captive | d.m.

final

-Theo Nott-

It was like being sucked back into existence. Coming up for air after holding your breath underwater for as long as you could. You could feel it in the tips of your fingers and the twitch of your calf muscles. You could feel it in the flutter of your eyelash and the rush of air that left your mouth once you released your first out loud exhale and felt your chest rise and fall with it steadily.

And then the world slammed back into you once you allowed your lids to fall open. Allowed the light to fall into your vision and allowed your muscles to shift so that you were moving, pressing two palms against the cushioned surface beneath you and straining to sit up.

That's how it felt to be released from this God awful coma. After lying here everyday, desperately wanting to obliterate myself, I lived.

I fucking lived.

No one really cared about me. I didn't mind leaving. Didn't have anyone to go back home to. Didn't know anyone who would miss me.

Well, maybe Parkinson. But she'd stopped visiting a long time ago. Probably moved on. Probably went for some other rich wanker who's got his hands dipped in Galleons.

So yeah. No one cared about me. I never experienced loss, never experienced the epic love I thought I imagined I was starting. I was always in the shadows. An average student with average grades and an undecided future.

I don't even remember how I got here in the first place. All I remember is that bloody war and then darkness.

I cleared my throat to speak but it almost hurt. I tried again and again until I managed to muster a small, "Hello?" It sounded lower and sadder than I expected. There it was. Hearing my voice for the first time in God knows how long.

It took me seconds to realize that I was utterly alone in this stupid hospital room. Absolutely no one was within radius, maybe even in this fucking building. I was left alone, possibly to die, maybe even forgotten. Maybe I was dead already and simply just waking up to something between earth and the afterlife. But the steady thrum of my pulse said otherwise.

To my utter repulse, I was perfectly alive, well, and healthy.

And alone.

I threw the covers to the side and carefully let my bare feet touch the cold hospital floor. It sent a sudden shiver down my spine. I ignored it and slowly pushed my weight onto them until I was standing. And then I was standing without support and it felt as if it was the first time I was standing in about a hundred years.

One step, and then another, and another, and another one until the handle to the closed door was merely centimeters away.

And before I could reach for the handle I paused for a moment. Was this the right move? Or should I pad back to bed until someone decided to visit me and wonder if I was alive? Perhaps its for the best.

But of course my curiosity got the best of me. I needed to know. I needed to just...just get the fuck out of here.

I needed a large meal and a smoke.

And a fucking wand.

I swung the door open as swiftly as possible and poked my head out to an empty hall. Nothing but a piece of paper that flew off a desk and gently landed on the floor. I stepped over and teetered for a moment, grasping the wall before squinting my eyes through my hair and looking around.

By God, this place seemed...abandoned.

"Anyone here?" I called out, voice coming out raspy but louder than the first time.