Chapter 5: False face must hide what the false heart doth know
Disclaimer and Explanations see chapter 1.
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Last time in Shattered Illusions of Safety, Something wicked this way comes.
Voldemort pulled out his wand and took aim, 'Stupefy!'
The brunette must have sensed something in that moment, perhaps her instincts warned her, because she turned to look over her shoulder. A bright red light streaked towards her at an incredible speed like a laser pointer, then something hit her hard, knocking the breath out of her, blessed darkness clouded her senses in an instant.
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The Dark Lord quickly banished her backpack and the towel to the cave, he did not want to leave any clues lying around for the muggle police or the Aurors to find. Grabbing the unconscious girl, he Apparated back towards the atrium cave. There he dropped her onto the floor and cast first 'Renervate' and right after that a deep sleeping spell on her, before she could do more than moan. It was better to transport a human asleep instead of unconscious, as an unconscious person could choke or suffocate, and this muggle was only of use to him alive and fit enough to drink the poisonous potion in the basin on the island.
He opened the archway as before hissing {Open} and walked briskly along the ledge towards the place where the tiny boat was moored; levitating the sleeping muggle girl carelessly behind him like a piece of luggage.
Reaching the boat, he deftly climbed in and sat down. The girl was slim and lean; it was possible to bend her body tight in a crouching position, so that the two of them fit well into the boat. It was better to keep her sleeping until they reached the island. Flicking his wand at the chain, Voldemort set the boat in motion across the black lake, gliding smoothly above the resting Inferi towards the green light in the centre.
After a few minutes, the boat had reached the island made out of smooth, flat, dark rock. Levitating the girl in front of him, Voldemort climbed carefully onto the firm stones. Dropping her to the ground, he walked up to the pedestal in the middle of the small island with the brightly glowing stone basin atop and peered inside. It was full of the emerald green potion emitting the glow, like a phosphorescent lamp, as it should be.
Voldemort looked around on the small island. There was nothing save him and the muggle girl. Nothing? Where was the corpse of the Black house elf? Well, most likely the Inferi had pulled the dying creature into the lake.
Turning towards the muggle girl, he woke her up with 'Renervate'. The girl took a deep breath, stirred and moaned quietly, raising one hand to her head, and feeling with the other hand along her hip, her eyes still closed.
He kicked her in the ribs, snapping sharply "Wake up!"
The brown-haired young woman sat up startled, her eyes shot wide open, staring around her in confusion. Another kick got her attention, with a cry she flung herself around on hands and knees, staring up at the sinister figure looming over her. She screamed in fright at the sight of a tall man with a pale, serpentine face and burning red eyes, clothed in a black hooded cloak over black silk robes; the long, pale fingers of his right hand held some short stick pointing towards her like a weapon. This sight was an image right out of a horror, science fiction or fantasy movie.
'He looks almost like Darth Vader or a Nazguhl,' shot through her head. This was bad. She started to scramble backwards to get away from him, only to notice that she was on an very small island surrounded by an unnatural black lake, somewhere underground, in some huge cave. It was illuminated by a green glow.
"Oh my God!" she shrieked in her panic. "What did you do? What do you want from me? Where am I?"
"Now, now, calm down my dear, I only want a small service from you, then I´ll let you go again." Voldemort answered quietly, smirking evilly down on her.
"Yes, sir? What do you need?" the trembling girl asked her scary captor, desperately gasping for breath amidst her panic attack. She thought to herself that she would do anything to escape from this terrible place.
"Stand up, and come here," said the tall wizard, beckoning towards the pedestal in the middle of the island. "You are to drink this potion for me, it should take about ten cups full," he explained, holding out a shining silver goblet towards her.
She scrambled to her feet, took two deep breaths trying to calm down and not to faint and then straightened up. Walking slowly towards the pedestal she glanced at the strange glowing green liquid inside the basin. It gave the impression of some toxic waste!
"Urggh, that looks just gross, disgusting and dangerous. Why should I drink that?" she protested.
Voldemort snarled at the shivering girl, "Because I don´t want to drink it, you fool! Even a stupid muggle like you should understand that."
The brunette recoiled and stared up into his unnatural face, confused and frightened out of her wits, she whispered brokenly, "But, sir, please, why?"
Before she could do or utter anything else, the black robed man pointed his wand at her and commanded impatiently, "Imperio".
At once, the tension left the girls face; she reached out for the goblet, calmly took a step closer towards the basin and scooped up the first goblet full of poison. With a content expression on her face, she lifted it to her lips and drank in great gulps, as if this was some delicious cocktail at a friend's party.
Then she scooped up a second goblet and drank it down. Her face contorted in pain; obviously, she started to feel the effects of the poison. Nevertheless, she obediently took a third goblet full and finished it, although slower than the first two. Then she looked at Voldemort with her lips trembling, tears pooling in her eyes and hesitated.
He simply commanded, "Do continue, my dear," in a horribly mock polite tone, reinforcing the Imperious curse; there was no way the girl could resist.
And so she drank two more goblets full, until her stomach was wracked with burning cramps, while her mind was flooded with her most dreadful memories, and she could not remain upright any more.
She collapsed trembling, holding her stomach and crying, "Please, no more. It hurts, it burns. Please, sir, don´t, stop it. Please let me go." Her hands shock so hard that she couldn´t keep her hold on the goblet anymore.
Voldemort quickly bend down and caught the goblet, before it fell to the ground. He filled it again to the rim with potion and held it against her lips.
"Come on, girl, you have finished half of your task, now five more. You are doing just fine. Good girl, you will manage. You must drink some more!" he persuaded her with his most coaxing, silky voice. The Imperious already forced her to obey, but she drank slower, gasping for breath and obviously in great distress.
The Dark Lord did not care; all that mattered was that she drank enough so that he could retrieve his locket. He pushed the thought of the alternative away for now.
She finished the next goblet with more pauses, shaking, sobbing and curling in on herself on the ground, so that he had to pull her up against the pedestal to keep her upright enough to force and coax another goblet down her throat..
"Noooh," the girl whispered, "I can´t. Please make it stop, Please, I´ll do anything else, please, sir, please, let me go, I won´t tell anybody, I only want to go home. Please, it hurts so much, stop. No, please don´t hurt me anymore... Please no more..."
Voldemort raised an eyebrow, astonished that she was able to resist the Imperius curse enough to express her distress and wishes verbally. This slip of a muggle girl was much stronger then she looked like. Well that was good in a way, as a weaker person might simply pass out from the overwhelming hysteria, stress and pain.
He decided to change his tactic a bit, first stabilize her because it was clear she could not continue to sit upright on her own; then calming her down somewhat while adding a compulsion charm to his voice, to keep her conscious and focused enough to continue drinking the potion. There was no other way to get down to the bottom of the basin, one could not charm the potion out of the basin or into her, the potion had actually to be drunk. The basin was nearly empty, two or three goblets more should be enough.
Therefore, Voldemort grabbed her shoulder and pulled her close to the foot of the pedestal, so that her back leaned against it again. With a stab of his wand, ropes shot forward and tied her torso to the pedestal, her forearms and hands stayed free so she could continue to press her hands onto her stomach, as she had lain curled up on her side in a desperate attempt to ease the terrible pain in her abdomen. He left her legs free, so that she could bend her legs while sitting and keep her feet on the ground in front of her, in the most comfortable position possible.
Then he knelt down on the floor besides the shivering, desperately crying girl; with one hand, he held the refilled goblet, with his other hand, he pushed her hair out of her face and began to caress her head as if he would pet Nagini.
In a soothing voice, he tried to calm and reassure his victim, "Good girl, you're doing just fine, calm down. I´ll take the pain away as soon as you are finished, as soon as the basin is empty. You can leave this island when the basin is empty. I´ll let you go."
This seemed to comfort her enough, because she stopped crying hysterically and managed to drink several swallows, taking in another goblet full.
When her whole body trembled uncontrollable again, so that potion spilled down her top, he took her chin in a firm grip. Nudging her lips with the rim of the refilled goblet, he crooned with his silkiest voice, amplified by the compulsion charm, "Come on; be a sensible girl, you can do this, just drink one more, only one."
Touching this muggle caused him to shudder in revulsion, nevertheless he was determined to do what had to be done. While continuing to speak in this soothing manner, he coaxed another goblet down her throat, "Good girl, you're doing just fine, Yes, that´s it, good girl, just take another sip."
Voldemort loosened his hold on her to stand up and scrape the hopefully last goblet full out of the basin. He could already see something golden shimmering inside, although he could not touch it, yet. The girl sitting on the ice cold stone floor turned around and held onto his cloak and robes in desperation, so far gone in the haze of terror and pain that she sought warmth and comfort from her tormentor.
He crouched down on the floor again, soothing her with light caresses and meaningless words that worked nonetheless, well, like magic! The Imperius combined with the compulsion charm was fueled by his burning desire to find his locket, and so his magic urged the girl to drink despite her suffering the terrible burning pain.
"Good girl, come, and drink a little bit more."
"Please, it hurts. And I am so thirsty, please give me some water," begged the desperate brunette, shivering uncontrollably, pulling her legs closer to her body and holding one hand pressed against her abdomen, the other clutching onto the heavy black fabric besides her.
"Yes, you can. Good girl, you can drink a bit more. Come on, just another sip. That´s it, fine, you´re a fine girl," Voldemorts charming voice urged her into drinking the rest of the potion despite the fear and anguish it created.
"Nooo! Please, give me some water. It burns, please, no more, don´t."
"Good girl, drink a little bit more, you are nearly finished. I´ll help you, the pain will end soon, very soon."
Finally, the goblet was empty. The Dark Lord rose to his feet. He felt light headed with anticipation, Would it be enough? He peered into the basin. Nearly all of the potion had vanished, he could see the ground of the basin. He scooped the last of the potion out; suddenly it was only a quarter goblet full. He set the goblet aside.
There was a golden locket.
~ TBC ~
A/N. The title is again a line from Shakespeare´s play Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 7, that fit the mood of the chapter.
Special thanks for reviews to Aya Macchiato, cara-tanaka, Harco8059, Mi55-b3cca, Pygmy Puff of Doom, Raven Of Dark, and SunshineAndDaisies. Glad you like it!