As Long As You're Mine
A/N. Hello wonderful readers! I know. It's been nearly a week. I'm sorry. All I can say is….it's the weekend at last and here's the next chapter! I hope it makes up for the wait. Thank you for reading :D
Chapter 11: Torture
Alicia sat alone in a small coffee shop on one of the backstreets of Diagon Alley. It was tiny, almost deserted and a little grimy, but it was away from the hustle and bustle of the High Street and it was where she went when she wanted to be alone.
The only other person in the place was a young pimpled waitress, who Alicia could hear clattering away somewhere in the kitchens behind the counter, singing along somewhat tunelessly to the music blasting through her headphones.
It was three months since Charlie had left to go back to Romania.
She had kept herself busy over the past three months, anything to prevent herself from thinking about him. And it was working. She had done well on cutting him out of her life, out of her mind. But he was not completely gone. And she had a feeling he never would be.
She stared moodily into the last grey dregs of her cup of coffee, her mind wandering away from the realms of the next operation she had to perform at work, or the paperwork that lay waiting for her back at the flat.
She was so lost in thought that she did not hear the waitress' off-key droning fall silent very abruptly, nor did she notice a figure approach her from behind and point their wand directly at her.
All at once, she slumped forward onto the table, unconscious in a second. No one saw her as she was dragged from the coffee shop into a dark alleyway nearby.
She came back to consciousness with a start, as she felt a sharp pain in her side.
"Wake up!" a harsh voice was saying, and she felt the person's foot connect with her ribs again and she cried out in pain.
She opened her eyes slowly, trying to make out the person's face but it was covered by a mask. Her mind whirled desperately, trying to remember all the things she had learnt in self-defence class when she was twelve and her mother had insisted she take a class over the summer, despite her protests that she could protect herself with magic. It all seemed a dim memory now.
"Should we torture her for information first or just take her back and lock her up?" another voice said, and it was only then that Alicia realised there was more than one of them. Her heart thudded with fear.
The other man, clearly the leader, ignored him and turned back to Alicia.
"I suppose you know why we've come for you," he said, and she could see the cold sneer in his unforgiving black eyes.
She swallowed and got unsteadily her feet. The smaller man made a move towards her, but the leader motioned for him to stop.
She surveyed them both for a moment, her eyes darting here and there, trying to make out the nearest escape route, trying to locate her wand.
"It's no use," the leader said. "Rayburn here has your wand," he indicated to the smaller scrubby looking man who was watching her with a triumphant expression, clutching her wand in his grimy hand. "Don't even think of trying to escape; you'll only make it worse for yourself."
Alicia jutted her chin out defiantly, trying not to let them see her fear.
"No, I don't know why you've brought me here," she said, her voice quavering slightly, betraying her emotions.
The leader sneered, a throaty chuckle escaping his lips. "If only that were true," he said nastily. "Crucio," he hissed.
Alicia suddenly felt a sear of red-hot pain and she gasped in agony, sinking to her knees.
"Perhaps that'll teach you to stop playing dumb," the man hissed, irritated. "We've come for you because we believe you know the whereabouts of one of our colleagues."
Alicia let out a laugh, despite the pain that was still coursing through her body. "Colleagues? Is that what you're calling them?"
"Silence!" the man snapped, and again she felt the terrible agony rip through her body. "Here's what's going to happen, girly," the man said, smiling cruelly, twirling his wand in his fingertips. "You're going to tell us about your beloved uncle and exactly where he is, and if you don't we will torture you until you die, and then we will kill everyone you love. And we'll start with that red-headed blood traitor boyfriend of yours."
Alicia gasped, her eyes wide with terror. Her eyes flickered about her desperately, but she could see no way out of this. Her heart was banging against her ribs so hard it was painful. Her throat was dry and her hands clammy.
"Where is Avery?" the man said calmly.
"I swear, I don't know," Alicia replied, her voice as firm as she could muster.
The man turned away indifferently and flicked his wand.
Alicia collapsed to the floor, writhing in agony. She felt like her head was about to explode. She couldn't take any more of this, the excruciating unbearable agony of it…it was too much…
"I don't know, I don't know!" she sobbed, as the pain wracked through her body again.
"Ah but you see," the man said, crouching down beside her with a sadistic grin. "I don't believe that's true."
"It is! I swear it is! I don't know where he is!" she whimpered, clenching her fists and biting her lip hard to try and bear the pain.
She could taste blood in her mouth and her whole body was on fire with agony. She didn't think she could last much longer.
"Such a shame," the man said, his voice chilling Alicia's blood. "Such a pretty little thing…such a waste."
He grabbed her by the hair and wrenched her head backwards. "Now I'm going to give you one last chance to tell me where he is," the man said slowly.
Alicia steeled herself for what she knew was coming, but she looked straight into his eyes, as defiantly as she could. If she was going to die, she certainly wasn't going to go without a fight.
"I don't know whether you're deaf or just plain stupid, but I told you….I don't know!" she shouted, tears pricking in her eyes.
She couldn't believe this was it. She couldn't believe she was going to die like this. Alone in a dark alleyway. No one would know what had happened to her. No one would find her for weeks, months, maybe even never.
The last thing she heard before everything blacked out was cruel laughter and the words: "Wrong answer."