THE FIFTH FOUNDER ⚡️ [h.p./founders era]

Twenty-Four

My nightmares hadn't found their way back into my mind in a good while. Most nights I was lucky with a dreamless sleep, something I realized I took for granted.

They always came on so unexpected, and yet this time was different. I could smell the smoke that I so easily remembered, but everything was silent. This was so unusual.

It was like I was aware that this was a nightmare, but I was frozen and unafraid because I knew it would go away.

But I stood there in the empty void with the smoke entering my lungs for a long, long time. Normally it was all over by now. Or was it seeming much longer because my perception of time was so warped in this subconscious dimension?

I tried scrunching my eyes and opening them over and over again. Sometimes this would help to wake my physical self up. It wasn't working.

Was I already awake?

No, I couldn't be. There was nothing here. I couldn't feel anything, not the thread of my blanket nor the coolness of the castle air.

I tried screaming, but if there was no one around to hear, did I even scream at all?

But that triggered something. I heard them. Screams. I thought it was an echo at first until I realized they weren't mine.

And they weren't my daughter's either. I know hers so well, as they've haunted me for so many years. No, these screams were different.

They were different because they woke me up.

They weren't nightmares, but they were reality.

My arms were grabbed and forced behind my back as I was jerked out of my bed. I opened my eyes, now face to face with a man I had never seen before, yet he looked so familiar.

He spat in my face and called me a witch, while another man yanked my hair and kicked me in the back of my knees.

I was on the ground now, so vulnerable to these men. My mind was spinning, so dizzy that I couldn't bring it back down to Earth. I tried to stand, to run away, to call for help, but I couldn't execute any of these actions before I was held down again.

That's when I realized one of them had a knife.

I reached up and blocked his hand with my wrist, right before the blade could make contact with my face. I wasn't able to hold him for long, and he sliced the side of my cheek.

The other man, I had no idea where he went. I didn't have much time to theorize his motives, but I knew he ran past my room and could easily find someone else.

But I couldn't reach my wand, and I knew I couldn't fight the man holding me down for much longer. I contemplated giving up, letting him finish me. I would finally be able to join my daughter on the other side, something I have longed for so long.

I wasn't afraid of Death. He seemed like a comfort for me, and instead it was like he was the one afraid of me. He was always running from me, never letting me have my turn to join him.

And as it turns out, that night Death was not done running.

A flash of light blasted into the man's chest and his weight was lifted off of me as he was slammed into the wall behind him. It was then I realized that I hadn't been breathing for a very long time as I gasped for air like it was water.

I tried to sit up, but I couldn't.

A dark, but comfortingly familiar figure ran past me to make sure the man was taken care of. Then he ran into the other room, where I knew the second man had entered.

I wanted to get up and follow him, but I couldn't get my body to cooperate with my mind. Instead, black dots clouded my vision slowly until my entire consciousness was overtaken.

I don't know how long I was gone, but I know that when I woke up, I was no longer in my room alone. All four of my friends were in the room with me and when I finally opened my eyes, I could immediately sense that something absolutely terrible had happened.

"Lyra." Salazar breathed out. He was the first person I looked for and I was so relieved when I saw him.

His eyes were blotchy and the circles under his eyes were dark. I reached out my arm to him and he came to my side immediately, kneeling down beside my bed. When he was closer, I noticed his skin was torn in multiple different places and he had scars I had never seen before.

His eyes were watery, something else I don't think I had ever seen.

"What happened?" I asked, my voice cracking as I attempted to speak.

Salazar didn't say anything and just looked down. I looked up to the other three, Godric, Helga, and Rowena, for answers but they too were avoiding my gaze.

"I think you need to rest, my darling, before we tell you anything." Salazar attempted, and I could hear the pain in his voice.

I considered this for a moment, but I knew something was wrong and my mind would not let me get any rest. "I've been resting."

Salazar breathed in sharply, like he was going to respond, but nothing came out other than a slow exhale. I looked up at Godric, who was already looking my way. I knew he would crack first, he always did.

"Two muggles entered the castle last night." Godric began, and I could feel Salazar tense up in my hand. "We don't know how long they were here, but as you probably know, Lyra, they got into your room and your common room. One of them attacked you, and one of them, well."

Godric stopped, and even he started to tear up at his words. He brought his hand to his mouth, stroking his beard and avoiding my gaze.

Eventually he brought himself to say it.

"Simon is..." His breath hitched and he couldn't finish his statement.

I tried to sit up, but I couldn't. I expected Salazar to try and hold me down, but he was barely holding himself together. The tears were free-flowing out of his eyes and as I looked around at my colleagues, not a single dry eye was in the room.

"What?" I asked him, like it mattered. It was absolutely devastating, no matter what. But the sinking feeling in my gut told me I already knew what he was about to tell me.

I heard the sob escape from his lips, while he tried to form the words. But he wasn't telling me anything.

"For goodness sake, Godric, Simon is what?" I wanted to scream, but I think it only came out as a whisper.

I was crying too now. I felt completely numb. I couldn't move. I could barely see. The only thing I could taste was the bile that was rising in my throat and I was trying so hard to keep it down.

"Dead."

a/n: getting near the end guys. only 6 chapters left, and wow this was a hard one.