Invisible String - Sebastian Sallow

Preface

Everything hurt. It was the first thing I registered as I woke blearily from a clearly trauma induced haze.

My arms and legs ached from the position they were tied back in, one eye swollen shut from the array of curses that they had thrown at me, throat raw, a small trail of blood flowing freely from my ear. A faint ringing sound filled one ear- though I couldn't pinpoint which- and I hoped I hadn't lost my hearing.

Despite my pain, despite the obvious danger I was in, all I could think about was what they could be doing to him. I had to get to him, had to find him- if he was hurt, it would be my fault. Oh, god, what if he was already dead?

No. He couldn't be dead. I refused to let myself even think about him like that. Not now that I'd finally gotten him back. His brown eyes and freckled face swam in my thoughts, his lips pulled into a smile as he leaned towards me. It was so vivid I had to remind myself he wasn't directly in front of me, had to put myself back in the reality of my situation.

I was here, tied to a chair, being tortured and I had no idea where they were keeping him. I needed to focus on me.

"What have you done to him?" I rasp out, my voice thick with my own blood, rawness of my throat really pronounced once I spoke.

"He is in much better shape than you," a voice spoke faintly from my left. So that was the ear that was bleeding.

"C'mon now, darling girl, just tell us what we want to know, and this will all be over soon."

His voice sounded familiar to me, but I couldn't pull myself out of my pain induced haze long enough to place him.

"I don't know anything," I said again, the same answer I'd repeatedly told my captors. If I was honest, sure, the pain would stop. But I had a feeling that the pain wouldn't stop because they'd choose to let me go. No, the pain would only stop when I stopped breathing. Until I could confirm he was safe, was out of harms way, I wasn't going to give them that satisfaction.

"Tsk, tsk, little girl. I wish you wouldn't lie to me," the voice said again. It was gravely, thick and accented. I knew I had heard it before.

Someone else shouted out after he spoke, their voice cold and high as they yelled, "Crucio!"

The scream that escaped my lips was the loudest yet. Hot tears streamed down my bloody and grimy cheeks as pain ripped through my body. I was theirs for the killing- wandless and incapable of using my ancient magic.

Instead, this is what they chose to do.

"PLEASE!" I shouted, my body twitching helplessly in the air, bound to the chair and being thrown about like a marionette. "Please, stop this!"

"Then tell me how I can get into that damned room!"

I shook my head again, ready to tell him to just kill me,  when another blast of the Cruciatus curse slammed into me- another scream ripped from my throat, the world spinning before me, and then- I heard a door bang open.

Immediately, the pain I was feeling ended. I no longer felt like my insides were tearing, no longer felt that each limb was being torn from its socket. I took deep ragged breaths trying to blink away my swollen eyes, trying to make sense of the blurry field in front of me.

Loud shouts sounded all around, flashes of red, purple and yellow-gold light flashing behind my swollen shut eyes, curses and counter-curses flying by me. The colors grew brighter and then faded back before slamming into focus again. Clearly, a battle had erupted around me. I slammed into the ground with a thud and smacked my head against the stone floor. Pain ripped through my skull and I cried out again. And then-

"Abbi!"

No! No, no, no, no he shouldn't be here!

I could hear him yelling my name as he ran towards me, dimly recognizing what spells he was sending out around us as he got closer to me. I felt his knees bump into me slightly as he slid across the ground to my side.

There were no more spells flying about, it was quiet, still. I felt the ropes binding me to the iron chair slip off my wrists and ankles and opened my eyes slightly so see him one more time.

"Sebastian," I croak out, my throat even more tender than before. I was able to focus in on his beautiful brown eyes and forced the next words out as my vision greyed out, "Get out of here."

I saw his lips move, but whatever he said to me was lost as the world turned dark.