InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Demon Hunter ❯ Hell ( Chapter 17 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 17

Everything felt like it was in slow motion: the book falling, delicately spiraling right past the first floor, through the basement, and disappearing into the ominous open gap. As he watched the book descend he felt the only chance at beating Voldemort fall along with it. Harry couldn't allow that to happen—not when he was finally doing something with his life.

Releasing a breath he hadn't known he had been holding, he began sprinting towards the rift, and, like a true Gryffindor, didn't give a second thought about jumping right in after the book.

The ground closed up immediately after, leaving a house in ruins, Dudley gaping at the damage, and another individual who seemingly appeared out of no where, swearing like there was no tomorrow.

0o0o0o0o

“Son of a fucking bitch! Motherfucking, shit-timing, God damn...” Inu Yasha swore as he arrived just in time to see his protégé dive in after the book. He was pissed beyond all belief: somewhat at Harry, somewhat at himself, but mostly at the PTB. They planned this...he knew it. Inu Yasha took a deep, calming breath and looked over to his left, where he felt an annoying stare. It was Harry's fat cousin, Dudley. Gawking at him...and looking at him like he was crazy. Though whether it was for the swearing or his ears, he didn't know. Inu Yasha groaned. He was in such a hurry to get back he forgot to change into a human! Quickly doing so, he turned and addressed Dudley.

“Hey kid, was this the only hole that showed up in this area?”

Dudley didn't answer. He was still in shock from seeing someone change their appearance so fast. Inu Yasha rolled his eyes and let out a small growl, sending Dudley out of his stupor.

“Oh, er, yeah I think,” he said warily. He knew this had to be one of Potter's friends. Only he hung out with freaks.

“Alright...good,” Inu Yasha said to himself, appearing deep in thought.

He seemed civil enough, so Dudley decided to try and get some answers out of him.

“What happened to Potter? Where did he go?”

“Well, he essentially just committed suicide.”

Dudley almost lost his balance at that.

“Huh? What do you mean? Why would he do that?”

“Because he's a fucking idiot,” Inu Yasha muttered darkly, “do you know what that hole just was, kid?”

Dudley shook his head.

“An opening to hell...a strained opening to hell. Meaning someone, whether in hell or this realm just forced an opening in the rifts between them. And your cousin just hopped in there like it was a fucking spa.”

“So...Harry's in hell? Right now?”

“Yep.”

“Does that mean he's dead?” Dudley asked. He wasn't sure if that news made him happy or not. He certainly knew his parents would be.

“Not yet. But humans cannot survive in hell—there's a reason they're dead when they're sent there.”

Inu Yasha looked up suddenly.

“Well they took their damn time, didn't they?”

“Who?” Dudley asked, turning around. Cracks sounded off all around him, causing him to release another embarrassingly girlish scream. To his horror, wizards had appeared everywhere; their dangerous sticks out, covering the grounds to his property in minutes. Dudley looked back to find the strange man gone.

One of the wizards quickly approached him, causing him to take several steps back. He was very old, with a long white beard and strange, multicolored clothes.

“Mr. Dursley, I need you to tell me where Harry is. It is vastly important.”

Dudley swallowed several times before he found his voice.

“H-he's in h-hell,” he answered shakily. There was something about wizards that just frightened him to the core. The wizards around them started muttering to themselves, giving him hard looks from the response he gave.

“Hell?” the old one asked blankly, “Mr. Dursley, we do not have time for this. You must tell us what happened here. What happened to your house and where is your cousin?”

“That's what the weird guy said. There was a big hole in the ground that split the house. It got really cold and Harry jumped in it and then it closed,” he said quickly, shrinking back from the man. He was staring into Dudley's eyes intently.

“He's telling the truth,” the man said to the rest of the company. He turned back to Dudley with the same boring gaze, “Now, who is this `weird guy' you spoke of?”

“I don't know. He had cat ears or something strange on his head and then he changed so he was normal. He was just here.”

The old man concerned and was about to ask another question when a frightened yell rang out.

“Dumbledore!” a young man with long red hair tied into a pony tail yelled from one of the bushes in front of the former house, “I found Diggle!”

“Oh, where is he?” a woman with spiked, pink hair yelled angrily, storming over to the bush, “When I get my hands on him for leaving Harry...”

“I don't think you'll be able to do much,” the redhead said dryly and levitated the body out of the bush. Several black flakes of skin shed from the body, which was apparently burnt to a crisp.

Shocked gasps filled the area as everyone came rushing forward. Dudley felt decidedly sick and turned away from the body.

“How did this happen?” a black haired witch asked shakily.

“I do not know,” replied Dumbledore quietly, waving his wand over the body, “But it appears to have happened several hours ago.”

Before anything else was said a car pulled up to the driveway and out stepped the owners of number four Private Drive; the woman tight lipped and pasty white, the man purple faced and shaking with suppressed rage.

“What the bloody hell is going on here?!?!”

0o0o0o0o

Harry groaned as he came to, his faced pressed against the dirt. The first thing he noticed was that the ominous chill seemed as strong as ever, sweeping over his body like a cold blanket. Groaning, he pushed himself up off the ground and looked around. The place was bleak. Just miles and miles of flat, cracked ground with a few boulders dappled around. The sky was a blood red, churning, making patters in the atmosphere, and covering the land in a red hue. Harry shivered and wrapped his arms around himself. Why had he done this again?

His eyes widened as he remembered.

`The book!'

He looked around frantically, searching for his most valuable possession, finally spotting it several yards away. Harry ran over to it and picked it up, running his hand over the rough, leather-bound cover, grinning. He checked through the pages to make sure nothing was damaged.

After a couple minutes Harry's grin faded and was replaced by one of horror. He just jumped into hell. HELL. The demon infested territory where humans are a delicacy. He would be hunted by everything that so much as caught a whiff of him. He was good but he wasn't that good. It was just like Inu Yasha told him all the time: Humans can't survive in hell. It just can't be done. Even for the `boy-who-lived'.

Harry moaned and plopped down on a flat rock. Why? Why, for just once in his life, couldn't he think before he leaped? Literally.

Well, on the bright side Inu Yasha would probably be out looking for him, seeing as he was a guardian to a gate of hell so he had the ability to pass through either realm at will. That and there were no demons around.

A deafening roar from behind him quickly silenced that thought.

“Oh, I'm on a roll today,” Harry said sarcastically as he jumped up and spun to face the demon.

0o0o0o0o

“And he just jumped?” Hermione asked skeptically at the order meeting held at Headquarters.

“That is what his cousin said. I did a legitimacy scan and found it was true,”

“And it took him to hell? It that even possible?” asked Ron before popping another chocolate frog in his mouth. Ginny glared at his brother's blasé attitude about the whole ordeal. He could at least show a little more respect during a meeting.

“Yes it is and I'm afraid that all hope is lost for now,” Dumbledore said sadly, “There is simply no way for us to retrieve him. He will surely die down there.”

Mrs. Weasley burst into hysterical sobs, falling into her solemn looking husband. In fact everyone at the meeting was looking depressed. Some were even crying. They had lost their savior. To them, they had already lost the war. Looking around, Ron figured it wasn't a very good time to ask who got the Gryffindor quiddich captaincy.

0o0o0o0o

Harry cried out as he was thrown to the ground, landing on his dislocated shoulder. He was a mess, covered in blood and dirt, a fractured wrist, a claw right through his thigh, and a large gash in the back of his head. He was loosing blood too quickly. He looked up, the five different demons moving in on him falling in and out of focus. The first demon he encountered was long dead, but its cry alerted many more. Too many for him to handle. Throughout the entire battle, he kept the book at his side. He didn't come all the way down here just to loose it again.

He pushed his body backwards, attempting to put more distance between him and the assailants. It wasn't long before his back hit a rock—he was trapped. Or was he?

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry spotted a gap between the rocks. It would be a tight fit, but he was sure he could manage it. The closest demon raised a large, clawed hand, ready to strike him dead. Gathering his strength Harry pushed off from the ground, gritting his teeth at the pain that shot up his leg from the thigh wound, and quickly squeezed himself through the narrow gap.

Ivory scraping against rock was heard as the demon missed its target. Harry tumbled to the ground behind the rock wall

“Lumos,” he muttered, knowing the ministry could only detect magic in the mortal realm...not that he actually cared at the moment. Looking around, Harry could tell he was in a small, low cave of some sort: one that only stretched about eight feet in all directions. And unfortunately for him, the only exit was the way he came in.

Harry let out a tired, deep breath and leaned against the coarse wall, trying to block out the pain of his injuries. A loud scratching noise right next to his ear started him. Rocks began falling from the opening in the rock, large sharp nails making an appearance. The demons were breaking through the rock.

“Oh fuck,” Harry moaned. He couldn't fight anymore. He was too weak and too tired. He just wanted to go to sleep and not wake up. The persistent scratching motivated him into moving.

“Well, if I'm going to die from blood loss, I might as well put it to good use,” he sighed, moving to get the book, which he tossed carelessly when he made it into the room.

He froze, staring at the page it had fallen open to. Harry gulped, setting to work, “Inu Yasha's gunna kill me”