Dark Waters Require Warmth

Chapter 13 - Starry Night

Bellatrix was running down a wet muddy road. The rain was pouring down on her and she knew that if she could only get to the manor that she would be safe from the thing that was chasing her.

'But you don't want to go back home.'

"Shut up!" Bellatrix yelled at her own thoughts as she was wiping away her tears that mixed with the rain blaring down her face. She had to keep willing her feet to run but her legs were burning like hell. The rustling of leaves and sticks breaking behind her continued to become more prominent. The subtle sounds of succeeding footsteps shook the ground beneath her. Luckily she could see the dim halo of light coming out of the window of the manor's main hallway. The light stayed on all night because so many people in the house feared the dark.

Bellatrix's father used to tell his three daughters that one day they would have to get over their fear of the dark, but when Bellatrix had a meltdown and destroyed her room that night he decided they would leave the light on for 'some comfort' as he said. 'More like to prevent me from doing so again' Bella thought to herself.

Their parents never really liked accommodating for their children because they thought it would them to grow up quickly and become successful people, but they forgot to realize that children need to have somewhat of a childhood too.

Bellatrix realized she wasn't going to make it to the house when she heard heavy breathing and growling only a couple feet behind her. She thought quickly and ran to the nearest tree and started furiously climbing. Her nails scratched at the surface of the bark as she ascended the tall tree. She placed herself in a crevice a branch created and curled her knees as close to her chest as possible. The rain was forgotten as Bellatrix's tears seemed to be the only thing pouring endlessly around her. Her clothes were beyond soaked and since it was the middle of the night she knew that she would have to wait until the morning for the beast to head out. She hated getting wet.

She peered down to see two glowing red eyes in a vast abyss of darkness.

Then the howling started; she knew what was to come. She felt herself shivering, not from the cold but from fear.

One howl turned to two then three. She was surrounded by a pack of them and she had nothing to fight them off with. It was a good thing they didn't know how to climb because she knew they would get restless sometime and leave her when the sun rose.

And then she heard yelling from afar, a sweet voice calling her name from the manor, daring her to sprint back home. 'None of this is real. It can't hurt me. I can do this.' Bellatrix waited for a second for the wolves beneath her trail off until there were only two left who seemed distracted. She jumped down off the tree, twisting her ankle in the process and yelped at the flaming pain. She never looked back at the beasts who continued to be right behind her but they never caught up. She hopped up the front stairs and stared back to see the start of the sunrise. "Bellatrix!" She turned to open the door.

"Bella?" Hermione was right next to her rubbing her arms that she couldn't feel. Bellatrix was profusely sweating and breathing harshly. "Fuck." "What happened? Was it a nightmare, love?" Hermione looked worried and checked her girlfriend's forehead for any sign of a fever since she didn't know what was happening.

"Ya. Umm I thought I was over having those kinds of nightmares but I guess the whole Layla thing brought them back up and now I can't help but think about my parents." Bellatrix went to describe her nightmare and how it was her most prominent memory as a child. She was shivering still from the dream but she was gaining movement in her arms and hands; her legs would come soon. She realized she just dumped a lot of knowledge on her girlfriend but she only looked at the older woman with a look of concern but full of love.