Introduction:
"So," his voice contained malice that he did not bother to hide, "your lovely daughters have decided to join us."
He gestured to the burly men on either side of him, and they dragged us forward. I struggled, flailing my arms and legs. After I landed a particularly nasty kick on my captor's shin, he pointed his wand at me and grunted, "Petrificus Totalus." My entire body stiffened--I was utterly paralyzed. I fought panic at my helplessness as I, a seething statue, watched the scene unfold.
"Cassandra dear," his voice was lightly mocking. "Will you tell me which one she is, or do I have to torture that out of you?"
"You will never have her, you bastard. I will not let her be your pawn."
"Unfortunately, you have little choice in the matter. If you will not tell me who she is, I will kill them both."
As he spoke, the men holding Selena and I pressed their wands to our throats. I wished desperately that I could move, struggle, scream, anything. It felt like I was wearing a full-body cast. Even breathing was difficult. I felt like I was drowning.
"You will not harm either of them." My mother's voice was harsh with pain. "You need her. You need her to win, and you do not know which one she is. Even she does not know."
"Then you won't mind if I do this…" He drew his wand and, pointing it directly at the struggling Selena, smoothly intoned, "Imperio."
Immediately, her eyes glazed over. He sauntered over to her, smirking. "Look at me," he commanded. Her head snapped up like a marionette, and her lifeless blue eyes met his merciless silver ones. Almost pleasantly, he continued, "What is your name?"
"Selena." Her voice was flat, almost robotic.
"And what is the name of your beautiful sister over there?"
"Estella."
He laughed mirthlessly. "Oh, you stupid, stupid woman. You thought you could hide from us, and yet you've led me straight to her. The Star and the moon. Estella Black. The Dark Star. How clever of you. It is unfortunate that you will not live to see the glory of the Dark Lord's triumph."
"No," she gasped, her eyes wide with panic. "Take Estella, but let Selena and I go. We will disappear. She is not a threat to you…I didn't even need to bind her, she's practically a squib. Please, Lucius. I...I claim the right of kin. Release me, son of my sister."
He turned on her, eyes flashing icily. "How dare you. You are no kin of mine. I owe nothing to you. You are dead to our House."
I watched, still frozen, as tears slipped down my mother's cheeks. "She's only a child. They're both children. They know nothing of this."
"How convenient that they have not been corrupted by your lies. It will make them all the more…malleable."
She shuddered violently, tears now streaming unchecked down her cheeks, then, breaking free of her captor's hold, she scrambled forward to kneel at his feet, grasping at his robes. He kicked her away from him. "Filth." He spat. "Crucio!"
She writhed on the floor, screaming in pain. Selena, now free of the spell he had placed on her began to cry, and he slapped her across the face almost carelessly. Her sobs were reduced to hiccups of fright and shock. I was still imprisoned, but I burned with fury, struggling futilely to free myself. I had never felt so helpless, so scared, so alone, in my life. Then, as if suddenly remembering my presence, Lucius turned on me.
"Are you enjoying this, Estella?" He traced my face with a long, pale finger. "My dear little cousin." I wanted to shrink back from his touch, to shudder at the icy, sickly feeling of his fingertips against my skin. "The Dark Lord is simply dying to meet you, my cousin. You shall be treated like a queen, and I shall be honored beyond all others for delivering you to him." Stepping back, he turned on his heel to his companions, still eerily homogenous with their black cloaks and masks.
"I shall return to the Dark Lord to give him the news. I trust you imbeciles can handle them in my absence. You may do what you please with the woman and the child. Don't bother to bring the bodies back. Leave the Star as she is. A demonstration may make her more…cooperative."
"Yes, My Lord." One thug grunted.
"Very well then." With a faint pop, he was gone.
The memory of what happened next from my mind, the memory of what I, helpless, was forced to witness, will always remain, branded upon my mind. A thousand times I wished their pain upon myself.
I felt my horror intensify, but I could not look away. Silently, I screamed, with rage and despair. The sound echoed within my mind, increasing in pitch and intensity. Behind the din in my mind, I could hear my mother, chanting, her voice low and intense. Suddenly, my scream echoed in both my mind and my ears. I was free of my invisible bonds. My voice had taken on a life of its own, beyond my control. A fire was raging inside me was; I was consumed from the inside out.
Suddenly, I looked down upon the scene as if from afar. I saw the cloaked, masked figures. I saw my mother and my sister, brutalized and broken. I could see myself, screaming. Pressure building, growing, rising.
First an inferno, then darkness.