! Open the door! I'm getting impatient," the sweet voice reached all the way to her closet. Zoey gave another shiver.
The knocking and the rattling stopped.
"I'm going to give you until three," her aunt said. Her heels started to tap on the floor to show her impatience.
Click
"One"
Clack
"Two"
Click
"Two and a half" her aunt started to grip the wand tighter.
'Stop it!' Zoey screamed in her head as the tears flowed violently.
Clack
"Come on Zoey," she said, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
"Both ways are the same to you," Zoey thought bitterly
Click
"This is your last chance."
Clack
"Three! BOMBARDA MAXIMA!"
At this Zoey let out a scream.
"-oey! ZOEY! ZOE! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!"
Zoey's eyes shot open as and instantly closed them from the glare the sun was giving her. She let out a whimper as she felt something pinning her to the trunk of the tree she was leaning back against. She ducked her head and grazed her cheek against her shoulder blade only to feel her clothes getting slightly damp. She had been crying.
She reopened her eyes, slowly, and they came face to face (or eye to eye) with dazzling blue eyes that seemed to twinkle in worry. These eyes belonged to Fred.
Though it was quite unnecessary due to the circumstance at hand it was unavoidable that Zoey felt a blush creep in her cheeks when she saw the position they were in. She was pinned against the tree by Fred, whose hands were firmly set on her shoulder, and face mere inches away from hers.
"Are you alright?" Fred asked with a gentle tone Zoey didn't really know he had. She also took note that he hadn't really noticed the position they were in.
"Y-yeah… I think so," she whispered, her voice slightly hoarse.
Fred gave a relieved sigh as he unpinned her and slumped down beside her, running a hand through his hair. Zoey watched him as he closed his eyes for a few second before reopening them and turning to face her. He brought his hand to her face and whipped away her remaining tears.
"What happened?" Zoey asked after several minutes have passed. She felt her blush deepen when Fred didn't take his eyes off from hers and his hand was still on her cheek thought there were no longer tears streaming.
Fred gave a small sigh before retracting his hand and bringing it to his hair to ruffle it a bit.
"Not sure to be honest," he said, "Just came down to since the Ravenclaw tryouts are coming up –George went ahead of me- and I just happened to hear screaming. I thought a rabbit was being tortured or something but figured rabbits don't exactly scream. Ran all the way down here to find you thrashing about in your sleep."
Zoey looked down embarrassed with herself.
"Hey, I'm pretty sure you had a nightmare, you want to talk about it?"
"No…No…I'm fine," Zoey looked up and managed a small smile.
"Sure," Fred said with a shrug but later a smirk appeared on his lips and a twinkle in his eyes.
Zoey slightly tensed in panic and before she knew it she was laying down on the grass laughing her head off as Fred ran his fingers up and down her sides tickling her, a playful grin etched in his lips.
"F-Fred! S-stop it!" Zoey screamed as she continued to laugh.
"Not until you say the magic word!" Fred said in a sing song voice.
"P-Pl-"
"Pl what?"
"PLEASE!" Zoey gasped out as she let out another laugh. Fred lent back with a satisfied smirk on his lips watching Zoey struggle to sit back up. Her chest was rising and falling as she took gaps of air and still chuckling slightly.
"N-never do that again," she laughed, "That was awful!"
"If it was so awful why are you still laughing?" Fred teased.
Zoey wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at him before getting up. She patted her skirt, trying to get the wrinkles out, and held out a hand. Fred took it and, though with not much help from Zoey, got up as well.
"Come one," she said, "The Quidditch Tryouts might have started already."
Fred nodded and pocketed his hands. Zoey smiled softly before heading off towards the Quidditch pitch. The wind blew causing the strands of hair that fell out of her ponytail to blow back with the breeze. Fred took a few long strides before he matched his pace with Zoey.
"The magic word isn't 'Please' by the way, it's 'Fred is awesomely amazing'," Fred said as they neared the Quidditch pitch.
He received a thump on his arm.
"Hey Carrot-top, why weren't you with George?" Echo asked Fred as he and Zoey approached the Quidditch pitch. They were currently having the tryouts for Keeper. Echo sent Zoey a wink.
Zoey gave her a bemused look before retying her hair. After several attempts she settled with a sloppy bun. The wind and her hair were just not working with her today.
"What? I gave you alone time with Georgie here and your complaining?" Fred asked as he wrapped an arm around his twins shoulder when George approached them, "Ouch. It hurts doesn't it George? She doesn't want you"
Echo stood there, wide-eyed momentarily, before shrugging it off and going up to Fred and yanking his tie close to her face, "Ex-cuse me?"
"What you have hearing problems now?" Fred challenged her. He was not the list bit afraid of her… at the moment.
"Of course not," Echo smirked evilly, "Consider yourself lucky that I won't have to unleash my powers and make you my man-slave for a week."
Fred gave her a glare that seemed challenged her own. Zoey watched uneasily as she inched towards George and whispered at the corner of her mouth, "What powers is she talking about?"
George opened his mouth to reply but suddenly something caught his eye. Up in the air was a girl with light brown hair wearing Bermuda shorts. She held tightly on her broom as she flew towards the goals. Two chasers flew up as well; one of them had the Quaffle under her arm.
"Hey look!" George yelled as he shot his finger up in the air pointing at the brown haired Ravenclaw, "It's her!"
Zoey and looked up, followed by Echo and George, and watched as the brown haired girl save one… two… three goals and coming up at a fourth. The crowd cheered and the girl wore the look of triumph. She wiped her brow before saving her fifth.
"Wicked," Zoey whispered.
Echo just smiled, and side-glanced at the twins. The twins did not seem to see her for they were just staring at the brown haired girl in awe. She girl did not notice them as she flew back onto the ground. She was the last person trying out for Keeper and it was now the Chasers turn.
Echo's POV:
Echo's right eye had been blocked out of everyone's sight for a reason –and a good reason it is. While busily trying to see through it, Madam Hooch yelled, "Next!"
Thinking of a strategy that could surpass the keeper Echo kicked off on her broom and started to spot the weaknesses on the Keeper's part. 'Damn. This is gonna be one hard goal…,' she had thought.
Swiftly, she zigged and zagged across the playing field and successfully scored by throwing a powerful kick to the Quaffle, which eventually passed through the lowest of the three hoops.
Echo smirked as she heard the cheers from the crows, the loudest coming from the twins and Zoey.
She once again took the Quaffle in her arms and scored a few more. After what seemed like ten or more winning goals Echo felt very tired, she had never practiced before hand and felt the effects of not being exactly 'fit'.
Flying back down on the ground, she dragged her broom and started walking to Zoey and the twins, if not for the girl whom she had seen a while ago –the brown haired girl trying out as Keeper.
The brown haired girl walked towards Eco and she had a smile on her face.
"You were great!" she said, holding out her hand.
"Thanks," Echo answered, shaking her hand.
Echo, obviously tired, grinned, "So you're the other prankster! It's really nice to see you in person"
"Nice to meet you too, I'm Bridgit by the way and I hope I haven't caused you and your friends a lot of trouble with my pranks," the brown haired girl, who was apparently named Bridgit, said.
"I just hope that they can forgive me for all those pranks. I just couldn't resist the mischief" Bridgit then said with a big smile on her face.
