A/N: Ok… I know that it's been a long time, but I was kind of preoccupied writing my other stories… I was so happy when I got new reviews for this story. I thought that nobody but KairiLuv was reading this… I personally thank you all, FuzzyPuff, Juicy-Fruit for Drako, and of course KairiLuv for sending in their reviews….
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter characters…
Part 4 (section 1)
Bella paced the conference room, her two tone eyes glazed and distant, yet serious. Her messy, tawny waves were billowing behind her and her brow was furrowed with frustration.
She had woken up in the middle of the night with the feeling that something was wrong. Very wrong. It had taken her all of an hour to figure out exactly what was wrong, but when she had it figured out she felt like smacking herself upside the head. She had run out the door in her pajamas and made her way across the empty streets of Memphis to their temporary headquarters.
Steve chose that moment to shuffle in through the door wearing his uniform and his handgun. He looked at Bella who still hadn't noticed him and noticed her disgruntled appearance. He strode towards her and put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to stop in her tracks. She looked up into his indigo eyes and spoke.
"Steve, we have to do something."
He gave her a confused look and whispered, "About what?"
"Don't you remember? Tomorrow is the four year anniversary of our case and it's Mary's birthday! What are we going to get her?" Bella inquired.
"Is that the only reason you're up here? Because you're worried about what to get Mary?"
Steve was unconvinced that that was the reason she was at HQ, but what else could be bothering her? He looked at the clock and said, "Bella, it's only three in the morning. Come back to the apartment and we'll figure out something for Mary later on."
Bella's eyes widened.
"Steve! I've got that lead that you and Mary thought was false figured out!"
Steve turned to stare at her. "You do?"
"Yes. Just sit down and I'll explain it."
Bella led him to a chair at the conference table before taking her own directly across from him.
"Okay, well you remember what brought us to Memphis in the first place right?"
Steve nodded.
"Yes, well the person who gave us the tip off said, 'She rests where the sun rises and sets behind a prison of broken emotions and dreams.' If you think about it you will notice that it doesn't make sense right? Because the sun can't rise and set in the same place correct?"
Another nod.
"Well then there is also the fact that he said 'behind a prison of broken emotions and dreams'. What would you think of as a prison of broken emotions and dreams?"
Steve tilted his head in thought. "Hmm... maybe a workplace of some kind..."
"Exactly! A workplace full of patients who have lost their sanity would have broken emotions and dreams correct?"
Steve stared at her. "Are you saying she's living behind an insane asylum?"
Bella sighed. "No, no, no! Not an insane asylum but maybe a psychiatric facility of some sorts. There's one in the exact dead center of town. Maybe by 'Where the sun rises and sets' he meant where things begin and things end. That leaves it to be only one place. You see, there's an alley right behind that psychiatric ward with a bunch of condemned buildings. Condemned buildings are at the end of their 'life' and are torn down to make room for new ones. Maybe she's living in one of those! Now the only thing I have left to figure out is which one..."
Steve just looked at her like she was crazy.
"Where the hell did you get that from? I would've never interpreted what that man said like that! It's crazy!"
She glared daggers at him. Steve turned away from her and started walking towards the door.
"Bella, if you're really sure about this lead then go ahead... I'm not stopping you." He spun back to face her. "But I refuse to help you. If Mary says that your argument is legitimate then I might consider, but until then you'll have to find her on your own." The door slammed shut behind him.
Bella's head drooped.
-----
I walked down the main hall of our hiding place. Now, after more than two years of being here holed up like a bear in the winter, I hardly noticed the beauty of the statues and paintings and the wood paneling and the lush carpet. Now, after two years, I was bored. So very, very bored. There was nothing left for me here. That much I knew. Lindsey, even though she is very kind to me, has no idea how I feel. Caged in like a tiger at the zoo. That's all I am right now. All I am is a caged animal trying to break free.
I turned off the main hallway to an extra little section of the enormous mansion that we had stumbled upon. The little hallway ended abruptly at a dead-end and most people, if they had spotted it would have thought: My, what a useless hallway. But Lindsey and I know different. On the wall at the end of the hall there is a little square of wallpaper that slides out and reveals a button. Now of course this wallpaper is completely camouflaged to match the rest of the wall and therefore is quite hard to see. The button inside though, once pressed, opens up the wall and grants you access to an extra room: The torture chambers.
Now you might be thinking: Torture chambers? In a mansion? Well the answer to that is quite simple really. This mansion was obviously built some time ago in the early sixteen hundreds.
According to the old papers that Lindsey and I found in the library, the Dutch wizards and witches made their way to this place as soon as that foolish man Sir Walter Raleigh settled Roanoke for the first time. They, unlike the muggle explorers, made their way past the islands and settled far inland so as to not be disturbed by the British and Spanish muggles. They made advanced colonies out here with the Indians - who had shamans among them and did not burn witches and wizards – and lived peacefully for some time. Well, at least until the early nineteenth century when the British muggles secured the land of Tennessee for themselves, but that's like two hundred years right?
So in turn, when the Brits now calling themselves 'Americans' gained ownership of Tennessee the Dutch wizards and witches sealed up their towns in alternate dimensions and allowed the muggles to build over their land. Of course, over time witches and wizards slowly moved to the old, Dutch wizarding settlements and discovered the houses and markets and schools of magic that were sealed away. This is what created wizarding Memphis as it is today and also what created mansions like these hidden in condemned buildings.
I sent a man with some information to the cops so that they could start to unravel the mystery of where I am. I wonder if any of them will be smart enough to figure out my clue. I stated it so that only those who think on a certain level of insanity would be able to figure it out. I told the man to tell them: She rests where the Sun rises and sets behind a prison of broken emotions and dreams. It was sort of a weird thing I said there because it both explains my position and the well being of my mind. I believe that my mind is broken. My dreams were shattered the moment I was brought into this world and my emotions have been broken since the day that my kindergarten teacher kidnapped me for my father.
That's another thing. My father that is... He escaped from prison last year and has been looking for me ever since. Lindsey promised that she would protect me from him, but I'm not sure that she could, considering the fact that he is a wizard and all. He's a wizard who works on the muggle side of things, getting into muggle trouble and dealing muggle drugs that are mixed with a bit of the more potent wizarding drugs. It's sick. It really is. He didn't want to raise me as a witch. He wanted to raise me as a muggle so that he would always over power me. I hate him.
I've gone off subject again haven't I?
Now where was I before?
Oh Yes!
I had been trying to contact the police because I knew that they were probably the only ones who could get me safely away from the danger that was my father. I had given a man a phrase to tell the detectives who were out there looking for me. It was riddled and I seriously hope that they figure it out soon. I had riddled it the way I did because I had figured that they had at least one smart and unusual muggle in the lot that would be able to figure it out.
Our 'condemned building' is right behind a psychiatric ward in the center of town. Most people consider condemned buildings to symbolize the end while others think it symbolizes the beginning. I played on that and ended up disclosing our position in that one phrase. People with broken dreams and emotions end up at a psychiatric ward and the sun rises and sets upon things are just ending and beginning like condemned buildings. I thought it was brilliant, but Lindsey just stared at me.
I sat down on the cold stone floor of the torture chamber and recessed into my thoughts. One could never think too much I'd always say, but then of course Lindsey would say something stupid like, "Oww... Now my brain hurts," or, "Would like me to take you to the people in white coats across the street?" That shit annoys the hell outta me. I'm growling right now if you didn't know. It annoys me that much.
Oh shit... Here comes the Happy Brigade! (Note sarcasm)
"Hi Squirt!" (Gods how I hate it when she calls me that)
"Hi..." I replied.
"Whatcha doin' down here in the torture chamber? Starin' at the bones? Oooowoooh!"
I swear that right now I want to go up to my bedroom, grab my fucking gun, and shoot her ass to the high heavens. I've had enough childish shit for today. I stood up and looked her in the eye.
"Look Lindsey, I'm sick and tired of you tre..."
The words died on my lips as a huge crash split the air. I could hear wood splinter and glass shatter as someone broke into our humble abode. I heard yells and screams and loud voices ordering people to split up and find me. Then a voice came out above all of the rest.
"FIND MY TRAITOROUS DAUGHTER NOW!"
My breathing became short and labored. I grabbed Lindsey and pulled her into the deepest darkest recesses of the torture chamber. At the back there was a button that closed the door and shut off anything that made these chambers visible. Lindsey pulled herself out of my grasp and ran for the entrance. I had already pushed the button but she was outside the door, or wall in this case. I was locked in, in the dark and Lindsey was outside with my father and his minions.
There were yells and screams. I heard a gun shot and a body slumping to the ground.
I will always remember them.
The thing I will remember the most though were Lindsey's last words.
"You sick bastard! You will never get your hands on Hermione!"
What an ironic twist of fate...
-----
Bella parked her Honda Civic on the street in front of the alleyway. She was by herself. Steve wouldn't go with her, Mary was asleep,and asking another cop or detective even was out of the question. So she was alone. She had debated not going at all, but her stubborn instincts told her that she was right.
She was walking down the alleyway when she spotted it. It was completely blown out. The door had been ripped off its hinges and the windows and walls had been completely destroyed. She knew that this was the place. She walked inside and was shocked to see that the interior was beautiful...or had once been beautiful before whoever had destroyed the door came to visit. After walking the halls she came to a conclusion: Whoever had been here hadn't gotten what they'd wanted. This made her search even harder. She plowed through the mess of broken wood, ripped carpet, and destroyed paintings. She went upstairs, downstairs, in the basement, in the attic.
There was nothing.
She checked out all of the bedrooms and bathrooms and closets. She searched through every single inch of the house – no – mansion that was hidden in the condemned building.
That's when she came upon it. It was a little tiny nook hidden off of the main entryway. She looked down it, but had to look away when she saw the dead woman lying on the ground, her face contorted in a snarl that clearly said, "You won't get away with this!"
Bella picked up her radio and connected it to the system.
"Guys... You have to come see this... Umm... I think we have a problem."
"What is it? Did you do something stupid?" Steve's voice shouted out through the radio.
Bella felt her face heat up in anger. "No Steve! There's a fucking dead woman lying in the hall of this condemned building!"
The radio was silent. Then another, sleepyvoice came on.
"Don't worry Hun; we'll be there in two shakes of a lamb's tail."
"Thanks Mary."
She clipped her radio back to her belt and got up the courage to get over to the dead woman and see if she had anything on her of importance.
The woman had died of three gunshots to the chest, but other than that, she carried nothing. Just the clothes on her back.
She heard sobbing coming from somewhere. She looked around confused. Seeing no door or anything, she moved closer to the wall, and the sobbing got louder. She knitted her brow in frustration. The wall had to be the door because there was no other way in to the room that was obviously on the other side. She felt along the wallpaper for some kind of little bump, rough edge, anything that would indicate a secret knob of some sorts. Her fingers pressed in on a spot in the wall and the wall started to vibrate. Bella backed off for fear of what might happen. A little cube shaped piece of wood and wallpaper came out of the wall and revealed a tiny, iron button. Bella pushed the button and stood back as the wall started receding into the ceiling.
Two shouts came from the busted down door.
"BELLA!" Steve and Mary yelled.
Bella stood in the doorway of the torture chamber. She looked at the little girl.
"Are you Eliza?"
-----
A/N: Wow... it's been over two months since I updated this... I thought I would never get the inspiration to write more, but for some reason when I was reading a Naruto fanfic that absolutely nothing to do with anything that happened in here I was inspired and wrote out almost the entire thing with the exception of the very first scene with the cops. Well, now Hermione has met Bella and her father is on the loose... again... Oh yeah... this chapter is actually split into two parts. This is the first part and the next part will be out soon. Don't expect a speedy update because I can't guarantee it.
Read and review please!
I believe that I have a few reviews to reply to.
ashley48506: I'll answer your questions since they won't give away the plot or anything. No. The people are not all magical. Harvey's "ring" is made up of wizards and witches who like living on the muggle sides of things. Only Mary is a witch out of the cops/FBI. Bella, Steve, Robert, Lindsey, and "the boss" are all muggles. No they can't put a tracking spell on her because in order to do that they would have to know where she is in the first place. Bella was in the kindergarten when Hermione was there, but she is a muggle and can't do magic so no tracking spell. Now, Harvey on the other hand DID put a tracking spell on her I believe which is the reason why he always catches up to her. Yes, this IS a GeorgexHermione ship. In this story there's not really any romance because they're little kids, but in the sequel that I plan to write if enough people want it there will be some romance. Thank you for reviewing three chapters! I hope you read this next chapter and like it as well.
Righteye0604: Yes Hermione is going to go off to hogwarts. What don't you get? If you could explain to me what confuses you then maybe I could help clear things up. I'm glad you enjoyed it though. Keep reading!
Samurai Light: Heh. I know. The POV switches are confusing and I apologize, but they are needed. I need certain things to happen each chapter with each party so they are kinda necessary. I'm glad you liked it though and I hope that you keep reading. - I will try to read your stories when I can.
Zarya: You missed number six by one. You are number seven. Lucky number seven though right? Yeah when I was writing it I was surprised that I had her kill Robert with a handgun too. The magic bit has really always been there in little tiny snippets, but never really noticable... I'm really glad that I have so many people reading this story now!
Jackalope Hunter: You read this before? Wow. Some of my old readers have come back to me! ((sobs)) I'm so happy. Here's your update!
My goal for reviews this time around is twelve. When I get twelve reviews I will update. Not too much to ask is it? Well review people!
Ja ne!