The Girl Who Vanished

Chapter 17: Great Escape

             Ana dragged the large plank of wood to the middle of the stands and looked down; there was a good thirty feet between her and the ground at least. Dropping the full thirty feet would not leave her in one piece but she assumed if she could lower herself down slowly, she could make the distance a bit more manageable. It was the only chance she had.

            Unable to waste another second, Ana propped the plank of wood against a bit of railing that hadn't been destroyed and she held out her wand. This was either going to work or she'd be too dead to remember the experience so this was worth the shot. Ana took one final second, breathing in and breathing out through the emerald sleeve that wrapped around her nose and mouth. Before she lost her nerve she pushed the wood off the rail and let it fall a few good feet.

            "Wingardium Leviosa Maxima!" 

            The wooden plank levitated about ten feet off the ground, leaving about twenty feet between the floating platform and herself. It wobbled a bit due to the flames that were still burning at the base of the stands, but the piece of wood never rose and it never fell.

            "Yes!" Ana screamed in excitement which resulted in a coughing fit, she had to celebrate the tiny victory by herself. She repeated this step, finding a decently sized bit of broken tower and levitating it until she finished creating her own floating staircase made entirely of the tower's ruins. The path was laid out in front of her, steps perfectly placed and she knew that all she had left to do was jump. The idea made sense in theory, but now she actually had to put her faith in whatever unconventional escape plan she conjured. It was bound to fail but she knew she had to go before she lost her nerve.

            Ana held onto the railing with all her might, as she climbed over, leaning her weight on a very unstable stadium wall. With a gasp, she hurled her body away from the wall and landed on the first bit of wood. Her legs shook from impact and nerves, but it held her up. A flicker of hope grew in her chest, so she began to jump from step to step, the adrenaline giving her the push she needed to leap between the hovering planks. Ana was halfway down the distance, the last jump was onto the largest bit of wood and she took a deep breath before she made the final leap.

When she landed, it gave out from underneath her.

            The sudden loss of stable footing caused her to land on her stomach, holding onto the wood until it crashed to the ground. Her face smacked against the splintered door; the taste of metal filled her mouth as blood dripped down her chin. She refused to move, despite how much closer she now was to the flames. But she didn't care. Ana allowed her bloody and scabby hands to graze the grass beneath her. It was absurd and would probably seem delusional if heard from anyone else, but Ana flipped onto her back and let out a bellowing laugh. Every part of her body ached, and her lungs were begging for clean air, but she didn't care. She needed to laugh and to cough up whatever smoke resided in her chest. She needed to hear something other than the sound of her pulse in her ears.

            "Ms. Malfoy."

            Ana sat up quickly, to see the headmaster gazing down at her like she was taking a casual nap, instead of really reveling at the fact that she wasn't dead. He smiled warmly at her and held out a thin hand for her. She brought herself to her knees, hissing as her sore hands scrapped against the wooden plank and she shakily got up on her own. The headmaster retracted his hand, placing them behind his back as they slowly made their way out of the pitch. Ana took one look back, seeing the debris of the collapsed towers and the stands which were still tangled in the fiery flames. It barely registered in her mind that she just escaped that scene; it was a truly terrifying scene.