Chapter 3 - Darcy

I still don't have a clue if all this is just some big, sick joke, my worst nightmare ever or the truth I have to live with after all. Whatever it is, I really don't have any other options left at the moment, so it looks like I don't have another choice but to play along with this ridiculous act.

At least, I hope it is...

I can't go home, seeing that my father will probably kill me within seconds when I appear in my neighbourhood again, my friends won't ever believe me when I go to them for help and I certainly don't plan on putting their lives on the line. My family is dead, I only got lucky because I had to work late and was met with a horrifying sight of my siblings's lifeless bodies covered in blood. I screamed when he stabbed Mum and ran like hell when I saw a glossy, misty look in his eyes after he started rambling about how my time had come to catch up with my destiny.

So, it looks like this weird place, which turns out to be a gigantic castle that was hidden within those dark shadows of the forest, is the only place I'll be safe from the sick mind that suddenly krept into my father.

While running through the woods, I couldn't really think about the fact that I've literally lost my family in one single night. The only thing I focused on was getting myself out of there and making sure Dad wouldn't get to me because I promised Mum that I wouldn't get caught. I tried to contact the police so he would at least be arrested, but lost my phone long before I entered the forest.

I can still hear Mum begging to her husband to have mercy, to at least let her live despite the fact that she would never be able to get over this mass murder. Of course, she knew that I would have a chance to live, but I feel my heart break once again by the thought of the pain Mum must've felt by seeing my brothers and sisters completely mutilated...

What if the neighbours heard our screams? I certainly let out a scream that still sends shivers down my own spine! Are they dead, too? Because Dad returned and saw them? I hope not...

I tried to fight his madness at first, but after he told me those ridiculous things about it being my time, I simply ran.

Which leaves me here in this weird ass situation.

Anyway, I'd rather deal with a very annoying, know-it-all nurse and a nosey boy than face my father once again and die trying to reason with him.

'Well, you know my name now, right? Can I finally get some answers to the questions that I have?' I ask the old man with the long, grey beard. I absolutely do not trust the glimmering in his blue eyes that are watching me over his spectacles. He is way too amused by hearing the fierce tone in my voice! Then again, I can't really take him seriously when looking at his blue robes and matching hat, he looks like Merlin!

'Well, certainly,' the old man says after a short silence, he has been studying me for a while and I really don't like the way he smiles so reassuringly at me!

I want answers.

'You are currently staying in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Mr Malfoy here, has found you on the grounds of our school near the Forbidden Forest and brought you here. During your journey through the woods, you were attacked by a werewolf and severely injured. Draco most likely saved your life, Mrs Valentine,' the man tells me, to which I can't really do anything other than laugh very hard. Surely, this must be a joke!

'Hogwarts, seriously? Is that all you got for me? Why don't you scoff at my entire situation here while you're at it?!' I sneer at him and look at the boy next to the lunatic to see what he thinks of all this. Yet, he seems to find this all very normal to hear the man tell all this. 'This really is a joke, right?' I ask him, aiming it towards the boy more than the other two. I am truly speechless when he slowly shakes his head.

'Hogwarts is real, just as you and I are holding this conversation right now. It is only accessible and visible to wizards and witches. So, I presume that we will have another witch attending our beautiful school, Mrs Valentine. The barrier that you crossed without knowing, only gives access to creatures with magical abilities,' the old man tells me, it annoys me very much because I did not ask him a thing! I therefore make a very quick decision to simply ignore the man in the weird, blue robes and turn myself once again to the white haired boy.

'Professor Dumbledore is right, Darcy. I can show you that this is all very real, if you'd want me to,' he says, fortunately he waits until I actually give him permission, a bit uncertain maybe, I still don't trust this situation at all!

And my gut turns out to be right to not give him the benefit of the doubt when he pulls out a similar wooden stick from his pocket like the nurse's!

I immediately get myself out of bed and try to back away from those people as far as I possibly can, I don't need that thing near me! 'You better keep that thing away from me, dude! I swear I'll kill you,' I tell the white haired boy who still holds that wooden stick in his hand. He can only laugh at it, but he does put the stick back into his robes.

What the actual fuck is up with their clothing anyway?

Right now, I do start to have my doubts about this place, perhaps I should've stayed in London... it probably would've been safer there... why didn't I just go to the police station right away instead of running through an unknown forest like a headless chicken? There is no way I can get out of here when the nurse approaches me and states that I really should get back in bed.

I think not!

'No! I don't want any of this! Just fuck off!' I snap at them and wave my hand out of pure anger, to scare the living shit out of myself when a massive flame erupts from the tip of my fingers and sets the curtains next to me right on fire. 'Holy fuck, what was that?!' I exclaim, looking at my hands in fear but nothing obvious can be seen on them. In the meantime, I can see the old man reaching for another longer stick from inside his robes and I can only watch in awe when a squirt of water comes out of the tip and puts out the fire. Where on earth did I get myself into?!

'You happen to have great and very powerful magical abilities within, Mrs Valentine. Just like any other student here at Hogwart. It is about time that you will learn how to use and control these forces after holding them in for all these years,' says the old man, who still has that damn shimmering in his eyes! I am not responding though, scared of another explosion...

'Professor Dumbledore, Mr Malfoy, I think it will be good for Mrs Valentine to stay here for another night. Today has been a lot to take in, she needs her rest for now,' says the nurse, like I am not even here!

'Mrs Valentine is perfectly fine to speak for herself, thank you very much. And I do not want to stay here for another night! I am fine,' I tell her, hoping to make clear to her that I am not a child that needs to be looked after. The three people in front of me look a bit amazed by hearing it, all have a different expression on their face but the boy's amuses me most. He seems to like it a lot to hear me talk back to the nurse like that, who clearly isn't happy with my behaviour. Yet, I can also see a burning desire in his eyes to get to know me.

Did he really save me because I was injured?

'Mr Malfoy, I believe that your lessons will begin momentarily, I suggest you still attend breakfast in the Great Hall before attending them,' says the old man to the boy next to him, who wasn't really planning on leaving on his own accord. I wonder why the man would suddenly say this, as they have completely ignored my comments.

'I also believe that another night in the Hospital Wing will do you good, Mrs Valentine. We want to be certain that the injury does not leave a trace,' he then continues, looking at my shoulder. I sigh deeply and drop myself back on the bed before taking another look at the white haired boy. He got up as well, but doesn't seem to be very happy to be sent away to go to class.

'Will you visit me after your final lesson? I promise I am not a werewolf,' I ask him when he is about to turn the corner of the hall I am in. He smirks a little when turning towards me. 'I will be there,' he says and disappears after that.

'Alright, Mrs Valentine. As you tell me to feel just fine, I would like to perform a few tests on you before I let you rest,' the nurse now says, the old man has vanished without a word. Weirdo.

Since I tested this woman quite a bit, I simply listen to her what she asks me and follow her requests without interrupting her. Apparently, the wound running from my left collarbone to the middle of my back is quite concerning. Not that I really believe the bullshit around it, I just know that it hurts like hell and the stuff she keeps pouring into it makes me curse like a sailor every half hour. Why do they tell me that it is caused by a fucking werewolf? Those things only exist in books and bad movies, Twilight included, and these claws easily could've been from a bear!

'What were you doing in those woods anyway, my dear? You must've been quite desperate to go as far as you went before crossing the Magical Border,' the nurse asks me when she smears another mixture of Dittany and powdered silver into the wound.

'I was.'

She keeps asking me questions about why I went into the woods, tells me how lucky I am to still be alive and how she hopes I am not turning during the next full moon. I just let her ramble, this place is nuts anyway! I am simply glad to be alive, nothing else really matters to me at this point.

My family is dead, I have no fucking place to go to and I really hope with everything inside of me that my dad got lost in the same woods and got killed by whatever hurt me so much.

'You should call yourself lucky to have survived the Forbidden Forest with only a scratch like this, Mrs Valentine. Not many people enter these woods and live to tell the tale,' the nurse then says, right as she also takes that bloody stick out of her robes again and that is when I can't take it anymore.

'Lucky?! You call being the only fucking survivor of my family lucky?! I wish I died in these woods now that I know I got myself into some kind of freakshow! My own fucking father went apeshit on his own kids and wife and I had to see them choking and bathing in their own blood before he came after me! Rambling about it being my time and some other bullshit before I took off and ran! How can you call a revolting wound like this a lucky scratch?!' I burst out at her, jumping out of the bed and ignoring the burning rage within me that eagerly wants to get out. I've felt like this a lot lately, but it wasn't until I reached this psycho place that it actually affected me!

Like now...

The nurse doesn't dare step any closer to me when she notices the flames in my hands, ready to set off when I allow them. Oddly enough, I seem to have more control over this than I did a few hours ago. Guess I am a fast learner.

'Mrs Valentine, you need to take a deep breath. These magical powers within you will get the best of you if you don't calm down,' the nurse urgently tells me, the stern look on her face takes me by surprise for a moment. Which seems to be just enough for her to point her wand at me and before I can even try to protect myself, everything goes black...

****

'I told you that you weren't ready yet, Mrs Bones! We had to Obliviate several muggles who have seen your leg without a body!'

I faintly hear the nurse talking to someone in the same stern tone that she had on me. Apparently, I am still in this fucking nightmare!

'Oh, I am so out of this hellhole,' I mumble when hearing a nasty cracking of something that I am not interested to know about. Right now I really prefer living in fear for the rest of my life than staying here a minute longer!

I manage to leave the big hall that's filled with hospital beds, but come to a halt right away when I see the maze of staircases in this massive building. My gut tells me to go down, so I silently walk through the corridor until I reach a marble staircase in a gigantic space that is filled to the rim with paintings.

Carefully, I slowly descend the stairs, but speed up a little when I see a trail of dried blood right next to me, I know it's quite a gamble, but it's all I can go for now. So, I simply follow the dark red stains on the marble and eventually go down another floor. However, all hope I had of leaving this weird ass cult without being noticed vanishes. How is it possible for that white haired guy to be on this exact floor?!

'Darcy, wait!'

I have already bolted out of the corridor when he calls after me, but I don't intend on stopping at all! Not even when I realise that I am only covered by some bandages that are stained with blood soon enough by the sudden movements I make once again. I have to leave this magic shit behind me! I don't care what happens to me when I get back to my normal world, this psycho place isn't healthy at all!

I try to keep following the trail of blood, but it gets very blurry because of my speed and my vision isn't very clear either, so I slow down for a moment to decide in which direction I will go next. Not that I get very much further, as someone roughly grabs me by the arm and holds me in a very tight grip, a pair of icy grey eyes look right into my soul...

All I can hear is the heavy breathing of the white haired boy, who has been chasing me through the entire castle from the moment he saw me, so it takes a while before he can get himself to speak up.

'Don't bother trying, I am much stronger than you are and I can certainly hurt you if you plan on doing so,' he tells me, but still yelps out in pain when I kick him in his crotch without holding back and push him on the floor, keeping him down with my bare foot. 'I don't think so! You should've let me on the grounds to die then! Now you listen to me! This fucking joke is over, no more pathetic games,' I spit at him and look him right in his eyes while he nods in shock. Clearly he didn't expect this from me.

Well, he should've.

'Now, you keep that stupid stick away from me, no silly tricks,' I warn him, again the boy listens. I observe him for a moment as he quickly gets back on his feet and still keep looking when he stares at me in awe. 'Who are you?' he asks me, it doesn't seem to occur to him that he could've tried something anyway. I wouldn't know what that stick does, but I'm glad it doesn't come to mind.

'What does it matter? You are not going to see me back,' is my cold answer before I walk past him, bumping him to the side of the corridor while doing so. I quickly pick up the trail of blood again and this time I just start running, nothing will stop me now.

For a second time, my lungs start begging me for air and I push every vein in my body to their limit, I need to get out of here! Black spots blur my view and I am slowly starting to collapse once again by the wound when I suddenly feel a light breeze coming from my right.

I take a right turn around the corner without hesitation and burst through a massive wooden door, to thank every single god in the universe when seeing the blue sky and feeling the wind through my hair.

I have reached the exit of this weird reality!

'You better be worth all of this,' I hear someone breathing behind me, but don't get the chance to see who it is because everything turns black for a third time now.

So far my attempt to escape...