Me And The Dark

Chapter 3

"We'll go round, it must be a mooncalf," says Hagrid as the animal continues to squeak.

Val moves towards the rocks and hands me her robe, a smirk on her face. I look at her puzzled, wondering what she has in mind. "I'm going upstairs," she says decisively.

"Valentina, what..." begins Hagrid, but he is interrupted by our friend.

We all watch, wide-eyed, as Valentina places her wand between her teeth and begins to climb the rock wall with surprising agility.

It's amazing to watch her climb with such ease, until she reaches the top.

"Val, what do you see?" shouts Enzo in the darkness, while Theo and I stare at him.

"What? I'd climb, but I'm afraid of heights!" says Enzo, shrugging his shoulders and sticking his hands in his pockets, which makes us all laugh.

Val replies, but we can't see her expression from the ground. "It's a moon calf all right! He's injured, I'm going to nurse him back to health and come back down!"

"Be careful, Valentina, don't spend too much time there," Hagrid advises. Meanwhile, I'm sitting on a rock, holding Valentina's robe in my hands.

We hear the murmur of spells and the soothing words of Val talking to the wounded animal.

Suddenly, a scream rips through the air from where Valentina has climbed. "Val???!" we all shout, our voices filled with concern and urgency.

What's going on up there?

A series of defensive spells burst from Valentina's wand, and it becomes clear that she's fighting.

My heart sinks with apprehension, and I quickly put down her robe, hastily removing my own. Worry and urgency drive me up the rocks as quickly as I can, following the same path she has taken.

The shouts of Hagrid and the other boys echo in the air as they try to catch up with me.

I grab the rough edges of the rocks, using my wand to create a faint light that illuminates my path. My heart races as I climb to the top, my muscles tense from the effort. When I finally reach the top, I see the scene unfolding before me.

Valentina is bravely fighting an Acromentula, a giant spider with glowing eyes. She dodges the spider's attacks with agility and sends back powerful spells.

But I can't stand still any longer. I stand up, brandishing my wand, ready to come to Val's aid.

But before I can act, she raises her wand to the sky, sending a bolt of blue lightning hurtling straight at the giant spider.

The lightning strikes the Acromantula full force, killing it instantly in an explosion of blue sparks.

I stand there, my eyes wide. Once the spider is defeated, it turns to me, panting but triumphant.

"What the fuck was that, Pierce?" I ask, still reeling from the power of her spell.

"I... no idea, I've never done that before!" she replies, puzzled and clearly out of breath.

Before I can say anything else, she suddenly drops to her knees and places a bloodied hand on her side. The sight of her blood squeezes my heart.

"I suppose you'll have to carry me on your back," she says, a teasing smile on her lips, trying to lighten the mood despite the pain and adrenaline that must still be coursing through her veins.

I offer her a concerned smile, taking off my jumper to make a kind of compress that I place over her wound. "You know, all you had to do was ask," I reply teasingly, gently mocking her. Then I pick her up gently in my arms, feeling her arms around my neck as I carry her carefully.