CHAPTER ONE
AN: this story has been in my mind for a while now, and I feel like it'll drive me crazy if I don't put this down in words. This story does have violence & bondage, so just a warning. Let me know your thoughts! Happy reading! x
There was nothing to do but run. There was nothing but the dark sky and a burning town. There was nothing left for her here.
Eva felt the heat on her face as she passed another burning building, its pillars crumbling and windows shattering, bodies burning within. An eery green glow illuminated the sky - a sign all too familiar to her. The skull leered down at her, the snake flicking out and tumbling in the dark sky. She had been on the run for a week now and it seemed she could not outrun destruction.
A shadow of a voice sounded, carried by the breeze, and Eva froze in her steps. The Death Eaters should have left the scene already, but… A chill crept down her spine as the voice grew louder ("All dead… confirmed…"). Eva was about to make a run for it when she heard another speak, their voice guttural. "Stop… I smell someone, and not one of us." There was dead silence for a moment and then came the heavy footsteps.
Damnit. She cursed silently. The breeze must've carried her scent. And she ran, ran like the devil was at her heels.
Run.
Run.
Run.
Adrenaline raced through her and her pace quickened when she heard shouts behind her. Flashes of red whizzed past as she narrowly avoided their spells. One skimmed past her right shoulder, blackening her jacket. Her hand reached down instinctively for her wand, only to remember it had been broken days ago. She didn't dare look behind her and took a sharp left turn.
Wham. The breath was knocked out of her as she slammed into a bulky body. She struggled as their hands dug into her arms, holding her captive. Her legs moved to kick them, but that was as effective as kicking a steel wall.
"What do we have here hmm?" Their breath was hot on her face, the smell a retched thing. She kneed them in the crotch, but screamed as one of their hands moved to her fingers, breaking her thumb in one swift move.
Eva glanced up, and almost blanched at who she saw. Greyback. Someone who gave her late father a hell lot of trouble. The werewolf grinned down at her, a terrifying sight - his sharp teeth catching the moonlight, face darkened with dried blood (which was not his own). The panic rose in her, thickening in her throat, strangling her. She struggled harder, but that was of no use.
The other Death Eaters crowded around them, all with fresh blood on their hands from the night. She saw Evan Rosier behind Greyback, scars and all, and the man snarled at her. No, no - please don't let him recognise me.
"The traitor's daughter," Rosier cried out. Eva's heart sank as she saw the triumphant glint in his eyes. "You're a long way from the headquarters, aren't you? And I thought we killed everyone there…" The others jeered along with them. Traitor, they threw the word at her like knives.
Greyback lowered his head and Eva stiffened at the invasion. He sniffed at her neck and growled at her sweet scent - like summer peaches and warm sunlight. The grip on her tightened and surely bruises would remain.
"The girl is not your meal, Greyback." A calm voice drawled, silencing the crowd. Eva spied platinum blond hair from her peripheral. "Bring her to the Dark Lord. That is an order."
There was a flash of red, a sharp, shooting pain in her spine, and she felt herself falling as Greenback loosened his grip. She caught a flash of the dark sky - stars twinkling - as she slumped to the ground. Then the murky sight of Lucius Malfoy looming above her and she tried to move her hands.
Godfather.
Then—
DARKNESS.
Consciousness came slowly, and Eva eyes squinted as she adjusted to the bright light. It felt like she had swallowed a nightmare whole. Her head throbbed with pain and she moved her hand to rub her temples, only to find them restrained. She was suddenly wide awake as she struggled against the bonds. She was tied to a post in a stark white room - no windows save for the viewer on the door. And that door was pushed open, a woman in white stepping inside.
"Where am I?" She demanded, almost desperate for answers. She knew she had been captured and she had a nagging suspicion where she was. Eva only hoped she was wrong. "Hey, answer me!"
The woman did not utter a single word, only reaching out to place a thin, silver collar on her neck. The thing melded together behind her neck, sitting there like a second skin. Her stomach twisted for only a slave wore a collar.
The other barely looked at her as she changed her clothes with a flick of her wand (now if only she could get her hands on it…). Gone were Eva's dirty jeans, shirt and singed jacket. She shivered as silk black underwear dressed her skin, then came a simple dark green dress. It was a skimpy little thing, clinging to her every curve. Her skin was dusted with pale gold powder, her eyes lined with black, and dark hair left untamed. Somehow she vaguely she noticed her broken thumb had been healed.
"Please," Eva said, not liking the situation at all. "Just tell me what's going on."
"I'll have to blindfold you now." The woman said to her, her words cold and clinical just like the room. "When you're out there don't struggle, it'll be easier that way."
The light was swallowed by fabric as the blindfold was placed over her eyes. She felt her limbs being rearranged against her own will - and somehow she was walking, forced in a direction she rebelled against. She couldn't even run away if she wanted. It wasn't the imperio, but Eva hated it all the same.
They walked and walked, and she tried to map the place in her head. But the number of stairs she had climbed and the turns she had taken overwhelmed. It was like a labyrinth. "Kneel," the woman commanded and she complied, the spell still at work. Her knees hit marble floor and her hands were tied above her head. A gag was placed into her mouth and the woman walked away, her job done.
She felt so exposed as she knelt there, eyes unseeing and muted. She tried to calm herself, breathing deeply. In and out, she told herself. In and out. She heard commotion nearby - the rustling of clothes and a man's indignant cries. "You son of a bitch! Let me go and I'll —" His words were abruptly muffed, and Eva figured he had been gagged too. So she wasn't alone in this predicament…
There was silence for a few minutes (or was it a few seconds?) and Eva heard people crowding into the room. The low hum of chatter sounded, and classical music played. Her heartbeat raced and fluttered like a caged bird. What were they to do with her? If she was in the Dark Lord's palace, then death would be a mercy.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." A baritone voice cut through the chatter. She did not recognise it. "I hope the hunt before has whet you appetites." The crowd laughed in sync, and Eva's palms began to sweat. Only the elite - the Dark Lord's three inner circles - were allowed to hunt. She was not in pleasant company. "My lord," the voice addressed, and the crowd hushed. "We have a sacrifice for you tonight. We hope we honour you with it." Eva's heart nearly burst out of her chest and she wanted to disappear into nothingness. Merlin save me. "Perhaps you will recognise him."
Him, the voice had said. And when the guards came they left Eva alone. She heard a body being hauled up next to her, but her fists clenched all the same.
"Ah," another voice this time, one Eva could not mistake. Even this one syllable sent shivers down her spine - dark and seductive, all consuming. "The Creevey boy. You will see your filthy parents soon enough. Proceed, Avery."
What happened next was a blur behind her blindfold. She heard the scraping of knives and the rattling of chains. The Death Eater's chants and taunts coupled by muffled screaming. She heard the young Dark Lord command Avery to remove Creevey's gag — then came the worse. Such screams filled the room and Eva cringed. Her imagination ran wild with what they were doing to him. And in that moment she was filled with such hatred — burning in her, boiling within. She prayed for Creevey's end to come near, for the agony to stop. And it did moments later with one last scream - his voice so hoarse and throat torn. And he never uttered a sound ever again.
"Yes," Lord Voldemort murmured in approval, his voice like the silk against her skin. No doubt he was surveying the bloody scene.
Eva nearly forgot how to breathe when she heard footsteps heading to her direction. Was it her turn now? A second sacrifice? Arms grabbed her and she was hauled away. And she felt eyes on her, the feeling pricking her skin. "We live to serve you, my lord." She could almost imagine the devotion in Avery's eyes. "We have another honouring. We found her in one of the rebel dwellings, though she should have been terminated in the rebel headquarters." She was pushed unceremoniously to her knees, already sore from kneeling so long. The blindfold was yanked off her head, and Eva opened her eyes to dim light. There was thirty people in the room, save the Dark Lord and her. Ten for each inner circle. Her gaze travelled to her right and her stomach flipped at the gruesome sight. There Creevey laid in a pool of his own blood, red tainting the marble floor. A giant snake slithered around the man. But she could barely tell he was human and she looked away quickly, already feeling her stomach churning and ready to hurl.
And then she felt it.
She felt his magic reach out to her, wrapping around her. It felt like dark velvet and something beautiful and ruthless all at once. She glanced up before she could stop herself. And there he was - Lord Voldemort - the monster she dedicated her life to overthrow. His gaze drilled into her, those scarlet eyes set in aristocratic features and beneath dark brown hair. There was a deadly charm about him, and in that moment Eva understood how millions pledged their lives to his empire.
"Remove her gag," Voldemort demanded, and Avery obeyed. "And her binds."
She knelt so prettily before him, eyes ablaze with such hate. Voldemort felt it rolling off her in heady waves. She glared at him as the leather cuffs disappeared around her ankles and wrists. Before she could run he hit her with crucio, watching as she fell to the floor spasming.
Eva felt like her limbs were torn apart while millions of knives stabbed at her. She bit her lips so hard to refrain from screaming, and her teeth came away bloody as the curse ended. Her breathing was heavy as she laid on the floor and she pushed herself up on shaky arms, catching a glance of the Malfoys in the crowd. Draco was staring at her, his lips pressed in a tight line and looking as if he wanted to be anywhere but here.
"Your name," Voldemort demanded, the very definition of calmness.
"Go to hell," she fired back, poison in her vowels as she got back on her feet to glare at him.
"This is hell; your hell and our paradise." He flicked his wrist and Eva felt like she was punched in the gut tenfold. She doubled over in agony, blood dripping from her mouth. "I won't ask again. Tell me your name." Still she was indignantly silent, and Voldemort wondered how far he could push her. Evidently physical pain was not her weakness, but perhaps… "Severus, bring one of the Weasley boys here." He could see the change in the girl as he spoke, she tensed and a shadow of worry settled into her brow. Ah, that was what he was looking for.
Severus Snape apparated almost immediately with Charlie Weasley, and he looked barely alive to Eva. Her heart twisted with pain. How they had gotten to him was beyond her knowledge. He was supposed to be safe in Romania negotiating with their minister for support… But she wouldn't put it past the minister to betray Charlie. After all, who wanted to stand up to Voldemort and his empire? Only fools did, and she was a fool.
Charlie woke as Snape cast a rennervate, his red hair dull and eyes lifeless. A scream ripped from his throat as Voldemort slashed his chest with a spell, blood soaking his shirt immediately. Too much blood.
"Stop!" Eva screamed, a sob escaping her. She couldn't let her friend die. "My name's Eva Flint. Just leave him alone. Please."
Voldemort nodded at Snape and the Death Eater disapparated with the Weasley. Eva Flint… He turned to her with a renewed interest. So she was the daughter of the rebel Lord Flint… My, the man had hidden under his nose for years before finally showing his true loyalties. And of course, he had the man killed. Pity. He was a pureblood. And now here was the daughter Flint had hidden away from him. It seemed that she couldn't stay away.
His fingers reached out to grip her chin, and Eva shivered at the coldness. "It would be such a waste to spill such pure blood…" He murmured, and he looked at the tears drying on her face, the blood tainting her soft lips. "You are to be my trophy slave. Death would be too merciful for you." He turned to the crowd once again before pushing Eva to her knees. The giant snake made its way around her, guarding her lest she run, hissing at her.
"You have pleased me with your gifts, my trusted circles. Feast tonight." A wave of his hand and the Death Eaters were all dismissed. The crowd bowed before their master and Eva glanced out, catching Draco's eyes once more. "And I," Voldemort's fingers gripped her black hair, his words full of promises and only meant for her. "—I have a slave to tame."