Hey readers! Nice to see you again! Thank you so much to the 2 new followers and 3 new favoriters from last chapter! (you [probably] know who you are!) And thanks much to SilverZelenia and sara253xxx for reviewing! Now on with the story!...
Chapter 4: Dark Times
Leah awoke to the guestroom's door being slammed shut. She sat up suddenly, her head spinning, anticipating another torture session. But no one was in the room. Her vision cleared and she saw a small plate with half a loaf of bread and some cheese on it. As she looked at it waves of hunger crashed over her. She hadn't eaten in two days, her last meal had been breakfast at the orphanage.
She swung her legs out of be and groaned as her muscles, cramped up from the past two days of being tortured stretched out properly for the first time. They barely supported her weight as she stumbled across the dust-laden floor.
Easing herself to the ground she nibbled on the food, knowing that if she gulped it all down she'd be sick. As she ate in silence she pondered a question that had been bothering her since she had first arrived at the manor. How were they doing these things? How had they gotten to the manor from that alleyway? How were they torturing her? She trembled, hugging her knees tight into her chest. She could only come up with one solution. Magic.
Even though her analytical-thinking mind told her it was impossible, all her experiences with these people pointed toward only one thing. Magic.
The door to the room creaked open again and she scrambled back from it, cowering. But it wasn't one of her tormentors. Standing in the doorway was an elf-like creature wearing an old and very dirty pillowcase. Its protuberant chocolate-brown eyes looked down at Leah with sadness and regret.
"Bundy is here to fetch Miss Leah." it said. Its voice was squeaky, but undoubtedly masculine. The elf beckoned with a long finger for her to follow him. Leah shook her head slowly so as not to lose sight of the creature.
"No." she said firmly.
"But Miss Leah must be coming with Bundy." the elf cried desperately. "Otherwise Mistress Bellatrix says she will hurt Bundy very much!" He sounded terrified.
"Mistress Bellatrix?" Leah asked, still firmly seated on the floor. She despised the creature, but pitied it if it had to live under her rule. "Is this her house then?"
"Oh, no." Bundy shook his head vigorously. "No, Miss Cissy and Master Lucius are Bundy's true masters." he looked around anxiously. "But we really shoulds be going Miss Leah! Please! Before I must punish myself for disobeying orders miss." He looked imploringly at her.
Leah sighed heavily and attempted to stand once again, carefully putting weight on her sore legs. She dreaded following Bundy to wherever he was taking her, but she had to admit that she didn't want the little elf to be punished for something that she had done. Or hadn't done.
"Oh thank you Miss Leah!" Bundy cried, smiling brightly. Leah couldn't help but give a tired smile back. She warily followed the small elf out into the hallway. She hadn't seen any parts of the house except the entrance hall, the staircase, the drawing room and the room she had woken up in.
The hallway was high-ceilinged and dark with torches set at regular intervals along the walls. Between the torches were various artifacts such as suits of armor, sculptures and even a painting or two.
The pair's footsteps echoed off the stone walls of the never-ending labyrinth, making Leah nervous. It sounded like someone was following them. She looked back over her shoulder constantly; a prickling feeling on her neck made her think they were not alone.
They turned down a few different corridors, all looking identical with their darkness. The elf leading the way seemed confident that he knew where they were going, but the monotony of the maze made her unsure. It was as if it was set up so you would never be able to get out. Leah shivered involuntarily; not putting it past the people who imprisoned her. Her hopes of escape dwindled with every turning.
After they had been walking for ten minutes (though it felt like thirty), when Leah was just about to ask Bundy if they were only going in circles, they stepped into the entrance hall. Leah recoiled as though she had been slapped. She knew in that instant that they were heading to the drawing room. Where that 'Lord Voldemort' man was.
"Please Miss Leah." the elf begged, his eyes growing larger, silently begging her. Resigned, Leah followed him up the grand, sweeping marble stairs to the doors leading to the drawing room. With a sudden crack Bundy vanished into thin air. Leah thought about running, but a familiar high, cold voice spoke from the inside of the room.
"Enter."
As she timidly stepped into the large room Leah saw about a dozen people seated around the long table, all looking in her direction. She closed the door a bit harder than she had meant to and winced. She shrunk away from the cold gazes of those gathered.
She could see Bellatrix and Voldemort at the end of the table farthest from her. Bellatrix on his right, a black-haired, hook-nosed and pale man on his left. As Leah's gaze met the black eyes of the hook-nosed man the wall behind his face flickered and Leah saw traces of apprehension, remorse and fear in his face before replacing his indifferent mask moments later.
She could hear whispers from the people gathered around the table, but Voldemort silenced them with a look.
"Miss Potter-" he said, his voice commanding. "Why don't you take a seat with us?" he smiled, but there was no warmth in his face.
"My name is Leah Jacobs." I said, putting emphasis on the last word.
"Jacobs..." he said, drawing the name out as long as possible. "Such a filthy muggle name." some of the people sitting around the table let out snickers.
Leah wondered what a 'muggle' was, but held her tongue. She eyed Voldemort warily. "What do you want from me?" she asked as loud as she could without her voice breaking. It sounded a lot braver than she felt.
"Why my dear," he said, his voice soft and dangerous. "only that you would join our ranks." There was a flurry of mutterings at the statement.
"And why would I join you?" Leah shouted, her voice echoing through the room. "All you've done is kidnap and torture me. And you expect me to join you? Are you really so clueless?" she laughed derisively.
Everyone at the table looked toward the head to see what Voldemort thought of her taunting, but Bellatrix stood up, looking mutinous, and screeched "You dare! You dare speak to the Dark Lord like that? You-"
"Quiet Bella." A blonde-haired lady a few seats down hissed. The blonde-haired man next to her had stiffened. The man with the black hair seemed to be trying to send Leah a non-verbal plea for silence.
Voldemort however, just laughed his cold laugh that eched through the room and caused goosebumps to run along Leah's arms.
"I see that you do not only look like your mother- you have her strong spirit as well. You will make a very useful Death Eater..." He looked straight at her, his red eyes boring into her green ones, holding her gaze.
"Come here, girl." he whispered, sounding like a hissing snake.
"No." she said defiantly. She didn't want to join the Death Eaters.
"No?" Voldemort looked amused. "Well then, we'll just have to convince you... CRUCIO!"
Leah was on the floor, her skin on fire. It felt worse than when Bellatrix had tortured her, much worse. She was screaming louder than she had ever screamed before. Then it was gone. All the people at the table laughed as she tried to pick herself gingerly off the floor, wincing as she put weight on her weak muscles.
"Now come here girl."
He pointed his wand at her and she could feel her legs moving without her permission. It was as though she had no control over her body, as if someone else was inhabiting her mind, leading her up to Voldemort's seat at the head of the table. The Death Eaters either sneered derisively or chuckled darkly as she passed their seats.
Leah tried to run, tried to break free from the enchantment, but she could do nothing to stop herself from walking toward the waking nightmare. Voldemort flicked his wand once more and she froze, unable to do anything other than breathe.
"Nagini." Voldemort hissed. Leah heard a strange rasping coming out of his mouth, but heard the name as well. Others around the table looked to their master as though for an answer.
Leah stiffened, if possible, even more as 'Nagini' appeared. She saw a snake, at least ten feet long, colored a vivid green with black diamonds down its back slither between herself and Voldemort. She shivered internally. Little snakes were okay, but not Nagini. She looked large enough to suffocate an elephant.
The snake reached Voldemort's chair, making its way up the side in order to reach the table.
"You know what to do." Voldemort hissed to her, gesturing to a small bowl made out of a black stone. Again, even though Leah could understand him, she had trouble deciphering the words behind the hissing.
"Yes Massster." Nagini answered, sending a ripple of cold down Leah's back. The snake crawled up to the bowl and hissed, baring her sharp, pearl-white fangs. A vivid green liquid shot into the bowl. Venom.
Leah's POV
I saw the snake spurt something into the little black bowl. The stuff was a bright, almost neon green. If I hadn't been frozen I would've been running away screaming. I was absolutely sure that the green stuff was venom and I had no desire to find out what Voldemort was going to do with it. My heart banged hard against my chest as I realized it probably had something to do with me.
Voldemort touched the surface of the venom with his wand and it turned a deep, inky black. He made a complicated movement with the bone-like stick and it seemed to soak it up like a washcloth.
I noticed that the people at the table were watching Voldemort with baited breath, a few with looks of shock or surprise on their faces. My stomach tied itself into knots. Did they know something I didn't? The man with the hooked nose looked impassive, but his eyes shone true terror. That, more than anything else made me want to run, to hide, to escape.
Then Voldemort turned his attention to me. Bellatrix was looking on with awe and respect and it sickened me. Couldn't she just lay off it? He waved his wand again and I knew I could move, but I was still frozen with fear. A rushing noise filled my ears and I felt like my feet were glued to the floor. No matter how much I wanted to look away my eyes were fixed on his wand.
His left arm shot out from his dark robes and grabbed mine, holding it in his icy grip, but I couldn't feel his touch. He smiled wickedly, holding it with my palm facing the ceiling. I felt a slight pressure as his nails dug into my skin. I regained a bit of defiance as his wand drew closer and tried to pull my arm away, but he was gripping it too tight. My muscles didn't want to listen to my brain, didn't understand what I wanted them to do. I wanted to scream, but no sound left my mouth.
The tip of his wand touched my skin and he mumbled something, looking triumphant.
It seemed to happen in slow-motion. His lips moving, the wand tip glowing, the black ooze flowing out of the wand and into my skin.
I had a split-second to think about how disgusted I was before the world resolved into abrupt pain and noise, drowning out my senses of touch and sight. It felt as though a white-hot iron was being applied to my forearm, a burning poker digging into it. I was screaming and screaming, disconnected from my body. I only wanted peace. Finally silence and darkness washed over me as I slipped into unconsciousness.
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~Megan out!