Disclaimer: I am just a mere visitor in the sublime world constructed by the brilliant mind that is J.K Rowling. Anything that rings a bell is hers.
Chapter 15
Ky's POV
"Ky!"
My head snapped around at the sound of the voice, my hair whipped harshly at my eyes as the wind pulled it in the opposing direction.
"KY!"
"NESSIE!" I shouted back, my throat grated painfully as my voice ripped its way out from it, yet it never echoed through to the beach house where I had heard Nessie screaming from. I felt a piercing cold at my feet and looked down; the waves were hugging them, sinking them deeper into the sand.
I looked back up and my heart caught at what I saw…the beach house was gone and so was the wind, all to be replaced by falling bridge and burning fire. My ears grew hot as the flames grew closer but the sound still carried…I could hear her screaming…screeching my name.
All the while I screamed back at her, and then I looked down, the water had disappeared, the foams no longer hugging my feet but instead flames sprung onto them…spreading higher as the newborn wind fed its sparks.
"NESSIE!" But I could hear her no longer…the flames around her engulfed her…yet I could see a shadow…a shadow of a writhing body amidst the red as the screams of agony carried on the wind…I saw the wire cut and saw the long column it held up fall forward and I lurched ahead…
Only thing I couldn't…I couldn't move…my legs were soldiered to the ground by the burning fire…
"KY! Stop…KY!" The flames disappeared to be replaced by the biting cold which spread through my body, stabbing particularly at my back which felt as if the torture curse had been placed upon it and centred to just that area.
There was blurred movement in my eyes and I could barely make out faces as my pain liquefied and my lips pulled apart letting out sharp gasps of agony…yet nothing mattered…except the feel of my toes on the floor as one foot moved ahead of the other.
"Agnes, get her back on the bed!" I felt hands at my shoulders and I glanced to my side…
"Vez…" I croaked out in a hoarse voice, it felt like my throat was hit with a dehydration jinx and my feet slid on the cold tiles as the hands pushed me back until my aching back hit softness that gave me no comfort.
Green eyes floated in front of me and my heart stopped…it was him…he was here but the eyes disappeared as I floated in the air…and as my body rotated I caught the view of the hospital wing as my rasping stopped as my chest hit the soft mattress…somehow calming my lungs down.
"AHHHH!" The scream left me as I felt the sharpness at my back as the fingers pushed into my skin and I heard the symphonic sound of multiple lamps breaking as my magic sung my pain and took its wrath out on the glass.
"SHHH…." I felt like my throat bled from the dryness yet the pain was so intense I could not help the sounds my body emitted as the feminine voice shushed me and slowly the fingers stopped feeling like knives and my throat recovered from the harassment I placed it under as my voice disappeared from the large wing…
"That's it…shhhh…shhh…the pain will be gone, just bear with me a few seconds more…shhhh…" The fingers pushed deeper and deeper and my mind grew heavy but I fought off unconsciousness.
"Is she OK?" Nessie's voice was marred with tears as it trembled into my ear and I opened my mouth but no sound came out, it had to do with my position though yet I never adjusted it, letting the fingers take away the pain that shot through my back…dulling it more and more with each passing pressure…
"She is, she stood too quickly, considering it has been a week since she moved voluntarily, the sudden action stressed her injury but I do not think it has set back our work too much. The pain must still be there but at least she has control of her limbs now."
"She stood…I thought you said it might be weeks till she stands?"
The voice replied from above me once more, the sound vibrating even in her fingertips, "Each case is different Ags, I must admit my surprise. She is just as much a fighter as you said she would be."
"It helped that you've been treating her daily, thank you so much for it Mary, I can't express how grateful I am of it."
"Oh hush, after everything you and Ky did for Richard and I…it was the least we can do to say thank you. Plus I must admit I was more than a little relieved that I didn't have to let Eddy go just yet."
I tried to keep my eyes open but it seemed that the woman's hands pushed at every fibre that triggered my sleep centre and slowly the words grew soft as my eyes fell down and all was quiet once more…
"No standing! No!" I blinked, confused at the voice and my confusion grew as the green eyes cleared up and just as quickly my heart seized with sadness…at the apple green eyes. The woman who hovered over me had her hands on my shoulders, preventing me from getting off the bed, her hair was black and in a fashionable short hair cut that suited her delicate, pale features. Her green eyes, although a bitter disappointment in its unfamiliarity…still prickled at my skin with recognition. Her lips spread into an easy smile which shattered her previously stern face as I appeased her words and sunk lower in the bed…there was nothing more than a dull ache that resonated from my spine.
I barely adjusted myself before I felt warm yet wet lips make contact with my forehead, and the stranger moved aside as Nessie pelted me with kisses that I soon began to frown at, I tried telling her to stop but my voice wouldn't even croak out and I scratched at my throat in dryness.
"Here you go dear." I glanced to my left, Madam Pomfrey smiled down at me good naturedly, holding out a glass of water which I took gratefully, gulping it down haphazardly as it spilled down my chin. Once my thirst was quenched, and I am positive the glass was refilling itself as I knew I drank much more than one glass full but there was water remaining as I placed it on my drawer, I turned to Agnes who was smiling down at me, her face flushed with tears; her hands were stroking my hair as if I would disappear if she stopped touching me.
"Where is Vez? And Linus? Len?" I choked out; moist my throat maybe but it still had been out of use for a while.
Her smile dropped and my heart quickened its pace, "Linus and Len are gone back to…you know. And Vez has also left on…business." I glanced towards the stranger at her words, she chose to not say mission and it was a right move as I never saw this woman before.
"How's your back feeling?"
"Who are you?" She chuckled and Nessie looked at me in chiding.
"Ky, Mary has been treating you tireless for the past week, you would not be in the recovering position you now find yourself in if it were not for her and I expect you to show more gratitude."
I could care less for gratitude, but I nodded at her never the less, she returned it with a small smile, as a healer I am sure she had her fair share of ungrateful patients…well I wasn't ungrateful…just preoccupied.
I downed the potion Madam Pomfrey offered me, too distracted to even bother about what it was, continuing in the same fashion with the other three she administered. My eyes fluttered across the room, it was empty save us four.
"What day is it?" I muttered into the cup I was about to drink from.
"Monday. It's been a week." I sighed as I placed the bottle down on the drawer. I caught a glimpse of movement, and I reached and grabbed the paper with its moving pictures littering the cover page. I didn't bother reading it knowing that the news I sought was stale by now and flung it down.
"How many?"
My words stopped there…I couldn't say the d word…not when every time I blinked I could see the flames…my ears buzzed with the screams and every time my eyes landed on Nessie I could see that woman…with the long blonde hair…and that falling column…what was more painful? To be burned alive or to be crushed to death…
"Seven." I looked to the door where my answer arose from and my eyes glanced down just as quickly, I didn't need to look a second more to know who it was, I didn't have to see the bright maroon robes or the silver bead or the half-moon spectacles or the twinkling blue eyes…even though it had been almost two months since I last saw the combination and as the thought crossed my mind I was reminded of his absence…
Seven…seven…my fists tightened over the bed sheet and I sniffed at the snot that leaked from my nose, not bothered with wiping my face as the only word that echoed in my mind was the number.
"It would have been much more, Kyrianna. Silvestre and from his accounts, you as well, had saved many lives." I scoffed and it hurt my throat which tended to flame up when I cried too much…
I bit my lip and closed my eyes, I could see the car full of boys…the black Lexus…the small little sticker on the bumper that caught my eye due its red cross with an open book above it…the University of London's emblem…the blonde who sat in the passenger seat with the mischievous blue eyes flickered his tongue at me to the chorus of laughter from his companions…boys…they were just boys…on their way back to university it seemed…on their way to their future…
It was as if my mind, which at the time was overcome with distraction of pursuing Palbei, seemed to be registering the events that occurred on that bridge now only…I remember seeing those mischievous blue eyes stare up at me vacantly while the driver with the brown hair attacked the air with his screams as he tried getting out of the burning car…were they one of the seven?
"…doing physical therapy on her whilst she was unconscious and it helped with relieving the pressure from the vertebral fractures, but she would still have slight pain and should not overexert herself. Walking is fine but it must not be continuous, running is out of the question and so is standing for prolonged periods. She can accomplish the last two if she continues the physical therapy for the next few weeks. Agnes says she's quite athletic…I would like her to regain as much of her previous flexibility as she can…it won't be easy…and she might never be able to be as in control of her movements as she was previously…"
"Ky has never been one to turn down a challenge." My mind came back to the hospital wing as the stranger spoke and Nessie replied confidently, her aquamarine eyes boring into my own, bright and hopeful and I turned back to staring at the white sheet, her positivity being repelled by every pore of my being.
"Thank you, Mrs Towers. Any and all resources you require would of course be at your disposal, Poppy will ensure of it. Poppy, mayhap we should clear a little area for Kyrianna's physical therapy, someplace near her bed perhaps. Mrs Towers, what would-"
"I'm not staying here." I looked away from the sheet and determinedly into his blue eyes, I wasn't going to stay in this wing for a moment longer… I was better. I didn't need rest, I needed to be out of here…I couldn't stand this place…the quiet…the emptiness…
"Miss Thornton, you will need to at least stay the night, I need to monitor you."
I shook my head at Madam Pomfrey, shaking away the sounds of screams with it, "I'm fine. I don't need to be baby sat."
"You are not fine Miss Thornton. Your back-"
"She said I could walk, didn't she. She said no running and no standing for a long time, I don't need to stay in this bed the whole day, do I?" I stared fiercely at this Mrs Towers but her green eyes never quivered from my almost glare.
"She is right, she doesn't need to remain in this ward, since I assume she will be seated for most of her classes she can…you don't mean to leave now?" Her clinical voice turned high pitched as I slowly moved my legs to the side, getting of the bed. I don't want to be here…I want to be anywhere but here…I needed to go…
"Kyrianna, it is best for you to-"
"AND WHO ARE YOU TO SAY WHAT IS BEST FOR ME!" My voice echoed through the empty ward, drowning out the gasps…this is why it was best I leave…this is why I should go…the angry words churned in my mind and my blood turned poisonous as it served catalyst to my temper. I glowered at the midnight blue eyes, those eyes which saw right through me and made the churn faster in its calmness.
"Ky!" Nessie seemed to recover from the shock but he raised his hand at her…and all my anger dulled with the sight of the blackened fleshed that crawled across the knobbly long fingers…it looked like that of a corpse…a burnt corpse and more images flickered through my mind but I blinked it away with ease.
"What happened to your hand?" It came out breathless and I took the steps towards him, I reached for it but he let his sleeve cover it once more, I lifted my face and he smiled down at me good-naturedly.
"Like many a monstrosity, its appearance is much worse than the truth of what lies beneath the skin." I stared at him, not returning his smile, my nose flared.
"You won't tell me."
It wasn't a question, I could tell by the way he evaded the question.
"Not today, cucciolo."
I stepped back, "When then? The next time I see you? Would that be in two months, or three?"
"KY!" I ignored Nessie and made my way to the door, my head pained and I could feel the stabbing at my back as I was sure I was walking too quickly but I never stopped, ignoring the feminine shouts, angry…so angry.
I stopped down the third floor corridor, scaring a first year by my rapid breathing and I leaned against the wall...there was this constriction around my chest…so much fury…so much… yet I couldn't understand…I gripped my hair…
"Is that…that's her isn't it?"
"She looks like she escaped from the Loony bin."
"Shhh…didn't you hear what she did to those poor Hufflepuff girls last year." I ignored the whispers and worked on my breathing, ignoring the memory of the sound of sizzling flesh in my ears.
"Kinky." I barely muttered the name but with a loud click I found her, she wrapped her tiny bony little arms around me before I could even get a good look at her and I couldn't hear her muttering as pain pounded in my mind.
"…middle of corridor, of all places, should be in Hospital Wing, still in the gown, such a state, such a state."
I battered her musings away and grabbed her little shoulders, "Get my school uniform."
She blanched, "School uniform? Miss Ky shouldn't be goings for lesson, rest is what she is been needing! Rest in the hosp-"
"KINKY!" I snapped and her rambling stopped, "Please." I muttered softly.
I let the cool wall sooth my back as in two clicks Kinky returned. I ducked into the broom cupboard at the end of the corridor and made quick disposal of my pyjamas, shimmying with some difficulty into my uniform as I had to bend my back in an odd angle so as to not stress the injury. I tossed my hair up into a hair band, not the least concerned with how the whole ensemble looked together. All the while Kinky scolded and I was slightly grateful for the little elf's voice as it distracted me from my thoughts.
"Where's Mi."
"Kinky is not knowing." She lifted her chin stubbornly and I scowled down at her.
"Where is Mi, Kinky." I knew she knew where Mi was considering she always knew my timetable and Mi and I shared the same one.
She let out a long breath, "Miss Mi is in Potions."
I nodded my head, pulling open the cupboard door, walking away as the little elf squealed after me, I ignored her just as I ignored the many stares as I made my way down to the dungeons. I received a particularly nasty one from a boy with green eyes who stood next to a boy with familiar ice blue eyes, he must be a Davis, Tracey Davis had almost an identical pair. The fat boy on his left licked his lips at me and I glanced down quickly, checking my buttons were done to the top.
I pushed the Potions door open, I needed to be submerged with the fumes, it had been too long since I felt the cold steel of a cauldron beneath my tips. Nothing distracted me more than a good potion…plus I needed to see them. To see Ron and Mi and Sev…and even him…because I couldn't see Len and I couldn't see Li and I couldn't see Vez and I didn't want to see Nonno…I needed to see them…
There was a loud gasp and my eyes flickered to the second row, meeting the wide chocolate eyes of my best friend, surrounded by her bushier than usual hair as she hovered over her cauldron, the valerian root suspended in her hands. Ron swore in happiness, a huge smile covering most of his face and to the left of him…was him…his emerald eyes brighter than the glowing green potion in his cauldron, his face coated in beads of sweat, a particular drop surfing its way down the side of his cheek as his lips parted in surprise.
"Ahhh! You must be Miss Thornton, I have been looking forward to meeting you young lady, oh I sure have."
My eyes snapped away from his to look to the front of the classroom…that was not a familiar voice…I was tired of hearing unfamiliar voices…so many unfamiliar screaming voices and then my eyes fell on gooseberry green ones…not black…where was the onyx black….my breathing accelerated again as the large man waddled towards me, his bald head shining in the humid room.
I took a step back from the pompous smile, "Who the fuck are you?"
A/N: Well that definitely is not her best choice of words. Just a filler chapter because the story picks up from here, what do you guys think.
Please review…if anyone has any opinions on the story or its direction I would love to know what they are so I can consider them and maybe change things.
Kalina