Soldiers and Serpents //Scorbus

38 Terror

The sound of cackling met Scorpius's ears. His head swiveled, but he couldn't see where he was. It was dark. Not a source of light anywhere. And the laughter came again. He looked around wildly, feeling like he was suspended in an endless night. Where was he? Where was Albus? He could see only the first half of his body- dressed in the clothes he'd gone to sleep in, but the darkness hid his feet. And it felt like he was standing on something cold- cold and hard and smooth. Like glass, perhaps.

Goosebumps trailed his skin, the hair on his neck standing on end as another sickening cackle sounded through the darkness. It wasn't cold, wherever he was. It was a comfortable temperature. But the night that stretched on did make him uncomfortable regardless.

"Hello?" Scorpius called out, his heart hammering against his chest, feeling like something was trying to claw its way out of his own skin. Where was he? He remembered falling asleep by Albus- was he dreaming? He pinched himself, not knowing what to expect. He felt the pinch, convincing him he was actually here- in this solid darkness.

With that rattling laugh echoing around him. "Who's there?" He may have felt fearful, but only because he didn't know where he was- how he had gotten here.

The boy blinked his eyes rapidly, like trying to clear the blackness. But it made no difference, it wasn't his eyes that were the problem. He extends his arms out in front of him, pale skin against the black. But they felt nothing but air.

He took some steps forward, walking and walking, waiting to see something else but didn't. And then there would be that laugh, a sickening laugh. Maybe the dream demon attacked them? Maybe he was in a coma?

How did he get here?

His legs slowed to a stop, and he whirled around. Black emptiness met him. In all directions- just blackness. And the thought of being trapped here forever seemed to seize him, gripped his heart. All for a few seconds until his eyes spotted something through the night. Something-or someone, walking towards him from a distance.

"Who are you, Salazar?" That same cackling voice asked, echoing around him like it was a cave. Was he in a cave and this was some kind of mind manipulation? He didn't recognize the voice. But slowly he recognized the girl who approached through the dark. Aries.

And his body reacted like he was looking at a monster. The hair along his bare arms turned to spikes, his breathing quickened, veins turning to ice. She resembled a spider. A spider who had been waiting for a long time for something to get caught in its web.

And Scorpius was the thing she caught.

Despite the terror, he spoke, taking a step towards her despite his instincts. "Aries? What's going on?" The girl didn't look normal. Her eye sockets were sunken in, her hair was a mess. Her makeup smeared across her face like she had been crying or been hit repeatedly. He stepped closer, concern now crossing his features as he noticed the rags she wore. His heart was so loud in his ears he could hardly hear his own words. "What happened? Are you okay?" Please say something, anything. And when he stepped up, close enough to see where her dark irises ended and her pupils began, her head jerked grotesquely- a crack he'd never heard before resonating in his ears.

He didn't understand how- or why- or what was going on. But he watched as the girl's body went limp and started falling. He went down to his knees at the same time, catching her. No! No stay with me!

He knew she was dead, saw her open lifeless eyes. Dark and dead and empty. Her body wasn't even warm in his arms. It was frail and cold, like she had been in this darkness for years. Shriveled up, her soul having been gone long before now.

And seeing her like that, it was like the floodgates to the emotion of pain was bursted open in his head. Agony ripped through him- what happened? What was happening? Come back! Don't die!