A Marauder's Guide to Falling Forever

Chapter Forty Seven

Marlene

She realized immediately that she wasn't alone in the house.

"Expelliarmus!" A deep, masculine voice called out from somewhere up above her and her head whipped upwards to the staircase where the source of sound had omitted from. It was too dark to see anything, but she felt her wand slip from her fingertips to the person who had disarmed her. A shrill feminine cackle followed from just down the hallway and the sound of rustling fabric moved towards her.

"Lumos," a feminine voice whispered. The threatening glow of light lit up the intruder's face from where she had the tip of her wand pointed below her chin. It was still dark and the shadows covered just enough of her face that it was at first challenging to identify who she was.

But it was the manic laughter that floated around them that told Marlene all she needed to know. Bellatrix Lestrange was moving down the hallway towards her.

"Cat got your tongue?" Bellatrix's voice was smooth and taunting, and the man on the staircase laughed.

Marlene knew it was futile to retreat back outside to the front of the house. She had already closed the door and she would be dead before she even managed to get it open, let alone escape from her attackers. Her best chance was moving through the house in an attempt to put enough space between them so that she could make her way out the back where the cover of trees and alleyways might offer her a chance to get away.

But the sinking feeling in her gut told her that the odds were not in her favor.

She didn't take further time to contemplate her actions. She reached sideways to where she knew a vase rested on the side table. Easily her fingers clasped around the smooth glass and she chucked it at the Deatheater walking swiftly towards her. Then she shot sideways into the living area where the soft and subtle glow of the moonlight filtered in through the drapes and lit up the pathway towards the kitchen.

"You bitch!" Bellatrix screeched at the same time the sounds of shattering glass echoed through the foyer. Marlene felt the graze of some unknown hex pierce the top of her head and she ducked her head lower as her feet continued moving. 

The thunderous sounds of boots moved down the stairs and another curse called out from behind her, slamming into the back door where Marlene was headed. An explosion of splintering wood sent fragments of the door flying and Marlene dove downwards to the floor.

"Did you honestly think you can escape us?" Bellatrix jeered from somewhere close behind. "How cute."

"Stop playing games, Bella." The other man chided. He too was nearby. "We agreed that she's mine."

But Marlene had scuttled into the adjoining hallway that looped back into the front foyer. Scrambling to her feet she ran for the door, completely unable to process the words chasing after her from her attackers. She could only hear the sound of her blood pumping furiously to her heart, fueling her to move faster.

Thump.

Thump, thump.

A thought occurred to her, and at the last second Marlene grabbed hold of the ridge of the banister and swiveled her body around one eighty degrees to climb the stairs. Another jet of red light from below blew up a few of the glass picture frames following her up the stairs, the tinkering of the glass falling keeping tempo to the sound of her hurried steps up the hardwood risers.

Marlene knew she was trapped on the upper level, and the amused laughter that moved slowly from behind her told her that her attackers knew just as much. They were teasing her, taking no effort to hurry after her.