And so it was, almost a week later, Alice and Frank found themselves in a huddle, surveying the run down old building that was Mestan Point from a safe distance. It was almost sunset and they'd been sitting in the same cramped, uncomfortable spot for almost three hours. They had not seen any Death Eaters leave or enter the building, but they presumed they'd all apparated straight inside. They were staying put until they were able to sneak in without anyone noticing.
Once Ali had been able to convince Frank of her plan, they had begun to work the details, coming almost at once, upon a rather fatal flaw. Neither of them had a clue where Mestan point was. Faced with no other option (they didn't dare ask others for information for fear of Crouch, or perhaps another Death Eater, over hearing) they spent a day that should have been used for relaxation, pouring over maps of the country, old and new. Eventually, while scouring over a fifty-year-old map of London, Ali came across an old muggle factory labelled 'Mestan Point'. The place had then been large and full of workers making steal and other such metals, but as there trade had slowed the company had gone bankrupt, leaving the factory to fall out of usage. Until, it seemed, an underground crew of evildoers used it for their new base.
Finding the place turned out to be the least of their problems in the end. Other mishaps proved themselves as they tried to organise even the simplest of things. How were they going to get there? Would anyone miss them at school? What on earth were they going to do when they got there? Eventually, after much toil and late nights, solutions were found and ideas formed. Frank sent himself an owl, saying it was from his Grandmother who was coming to Hogsmead for the day. He asked for permission for himself and Ali to spend the day in the village with her. Permission was granted. In the end, it took a long and tiring trip on the night bus and quite a lot of walking, before they reached their destination. And, even after all that spare thinking time, they were still not a hundred percent sure of what they were planning to do once inside.
"It's time."
Ali heard Frank stirring beside her. She lowered the binoculars they had brought with them from her eyes, surprised at how dark it had become. She had been so busy concentrating on the task in hand she hadn't noticed.
"Are you sure no one will still be in the corridors?" she asked swallowing hard.
"I'm sure," nodded Frank, "It's twenty-five past, and they won't want to be late, you saw what that note said."
She felt her insides shiver, but on the outside she kept a brave face and calm persona.
"Ok, lets go."
They ran silently down the grass mould they'd been hiding behind, then across the dusty car park towards the entrance they'd been planning to break through.
"You scared," asked Frank.
"No," replied Ali stoutly, a little to quickly.
His hand reached and took hold of hers, a small; half smile was on his lips.
"Me too."
Getting in was a lot easier they'd thought. Expecting chains and padlocks, they were surprised when they found the window wasn't even locked. Frank poked his head through; checking the cost was clear, and then gave Ali a leg up. Considering her size it was almost impossible for her to climb up herself. Once they were both safely inside they stood at a loss, unsure where to go.
"Come on," whispered Ali, running off down the corridor, pulling Frank behind her. They ran, not daring to speak, for aboutthree minutes before Frank skidded to a halt, almost pulling Ali over.
"Why'd you stop?" she hissed angrily.
Silently, he nodded towards a message daubed in red across the wall.
Death Eaters Meet in the third hall.
All must attend on pain of death.
Both of them gulped. The words themselves were creepy enough, but worse was the fact that the shade of red they had been written in was the exact same colour as fresh, human blood.
"Third hall? Where's that?" murmured Ali almost to herself.
"Well, we've already past what looked like a hall back their," whispered Frank, pointing, "That must be First Hall."
"So we carry on straight and we should come to two others?"
"I guess."
"Well, lets do this shit," said Ali in a fake 'New York cop' accent.
There shared a secret smile before continuing.
Second hall appeared on the horizon after just a few minutes. The large concrete cavern was completely empty as they peered the musty windows. The corridors and other side rooms were totally free from life too. They had seen not one person since they'd first stepped inside the building. They had been expecting to encounter some kind of resistance so the complete lack of trouble was oddly, unnerving.
"Look," breathed Frank softly, "Third Hall."
As Ali followed his gaze see too saw a large silver plaque proclaiming the words 'Third Hall' just a few metres away. Not even daring to breath, the pair tiptoed along the deserted walkway. They kept as close to the wall as they could as they glanced through the nearest window. It had been completely boarded over.
"Crap!" hissed Ali as she ran on to the second one. It too had been boarded over. So had the third.
"What are we going to do?" mouthed Frank, his brown eyes wide.
Without answering Ali pulled him further down the dark corridor, turning the corner when she came to it. No guards surrounded that wall either. She came to a halt triumphantly by a set of large double doors.
"We'll go through here."
"But that's the main entrance, we can't just go bursting through there or they'll see us!" protested Frank as quietly as he could.
"Not through there, through there," she jerked her head towards a smaller, nondescript door just to the right on the main ones. The dark brown paint was faded and chipped and there was a tiny, uncovered window at the top.
"That's a broom cupboard."
"Yes, I know," Ali replied exasperatedly, "But it leads into the main hall. Look, you can see a window through to it through this window." Sure enough there was a dark patch of ceiling visible in the tiny window. "We go in and look through that. Then we can see what's going on."
"Alright, but be careful, there could two hundred Death Eaters on the other side of that cupboard."
"You see what I mean about morbid," smirked Ali, unable to lose her chirpy side, despite their less than fun situation. "Happy thoughts Frankie, happy thoughts."
Once inside the cupboard they encountered a slight, hitch.
"I can't see!" muttered Frank, trying desperately to look through the tiny pane of glass. Even at a height of almost 6 foot he was still too short to reach the window, placed so high upon the door. A sudden burst of inspiration struck him and he glanced down
"Don't look a me," said Ali hurriedly, perched on an empty box, "I'm a shrimp remember!"
"But you can stand on my shoulders. I'll hold you up and you can look through."
Ali looked doubtful.
"We could try it the other way round," he suggested.
"Nah, I think I'll stick with the first option." She slid off the box and moved next to Frank. He carefully lifted her up and she stood gingerly on his shoulders, leaning most of her weight on the door. She rubbed a space clear on the dirty window and squinted through.
"Frank, I-"
Unfortunately, it was at that very moment the old door decided to give way. The pair tumbled head over heels straight into the middle of Third Hall.
The place was silent. Most likely due to it being completely and utterly, deserted.
"Ow!" whimpered Ali, sitting up and rubbing her head.
"You all right?" asked Frank with concern, pulling himself up from the heap on the floor and leaving over to check on her.
"I, I think so," she answered, shaking herself to check for broken bones, "You?"
"Yeah. Um…where are the Death Eaters?"
"I don't know. I was just gonna tell you when this stupid thing," she kicked the door, "fell through."
"You don't reckon we got the meeting place wrong?"
"No way. You saw Lestrange give Crouch that letter with your own two eyes. Not to mention those messages on the wall."
"Well where have they gone? They definitely aren't here." He gestured around the dark and empty chamber.
"They could have just moved on somewhere else," suggested Ali half-heartedly.
"Maybe. But I don't like this."
"Neither do I. Come on, lets get out of here!" The pair scrambled to their feet, ignoring the bumps and bruises they were covered in from their fall. They ran flat out towards the set of double doors, but before they could reach it a harsh voice echoed from the other side of the room.
"Accio wands."
Feeling the wooden stick fly from her grip Ali yelped in surprise. She whirled round but someone grabbed hold of her hands, pinning her arms behind her. A thick piece of black cloth was being tied around her eyes. She tried to yell, but there was already a gag cutting into the sides of her mouth. She kicked out as hard as she could, but somebody grabbed her legs before they made contact.
The amount of struggling and noise from beside her let her know Frank was being subjected to the same treatment.
Ali struggled as she felt herself being carried from the hall. How far they went was a mystery as all rational thought was lost in her fear for both herself and her boyfriend. She heard muttered words exchanged around her though she could not understand them. They sounded muffled, as though spoken through a mask. The bony fingers that gripped tightly around her wrist and ankles did not let go, until suddenly Ali felt herself flying through the air. She hit the ground and skidded a metre or so before crashing straight into the wall. Pain exploded in her back and shoulders. Winded on impact, she gasped and tried to rise to her feet, but before she could get higher than her knees she was pushed back down and thick coils of rope were tied around her. Her feet were binded, as were her hands; a strong length was also pulled across her stomach, pinning her to the wall. There were footsteps all around and the inaudible mutterings continued, but one sound was far more obvious than the rest.
Laughter.
A scratchy material was tickling her left ear. A pair of sharp fingers was undoing the knot at the back of her head. After a minute the cloth fell back revealing a much smaller room then the one they had previously been in. The place was full of flickering shadows. The dim orange light fell upon the disturbing array of swords and daggers covering the otherwise bare walls. Around six or seven Death Eaters were huddled together just in front of where she were tied, there faces still covered. One was crouched right next to her, double-checking the tightness of her ropes.
Her first thought was for Frank.
She twisted her neck as far as it could go in such tight bounds. To her excess relief she saw he looked as fine as he could in the circumstances. A fresh purple bruise was rising on the side of his face and there was a small cut just below his earlobe. Another Death Eater had removed the cloth from his eyes though he did not double-check the ropes. He carried three wands, one she recognised as her own, another as Frank's, the third was his own, a rough, charcoal black affair.
Frank was surveying his captor with a stony expression, his eyes full of loathing. Sensing rather than seeing Ali looking at him, he turned and stared right at her. An instant look shot between them. The same thought echoed strongly inside each mind.
'If we die, at least we die together.'
Not the happiest thing in the world, but it gave both comfort nevertheless.
The black clad figure in front of her was untying the gag around her mouth. She coughed and spat it out. The Death Eater laughed.
"You scared Girlie?"
Yes. Completely. Absolutely and totally scared shitless. But why give him the satisfaction of knowing.
She didn't even dignify it with a response.
The door to the room swung open and another walked in. He stopped in confusion when he saw the captive's eyes and mouths were uncovered.
"Why did you un-gag them?" he asked, his voice familiar.
"So they could say their dying words," replied Ali's Death Eater, straightening up. His voice was full of humour. "And so we could here them scream."
More laughter.
"Very good." The voice was so obvious yet she could place it.
He stepped forward and the other Death Eaters drew back to give him a good view of the pair. The two that had been tying them also drew back to stand beside their respective quarries. As she gazed up at the man (she knew it was a man from the voice) towering over her Ali shivered, she couldn't help herself. He slowly raised his hands and pulled back his hood.
Ali gasped, though; in retrospect she shouldn't have been all that surprised. It's what she'd been thinking all along of course, but it was still a shock to see it laid out so clearly in black and, well, black.
"Crouch!" spat Frank.
He was a Death Eater all right. And quite a high ranking one guessing by the respect the others gave him.
Uh-oh, trouble seems to have arisen for the pair. Can they escape? What's Crouch's big plan? Can they expose him? For all this and more, tune in, next week... Wait a moment slaps herself Snap out of it (sorry, to much TV). To be serious (shock!) i should post chapter four over the next few days.