Mischief Managed

37: Pursuit

a/n: Merry Christmas! I felt like writing an action scene, so here you go! Please, as always, comment thoughts and reactions because I'm still pretty new to writing- I could use all the advice the I can get:)

Hope you have a good rest of the night!

(also, I got the Sorcerer's Stone in Spanish as one of my Christmas gifts...just thought that seemed relevant:P)

What did you guys get for Christmas?

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"Easy is the descent to hell"

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I bolted through the woods, branches scratching my face as I flew through the trees as fast as my feet could carry me. My right hand gripped my wand tightly while my knuckles were scarred by sticks and thorns.

Leaves flew up in the undergrowth besides me, the woods filled with the angry shouts of harsh voices. A dark, cackling laugh echoed through the trees. I heard Sirius panting besides me, although I didn't dare catch a glimpse at his face as we sprinted towards the approaching clearing.

My feet were steps away from the grass when my knee collided with a fallen tree trunk.

I heard Sirius yell, but I was already falling.

My legs crumpled and I twisted over the tree and tumbled to the left, away from the clearing. Twigs scraped over my face, my neck, my bare arms, and I screamed as my body picked up speed and I fell faster and faster down the hill.

My vision came in blurred snapshots, short takes of falling trees and spinning leaves and- bloody hell- a lake.

I yelped and stretched out my arms, my fingers fumbling for a grip on a root or plant or anything before I plunged into the water that was lurking ten feet below the edge of the forest.

My feet skidded off the ground, but before my torso could follow, I  let go of my wand and grasped onto two roots of a monstrously-sized tree.

They were coated with thick dirt that dug into my palms like dozens of sharp pebbles and were almost too thick for my fingers to wrap around.

I heard my wand fall into the air below me, and I cursed as it hit the water.

Above me, I heard leaves crunching and scattering, and two pairs of feet were stumbling down the hill. Black cloaks waved behind their ankles.

Panicking, I adjusted my grip on the roots, and began to swing my dangling body side to side. If I could enough momentum to land back on my feet, I could run to the clearing, I could find Sirius and Disapparate, and-

A sleek, black shoe crushed the fingers on my right hand.

Sh-

"It seems, Brianna Convelo, that you are trapped," said an icy voice, its words laced with sarcasm.

Another pair of black shoes stood close. From their direction came a light-hearted cackle.

My body flailed helplessly against the cliff. I ground my teeth to keep from screaming as the shoe pressed harder on my fingers.

The cackle sounded again.

"Look at you, you pathetic little scum. Daughter of blood traitor and a Muggle," a sickly-sweet, girly voice cooed. "Perhaps we should keep your body as a specimen of sick breeding. My cousin sure would hate to see his pwetty wittle girlfriend all festered and rotted."