Partners in Crime || PJOxHP || Marauders' Era

The Daily Prophet

Jessica's throat was parched. Her vision was bleached in the morning sun, and Jessica had to literally crawl through the ground- her arms felt like lead. Dust was spraying into her face, and she had to squint to protect her eyes. In this land of sand dunes, Jessica was unable to control the weather. There was no water around her- the sand burnt like a thousand hot irons. She fell to the ground- defeated. She shut her eyes tight. The desert had taken her. That's it, she thought. This is goodbye.

"The hero falling to the ground, watch the world burn," something said in her ear.

Jessica tried to sit up, but her brain wouldn't listen to her- that was a part of the ADHD too... sometimes she just couldn't get herself to do basic activities that were really easy if her brain would just listen to her. 

Jessica could feel someone next to her- the faint warm air of someone breathing tickled her ear. They were so close- maybe an inch away from her. She wanted to roll away from the someone so bad- like, who does that? She shut her eyes tight in fear. What if it was Luke? Worse, what if it was.... Kronos?

"Another doomsday, another Arabian Night," the voice sneered. It was familiar, a woman's. "The monsters are coming, Jessica Jackson." She could hear the sneer in the voice- the woman was speaking like she was feeling really good about it. "They're coming for you."

Her face pressed into the hot sand and Jessica felt the sand fill her sinuses. She struggled to breath, and she couldn't turn over either. She struggled, but she felt like someone was holding her down and trying to drown- except in sand, instead of water.

The voice let out a laugh; a cruel, mirthless laughter that Jessica had never heard before in her life. But she was sure she had heard that voice before, as it bent down and said, "So you wanna fight me?" 

It was a very feminine voice-- strong, steely. Jessica had the feeling that if she was struggling to breath, she could've figured it out really easily. 

"Are you big enough?" the voice asked. "I keep getting stronger every day, Jackson. Run little girl, run faster than you can."   

And then with a WHOOSH! the winds stopped. The female presence was gone. 

Jessica opened her eyes. She was staring right into a red sky- like someone had painted it red- the clouds were a deep shade of brown. She sat up, clutching fistfuls of hot sand. What had happened to the place? 

She stood onto her toes, tip-toeing in the hot sand, trying to find a way out. She pinched her cheeks red, tried to cry her eyes out- but no, she wouldn't wake up. 

Cursing herself, Jessica began to wonder. "Arabian Night?" she said, recalling the woman's voice. "What's that supposed to mean?" Maybe she'd meant Aladdin- poor people becoming rich. Maybe she was Jasmine- oh, that would be cool. Jessica had always admired Jasmine for that Aladdin movie... she shook her head. Now's not the time, Jess, she thought to herself. 

Unable to take it anymore, she looked to the sky, and with all her energy, she shouted, "HEY! I'M DONE HERE!" She waved her hand at the sky and threw a fistful of the sand into the air. She kicked the sand angrily. "YOU- LITTLE- BUGGER- GET- ME- OUT- OF- HERE!" 

The sand whirled around her feet angrily. She stamped her feet and it rose around her. "I WANT OUT!"

A wave of sand fell on her face. Jessica coughed as she fell into a pit.... Her chest began to hurt- her mind went blank as sand began to fill up the pit... it was uncontrollable. She fell to her knees, clutching her throat- it burned and itched like a fire had been lit up in her lungs. Sand filled up her nostrils.... it was sickening- Jessica knew this was the end. She knew it would be the last time she would ever see the world.