Nightingale

Breathing

Percy

-

— flashback —

I stumbled through the forest, trying to get as far away from him as possible. My muscles burned as I tried to run faster. I was too weak to apparate, so I had no choose but to run. My broken wrist was throbbing with every step I took. But the word that was carved into my arm was the most unbearable. I felt myself getting weaker. I kept trying to block out the things he did to me only moments ago, but the memories kept coming back no matter how hard I tried. My arm was stinging, but I ignored it.

Suddenly, a surge of energy ran through my body. And I knew what that meant—there was water nearby. I picked up the pace. As I got closer, I felt stronger, just a little bit.

I had to keep myself distracted. I couldn't think about what he did to me. Were the Pevensie's alright? Especially Lucy. I remembered her face before I left...I just hope they were alright.

I had finally reached the water, it was a river. I fell to the ground and held out my hand. I watched the water travel up my injured arm and the pain was almost gone. My broken wrist healed quickly, but the water travelled around the cuts on my arm. I brought my arm closer to my face to get a closer look. It was completely healed—except for the cuts.

I put my arm into the water and it wasn't healing at all.

And I knew why.

The dagger was cursed. The pain that that dagger caused me wasn't from an ordinary dagger. I tried to block out that memory. I had to figure out how to heal it...

I wasn't able to heal the cuts with the water. But maybe I could use a spell.

I tried to remember a spell that someone was talking about at Hogwarts. One that could heal cuts like this. What was it? Vul...something? Vul...nera? Vulnera Sanentur, that was it.

I took out my wand from my pocket and pointed it at the wound. "Vulnera Sanentur."

Nothing was happening. My spark of hope faded. There was no way to heal these wounds with magic. They had to heal on their own...

The scar it was going to leave...

I sighed and tried not to think about it. I had to get back to the Pevensie's.

I stood up and pushed my sleeve down to cover up my arm. Hopefully it wouldn't bleed too much.

I thought of the place we camped at last night. I felt my body being pulled from the ground and I was being jerked left and right.

I fell to the ground on my back. I quickly got onto my feet and took in my surroundings. It was dark, I was still in the forest. I turned around and I saw the glow of a fire in the distance, about 100 yards. That had to be them. I started to walk in that direction.

As I was walking, the memories started to invade my thoughts again. I could hear his laughter...I could still feel the curses lingering in my skin. My arm started to sting again, but it was getting worse. It was aching, as if he were carving the words into my skin all over again. I fell to the ground and all of a sudden, the memories replayed in my head quickly. I was reliving every single moment of tonight. It only lasted for what felt like only seconds. When it was over, I was stunned.

Where was I? I looked around and tried to gather my thoughts. I felt groggy and dizzy as I stumbled onto my feet. I took a few steps but I was so dizzy that I nearly fell back down. I held myself up by leaning against a tree. I took deep breaths and closed my eyes. Suddenly, my head started to hurt. I could hear...voices. No—one voice. His voice. Lucius.

"You are nothing...nothing but a murder."

Then everything went dark. All I could hear was his voice over and over again. It was as if I was underwater...everything was muted, except for him.

"You are nothing...You are nothing...You are nothing..."

I was falling...and I felt arms around me.

"Percy?" I heard someone say. ""Percy..." Their voice became clearer...it was him...Peter. Lucius's voice was gone. I lifted my eyes and I saw him looking at me....did he actually look worried? When did I get here? I took in my surroundings, I saw Susan and Lucy sitting across from me. I saw Lucy's face...she looked heartbroken. I couldn't see her like that, I looked back down the ground.

"Percy, your arm!" I heard Susan exclaim.

I looked at my left arm and unfortunately the blood was heavily bleeding through my sleeve.

"It's fine." I replied quickly. I put my hand over my arm. I didn't want them to worry about me.

"...Percy, it's not. Can't I at lea..."

My arm was burning again. Suddenly, my head ached.

"You are nothing." Lucius's voice echoed in my head. No, please, not again. I looked up and I saw Lucius standing behind Susan and Lucy. "You...are...nothing." He sneered. Panic rushed through me. I had to get us out of here. I stood up, but then everything started spinning. I felt myself falling....

"Let's get back to it, shall we?" Lucius said to me. "Now, I've thought about this for...for a very long time." He grinned. "And I know exactly what you deserve." He whispered. The grip on my broken wrist was released as he took out the dagger from his pocket.

His grip was focused on my left arm now, but there was no way I could escape. I was too weak.

He pulled my sleeve up. I felt the coldness of the dagger as he pressed it against my skin. I felt it pierce into my arm. I clinched my teeth to stop myself from screaming.

The dagger burned my skin, then it intensified. The burning seeped into my veins and shot to my chest. It pounded against it, making it so much harder to breathe. I screamed for it to stop. For the pain to go away. I felt like I was being burned alive. Then everything went black.

I heard someone laugh, and that pulled me out of the darkness. I opened my eyes. My vision was going in and out of focus. I felt numb...like I was in the cold for too long. My breathing wasn't getting any easier, the pressure on my chest was still there.

The burning was focused on my left arm now. All of the pain was there.

I turned my head slightly. What did he do to me? I lifted my arm up to my face and turned it towards me. My heart sank as I saw what he had carved into my skin. I couldn't stop the tears.

A word was carved into my skin.

One word.

Murderer