The Devil's Stratagem

The Devil's Stratagem Chapter Five: The Grand Debut

It brings the cold sweat out

Fumbling and chilling, what they're all about

When I try to run, they grab me

Within my deceit, their reality

A piercing shriek; a crying sky

No time to gasp let alone ask why

The shadows come, surrounding

My fear alone is mounding; in this, my nightmare

Creatures of amazing concoction

My soul they sell at this inhuman auction

The hidden, darken corners now are visible

Long forgotten fears now are plausible; in this, my nightmare

Vanessa Carlton 'Nightmare'

***

Ginny's heart hitched in her chest. Her breathing stopped. It was all she could do to move aside. The demon landed face-first on the floor and a cracking sound echoed throughout the house. Ginny cringed, slowly moving backwards. Her eyes were pinned shut; she thought anything was better than looking at it. Inching backwards, her mind changed. She opened her eyes slightly, seeing if it had detected her movements. It had. Within moments, the demon was up again, its hands reaching out to her.

A flash behind her eyes caused her to blink. The man from her dream was there. His hand was reaching out to her, his transparent fingers lacing over the demons. It was a sharp contrast; the demon's rotting fingers were much different from the smooth and polished skin that covered his hands. Her eyes moved past the demon's head, and she could see him, or at least the wisps of his figure. Ginny opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came from it.

Their mouths curled into a devious smile and Ginny felt faint. Her entire body began to shake; her wand was being clutched forgotten in her hand. She didn't know what was going on, nor did she want to be in this particular position. She simply wished that she had more strength. She wanted enough strength to handle this.

Though, she never had enough strength. At that moment, she felt as weak and out of control as she had with Tom. She choked on tears, the feeling spilling through her entire body. She was helpless. She could do nothing now.

It felt as if something had cut her swiftly and her will, morals, and blood were spilling out from inside her. Her vision became cloudy and her head spinned wildly. Things that had not been in her flat before appeared in her eyes. Deadly looking creatures were climbing up and down the walls. A silent fire licked her legs, but she did not feel anything. It was as if she was in hell. Her mind seemed to crack, and every insecurity she had ever dreamt of jumped out at her.

The slimy creatures on the wall crawled down from their perches, slowly making their way to her. Their hands grasped her, the nails that laced their fingers digging deep into her skin. They seemed to be working to make openings throughout her body, and once one succeeded, they all scrambled to the spot.

Greedy hands delved deep into her insides, ripping out white clouds of what she guessed was everything that made her stable. Every time they touched her, her entire body burned as if it were being eaten alive by fire. It hurts, she cried out in her mind, make it stop! Please... just make it stop...It hurts so much... She felt weaker and weaker as more clouds were tossed from her body. It was as if a mad child was ripping the stuffing out of a teddy bear; she was the teddy bear and they the children.

Nothing could stop them. They were looking for something they thought was lying amid her stuffing. Tears of pain and fear leaked from her eyes. Her tears were the color of crimson, the colour of blood. All at once, she could no longer feel the scratching feet of the creatures that were ripping everything from inside her; she could no longer feel anything. Everything was cloudy and mixed. She was seeing two worlds through one pair of eyes.

The figures of the demon and the ghost of the man, blurred by the masses of creatures that still clung to her body, seemed to move as one. They took a step closer to her. All she wanted to do was move, but her knees had locked, just as her mind had moments before. She was immobile and every hope that had lain in her body had vanished. She had no chance now. No chance in hell, and she was, indeed, in hell.

Ginny could no longer decipher the demon from the ghost. They were one in her pupil-blocked eyes. She seemed to be disconnected from her own body as she watched the demonic ghost lunge at her. She saw her own knees buckle, her body falling to the floor just below the grasp of her hunter. It let out a bitter cry as it fell to the floor for a second time that night. This time, it did not get up so quickly.

The creatures that had littered her body quickly crawled off her and vanished into thin air. Her hand, which held her wand, tightened around it, her tiny fingers gripping onto it as if it were her life. It was then that she was reminded that she was still in her flat, she was still alive, and she still held a chance.

She was placed back into her own body with a new courage. She swivelled around on the floor to face her assailant, knowing that she did not have enough time to stand up. Her heart hitched in her chest once more upon looking at it, but she knew she had to be strong.

If she could muster up every strength that had been wasted by fear from previous accounts in her life, she could do this. She closed her eyes, something filling her. It was as if everything that had been ripped out of her was slowly being placed back inside. She opened her eyes with a small reassurance.

Slowly, her assailant's mouth opened, small mumbling words seeping through barred fangs. "Venuto a me!" It kept repeating the same three words, over and over again.

Ginny raised her wand, mumbling a jumble of spells that came to her mind. Suddenly, a tiny hole in the air formed just above her predator's head. It began to grow larger and larger as it chanted that chilling phrase.

It seemed as if the hole began to suck in air, the force slowly becoming stronger. Ginny latched herself onto a niche in the floorboard. She was suddenly glad that she hadn't got it fixed.

With one swift movement, the ghostly demon was pulled into the black hole that she had conjured, but, before it disappeared, it's hand stretched out to her but then it was suddenly closed, and a stitch of a cross was formed in her hand. She would never forget the look on its face, for it was triumphant.

As the hole closed, something cold and hard burst from the skin of her palm. She looked down and fainted.

***

Just outside a hushed town there sat a placid forest. Birds rustled their feathers, squirrels curled up into a ball in their nests and rabbits went into their tunnels to prepare for a peaceful slumber. All was quietening down and everything seemed to lie perfectly still. It was a rather odd still, something about it signalled that it was unnatural; and it was. Just a few miles from the forest was the castle that not even the sun dared to shine on.

The sun had already been and gone and the moon was now out, shining with all of its radiance. The moon, unlike the sun, showed no fear upon casting its light upon the locked gates of the castle and all that lay inside.

Bones of creatures long dead, human and animals alike, were littered about what would have been the garden. Dead looking plants were scattered aimlessly about the foot of the castle.

A loud bang followed by an unexpected appearance of a gaping black hole in the sky caused the animals to lift their heads. A faint wailing sound could be heard; it was as if it came from the centre of this hole. Slowly, it grew louder and louder. Finally, a rotting figure was spat from the black abyss and tossed to the ground. With an almost silent 'click' the hole was gone from the sky.

Bony hands pressed themselves to the ground, hoisting up the demon's sleek body. It stood, a bit hunched, but didn't seem to notice anything, not even the fresh gash in its leg. Raising a shaky hand, it wiped a stain of blood from the corner of its mouth. Letting out a small hiss, it began to trudge towards the castle.

The demon regarded the plants momentarily, but brushed them from its mind for it thought they were dead. However, one leg within one metre of them was all it took to wake them from their long respite.

The demon squealed out of surprise, jumping backwards before the plant could latch itself onto the rotting foot. The demon looked at the plant for a moment. It seemed as if it had decided on something. Shooting out an unharmed arm, it ripped the top of the plant off and crunched it under its foot.

Smiling, the demon was about to return to its walk, but was stopped suddenly. Before the demon knew what was going on, it was floating in the air. "Dammit," escaped the chapped lips as it rose above the third story landing. Crossing bony arms across its bare chest, it let out an angry 'hurrump'.

Smash! The demon crashed through a window of the fifth story. It was tossed down onto the floor and a cut formed itself on the side of the demon's head. The demon growled once more, staggering to push itself to an upright position.

When it lifted its head it came face to face with the lord of the castle. The demon merely narrowed its eyes at the man. After gathering spit in its mouth, it spat on his shoes. The lord jumped back, shaking the mucus off of his newly polished shoes.

"I shall spare you if you tell me what you found," the lord snarled, looking venomously at the demon.

"It is back. She is back. The redheaded woman has come back along with it. She hides it in her bones, in her body. It has not yet come back to this world, and I almost had it! I almost had it!" The demon was raging mad, talking mostly to itself, limping about the room. Its eyes had grown wide with greed.

Suddenly, it snapped its head back to the Lord. "And she is strong." It lowered its head, a dangerous gleam in its eyes. "She is stronger than you. She will die trying to protect it just as Eliana did."

The lord of the castle merely chuckled as the demon went on. "She has a strong will and can stand on her own. She is no child like her appearance suggests. She is a temptress; she will lure you into a trap and then crush you. Do not be fooled, she is not so innocent like the last. She will strike you when you're down."

"Well, that makes things even then, doesn't it?" the lord asked, quirking his eyebrow at the demon. "Now I shall not feel remorse upon stabbing her when her back is turned." The demon merely shook its head.

"You do not understand the power that she holds... for it is greater than your greed. If she could harbour it for so long inside of her, you stand no chance. She grew it in her breast since she was born. It is a part of her, it will come to her when she calls it."

"No power can be greater than mine, simpleton." The lord struck the demon to the floor.

Again, the demon pushed itself from the ground. It then wiped a smear of blood from its mouth. "She can see it when no one else can. She can make it into anything she wants! How can you begin to compete with that?"

"I'll kill her before she learns."

The demon looked at the lord sceptically for a moment. "You will try."

"I said I would kill her."-The lord came dangerously close to the demon. -"And I shall. Nothing you can forewarn shall stir me from my path."

"I tell you not to warn you, but to spite you." Its pupils grew large with insanity.

"To spite me, you say?"

"I serve only the devil."

"I am the devil," the lord spat, pulling out his wand. With a flash of green light, the demon laid on the ground, motionless. A cruel cackle escaped the lord's lips, a smile framing his face. "I am the devil."

***

Splash! A bowl full of cool water was spilled onto Ginny's unconscious face. Her eyes slowly blinked open. Everything she saw was blended out of focus. She squinted her eyes and saw a blob of what she surmised to be pale skin and unruly black hair. A flash of light signalled that glasses sat on the face that was gazing down at her.

"Harry," she breathed, trying to sit up. It was as if a sledgehammer had slammed into the back of her head. Groaning, she laid her body back down.

"Gin," he murmured, his hand sweeping over her forehead. He continued to push her wet hair from her face. In one graceful swoop, he stood up from her side.

She saw him begin to walk away. With a squeak, she called after him. "Where are you going?" There was no response.

Moments later, Harry returned with a towel in his hands. He began to dry her off. "Just stay down. It's going to be all right..." He sounded unsure, but Ginny willed herself to listen to him. Anything Harry said had to be true didn't it? He was 'wonder boy', 'the one who killed Voldemort' after all, wasn't he?

"Are you feeling strong enough to sit up?" he inquired, his words cutting off her thoughts.

"Let us see," she chuckled weakly, forcing her body up from the ground. The hammer didn't pound as hard this time, so she pretended that nothing was wrong. She couldn't hold her façade for long, though, and proceeded to fall directly into Harry's kneeling lap.

He caught her with ease, angling her head so it was lying comfortably on his chest. "There," he sighed once he had finished situating her. "That's comfortable, isn't it?" His soft voice seemed to coo into her ear. A shock went up her spine.

"Yes, it's fine."

A moment of silence passed between the two. He was looking at the top of her head, a smile on his face, and she was gazing at the trashcan that sat on the wall opposite of her. She noticed that his breathing had become more relaxed when the rate at which she was lifted with his chest decreased.