Increased - a sequel to Turned

Chapter Four

It had been two months since Elizabeth began staying with Kody. They had grown extremely close, bonding over horror stories of magic gone wrong. At the one month mark, they began residing in a small, lofty house in the Irish countryside. It was the longest Kody had stayed anywhere.

Kody had trained Elizabeth every single night. After her begging him not going easy on her, he began refusing to let her sleep until she completed that night's task. Sometimes, he would lead her further with food, other times, he motivated her with promise of buying her books. The relentless hours practicing and training had taken a mental and physical toll on Elizabeth. Her weight had decreased significantly, showing most prominently in her face. Her once full, youthful cheeks, were now hollowed and sharp. The dress she'd worn when Tom killed her now fit like a bed sheet. Her collarbones stood out on her pale chest which hadn't seen daylight in weeks. Elizabeth resembled a ghost more than a girl.

In the two months she'd spent every waking hour with Kody, Elizabeth had adopted many of his personality traits. She rarely smiled, didn't trust anyone but herself, and increased the amount of lies she told. Elizabeth didn't like the new person she was becoming, but knew that the same starry-eyed, silly girl that had let Tom slip through her grasp before would not be capable of murdering him.

On an unusually warm, Friday night, Elizabeth practiced resisting the Cruciatus Curse. Her entire body ached. Kody initially set the curse on her for a maximum of five seconds. If she could resist the duration, he would increase the time by five more seconds and try again.

Elizabeth had been able to resist three minutes and forty seconds before falling to the ground in pain. Her brain was foggy and her vision tunneled.

"Fifteen more seconds," Kody prompted, clutching his pocket watch in one hand, his wand in the other. "Focus, remember what I told you," he guided her, watching as her muscles twitched, her fingernails pressing into her clenched fists. "You are at three minutes and fifty seconds," Kody told her excitedly. He took a drag from his cigarette. "You can make it to four, just breathe and think of the ocean."

Elizabeth shut her eyes and saw the ocean in Tarpon Springs. She saw the white curtains swaying in the summer breeze. Resisting the Cruciatus Curse was extremely dangerous, for if one faltered for even a moment, death was a risk due to the built up energy of the spell. She felt the curse pressing against her as the dull ache, which signified the end of resistance, became prevalent.

"Five... four... three... two... one!" Kody lowered his wand, and Elizabeth stumbled, leaning on the wall to hold herself. "Four minutes, that's incredible."

"I can do five," Elizabeth panted.

"No, you need to eat," Kody instructed, nodding so that she'd follow him down the stairs. They sat across from each other at the kitchen table and watched as a meal prepared itself. "Today, we are going to be doing something different."

Elizabeth took a sip of the water he had given her, "What, exactly?"

"We will be visiting your parents' home in Manhattan."

"Why?" Elizabeth asked, growing uncomfortable at the idea that she'd tried so extremely to suppress: her parents were dead.

"It could offer you some closure. I think it will be beneficial," he explained his plan. They ate their meal, not further conversing until they had devoured every last crumb.

Elizabeth looked down into her cup, feeling the cool condensation on her finger tips. She knew the fate of her parents and how they had most definitely suffered before their house was ransacked for information. She sighed and nodded, "Alright, we can go, but what if I am recognized?"