The Raspberries made their way back into the dreary gloom of the largest
room in this dismally large, ominous building. The girls wondered of the
negative vibes were due to some unforeseen danger, or merely from what they
had already been through. Lucia, Gwen, Janine, and Christina were all
stumbling along in an awkward manner, as their legs had been unused and
tied tightly for nearly a month. Their muscles did not seem to desire to
cooperate with them. Fern, Felicia, and Felicia, the healthier Raspberries,
who had eaten their most recent proper meal last night rather than last
month, were tensely looking around, expecting calamity to strike them from
behind every door.
Their guard was down by the time they reached the big room; they had come with the hope that perhaps "they weren't home," as Janine had hopefully put it, cradling her left arm, agony etched on her face.
The cruelly tight bonds had been the least of the injuries for Lucia and Janine. Gwen and Christina had escaped virtually unscathed, besides some gashes in their upper arm and ankles, but Janine and Lucia had sustained injuries which could prove severe in their already weakened condition. Janine had been literally thrown around, still tied to the wooden chair, which had been too small for her until she had begun losing weight from the scant rations allotted by CERP, and had landed painfully on her particularly forcefully trussed-up left arm. This was a misfortune indeed, as the Hispanic Raspberry was a lefty. The arm was mottled with black and blue, and Janine found herself unable to move it. It was hanging limply at her side, nigh on lifelessness. The makeshift sling which Christina had handily constructed only helped to alleviate its harmful mobility somewhat, and the pain zilch.
Lucia, meanwhile, was barely able to see. During one instance of coercive interrogation, Lucia had been brutally hit across the face numerous times by the strongest of the CERP members, Donald, whose last name was unknown for the moment. She had been jabbed in one eye with a pointed object, and this eye was swollen completely shut, and encircled with a rim of black extending out just shy of an inch and a half. The other eye was also bordered by a livid bruise, and was squinty and bloodshot as the result of the punches inflicted upon it. Lucia's nose looked as if it were possibly broken, and she had a puffy, split lip.
The Raspberries reached the center of the big room, and glanced around at all the doors, pondering the possible exits. Neither Felicia, Daphne, nor Fern could recall the way into this cheerless abode. Fern was standing next to a large black tapestry, and she began sliding it aside to check what was behind it. Near this tapestry was a secret door, unseen by the Raspberries. Fern was out of the line of vision of this door, which would prove to be the undoing of CERP's intentions.
Without warning, the secret door opened with an ear shattering crash, causing an element of surprise which was to the advantage of Judith and Donald, the CERP members who had been concealed behind this door, awaiting their opportunity to strike. Fern, quickly regaining her wits, ducked behind the tapestry. The slender girl pressed herself against what appeared to be a wall, barely making an impression in the curtain, which stuck out just enough for Fern to not leave a visible outline. The girl tensely grasped at the stone, pondering what she was to do.
Before the others even had a chance of regaining their composure, CERP had hit all six with the Imperius Curse fast as lightning; first Felicia and Daphne, the strongest of the six in the open, then Gwen and Christina, then Janine and Lucia, who were very weak and could barely defend themselves if they gave all their dwindling energy. Fern watched this spectacle through the smallest of tears in the curtain, shocked, wondering what she, merely one thirteen-year-old, could do against two powerful adults to help six other thirteen year olds. She was second in class rank out of thirty students, but nothing she had been taught could possibly help her for this. If only her father had taught her a charm of self-defense which could overcome two older, wiser, and stronger than herself!
While Fern cowered behind the curtains wondering what an appropriate act of courage would be, Felicia was the first of the other Raspberries to begin fighting a battle within herself. The empty, echoing feeling in her head was very calming and shoved all the troubles from her head, yet another voice was insistently urging her to fight this wonderfully refreshing echo within her head; to gather her intellect and courage. Then a new urging came within her already shambled mind. "Come now, follow us." As only Fern could understand, this was Judith Malfoy urging Felicia to follow her to a small room, in order to give her orders. None of the Raspberries knew it, but the five principal members of CERP were intending to use the ensnared Raspberries in their dastardly plots, and kill any who resisted them by a slow, immensely painful manner of homicide.
Felicia stood rooted to the spot, uncertainly shuffling her feet in a confused manner as she waged war against herself, or rather, the fetters binding her mind to the will of CERP. She was utterly bewildered by the voices of "Follow me!" and, "Never, never!" echoing around her otherwise blissfully empty thoughts. Even as Judith's order grew more furious, the, "Never, never!" was growing more vehement. "Come with me, Felicia Belasca! Come to us!"
"Never!" As the tall brunette shouted this exclamation loud, the dream state dissipated, leaving her once more aware of her surroundings.
"Never?" A cruel smile flitted across Judith's face. Donald, too, was leering at her. Felicia's hand inched towards her pocket, hoping the movement was inconspicuous, and gripped her wand.
As Felicia drew, Judith whipped out her own wand from a belt encrusted with a buckle replicating a red-eyed dragon, and cried, "Expelliarmus!" Felicia's wands, and all of her hopes, flew out of her grasp. The now helpless girl made a sudden move in the direction of Judith's hand, her immediate impulse.
"I don't think so," the leader of CERP, a sadistic smile creeping slowly across her face. Donald also drew his wand, unseen by Felicia, whose back was turned to him. Donald drew the index finger of his free left hand swiftly across his throat. This was the signal to begin Felicia's excruciating demise. After completing the finger-draw, Donald suddenly grabbed Felicia, pulling her arms behind her back so tightly that her shoulder blades cracked. Judith seized a strong hold of Felicia's left upper arm, and Donald forcefully yanked the slender brunette around, causing another crack in Felicia's shoulder, coupled with a searing pain of a strained muscle. Judith nodded at Donald, who threw Felicia to the floor with as mush force as he could muster, which was a lot. Felicia landed on her already-injured shoulder with a small wince of pain, biting back a yelp she knew would amuse her tormentors. She attempted to climb to her feet, and was ruthlessly shoved back to the floor by Judith. She tried again, and was forced down once more.
"So you want to get up?" Judith asked, a smile playing at her lips. "Well, then, Donald, let her get up!"
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Donald pointed his wand at Felicia and levitated her 15 feet in the air. Felicia gave a yell.
"Put me down, put me down right now you bastard!" Felicia yelled furiously, yet slightly scared.
"You heard her," Judith said with a smirk. Donald lifted the spell while Felicia was still up high in the air, and she fell to the floor with a heavy crash. Her ears ringing, Felicia pushed herself up on her elbows, riddled with discomfort, glared, and opened her mouth to say something, but a groan of pain came out on something.
"Aww, is poor Felicia Belasca in pain?" Donald asked mockingly. "Hey, Judith, I think she's hurting," he emphasized, as the teenaged Raspberry rubbed her shoulder. "She think she's felt all the pain she ever will."
"Well, there is worse pain," Judith laughed, as Donald kept lifting Felicia off the ground with his levitation spell and lowering her, enjoying the young brunette's trepidation. "Shall I give it to her?"
"Why, I think you ought to," Donald said, lifting the Raspberr back up to the ceiling.
"Okay then, Crucio!" Judith Malfoy had just bewitched the girl with the Cruciatus Curse, one of her specialties, which caused extreme pain for the target. Felicia started to be contorted into grotesque shapes, jerking and twitching with such a force that she seemed to be being bounced about on thin air.
Fern was not present to witness this horrifying spectacle. As her friend had been silently fighting the Imperius Curse, Fern had been groping the wall, and found something totally unexpected: a doorknob. When Judith began shouting at her still ensnared friend, Fern took this opportunity to swiftly open the door and make a break for it, intending to find an exit and possible help.
Felicia was enveloped with a pain beyond anything she had ever imagined, let alone experienced. She felt as if she were being cut to quivering shreds with thousands of daggers: hot and icy cold, sharp and callously dulled alike. As these knives were slashing and stabbing, she was being sank into the hottest part of the fire of a furnace as corrosive, flammable acids and bases were being dumped upon every atom of her torturous shell of a body. It was like being beaten with whips with shards of glass imbedded within the strands of leaden rope. It was like she was being trampled by an unseen giant with spiky metal cleats. It was as if she were being delivered swift kicks in the ribs, hips, limbs, and head alike by steel-toed boots. An piercing scream of torment burst forward from the afflicted girl's lips, high=pitched and extremely hard on the ears. The other Raspberries were dimly aware of this through the haze in their minds, and they, particularly Daphne and Janine, were also tormented by ensuing struggles not unlike the one Felicia had originally endured.
Fern felt a thrill of horror within the labyrinthine halls as Felicia's cries reached her ears. She was disoriented and confused, lost in the maze, and made the decision to turn back, following the sound of the cries.
Eight minutes later, Fern had returned to the door from whence she had come, attracted by the unknown yells which sounded disturbingly familiar. She pulled it open, inaudible to anyone, and ducked back behind the tapestry. She peeped through the hole to discern a shocking sight. Felicia was levitated about fifteen feet in the air, and being twisted into grotesque shapes while jerking in numerous unnatural manners. Even laying the heartbreaking shrieks aside, Fern still knew that her close friend was undergoing excruciating pain. She felt herself blanch as she watched the wide, agonized eyes; the bone-pale face of Felicia, the tears pouring down her suffering, terrified face. Fern then surveyed the other Raspberries, who seemed to be just standing there. All save Janine and Daphne, who seemed to be moving somewhat. Taking a chance which would prove ill if Donald or Judith turned around, Fern swiftly threw aside the tapestry and waved at Janine and Daphne. This seemed to break the trance as both girls nodded at her. Fern felt the slightest of relief, this meant she was no longer her own entity against Judith and Donald, as Felicia was being tortured to the brink of death.
Fern beckoned Daphne and Janine to creep closer, and Daphne mimicked a faint, falling within earshot of Fern as she pretended to be unconscious. "Get Felicia's wand for Janine," Fern hissed. The long-forgotten wand was lying near the tapestry; the direction it had flown when their friend had been disarmed. Daphne quickly grasped the wand and tossed it to Janine. The rather skilled Seeker deftly caught it in her right hand, and grasped it so tightly her knuckles were whitening. Just then, Donald and Judith lifted the Cruciatus Curse. Fern quickly ducked back behind the black tapestry, her heart pounding so hard the blonde was sure her presence would be heard by malevolent ears. On an impulse, Daphne and Janine quickly assumed their positions from before, Janine quickly tucking Felicia's wand into her pocket. Her own wand had apparently been confiscated by Judith or one of her CERP cohorts.
Felicia fell to the ground with a thud as Donald lifted the Levitation Charm. Under normal circumstances, the fall of 15 feet would have hurt considerably, but the injured Raspberry took no notice of the fall; the pain was trivial compared to what she ha just been put through. There were still spasms within her body that sent her reeling with pain. The blue-eyed brunette lay there in a stupor, barely conscious, seeing the others through a dense mist before her eyes. She was vaguely aware she could only see five.. Where was number six, and who was missing? She was oblivious to the fact that Fern was nearby, concealed, ready to intervene when her chance came, which was a shame because the girl would have taken heart from this simple knowledge.
Judith delivered a savage kick to Felicia's left side near the midriff, knocking the wind out of the panting girl. This action caused Felicia to give a loud groan and double up with a few more minute whimpers demonstrating authentic discomfort. "Are you ready to cooperate yet, Belasca? Or are you in need of another reminder? Obey us, you see? Here's an example of a reminder for you!" On Judith's second mention of reminders, Donald drew back his foot and provided Felicia with a second thrust, this time near her left shoulder. Felicia gave a small cry; she was too sapped of energy to yell any louder than she just had. She was taking a while to process what Judith had just said with a menacing air. The two CERP members smiled as they looked upon the forlorn figure of the Raspberry, feeling no pity within their stony hearts.
Judith raised her wand a second time, about to treat Felicia to a second dosage of the Cruciatus Curse, knowing that if she kept it up as long as she had just before, that this pathetic gangling teenager would perish at last, a slow, cruel death. This movement seemed to push a button in the swirling fog of Felicia's tormented soul, and she mustered all her remaining strength and leapt to her feet, grabbing at Judith's wand hand and snapping the wooden stick in two.
Judith was infuriated. How dare this insolent child do this to her? She took a vicious consolation in the knowledge that the wands of this girl's friends were lying in her pocket. She dealt Felicia such a hard blow that the brunette collapsed back to the ground, stunned, once more in a semiconscious condition. A mirthless smirk playing at her lips, Judith drew her finger swiftly across her throat, once again signaling for a repeated combination of enchantments. Donald lifted the prone figure slowly into the air with his wand, this time barely six feet up, so that Felicia was at eye level with Judith, and just a few inches below his range of vision. Judith selected a wand from her pocket and drew. Fern's mouth went agape as she recognized it as Christina's wand.
"Crucio!" The all-mighty pain consumed Felicia once more, every atom of her body was searing with this bizarre torment. The attention of herself and Donald were fixed entirely on this entertainment, watching the girl experience a sluggish, agonizing passing.
Fern whipped out her wand, poised to strike. She stuck her around the curtain, saying, "Now." Felicia's dreams blocked out the audibility of Fern's quiet voice, but Daphne and Janine understood what she had just mouthed.
Fern threw herself around the curtain, as Janine and Daphne rushed forward, grabbing the arms of Felicia's tormentors. Daphne had gone for Donald and Janine Judith. This turned out to be a poor choice, as Donald had 160 pounds on the redhead who had gone for his arm, and threw her off as easily as if she were a rag doll. At the same time, he took the Levitation enchantment off of Felicia, who struck the ground with a cry, even as she was still possessed by the cruelty of the Cruciatus Curse.
Daphne found herself sent flying across the room as Donald had smote her with a heavy backhand. She was sent crashing headfirst into a wall, and felt one detonation of pain before everything went dark. The smallest of the Raspberries crumpled to the floor, knocked senseless by the blow to her head. A pool of blood was trickling out where her head had struck stone, dripping down past her brow and down the right side of her face.
Meanwhile, Judith quickly turned her wand on Janine, intoning, "Impedimenta!" She would have used the Killing Curse, but preferred entertainment by giving this impudent girl a slow death once Janine was subdued to her own will. Janine stumbled and fell over, unluckily lading on her left arm. This fresh injury sent a pain slashing up and down her arm, somehow echoing throughout the whole of her body.
Stupefy!" Fern pointed her wand at Donald and screamed this word, fortunately remembering one self-defense enchantment that her father had taught her. The tall, massively-built man fell unconscious to the floor. Then she quickly turned Felicia to prevent further hurt to the already debilitated friend, but it was too late.
For even as she had stunned Donald, Judith had turned her wand back of Felicia after ensnaring Janine with the temporary remedy of the Impediment Curse. She whispered two choice words.. Not the quick Avada Kedavra Curse, but the incantation to the newest Unforgivable, added only recently, in 2012. This was the Transmogrifian Torture, a hex which Judith had avidly researched even as a Hogwarts pupil. This curse was designed to change a person into a rigidified state, often mistook for rigor mortis. However, this curse often proved fatal, as it also froze the heart and mind. This inflexible state spread slowly from the tips of the fingers and toes up, reaching the vitals lost, meanwhile causing discomfort as mobility decreased markedly. In fact only one area of each limb was affected at a time, and as the hardness moved upwards and in, it left behind an unexplainable limpness which still felt like immobility to he afflicted victim. What appealed to Judith was that when used directly after the Cruciatus Curse, the Curse produced a burning sensation, the halfway between the point of the Transmogrifian Torture alone and the Cruciatus Curse, which was rather painful indeed, especially when the prey made an effort to move.
Knowing these comical (at least to a sadist) facts, Judith muttered the words to the curse which only Felicia caught, but vaguely, causing a jet of orange light to issue from her wand and strike the already sickly Felicia. The hit caused a flash of pain to reverberate through her body, but then it subsided.. For the time being.
Fern spotted the orange light even as she turned to Judith She raised her wand, ready to act, when there was a second flash of red light.. Another Stunner, done by Janine, who had retrieved Felicia's wand and skillfully repeated the incantation Fern had used. This was her first attempt at the magic charm as far as the young Potter knew.
"Good job Janine.." Fern's blue-gray eyes took in the scene.. Felicia shuddering uncontrollably on the turf, Daphne crumpled at the foot of the stone wall, Gwen, Christina, and ucia seemingly rooted to the spot. Fern pulled Janine to a feet by the good arm.
"Thanks," Janine said vaguely, her face bloodless. They were in a terrible fix. How were they to get back to any shelter, let alone Hogwarts, when only two were in a reasonably sound state?
However, fortune helped them for once, for Gwen, Christina, and Lucia had also begun to fight by the looks of it, Janine could sense the ensuing struggle in their eyes. Their Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons earlier in the year had helped them handy. Professor Rollins may be an odd character, Fern decided, but he truly is a good teacher. The professor had the tendency to hallucinate "little birdie friends" and other queer things, but his vigilance and ability to teach might have saved them all. Fern, meanwhile, was pondering about the orange light.. A product, Rollins had said, of the Transmogrifian Torture. It was safe to assume that this was a new devilry bestowed upon Felicia. Fern felt her eyes smarting; she hated to see her good friends in such pain.
"We ought to help arouse them," Janine said. The girls began encircling those battling the Imperius Curse, urgently bidding them to fight and beat it, encouraging them with statements of, "You can do it, I have faith in you."
Christina was the first strong personality to overcome the Unforgivable, and she signaled this with at toss of her auburn hair. "Will someone please enlighten me on what is going on? What was with all the screaming, Janine? How's your arm feeling?"
"I'll explain later, just help me and Fern with Gwen and Luce here." Fern was making a futile attempt to "awaken" Lucia, perhaps the biggest pacifist and most reluctant to fight of the Raspberries. Janine, after telling Christina why she felt so confused, went to Gwen, while Christina attempted to alert Lucia.
Gwen was the next to entirely throw off the Imperius Curse after only a brief period of urgent support from Janine, and went to help the others with Lucia. "Go ahead, Fern, see to Felicia and Daphne." Fern hurried over to the trembling Felicia, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder. Her friend gave a heartbreaking yelp of pain, and Fern quickly withdrew her hand. "I'm sorry, Felicia. Be right back." Fern dashed to Dapne's side, turning over the redhead, who was lying facedown. To her relief, Daphne moaned and her eyes flickered.
"Please come back.. We need your help." Daphne's green eyes slowly came back into focus.
"Fern? My head hurts, Fern." What happened?" She put her hand to where the worst throbbing was, and saw it was caked with blood when she withdrew it. "Ugh.."
"You hit your head.. Please help us, before these monsters reawaken, or more come. I'll get you standing." Fern lifted the quaking redhead to her feet, and Daphne attempted to shake the cobwebs out of her dazed head. The two girls knelt at Felicia's side, hissing words of encouragement to her and asking her to hang on.
Felicia blinked slowly, trying to make the faces of her friends swim into focus. Their faces were haggard, and Felicia finally recalled one. Daphne. "Daphne." she whispered, her voice barely audible. Her toes and fingers were killing her, and she felt unable to move them. When she forced the smallest of wriggles I her right thumb, a wave of pain issued from this finger, spreading up her arms like white-hot daggers and echoing through her body, reverberating through her head and torso, causing more spasms of pain. Felicia bit her tongue in an effort not to cry out.
"Save your strength, don't try to talk," Daphne said. At the same time, Lucia's voice finally announced that she had overcome the curse ensnaring her.
"I'm.. I'm so sorry.. About everything," Felicia said, tears squeezing out of her eyes and feeling like sulfuric acid as they rolled down her cheeks. There's so much I want to tell you, so little time.."
"You'll get better!" Daphne insisted, scarcely believing the words even as she uttered them. She fervently hoped her friend/rival wasn't giving up hope, and she felt extreme guilt about how she ha treated Felicia since the beginning of the years.. Over a boy, of all things to heatedly bicker over! They had had a crush in common, and this had all but ruined their fragile friendship. If only she could turn back time, Daphne would have helped Felicia to obtain the boy of her dreams, Augustus Hart, when she had still had a crush on him. Alas, it could be too late now. Daphne attempted not to entertain such dark thoughts, but it wasn't easy.
"I. I can't.." Felicia finally felt the last of her strength leave her, and her head fell back limply in the arms of her two friends as the last ounce of her strength abandoned her.
Their guard was down by the time they reached the big room; they had come with the hope that perhaps "they weren't home," as Janine had hopefully put it, cradling her left arm, agony etched on her face.
The cruelly tight bonds had been the least of the injuries for Lucia and Janine. Gwen and Christina had escaped virtually unscathed, besides some gashes in their upper arm and ankles, but Janine and Lucia had sustained injuries which could prove severe in their already weakened condition. Janine had been literally thrown around, still tied to the wooden chair, which had been too small for her until she had begun losing weight from the scant rations allotted by CERP, and had landed painfully on her particularly forcefully trussed-up left arm. This was a misfortune indeed, as the Hispanic Raspberry was a lefty. The arm was mottled with black and blue, and Janine found herself unable to move it. It was hanging limply at her side, nigh on lifelessness. The makeshift sling which Christina had handily constructed only helped to alleviate its harmful mobility somewhat, and the pain zilch.
Lucia, meanwhile, was barely able to see. During one instance of coercive interrogation, Lucia had been brutally hit across the face numerous times by the strongest of the CERP members, Donald, whose last name was unknown for the moment. She had been jabbed in one eye with a pointed object, and this eye was swollen completely shut, and encircled with a rim of black extending out just shy of an inch and a half. The other eye was also bordered by a livid bruise, and was squinty and bloodshot as the result of the punches inflicted upon it. Lucia's nose looked as if it were possibly broken, and she had a puffy, split lip.
The Raspberries reached the center of the big room, and glanced around at all the doors, pondering the possible exits. Neither Felicia, Daphne, nor Fern could recall the way into this cheerless abode. Fern was standing next to a large black tapestry, and she began sliding it aside to check what was behind it. Near this tapestry was a secret door, unseen by the Raspberries. Fern was out of the line of vision of this door, which would prove to be the undoing of CERP's intentions.
Without warning, the secret door opened with an ear shattering crash, causing an element of surprise which was to the advantage of Judith and Donald, the CERP members who had been concealed behind this door, awaiting their opportunity to strike. Fern, quickly regaining her wits, ducked behind the tapestry. The slender girl pressed herself against what appeared to be a wall, barely making an impression in the curtain, which stuck out just enough for Fern to not leave a visible outline. The girl tensely grasped at the stone, pondering what she was to do.
Before the others even had a chance of regaining their composure, CERP had hit all six with the Imperius Curse fast as lightning; first Felicia and Daphne, the strongest of the six in the open, then Gwen and Christina, then Janine and Lucia, who were very weak and could barely defend themselves if they gave all their dwindling energy. Fern watched this spectacle through the smallest of tears in the curtain, shocked, wondering what she, merely one thirteen-year-old, could do against two powerful adults to help six other thirteen year olds. She was second in class rank out of thirty students, but nothing she had been taught could possibly help her for this. If only her father had taught her a charm of self-defense which could overcome two older, wiser, and stronger than herself!
While Fern cowered behind the curtains wondering what an appropriate act of courage would be, Felicia was the first of the other Raspberries to begin fighting a battle within herself. The empty, echoing feeling in her head was very calming and shoved all the troubles from her head, yet another voice was insistently urging her to fight this wonderfully refreshing echo within her head; to gather her intellect and courage. Then a new urging came within her already shambled mind. "Come now, follow us." As only Fern could understand, this was Judith Malfoy urging Felicia to follow her to a small room, in order to give her orders. None of the Raspberries knew it, but the five principal members of CERP were intending to use the ensnared Raspberries in their dastardly plots, and kill any who resisted them by a slow, immensely painful manner of homicide.
Felicia stood rooted to the spot, uncertainly shuffling her feet in a confused manner as she waged war against herself, or rather, the fetters binding her mind to the will of CERP. She was utterly bewildered by the voices of "Follow me!" and, "Never, never!" echoing around her otherwise blissfully empty thoughts. Even as Judith's order grew more furious, the, "Never, never!" was growing more vehement. "Come with me, Felicia Belasca! Come to us!"
"Never!" As the tall brunette shouted this exclamation loud, the dream state dissipated, leaving her once more aware of her surroundings.
"Never?" A cruel smile flitted across Judith's face. Donald, too, was leering at her. Felicia's hand inched towards her pocket, hoping the movement was inconspicuous, and gripped her wand.
As Felicia drew, Judith whipped out her own wand from a belt encrusted with a buckle replicating a red-eyed dragon, and cried, "Expelliarmus!" Felicia's wands, and all of her hopes, flew out of her grasp. The now helpless girl made a sudden move in the direction of Judith's hand, her immediate impulse.
"I don't think so," the leader of CERP, a sadistic smile creeping slowly across her face. Donald also drew his wand, unseen by Felicia, whose back was turned to him. Donald drew the index finger of his free left hand swiftly across his throat. This was the signal to begin Felicia's excruciating demise. After completing the finger-draw, Donald suddenly grabbed Felicia, pulling her arms behind her back so tightly that her shoulder blades cracked. Judith seized a strong hold of Felicia's left upper arm, and Donald forcefully yanked the slender brunette around, causing another crack in Felicia's shoulder, coupled with a searing pain of a strained muscle. Judith nodded at Donald, who threw Felicia to the floor with as mush force as he could muster, which was a lot. Felicia landed on her already-injured shoulder with a small wince of pain, biting back a yelp she knew would amuse her tormentors. She attempted to climb to her feet, and was ruthlessly shoved back to the floor by Judith. She tried again, and was forced down once more.
"So you want to get up?" Judith asked, a smile playing at her lips. "Well, then, Donald, let her get up!"
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Donald pointed his wand at Felicia and levitated her 15 feet in the air. Felicia gave a yell.
"Put me down, put me down right now you bastard!" Felicia yelled furiously, yet slightly scared.
"You heard her," Judith said with a smirk. Donald lifted the spell while Felicia was still up high in the air, and she fell to the floor with a heavy crash. Her ears ringing, Felicia pushed herself up on her elbows, riddled with discomfort, glared, and opened her mouth to say something, but a groan of pain came out on something.
"Aww, is poor Felicia Belasca in pain?" Donald asked mockingly. "Hey, Judith, I think she's hurting," he emphasized, as the teenaged Raspberry rubbed her shoulder. "She think she's felt all the pain she ever will."
"Well, there is worse pain," Judith laughed, as Donald kept lifting Felicia off the ground with his levitation spell and lowering her, enjoying the young brunette's trepidation. "Shall I give it to her?"
"Why, I think you ought to," Donald said, lifting the Raspberr back up to the ceiling.
"Okay then, Crucio!" Judith Malfoy had just bewitched the girl with the Cruciatus Curse, one of her specialties, which caused extreme pain for the target. Felicia started to be contorted into grotesque shapes, jerking and twitching with such a force that she seemed to be being bounced about on thin air.
Fern was not present to witness this horrifying spectacle. As her friend had been silently fighting the Imperius Curse, Fern had been groping the wall, and found something totally unexpected: a doorknob. When Judith began shouting at her still ensnared friend, Fern took this opportunity to swiftly open the door and make a break for it, intending to find an exit and possible help.
Felicia was enveloped with a pain beyond anything she had ever imagined, let alone experienced. She felt as if she were being cut to quivering shreds with thousands of daggers: hot and icy cold, sharp and callously dulled alike. As these knives were slashing and stabbing, she was being sank into the hottest part of the fire of a furnace as corrosive, flammable acids and bases were being dumped upon every atom of her torturous shell of a body. It was like being beaten with whips with shards of glass imbedded within the strands of leaden rope. It was like she was being trampled by an unseen giant with spiky metal cleats. It was as if she were being delivered swift kicks in the ribs, hips, limbs, and head alike by steel-toed boots. An piercing scream of torment burst forward from the afflicted girl's lips, high=pitched and extremely hard on the ears. The other Raspberries were dimly aware of this through the haze in their minds, and they, particularly Daphne and Janine, were also tormented by ensuing struggles not unlike the one Felicia had originally endured.
Fern felt a thrill of horror within the labyrinthine halls as Felicia's cries reached her ears. She was disoriented and confused, lost in the maze, and made the decision to turn back, following the sound of the cries.
Eight minutes later, Fern had returned to the door from whence she had come, attracted by the unknown yells which sounded disturbingly familiar. She pulled it open, inaudible to anyone, and ducked back behind the tapestry. She peeped through the hole to discern a shocking sight. Felicia was levitated about fifteen feet in the air, and being twisted into grotesque shapes while jerking in numerous unnatural manners. Even laying the heartbreaking shrieks aside, Fern still knew that her close friend was undergoing excruciating pain. She felt herself blanch as she watched the wide, agonized eyes; the bone-pale face of Felicia, the tears pouring down her suffering, terrified face. Fern then surveyed the other Raspberries, who seemed to be just standing there. All save Janine and Daphne, who seemed to be moving somewhat. Taking a chance which would prove ill if Donald or Judith turned around, Fern swiftly threw aside the tapestry and waved at Janine and Daphne. This seemed to break the trance as both girls nodded at her. Fern felt the slightest of relief, this meant she was no longer her own entity against Judith and Donald, as Felicia was being tortured to the brink of death.
Fern beckoned Daphne and Janine to creep closer, and Daphne mimicked a faint, falling within earshot of Fern as she pretended to be unconscious. "Get Felicia's wand for Janine," Fern hissed. The long-forgotten wand was lying near the tapestry; the direction it had flown when their friend had been disarmed. Daphne quickly grasped the wand and tossed it to Janine. The rather skilled Seeker deftly caught it in her right hand, and grasped it so tightly her knuckles were whitening. Just then, Donald and Judith lifted the Cruciatus Curse. Fern quickly ducked back behind the black tapestry, her heart pounding so hard the blonde was sure her presence would be heard by malevolent ears. On an impulse, Daphne and Janine quickly assumed their positions from before, Janine quickly tucking Felicia's wand into her pocket. Her own wand had apparently been confiscated by Judith or one of her CERP cohorts.
Felicia fell to the ground with a thud as Donald lifted the Levitation Charm. Under normal circumstances, the fall of 15 feet would have hurt considerably, but the injured Raspberry took no notice of the fall; the pain was trivial compared to what she ha just been put through. There were still spasms within her body that sent her reeling with pain. The blue-eyed brunette lay there in a stupor, barely conscious, seeing the others through a dense mist before her eyes. She was vaguely aware she could only see five.. Where was number six, and who was missing? She was oblivious to the fact that Fern was nearby, concealed, ready to intervene when her chance came, which was a shame because the girl would have taken heart from this simple knowledge.
Judith delivered a savage kick to Felicia's left side near the midriff, knocking the wind out of the panting girl. This action caused Felicia to give a loud groan and double up with a few more minute whimpers demonstrating authentic discomfort. "Are you ready to cooperate yet, Belasca? Or are you in need of another reminder? Obey us, you see? Here's an example of a reminder for you!" On Judith's second mention of reminders, Donald drew back his foot and provided Felicia with a second thrust, this time near her left shoulder. Felicia gave a small cry; she was too sapped of energy to yell any louder than she just had. She was taking a while to process what Judith had just said with a menacing air. The two CERP members smiled as they looked upon the forlorn figure of the Raspberry, feeling no pity within their stony hearts.
Judith raised her wand a second time, about to treat Felicia to a second dosage of the Cruciatus Curse, knowing that if she kept it up as long as she had just before, that this pathetic gangling teenager would perish at last, a slow, cruel death. This movement seemed to push a button in the swirling fog of Felicia's tormented soul, and she mustered all her remaining strength and leapt to her feet, grabbing at Judith's wand hand and snapping the wooden stick in two.
Judith was infuriated. How dare this insolent child do this to her? She took a vicious consolation in the knowledge that the wands of this girl's friends were lying in her pocket. She dealt Felicia such a hard blow that the brunette collapsed back to the ground, stunned, once more in a semiconscious condition. A mirthless smirk playing at her lips, Judith drew her finger swiftly across her throat, once again signaling for a repeated combination of enchantments. Donald lifted the prone figure slowly into the air with his wand, this time barely six feet up, so that Felicia was at eye level with Judith, and just a few inches below his range of vision. Judith selected a wand from her pocket and drew. Fern's mouth went agape as she recognized it as Christina's wand.
"Crucio!" The all-mighty pain consumed Felicia once more, every atom of her body was searing with this bizarre torment. The attention of herself and Donald were fixed entirely on this entertainment, watching the girl experience a sluggish, agonizing passing.
Fern whipped out her wand, poised to strike. She stuck her around the curtain, saying, "Now." Felicia's dreams blocked out the audibility of Fern's quiet voice, but Daphne and Janine understood what she had just mouthed.
Fern threw herself around the curtain, as Janine and Daphne rushed forward, grabbing the arms of Felicia's tormentors. Daphne had gone for Donald and Janine Judith. This turned out to be a poor choice, as Donald had 160 pounds on the redhead who had gone for his arm, and threw her off as easily as if she were a rag doll. At the same time, he took the Levitation enchantment off of Felicia, who struck the ground with a cry, even as she was still possessed by the cruelty of the Cruciatus Curse.
Daphne found herself sent flying across the room as Donald had smote her with a heavy backhand. She was sent crashing headfirst into a wall, and felt one detonation of pain before everything went dark. The smallest of the Raspberries crumpled to the floor, knocked senseless by the blow to her head. A pool of blood was trickling out where her head had struck stone, dripping down past her brow and down the right side of her face.
Meanwhile, Judith quickly turned her wand on Janine, intoning, "Impedimenta!" She would have used the Killing Curse, but preferred entertainment by giving this impudent girl a slow death once Janine was subdued to her own will. Janine stumbled and fell over, unluckily lading on her left arm. This fresh injury sent a pain slashing up and down her arm, somehow echoing throughout the whole of her body.
Stupefy!" Fern pointed her wand at Donald and screamed this word, fortunately remembering one self-defense enchantment that her father had taught her. The tall, massively-built man fell unconscious to the floor. Then she quickly turned Felicia to prevent further hurt to the already debilitated friend, but it was too late.
For even as she had stunned Donald, Judith had turned her wand back of Felicia after ensnaring Janine with the temporary remedy of the Impediment Curse. She whispered two choice words.. Not the quick Avada Kedavra Curse, but the incantation to the newest Unforgivable, added only recently, in 2012. This was the Transmogrifian Torture, a hex which Judith had avidly researched even as a Hogwarts pupil. This curse was designed to change a person into a rigidified state, often mistook for rigor mortis. However, this curse often proved fatal, as it also froze the heart and mind. This inflexible state spread slowly from the tips of the fingers and toes up, reaching the vitals lost, meanwhile causing discomfort as mobility decreased markedly. In fact only one area of each limb was affected at a time, and as the hardness moved upwards and in, it left behind an unexplainable limpness which still felt like immobility to he afflicted victim. What appealed to Judith was that when used directly after the Cruciatus Curse, the Curse produced a burning sensation, the halfway between the point of the Transmogrifian Torture alone and the Cruciatus Curse, which was rather painful indeed, especially when the prey made an effort to move.
Knowing these comical (at least to a sadist) facts, Judith muttered the words to the curse which only Felicia caught, but vaguely, causing a jet of orange light to issue from her wand and strike the already sickly Felicia. The hit caused a flash of pain to reverberate through her body, but then it subsided.. For the time being.
Fern spotted the orange light even as she turned to Judith She raised her wand, ready to act, when there was a second flash of red light.. Another Stunner, done by Janine, who had retrieved Felicia's wand and skillfully repeated the incantation Fern had used. This was her first attempt at the magic charm as far as the young Potter knew.
"Good job Janine.." Fern's blue-gray eyes took in the scene.. Felicia shuddering uncontrollably on the turf, Daphne crumpled at the foot of the stone wall, Gwen, Christina, and ucia seemingly rooted to the spot. Fern pulled Janine to a feet by the good arm.
"Thanks," Janine said vaguely, her face bloodless. They were in a terrible fix. How were they to get back to any shelter, let alone Hogwarts, when only two were in a reasonably sound state?
However, fortune helped them for once, for Gwen, Christina, and Lucia had also begun to fight by the looks of it, Janine could sense the ensuing struggle in their eyes. Their Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons earlier in the year had helped them handy. Professor Rollins may be an odd character, Fern decided, but he truly is a good teacher. The professor had the tendency to hallucinate "little birdie friends" and other queer things, but his vigilance and ability to teach might have saved them all. Fern, meanwhile, was pondering about the orange light.. A product, Rollins had said, of the Transmogrifian Torture. It was safe to assume that this was a new devilry bestowed upon Felicia. Fern felt her eyes smarting; she hated to see her good friends in such pain.
"We ought to help arouse them," Janine said. The girls began encircling those battling the Imperius Curse, urgently bidding them to fight and beat it, encouraging them with statements of, "You can do it, I have faith in you."
Christina was the first strong personality to overcome the Unforgivable, and she signaled this with at toss of her auburn hair. "Will someone please enlighten me on what is going on? What was with all the screaming, Janine? How's your arm feeling?"
"I'll explain later, just help me and Fern with Gwen and Luce here." Fern was making a futile attempt to "awaken" Lucia, perhaps the biggest pacifist and most reluctant to fight of the Raspberries. Janine, after telling Christina why she felt so confused, went to Gwen, while Christina attempted to alert Lucia.
Gwen was the next to entirely throw off the Imperius Curse after only a brief period of urgent support from Janine, and went to help the others with Lucia. "Go ahead, Fern, see to Felicia and Daphne." Fern hurried over to the trembling Felicia, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder. Her friend gave a heartbreaking yelp of pain, and Fern quickly withdrew her hand. "I'm sorry, Felicia. Be right back." Fern dashed to Dapne's side, turning over the redhead, who was lying facedown. To her relief, Daphne moaned and her eyes flickered.
"Please come back.. We need your help." Daphne's green eyes slowly came back into focus.
"Fern? My head hurts, Fern." What happened?" She put her hand to where the worst throbbing was, and saw it was caked with blood when she withdrew it. "Ugh.."
"You hit your head.. Please help us, before these monsters reawaken, or more come. I'll get you standing." Fern lifted the quaking redhead to her feet, and Daphne attempted to shake the cobwebs out of her dazed head. The two girls knelt at Felicia's side, hissing words of encouragement to her and asking her to hang on.
Felicia blinked slowly, trying to make the faces of her friends swim into focus. Their faces were haggard, and Felicia finally recalled one. Daphne. "Daphne." she whispered, her voice barely audible. Her toes and fingers were killing her, and she felt unable to move them. When she forced the smallest of wriggles I her right thumb, a wave of pain issued from this finger, spreading up her arms like white-hot daggers and echoing through her body, reverberating through her head and torso, causing more spasms of pain. Felicia bit her tongue in an effort not to cry out.
"Save your strength, don't try to talk," Daphne said. At the same time, Lucia's voice finally announced that she had overcome the curse ensnaring her.
"I'm.. I'm so sorry.. About everything," Felicia said, tears squeezing out of her eyes and feeling like sulfuric acid as they rolled down her cheeks. There's so much I want to tell you, so little time.."
"You'll get better!" Daphne insisted, scarcely believing the words even as she uttered them. She fervently hoped her friend/rival wasn't giving up hope, and she felt extreme guilt about how she ha treated Felicia since the beginning of the years.. Over a boy, of all things to heatedly bicker over! They had had a crush in common, and this had all but ruined their fragile friendship. If only she could turn back time, Daphne would have helped Felicia to obtain the boy of her dreams, Augustus Hart, when she had still had a crush on him. Alas, it could be too late now. Daphne attempted not to entertain such dark thoughts, but it wasn't easy.
"I. I can't.." Felicia finally felt the last of her strength leave her, and her head fell back limply in the arms of her two friends as the last ounce of her strength abandoned her.