Chapter 21

Here's the next chapter! I hope you like it! Thank you so much for your reviews and sorry for leaving you on a cliff hanger for a few weeks but I hope you enjoy it!

After what felt like an eternity Dalia slowly came back to the present. It took a while for her to fully wake up as the stunning spell had not quite worn off. She opened her eyes only to realise that she was blindfolded.

Dalia swallowed hard and tried to stay as still as possible, wanting to find out as much as possible about the situation without anyone noticing she was awake. With her vision impaired her other senses became more sensitive. She could hear hushed voices and pacing feet a distance away. Dalia's hands were tied behind her back and she was sat on an uncomfortable wooden chair. She moved her hands slightly to test the strength of the bonds, they were painfully tight.

Dalia's mind was racing to try to figure out who had done this and why. A terrifying thought entered her mind. What if it was Greyback? But then why would he go to this much effort to take her when he could do it easily in the camp? If it wasn't him, who was it?

Her thoughts were interrupted when a door slammed, making her gasp. The voices had stopped a while ago and now someone was coming towards her. Dalia's heart was hammering in her chest and she bit her lower lip hard.

A hand ripped the blindfold from her eyes and tossed it to the side. Dalia's eyes burned in the harsh light and it took several seconds for them to adjust. In that time the stranger had rested his hands on either armrest of her chair and leaned down so his face was centimetres from hers.

Dalia quickly tried to recognise him from somewhere but she couldn't. The man had scruffy sandy coloured hair that was overgrown and messy. He had piercing green eyes that stared right through her and it looked like he hadn't shaved for a while as his stubble had become shabby.

All Dalia could do what stare up at the man. She was too afraid to speak although she'd never admit it. Thankfully the man did the speaking for her.

"You're probably wondering why you're here, aren't you?" he asked, although the question was rhetorical. "You are here because you're a disgusting little brat." he spat, some of his saliva spraying onto her face. Dalia glared up at him and gritted her teeth. "Now, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way. You answer all my questions and tell me everything about your pathetic group of bounty hunters or I force it out of you." His voice was low and dangerous and it sent shivers down her spine.

"I..I don't know what you're talking about. Bounty hunters? What bounty hunters?" she muttered, lowering her gaze. This obviously made the man angry and Dalia immediately regretted trying to lie her way out of this mess. He stepped back and backhanded her across the cheek. Dalia resisted the urge to cry out and bit back the whimpers that threatened to escape her trembling lips.

"Don't lie to me, girl. I'm not a fucking idiot." he snarled, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look up at him. "I've been following you tonight, ever since you apparated into the street. You scared that barmaid by admitting you're a snatcher and you even have the red tie around your arm. Now, let's try this again. I don't want to hurt your pretty little face anymore." he growled, stroking the angry red mark on her cheek.

Dalia squirmed away from his touch and took a deep breath to try to remain calm, although that was proving extremely difficult.

The man frowned and stood back, leaning onto a table that was opposite her. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sebastian Blackwell and I work for the Order. My job is to 'snatch' scum like you and interrogate you into spilling information." He smiled threateningly.

Dalia sighed and closed her eyes. This was bad. There was no way she was getting out of this. A part of her wanted to tell him about the group so that Greyback would get what he deserved but then Scabior would get caught too. No matter how much she tried to deny it, she still has feelings for the head snatcher. She cursed herself for getting attached because now she was in a predicament.

The man called Blackwell picked up a file and skimmed through the front page. "It says here you were employed under Mr. Scabior about two months back. Correct?" he asked, keeping his eyes fixed on the page. Dalia nodded and mumbled a yes. She could answer some questions just as long as they didn't link directly to Scabior getting caught, like their current whereabouts.

The next question made her heart sink. It was as if he was reading her thoughts. "Where is your camp currently positioned?" he asked, this time looking up to assess her reaction.

Dalia shook her head. "I can't tell you that. I'm not stupid. You're going to kill me anyway so I might as well keep my group safe." she said with as much confidence as she could muster. By group she obviously meant Scabior but he didn't need to know that, it would just be another thing he'd use against her.

Blackwell clicked his tongue in annoyance and threw the papers back down onto the metal table. "You're right. I am going to kill you. But I can make it as painful as I like." he growled, stepping towards her again. The man slowly walked around the back of the chair and leant down so his lips were almost touching her ear. He grabbed her braid of hair and yanked it, forcing her head upwards. At the same time he pulled out his wand and pressed it painfully into her throat.

Dalia suddenly realised how all the people she helped to snatch felt and it made her stomach turn. His breath in her ear reminded her of the savage werewolf and made her flinch.

"I'm going to ask you again, where is your camp?" he whispered, the tip of his lips grazing the shell of her ear. Dalia swallowed the lump in her throat and stared up at the ceiling.

"I'm not going to tell you." she muttered, silently bracing herself for whatever he was about to do. Blackwell moved his wand down to her tied hands and whispered a spell that Dalia couldn't quite catch. Suddenly the ropes that bound her wrists burned white hot, sending searing pain through her arms.

Dalia couldn't help but cry out and wriggle desperately against the blazing ties. Tears welled up in her eyes but she refused to cry in front of him, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried everything in her power not to scream.

Eventually he lifted the spell but her flesh still burned although for some reason unknown to her, her wrists looked perfectly normal as if nothing had happened. Blackwell smirked at her attempts to block out the pain. "You see what happens when you don't answer my questions? You get hurt. I know you don't want to suffer any more pain so why don't you just make this easier for yourself and do as I ask."

His offer was tempting but Dalia kept reminding herself of Scabior. He may be a heartless and selfish bastard to everyone else but Dalia had seen a glimpse of humanity underneath his hard exterior. Besides, he was just like every other snatcher. He needed the money to survive, just like her. She couldn't let him get caught and probably tortured just because she wanted a quick and painless death.

Dalia remained silent and managed to gather the courage to glare at the man that was now towering over her.

"You are a stubborn little bitch, you know." he snarled, tapping his wand in his fingers. "Most people would have cracked by now but you are annoyingly strong. I'm sure I can knock that out of you with a few rounds of the cruciatuscurse though."

Dalia blinked and shuddered a little. She had seen the curse in action on many people before. Their terrified faces that were full of agony plagued her dreams when she didn't have Scabior to sleep next to. She knew that it would be unbearable and she started to question whether she should give them up or not.

Before she could even consider speaking up the word had already escaped Blackwell's lips. Dalia's body was hit with a sudden burst of agony. It felt like a thousand white hot knives were piercing every inch of her skin whilst her insides felt like they were on fire. She writhed in the chair and screamed at the top of her voice, not caring that the man could hear her.

In a matter of seconds the curse had vanished leaving Dalia panting in the chair. A few tears had leaked from her eyes and trailed down her cheeks but she didn't care. Her head had drooped downwards as exhaustion took over.

"How does it feel? Now that you're getting a taste of your own medicine?" Blackwell questioned. He was now behind her again. He must have moved when she was under the curse. "But this doesn't compare to what is happening to the innocent people you handed over to the ministry for a few coins." he spat, lifting his wand again.

"I..I never t-tortured anyone." Dalia managed to get out between short gasps. "I just h-helped take t-them." she added, knowing that it would make no difference to her situation but she didn't want to be punished for something she never did.

Blackwell paused for a moment and took a few steps forwards so he was facing her again. "Oh. So you just hung in the background and waited whilst they were getting tortured? You are disgusting. How could you do that? How could you watch a family being torn apart right in front of your eyes and do nothing."

Dalia clenched her jaw and closed her eyes. He was right. It was true. She was an awful person and now she was getting what was always coming to her.

"And look, it doesn't even bother you! If I was you I wouldn't be able to sleep at night!" he shouted, spitting at her feet.

"I can't sleep at night!" she snapped back. But as soon as the last word left her mouth she was hit with the cruciatuscurse again. Dalia screamed in frustration and agony when the burning pain filled her body again.

This time Dalia thought the curse would never end. It had gone past the first short curse by what felt like hours but was merely seconds. She couldn't take it anymore. The pain was too much. "Please stop! Just do it! Kill me already!" she screeched, tears streaming down her ghostly pale cheeks.

Dalia was too focused on the immense pain that she didn't notice the man walk in. It was only when the curse was lifted she saw his shoes from her head that hung low in defeat.

"I think she's had quite enough for now, Sebastian. We'll continue tomorrow and then she might talk." The man said calmly, trying to reason with Blackwell.

Dalia's heart almost stopped. She recognised that voice. Dalia's head snapped up, ignoring the pain that the sudden movement caused when her watery eyes connected with the man's.

"Dad..."

Well there you go! I hope you liked it. What do you think about Sebastian? And Dalia's dad?! :O I'd love to hear what you think in a review :) School starts very soon so updates will probably still be slow and I'm really sorry about that! Thank you for reading :)