A Story of a Short Ending | T.R

Chapter 25 - The Darker Side

Darkerside - David Kushner

There are many sounds he can sleep to, some of them would be too inappropriate to mention. He could sleep through a thunderstorm, an explosion and probably even worse disasters but right now Lestrange found himself awakened by the sound of struggle and muffled screaming.

He pushed his covers over his head to muffle whatever was going on, as he surely was not going to miss out on his hours of sleep if that was Viridian and Travers fighting over frogs. One was a brave defender of nature, while the other was a crazy potioneer who would be ready to put Travers into the cauldron too if that meant getting a potion named after himself. At least that was the opinion Lestrange had.

The covers barely helped considering it was the middle of July and the heat was abnormal for their lands, getting to the point of using thin sheets as covers during the night. The sounds of a struggle still reached his ears making the man groan from frustration, for some reason tonight he couldn't ignore the sounds like he usually did and peacefully fall back asleep.

The muffled yelp that came after something shattered on the floor piqued his curiosity - it was a woman. Who could possibly fight in the middle of the night and what could possibly provoke it? He kept telling himself it was not his business, told it to himself again while he pushed the covers away and stood up. Reminded himself of it when he picked up his wand and came out of his room. Said it out loud to himself when checking if anyone else was in the hallway, to his disappointment it was empty. The plan of asking someone else about what was going on didn't work and now he was left standing shirtless in the middle of the dark hallway while the sounds of struggle were now louder.

"Some of us are trying to get some sleep here," he said as he opened the door and froze in the doorway, "Bloody hell."

The window was shattered, the curtains laid on top of the shattered glass, the nightstand was turned upside down and the bed was an undone mess, while in the middle of the room, Laion lay on the floor, while a woman who looked nearly feral held a firm grip around Laion's throat.

"What are you doing here?" Lestrange pointed his wand at the woman who was caught in the middle of her scheming and didn't think she would be interrupted. He recognised her as the woman from the portrait, which only made the situation even more confusing.

Laion used the moment to throw the woman off herself, but her translucent hand was gripping her throat too tight, making Laion tumble right with her. They started struggling again, while the mystery woman kept saying something over and over again to Laion, who tried her best to get rid of her and gasp for some air.

"Get your ghostly hands off of her," Lestrange finally found his footing and came closer to the struggling two who were going to wreck the room and then each other in the process. His words didn't do much and as much as it annoyed him to do this again, he pointed his wand at the woman whose blonde hair covered her face and with another quick spell threw her off panting and gasping Laion. He grabbed the woman by her arm and hauled her to her feet by his side while keeping his wand pointed at the intruder who was picking herself off the ground, her eyes the darkest shade of blue, anger brewing in them.

"What do you want from her?" Lestrange asked her, he didn't count on an answer but if he had the opportunity to understand the situation they all were in better he would surely go for it. After all, torturing an undead beast would be a new and surely very exciting experience for him.

As he thought, he didn't get a reply, only a darkened look and the eyes that held only one promise in them - death. The crazed look the woman would portray on her face would be the complete opposite of the features she was drawn with. That almost aristocratic elegance was nowhere to be found now, as the woman swiftly approached the window and disappeared in the darkness of the night, not leaving a single sound behind.