Chapter 9
Entranced
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The stair case steps were cold on my bare feet as I descended to the ground floor of my father's modest home.
It had been mother's dream to live in a neat and sturdy cottage in the northern country side and father could deny her nothing.
Several years after her untimely death, here we still were.
It wasn't long by the time I had wanted to seek out company and come out of my room, feeling a little better and very very lonely.
Maybe father was right and some distance would be good for me for a while. My mind felt clear and less anxious without the distraction of unpredictable triad magic.
The large rustic grandfather clock on the wall chimed 5pm as I passed it, as though it was greeting me on my way to the Nook.
Behind a set of heavy wooden doors was a warm library where I was certain to find my father curled up with a book as he so often was.
But he wasn't.
He wasn't in the study or the attic or the wine cellar or in the grounds.
I began to sulk again, making my way back into the Nook and wedging myself on the window seat that fit a 10 year old me perfectly, but now squished me until my knees brushed my chin.
Maybe he thought I wouldn't want to see him for a while and disappeared. Maybe he went looking for a cure?
I glanced down at the little mark on my wrist and wondered if there was such a thing...?
As I brushed my fingertip over it, a wave of nausea hit me, quickly followed by a full body flush.
My skin felt clammy and warm and prickly, and it wouldn't subside.
I pressed my forehead against the cool glass of the window and held myself tightly, beginning to shiver but feeling less hot and bothered.
Anger replaced the feeling briefly as I realised what was going on back at the manor before sadness entered in its wake.
They still had each other, while I sat here longing for them alone.
I tried to push aside my bitterness, reminding myself that they had their own thing long before the triad and I had no right to that part of them...
But it still sucked sour grapes that I was forced to feel it...
I decided a bath and some calming candles might help soothe me and summoned a house elf to draw me one in my ensuite.
Why did father have to drag me home then vanish? I hadn't been that horrid once we arrived, had I?
Sure, I may have been a crying mess and ordered him to leave me alone... But surely he knew I wouldn't mean it for long?
I squirmed out of the tight window ledge and made my way to my bathtub, lighting the several candles clustered together with my wand and turned the ceiling into falling cherry blossoms.
Hey, what can I say? I always liked the aesthetic in those gorgeous Japanese paintings and it seemed so calming.
The falling petals vanished as they touched the bathtub water and the house elf running the tap quickly switched it off and vanished with a bow as I began to undress.
The house elves here were quite good with stuff like this, made for ease of life, not to be used to scream at as stress relief or beaten as I had seen other households often do...
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I don't know how long I had been snoozing in the water, but I was sure I was dreaming.
I was standing in a pitch dark room with a hissing all around me that slowly came together behind me to form a voice.
A quiet, low, hissing voice that made my skin prickle and turn cold.
"You..." The hissing finally vocalised.
"...you should be here. Why aren't you here?"
The voice seemed to come around from behind me but I could see no source.
"Ah, I see. It matters not. I have them here." It seemed to be right in front of me, but I could still not see anything at all in the dark.
"They are brave. Foolish and headstrong. What are you? Cowardice, I sense in you... But potential. You reek of something ancient. You... Three. Well." The voice seemed amused, almost laughing in a distorted horrid way.
"This should be quite interesting. Welcome to the army."
One after the other I could hear muffled screams and groans of pain coming closer... Until I recognised them as Draco and Blaise.
My stomach churned at their restrained cries and I reached out blindly in the dark, trying to call their names but no sound would come!
Draco!
Blaise!
What's happening to you?!
As if by some sick wish being granted, I was shown why they were screaming... My arm burned.
I could hear them clearly as I looked at my arm, surprised it wasn't engulfed in flames or acid or sliced apart, but all that was there was an ink like substance oozing from my forearm.
The pain intensified until I jerked forward, the pitch black of the room transforming into my bathroom as I ripped upwards from the bathwater, sending splashes everywhere as I screamed and thrashed wildly, grasping at my arm and frantically searching for my wand.
"Stop!" I cried as the skin became red and inflamed, but nothing else was there.
I screamed for help, turning on the icey cold tap and holding my arm under it to try cool the burning, but it did nothing.
If I wasn't staring at it, I could have sworn someone was peeling the skin from my arm and pouring acid on the raw flesh beneath.
I grabbed my towel and crawled out of the tub to lay in agonising pain on the floor, barely covering myself with the towel and screaming for a house elf to find my father, no matter where he was.
He arrived after what felt like hours, trying to talk to me, to soothe me, but my screams drowned him out.
I ended up cradled to him on my bathroom floor, screaming until I lost my voice.
He later told me the whole ordeal lasted only 20 minutes before I passed out.
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"I have to see them..." my voice was raspy and sore as father passed me a herbal tea.
"I have to be sure they're alright. I know it happened to them too."
I watched as my father's face contorted into a grimace.
"You can't. You'll see them at school soon enough."
School? School?
I couldn't wait that long! Hell, an owls reply would only take a day or two and that was far too long too!
I stood up angrily.
"What do you mean I can't? They are in pain. Real physical pain and I felt every second of it! I need to know they're alright! That they're alive!"
"Rellie, please... they're fine, I can assure you."
I scoffed and began to pace to let off some steam.
"How would you know?" I grumbled. He opened his mouth but closed it again, seeming uncomfortable.
"It's... not my secret to tell... I guess they haven't told you what would be happening tonight? And that's probably for the best sweetheart. There's no need to involve you in-"
I interrupted him by pulling up my gowns sleeve to show him the bright red angry streak on my forearm.
"I'm already involved! I would like to know in what! I want to know they're okay!"
He shook his head with a sigh.
"It's not my right to tell you... It's not just the boys secret either...it's complicated sweetheart."
I ground my teeth and sat back down in a huff. Complicated... That was short selling the entire thing.
"One week and you can ask them yourself... Don't ask by owl though darling... There are eyes everywhere these days..." He said lowly and I frowned. This was definitely bigger than just my boys then...
I glanced down at my arm and remembered the eerie voice from my dream. 'welcome to the army'
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A/N: I'm back :3 Reviews will make chapters come faster I swear XD
