The Curse-breaker's Sister

The Curse-breaker's Sister
Chapter 11

Bill watched in terror as the sexiest, most beautiful woman he had ever seen walked towards him. Her hips swayed and long, pale legs whipped out from the folds of her dress with every step she took. Bill had never seen another woman like her, and no doubt would ever again. This was not really a woman, but a demon that had taken Bill a prisoner and had no plans of letting him go.

The demoness bent to kiss one of her minions. There were several of them chained up in the room with Bill. He could hear him begging her to love him, to release him. Instead, she toyed with him and pressed her pale, pink lips to his head before kicking him hard in the stomach. The man grunted and then fell silent. The other men in the room cowered, their chains rattling as they tried to press themselves into the cold, stone wall.

She stood now, in front of Bill, forcing him to look up at her from where he was chained to the ground. He looked directly into her eyes, trying his best to appear unafraid. She stared back at him. Her eyes were shining and black, framed with unnaturally long eyelashes.

"How are you, my darling? I trust you find your accommodations to your liking?" she purred in a husky voice.

"Who are you?" Bill demanded. He hoped that his voice was not as shaky as it sounded to him.

"I am Lamaštu. And you...you my redheaded man-child, are Bill Weasley. You stole my staff."

"I didn't know it was yours," he called out angrily. "Let me go and we can work this out."

Lamaštu knelt down on the stone before him. Her oval-shaped face was less than an inch from her own. "If you didn't know it was mine, then why did you steal it?" She traced a pattern up his arm with a fingertip. "Tell me, cherub, and I will be very good to you. Defy me and you will suffer!"

Bill said nothing.

"Tell me, Bill. I'll make it worth your while. What do you want from me? I am a demon, a goddess. I can give you anything your mortal heart desires."

Bill remained silent. Lamaštu leaned even closer to him. He could feel her breath on his face. Her fingertip began tracing patterns again, down his arm and onto his leg, precariously close to his inner thigh. He tried to move his legs away from her but found that he was frozen in place with magic.

"Let me go!" he yelled.

Lamaštu laughed, a sultry sound that under other circumstances would have sent shivers of delight through Bill's body. "How did you find Atlantis?" she asked him.

"Persistent, aren't you?"

"Oh, you are so witty, you humans. So funny! I demand you tell me how you found Atlantis!" She was yelling quite loudly now.

Her hands were moving again, this time to his belt buckle. Bill was helpless, paralysed with magic and unable to push her away. Anger and fear coursed through his veins. He concentrated all his energy on ignoring her, on mentally pushing her away from him and was surprised when she suddenly jerked back, as if kicked.

He watched as she flew across the room. For a brief moment, the vampiric succubus in the shimmering white dress was replaced with a horrific image. An ugly beast with the head of a lion, blood stained hands and talon-like feet appeared before him before reverting to the form of the beautiful woman.

Lamaštu stood and adjusted the flimsy, white strips she used to cover her body. The dress left little to the imagination. The fabric was slit very high up the side of her legs, and up the middle of the dress, too. The front was nothing but two strips of fabric that barely covered her breasts. Her revealing outfit displayed an intricate tattoo across her chest. The swirling patterns of black ink seemed alive as they writhed across her skin.

She walked towards Bill once again. This time the sway in her hips was replaced with an almost child-like stomp.

"Damn you wizards and your wandless magic! You will tell me how you got here. You will tell me why you dared to steal the staff of Lamaštu! You will tell me or I will kill you!" Her voice was petulant and demanding.

Bill opened his mouth to answer but ended up coughing instead. His throat burned and his lungs screamed in pain as he struggled to get his breath. The coughing fit left him feeling too weak to answer.

"Stupid human weakling," she cursed.

Lamaštu flicked her hand in a seemingly casual manner and Bill started to thrash about in pain. He struggled against the magical chains used to bind him but his efforts were futile. Hot waves of agony ripped through his muscles and his screams echoed through the chamber, setting off the other prisoners. Soon the room was filled with a cacophony of screaming men. The only sound louder than the screams was the demands of Lamaštu.

Another flick of her hands and the pain stopped. Bill's screams ended instantly.

"Tell me what I want to know," Lamaštu ordered.

Once again, Bill said nothing and the painful torture was repeated. Time after time Lamaštu forced unbearable pain on Bill's body until finally he gave in. He tried to tell her about Ea Nasir, but found that he was too weak to talk. Lamaštu ran her hands over his body and the pain melted away. She kissed his forehead and all traces of the headache disappeared. He found himself eager to tell her what she wanted to know.

Having divulged all information he had on Ea Nasir, an act he regretted instantly, Lamaštu began asking him more questions. Refreshed from her strangely kind ministrations, he resisted her once again.

Tired of toying with her prey, Lamaštu placed her index and middle fingers against Bill's temples. When she pulled her hand away, a green threadlike substance came out as well. Bill watched as she spun the threads around her fingers and pulled away from him. It looked like thoughts from a Pensieve, only green hued instead of silver. Lamaštu placed her fingers over her own temples and Bill stared helplessly as the threads were absorbed into her own head.

"Why torture me like that when you could have pulled the information from my head in the first place?" Bill was angry, as well as emotionally and physically drained but he needed to know.

Lamaštu laughed at him and stroked the side of his face with her cold, pale hand. "I so rarely have anyone to play with," she purred. "It's not often that I get a live one down here. I wanted to have some fun with you before..."

"Before what?" Bill demanded, his voice weak, but firm.

She shrugged a pale, shapely shoulder. "Before I kill you. I shall leave you, for now. I quite enjoyed playing with you, Bill Weasley of Gringotts. As long as you entertain me, I shall keep you alive."

The room became enveloped in a sickly, green light so bright that Bill was blinded by it. When the light faded, Lamaštu was gone. Bill struggled against his chains but this only caused him to cough harder than before. He wrapped one arm around his chest to try and ease the pain in his ribs, and brought the other hand to his mouth.

When the coughing fit ended, Bill looked down at his hand, which felt damp. It was covered in blood.