Send My Regards

Chapter Eleven

Marcus Flint didn't know how much time had passed since he passed out and opened his eyes again. He was dreary and found himself surrounded by silky warmth. His eyes stared at a familiar ceiling. He blinked; this was very strange.

"...How..?"

Marcus's Slytherin dorm came into view. But how or why was he there? Everything was the same: the oak four-poster adorned with silver and green silk sheets, the hardwood floors and Slytherin banners along the walls; all the same as if the next batch of students didn't dare take it down.

But why was Marcus in his bed, with his own sheets to be exact? None of it made sense. The room blurred and came in and out of focus. Marcus shook his head.

Then, a door opened and someone entered the room. Marcus sat up. The intruder smiled.

"Johnson!" Marcus said eagerly and felt a bit calmer.

Angelina began to walk towards his bed but though her strides were steady, it appeared as if the floor moved beneath her feet. Marcus furrowed his eyebrows.

"Johnson, get over here. What is going on?"

He went to toss the sheets off of him when suddenly, an invisible force pushed him down on the bed and pinned him. Marcus struggled and cursed and the soft bed beneath him hardened while the room around him began to shift before his very eyes.

He blinked once and that was enough; the Slytherin dorm had disappeared and formed into a very large chamber. The walls were now stone and the floor made of dirt and there was only a chair in the middle of the room in which he now sat. His heart raced manically. All was pitch black.

"Johnson?" Marcus asked.

The only response was a line of torches erupting into flame along the wall. They flickered violently and made the shadows dance along the stones. A figure began to approach the chair. When the face of the figure came into view, Marcus's breathing quickened and he made to stand but he was pinned.

"Let me go you fucking sick freak!" he screamed. "Where am I?! What have you done with Angelina?! If you touched her I swear I'll rip your goddamn face off!"

But the figure, William Flint, only smiled and stood before Marcus's chair. He held a wand in his hand.

"Fucking stay away from me you bastard!" Marcus thrashed in his seat.

William acted as if he didn't hear a single word. Pointing his wand at Marcus, he watched as it seared an image into his son's flesh.

Marcus cried out as the fire on his left arm spread along a predestined path and to his horror, an image began to form. Then, seconds later, a Dark Mark sealed itself into his forearm.

"I HATE YOU!" Marcus screamed in absolute frenzy. "I'M NOT A DEATH EATER! I'LL NEVER BE ONE! I'LL CUT MY FUCKING ARM OFF! DO YOU HEAR ME!?"

But William could not hear him. He only smiled with satisfaction and placed his hand on his son's shoulder in a congratulatory manner.

"GET YOUR DAMN HANDS OFF ME!" Marcus continued to roar. "WHERE IS ANGELINA?! WHERE?!"

Marcus kept shouting until the hand on his shoulder gave one rough push. He, and his chair, toppled backwards and the room suddenly filled with cruel illumination. Marcus wished it was black again. He opened his eyes and the sound of his thundering heart was deafening in his ear.

Hanging from the ceiling above him, splayed from her arms and legs like a marionette, hung Angelina Johnson naked, beaten, and dead.

Marcus Flint's nightmare world came to a sickening end and all went dark---

"FLINT!"

Reality slapped Marcus in the face almost as hard as the fist that woke him up. He sat up abruptly and immediately grimaced. His head was throbbing. "The hell...?" he asked drunkenly.

"WHERE IS SHE, YOU BASTARD?!" Oliver shouted; his voice shaking and full of desperation as he slammed Marcus into the floor again.

This seemed to wake Flint up. He blinked in a daze. Where was his dorm? The chamber? And more importantly: why was Oliver Wood actually beating him up? Marcus sat up and gave Oliver a rough shove.

"Get the fuck off of me."

Oliver fell back but immediately scrambled to his feet. Marcus finally got a good look at him, then; wet, muddy, and covered in blood. He was shaking.

"Where did they take her, Flint!? I know you know!"

"What are you shitting on about, Wood?"

"Katie! They took Katie, you son of a bitch!" Oliver shouted and lunged at Flint again.

Marcus reacted quickly and threw Oliver to the ground. Wood cried out in pain and winced as Flint raised his fist but then, everything froze.

"Wait. What the hell did you say?" Marcus asked.

And then it hit him: where was Angelina? Wasn't she sleeping next to him? That's what he remembered. He looked up and went pale; the cabin was empty save for him and Oliver. Marcus scrambled to his feet. "Johnson?!" he called out frantically but Angelina did not respond.

He pushed past Oliver and ran out of the cabin but when he got outside, he froze and Wood ran into his back. Flint's eyes were fixed on something; a tree directly in front of the cabin. Carved into the bark and circled by a heart it said:

William

&

Angelina

Marcus felt bile rising into his throat. Hanging from a branch on the very same tree was the golden amulet. He ripped it down with a merciless scream.

Oliver didn't need to ask questions. When Flint took off running, he followed.

***

Vaguely, in the dark, Angelina Johnson could hear her name being whispered repeatedly. It seemed to travel through the chilly air and reverberate off the walls; echoing eternally. At first she only thought she was dreaming. From the headache that enveloped her, she assumed she could only be suffering from a terrible hangover and delusions were not uncommon when drunk. Her name was only a dream. Angelina went back to sleep.

"Angelina!" the voice whispered a bit louder and more desperately. "Please, wake up!"

And this time, she did. The voice was much clearer and louder, after all, and also familiar. Angelina opened her eyes and felt heavy. She couldn't see but she could hear.

"...Katie?"

Katie couldn't whisper any longer. Her fear was too great. "Yes," she said.

Angelina promptly became more alert. She tried to move but found herself immobilized in a chair. Instinctively, she jerked but it was no use.

"Where are we?"

"...I don't know," Katie responded. Her voice was shaking as if she were holding in tears.

"Where are you?"

"I'm right behind you."

Angelina craned her neck to see. Just barely, she could make out Katie's shoulder. They were tied back to back. Angelina tried to wriggle free again but the binds held tight. She sighed.

"Katie, are you ok?"

There was a moment's pause before Katie took a deep breath and began to cry; something very unlike her. "No. Angelina...Oliver's dead."

Angelina felt her heart shudder and stop. "...What?"

"There w-was an attack. A Death Eater. H-he was there t-to kill Oliver."

"Oh, my God."

Katie cried harder. "Oliver g-got c-cursed and then he f-fell out the window."

Angelina was speechless. She blinked; trying to register this news in her head. Was Oliver Wood really dead? "Katie...are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure! I called out for him and he wouldn't respond! He was wandless, Angelina. There was no way he could have defended himself. I got sent here and the Death Eater stayed behind to finish him off! And then they carried you in and you looked dead, too! I was so scared!"

"Katie, I'm so sorry."

There were several moments of wordlessness as Katie just cried.

"Where...where are we?" Angelina asked.

"I don't know! I was just about to ask you the same question!"

Angelina tried in vain to adjust her eyes to the dark. They were somewhere cold and damp; she could feel it. And the smell of mold made her eyes water.

"Do you know how long we've been here?" Angelina asked.

Even though Katie's response wasn't verbal, Angelina could feel her shaking her head. Katie sniffled and tried to relax but the guilt of Oliver's death consumed her.

"I should have been faster!" she suddenly belted out. "I should have never allowed myself to be stunned! If I was just a bit quicker, he'd be alive right now!"

"Katie, please don't beat yourself up," Angelina said softly. "We have to stay calm or we'll never get out of here!"

But then the image of Marcus flooded Angelina's mind. It was easy for her to remain so calm with the prospective idea that Marcus was alive and well on the other side of this nightmare. But what if he wasn't? What if he, too, was killed by a Death Eater? She tried to remember something; anything that would ease her mind. But the more she thought the more empty and exhausted her memory became and she was filled with dread. It was then, too, that the grief of Oliver Wood's death sank in.

There was little time to dwell, however. A loud groan signaled an opening door and light immediately filtered into the room. Katie and Angelina both turned their heads; blinded as their eyes had not adjusted. They could only make out a very dark silhouette.

When it spoke, Angelina shivered. She recognized the voice.

"Ah, awake at last."

"What have you done, you bastard?" Angelina hissed.

William only grinned.

For the first time, Katie was able to stare upon the face of the man who had caused them so much grief. She felt a rumbling anger growing hot in her chest. So what if he didn't directly kill Oliver? He was still responsible. She thrashed against her binds. "I'm going to kill you! Mark my words!" she spat.

William seemed amused. He slowly rounded the chairs and knelt directly in front of Katie. "Ah, you must be Ms. Bell. A bit feisty and tenacious aren't you? You certainly gave Addison quite a fight."

Katie didn't say a word. She only promptly spit in his face. William barely winced and pulled out a cloth from his pocket to wash it off his eye before standing.

"I trust you're probably curious as to if he finished the job," he continued. "I am too. He's just returned. Shall I call him in?"

Angelina narrowed her eyes. "You unimaginable prick."

"Nott," William called and ignored Angelina.

Seconds later, Addison Nott appeared in the door way. He looked a bit flushed and sweaty. "I've just returned."

"Yes, I know. Come in, wont you? Look at this beautiful display we have."

Nott seemed less enthused as if his mind was elsewhere. He glanced out the door and it seemed he was about to think of a reason not to enter when he gave up on himself and trudged inside. Angelina and Katie finally saw him. He looked rather defeated and shaken. Katie filled with hope. Maybe Oliver fought and escaped!

"You did well," William said. "Did you kill the boy?"

Nott paused and for a moment, his eyes fell on Katie who was staring back at him with wide eyes. He finally answered, "Yes."

Katie continued to glare at him as she filled with tears. In her mind, she was repeating the killing curse over and over again; hoping it would work on him. Nott, unfortunately, continued to live.

"Good," William said with satisfaction. "It's only a matter of time now before Marcus comes to the rescue. And when he does, this will be all over. Isn't that right, Angelina?"

"Go to hell."

"Soon, soon. In the meantime, I want you both to relax and enjoy the atmosphere. Shall I bring you refreshments? Something to relax your nerves, perhaps, so that you might find your inevitable torture a bit more bearable?"

Katie and Angelina said absolutely nothing. Their hatred and anger was so great that they were incapable of speech. This seemed to humor William even more. He smiled and ran the back of his hand lovingly over Angelina's soft cheek. She jerked her head away in disgust. How could she have let this happen? She had been so cautious. Walking around the cabin; what was she thinking? This was all her fault. But then, she remembered something else and looked up.

"Wait a minute," she whispered. "Where's Victoria?"

William raised his eyebrows. "That hag? I have to hand it to her that she did something right for once in her life." He nodded and confirmed Angelina's suspicions. "Oh, yes. She knew about this all along. Isn't that right, Victoria?"

And if on command, she was standing in the doorway with her head bowed in shame. Angelina and Katie both stared at her in shock.

"You?" Angelina asked her. "You were in on this the whole time?!"

Victoria dared to speak. Her voice was weak, though. "I...I didn't mean for any of this to happen..."

"Oh, of course not!" Angelina snapped. "Lying to your own son when his belongings are burned to the ground and his friends are murdered! It's all for the greater good, right?!"

"I tried to turn it around!"

"But again, you brilliantly failed," William added. "Bravo. No complaints from me. Why have you left your post, wench?"

Victoria trembled. "I...I'm reporting that two men have entered the cellar."

William looked at her curiously. "Two?"

"Yes."

Nott felt his heart race. He glanced at William worriedly before he was given the orders to check it out. He hurried out of the room. Victoria lingered only for a moment to gaze at Angelina apologetically before she, too, disappeared from view. William rubbed his hands together slyly and grinned down at the two girls.

"Now," he said with a deep breath. "Time to get you ready."

***

The cellar tunnel seemed to be longer than Marcus remembered as he ran through it with Oliver right behind them. They were both panting; having been running ever since they left the cabin. Wands were raised and illuminating their path weakly.

"Where are we going?" Oliver demanded.

"Shut up and follow me," Marcus said.

Finally, after Marcus's eyes scanned the dirt walls frantically for a door, he came to it. Quickly he threw it open and raised his wand for any attacks on the other side but it was dark, cold, and empty. He entered and Oliver followed. They ran to the second door up the stone staircase in which Marcus remembered to be Death Eater guards on the other side. Raising his wand again, he grabbed Oliver's collar and shoved him in front as a human shield.

"OI!" Oliver objected but the door was thrown open and he stumbled in.

Marcus waited and heard no sound of curses or attacks. The room was empty. Feeling absolutely no remorse in sacrificing Wood, he entered the room with his wand raised and looked around. Oliver was standing up and brushing dirt off his shirt.

Marcus headed for the main chamber. He was sure that William, Addison, or Lucius would be on the other side; sitting at the table by the fireplace patiently waiting for him to fall into their trap. He couldn't use Oliver as a shield anymore; when he turned around to grab him, he was greeted with a stern face and a raised wand. Marcus cursed and braced himself against the door. He was going to enter quickly and use the element of surprise.

One...two...THREE!

The door swung open and both men stumbled in, poised to attack, but no one was there. Marcus became deeply troubled.

"Where are they?" he mumbled to himself.

Oliver heard. "What?"

"The Death Eaters; they're all gone. Something isn't right."

Marcus cautiously peered around the room, looking for any sign of a struggle or maybe a cheeky note from his father. There was nothing; only a peacefully roaring fire. And then an idea struck him as he stared at the flames and a sinister smile curled upon his lips. Marcus walked over to the fire and managed to free a stick whose end was burning with embers. He held it in his hands calmly.

"What are you doing?" Wood asked.

Marcus glared at him daringly. He didn't answer; only lowered the burning stick to the wooden table. It merely smoldered for a moment before smoke began swirling around it until Marcus took his wand and merely set the entire table on fire. Oliver stumbled back.

"What are you bloody doing?!"

Marcus watched as the fire flickered violently over the table. Payback was sweet. Burn down my flat, eh? He was hypnotized by the fire and felt himself burn with an evil pleasure as if he were the table himself. Finally, he grabbed Oliver and ran to the opposite door.

"How are we supposed to get back out now?!" Oliver shouted as they ran.

Marcus hadn't thought of that; he was too consumed by the temptation of revenge. He didn't bother to answer and merely shoved Oliver through the door.

"Shut up and keep running," Marcus demanded.

"Stop pushing me, you git!"

And so Marcus pushed him again. Oliver growled deep in his throat but this was no time to fight. He concentrated his attention on finding Katie; ignoring Flint who was running at his side.

Marcus had never been beyond the room with the fireplace. Entering into the next door, the found themselves in a dark corridor. It was cold and damp and long; adorned with many iron doors. Oliver sighed and his breath hung foggily in the air. This was going to be a long night.

"Start checking all of them," Marcus said and immediately ran to the first door. Oliver mimicked him; wand at the ready. The iron doors, not surprisingly, were locked. Only two were open. One horrifying one Oliver was glad to shut the door on as it housed several painful looking contraptions on the wall. Another room Marcus found to be storage for a variety of stolen items; all large, expensive, and no doubt: dark. A strange curiosity came over him. Something in that room was drawing him in but luckily, Oliver grabbed his shoulder and slammed the door shut. They had to hurry.

As they searched the doors, Marcus tried to focus but his mind kept fluttering back to the image of Angelina. Horrifying images flooded his brain. What if William was torturing her right that very second? What if his nightmare was true and she was hanging somewhere beaten and dead. Or worse..? Marcus filled with rage. How did he let this happen? Angelina had always been in his eyesight! What went wrong? But as he tried to think about it, he suddenly realized he couldn't remember anything after Katie and Oliver left earlier to get food. Something was off.

And where was his mother?

"Flint," Oliver whispered and beckoned him over. His ear was pressed against the door.

"What?" Marcus replied and was shushed. He quietly approached the door Oliver was pressed against and listened. There were voices on the other end but he didn't recognize any of them. Nonetheless, his anger was making him feel rather reckless and bold. "Let's go," he whispered and made to open the door.

Oliver stopped him. "Are you mad?" he whispered back loudly. "We're wasting time!"

The corridor suddenly began to fill with smoke. The two wizards glanced behind them to where they entered and saw the light of a raging fire under the door. Marcus forgot he had set it. But in their distraction, the voices in the next chamber grew louder as they approached the door. They caught words such as 'inside' and 'we have them' but nothing else. Then, suddenly, another door opened and two Death Eaters stepped into the hallway. Marcus and Oliver were like deer in headlights.

"Lookie who decided to drop in," one Death Eater said.

Marcus recognized him as one of the guards into the first entryway. He gripped his wand tightly but before he could throw a hex, Oliver was pulling him through the nearest door. It slammed shut behind him.

"What the fuck are you doing, Wood?!" Marcus shouted.

"We were standing next to a room full of Death Eaters! Think about it, you idiot! If they heard you attacking out in the hall--."

"Yeah, but now we're trapped in this stupid room with those two out in the hall AND a room full of Death Eaters they're probably informing right now!"

Oliver shook his head in anger and looked around the room. His face became pale and he poked Marcus on the shoulder. Marcus spun angrily and felt like someone slapped him in the face. Oliver had pulled them into the room full of stolen magical items. There wasn't much time to look around as they heard shuffling outside in the hall. Instinctively, Oliver and Marcus dove into the storage and hid. No sooner did they do this that the door to the dungeon flew open and someone stepped in, flanked by other Death Eaters.

"All right, Marcus," the man said. "I know you're in here. You've kept your father waiting long enough."

Oliver was the first to recognize the voice. It was the man who attacked them in his flat! He used all of his control not to spring up and kill him though it seemed like the only feasible idea. They were trapped in this room, anyway, with the only exit guarded by a bunch of lunatics. What else was there to do? Oliver didn't dare look up to see who approached but his eyes searched frantically over the various jars and substances next to where he crouched. Only one of them seemed to be written in English and it was his only hope. He glanced at Marcus who was feet away from him and from the look in Oliver's eyes, Marcus knew he was about to do something very stupid.

"All right," Oliver declared loudly. "You have me cornered. It's not Marcus."

Nott stopped in his tracks. "Who's there?"

Oliver held up his hands; leaving his wand on the floor. Slowly he stood so as to not startle them into killing him. When he stood, Nott stared at him in surprise and then smiled. "Well, well," he said. "I was wondering if you'd come back, though I'm a bit surprised to see you made it this far. Who tipped you off? Marcus? I'm assuming you're here to save your little wench? Well, don't worry; I haven't vandalized her too much yet."

Oliver narrowed his eyes and tensed. Don't lose it. Don't lose it. He had to stay calm or this would never work. Below him, Marcus was cursing under his breath and calling Oliver mental. But he also noticed Wood's foot was resting on top of a jar and getting ready to smash it open.

"I could let you see her," Nott continued. "But I'm afraid I still have to carry out my first set of orders and kill you. Sorry."

Addison raised his wand and the two Death Eaters flanking him did the same. However, before they could attack, Oliver smashed his foot down onto the jar and he and Marcus suddenly disappeared through the floor as if they had transfigured themselves into puddles.

Baffled, Nott stormed over to where the boy once stood. All that was left of him were shards of glass.