[i]When I was younger, Luna, and later Nightmare, told me that there things that lurked...[/i]
When I was younger, Luna, and later Nightmare, told me that there were things that lurked in the darkness, within the spaces created by shadows that even they would be wary of facing at their full power. And that they would be terrified to fight then with so much of their magic locked away by the seal that the Elements of Harmony had placed upon them centuries ago. Old things... Powerful things... But we took comfort in that such things existed only in Equestria. But, as we learned on that night so close to Hallowe'en when I was ten, we were wrong...
AN: Recently I noticed an uptick in the amount of gore fics that popped up. At first, I was puzzled until I realized that it was because of Equestria Daily's "Nightmare Night" Contest. I was then inspired to write this to prove that one needs little to no gore for a proper scary story... ____________________________________________________________________________________
Harry grumbled as he kicked the ankle deep leaves with his feet as he walked, his hands shoved into his jacket's pocket in order to protect them from the chill of the late autumn night. "They just had to leave when I wasn't there, didn't they?"
Nightmare scowled from where she was perched upon his shoulder. "Those insolent foals are going to get it the next time they're asleep. I'm going to make certain of it!" Her scowl deepened and her wings fluttered in anger as she once more read the note that the three had found taped to the door of number 4.
' Boy, Your Aunt, myself, and Dudley are going to a Halloween party being held for several clients of my company. You will go to Mrs. Figg's as I do not trust your freakishness this close to Halloween.'
Luna grimaced a bit before she noticed Harry shiver some before he pulled his coat closed. She then softly smiled as she flapped down and draped herself over him the best she could with Nightmare on his shoulder. "Better?"
Harry nodded a little as the clouds moved across the bright harvest moon above causing the shadows to shift and move as the three made their way to their little hideout to rest for the night. "Much better, thank you."
The lunar princess just nodded before she looked around thoughtfully with a frown, her eyes easily seeing through the darkness around them as she kept watch for threats. "I do wonder where Mrs. Figg might be… odd for her to be gone at this time of night. And pretty weird for the Dursleys not to even bother checking first for all they dislike you."
Harry just shrugged as he ignored Nightmare's snort of derision. "Maybe because it's close to Hallowe'en, she decided to get herself a black cat?" Harry then looked around himself. "Any idea as to how far we are from the hideaway?"
Luna continued to look around as she hummed to herself. "We've still got a ten minute walk…" Suddenly her ears swiveled toward the side soon followed by her head… _______________________________________________________________________________________________________
*90 feet away*
A man with a heavily scarred face slowly grinned as he pulled the omniculurs down from his eyes, both of which glinted with malicious glee in the darkness. "There he be boss... Just like I told yeh."
One of the other cloaked men smirked under his hood, his breath visible in the moonlight. "Shame that those foolish relatives of ours never thought of doing something so simple as looking in a Muggle telephone book to find him."
A third just frowned as he looked around nervously. "I don't trust them." He then spat on the ground. "How do we know that those bloody wankers will keep their word? They were the ones who kicked us out of our families on account of being squibs."
A moment later he's bodily slammed into a tree with a hand around his neck as the second man pulled his face close to his choking companion. "Don't be a daft fool Matthew. I don't trust them either." He then snorted with a sneer, "But I don't care either. It's because of people like his mudblooded bitch of a mother that I was born without the magic that was rightfully mine and cast out!" His face slowly reddened in pure hatred and anger. "But in any case, I'll take any chance I can to regain the name of Malfoy."
As he stumbled to his feet after being let go, Matthew coughed as he rubbed his throat. "Don't you dare do that again, do you hear me Hades?" He then spat at the feet of the man who was just moments ago choking him. He then gestured in Harry's direction. "I'm just saying that we should be careful." As he continued to glare, he sneered. "And you forget who gave that fat fuck and his disgusting Muggle family caramel apples spiked with Suggestion Potion!" He then motioned to the others there. "We should be bloody careful! We already know that whatever protection the old coot placed on him prevents our families from coming close to where he lives which is why they turned to us in the first place!" He then scowled. "Who knows what else is protecting the little shit!? For all we know we might be being sent to our deaths just to see!"
A woman then made her way through the group, the others parting to allow her. She could have almost been called beautiful if not for the fact that her eyes were as cold and emotionless as a great white's. With an almost concerned looking smile, she laid a hand on Matthew's shoulder causing him to turn. "Matthew…" Suddenly he jerked in her grip with a gasp. He first looked down to see her hand as it gripped the knife now buried hilt deep in his stomach before jerkingly looking back at her watching him calmly and dispassionately. "Since you're acting so gutless, I suppose then that you have no need for those you have." Her arm jerked and with a groan, Matthew dropped to the ground dead. She then pulled out a handkerchief and wiped off her knife as if it was nothing more than a fact of life. "Well then, with that issue resolved, should we not grab our target? It would be a waste not to, considering that he has so generously made things simpler for us?"
Hades smirked and chuckled as he shook his head. "You are a cold hearted bitch Cygnia." He then looked at the rest of the group. "Let's get the boy…" _____________________________________________________________________________________
As her eyes widened as her nose caught the unmistakable scent of death, Luna whipped her head around. "Run, now!"
A few minutes later finds Harry as he dodged through trees and under fallen ones as the sounds of his pursuers echoed behind him. "Oh why ever… the bloody hay… was I stupid enough… that walking through woods at night… was smart…?"
Luna glanced back for a moment, easily keeping pace with her human friend. "They're still a ways back…" She then growled. "As small a comfort that may be…" The Alicorn shook her head. "Harry, we can't head to the hideaway.. It's too exposed and they'd find it easily and trap us inside.
Harry bit his lip in thought as his mind swirled. After a moment passed, an idea came to him and his eyes widened as he changed direction. "I got it!"
Luna blinked as she continued flying beside him, her body simply phasing through any obstacle in the way. "Where are we going now Harry?"
Nightmare grunted from where she was hanging onto Harry's shoulder, his movements causing her to bounce around. "I am wondering much the same myself, Little Princess. Where are we heading, child?"
Harry gave them both a glance as his breath came harder and harder while his legs burned from exertion. "Well… Like you said… the hideaway would be… a trap… So we… need a someplace… where we could… hide…" He then grinned as the woods started to thin out. "And I just… remembered the… perfect spot…"
The translucent Alicorn blinked as she saw what looked like a rundown mansion with many of the windows on the lower wall boarded up and it surrounded by a large stone wall. "There?!"
Harry just nodded before he reached the large cast iron gate and squeezed between the bars. He then continued to run for the front doors. "Yeah… plenty of places to hide… in there..." Once he reached the door, Harry nearly ripped off his coat before he shoved it and Nightmare (while ignoring her protestations) into a hole scorched through it. He followed soon after with some difficulty even for his smaller than normal size. Luna then drifted through the door and looked around as Harry greedily gulped the air, without care for it's mustiness. "There… we're safe…"
Deep in the basement of the mansion, the shadows shifted in the darkness and gloom as a presence that had been absent from the house for many a year suddenly returned. Once it was fully there, it stilled for a moment as it took in it's surroundings and sniffed. There was also the sound of wood sliding against wood. After several minutes, it realized fully what was wrong and why it was there.
Someone was in the mansion, trespassing upon what it had long since deemed as sacred ground to it.
And so it would do as it was summoned to so by it's word which bound it to. As the ancient pact, which for so many thousands of years, and still did despite being so many thousands of miles from it's original home, had asked for it to do. To protect it's chosen place and punish those who would trespass. A shuffling sound in the room, as if very old fabric being drawn across the floor, is heard in the gloom and a few moments later the stairs leading towards the entrance to the basement creaked and groaned as they supported a great weight. The being slowly made its way upstairs...
Meanwhile up on the Ground Floor main foyer, Luna and Nightmare stiffened as they felt an old power as it washed over them, which caused them to shiver. Harry noted their reactions and raised an eyebrow. "Something the matter you two?"
Luna soon shook it off and gave him a slightly shaky smile. "It's nothing to worry about Harry..." What she left unsaid was that she hoped so. She then waited until he had turned around before she frowned and shuddered once more as she looked around them, the shadows seemingly to have become much more ominous with her realization. 'We are not alone here... there's something else in here with us...'
Nightmare looked over at her and shared a nod, the two silently agreed to keeping a watchful gaze over their surroundings. But before the dark Alicorn could say anything, the sounds of shouting can be heard outside distracting her and which caused her to scowl. 'And there's the reason that we're even here.' She then cleared her throat. "Child, I think that it might be best to be elsewhere in case they manage to break down the door. And even if they don't, this is the first spot they'll come when they enter from elsewhere."
The spirit-like Alicorn nodded in agreement as she set down. "I fully agree with her for once, Harry. We should head out from here and keep out of sight." Her smile turned tense as she sensed whatever was in the house grow closer, its presence nearly suffocating. 'Not to mention making damn sure that whatever that is has a hell of a time finding Harry... I do not like our chances if it comes down to us needing to fight it.'
Harry glanced at the door and nodded as he put his jacket back on and zippered it back up, but not before he placed Nightmare inside it snugly. "Yeah, that sounds like a pretty good idea..."
After he flinched from a shout, Luna's eyes softened some as did her smile while she tilted her head. "Do you remember that light spell I taught you Harry?" The small globe of light that appeared that floated just above Harry's hand as it cast the illumination of a candle answered her question. She then gestured at the stairs leading to a second floor landing, which she noted that along with the other doors around was also open. "Well then? Shall we, my kind gentlestallion?"
Her human friend gave her a cheeky grin at her. "But of course my Lady." As they started up the stairs, Harry gave a shudder as the globe of light revealed old oil paintings as they made their ascent. All of them seemingly glared at him accusingly as if to tell him that he should not be there. His attention was pulled away though as Luna asked him a question which caused him to blush. "Hmm? Sorry Luna, I wasn't paying attention."
Luna just shook her head. "That's perfectly alright Harry, I can understand why you might be... distracted by your surroundings right now." She glanced at the paintings herself for a moment. "I was wondering however if there might be a story behind this place." She then shifted her eyes around. "For someplace having been abandoned for as long as it seemed to have been with all the dust and cobwebs, it is in very good condition. One would think that the local teenagers would have broken in long ago and done some damage like those other abandoned buildings we've come across." Harry, however, doesn't know the true reason for her question. 'Perhaps knowing any stories might give some clue as to what is stalking around here...'
Frowning, the ten year old shook his head. "I really don't know much Luna... Just some old stories that I overheard."
Nightmare snorted a bit. "Whatever you tell us would be more than sufficient, child."
Harry just shrugged. "Okay then." After he coughed a bit from the dust floating around, he continued. "Like I said, I don't really know much, but apparently the old owner was one of those guys who went around on adventures doing things like looting old tombs and ruins and such. At some point though, weird things started to happen here in this very mansion.
Luna raised an eyebrow at this. "'Weird'? How so?"
The young human next to her frowned. "Lights drifting along the grounds, sounds like muffled conversations and sometimes screams echoing through the halls. I heard that his pet goat was found dead in the yard, completely torn apart." Both Alicorns flinched at that. "Got so bad that his servants started to run off one by one and not even with how bad the economy was back in the thirties could he hire someone."
The plush Alicorn stared at him. "And then what happened?"
Harry suddenly stopped in the hallway. "Um... Soon, he was the only one living here and one night his screams were heard along with gunshots. The bobbies showed up and busted in the door not too long after to find that he had simply vanished. There were a few bloodstains on the main foyer, and that was all."
Now Luna stared at him, fully aware that whatever is in the house is not close thankfully. "He just vanished!?" She looked at him aghast. "Wasn't anything else ever found?!"
Harry shook his head. "Nope." He started walking again as he gestured around them. "They searched the place up and down with people. Bloodhounds not coming anywhere near here, and they never found a trace except for the blood. He was simply gone." He then shrugged. "Afterwards they boarded up the place and it got the rep for being haunted. Some of the teens said that even going on the property was enough to raise the ire of the ghost."
Nightmare just rubbed her forehead. "And why... did you think that coming here was a good idea!?"
Harry just gave her a deadpan expression. "Because maybe it was the closest place that I could think of where we could easily hide until they gave up?" He then shrugged. "Besides. with you two here, what ghost will be able to bother us as long as we're together?"
Both Luna and Nightmare shared a look, the same thought echoed through their heads.
Having entered the foyer, something shuffled over to the recent tracks made by Harry and Nightmare. It stood there for several moments in the dark as it examined their tracks before it turned and regarded the door as it listened to the shouts and banging on the other side.
Hades snarled as he gave the door a hard, swift kick. "ARGH!" Turning, he smacks the nearest man. "IDIOTS!" He then held up a finger. "One, count it: ONE skinny little kid was all that you needed to catch! Then we could have hauled his scrawny little ass back to our families for whatever the hell they wanted to do to him and then we would have been reinstated into them! They could do whatever the bloody hell they wanted!" His fist slammed back into the door as he continued his rant. "They could brainwash him, torture him... FUCK! They could slowly, painfully kill him in a drawn out ritual designed to resurrect the Dark Lord for all I bloody well care! As long as I get the name Malfoy back I honestly don't give a fuck!"
Cygnia walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder before looking back over the rest. "We are not going to fail. I, for one, want to become a Black once more. And any who threaten that will be shown my... displeasure. Understood?"
There are several nods and mutters before Hades gestured around. "Well you morons... MOVE IT AND FIND A WAY INSIDE!" As they scrambled away, he snarled and stomped his foot. "Idiots..."
Inside, the thing stared at the door for several moments as the sounds faded away. It then considered the marks and footprints in the dust upon the floor before it made a gesture and a small whirlwind of dust formed. it followed the trail up the stairs and into the hallway, obliterating it and causing it to have seemingly never existed in the first place. A few more minutes passed before it started shuffling toward the most likely entrance for the incoming intruders. It felt a small pang of sadistic joy knowing that, without knowing where their prey was, the greedy and evil beings would stick around for a while as they searched and would likely split up. As for the boy, well, it could easily find him later...
It took fifteen minutes, but the group eventually managed to find a way in through the door the servants used. As the group gathered in what had been at one time the kitchen area for the servant quarters, Hades glared as he looked around. "Now then, the brat must be somewhere in the building. I don't care if you rough him up some, just don't kill him. Otherwise all this would have been for nothing at all and we'll have missed our chance."
One of the men smirked cruelly. "So, if he was to happen to trip and fall down some stairs..."
Hades own smirk was answer enough before he spoke. "As long as he is alive they don't care."
As he looked around nervously, one of them frowned. "Are you sure that there's nothing that claimed this joint as a territory? Seems the perfect spot like for a vampire coven. Or for ghouls to hang out in."
Hades just sneered as he rolled his eyes. "We're all wizard raised here and there's absolutely nothing that we can't deal with at all." He then gestured at the door. "Now enough flapping your gums. Fan out and search the place."
As they separated, Cygnia took one of the second floor corridors. As she walked with the flashlight in one hand, her other was playing with her knife, the dim light glinted off the blade. Each open door she peaked through while those that were closed were either opened, or if locked, kicked in. She looked in one and raised an eyebrow as she grinned. "Come out little boy... Come out and play with me..." Suddenly, she whirled around and flashed the beam of light down the hallway, her eyes narrowed as she peered through the gloom caused by the stirring of the dust. She then frowned. "I could have sworn..." A creak of a door being opened suddenly echoed down the hall in the direction that she was going which caused her to grin again as she turned. 'There you are brat...'
Harry slowly opened the door with a frown on his face. Behind him, Luna looked down the hallway, not for the first time cursing not only the fact that with the seal of the Elements of Harmony keeping back most of her power, and thus causing her senses limited to below what they should be, but that whatever was in the mansion was somehow blurring them even farther. Harry meanwhile looked around in the room before he entered. He noted that it was some sort of study. As he spotted a desk, Harry realized that on it was a open book of some sort and an old, faded black and white photo of whom he assumed was the owner before he disappeared. He then looked at his two companions as he made his way to it. "What do you guys figure this is?"
Nightmare turned away from where she had been regarding several artifacts on a shelf before she looked at the book as Harry reached the desk. "Looks like it's a journal of some kind. Might be interesting."
As he grasped it, Harry squinted as he tried to read the faded writing in the low amount of illumination cast by the light spell. "It's hard to read..."
As she turned a corner, Cygnia could only grin maliciously as she spotted an open door down the hallway from which spilled dim light. As she stalked towards it, she flicked off her flashlight, the light in the doorway provided all the light she needed as her eyes became used to the darkness. In her hand as she walked toward it, her knife silently moved. She glanced at it as if in love before she looked back at the door as she closed in. 'Heh. I don't think that they'd mind if you spilled some of that beautiful blood when you "Resist"...' Suddenly, she stopped as she glanced back and watched the hallway as she could have sworn she saw something move in the darkness, but not wanting to risk having given the boy a warning by switching her flashlight on.
It crouched there silently at the end of the hall, it's form hidden and cloaked by the deep shadows and darkness around it. It had been trailing it's prey for a while now after it separated from the rest of the group, always careful not to get too close yet which could have alerted it before the being could strike. Several times it narrowly missed being caught in the flashlight beam as it stalked which would have ruined the element of surprise. Still crouched out of view, it took a moment to observe the woman, it's current prey, once more.
If it wasn't sure before, it was now. She, like it, was a predator hunting a prey of it's own. But that was not what made it focus on this one.
Oh no.
It was what laid within her soul that had caught it's attention. While the others were evil and had their souls stained with darkness, it was still contained. Her darkness and cruelty simply bubbled and frothed beneath the surface. She was positively radiating hate and bloodthirstiness. The soul within her was black as the night around them. That alone caused it to single her out. And so the hunter had become the hunted.
Soon she would head into the room ahead with the light, and so be trapped with only one way out.
It would enjoy the fear and terror in her eyes as it showed her what true might was...
Within the study, Luna stiffened from where she had been overlooking Harry's shoulder to try her own hoof at reading the journal. "Something wicked is coming..." As the other two stilled, she looked around and spotted an old dumbwaiter. She gave the room another once over and shook her head as she calculated Harry's chances of hiding anywhere else and decided he would have no chance. "There!" Flying over, she opened it with her magic and with a quick breeze, nodded as she cleared out the dust. She then gestured inside. "Get in!"
Harry stared at it for a moment and then stared at her. "But Luna... what if it fell?"
Luna just looked at him as fear shined in her eyes. "Then I will use my magic and slow the fall so you won't get hurt. Still a better chance then what we would have out here!" She then got behind him and shoved him toward it. "Now just get in!"
Harry let the spell end, causing the room to fall into the gloom as he clambered into the dumbwaiter with Nightmare. A moment later Luna joined them as they managed to shut the door encasing them in darkness. Shaking, Harry hugged them both close. "Luna... Nightmare... I'm scared..."
Even though she hated to, Luna lied to him. "Don't worry Harry, this is all nothing more then a precaution. Nothing can hurt you as long as I am here."
Nightmare just nodded. "And you forget that I am here as well child. Neither of us will allow you to be hurt."
After she observed the light in the room turn off, Cygnia waited in the hallway near the doorway to see if the kid that they had chased to this place was going to come out. After a few minutes of nothing, she resumed her stride toward the room and looked inside only to see blackness as she listened for the sound of any movement within. Not having heard any, she clicked her flashlight on and walked in, the beam glinted off various objects within as she did so.
It felt a pang of satisfaction as the woman walked into the room. It moved toward the doorway once she had gone through it. After having stalked her for this long, it sensed that this chased had nearly reached it's conclusion. The being's limbs flexed, their apparent frailness nothing more then an illusion as it moved as silently as the predators that had hunted along the riverbanks of it's original homeland so long ago and far away now. Slowly, the being's body prepared for what was to come. It soon reached the doorway and began to prepare to end the hunt as it saw it's unsuspecting prey had her back turned while she continued and performed her own hunt...
As the three friends huddled together in the dark of the old dumbwaiter, Harry flinched each time he heard another footstep in the room. 'Please don't look in here... Please don't look in here... Please don't look in here...'
Unseen by Harry's eyes, the two Alicorns in there with him share a look, both steeling their resolve to do whatever was needed to protect him,
As she entered the room, Cygnia frowned as her flashlight lit various portions of the room before it settled on a dumbwaiter. She then slowly smirked as she made her way towards it. 'Well now... it seems like this chase is at an end...' She suddenly stiffened as the hairs on her neck rose as one before she twisted in time to see a shape bound from the darkness of the open doorway, a rustling of fabric accompanying it. Cygnia didn't have the chance to react before it reached her and in one motion lifted her clear off the floor as it threw her hard enough into the wall to crack the plaster covering it.
Falling to the ground, she scrambled for both the knife and flashlight, but only managed to grab her knife before the creature was on her once more and it grabbed her. It then slammed her bodily into a bookcase, scattering it's contents over the room. Her head spinning as she grunted, she drove the knife into her assailant again and again, the blade biting deep to no apparent effect as they struggled across the room. As the blood rushed through her ears, she heard whatever it was speaking (or was it chanting) in a harsh, guttural and dry tone in some strange language. Almost immediately she started feeling weaker the longer it held onto her. It then twisted and effortlessly crushed the wrist that gripped the knife after it had grabbed it.
Her whole world now pain and feeling colder and colder as she felt overcome with weakness, Cygnia felt something inside her give as she was lifted into the air and smashed into the floor. Struggling weakly from both the amount of pain she was in and whatever the thing attacking her was doing as it straddled her, the evil woman tried to stop it from grabbing her neck. At that moment, her flashlight which had been flung and bounced around by the fight, had came to a stop as it's beam illuminated the unnatural attacker. Cygnia stilled and her eyes widened as she saw finally what her assailant looked like...
And then she screamed. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Inside the dumbwaiter, Harry held back a jump alongside Nightmare and Luna as they heard a terrfied scream from the other end of the building which was suddenly cut off. A few moments passed before they heard the man in the room with them speak. "What the bloody fuck?!"
They waited for several minutes after the footsteps faded away as the man ran toward the sound before they opened up the dumbwaiter and got out. Now the only human in the room, Harry gulped as he looked in the direction of the scream. "Wha... what was that...?"
Luna grimaced before she shook her head. "I... don't know Harry." She then looked at him directly, a small amount of fear on her face. "But whatever it was, I do not want to meet if unless there is no other way."
Nightmare nodded herself before speaking up. "Agreed." She then gestured at the now empty doorway with her head as she grunted. "Now I think the best course of action would be to leave before either whatever attacked that woman finds us or the man comes back."
Neither Harry nor Luna had anything but agreement to that as they headed out. As they walked down the hall, Luna looked from one side to another. "I do believe that now they're likely all in the building..." She then glanced at her companions. "We should take this chance and leave... before anything happens..." And with that, they started walking faster as Harry recasted his light spell, heading for the first floor to find a door out...
As he came into view of a room with several of the men grouped near the door, Hades scowled. "What the bloody fuck happened?! Where's Cygnia?!"
Several of the men looked at each other before one stepped forward. "Boss... Cygnia... she... well..."
Seeing the man stutter and continuously look back into the room, Hades shoved him to the side as he strode in. "Shut your gob. Now what the fuck is so bad..."
He trailed off as he stumbled back, his jaw and eyes having widened at the sight before him. The man from before just trembled as he pointed at a shape on the floor. "Cygnia... well I'm pretty sure that she's dead."
Hades shook it off and glared before he scowled. "Yes, I can see why you might think that." Slowly, he made his way into the room, a part of his mind noted the damaged parts before he reached the center and the stilled form that laid there. Kneeling, he reached with fingers that shook and brushed the hair that covered her face away before he scrambled back in fright as the others shouted. "SWEET MERCIFUL MERLIN!"
There, Cygnia laid on her back, her entire body having been seemingly mummified. Her wide, shrunken eyes stared at the ceiling with her face frozen in pure horror and terror for eternity. One of the men gestured at her. "What the bloody fuck could do that to someone!?"
Another shook his head as he looked around. "We should never have taken this job. Matthew was right..." He then grimaced. "We should leave. That boy is not worth our lives dammit!"
Hades glared at him before he got up and made his way over. He then grabbed him by the shirt. "Now stow that bullshit. We came to get the boy and we will. Whatever this was, it can't stop us as we know something is here."
The man just pushed him off. "Fuck you Hades! I for one am not going to die just so that you could have you fucking Merlin-forsaken family name back! I say that we should leave and let the brat die at the hands of whatever of this thing is!" He then gestured at Cygnia. "Do you want to end up like her!?" He then shoved his finger into Hades' chest. "Your little attack dog is dead Hades. I have nothing to worry about from you."
The touch of something told him otherwise though as he looked down to see the tip of a handgun shoved into his chest. He then looked Hades in the face and said man snarled. "I am not going to let you ruin this chance for me John."
John just gulped and shook his head as he started to back up. "Not for you... to hell with you Hades." He then took off running and was out the door before Hades shot at him, the bullet missing as he whipped around the door. By the time Hades reached the door, the man had already turned the corner. "FUCK!" Hades then turned and looked at the others as he pointed his gun at them. "You fuckers want to try something too?"
As several of the men fingered their own guns, John ran down the hall. He took several of the stairs at a time as he didn't slow down. As the beam from his flashlight bounced around the walls, illuminating various things, he saw the doorway to the kitchen a few minutes later. He then grinned viciously as his chest burned from exertion. "You can die yourself for all I care Hades... you and that blasted boy your so hard up about." He had just entered the room when he was grabbed and thrown the length of the kitchen. "ARGH!" Stumbling to his feet, he grabbed the nearest thing to him, a butcher knife and turned as he held his chest only to see an enormous thing start moving toward him with the shadows cloaking it's form. "Oh Sweet Merlin..."
The knife dropped from suddenly nerveless fingers as he realized it was between him and the door. "Oh fuck..." Having decided that discretion is the better part of valor, he ran at it surprising it before John ducked under it's arms, the thing's hands scratched the top of his head and cut through the skin. Ignoring the pain, the squib focused on the only thing important.
The door to the outside.
He reached it and yanked at the knob only for nothing to happen. He kept jerking at his as he shook his head. "Oh no... oh fuck no..." He then noticed a slight shimmer on the door, but didn't have the time to say anything as he's slammed into it, the force great enough to break his nose. He's then twisted around as he screamed, only to for it to be cut off as the creature grabbed him by the throat and lifted. The only thing that he could vocalize was a gargle as the grip tightened to the point where it was nearly crushing his throat. His eyes nearly bulging, he could only look on in other as the other arm lifted up to it's full length above his head as something glinted.
And then it came down which caused something to splatter across the walls. The red speckles that had sprayed onto his flashlight as it illuminated his legs as they went completely limp showed what it was. Soon the only sound was heavy breathing and the drops hitting the floor before the body was dropped. A moment later it was grabbed again as the noise of it being dragged echoed through the room as the creature left, stopping only to crush the flashlight under it's heel...
Hades glared at the rest of the group, he knew that each of them had thoughts regarding their chances if they tried to take him down. He knew that his best chance to regain control was to take care of that idiot John, but he couldn't take the chance to leave his back exposed. His thoughts, and theirs, were interrupted however by a scream. They glanced at each other and took off in the direction it had come from. When they entered the kitchen, however, they found that the entire area had been wrecked. And then their flashlights catch a glimpse of what is on the walls and they swear. One of them inched around the now cooling puddle of red on the floor and grasped the doorknob and yanked... Only to discover that it would not even move. "What the fuck!?"
It only took Hades a minute to realize what was wrong as he spotted the shimmer on the door. "There's a ward on the door..." He then narrowed his eyes. 'Did the brat know about whatever this... thing is...?'
The man still tried to yank the door open, when he let go. He then kicked it only to be flung back in a burst of light. He got up as he shook his head. "What the hell?!?"
Hades snorted before he motioned at the door. "Still think that you can take off without the boy?" As the others looked away from each other, Hades smirked as he realized that he was in control once more. "Now, we need to kill whatever the hell is after us before it kills us. Chances are that once we do, we can escape." He than pointed at two of the men. "From now on, two of us will be together at a time." He growled. "We will not be taking any more chances." He than looked at each one. "Now then... the pairs will be..."
Having reached the stairs to the main foyer, Harry made his way down until he finally reached the bottom and ran to the door before he stopped. Nightmare just looked up from where she was in his jacket. "Well? What seems to be the issue, child?" She then shook her head. "We should leave now before anything actually happens."
Harry just pointed at the bottom of the door where the hole he came through was...
And now longer existed.
Luna just stared before she looked around them nervously. "Something doesn't want us to leave..."
Harry just walked closer to the door and examined it before he stilled as his eyes caught something that he had missed. "There's something... carved into the door? Can you read it Luna?"
She blinked before she hovered above him and her eyes widened. "'We cannot get out...'" She then looked at her friend. "Harry, we should keep moving. As long as we do, we should last for the night." She then frowned. "And if this is a creature of darkness, then the rising of the sun should weaken it's magic enough to escape."
Harry nodded. "Okay Luna..." Together, the three friends headed out, this time along the other second floor corridor that they had before now avoided. As they walk, Harry shivered some as the oppressive atmosphere of the house seemed to press in on him, the shadows seemingly impenetrable beyond a certain distance from the light in his hands. He licked his lips before he looked at each of the two Alicorns. "What do you two think it is...?"
Luna just shook her head. "I... haven't the foggiest." Her head turned as she looked behind them. "But... It has as much a connection to the darkness as I do the night." She frowned as she didn't say the next part. 'And whatever it is, the cloying stench of death clings to it enough that it needs not be near for me to sense it.'
After he frowned, Harry just shrugged. Several times they can hear footsteps, but avoid it until they come to a room. Seeing the door open, Harry walks in to find that the room itself is in shambles with a bookcase smashed along with some of the plaster on the wall gone. "What the bloody hay happened here..."
As she gave the room a look over, Nightmare shook her head. "I don't know, child. But whatever happened, it wasn't good."
As Harry spotted something, he made his way to one end of the room as Luna picked up a strip of cloth. "Now what do we have here...?"
Harry glanced over as he picked up a piece of paper. "Looks like an old rag." He then looked at the paper and shivered.
' Why... why did we come here? Joel, Sara, Paul... they're all dead. We needed a place to hide out from the cops after that bank job. Those idiot cashers were going too slow! They were putting the cash too slow, trying to stall for time. Shame we only got two of them. But that's no reason for this!
Joel... he came up with the idea to hide here until the heat died down. But... then it came! One by one it took them... I... I don't want to die! I can hear it. Just out of my sight, though sometimes when I turn I can see it from the corner of my eye... stalking me... hunting me... It's teeth glinting and... Oh God! I just want out of here. Why won't it let me just lea-'
Harry didn't need anything else to have figured out what happened to the bank robber, as the rust brown stain covering the rest of the paper told him everything. He then threw it as far from him as possible and quickly wiped his hands on his jacket. After he calmed down some he started to look around and stopped as he noticed something from the corner of his eye. He slowly made his way to the partially closed closet and threw it open. "What the..."
Luna had watched him and blinked as she walked over and looked in. There, where it floated just above the floor, was a tiny glowing orb the size of a match's flame. "I never expected to see one of those here..."
Her human friend looked at her as a curious expression crossed his face. "You know what this is Luna?"
She nodded as her face took on a grim expression. "I do and it's not something good." Now more concerned, she looked around. "In Old Equestrian it was Omortis Luxa. A 'Death Light'." She turned back and fixed it with a glare as Harry backed away from it a little. "It is an evil little creature that feeds on energies and emotions associated with death, violent ones most commonly." She shook her head as she slowly guided Harry from the closet. "It can feed on the energies of a single violent death for years before needing a new source. The more violent the death, the more powerful emotions and thus the better it feeds."
Harry looked around and gulped. "Makes sense then that one would be here..."
Nightmare grimaced. "More then you know, child. More then you know." Seeing the look, she sighed. "It will often be attracted to places of darkness where such deaths commonly occur. Usually, they're the size you just saw or even smaller as they can be the size of an ember. However... sometimes they wish to draw in their food source if they sense their death is close and draw them in closer by glowing brighter. They themselves are quite harmless... but the creatures they associate with on the other hoof..."
Luna's ears swiveled and she looked Harry. "We need to leave, now." Once they turned, she shook her head. "Some of them are heading for us." Seeing the dumbwaiter, she nodded as she opened it to find nothing there. She looked down to see it at the bottom of the shaft below the ground floor. After a moment of thought, she turned and looked at Harry. "Harry, I need you to trust me. I am going to float you down to the ground floor. Nightmare, open the door once you reach it." After they nodded, Luna's horn glowed and she grunted as she slowly floated Harry into the shaft and down it until he reached the ground floor level and opened the door. Once he was through it, she shut off the spell and breathed Heavily before she followed, taking a moment to close the shaft door once she was through. Luna floated down and out into what looked like a long disused bedroom. Looking around through, she could spot footprints in the dust from a previous search that night and sighed in relief. 'Good. That means that we can rest for a bit.'
Harry meanwhile, cleaned a spot and sat down before he groaned as he held his head in his hands. "I just want out of here..."
Luna suddenly remembered that for all his apparent maturity, Harry was still a ten year old boy. Making her way to him, she wrapped a wing around Harry and drew him close. "It's okay Harry, we'll make our way through this."
Harry just nodded as he sniffled a little while he took some comfort from her embrace. They stayed like that for a time before they heard shouts from above them, some of which caused all three of their eyes to widen. "Luna... did he just ask where the body went to!?"
She just nodded before shaking her head. "Harry, let's go."
He just nodded and they soon left the room and went into the hallway...
It slowly strode down the hallway, all the while it took in it's surroundings until it stopped. The being sensed something nearby. Very close. At first, it thought it was another one of the adults until it realized that it was the child.
The boy that the others were after.
What an intriguing development. It had not planned on meeting him yet, wanting to wait until it needed to do something, but with the opportunity having come about... it wasn't about to waste the chance it had been given. No, time to see to him.
Every part of Harry and the two Alicorns was alert as he slowly strode down the hallway, they all kept watch over each others backs as they slowly advanced down the hallway. "Luna... are you positive that you don't know what this is?!"
She bit her lip a little and sighed. "Like I said, I may be thousands of years old Harry, but not even I know everything..."
Harry glanced at her. "Do you know anything about it?"
Luna shook her head. "Some, but not a lot." She gestured at the area that they currently they were moving through. "The air in this house has become more and more oppressive as the time has gone on. The shadows themselves seemingly watching as I am sure that you noticed."
Harry just blinked. "I did actually..."
All three flinched as they heard another scream from a different part of the building. They started moving a little faster as Luna cleared her throat. "Yes, well..." She then shook her head. "That is due to it's aura. It's something primal and the aura is both generating and amplifying fear and unease." A shiver ran down her back at that. 'And the fact that it's affecting even me...'
Harry frowned a little. "So it's trying to scare us?"
Nightmare scowled a little before she looked up at him from where she was in his jacket. "No, it's doing it because fear and terror makes one sloppy and thus easier to take out. But it is powerful nonetheless."
Luna nodded. "She's right." She shivered again. "The thing that I find disturbing is that I can only smell it when it's near. After it's gone, the smell disappears... but the smell is the cloying scent of death. And it's aura from what I can tell positively reeks of it."
Harry then gulped a little. "Where did something this evil come from then..."
Luna then closed her eyes. "That's the thing Harry, if this was truly evil then I would feel a lot better about it then I do. Evil I can deal with and understand... but this? If it's anything it's not evil.
Harry suddenly stopped. "Bu-but..." He licked his lips. "How isn't it evil!? It's killing people!"
Nightmare shook her head. "Child, it's doing this for a reason only it knows. It's dark but not evil. There is a difference between the two. I can tell from what I am sensing from it." She then frowned. "But for what reason it is killing..."
She just shrugged as Harry looked around. "You're right... that does make it worse..."
It could sense the boy better now. He was close...
Ever so close...
Soon, it would get it's chance and then it would take it. It did spend a second and wondered about the two presences with him before it dismissed them as they were obviously weakened. Hmm... they shared a connection with the child... how... interesting. And unless the being was mistaken, if the child died, they could do nothing to it and would simply vanish.
The three had been making their way down the corridor when Harry suddenly stopped and sniffed. "Luna... what the hay is that smell..."
What he hadn't noticed was her glance back as she paled. "Death..." Her eyes widened as a moment later, a large shape cloaked in shadow strode into view from the end of the hallway. "Oh horsefeathers..."
As it stood there, glints showing up around it's form, Harry gulped. "Please tell me that you know what that is now..."
Luna shook her head. "I can barely even see it... it's using the shadows to cloak itself..." It took one thunderous step and then another. "Run."
And with that Harry and Luna took off, the growls of the thing behind them turning into a roar as it bounded after them. 'Oh hay! Oh hay- it's getting closer! Oh hay!' He shouted inside his head as tears of fear began gathering in his eyes. 'Faster! Faster! FASTER!'
Whipping around a corner, Harry nearly lost his balance though he recovered in time. Jostled some by Harry's fast, panicked movements, Nightmare poked her head out and looked behind them to see the creature leap into the air as it rounded the corner and then bounce off the wall, hunks being torn out of the plaster as also rebounded off the other before rushing at them still. "Don't stop!"
Harry just stared at her with terror written across his face. "YOU THINK!?"
The creature began to reach behind it's back as the three passed by a door that had just opened with two men coming out as they stared at the boy. "What in the hell... is that the brat!?"
The other opened his mouth to answer only for a liquid sounding gurgle to come out instead moments after a meaty thunk is heard as he stumbled forward some from the impact of something. He blinked some before he looked down and saw the large curved sword-like blade projecting from his chest in surprised shock. 'So that's why it hurts to breath...' He then turned to the other as some blood dripped from his open mouth as he crumbled to the floor. "Uhhh..."
The other stared in shock as his partner fell to the floor. "Sigil!" He snarled as he turned and pulled out his shotgun and fired of one blast after another into the approaching beast causing it to stumble back with a howl. "FUCK YOU! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Soon, however, he's out and he ducked back into the room and slammed the door shut. He reloaded rapidly and then waited with the gun pointed at the door. And nothing happened. He started moving toward it cautiously until he reached it and flung it open while he jumped back. Upon the sight of the empty hallway, he once more moved forward, his gun aimed ahead before he poked his head out and looked down to either end. And there was nothing but the cooling body of the other man though he heard shouts that were headed for him. Eyes still narrowed, and assured of the soon arrival of backup, he stepped out fully. "Now where did it go...?"
His answer came a second later as a large hand dropped from above and grabbed him below the chin before it propelled him head first into the ceiling as he struggled with it's arm, scratching and clawing at it as he tried to make it drop him.
And did so again as the impact of the first had only partially stunned it's victim.
And with the third time there was a sickening crunch as he went limp. A moment later his lifeless body dropped to the floor and is followed by his attacker, who landed on two legs and turned to look in the direction Harry had gone in as it growled softly...
With Harry, he just kept running as he whipped around corners trying to put enough distance between him and whatever it was that chased him. Finally however, he was out of breath and leaned against the wall. He shook his head and looked at Luna. "I... I..."
A moment later he screamed as the door behind him was flung open and something yanked him into the closet and slammed the door shut, Luna diving in a moment later screaming as was Nightmare. "HARRY!"
Harry struggled as he tried to break free of the grip on him as a hand clapped itself over his mouth which caused his shouts to become muffled. Meanwhile, he was dragged farther into the closet. His assaulter suddenly decided to talk as the heavily accented voice of a young woman whispered into his ear. "Calm down little one. I am not going to hurt you."
As he calmed down some, partially from the knowledge that it wasn't the monster and partially due to the arrival (and subsequent growl) of Luna. As the hand was retracted, he turned partially toward the person in the closet with him and blinked as he found that he could barely see her. "Who-"
He was cut off once more as she shoved his face into her chest and held him there as his face burned and Luna's body shook in anger (Nightmare being too squashed to do anything). "Shh! Be silent little one, the Guardian is close." Harry's continued struggle ceased a moment later as he heard heavy footsteps as they approached the door. Then there was the sounds of sniffing, much like a dog, though far larger. Frightened beyond all belief, Harry threw his arms around the person who held him as she ran her fingers through his hair in a comforting gesture. Finally, it stopped before it moved away from the door and left. She then loosened her hold on him. "There we go little one, it is gone."
Harry just nodded as she took a step back the best that she could in the cramped space. Harry slowly moved to the door and opened it before he stepped out into the hall. He was followed seconds later by the young woman who was covered from head to toe in heavy clothing, with only her face shown. Still nervous, Harry gave her a smile nonetheless. "Thank you…" He then blinked. "Um… sorry, but I don't know your name…"
The girl just lightly laughed as she clicked a flashlight on, which revealed her dark complexioned face fully as her lips turned upwards in a large smile. "My name is Amakirah, little one. Yours?"
Harry smiled more fully as he felt more of his nervousness leave as he stuck out a hand. "My name's Harry." As she shook his hand, he noted with some puzzlement that it felt like she had on another pair of gloves beneath the visible ones. "You got quite a lot of clothes on, don't you…" Realizing how that sounded, he groaned and held his face in his hands as Luna facehoofed (as Nightmare fought the urge to do the same) and Amakirah laughed once more. "That came out wrong, I didn't mean it like that…"
Amakirah just waved him off as she got her laughter under control. "I know that you did not Harry." She then smiled. "This place is just far colder then my homeland, little one. Even on those hottest of days, it simply cannot compare to where I had lived as a child."
Having seen the look of longing that filled her face, Harry slipped his hand into hers and squeezed. "You miss it, don't you?"
Amakirah sadly smiled. "I do." She then frowned as the teenage girl bent down to his level. "However, it is best if we leave this place. The Guardian may yet return and there are others to avoid as well."
Harry shivered some at the reminder of why he had entered the mansion in the first place. The two then started to walk as Luna floated beside them as she glared at Amakirah suspiciously. After a few minutes, Harry looked at the female teenager. "Amakirah?" Once she nodded, he continued. "Do you know what was chasing me? You called it 'The Guardian'."
As she became thoughtful, Luna whispered in Harry's ear. "Harry, when you can, ask her what she is even doing here."
He tilted his head a little to let her know he understood as Amakirah smiled sadly. "It is a very sad tale of familial love. Do you still wish to hear it?" Harry nodded. "I call it a Guardian for that is its duty." After taking a breath, she continued. "Many centuries ago in Ancient Egypt, there lived a girl with whom I share blood. She was said to have been very beautiful. And she was much beloved by her father, an High Priest. He adored her for she was one of the few who did not recoil in fear from him. But… when she was a young woman, tragedy struck. An enemy of the High Priest placed a poisonous serpent into the household, hoping to slay her father. But instead, the daughter was the one struck down. Her father grieved long and hard for his loss. The Pharaoh, who was a friend of the father from their boyhood's, had an lavish tomb constructed for her as the father took care of her mummification personally. Laying charms and protections into every fold of her wrappings."
Harry squeezed her hand once more as he could tell that the tale affected her as he had caught sight of some tears. "I feel so bad for them both. Neither deserved what happened."
She just nodded with a slight smile. "Thank you little one. It is, as I said, a sad tale. It has been passed down my family for generations." A sigh then escaped her. "But there is more." She then shook her head. "After she had been entombed, her father wept in grief and howled in anguish at the entrance to her resting place. He screamed at the skies asking why she had been so cruelly taken from him." Amakirah then looked down at Harry. "And then one of the gods appeared before him. So great was his grief that they had felt it and shared it with him. But as even they could not return those who had died, they instead gave him a promise. If he agreed, they would entrust a Guardian to watch over her tomb."
Harry frowned as the gears in his head turned. "But then why…" His eyes widened as his face paled, Luna's doing the same beside him as she reached the same inescapable conclusion. "She's here…"
Amakirah nodded. "Yes." She then scowled. "There was a member of my family who was greedy and scoffed at the old tales. He had told a rich English man about the tomb and brought him to its location. The men then desecrated it when they dug it up by carting off all within it and bringing what was there to this very house as if they were simply curiosities and nothing else." She then shook her head. "The owner of this house had discovered a way to keep the Guardian away from it's duties… not knowing that it was only temporary.
Harry then looked at her thoughtfully. "Why are you here then?" He glanced around. "Isn't is dangerous for you as well?"
She smiled and shook her head. "I am protected against it." A sigh then escaped her. "And I am here for I wish for her to be laid to rest in her homeland once more." As she saw that Harry was about to reply when she continued. "And may I ask why you are here, little one?" She then raised an eyebrow as she tilted her head to the side. "I was under the impression that it was much too late for one of your age to be up and about outside."
Harry hung his head a little. "I… got locked out of my house after my family left for the night to go to a party. I was going somewhere to stay the night when those guys started chasing me..." He swallowed as he felt hot tears prickle at his eyes as he was fully hit by what had happened. "I... I ran here because I-I thought that I could hide in here someplace until... until they left..." He started to shake as he continued as Luna hugged him from behind and Nightmare shifted so that she could do the same from the front. "I... I had heard the stories, but didn't think that they were true like this! And... and now... a bunch of people are dead be-because of me!"
As he fell to his knees and sobbed, Amakirah got onto her own and hugged him to her. "There, there, little one. Any deaths are not your fault."
Harry just looked at her through his tears. "Bu-but-"
He was cut off as she placed a finger on his lips. "It is not your fault, little one. They followed you here. I overheard them and they were planning to visit great evil upon you. While you may have brought them here, I can see that those who have met their fate here would have as it was."
Harry just stared at her. "How could you know that though!?"
She softly smiled at him. "It is a gift that my family has when it comes to death. They had been judged in life and found wanting by the gods themselves for all the evils that they had committed in their lives." She continued to hold him as Harry hugged her back as he enjoyed the feeling of another human doing so. But then she caught sight of his scar and unnoticed by any of the three friends, a look of pure rage and hatred directed at it passed over her face before it was covered up. As she continued the hug, her lips moved silently for a minute before she bent down and laid a gentle kiss upon his scar, which caused a shiver that ran through his body. Afterward, she smiled and stood up as she pulled Harry to his feet with a strength that belied her slender frame. "Come now, little one, it is time for us to leave this place..."
Together, the group began to walk toward a destination that only Amakirah knew about. Eventually, the silence stretched on for too long and Harry cleared his throat. "Um… Amakirah, can I ask you something?"
She nodded as she turned and looked at him with a smile. "Of course you can, little one. Now, what question do you need answered?"
Harry swallowed a bit before he bit his lip. "If your family can tell what the fates of those who died were to be... why didn't the High Priest know?"
Amakirah blinked before she chuckled. "Ah, Harry. While it is it is true that such a gift, just one of many in my family, sounds like it should operate in such a fashion, it does have drawbacks." She then sadly sighed as she frowned. "One of which is that we cannot tell the fate of those close to us such as family."
Harry then glanced at her, though he flinched at the sound of gunfire and yells/screams elsewhere in the mansion. He then shook his head to clear it before he turned back to her and asked a question. "So your family has other gifts then?"
She nodded. "We do indeed, little one." A small twinkle entered her eyes as her smile widened a bit. "One of which might well be of interest to you."
Harry cocked his head to the side in askance as did Luna (and unseen, so did Nightmare as well). "Really?"
She smiled and nodded. "Yes." She then looked in Luna's direction which caused the Alicorn to freeze. "We can also peer past this realm of existence and into what many call the spirit realm which overlaps it." She then grinned at all three of the friends. "Which is why I know of your own Guardian spirit and the possessed item within you possession." She let the hurt she felt be shown on her face as Harry leapt away from her, one of his arms crossed protectively over his chest where Nightmare is. Amakirah then held out her hands, palms facing him and sighed. "I am not going to hurt them, Harry. The fact that you have Guardians of your own in such a manner is a fact to be joyful over and to celebrate."
Harry blinked some as he began to relax a little. "Really? Most wouldn't think so..."
Amakirah scowled then. "The more fools they would be then." She then smiled. "The fact that the gods themselves have blessed you in such a way would have meant that you would have been held in high regard amongst my people."
Harry just glanced at Luna who shrugged more then a little helplessly. "I... don't know what to do Harry. I really gave much thought as to what we should do if we ever came across someone who could see me..."
Nightmare then poked her head out of Harry's jacket and glared at the young woman. "I don't care what they say, I don't trust you."
Amakirah just gave her a nod. "Of course Dark One." She then frowned as yet another scream ripped through the building as she ignored Harry's jump. 'There. They are nearly all gone.' She then looked at Harry and clasped his hand in hers. "Come, I know of a way by which we may leave." She then started to run as she pulled along the young boy who's hand she held with her own. Finally, she reached a doorway and opened it which revealed stairs headed downstairs into pitch darkness. "Come."
Harry first looked down the stairs and then back at her. "What!?" He then gestured downward. "Shouldn't we be looking for a way out on the ground floor, not the cellar!?"
She then shook her head. "None of the doors on this level would let us out. All of them are sealed by the magic of the Guardian." Amakirah then smiled. "Have any of you ever heard tell of 'Ra's Journey'?"
Luna blinked as the name tickled a memory. After a moment's thought, she became thoughtful. "Isn't that the Ancient Egyptian sun god?"
Amakirah smiled even larger as she nodded. "Yes." She then became serious. "It is said that at the end of each day that Ra would embark on a journey through the Underworld. He would hold the Sun before him, it's light and his very soul guiding him as he journeyed through the darkness. His passage would bring light to those trapped there and thus hope." She then looked down the stairs, from which a cold, damp breeze wafted up carrying with it the scent of earth and mustiness. "By going through the same journey as Ra after a fashion, it will afford you protection in the ancient ways and the Guardian will allow you passage to safety."
Nightmare gazed at her in some suspicion. "I know a bit more then they do about this journey..." After she noticed the surprised looks on Luna's and Harry's faces, she shrugged. "Legends about the night are... interesting to me." She then turned back to Amakirah. "One thing that you've forgotten to mention was at the end of each day Ra died and that was how he was able to enter the Underworld."
At the expressions of fear that crossed Luna's and Harry's faces, Amakirah chuckled and smiled before she, looked at Harry with an unreadable expression. "There are... reasons as to why that particular bit is not needed in this case." She then turned and reached into her clothing before she pulled out a small torch and handed it to Harry. "This shall be your journey, little one. I, myself, have performed it before." She ignored the slight confusion on Harry's face as she stepped around him and took a spot behind him. "It is time Harry."
He licked his suddenly dried lips before he glanced at first the worried Luna, then at the serious Amakirah, before finished with the intrigued Nightmare. Harry gulped a little as he fidgeted a bit. "Well... not like it's the actual Underworld after all. It's just a basement..." He then blinked and closed his eyes. "Yeah, the basement of a mansion that has a killer stalking it's halls..." He shook it off and began descending downward into the darkness, Amakirah laying a comforting hand on one shoulder as Luna lays her hoof on the other. "Le-let's do this..."
Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, which none outside Amakirah noticed slowly fade into the darkness as the door upstairs closed on it's own, the first thing that struck Harry was despite how brightly the torch burned, it could not illuminate anything more then a small circle around the group within the unnatural darkness that enclosed them. The next thing that he noticed was how the air felt. It was bitter cold and very damp. And the smells... like from upstairs, there was the smell of damp earth, most likely from the Earthen floor, and a musty order that spoke of ages beyond reckoning. But there was also the dry smell of decay underlain by a various other, more unidentifiable perfumes. 'Okay...' Harry glanced from side to side. 'I thought that upstairs was frightening... this though... this is way beyond that...' He started walking, only to stop as he could have sworn that he had heard something, a voice perhaps? He twitched as his voice cracked. "What was that...?"
As he started to turn to look, he was stopped by Amakirah. "Do not look, little one. Stay upon the path that you are now treading."
Harry just swallowed a lump in his throat as his eyes darted from side to side, the sound of his blood as it rushed through his veins pounded in his ears. 'I am so bloody glad that I no longer dream anymore now...'
Luna and Nightmare, however, could hear what exactly was in the oppressive darkness around them, even if like Harry they could not see beyond the small lit circle. A fact that frightened them both. The two Alicorns began to tense up as their very instincts told them to run. Harry then felt as Nightmare's tail tip unexpectedly swished against his neck and jaw, the slight tickle sensation caused yet another thrill of terror to be sent down his his now jaded spine. Luna for her part began to lightly shake as her throat tightened, every muscle in her body tensed from what she was hearing around them and the unnatural wrongness that permeated the very air. 'Oh Mother! Protect us for what have we gotten ourselves into!?'
After a few minutes, Harry glanced at the two and started to break out into a cold sweat at what he saw. Nightmare and Luna, who he had always seen as being unshakable and as steady as a mountain, were trembling. He could see as their ears pressed flatter and flatter against their heads as their nostrils flared and their breaths came quicker and quicker. And in the flickering light of the torch, their eyes, normally large and wide, had widened so much that they looked about ready to fall out of their sockets as they became nearly white as their pupils had shrunk down to nearly nothing as they darted around. Both their jaws were clinched as they allowed no sound to escape, the muscles in Luna's body just under the skin twitched every once in a while as her breath whistled from her nostrils as her coat slowly dampened from sweat. But still, together they continued as they marched through the darkness, as steadfast as they could be as they knew that if their resolve crumbled that it would never return...
Or even get the chance to.
Every once in a while, Amakirah stopped which caused them to do the same even though everything in them screamed for them not to, to head screaming off into the darkness. Every time she did this, as she seemingly seeked for something beyond any of their ken, mortal or Equestrian divinity, it seemed as though it was an eternity spent in the darkness with the malevolence in the air that surrounded them nearly suffocating. No sound escape their lips, Luna and Nightmare for fear of attracting what they could hear in the shadows and what they sometimes glimpsed from the corner of their eyes, Harry for fear of what was driving his best and only friends to terror that was only bound by their indomitable wills. During these times, Amakirah whispered chants in some unknown language as she looked at something only she could see. Each time she gestured that they could continue forward, it came as a relief. Just after one of those times, Harry heard Luna's slowly faltering gait, which caused him to glance at her. He could see from the way her muscles twitched that she was far more terrified of something he didn't know. He reached out with his free arm and wrapped it around her as he pulled her closer, her simultaneously doing the same with her wing as it wrapped around his back and shoulder. As her head leaned against his shoulder, he channeled some magic into her allowing him to take comfort in the feel and scent of her mane, as fear laden as it was. As she took some degree of comfort from the familiar feel of his magic, she channeled some of her own into him to give him some strength as she felt him close to collapse. A moment later she was joined by Nightmare who did the same and the same was done to, unknowingly connecting the three. Amakirah just smiled at this before she turned serious once more.
As they walked, the three could not help but wonder why it was taking so long to reach their destination. Surely the basement was not that large?! Were they going around in circles? How much time had past since they had begun? Less then an hour? Hours? Days? Or weeks...? The chill of fear had sunk deep within their bones, that and the ever present darkness distorting the passage of time around them. All they knew was that the omnipresent breeze always came from ahead, gusts of which pulled sparks from the torch like streams of fireflies and caused it to sputter which sent spikes of terror rippling through them. The light from the sparks as they died allowed the two Alicorns to partially see the things that lurked in the darkness. Nightmare's eyes suddenly jerked to the side after one such event as she caught a glimpse of something familiar, and yet twisted before it vanished. 'We should not be here... we do not belong here...'
While Luna's eyes darted around, and her breaths came quick, she felt some small relief that Harry could not see what she had... could not hear what horrors lay in wait just beyond the light of the flame...
Sense what frightening things that watched them as they laid in wait for the time when the flame might go out...
And, for a brief moment their worst fears came true as a sudden powerful gust of air, carrying with it the cloying scent of death, snuffed out their torch to nothing more then glowing embers as the darkness rushed in as if to strangle the life from them...
And then, just as fast, though to the three it seemed like an eternity, the torch burst into a flame brighter then it had been before from it's own dying embers. For a moment Harry stood there trembling in cold damp... sweat, yes, that was all it was he told himself. Sweat. Nightmare was just cold and that was why she shook and trembled, her eyes wide and unseeing as they sparkled in the torch light like her mane did on the moon. Why had it turned so cold suddenly down here? While his skin didn't feel it, it was as if something made of ice had caressed his liver, heart, stomach, and scar. But that was silly. Just as silly as the idea that in the moment that the light had gone out that Luna had let loose a strangled, high pitched whinny. Or the idea that she had begun near silently chanting her sister's name over and over as her wide eyes moved over every inch of darkness even faster then she had before as if to make up for Nightmare's unnatural stillness. Yup, it was all just imagined. And Luna was definitely not completely soaked with a cold sweat...
And still, under the guidance of Amakirah did they carry on with only the presence of the other two which prevented each of them from running off into the darkness to what seemed like their certain doom...
Finally, after what seemed like ages of terror, they came to the end of their ordeal as the darkness around them seemingly lightened and the oppressive feeling lightened. The scents also faded away except for the smells of damp earth and mustiness, both of which lightened as well, as the temperature rose a bit. Harry then sighed. "I am so glad that, that is over with..." He then jumped along with Luna while Nightmare jerked in his jacket as a loud thump resounded from somewhere nearby. "What the hay was that!?"
He got his answer a moment later as a nearby door for one of the dumbwaiters is busted open and a bloodied Hades crawled through. It did not take him long before he noticed the open mouthed boy or the young woman next to Harry who glared at him. "You... YOU BRAT!"
Once Harry saw him start to pull something from his coat, he threw the torch at him, which distracted Hades enough that his shot went wild, and it ricocheted off the wall next to Harry's head. It then struck a nearby shelf and caused it and the one below it to collapse, the jars they carried smashed against the floor as the contents spilled and flowed across the frozen earthen floor. As his eyes teared up, Harry grabbed Amakirah's hand. "Come on!"
Hades just growled as he took aim through his tears."You fucking little shit! I don't give a fuck anymore, so I am just going to kill you."
Amakirah just snarled as she moved to shield Harry with her own body. "No, you shall not you vile man!"
The evil man just sneered at her. "I'd like to see you try little girl. But I'll let you live a bit longer after I kill him..."
Harry snarls and is about to say something when the fluids contained in the jars finally reached the still lit torch. With a loud "Whoosh!" they ignited and created a small wall of flames from which Hades jumped back from as his gun fired and missed once more. Thankfully, the height of the ceiling was enough that the flames could not reach it and with the earth floor and mostly stone was, there was nothing to catch. Not having given up, Hades shielded his face with one hand as he took aim with the other. "Time to go to hell, brat!" He then stilled and silently shook as he heard familiar heavy footsteps off to the side and he then turned. "Oh no..."
Harry, Luna, and Nightmare all froze as they watched the shape of the "Guardian" as it detached itself from the nearby darkness. The only things that could be seen through the shadows that covered it was it's two eyes which glowed, and the firelight that glinted off otherwise unseen objects. Seconds later, the shadows fully fell away from it as it stepped into the light. At first they mistook it for a dark-skinned man clad only in a brown and off white skirt-like piece of clothing around it's waist... only to realize that he was eight feet tall, had claws instead of nails, and a jackal's head in place of a human's which had a fanciful headdress. Nightmare just stared in more then a little fear and surprise. "Ah hay... Anubis, Egyptian god of mummification and the Guardian of the dead..."
As he growled, Anubis took several strides as Hades scrambled backwards. The god lunged forwards with a punch that instead hit the wall behind his target when he ducked, and shattered a large portion of it which revealed it to have hidden a room. Once he got a good look what was revealed to be inside it from the light coming from the slowly dying flames and Anubis' movements, Harry recoiled in horror. There inside was a fully wrapped mummy which had the face still visible...
The face of the original owner of the house!
Harry swallowed his gorge as it rose with the realization of what the ultimate fate of mansion's owner had been. Oh... hay..." He had push it down again as he spotted a number of other shapes as well, shapes that he well knew what they were of as he started chanting under his breath. "Children of Harmony, blessed be they who are under the Sun and Moon..."
His chant though slowly faded and broke into strangled whimpers as Anubis had then just grabbed Hades before he threw him a dozen feet. He then ignored the stunned and breathless man as he gasped for breath as the god turned and looked Harry in the eyes with an impression of judgement as he somehow froze both Luna and Nightmare in place. A few minutes passed with the three frozen as Anubis seemed to peer into Harry's very soul, though for the boy and Alicorns it might as well been an eternity. Finally, the jackal-headed god seemed to have found what he had been looking for and nodded with a growl as he waved his arm, breaking the spell. Amakirah then laid her hand on Harry's shoulder as she spoke urgently. "Come! We have to leave now as we've been permitted to!"
None of the three needed to be told twice as the group ran for a nearby set of stairs that headed up and through a wall. As she's rushing, Luna took a look back in time to see the mansion's original owner's mummy open it's eyes and then it's mouth in a silent scream.
She bolted and nearly collided with the others as they reached the stairs. Not too long after, they reach the top and flung open the doors as they tumbled into the cold, pre-dawn light. Behind them, the doors slammed shut as a chain wound itself around it and a lock clicked into place. Down in the cellar, Hades took aim with his gun at the jackal headed god before he pulled the trigger...
Only to hear a click. "No..." He tried again and again with the same result. The gun then fell from his suddenly nerveless fingers as he moaned as the fire died. "No... Morgana and Merlin no..." The last thing he saw before being plunged into pitch darkness was the countenance of the Egyptian god as he strode toward him as he pulled out a scale from behind him with one clawed hand, the shadows around him taking other forms as they rose, muzzles and ears growing from them. As they swarmed over him as the torch the boy had had guttered out, the last thing he ever heard was Anubis' dark, mocking laughter...
The last thing of his ever heard in this world were his pleading screams, the echoes of which were washed away by dawn's light...
Sorry for taking so long. But here's the epilogue.
Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro and Harry Potter is owned by JK. Rowling.
"Hello." - Normal Speaking "Interesting…" - Nightmare Moon Speaking 'Huh' - Normal Thoughts 'All mine…' - Nightmare Moon's Thoughts ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As the terror from what he had gone through ebbed from him, Harry was lying there on the cold, hard ground splayed on his front as the pale pre-dawn light illuminated the area as it washed away the night. After a few moments had passed, Harry could feel Nightmare as she wiggled in his coat underneath him before he rolled over on his back, his chest heaved as he breathed in the chill, late October air. When she poked her head out, the dark Alicorn plush took one look at him and saw the tears as they gathered in the corner of his eyes. She made her way far enough out of the jacket and hugged him around his neck. "It's over..." Nightmare nuzzled his neck before she moved a little farther and buried her face in his hair as she whispered as if only half believing it. "It's over..."
Harry's arms just came up and held her close to him as he started to sob in relief while the edge from the horror of that night was washed away with his tears. Luna then joined them in the hug as she cried herself from pure relief. "It's finally over..."
Harry just nodded as his emotions thickened his voice as he could not quite believe it himself. "And we're all still here..." He then sobbed some more. "And we're still here... together..."
The two Alicorns tightened the hug as they shakily smiled while they spoke as one. "It's all over and we're all still here together..."
As the three laid there as their tears and the early pre-dawn light washed away the terror of the night they had just had away, Amakirah softly smiled. Her smile only grew as she spotted a soft glow that covered the three, unnoticed by them. The glow slowly faded away as it was overwhelmed by the gathering dawn. 'Seems that the connection between them has both grown and strengthened... Good.' She waited and gave them the time for their sobs to calm down, by which time the sun had begun to peek over the horizon. Once she knew that they had calmed enough, Amakirah walked over and held out her hand. "I do believe that it is time that we left this place." Her eyes twinkled some. "And neither do I think that you would wish to stay much longer within sight of this place."
After he glanced at the still darkened with windows of the mansion, Harry shuddered. "No, no I don't." As Luna got off him, he reached out and grabbed Amakirah's hand before he was pulled to his feet. He then took one last look at the mansion, the light of day caused it to lose it's sinister appearance and gave it an saddened look, though he now knew it to be simply a facade which hid it's true nature. After he shook it off, Harry laid his hand on Luna's shoulder as he smiled at her. "Let's go home..."
Luna slowly nodded as Nightmare stayed where she was, her forelegs wrapped around Harry's neck. "Yeah, that sounds... wonderful..." As they began their walk, Luna frowned as she looked at the sky, the few clouds visible promised that it was going to be a bright, sunny day. "I'm still having trouble believing that we spent nearly the whole night in there..."
As the light blue Alicorn shuddered, so too did Nightmare as she finally let go of Harry's neck and sank down into his jacket. "I agree..." She then closed her eyes as she sank more into the sound of Harry's heartbeat as the rhythmic sound calmed her. 'We're alive...' She then opened her eyes while she frowned. "I know it was only some hours..." She paused for a moment. "And yet..."
Harry nodded. "And yet it seemed like an eternity... especially..."
Luna shivered some as she leaned against Harry, she took some comfort just from his (and to a lesser extent, Nightmare's) presence. "Let's... not talk about that for a while..." She shivered again as she looked back at the mansion and a shadow in the window shifted. She then turned back to Harry. "Even in the light of day..."
Harry suppressed a shudder himself. "Agreed." They soon reached the gates, which were partially opened with the shattered chain and lock on the ground. After they walked through them, the group took a moment to close the gates and Luna used her magic to repair the chain and lock before making sure the gate was secure once more. Then they turned, leaving the lonely, abandoned property itself and what spirits dwelt there. It isn't long before even the gates are out of sight when Harry turns to Amakirah. Once he does, he can't help the heat that rose to his cheeks which had nothing to do with the cold. 'Whoa... she's...'
In the sunshine of the early morning, he can see Amakirah for the first time clearly. Obviously in her late teens, she carried herself as a woman far older then what her looks would have suggested. Her eyebrows were thin and barely noticeable and she wore heavy eyeliner which drew attention to her honey brown eyes which sparkled with mirth. For a short moment, Harry couldn't help but wonder what she might have looked like in normal clothing before he flushed even farther as her lips turned upwards in a large smile. Then she laughed in a rich tone. "You're staring, little one." She took some pity though as she squeezed his shoulder. "But I do not mind, little one. Many men and boys in my homeland do much the same."
Harry's blush though, refused to go away. "Still wasn't polite though."
Amakirah just gave another boisterous laugh. "Perhaps not!" Her smile then softened a great deal. "But in your case Harry, I find that perhaps that I do not mind much."
The ten year old just stared at her confused before he gave the same look to both Luna and Nightmare as they snorted in amusement. After a moment though, he shrugged it off and laughed, which, after the night he had just experienced, felt better then anything as the others joined in. About five minutes passed before they stopped laughing and for a while after they simply enjoyed the walk as the leaves crunched underfoot. Harry then looked at the teen beside him. "Can I ask a question Amakirah?"
She nodded, still with a smile. "You may, little one."
Harry then bit his lip. "After everything that happened... are we friends?"
She stopped and while she still had a smile on her face, it was tinged with sadness. "I would like to think so." Amakirah then became thoughtful for a moment as she looked him in the eyes. She then reached into her clothing and slowly withdrew a sheathed knife. The sheath itself looked to have been made from bronze and was covered in rows of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. The hilt was seemingly gold with rings composed of pieces of a bluish gemstone which separated even more rows of hieroglyphs. At the top, it widened into a fat crescent which had a pictograph of a scale with a feather in one dish. Amakirah looked at it for several seconds before she clasped Harry's hand and placed the knife in it. "Here, I give this to you as a proof of our friendship Harry. May it serve you as it has me."
With no small amount of reverence, Harry slowly slid it out of it's sheath and sucked in a breath as he saw that it looked like it was made from silver and had an edge far sharper then any other knife that he had seen. "Wow..." He then looked up at her in no small amount of shock. "I... I don't know what to say..."
Amakirah giggled some from the look on his face. "It has been in my possession for many years and dates back to the days of the High Priest himself, little one." When Harry tried to give it back, she stopped him. "No, little one." She then got down to his level and brought her face close to his, which caused him to flush deeply as Nightmare grumbled while both Luna and Amakirah giggled. "I give this to you both because it is a promise that the day shall come in the future where we will meet once more..." Her eyes then visibly saddened. "And because it shall aid you on your journey that shall soon start. You and your Guardians."
Luna blinked at that. "'Journey'? What the hay do you mean by that now?"
Amakirah's sadness is nearly palatable. "You and the dark one shall soon begin a journey with the little one like when you did when you performed Ra's Journey. There will be darkness, though of a more metaphorical form, on all sides that shall try to smother you and the others that will join you on your journey. But, like with the torch you held, there will be light keeping the darkness at bay which will be close to you."
As he gulped and fully slid the knife back into it sheath, Harry gave her a scared look as Luna and Nightmare looked mildly disturbed. "Will... will it be as bad as...?"
She closed her eyes for a moment before she pulled Harry into a hug. "You will face many dangers, trials, and tribulations, little one. And there will come times when your flame is nearly snuffed out as the torch was. But as long as the three of you stay together, your flame shall come back each time stronger then it was before." She then smiled. "But once you reach the end, and come through the darkness, the rewards you three shall receive shall be great." Her frown then returned. "But for that to occur, little one, you must never falter on your path. For if you do, the darkness will swallow you Harry and you shall never return from it."
Harry just nodded as he felt his stomach drop. "I won't."
Luna then chimed in from beside him. "And I'll be there to make sure that he doesn't."
As Nightmare nodded and agreed, Amakirah smiled as relief flowed from her. "It gladdens my heart and lightens it to know that." She then looked at each one of the trio for a few seconds. "The bond that you share is truly a special thing and together, you shall do great things." She then took a breath before she sighed. "However, now it is time for me to walk my own path that will be separate from yours for a time."
Harry swallowed the lump in his throat as he felt some tears that prickled at the corners of his eyes. "Will I see you again?"
Amakirah laughed a little bit. "Did I not say that the dagger that I gave to you was a promise of such, little one?"
Harry then blinked as he looked at the knife once more before he bit his lip. "But... I don't have anything to give to you..."
Amakirah gave him a kind smile. "But you already have, little one" After she saw him look at her in confusion, her smile grew some. "Your friendship is a great gift for you to have given me and I shall cherish it. I need no other reminders." She then looked at him with a gentle expression before she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek which caused Nightmare to scowl as Luna giggled at the dumbstruck look on his face. Amakirah then smiled as she started walking back along the path in the direction that they had come from. "Perhaps if we had met in a different time Harry Potter... but we shall still meet again."
Harry suddenly snapped out of it and blinked as he whipped around. "Wait! I never told you..." Harry then trailed off as he noticed that she had seemingly vanished. "...my last name..."
Luna just stared as she looked in all directions, it having been impossible for someone to have done that with nothing but leafless bushes and trees around. "Where the hay did she go!?"
Nightmare just shook her head. "I don't know... it's as if she had just... never existed..."
As he shivered, Harry looked at the dagger in his hand before he unzipped his jacket a little and slipped it into a inside pocket and zippered it back up. "She existed alright." He then glanced around for any sign and after he found none, he turned. "Come on... we should head home." And as they did, even though they didn't mention it to the others, each of the three could hear Amakirah's faint laughter drifting on the wind...
