Chapter 25

I lay on the bed trying to forget the torture and humiliation I went through all day. I tried to convince myself that the curses were the worst part but I knew better. Tom had taken from me something I held in high regard, my virtue. I had found one of Tom's old shirts and a pair of his boxers to put on. My clothes were a mess and I didn't want to be exposed anymore. I looked down with contempt at my left arm and saw the mark Tom had given me. A skull with a snake…it was still fresh and stung my arm with a cold burning sensation. I then recalled Abraxas and our rendezvous at the forbidden forest. I slowly got up, careful not to cause any more pain than I was already in. I opened the door and luckily no one was there. I could hear laughter and conversations from the common room as I crept down the hallway. I scurried over to the girl's dormitory and carefully opened the door. Luckily, no one was inside. As I tiptoed in, the lights suddenly flickered on.

"Eliana!" I turned and was relieved to see Corie standing near the door in shock.

"Corie," I said weakly. I rushed to her and hugged her. I was swept with emotions but mostly happiness that she was okay and I was still alive to have my best friend in my arms. She led me to my bed and helped me sit down. She examined my scratched up face and bruised arms. She got out her wand and quickly started working to heal my wounds. Since she was a quidditch player, she was well versed in healing magic. I winced has I felt my wound slowly close up.

"What did he do to you, Eli?"

"I don't want to talk about it…"

"We need to tell someone. He can't do this to you."

"No! We can't tell anyone," I said as I turned to face her. Her eyes were filled with worry and disdain.

"Eli, look at you! He can't get away with this!"

"You don't understand!"

"Then help me understand!" I examined her face. I wanted to tell her everything; about Myrtle, Hargrid, his father, my deer Kreeny, the death eaters and last night. However, I knew giving her this information could and probably would cost her life.

"Corie, if I tell you…"

"Tell me anyways," he urged, "Eli, I told you, we're in this together… No matter what."

I looked her in the eyes and in all seriousness I said, "Even if the price is your life?"

She didn't event flinch and she assured me with a nod of her head, "As cliché as this may sound but as long as we love and support each other, Eli, death is a cheap price to pay."

And there it was… We quickly locked and secured the room so as not to have a repeat of last time and I spilled everything. As I looked at my clock, it was already fifteen minutes before midnight. I had just finished my story and Corie looked shocked, bewildered, terrified, and infuriated all at the same time.

"He's…Eli… This is…" She stumbled.

"Are you still glad I told you?" I asked.

"Well of course I'm glad you told me. I wish you had told me sooner…"

"He threatened you Corie…"

"And he will keep threatening you until you get up the courage to fight back."

"I did fight back Corie and look what happened," I said holding back the tears.

"I'm sorry, Eli… but you shouldn't have fought him on your own. You have Abraxas and me, we c-"

"He would have killed you both."

"You're lucky he didn't kill you!"

"He isn't going to kill me…"

"How are you so sure?" Corie asked skeptically.

"He told me… I'm not sure what he meant by him needing something from me but something tells me he hasn't gotten it yet."

"So what do we do now then?" I sighed and got up to get my jeans and a hoodie.

"Now, we bury the closest one I had to a mother," I said. Corie nodded in understanding and picked up a hoodie as well. We removed the spell from the room and headed out to the common room. People were starting to head back to their dormitories as we tried to sneak out. I held my hood up so no one would question the remaining bruises and scars. I could feel my body ache tremendously but I ignored it as we maneuvered our way out of the castle. We were sure that at least three prefects had seen us sneaking around but they paid no mind to us, probably thanks to Abraxas. As we entered the forest, I started to quietly call for Abraxas.

"Eli! Over here!" We looked over to see Abraxas next to a group of tall oaks deeper in the forest. We quickly staggered over to him then he gave me a warm embrace. He stopped when he felt me wince slightly from the pain. Before I could stop him, he let me go and unhooded me revealing my battered face and neck. I quickly grabbed the hood back and covered myself.

"What happened? Eli? Did he do this to you?" Abraxas asked in horror.

"Not now, Abraxas. She's been through enough," Corie came at my defense.

"Where's Kreeny?" I asked. Abraxas looked skeptical but gave in. He turned his head back and nodded towards a small lump of sheets next to the tree. He had wrapped Kreeny's body in a small white sheet a few times you could hardly recognize the outline of her body. I walked over to her and kneeled down placing my hand on her head.

"I'm sorry my dear friend. I should've saved you," I whispered. I could hear Abraxas and Corie using magic to dig a fairly deep hole as I said my last goodbyes. After a few moments, I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I turned to see Corie's sad face telling me it was time. She had only met Kreeny once or twice during the rare times she was able to visit me at my father's house. However, they both were immediately fond of each other. Corie had once said that Kreeny was like a sweet little grandma everyone wished they had while Kreeny had called Corie "the feisty one."

"It's time," Abraxas called softly. I nodded and stood up next to Corie as they levitated Kreeny and gently lowered her down. Then, as I whispered my last goodbye, we slowly covered her in dirt so she could rest peacefully.

When we finished mourning the loss of my dear friend, we headed towards the castle with Corie in the lead. Abraxas had taken this chance to hold my hand as we walked quietly back. I was still too weak to apparate back so we all agreed to sneak back in. This time, all the prefects had gone to bed and the halls were empty. As we reached the Slytherin common room, I slowly slipped my hand away from Abraxas just in case Tom was waiting at the door. To my relief, he wasn't.

"I'm going to bed. I need to start packing early tomorrow," I nodded as Corie said good night and proceeded to go upstairs to the dormitory. I reminded myself to tell Corie that I couldn't stay with her this summer. Even if I wanted nothing more but to stay away from Tom this summer, I didn't want to risk losing another friend.

"Eliana," Abraxas choked, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you there. I-"

I turned to Abraxas and placed my hand on the side of his face.

"Stop it. This is not your fault. And there's not point in regretting it now."

I saw him taking a deep breath in and stared in my eyes. His eyes were tired and his skin was paler than usual. I could tell he hadn't gotten much sleep these past few days.

"Abraxas… please go to bed…" He tried to argue but I didn't give him the time to. I said goodbye, give him a small smile and walked up to my dormitory. I wanted to so much to hug him, to have him hold me in his arms but it was risky. I couldn't take any more risks…