Mermaid Merlynn

Inferno

Maitri pushed the door of the cupboard open. She'd been in there for hours, and she was expecting only darkness to meet her.

The canvas forms were blank on her left. Duma snuggled close to her form as Maitri sneaked out across the room. But not fast enough.

"You will be back again, child," a voice stopped Maitri in her tracks. She turned around to find Helga Hufflepuff's merry eyes surveying her. It wasn't a statement; more of a rhetorical question.

Maitri swallowed and nodded. She backed up until she was finally walking through the glass and out into the lake, and slipped down out of view. It was simple matter of a couple of long strokes to reach her room's window.

She hesitated a moment, and exhaled deeply, bubbles flying from her face. Maitri thought it would take forever before she could enter that place again, but she almost fell down to the stone floor a moment later.

Looking back, she saw Herbert the Giant Squid squinting at her.

No bubble on the head, he said solemnly. You can't breathe like me. Little One needs air.

Maitri nodded her thanks, gasping for breath. She hadn't expected to stay out in the water for so long, but still wished she hadn't been pushed in. There was no Nyx as she wanted to see.

She collapsed into the armchair and fell into an uneasy, deep sleep, punctuated with grisly nightmares full of dark shapes in black hoods and white, white teeth. Her stomach growled occasionally, reminding her of all the skipped meals, and her heart beat painfully against her ribs, like a large, shuddering machine.

Maitri couldn't sleep that night, and was ready to leave in a second back to the safe bare refuge, if it weren't for Nyx. As a result, she kept imagining things, and was almost convinced she could hear him mewing, though the more she searched for him, the lesser she was sure he was close by her. 

The night grew darker and darker, and dawn approached coldly upon Maitri, who was now half-way across the floor between the armchair and the door, having collapsed mid-way through the latest search. With a heavily drawn sigh, Maitri fell unconscious. She didn't even stir when the door, barely a few feet from her, opened and then, slammed loudly.

"Mudblood! Mudblood! Mudblood!"

A strong scent of burning incense permeated her nostrils, causing Maitri to wake up. Her right arm had fallen asleep, and her head weighed a ton. Maitri breathed in again, and nearly retched at the awful smell. It was a mixture of Reekwood and Aloesnare, the two weeds with the least pleasant odours. Not to mention the mixture in fire was supposed to induce a temporary emotional weakness in the mind of the victim. 

"Mud in the blood!

A sneaky, filthy, bag of blood!

Dirt in flesh, shame of us!

Filthy little Mudblood-pus!"