Don't Save Me

Chapter 54: The Curse

TW

The basement door was ajar and I flipped the switch allowing light to illuminate the basement. The first few steps were easy but as I got further and further down the stairs I began to notice it... the smell of my own blood. I reached the bottom of the stairs and memories flooded my mind. I looked around, noticing my blood on the floor. I laughed to myself as tears slipped down my face. How had I never noticed this smell before? How had I never noticed this strong metallic scent in the air all the times I was down here? I suppose I had just become so used to it that it no longer phased me. I pulled my wand from my boot and aimed at the wall.

"Bombardo!" I screamed as a satisfying crack spread through the wall. Instantly I heard footsteps come running down the stairs.

"Y/n!" Severus said as he ran toward me. "Are you alright?"

"Bombardo!" I screamed again, aiming it at the small window that sat near the ceiling. This had been my only source of light all those years. The window shattered instantly and small cracks shot through the wall around the window.

"Let's get out of here," I said, taking Severus's hand and leading him and Minerva upstairs. I stood in the hallway before walking back down the hall to my uncle's room. I aimed my wand at his bed.

"Incendio," I said. I watched with pleasure as his bed burst into flames. I walked out of the room and down the hall. Severus and Minerva followed closely behind as we walked out the front door.

I walked behind the house, following a small, overgrown trail leading to the creek where everything changed. The water rushed over the rocks dangerously fast, though the sound soothed me. The smell of mud and grass hit my nose as I took a seat on a small rock near the creek. Severus and Minerva took a seat next to me, neither one knowing what to say. Severus wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling my body into him, my head resting on his shoulder. Nothing could be heard but the sound of the water rushing over the rocks. Wind blew through the trees, blowing Severus's hair softly out of his face. I could so clearly remember how everything changed after I came here. If only I hadn't followed the strange path behind the house. If only I hadn't slipped beneath the water. If only my aunt hadn't had to pull me out. If only the current hadn't pulled her under. If only...

I stood up abruptly, moving to the edge of the water. Severus and Minerva exchanged a worried look behind me, though I couldn't see them.

Y/n... I heard someone whisper. Their voice being carried downstream.

"Hello?" I asked.

Y/n... The familiar voice whispered downstream. I heard the shuffling of feet behind me and faint voices but I couldn't make out what they were saying. There was a roaring in my ears and I couldn't focus on anything other than the voice that seemed to be getting farther and farther away, being carried downstream. I turned toward the water. It looked so inviting. I wanted nothing more than to jump in at this moment. I crouched down slowly placing my hand in the water, allowing the water to run over my fingertips.

"Y/n!" Severus's voice screamed, though it didn't seem to register within my foggy mind. The water seemed so relaxing. I wanted nothing more than to jump in the water and sink to the bottom, to relax into the abyss.

Come to me... This voice was different from the first... more sinister. A fish swam by my fingertips, gently brushing them as it passed by, not even seeming to notice me as it passed by.

"We can't move!" I heard Minerva shout as the shuffling grew louder. A small giggle escaped my lips as another fish swam by, this time taking a moment to swim around my fingers a few times before brushing against them and swimming past.