Chapter 10- Taken
Hermione
"Oof!" My bottom hit the hard rock of the cave floor. "What do you two want with me?" I growled.
They smiled sinisterly.
You're probably wondering what's going on here. Well just ten minutes ago I had been sent out to look in the snare and find what we've caught. Now that there are just three of us, whenever one leaves, one is always alone.
That was a probably soon to be fatal mistake for me, because now I'm in the clutches of Alpin Ulseth and Ernie Macmillian.
"Your little friends will come running to save you. That's when we can get the chance to kill them and then you. That will leave just my dear friend Chico and it's ours for the winning." Alpin crouched down to pinch me on the cheek.
I snapped at him with my teeth and he just laughed cruelly. "It's getting dark. We need more deaths soon, don't you agree?"
I refused to respond to the horrid question and glared at him. "Go to sleep."
Trying to sleep on that cold cave floor was impossible. Sure, I'd done it before, but not with ropes wrapped tightly around my legs and wrists.
The night was a long one, but I figured that maybe if I tried to escape early than I'd stand a chance. I think I've almost figured out the route from where they had kidnapped me to where we were staying. I just have to wait a little longer…
Seamus
"Shouldn't Hermione be back by now?" I asked nervously as Claire and I worked to prepare a semi dinner.
She looked up from her work. "You're right. We should go check on her."
We set down what we were doing and ventured out to where the snare was set up. Instead of running into Hermione on the way, we got to the tree and saw crude letters carved into the wood.
She'll be dead in 24.
A & E
"Merlin, they took her!" I breathed, waving Claire over to stand next to me.
"This is what they want." She said grimly. "They want us to come running to save her so we can all just die together."
I gave the small girl an odd look. "Well that's what we have to do then. I'm not leaving her with those two. Especially Alpin."
"Seamus, just think." She grabbed me by the shoulders. "We could barely handle the two when Kim was still with us… How could we survive when it's just the two of us going against them? Hermione's most likely not going to be able to help."
"We can't just leave her. I won't abandon her Claire. And if I have to I'll go without you." I gave her a hard glare. "Tomorrow morning I'm going to go get her, with or without you."
Hermione
I struggled to pull myself up from the floor. I had spent most of the night trying to untie my hands to a bit of success. I just needed to find a sharp rock of something to cut the rope with…
Looking in the dim light I found a stalagmite and rushed over to hook the rope around it and move it up and down in a sawing motion. Luckily the edge I was cutting on was jagged and finally the ropes cut free.
I almost screamed with joy but held it in and quickly untied my feet. I picked myself up and ran out of the cave. Unfortunately my stiff joints weren't used to the free movement and I promptly tripped on a rock and fell with a thud.
Looking back into the cave I saw the two begin to stir. 'Run.' I thought, and picked myself up, pumping my arms furiously to try and gain speed. I heard the surprised shouts and the pounding of their footsteps following me.
I tried to move faster but soon felt arms wrap around my legs as I crossed the border onto the open land. I shrieked in a vain attempt for someone to come to my aid, but no one was there, the sun had just barely risen after all. "You little…" Alpin began to say, turning me around on my back to face him.
He didn't finish, but instead let out a snarl and began dragging me by my arms back to the cave. I screamed the whole way and yelped whenever he dragged me across the sharp or pokey objects until we had reached the cave again. "Watch her!" He hissed to Ernie in anger before stomping off, most likely to clear the drag tracks from my body.
That didn't work… I figured the only other way was to convince Ernie. "Ernie." I said hesitantly.
"Quiet. You're causing a lot of trouble and Alpin is not in a good mood now thanks to you." He snapped.
"Wow, sounds as if he's your leader or something. Are you really going to stand for that?" I raised my eyebrows.
He was quiet for a moment and I thought he was going to reveal something else to me before just yelling at me again. "Shut up!"
I shook my head and continued. "You're scared of him. He treats you like dirt Ernie, yet you stand for it to avoid being killed yourself." I voiced.
"I said… Shut. Up." He turned to grab the collar of my shirt and lift me partly up off the ground.
"He's going to kill you Ernie." I whispered as he brought his red face close to mine. "He's going to kill you when you're the only one left, or even before that. He doesn't care about you. You know how Crabbe and Goyle follow Malfoy around at Hogwarts. Well you're being them right now, and Malfoy would most likely give them up in a heartbeat to get something he wants, just as Alpin would to you."
He looked as if he was about to hit me, and I readied myself for the impact but it never came. Instead he sighed and dropped me back to the ground with a thud. "What are you asking for?" He questioned, running his hand through his already dirty and messy hair.
"Freedom." I whispered.
Author's Note- There you go! Chapter ten finally! Haha hope you liked it! Please review and thanks to my awesome reviewers Arcticmist and obsessivegirl73 for reviewing the last chapter!