for @hp-fearfest ‘s prompt don’t let it in
CW: angst, implied MCD, spookiness
(also points to the first person who correctly guesses the creature that’s outside)
The sun had long since set into the mountains and the tall pine trees shrouded the small wooden cabin in shadow.
Harry knew the woods were dangerous but he couldn’t bring himself to leave. Not after Draco went missing. It was the only thing he had left of him.
Draco had begged him to leave this place. Time and time again he’d said,” Harry, please. There’s something in the woods. Let’s just go. I can’t go outside without feeling like I’m being watched. I hear it at night. I feel it all around us. Please. Let’s go before it’s too late.”
Of course, Harry shrugged it off as Draco being uneasy,” It’s just an animal. Probably a deer or something. You just need to settle into the house and it’ll go away.”
Only, he’d never been more wrong.
It wasn’t long after that when Draco failed to return from gathering firewood.
Harry had watched as the hours slipped by expecting him to appear from the tree line, only he never did.
Once Harry realized something was wrong he dug out a flashlight and scoured the woods for him late into the night.The only thing he’d found was his axe a few yards out from the cabin. It was like he’d vanished into thin air.
The next morning a part of him expected Draco to open the door and come home as if nothing had happened.
But he didn’t.
The woods had become more and more sinister to Harry and he stopped venturing in them. He could barely bring himself to step out of the cabin. He started feeling eyes peering into his back whenever he did.
He felt stuck. If he left he was giving up on Draco entirely, which he couldn’t do.
But if he stayed he was sure whatever found Draco would find him too. Maybe, it was better that way. Maybe he deserved it. If he only would’ve listened to Draco none of this would’ve happened.
He found himself sitting at the dining room table, a lantern lit in the center of it. The inky blackness of the night seemed to permeate inside of the cabin and battled with the faint light flickering from the lantern.
The birds were eerily silent tonight. It was as if somebody had hit an off switch and turned off all manner of noise. He longed for the soft hoot of an owl or the grunt of a mule deer.
But he got something else entirely.
Cutting through the never ending silence was a stark scream. So loud he nearly tipped his chair over when he heard it.
“Harry!”
His heart thudded violently in his chest. It was Draco. He would recognize that voice anywhere.
In an instant he was at the window, pressing his face against the cold glass.
“Harry! Help me! Help me! Harry!”
The screaming voice from outside sounded strangely like a radio. It would clip and stutter as if feedback was interrupting it. And then suddenly it would sound crisp and clean. Sounding so much like Draco Harry had to remind himself it was impossible. There was no way. No way he was outside. Right?
“Harry! Please! Please! Help me! Help me! Harry!”
Harry shuttered and fell away from the window which was now freezing cold, his face burning from the contact.
He grabbed his lantern and rushed to the front door. He had to see. He just had to.
His fingers lingered over the cold metal of the doorknob before he hesitantly twisted and yanked the door open.
He took a shaking breath and immediately choked, slamming the door shut. The air reeked of rotting flesh and decay. Even with the door closed all Harry could smell was rancid meat. It lingered in his nose and on his skin.
The shouting from outside increased in desperation and volume,” Harry! Leave! Leave! Come with meeee! Come with me! “
Harry dug his fingers into his scalp as he covered his ears and staggered away from the door. When the voice from outside received no response it cut off mid word and silence filled the air once more.
Maybe it would leave. If he just ignored it, maybe it would go away.
Harry jumped when an ear-splintering shriek filled the air. It was full of agony and terror and it was Draco. It was his Draco.
And a horrible realization hit him.
Every single thing this mimic has said has been just that, a mimic. It was all something Draco had said to him. Down to the inflection and tone. It was a perfect copy.
And he knew that this scream. This horrible, terrible scream that made his knees wobble, was the same.
It was only copying what it had heard already.
It was Draco’s scream.
