A/N: This picture of Mallora was drawn by Mikael and once again, was borrowed to illustrate the character I had in mind.
Thank you for all the reviews thus far and I hope you enjoy this one. It was a bit disturbing to write but I did not go into too many gory details so hopefully by the end of it you'll still have your lunch in tact. As usual, have fun reading.
Chapter 4
Senseless.
He stood outside and watched her as she went up to the front door, fumbled for her keys, and accidentally dropped them onto the cold ground. He read the sign above her; G. Weasely's Home Designs, and then looked back down at her. She had picked up her bunch of keys again, and this time she found the correct one. She inserted it in the slot, pushed the door open and went in. He followed.
She jumped as he came up behind her. "You," she said as she turned to face. "What do you want?"
"That depends," he replied.
"On what?" she asked, getting annoyed.
"On what you can give me," he said, toying with her, tempting her to get angry with him.
"I don't have time for this," she replied and started walking past him so that she could show him the door, when he grabbed her by shoulder. "Let go of me," she threatened, but his grip was firm.
He could see panic in her eyes now and he smiled, breathing it in.
"What do you want with me?" her voice was riddled with fear.
He smiled. "You'll see."
"What do you want with me?" she screamed this time.
Tears were starting to run down her face. He liked that. He took out his wand and with a couple of swishes and a few muttered words, he cleared all the contents of her desk and had her lying where they had been.
She looked into his eyes now. "You are pure evil," she said shaking. What she had seen were a pair of empty black eyes. Eyes whose blackness extended into oblivion. This was a creature with no soul or rather if he did have one, it had abandoned him long ago, leaving him an empty shell. She knew that she could expect no mercy from him.
"That I am," he answered. He muttered an incantation and her arms were bound by a magical a spell that he had created himself. He was truly from hell and his wisdom knew no bounds. It was a spell that would leave no marks, no lacerations.
"What are you going to do with me?" she demanded this time.
He had to hand it to her; she was a fighter. "Tsk, tsk, always in a hurry. You should enjoy this time while you can. You never know where your path may lead," he said as he pulled out his dagger.
Tears streamed down her face now as she had begun to realise what was about to happen to her. She had read about many of his victims in the newspaper, but as much as she felt for them, it had never happened to her or anyone she knew, so she had been invincible at the time. Until now. Now, the ugly truth was staring her in the face. She was going to die and there was no one there to save her. Her best friend would be late that day, and in a way she was thankful because she didn't want to other girl to share her fate. But had she been there would her life been spared? Or would he risk taking them both? Her life flashed before her eyes then. There was so much she had yet to do. There was so much she had yet to make up for. There was so much she had yet to give. She had never believed in God, but now she prayed. If it was to God, she didn't know but she hoped with all her might that there was some entity out there that would take her from her misery.
He made the first incision on her face and her body jerked upward, as the cold steel embedded itself into her warm skin. He laughed, taking immense pleasure in her pain, as he sliced further. She screamed a blood-curling scream. "It hurts doesn't it?" he grinned.
"Fuck you, asshole," she said, breathing hard.
"Oh but I enjoy fucking with your face so much more," he said as sliced once more, this time rapidly.
"Oh, Merlin," she screamed as salty tears ran down her face, burning her newly formed lacerations.
He sliced again and again, groaning with pleasure after each of her screams.
"Help me," she said in a barely audible whisper and then she closed her eyes and the screams ceased.
"Fuck!" he cursed as he slapped her across the face. How dare she do this when he was just about to achieve a height of pure ecstasy? He felt her for a pulse. She still had one, which meant that she as not dead yet, she had just fainted. But now that his high had evaporated, he no longer had need for her. He plunged the dagger deep into her chest, and her body went limp as her life left it. Just then, he heard some footsteps coming his way, and he apparated out of the crime scene as quickly as possible. He did not want to be caught. Not yet anyway…
………………..
Ginny had just apparated into her office, and was checking her mail when she felt it. A cold breeze had engulfed her and Charlotte's unmistakable perfume had filled her nostrils. She hugged herself, wondering where the sudden cold draft had come from, given the fact that it was extremely warm outside.
"Charlotte," she called to her assistant and friend, as she opened the big wooden doors that led to the reception area, where Charlotte was stationed. Ginny didn't have to call again. She saw her friend's mangled body laying on top her desk. "Merlin," she said as she stood over the body, holding a pair of trembling hands to her mouth. Ginny's world suddenly went black.
……………
"Okay, give her some room, she's coming to," a voice said above Ginny, as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Where am I?" she asked the dark haired woman who was standing over her, looking at her intently.
"Currently? You're lying on the top of your desk," the woman answered.
Ginny looked panicked as she recalled seeing Charlotte's body on top of her on desk. Am I now to suffer her fate?
"Relax," said the woman, as if reading Ginny's mind. "I am not here to hurt you. I am agent Gabriel Mallora, a Ministry Auror."
Ginny nodded.
"Do you feel okay? Would you like a glass of water?" Agent Mallora asked her.
Ginny shook her head and attempted to get off the desk. "Where is Harry?" she asked, noticing the swarm of Aurors buzzing about in the reception area. "Why isn't he handling this case himself?"
"He's on his honeymoon, remember?" Mallora answered.
"Oh, I forgot about that," Ginny said. "Is she…" but she could not finish.
"I am afraid so," Mallora answered as Ginny's tears began flowing freely. "I am so sorry for your loss and I promise you, we will catch the bastard."
"Did you question her yet?" a male voice drawled from the doorway that separated Ginny's office and the reception area.
Both Ginny and Mallora looked up to see that it belonged to Draco Malfoy.
"I am sorry, but you are?" Mallora asked him.
"Sorry that I never met you before. The name's Draco Malfoy and who might you be?"
Ginny noted that Mallora took an instant dislike to Malfoy, and she liked the woman instantly.
"I believe, Mr. Malfoy, that if you're looking for a single's bar, you past it a couple of blocks down. Otherwise, if you have no business being here, please leave."
Draco gave her a once over. "Well you're certainly easier on the eyes than Potter, that's for sure. Less git-like too, but not by much. I think we'll get along just fine."
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Ginny asked harshly, unable to take his obnoxious behaviour any longer.
Draco turned to the redhead, as if noticing for the first time that she was in the room with them. "Glad you asked," he said in tone of voice that Ginny found most annoying. "You're what I want."
Ginny arched an eyebrow. "What did you say?" she asked.
"Oh don't flatter yourself, Weasley, "I meant I want to ask you a few questions."
"And you expect me to answer you because?" Ginny answered with a question of her own.
"Because I may very well be the one to crack this case. Everyone knows that all Aurors do all day is sit on their asses and twiddle their thumbs." Then he turned to Mallora and added, "no offense. I am sure your ass is pretty fine." Then he turned back to Ginny. "I forgot. In addition to being Draco Malfoy, The Great, I am also Private Agent Malfoy," he said, and tossed her his card.
"You can question her after we're done," Mallora told Draco.
"Uh, uh, uh," Draco replied to Mallora. "Sorry babe, but I don't work under your rules, so therefore I get to sit in, should she so request," he said nodding his head in Ginny's direction.
Ginny looked over at Mallora apologetically. "I am afraid I need all the help I can get. And maybe, who knows, the git may actually be able to help."
"I resent that," Draco replied.
Mallora ignored him and began with her line of questioning. "Where were you at the time the victim was murdered?"
Ginny sighed heavily. "I came into work late this morning. I had to get some supplies for the Beasley's house. They're my new clients. Merlin," she started to cry. "I think he killed her just as I apparated into the office."
"What makes you say that?" Draco asked, watching her intently.
She looked at him. His grey eyes were compassionate yet composed at the same time. "Because I felt her soul when it passed me," she replied, sobbing.
Mallora arched an eyebrow inquisitively while Draco just continued to hold her under his microscopic gaze. "What do you mean felt her soul?" Mallora asked, finally.
"I don't know…" Ginny replied. "I just felt this presence in the room and I knew it was her but I thought that it was alive her sitting in the other room…"
"Did you hear anything outside your office? Any sounds, any movements? Did you notice any odd smells?" Draco cut her off.
Ginny shook her head. "No," she replied softly.
"Nothing odd at all?" Draco asked in a condescending tone. "Are you daft, Weasley?"
"Well excuse me, Malfoy, if the last thing I had on my mind was looking out for a killer when I walked into my office first thing fucking Monday morning, where it has been safe for the past fucking four years!" Ginny yelled, upset at his accusation that she was some sort of idiot.
"How long did you know the victim?" Mallora asked cutting of either of them before they could speak again.
"Charlotte," Ginny replied, edgily. "Her name is Charlotte. Please don't call her that."
Mallora nodded. "I am sorry, how long did you know Charlotte?"
"Four years," Ginny replied. "She wasn't from here, she was from America."
"Why did she come here?" Mallora questioned.
"She wanted a better life," Ginny answered. "She grew up in an orphanage. She said she had always read about England in books and she had dreamt of living here someday."
"Did she have any enemies?" Draco asked, his tone softened.
"None that I know of," Ginny replied.
"How old was she?" Mallora asked.
"Twenty-four," she answered.
"Did she have a boyfriend?" Draco asked.
"No, she was single," Ginny answered.
"Did you two share any relationship aside from a professional one?" Mallora asked.
"Yes, she was my best friend." Ginny replied quietly.
What felt like a hundred questions later would still reveal nothing, and Ginny had a pounding headache. She could not believe that Charlotte was gone. They had not allowed Ginny to see her body and she while she thought it unfair, she was also grateful at the same time because seeing Charlotte without her spark meant that part of Ginny would die as well. A fresh batch of tears began to burn her eyes. Unable to hold them back any longer, Ginny let herself go and soon, her whole body racked with sobs and her knees buckled under her. Before she could fall to the ground however, a strong pair of hands had gotten a hold of her and held her up. She looked up and found that they belonged to Draco. As more tears spilled down her cheeks, she slipped her arms around him and buried her wet face in his chest. Never in a million years had she ever thought that she would have sought solace in the arms of this unlikely comforter, but at the moment she was most grateful for the strong pair of arms.
………..
Draco saw Ginny about to fall and upon instinct, he grabbed her before she could. He hadn't anticipated on her looking at up at him with the saddest pair of eyes he ever seen. He had never known affection for another human being like she was showing for her deceased friend at the moment. Neither of his parents had shown him much affection in his lifetime aside from the occasional pat on the back when he did well or the cold glares when Lucius had been disappointed or upset with him. With Lucius gone, his mother had gotten a little bit better about showing her emotions, but it was still an awkward thing to do in the Malfoy household.
But her sadness would not be the only thing that would surprise him. The youngest Weasley had done the even more impossible, it seemed, by hugging him. Unsure of how to respond to this, Draco patted her on the back awkwardly with one hand. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Mallora shaking her head at him. She walked over, took Ginny into her arms, and whispered words of comfort to her.
"There you are," came Molly Weasley's voice as she apparated in with a pop. "Oh, sweetheart I've been waiting ages to see you but they wouldn't let me in. I am so sorry"
Ginny ran into her mother's arms. "Mommy," she sobbed, "she's gone."
"I know, baby," Molly said to her daughter.
"It's so unfair. She never did anything to anyone and now she's gone. I hate the bastard who did this to her," Ginny said, angry now.
"They'll get him, sweetie," Molly said. "But in the meantime we want you to stay at the Borrow with us."
Ginny nodded. "Thank you mom."
………..
Draco watched the Weasley mother and daughter as they embraced each other. Draco, being unfamiliar with this sort of behaviour in his own life, usually found himself engrossed as he looked on at others from the outside. It was not that he longed for the feelings, but merely that he was curious about them, like one would be curious to try a new cuisine that was placed in front of oneself at the dinner table. His father's death, while it saddened him, also made him question whether his sadness itself had any dept to it, when he compared it to that of others.
He watched them apparate out of the office, and then turned to Mallora. Draco was drawn to Harry's temporary replacement for some unknown reason. She was not a perfect beauty. Her features were wide and mismatched, but somehow they made her attractive. Draco found her to be exotic looking. She had lovely shiny, dark hair. She seemed lonely somehow, and Draco believed that was what drew him to her. She was a mystery yet to be discovered and Draco loved a challenge. "Mallora," he said, "have lunch with me?"
The woman smiled at him. "Sure." She said. "Seeing as I need to eat, and that I don't know anyone here, and that you probably would stalk me anyway if I said no," she laughed as they apparated to a restaurant.
………..
He sat in the dark surrounded by the prison walls once again, but his craving was over. For now. He had watched the Weasley girl as she found her friend's body, and the terror and the pain etched on her face from seeing her dead friend was enough to help him achieve the climax that he had not been able to when the other woman, Charlotte, had fainted. He was so tempted to go after her blood but she was not yet ripe for the picking. The young Weasley girl was special. He would kill her, but in due time. He knew that she would be his greatest conquest ever. He had special plans for her. He would tear her apart limb by limb. Just the thought of this made him hard. She had turned him on like no one ever had before.
