Vial of Black Ink - You're Next
This is Halloween. This is Halloween, everybody scream!
Ribbons of blood danced through the air: weaving among other strands of red, spinning down in circlets before landing on the stone with a sickening plop. Each drop hitting the uneven surface right after the other.
Her eyes widened as the body slumped to the floor as he stood over it. A wicked grin was on his face as he turned to her, holding the blade between his thumb and pointer finger, swinging it back and forth as he walked towards her.
The blood pounded louder in her ears with each step he took, unable to look away from those dark eyes.
Her whole body froze when he stepped past her and a bloodcurdling scream filled the air as he grabbed the prisoner just beyond her. The one that had been cowering in the shadows, trying to hide from him by curling into a tight ball behind her.
They were being dragged over the ground now towards the pile of bodies that filled the air with a rancid smell. The tips of their fingers split open as they clawed at the stone, begging to be last. "Please, please," the boy sobbed as his wrists were enclosed in metal shackles, soon being dragged up into the air as if by an invisible thread.
"Oh, you don't really mean that," Barty spoke softly, running the blade along the boy's chin, drawing a thin line of blood. "I have something special saved up for the last one of you, and I don't think you could handle it. You couldn't even handle seeing your friends split open, entrails dragged out to make a jacob's ladder. Just like in that muggle game you're kind like to play with string. Of course, your friend didn't hang onto the ladder for very long, did they? So, why should I expect you to do any better than them?"
The whole time he was speaking Barty had been cutting the boy's shirt open with the knife, leaving thin red string wrapped around the boy's shoulders, melting and dripping down onto the floor below. She wished it was string, it was the only way she could keep her eyes on the fellow muggleborn. If she looked away...
If she...
"Hermione." Her gaze moved from the boy to Barty, who had raised a single finger, shifting it back and forth in her view as he tutted at her. "No shivering, now. You've nearly kept your composure through the last dozen."
Kept her composure? She had been frozen by fear for what felt like days; she didn't know how long she had actually been in this state. Unable to move, just watching as he tortured one muggleborn after the other in his own sick twisted games.
She could only watch as the boy screamed as Barty began plunging the knife into his stomach, twisting before pulling it back out and repeating the process. Over and over... until the boy ceased his screams, no longer struggling against the manacles, eyes lifeless as he hung in the air.
Then dark those dark eyes were on her once more, drops of bright red on his lips, dotting across Barty's face as he raised the bloodless blade towards her. You're next, he mouthed. The last one. I have a special treat for you.
Prompts: 1. bloodcurdling and 62. You're Next