The sun was starting to slowly lower itself into the sea, bringing about the blackness of night. Already the eastern sky was turning dark blue, and a few faint stars could be seen.
Tonight is an important night for many reasons, Bellatrix thought as she quietly made her way down the ancient stone stairs into the crumbling keep's lower levels.
Before she could deal with the important matters of the night, she had a new project to start in motion, which was why she was making her way down into the silent bleakness of the basement area, every now and then lifting her silk black dress as she stepped over a puddle or a missing stair.
Morder, who was working out well as her new second in command, had inquired if she should bring another Death Eater with her. She had laughed at the foolish question, and instructed him to stay and make sure everything is ready when she got back. She didn't tell him how long she would be, but she doubted what she had to do would take long.
At last, she reached the damp dungeon ground and made her way to the last door at the end of the tunnel. None of the outside light could penetrate down here, so she drew her wand and lit it up to give just enough light for her to see.
She didn't want the captured boy to know she was coming, until the right moment.
When she finally reached the door, she stopped and put an ear to the wood, but couldn't hear anything inside. Not that it was much of a surprise to her. They had kept the boy in the room without light and only with water for three days. No one had spoken to him or said anything at all in that whole time. That should be enough to make anyone a little weak, especially one of those DA brats.
She pulled the key out of one of the folds of her gown, turned the lock and opened the door. As she did this, she increased the amount of light that her wand was emitting, so when she stepped into the tiny chamber, she was practically bathed in light.
Laying on the floor was the same dark-haired boy that Morder had brought in, although he looked pasty-white and pale. His blue eyes were only half-open and he held up a trembling hand to shield them from the massive amount of light they were receiving, after being in darkness for so long. His voice cracked as he rasped, "Who are you? Where am I?"
She allowed herself a moment of relish, seeing that the boy had suffered so much. Oh, I do hope we haven't completely broken him yet, she thought. He needs to resist a little bit.
She dimmed the light on her wand, shut the door and turned back to the boy, who was blinking furiously, trying to get used to the sudden changes in light.
"What's your name, boy?" she asked without prelude.
His eyes seemed to have finally adjusted, and he looked at her in shock. Clearly he didn't expect someone who looked like she did to be his jailer, but life was rarely what one expected it to be.
"Who are y…" but he didn't finish, because she hit him with the Cruciatus curse before he could complete the question. He writhed and screamed, his voice bouncing off the walls around them to fall dead on the ground.
She only held him for a moment, before she released the spell, savoring the sound of his screams and the feeling of terror in the air. It's been too long.
"I asked YOU a question, boy! What is your name?" she barked, and he moaned before answering "Callum. Callum Taliesin."
"Taliesin? What a pretty name," she said, making her voice sweet as could be. She did enjoy playing these mind games with her victims. "Do you know why you are here?" she asked.
Still not looking up, the book merely shook his head.
"And here I thought you were so clever. Well, life is full of disappointments, isn't it?" and she gave him another, slightly longer taste of the torture curse. This time his body seemed to be shaking of its own accord, and she could see tears streaming down his cheeks.
So easy.
"You are here, because you are going to help me get inside and destroy that miserable `army' that your wretched friends have created. And you're going to help me kill Harry Potter."
His body still racked with tremors, he managed to say, in a low voice. "I…won't…"
She smiled wickedly, and brushed a strand of her black hair behind her ear. So, he won't crumble so easily. Good.
She leaned down until her face was only a foot away from his. "Oh the contrary, I think you will help me." She used the tip of her wand to brush some hair out of his eyes. "You'll help me, Taliesin, because I know how to define pain."
In one quick motion, she was standing straight, and said "Crucio!" for a third time, this time holding it until she was satisfied. When she at last released him, the boy couldn't even scream; all the air was gone from his lungs. She, on the other hand, breathed in heavily and deep, like she had just tasted the most delicious thing imaginable.
In between racking sobs the boy squeaked out, "Please…stop…what do…want to…know?"
"Oh, no, no. That won't do at all," she answered. "I don't want you to tell me. You're going to show me."
She reached into another fold of her gown and pulled out a silver pocket watch.
"Do you see this, boy?" she asked, and he opened one eye to look up at what she was holding, then nodded and closed his eye again. "Good. Now listen carefully to me: as soon as I leave here, I will send one of my servants to give you food enough to give you some strength back. You're then going to go back to where you came from, and report to me, using this, on what is happening there. Do you understand me?"
The boy nodded, still curled in a ball on the ground, and she set the watch down, near one of the boy's outstretched hands.
"Good." She paused for a moment, then, just to be sure, cast the Imperius curse on him, and repeated her instructions. This time he lay rigid as a board, but again nodded when she was finished.
She headed for the door, stopped and said, "Remember, you must act completely natural, so they don't suspect anything. If they ask, which they undoubtedly will, tell them you were trapped under the rubble of the Malfoy Mansion, and it's taken you three days to free yourself. You certainly look the part," she added with a laugh observing his now ragged clothes and haggard look, and closed the door, not bothering to lock it. He wasn't going anywhere now.
She quickly headed back up the stairs to the main chamber, seeing the last light of the sun fading, and the darkness fast approaching. The time to move out was coming quickly.
She entered what used to be the castles' dining hall to see Morder and ten other Death Eaters, all cloaked in black, waiting for her. She smiled at the sight, the thrill of anticipation running hot through her veins.
She motioned for one of the Death Eaters who was standing guard by the door and said, "Bring some food and water to the boy in the dungeon, and then let him Apparate. Do you understand?"
"Yes, mistress," was the quick reply, and the witch headed off down the stairs.
Morder approached her, a look of steely determination in his eyes.
"All is ready," she said, more of a statement than a question.
He nodded and said, "The scouts just returned. The lights are still on in most of the homes, and they saw shadows in the windows. People are still there."
Bellatrix nodded and said. "Let us go to the designated spot, then."
He murmured orders to the ten that were going with them, and they all drew their wands, waiting for her mark. She smiled wickedly and said, "The time of rumours and whispers is over," and with a CRACK, was gone.
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