Chapter 7 - Mastery
Song Suggestion:
Demons - Jacob Lee
"It's just a Stunner. He'll be alright," Jabez replied indifferently, keeping his icy gaze on the languid body in the cell, not sparing me a glance.
The prison door didn't let me access to the other side of the metal bars. No matter how hard, how forcefully I pushed, it didn't budge. It's locked.
"Open the door," I gritted.
However, the tanned man ignored my demand by telling me how Draco had ended up there.
"Your friend happened to intrude into our territory and hurt eight of our gatekeepers in the process. All alone. Incredible dueling skills, I'd say. If it's not because of his unfamiliarity with the structure of the building, we probably couldn't stop him-"
"Jabez, open the door," I cut in.
He shook his head.
"Please, open the door," I begged.
"Sorry but the answer's still no. But I'll give you some privacy to talk with him. Rennervate," he pointed his wand at the motionless body before he strode to the stairs.
Draco's body stirred feebly. His silver eyes shot open and confusion was shown in them. But confusion was replaced by shock when he heard my shaking voice.
"Draco, you alright?"
"Y/N? It's good to see you again. How are you?" he smiled weakly.
"Fine, they didn't do anything to me," I smiled back.
Promptly, his smile faded away and a frown was formed. He'd finally realized the separation between us and the inability to move his limbs.
"Those bastards!"
"I'll get you out of here," I mumbled anxiously.
I tried an Alohomora on the door lock, but the desirable "click" sound was nowhere to be heard. The spell had no effect on the lock.
"Finite!" I pointed the wand at the ropes around Draco's limbs. Nothing happened.
The spells took no effects on both the door lock and the ropes. Or rather, the wand didn't want me to perform the magic, as I couldn't sense any subtle change of magical energy level in the surrounding when I cast those spells.
"Fuck!" I cursed and glared at the wand given by Jabez.
Draco squirmed awkwardly forward to get closer to the bars, to get closer to me. I knelt down and my hand instinctively found its way between the metal rods to reach for his cheek. It's like a natural-born ability, like a dog always could find its way home. His stubble itched me slightly as he rubbed his cold cheek against my warm palm. He's always clean shaven, I wondered how long he had been kept there.
"Y/N, it's fine. We'll find a way to get out together," he gave my hand a squeeze, his voice sounded weary.
"How did you find me?"
"Your necklace. It showed your location. Your parents told me about it,"
"You met my parents? Are they doing okay?"
"Your mother's so worried, but she has your father's support. I promised them to bring you home, but I'm failing apparently, getting myself stuck inside a prison,"
I shook my head and smiled sadly.
"You're so brave, Draco, to come here alone. You can actually report to the Ministry, they can send Aurors to bring me back,"
"The Ministry is incompetent. They said there's no evidence to confirm your missing was because of the terrorists and they couldn't take any reckless actions. So what else could I do? Instead of depending on the useless government, why not depending on myself?"
"I'm safe here. They just want me to help them make wands,"
"You aren't a wandmaker,"
"Remember the article I wrote last year? The one about replacing wand wood with metal. They said they'd let me go when they get what they want,"
"Don't believe anything they say. They're Taliban, not Potter's stupid Order. They won't keep any promises," Draco harshly replied.
Before I could say anything, a voice interjected sternly. I startled and pulled my hand back from Draco's face, while Draco shooting daggers at the person behind me.
"I think I've given you two enough time. You should go to bed, Miss Y/L/N, you still have work to do tomorrow. And I want to talk with Mr. Malfoy alone,"
My eyes moved from Draco to Jabez and back to Draco again. The tension between them was suffocating. They're staring at each other venomously, as if a white tiger and a panther fighting for territory. I nodded and whispered a "goodnight" to Draco before leaving.
I hope Jabez wouldn't hurt Draco.
The next day, after dinner, which was always my personal time, I went downstairs, hoping to see Draco, but was stopped by the security guards.
"Mr. Jabez has given orders to restrict anyone's entry,"
I stormed back to the level of Jabez's and my rooms furiously. As soon as I was in front of the wooden door next to mine, I banged the wood door with my fist nonstop, until my hand unintentionally hit the chest of the owner of the room as the door was opened. My numbing fist froze in mid air. I panicked. Is he going to kill me?
He beckoned me to follow him into his room. My hand slowly fell to the side as I entered the room cautiously. A "click" sound followed in no time, declaring the door was closed.
"I suppose you're here because of Draco Malfoy?" the tanned man spoke closely behind me. His deep voice sounded calm as usual, showing no sign of rage, which unbelievably soothed my fury away.
"You don't let anyone to get close to the basement," I accused, staring at the back of Jabez as he walked casually to the couch.
He leisurely slumped into the soft material and adjusted to a comfortable position, obviously had no intention to respond right away. He rested his chin on the palm and angled his poker face towards me. I stood in the hallway awkwardly, and his piercing gaze didn't make the situation any better.
Shortly, he nodded at the couch opposite him, implying me to take a seat, which I obliged willingly but nervously at the same time. He still didn't say anything. So, I made my request clear.
"Can you let me meet Draco?"
He didn't respond.
"Please, he's very important to me,"
"You won't be able to see him again," he pledged as the corners of his mouth twitched upwards and formed an unpleasant smile.
I frowned, not sure about what he's talking about. He doesn't mean what I think he means, does he?
"What do you mean?"
"He broke into our headquarter and injured eight members of ours. You think he'll be able to get away with it? Sorry, that's only your delusion. He needs to pay for what he's done,"
A spiteful sneer spread across the usually unreadable face of the man before me. The mask that always covered his emotions was gone. His brown eyes and wry face screamed evident distaste for the person he'd just mentioned. He's like a completely different person.
"Who do you think you are, anyway? Always try to interfere as if you're the boss. Don't ever think you're special just because Jabez always gives you special treatment," the man raised his brows smugly and scoffed at my appalled face, before he continued his speech. "Whoever dares to oppose us has to take the consequences - pain and death. Ever heard of the Chinese saying 'kill one to warn a hundred'? Draco Malfoy has to be the unfortunate one,"
It's weird. Jabez just talked about himself as if he's someone else. Normally, people would refer themselves as "I" rather than their names. Only one possibility can explain the situation.
"You aren't Jabez. Who are you?"
Jabez leaned his back against the furniture idly, never lifting his stare off me. A grin was formed as his perfect teeth were displayed. I'd seen a similar smile before, but I could tell it's just not the same. That smile only showed conceit and malice. The other smile I knew better always showed humility and sincerity.
"Pretty observant, huh? Jabez is talented and loyal. I knew he'd be a very capable follower the first day I met him. But he has a weak heart, so I offered him the name 'Jabez', and do you know the meaning behind it?" he paused, waiting for my answer. Seeing the bewilderment on my face, he resumed speaking. "It means 'he causes pain'. Kindness is a form of weakness. You can dominate the world with fear. To infuse fear, you need to be able to cause pain and sorrow. Through all these years, he improved a lot and finally met the expectation of the name,"
What nonsense is he talking? I glared at the with loath and disbelief. The man before me was insane.
"Then here you are, making him weak again. I have to come out to fix everything - I suppose it's the duty of a big brother. Yes, I'm his nominal brother, Akbar Baradar, the son of the Taliban founder,"
"You! Get out of his body!"
"Relax, girl. Jabez's sworn to Allah to follow me till he dies at the age of 17. To show his full loyalty, he willingly dedicated the ownership of his body to me. We have a master-servant bond, an ancient type of magic. And I, being the superior, possess mastery over his soul and body whenever I want.
"I never felt the need to take over his body. This is the first time and it feels nice. Jabez is a blessed and talented wizard, only with three years of training, he's become a master. I never want to admit this - he's a much more powerful wizard than I am. I feel much stronger inside this body. I have a feeling that, with this body and its magical talents, I can finally take over the world," he laughed treacherously. The laughters bounced off the walls and sent shivers down my spine. I didn't dare to imagine what's going to happen to the world if he succeeded.
"You never see Jabez as your brother," I coldly pointed out.
"That's quite obvious. Only Jabez himself never notices, he's blinded by his weakness to see clearly. He sees me as his only family, that stupid boy. From my point of view, he is only one of my chess pieces, the strongest one, probably the queen. But no matter how powerful the queen is on the chessboard, it's just a piece of chess. It never has a say. It has to obey the chess player.
"Let's say the Taliban is the black pieces, what are you? Black or White? Y/L/N, you're a clever girl, you know which side is the better side,"
"As if I'll join you, you bastard!" I shouted furiously as I left my seat.
I tripped over when I was only inches away from the door. Fury was replaced by fear when footfalls came along with vicious laughters. I looked up and found the man sneering at me.
"Guess I have no choice. Go join your friend then," he jeered.
Ropes appeared out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around my wrists and ankles under Akbar's wandless command. Soon, two bulky men came and picked me up, one holding my shoulders, the other holding my tied ankles. No matter how loud I screamed, how hard I struggled, they didn't budge. They effortlessly brought me downstairs to the lowest part of the building. When they found an empty cell, they roughly threw me behind the bars, aching my body terribly.
He must've recognized my yelp. A familiar voice I immediately could identify in milliseconds softly whispered worriedly.
"Are you okay, Y/N?"
I turned to the direction of the voice source and met Draco's grey concerned eyes. He's in the cell left to mine.
I nodded and smiled sadly.
"Why did you end up here? I think you're making wands," he inquired.
"Jabez isn't himself anymore. His body is now possessed by a man called Akbar Baradar, he's the son of the Taliban founder. He asked me to join his gangs but I refused. Then I ended up here,"
I informed him everything happened in Jabez's room. Then abruptly, restlessness took over my system as I remembered the consequences awaited Draco.
"Oh Merlin! Draco, he said he's gonna kill you!"
"We'll be able to leave here together. Just don't lose hope,. Everything has a solution,"
Although he seemed to not bother by the fact I just spilled to him, I could still find uneasy behind those silver orbs. Deep inside, he didn't think there's much we could do under the circumstances. The reassurance was nothing but empty words.
That night, we leaned against the bars separating the two prisons, back to back. Our cold hands found each other's between the metal and fell asleep in an uncomfortable but relieving position.
The next morning, we're woken up by a disdainful mock. I fluttered my eyes open and saw the unwelcome sight of Baradar, in the form of Jabez, sitting comfortably on an armchair in front of our cells. His hands were fiddling with a vial, which contained a glittering black solution.
"Lovebirds, today is the big day. I've changed my mind. What's the fun in ending your lives without any pain? It's more entertaining to see you live the lives you don't want to live and wish you were never born,"
I met the caring gaze of Draco's before we looked daggers at the evil man vindictively. But the glares just made the man more fond of himself. A typical sadist.
"One of you is going to drink this potion. It may be poisonous, it may end your life, you'll never know the effects of the potion until one of you takes it. Humans always pretend to be moral and righteous, but they are actually born to be ugly and selfish. To survive, they can do anything. Friendship and love never mean anything in the battlefield. You're gonna fight against each other, whoever loses has to drink the potion.
Now, let's see how ugly you are under those masks. May the show begins."
A/N: I want to clarify that this story holds no negative opinions on Muslims. I'm not that ignorant and shallow to judge a person based on their religion.
I never planned the plot of Jabez being possessed by his brother in the first place until I was writing this chapter. I never planned to let you and Draco fight either. But I think the unplanned plot turned out pretty well.
Who do you prefer to take the potion, you or Draco? Tell me in the comments!