The Calm Before the Tempest - Book 2

Chapter 9: The Grief Unleashing

Storm

Storm hadn't really wanted to be lead through a house that she had no interest being in and, when Draco lead her and Aaron through the corridors, stopping every now and then to explain what lay beyond each door, she was hardly listening. She was lost in thought, glad to be away from the goldfish bowl.
"I'm sorry, Draco." Storm blurted, stoping dead in her tracks in a corridor of the west wing of the Manor. "I-" she trailed off, looking down at her cousin. "I can't do this right now. I'll rejoin the Ball shortly."
     She turned away from both Draco and Aaron, her eyes stinging with unshed tears, her hands trembling beneath her gloves. She felt claustrophobic and the air in her lungs was suffocating - the blood in her veins like ice.
"Apologies, Mr Malfoy." Said Aaron from behind her before footsteps disappeared off into the distance, before silence descended. "Your Maje-"
"Don't." Storm snapped, choking through her tears, her shoulders slumping as she hung her head. "Please, don't. I - this isn't me. I'm not-" she broke off, her shoulders shaking with sobs, her knees buckling under the weight of her troubles, the grief unleashing from behind the walls she'd tried to block it out with.

     Storm clutched her stomach, a pressure within her she could not fight. Pain, anguish and longing tore through her as she collapsed. A strong pair of arms caught her under her arms and steadied her, but Storm had fallen into a deadweight.
     If Aaron said anything, she didn't hear, her heart thrumming in her ears and her breathing heavy and gasping.
     "I - I can't do - this." Her voice was hoarse. She felt tendrils of hair sticking to her wet cheeks. "I - I don't w-want to do this. I-" the pain in her chest was expanding, "-can't be around - the people who - supported those who tore apart my - my - my family."
"Well, well, well."
Storm stiffened - froze at the sound of a cold, taunting voice that reverberated around her, cutting through her hysterics like a terrifying sword.
"The Custos Terrae - nothing more than a weak, scared little child."
Storm felt Aaron move to see who it was, but Storm - though still in the middle of a breakdown - gripped her escort tightly, a burning rage and adrenaline drowning everything else out. She felt a rush of something else too, but was too focussed on her breathing. Or else the Manor might've turned to rubble around their feet.
     Like a tsunami of all things at once, Storm was possessed by a darkness she had never encountered. As if, feeding off of the energy that seeped from the arrival.
     With a wave of her hand, without withdrawing her wand, Storm righted her appearance and straightened up, taking hold of Aaron's hand as if it was her one lifeline. Her safety net.
     And she turned.
     In the centre of the corridor at the other end, stood a figure that had scorched itself into her mind since her birthday. A face which, in the dim light of the torches on the walls, looked more sinister than it had then.
     Venari's flowing white hair was almost silver, the violent slashes of red deeper and looked like blood. His eyes that had imprinted themselves into her memory were menacing. But today, he wore dress robes of bright crimson, gold stitching intricately woven through the sleeves.
     "I remember you."
     Aaron's breathless tone broke the silence as he turned his head every so slightly towards Storm.
     "He was the one who-"
     "I know." Storm cut him off, her breathing shallow, her heart racing. She did not take her eyes off of One of the Five. She didn't not understand. She could not comprehend why he was there.
     "You are stronger." Said Venari, his voice ethereal again, his eyes blazing. "Yes - I feel it. You have changed. You are, almost ready. But we must be patient." His lips curled into a nightmare-invoking grin, showing off the most perfect, whitest teeth, except for one beside his front tooth, that was bright, gleaming gold. "The PureBlood was right. You do have power, unmatched by any other." He paused and the hairs on the back of Storm's neck stood on end. "Yes. It is almost time."
"Time for wh-"
With an almighty BANG, a flash of oranges flames and a tidal wave of heat, Venari had disappeared. Had vanished into the flames and then the corridor was unoccupied once more, leaving Storm's head in a spin. A confused, hazy spin.