(A/N): Hey Guys! Third chapter tonight- well, since I last slept anyway. It's fairly short, sorry...

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Leo, Elaine, Shari, Nicholai, Brooke, Mia, Quiggly, Cipicia, Lisbet and Jonothan.

Leo

I faded back into consciousness some time later, motionless for a second as I was still numb to the world, before I recognised the burning inside me, strengthening and becoming more intense as I became more alert, and soon, I was writhing in pain all over again, the pain rivalling that caused by the cruciatus curse.

I couldn't see anything, my eyes were squeezed shut, I couldn't feel anything either, the pain making my body go numb, the only thing I could taste being a coppery tang of my own blood and the disgusting, cloying taste of the liquid my mother had forced down my throat, the only noise I heard being that of my own whimpers.

My fists were clenched, and I couldn't feel the specifics, but I knew I was lying on something other than the cold stone slab or the floor, seeing as how much softer it was.

"Ahh..." I gasped, my throat dry, feeling like it was ripping new little tears in my skin every second. "Wa...ter..." I mumbled, in case anyone was out there. I needed refreshment, badly.

I didn't recognise that I could hear again before a voice became apparent to me.

"You can't have water Leo, not yet...I'm sorry." I didn't understand, it wasn't a voice I knew, or thought I knew, in this weakened, half-delusional state, and I saw dots dance before my eyes like ballerinas.

I peeled my eyes open as my back arched toward the ceiling, mouth gaping and gasping as I was blinded by both a bright light and the pain in my body, my eyes clenching shut again from the pain, not that I had seen anything other than a light anyway.

Oh god... was I dead?

I'd think, if I was dead, that this pain would go away... and I wouldn't be hearing voices.

Unless...unless it was the voice of an angel... but why would an angel deny me water? Scratch that, why would I be in heaven?

So, not in heaven...

My thoughts were cut off as my body was wracked by a particularly harsh episode of stinging, acid-like burning from my insides, where the liquid had travelled, and I cried out wordlessly.

"Leo!" I heard a voice exclaim, sounding like they, themselves, were weeping. "Leo...Leo, it's going to be okay!" I paid no heed to the voice, what need did I have for it if it couldn't help me when I was in so much pain?

My whole body was throbbing, itching, burning, like someone had poured saltwater on the tiny scratches that I was sure coated my body, my arms twitching as I tried to reach for my throat, trying to figure out why it hurt so badly, but they couldn't quite reach, my hands fisting into balls as I sobbed and gasped, my body spasming with the pain.

"Please... please!" I cried, not knowing quite what I was pleading for. Relief? An end to my pain? Someone to kill me? I wasn't sure anymore, neither did I have to be as I succumbed to the agony burning through me, letting my jaw unclench, pride completely gone as I let myself scream my throat raw, though it hurt already, and I could taste blood in my mouth, though both my mouth and throat were completely dry.

"Leo!" I could barely hear this voice over my own pained screams, it was the same voice from before, and I could tell, for certain now, that whoever, or whatever, it was, had tears streaming down it's cheeks just as I did.

They seared as well, as they coursed down my skin, gracing my hot and dry lips with their salty presence before they slipped inside my open mouth, landing on my tongue, but not giving me any relief.

"Help...help, please!" I screamed, crying out for help though I knew no one would, or possibly could.

"Leo..." I heard the first voice whisper, as if their mouth was right next to my ear, but when I turned my head towards them, I could feel no breath ghosting over my face, no one was there. So, why could I hear them so clearly over my own screams.

"Help...me. Help me!" I managed to choke out past the burning mess in my throat, tears cascading freely now as my body writhed and wriggled with the excruciating pain I felt, my skin hot and crawling, though the blood that coursed throw my veins felt starkly cold in comparison, full of acidic pain.

"Please! Please, please, please..." I begged shamelessly, my toes curling as my bones began to ache, my face screwed up into a pained grimace. "Please..." I whispered one more time before I blacked out once more, my throat raw.

(A/N): What did you think?