The Girl Who Vanished

Chapter 16: "Blood on Your Hands"

(TW: Explosions)

Alex grabbed both Ana and Calista by the back of their shirts and held them down at the deafening sound that exploded in the pitch before taking a look at the stadium. Kids were running down the stands, winding their way to the base of the field in a panic, nearly knocking down other students in a stampede. The players were flying either to the ground in an effort to run away or they flew off to hover over the black lake at the sound of the blasts. Even Lee had abandoned his post at the microphone and had ran off somewhere to take cover.

            "Stay down! Keep your heads down!" Alex had yelled trying her hardest to not panic at the sight of the stadium, a large fire had erupted below them.

            The air was smelling of dark, thick smoke that emitted from the burning Quidditch pitch and Ana got a large gulp of it as she struggled to calm herself. Calista was shaking terribly and Alex held the younger girl tightly against her body, while Ana decided to get a better look at the scene. But before she could do anything a pair of feet landed beside her, arriving through the smoke.

            "Is everyone okay?" Lucian yelled as another blast went off somewhere close. A shriek left each of them and Calista started to sob loudly at the explosions while she gripped onto Alex in terror. She couldn't blame the girl, Ana was just better at hiding her feelings.

            Behind the boy, Ana could see that the stands were emptying quickly, the banners that signified house pride was burning from the base and rising by the second. And it felt incredibly dumb to be the only ones up there in the Slytherin tower, whereas most of the students were in the wooden stands far below. She didn't know if it was adrenaline or her survival instincts but Ana spoke quickly, before taking a moment to think.

            "Lucian!" Ana screamed over the cries of scared students, "Lucian! Take Calista down! She needs to get out of here as soon as possible! Alex and I can get ourselves out!"

            BOOM. BOOM. Another set of deafening blasts were let off and the stands rattled again, dropping a few inches beneath their feet.

            Calista let out another howl of fear, her face was covered in sweat and tears as her eyes grew more and more swollen from crying. The other three shared looks of understanding; Calista had to be the first to get out. And Lucian would have to leave his sister and Ana behind, which filled him with both dread and disgust.

Time wasn't a luxury at the moment, so Lucian tugged gently at the crying girl as he mounted his broom. She was shaking terribly and her chest heaved as she struggled for air. Ana instructed Calista on how to hold on to the broom, given she had never ridden one before while Alex wiped the girl's tears away and promised her everything would be okay. None of the four wanted to separate from the others, but it was necessary.

            "Hold on tight!" Lucian yelled to the crying girl and he took off with a jump as he headed towards the direction of Hagrid's garden. It pained them to see their one-way ticket out of the pitch disappear beyond the cloud of smoke, but neither of them had time to worry. They had to get out now.

            Ana and Alex took off in a frenzied sprint, racing down the winding stairs of the tower and jumping over any broken steps. They were the last students to get off their section and as more people were leaving, Ana became alarmingly aware of how badly they had to get out of there. Her fear came in handy at the moment as it made her fast enough to not stumble or get left behind, like riding a broom at high speed. As soon as they left the winding stairs of the tower and landed on the stands, they were hit with another round of blasts.

            BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

            The stands beneath them gave out and the Ravenclaw tower next to them collapsed on itself, making a giant hole in the stands only twenty feet from them. Ana and Alex screamed in terror as the wood under their feet gave about five feet, knocking them to the ground and leaving cuts on their dirty skin.