::: Chapter 28:::

The loud sound of the doors opening jolted her from her thoughts. Bella had been staring at the ring in front of her, nestled securely in the small black velvet box. She glanced around to see Voldemort coming into the room. The expression on his face tells her immediately that something was horribly wrong. Even before he had reached her, he said,

"Someone has stolen my safe along with Slytherin's scripture. I want you in my den in 2 minutes."

Just as suddenly as he had appeared, he disappeared out of the room.

Quickly, Bella moved to change out of her nightgown into her Death Eater robes. As she took it out of the closet, she suddenly realize that he had not apparated in or out of their room. She frowned.

He must be feeling so mad he couldn't concentrate enough to apparate. Who the fuck could have dared to steal that scripture anyway?!

As her fingers touched the fabric of her Death Eater robe, Bella smiled a little. She suddenly realize how long it had been since she last had it on.

Well, Bella, it's your time to kill. Just like he'd promised.

She grabbed her wand from her dressing table and immediately apparated to the den, leaving the open velvet box completely forgotten.

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The Den…..

Avery was already there, standing quietly opposite the Dark Lord's table where the Lord himself is sitting. Avery turned to nod at her as a silent greeting. The Dark Lord had been sitting back in his chair, twiddling with his wand. Obviously, they had been waiting for her and now, Rodolphus.

That's funny. Rod is never late whenever the Dark Lord calls for him.

Where could he be?

What's holding him up? Or who?

Bella couldn't help but wonder where Rod could be or who he's with. Her thoughts went to Aurelia. She and Rod does seem to hit it off well when Bella had first met Aurelia at the party.

A little too well….No….Rod couldn't possibly fall for her…..no….she's just another one of Rod's playmates….

"Bella,' the Dark Lord called out to her but she couldn't hear him, being too lost in her own thoughts. 'Bella!" he said again, even louder this time catching her attention.

"Yes, yes, my Lord?" Bella said hurriedly for she realize that she had been daydreaming.

"Come over here! What are you doing standing there for?" the Dark Lord said without looking at her, in his quiet yet demanding way.

She started walking over to him, stopping next to Avery.

'What are you thinking about?' Voldemort sent to her.

'Nothing, my Lord' she sent back.

'Worrying about someone are you?' he sent again.

This time Bella was wary of him. She knew if he ever actually found out that she was worrying about Rod, she might just get into deep trouble.

A loud crack sound signaling Rod's arrival saved her from having to answer his question. Rodolphus walked over to were Bella and Avery were standing and bowed low to the Dark Lord.

"Forgive my tardiness, my Lord. I was held up by an unavoidable circumstance." Rodolphus apologized.

Bella tried to act nonchalant by Rod's arrival. Rodolphus would never know but he had saved her. Voldemort glanced sideways at Bella, noticed her relaxed expression before moving on to the agenda of their meet.

"Rodolphus, the scripture has been stolen along with my safe in which I have kept it." Voldemort started but was interrupted by Rod's and Avery's interjections.

"What?" Rodolphus and Avery uttered in unison.

"It is,' he said louder this time as he turned to face his three most trusted Death Eaters. 'your personal responsibility to find the scripture at all cost. For now, the scripture should still be within the safe but soon, it might be destroyed and I won't have that at ALL!" Voldemort slammed his fist on his desk.

"When was it stolen my Lord?" Rod asked, eager to get some clue to the mystery.

"During the party of course! When else!?!? No one knew about the scripture until I announced it at the party! I put the responsibility of retrieving the scripture back to the three of you!' Voldemort was obviously fuming. 'I have an old score to settle with someone we are all very familiar with. Don't fail me!"

"Yes, my Lord" the three of them said and bowed in unison. They immediately left the Dark Lord to embark on the new mission the Dark Lord has laid out for them.

The Dining Hall…..

"Who dared to steal the scripture? Right under our noses too! They actually dared to break into this house and steal the Dark Lord's safe when there are so many of us Death Eaters lurking around! " Avery said vehemently.

"Oh don't be stupid Ave!' Bella snapped at him. 'Of course it was an inside job! No one else knew about the scripture but the three of us before our Lord announced it just a few hours ago. It must have been one of our own who has suddenly had a change of heart! Damn it!' Bella said as she turned away from the two of them, her mind working furiously for any possible suspects. There are so many things on her mind right now that just does not help improve her mood. 'For now the scripture's safe. There aren't many people who can speak parseltongue and that's the key to opening the safe. Still, we have to act fast. They might find some other ways to try to open it."

"Bella's right,' Rod said. 'The Dark Lord must have known as well and that's why he only called us three to find the scripture. We are the ones he trusts the most and the rest are all possible suspects. Bella?" Rod called her.

"What?!" Bella said in a tone that she had not intended for.

Rod was slightly taken aback by Bella's harshness but he decided to ignore it for now since there are more pressing matters. It is obvious to him that Bella has a few things on her mind but he didn't want to discuss it with Bella with Avery present.

He pressed on. "I think we should each take a few heads under our wings. As of now we have 25 major faction Death Eaters who have considerable amount of influence given the sizes of their countries. We should each monitor 5 and try to narrow down the suspects from there."

"What about the other Death Eaters of the smaller countries? We aren't just going to rule them out are we?" Avery asked.

"I don't think we need worry about them. Most of the smaller nations we took over almost effortlessly because they easily bend toward where the wind is blowing. It's these bigger nations that we had trouble with. The bigger the country, the more we can expect resistance from. That's why I don't think we have to worry about the smaller ones. Do you agree Bella?" Rod asked her, trying to get her involved in their discussion again seeing how quiet she had become.

"Yes,' Bella said as she turned around to face them, also aware of Rod's effort of trying to make her chip into their ideas. 'Rod's right. We'll do the split now. I'll take Spain, Japan…."

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Back in their room….

Fuck! I can't believe it…..someone actually stole the scripture! And they dared make a tomfoolery of us! Stealing it right under our noses! What nerve!! I should have them all fried until they're crisp with my wand! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

Bella appeared in her room again to discover that Voldemort was not there. She hoped to Merlin that he never found out she actually felt relieved that he wasn't. She just wanted to be alone right now.

What the hell is the matter with me?! Why am I so fucking upset?! I'm upset about Rod? How? Why!? What right do I have to be upset about whoever he's fucking with? You never used to care before?! Bella what's the matter with you!??!

Bella propped herself down onto her bed and used her wand to take out her nightgown from the closet. As she sat at the edge of the bed, she wondered if Voldemort really knew about how she was feeling or was thinking about. She wondered if he would get upset if she started worrying about Rodolphus.

Would he really get angry if he found out I've been worried about Rod? Why should he anyway?

I wonder if Rod's in love with her? Oh stop it Bella, you're getting upset over nothing!

As Bella lay in bed that night, she couldn't help thinking if she had finally, after all these years fallen for Rodolphus.

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