Live Prey.
Thorfinn steps up his campaign to win Hermione's heart. Yaxley and Dolohov wait for a signal. All hell breaks loose. Home sweet home.
Yaxley and Dolohov laid silently a while longer, making sure the canibals weren't coming back. That had been a close one! It would really have fucked up Thorfinn's plan if his backup had managed to get themselves killed!
Dolohov rejoined Yaxley at the ridgeline. "Bloody, fucking hell! I vote we get them out of there tomorrow and get our bloody arses home. Fuck this waiting around. There's no telling if they've really accepted them or they're just waiting for the right time to kill all three of them! Let's just have Thor grab her and the baby, light these fuckers up and leave!" He hissed quietly.
Yaxley was already shaking his head. "We can't risk it. Not now. The damned old man stuck that collar on him. We can't risk Thorfinn being electrucuted just to get them all out of there. We're going to follow the original plan. We'll take it a day at a time. If it looks like either of them are in danger, then we act. Not until then."
Dolohov huffed angrily but reluctantly agreed to finish out their original plan. They laid down and centered their rifles on the cabin in the distance.
Thorfinn woke Hermione up several times throughout the night. She kept fighting him at first, but little by little, he was getting through her defenses. By the end of the night, right before dawn, it was actually Hermione waking Thorfinn up. Several times, little Radnor had woken up right after them, whimpering for his mother.
The last time they woke up, they stayed awake. Hermione told him they usually came in and kicked her awake in her old room. When he asked her how long they had been beating her, she told him since they had taken her captive. She actually suspected that being thrown onto her stomach had quickened her labor. When she said that, it was all he could do to control his rage.
He cupped her face in his hands. "I promise you, Hermione, if it's the last thing I ever manage to do, I WILL get you and Radnor safely out of here. I swear on the Rowle family name, I will free the two of you from these people."
Hermione laid her hand on his. "Just don't let them kill you. I think I'm finally getting used to having you around."
"Does this mean you'll not fight me taking you back as my wife? We are married, you know. That was a legal ceremony." He stroked her cheek as he spoke. "I need you with me, Hermione. I want to introduce you to my mother. When players wives are called at the games, I want to be able to have you there by my side, you and Radnor."
Before Hermione could answer him, the door was banged on and slung open. The old man stood looking at them. "Mornin', children! Bring that boy out to me, missy. Git in thar and help ma wit' breakfast. Ye be pleased this mornin' boy. We got us some live prey! Jest pulled in last night! Bunch of em, too! Put 'em huntin' skills a yer's to the real test!" He turned away, missing the looks of horror on both Thorfinn and Hermione's faces.
Up on the ridge, Yaxley suddenly began cussing more than Dolohov had ever heard him cuss. He looked in the direction Yaxley had turned and joined his colleague's rant. An RV was slewed sideways across the road, about a mile past old Fred's store. There were at least five or six people, standing around looking at the tires. The Death Eaters looked at each other. This wasn't supposed to have happened yet. This could be good news or bad news, depending on how Thorfinn decided to play it. If he resisted, they'd come in guns blazing to rescue them and the baby. If he played along, this could be his chance to lose all of his shackles and get Hermione and Radnor to safety.
Hermione was about to go into hysterics. Thorfinn was desperately trying to calm her down. "Hermione. I have to do this. If I don't, they'll kill me and where is that going to leave you and the baby? Trapped! Right here with these people! I have got to do this! If I can get them to think I've really joined their family, I can get you and the baby safely out of here. Please, Hermione, please! Just, please, trust me. Ok? Trust me."
Anthony joined in. "He's right, Hermione. This is the only way. There's no other way Thorfinn can play this. He's got to go along with them. If he doesn't, he's dead. And no escape for you and Radnor. Trust him, Hermione. Trust Thorfinn."
Hermione choked back her sobs as she hugged the big blond tightly. "Do what you need to do. We'll be waiting for you." She took the baby into her arms and paused with the ghost of Anthony right against her. "Guide him wisely and bring him back to us."
Thorfinn watched her straighten her back, take a deep breath and walk out the door, holding his son. "Goldstein, have I ever told you how much I love that witch?"
"Not lately but I'm not the one who needs to hear it. She is. I'd suggest you tell her that as soon as you can. And keep telling her that. The more she hears it, the more she'll believe it." The ghost advised him.
"Duly noted, Goldstein, duly noted." Thorfinn said as he walked out behind her. Hermione walked over and handed Radnor to old man Murphy as she tied her hair back, hurrying to the kitchen. Thorfinn stopped by the door, waiting as his shock collar was put on. Then he went out, joining the cannibal brothers on the porch. He checked his knives, spear and arrows as the brethren watched him. The old man came out. In his hand was two more weapons. A handgun and a bullwhip.
"Pick one. This be a reward fer catchin' on so fast. Ye be a good boy out thar." He held his hand out. Thorfinn raised his hand. He didn't really want the gun, having never fired a muggle weapon before.
"Take the whip. The gun would be quicker but that wouldn't serve your purpose. Take the bullwhip. You can control how hard you whip them and it'll be an easy way to send the spell without them suspecting anything." Anthony advised. Thorfinn immediately grabbed the whip. The old man sat down and smiled in satisfaction.
The group set off down the path that led to the road. Clearly, the brothers were eager to play with the their newest toys. Hermione bought out a mug of coffee and a plate of food for the old man. He motioned her to sit as they exchanged the food and coffee for Radnor. She eyed the monitors fearfully, watching as Thorfinn and the brothers grew closer and closer to the road. Just as they would have been visible, Big Whoop put up a hand and they all seemed to fade into the tree line. It was even hard to see Thorfinn. They watched the people mill aimlessly in the road. It suddenly struck Hermione that she and Anthony had been caught like this months ago. They had driven up to the end of the road but they'd almost made it back out before they ran across the spike strip that sent their car into the ditch.
This group had three boys and three girls. Hermione closed her eyes in pity of what they faced if they were caught alive. They actually might make it out, though. The boys looked fairly athletic and the girls looked pretty well fit, too. If they stayed together as a group, they possibly might stand a chance. No sooner had she had that thought, than three of the boys and two of the girls started up the road, away from help. She wished she could yell at them through the monitor, that they were going the wrong way. But all she could do was sit there helplessly.
Down in the woods, Anthony was having his own problems keeping Thorfinn calm. The young wizard wanted to do something, anything that would warn these young people out of here! But all he could do was watch as his 'brethren' began setting their traps around them. The couple left behind quickly moved onto more intimate activities once their friends were out of sight. Thorfinn shook his head. 'If these two had any sense of danger whatsoever, he'd keep it in his pants until they were away from here!' Instead, their activities stirred the brethren up and basically sealed this young couple's doom. Long nose easily lured the boy away as the girl sat, completely unaware of any danger, in the car. Just as they were about to get the girl, the others came back. Now they had a group of five.
They walked into the forest, yelling his name. "Garrett! Garrett! Where are you? Come on, man! This is no time or place to place hide and seek!" They were unaware that they had just walked by Garrett's dead body with it's bloody ear to ear smile. Long nose had used a winding piece of barb wire to deadly effect. Thorfinn watched as they drew closer and closer to his hiding spot. Anthony was softly whispering what he needed to do. "Use the whip. Drive them toward the brethren. Let them do all of the killing. If you see a chance, swing the whip as you throw a Stupefy. That's all you're going to be able to get away with. As long as they see you willing to drive the victims their way, they'll not expect you to do any killing." Thorfinn nodded silently, knowing that Hermione could see everything he was doing on the monitors at the cabin.
He stood in the middle of a clearing, knowing it was time to 'prove his worth' to the old man. The group slowly walked toward him. The man in charge wasn't much younger than him. The girls were eyeing him speculatively. He kept his eyes on the leader. The guy was eyeing him warily, especially the bullwhip hanging loosely in his hand. "Hey. Excuse me. We're looking for a friend of ours. You haven't seen him, by any chance?"
"No. You lot are trespassing. This is my father's land. He doesn't take well to trespassers." Thorfinn said quietly. The leader frowned. He looked at the others. They shrugged at him.
He looked at Thorfinn again. "I didn't see a sign anywhere. Are you sure about that?"
Thorfinn grinned wickedly at him. "Yeah. I'm sure." With those words, he lashed out violently with the whip, barely missing the leader's face. The man yelled in surprised anger and jumped at him. Thorfinn met him with a balled up fist to the nose. The man stumbled back and yelled again.
The rest of the group had already fled. Thorfinn could hear the brethren whooping as they chased them. He cussed the young man in front of him. "Bloody, fucking hell! You should have left when I warned you! You bloody, fucking wanker! You don't know what your stupid arse just led them into!" With one more punch, he knocked the boy out cold and handed him over to Butcher as he took off after the rest of the group.
Ahead, he could see the girls running one way as the remaining guy went the other way. Big Whoop motioned him to follow the girls as the brethren set out to dispose of the other boy. He dutifully ran behind them. The way they were going was basically a dead end. They were trapped but they didn't know it yet. Up at the cabin, Hermione closed her eyes as she prayed for the two fallen boys. Back in the woods, Thorfinn could hear the man screaming in agony as he was skewered by Spear Boy.
He stopped at a stream and waded in hip deep. All he was doing was washing the blood of his hands from where he'd fought the other boy. As he scrubbed his hands together, he heard splashing behind him. He closed his eyes. 'Damn, why couldn't they have stayed hidden?' He turned slowly as the three girls approached him. They were all three in string bikinis.
"Hello, handsome. We knew you couldn't possibly as bad as you sounded. There's nobody here but us now. Wanna have some fun?" The brunette gurl asked. Thorfinn smiled sadly at them. They all narrowed their eyes suspiciously at him.
"I hate to break it to you but you've made three huge fuckups. 1) You didn't listen when I said you're trespassing on my father's land. He detests trespassers." Thorfinn raised his left hand, pointing at his ring finger. "2) I'm newly married and very much faithful to my bride. 3) You should have looked around before you approached me. I'm not alone." He watched as the brethren easily captured the girls who been so enthralled by him.
"Wait! Please! You can't do this! Help us!" The girls screamed. Thorfinn held up his hair to show them his shock collar.
"I'm sorry. I really am. You should have run the other way. Better yet, you should never have turned up that road in the first place. I'm as much of a prisoner as you are." He told them.
He stood as the brethren all cheered and clapped him on the shoulders and back. The girls all glared holes in him as they were hauled through the woods. Much like Hermione, they didn't understand that his hands were tied. If he tried to stop the brothers and help them, they would kill HIM, leaving Hermione and the baby vulnerable. Thorfinn followed as they took the girls to the barn. He was called up to the porch. The old man stood waiting for him. "Boy, ye did me proud. Ye're a real mountain boy, ye are. Come here." Without further ado, he took the shock collar off of Thorfinn and pushed him to Hermione. "I reckon the two o' ye gots a bit o' business to do. By ma's recollection, our new littlun sho' be here about the time we gits a snowfall."
Thorfinn scooped her into his arms as he carried her back to their room. This time, Hermione offered no resistance to his advances. Instead, she was actively disrobing him as well. They were both totally silent, understanding that now was the time for conserving their strength, not fighting each other. Looking into his eyes, Hermione realized Thorfinn needed to get them away from here soon and fast. He was quickly using up what restraint he had. He was verging on the breaking point of becoming an actual cold blooded killer.
They stayed in their room for quite a long time. Though Thorfinn took her time and again, Hermione sensed this time there was something more going on in his head. When they came out to join the rest of the family, he was different. He seemed eager to head off to the barn. As Ma, Pa, Hermione and the daughters sat around the stove and knitted, he headed out the doors along with the brothers. He paused and flicked his eyes from her to the baby and back. After he left, Hermione was pleasantly surprised when Pa handed Radnor over to her. Feeling her baby nestling into her side, Hermione couldn't help but smile down at him in delight. His big, blue eyes, so clear like his father's, stared up at her in wonder.
Heading off the porch, Thorfinn paused at the foot of the steps. Seemingly staring into the distance, the brothers paid no attention at all as he slowly raised a hand and ran a finger across his throat. Then he went on to the barn, his eyes burning with anger as he followed them. Up on the ridge, Yaxley and Dolohov were frozen in surprise. They knew the boy moved at his own pace but they hadn't expected him to move this fast!
In the barn, the new girls had already been fastened to the beds. When Thorfinn walked in, they started screaming at him once again to help them. The boys jeered, several of them having already been beaten by Thorfinn. Thorfinn didn't so much as glance at the girls as he walked directly to the wall and held his hand over the heavy coil of rope. He looked at Big Whoop for approval. The biggest brother nodded and swept his hand at the strung up captives. Thorfinn gauged them to see which one he could hit the hardest and still not knock out easy. That would be the one who led the rest to safety. His eyes met those of the man he'd fought. He'd figured this one would be one of the barn victims. He nodded as he slowly walked toward him, swinging the rope from side to side.
"We meet again. I warned you. Didn't I warn you? All you had to do was turn around and leave. That's all." Without warning, Thorfinn lashed out. The boy was caught off guard and didn't duck in time. The rope caught him right across the nose. The girls cried desperately as the mountain men began attacking them. Thorfinn slashed him one more time with the rope. He was waiting until all the mountain men were distracted. When he looked around, they were all over the girls. He turned and looked at the boy. "Last chance, arsehole! Don't blow it this time! Get them lose and get them the fuck out of here! All hell is about to rein down on these fuckers!" He hissed almost inaudibly. The boy's eyes widened but he nodded quickly.
Thorfinn turned and suddenly began using the rope with one hand and his bullwhip with the other. The cannibals jumped up as they felt the stinging blows, then one by one fell to the Stunning spell he sent their way. "Hurry! Get them free! Get them out of here! These bastards won't stay down for long! Go!" Thorfinn yelled at the boy who dashed over and freed the girls. He opened the door to make sure nobody from the cabin was looking, then waved them out, pointing out the path they needed to stay on. Then he took all the lanterns off the wall and emptied all the fluid all over the brothers. As they started to stir, they realized they had been strung up on the same chains as their victims. They all yelled as one as Thorfinn Rowle lit them up like Christmas trees!
He left the barn and strolled to the house. As he walked in, he swung the bullwhip against the side of the old man's head, knocking him to the ground. The old woman and the sisters charged at him screaming. He shoved them all back and looked at Hermione. Still holding Radnor, she jumped to her feet and raced out the door. He backed out, latching the door closed from the outside. Then he set it afire. Watching the Fiendfyre destroy the house in front of her, brought home the fact of how dangerous Thorfinn Rowle actually was and that she was now married to him for better or worse.
Then he fixed a tight sling across his chest, put Radnor into it and slung Hermione across his shoulder. He took off running in the direction of the river. Once he got to the clearing where Hermione had been captured, he turned toward the road. When he got there, he was astounded to see the captives he'd just freed trying to repair their RV. "I wouldn't hang about if I were you. I'm not going to swear these were the only cannibals in this area! You might want to vamoose as quickly as possible." Then he ran down the road. At the end, he could see Yaxley and Dolohov waiting with their van already fired up and turned in the right direction! Dolohov had the door open and his gun aimed behind Thorfinn in case of another attack.
Thorfinn tossed Hermione in and rolled in after her. They wound up on the floor behind the driver's seat. Hermione was on her back, dressed again in his T-shirt. He was only in jeans wuth the baby sling. He loosened it and dropped Radnor onto her chest as he kissed her. Dolohov smiled at them, closed the door, took the passenger side and they were gone. Yaxley flew down the road as fast as he could without wrecking them. He wanted to put as much distance as he could between them and the hell Thorfinn and Hermione had just escaped.
He drove until he was sure they were through the state of Virginia. Then he started looking for a train station. He wanted them back in New York as quickly as possible before they had time to investigate the burst of Fiendfyre in the mountains they had left behind. He saw a familiar sign and pulled in. They abandoned the van but kept all their weaponry. Yaxley got tickets and they were on their way before Hermione could even try to escape. Once they were back in New York, he hustled them over to the Ministry. They obtained Portkeys and were back in Britain in a flurry of movement.