The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part Two

203. Agony Beyond Power of Speech

Sadie was exhausted, her limbs aching as she climbed the stone stairs up to her family's modest, yet well-loved home, the same home she had known her entire life. It was a reclusive house, hidden so well among towering branches and eaves that it was hardly visible from ground level. But for Sadie, who had lived there her entire life, the well-worn natural stone steps were as familiar as the back of her hand.

Releasing a tired sigh, she reached up, tucking her long, red hair behind her ear as she finally reached the top step. The moment she did so, however, she stopped in her tracks. The clear, rolling door of their sunroom was half open. Then, she saw the worst thing she could have seen at that moment. Hanging above the thatched roof of their house was a bright, gleaming green mark, a snake slithering through the mouth of a skull. Sadie gasped, covering her mouth with her hand as she took a small step back.

As she took a step closer, however, her breath caught in her throat as she saw something dark across the threshold of the sunroom from the living room. It was dark and red. Releasing a quick breath, she dashed inside, dropping her bag from her shoulder as she ran toward the mess of red hair, her wand tightly in hand. The moment she crossed into the living room, she screamed, falling back onto the ground as she stared into the cold, open eyes of her older sister, Shauna. Her eyes were wide open, unseeingly pointed toward the ceiling. Looking up, Sadie saw just a few feet from her the body of their brother Levi, his deep auburn hair splayed across his unnaturally pale forehead. Scrambling to her feet, she ran to the kitchen.

Instantly, she jerked to a stop, her breath catching in her throat. A horrible sight met her eyes. The first thing that she saw was the body of her mother, the head turned to face her with unseeing eyes and her red hair splayed around her like a halo. But there was something in the hair, something that gave the already bright red a much deeper hue. Seeping into the fiery hair of her mother was a deep, dark liquid Sadie realized with a shiver was blood, blood which was pooling from a deep wound in her father's neck.

His eyes were wide, staring at her as he gagged and gasped for breath, a hand at his throat. Behind him, standing in the pool of blood, was a woman, the folds of her black dress trailing in the blood. She was staring at Sadie was a sly smile, toying with her wand as she twisted a strand of her silvery white hair around her finger.

Raising her skirts, Lyra stepped over his body, her heels clicking against the tile of the kitchen as she remarked, "Sorry about the mess. Murder can be so gruesome sometimes."

"Get back!" Sadie snarled, her voice at least an octave lower than usual as she pointed her wand at Lyra's throat.

Smiling wider, Lyra said, "I only want to talk, Sadie."

"About what?" Sadie retorted.

"Join me," she whispered seductively. "Join the Dark Lord so you don't have to die like the rest of your family."

Sadie said nothing for a moment before she took a step forward until she was a mere breath away from Lyra. Then, as quick at lightning, she shoved her back as hard as she could as she snapped, "I'd rather die."

Lyra, caught completely by surprise, toppled, landing in a heap in the pool of blood as Sadie turned, quickly slipping back into the living room and dashing behind the false tapestry across the room. Lyra scrambled to her feet, blood staining her skin and hair.

"Get back here!" she shouted, following her into the living room before she stopped, looking around her as she listened, straining her ears to hear even the smallest sound.

Sadie was leaning against the wall, peering out through the small opening at Lyra, keeping a tight grip on her wand. Her heart jumped in her chest as suddenly, Lyra's eyes shifted, moving up to the exact spot through which Sadie could see her. In a panic, she ducked as a stream of light came toward her, decimating the tapestry. She lost no time sending a returning spell back, forcing her way out of the hole at the same time to jump behind the wall of the sunroom, providing some shelter.

"I don't have time for games!" Lyra shouted, deflecting her spell with a lazy flick of her wand. "Either submit or die. There is no answer C."

"I prefer to write my own examinations!" Sadie retorted, rounding the corner just enough to shoot another spell before ducking out of sight again.

Again, Lyra dodged.

"Give up this stupid game, Sadie!" she shouted.

"No!" Sadie snapped, her eyes fixing rather unfortunately on the body of her sister, still laying on the threshold.

She had just rounded the corner to fire again when a sudden popping sound reached their ears. Lyra and Sadie froze, listening hard.

"Arthur, look!" a familiar voice gasped.

Giving Sadie a look so poignant with venom there was no doubt of her hatred, Lyra disapparated with a pop.

"Margery?" a different voice shouted as Sadie, still staring at where Lyra had been, fell back against the wall, her face unreadable. "Sadie!"

She turned her head slowly, fixing her eyes on the familiar face of her uncle.

"Sadie, where is Margery?" Arthur asked in a rush, his face pale. "What happened to Shauna? Where's Levi and Jefferson?"

"D-dead," she whispered, sliding down to the ground.

Arthur instantly rushed past her into the living room before proceeding into the kitchen, letting out a wracking sob as he fell by his sister's body.

Molly, who had been lingering in a corner, looking with horror at the body of Sadie's sister, stepped forward, gently grabbing her niece by the shoulders as she said, "Sadie, are you all right? What happened? Sadie?"

Sadie could not speak.