Two of Hearts

Bound

He is there,
then gone.

...

The forest is all the more unwelcoming when you're alone.

Rose ignores the sinister shadows and shapes, keeping her eyes focused on the path ahead. Packed earth so solid she leaves no footprints, no trace of herself or her path. Malfoy doesn't follow her, he couldn't if he tried.

She's not really sure how long she's been walking for. The forest is unchanged.

There are no animals in this wood. No birds

Grey eyes haunt her.
A red eye burns her.

Blood pounds in her ears, echoing like drums, silencing reason, amplifying anger. Howls of wind chase after her, whipping her hair out of its braid. It becomes so fierce she stumbles, being shoved off her path by the invisible fist.

Unsteadiness, a crazy feeling likes she's never knows, buzzes in her skull. Her dreams seem to have followed her into conciseness. She sees him everywhere.

The blue horizon. A heavy footfall.

Minutes pass.

Disarming him with a snap. Her wand being snatched from her hand by some sort of screaming bird.

Ravens fly overhead, tumbling in the wind. Wildlife sets her on edge.

Unsheathing her knives with a hiss. The arch of a throw.

The forest becomes darker, nature refusing the daylight. Or maybe it's already evening, and she's lost another sunset.

Curses flying, flashes of light sent at her from her own wand in his fist.

Her hand aches for the weight of a wand. Fingers curl into a fist.

Blood red, blooming petals, falling into her face, spilling from her skin, staring her down.

Branches tear her open, reaching out like greedy hands.

His silloutte, holding hers, almost lovingly as she dies. His scar becomes the only human thing about him. Her skin cracks and crawls.

She feels almost crazy. The trees bend into people.

There is no afterlife once he kills her. She never gets to see Hugo again. There is only black and red and-

Hands grab her shoulders, and her knife meets the ribs of a burly man behind her. Silver glints in the air as she tugs her knife back out, the wound encased by pearly bone. He gasps and his grip loosens. His hands touch his stomach. Slick with blood, he chokes.

Rose feels like throwing up.

Forcing her body into a fighting stance, dagger raised and red, she surveys the forest around her. Six cloaked men appear from the forest mist. There faces are hidden behind horned masks, with eyes like a snake.

Amused, they look down at her and the fallen man. None of them raise their wand. No incantations are spoken.

They don't even see her as a threat.

She curses herself for not paying attention. For letting herself be caught in a trap. For being careless. Again.

The men don't speak. They just watch her with red snake eyes and painted smiles.

Rose holds her breath as they start to move closer.

They don't speak. They don't have to.

She shifts her balance onto her back leg, anchoring herself when she feels as if she will spiral away.