Ghost Rider

Chapter 7...

Sirens were causing a Doppler effect in the broken bar and slowly people began to trickle out of it . The Shadow, now, stood in front of Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, his eyes dangerous and his smirk mischievous. Electricity sparked around them and glass and rubble crunched beneath their feet. Finally, police cars pulled up in front of the bar and the policemen raced to the front of their cars, pistols drawn.

    "This is the San Antonio Police!" a heavy, mature voice echoed in their ear drums, "Please walk out of the bar with your hands on the back of your head!"

    The Shadow simply gave a light hearted chuckle and smirked; "I hear you, darling!" he called out to them before looking back at Draco, "So, you're the Devil's Advocate?"

    "Draco, what's he talking about?" Hermione pulled on the sleeve of his leather jacket, completely confused as to all of this.

    "Awww," the Shadow stuck out his lip in pity, "You didn't tell her," he commented, "Well, missy, your boyfriend here is your new, friendly, neighborhood villain."

    "Draco?" Hermione glanced up at Draco's face, but he simply stared at the Shadow.

    "What do you want?" Draco growled, his body shaking with fury.

    The Shadow turned his attention to the blonde wizard, "I think I should be the one asking the questions, Mr. Malfoy," his electrifying blue eyes glanced at Hermione, once again, "Are you the Ghost Rider?"

    "I don't know," Draco said. He knew for some reason that he shouldn't tell the Shadow this secret.

    The Shadow's face hardened, "Lies!" he hissed, fire spitting from his mouth, "Tell me what I need to know."

    "I don't know!" Draco practically yelled.

    "You'll have till the count of ten to come out of there with your hands behind your head or we'll come in and get you!" the San Antonio Police Chief called out to them.

    "I'll be there in one God damn moment!" The Shadow cursed at the police men, before he turned back to Draco, "Tell me, now!"

    "I don't know!" Draco yelled at him.

    The Shadow growled and pounced on Hermione, taking her neck in his clutches. Hermione's eyes widened and she clawed at the hand squeezing her neck. Draco stepped forward, but the Shadow moved her away, "Tell me, or I'll snap her neck!"

    Draco repeated his words, his face flashing a picture of his skull.

    The Shadow growled again and suddenly flung Hermione across the room, her body gliding across the rubble covered floor and coming to a stop at the wooden bar. Her head was clutched in her arms and she groaned in pain. Her head turned and looked at the two men a couple feet away from her, her brown eyes swimming in darkness.

    Suddenly, Draco gave a horrifying screech and his entire body burst into flames, fire spitting from it. The Shadow covered his eyes from the light and stepped back away from the heat that Draco was giving off. Then the heat and light were gone and Hermione's eyes focused in on the humanoid creature standing where her ex-boyfriend stood. It was a horrifying sight. A large skeleton stood in Draco's clothes, but fire raced across the bones and somehow the clothes did not burn. The studs on Draco's jacket elongated, too, and were at least a couple inches in height off his shoulders. The fire burned bright and white with anger and revenge. The Shadow then began to chuckle, a deep chested chuckle, and began to clap.

    "Yes! Yes! Yes!" The Shadow cheered, "This is perfect!"

    "You!" The skeleton creature growled in Draco's voice, his bony hand stretched forth toward the blue eyed man.

    "Yes, Ghost Rider, it is I," The Shadow grinned happily, "Did you miss me?"

    "Look into my eyes."

    "Dra-," Hermione coughed, blood spluttering from her lips. At Hermione's voice, the skeleton turned to her, the flames dying down into a dull, blue flame. The Police Force outside, suddenly, marched into the bar; gun's pointed at the two figures. Once their eyes connected with the skeleton, they froze and slightly backed away, not quite sure what to do. The Chief mirrored his force flanking him, his mouth bobbing up and down like a fish out of water.

    "Sadly, I can't stay, Ghost Rider," The Shadow announced, "I've got a date with an old friend," and with a final wave, the Shadow disappeared.

    The Ghost Rider turned back to Hermione and slowly walked toward her, "Freeze!" the Chief finally found some water to breath in and turned his gun on the skeleton creature, "Put your hands up in the air!"

    The Ghost Rider turned away from Hermione and to the police, its flame turning white with fury. It growled at the men, in its hands, a flame burst forth and ran after the police men. The Ghost Rider did not let hell's flames touch them, simply scaring them away, for they were the good of the city unlike other men. The police ran back out onto the riverfront, the night ablaze with their red and blue lights. A crowd was getting bigger outside, but no camera crews had shown up yet. The Ghost Rider turned back to Hermione, but she fell into unconsciousness. Knowing she was in safe hands, the Ghost Rider walked to the back of the bar and exited the bar through the back door.

    Walking along the alley, scaring a couple cats and rats who made the alley their home, he made his way to his bike at the entrance. At the touch of his skeleton hand, the motorcycle caught on fire and the metal heated and bent. A metallic, fiery skull decorated the front and the exhaust pipes extended farther behind the bike, billowing smoke from their gaping mouths. The Ghost Rider got on the bike and with one rev of the engine, he speeded off onto the street, setting off car alarms and leaving a trail of melted tar and flame.

ᾆ-ᾆ-ᾆ-Ӝ-ᾆ-ᾆ-ᾆ

    Hermione Granger woke up in a hospital bed the next morning, her brown eyes blinded by the sickening, white lights above. The first thing she noticed was pain in her head, a thudding that sounded a lot like her heart beat. She groaned and turned to her right, hoping to find a nurse next to her to give her more morphine, but she found someone a whole lot better.

    "Draco," she tried to say, but her voice was rough and no sound came out, "Draco."

    Her blonde haired ex-boyfriend sat beside her on a chair, his head in his pale, bony hands. He looked up at the sound of her voice, his sad, grey cloud eyes connected with her brown, "Hermione," his hand extended to hold hers.

    She smiled brightly at him, "Thank you."

    "For what?" Draco asked, completely puzzled.

    "Saving me."

    Draco smiled brightly. Though she had no memory of the humanoid creature that he had become, he did save her by protecting her from the Shadow and would always, "Forever."