Empty Gold • d.meadowes

-48-

Dorcas woke up with a dull pain in her head.

For a few minutes, she was completely unaware of where she was and what she was doing, and was immensely surprised to find herself lying on the cold hard ground. But when her eyes met the dull eery green lights wafting off the torches on the wall, her memory had a sharp comeback, and she shot upwards. Or at least, she tried to. She was unable to move much owing to the slimy ropes snaked around her arms and legs, tethering her to the ground.

"Oh look, she's awake," said a familiar voice. Dorcas blinked a few times and saw Emma Vanity speaking to her. Beside her were Crabbe, as large and as stupid, but just as vicious as ever, Rowle, a sandy haired, rough looking boy with a permanent sneer, and of course, Mulciber. "So nice of you to drop by."

Dorcas realised that her wand has been taken from her, but she didn't really need it. The four Slytherins seemed to know it too, for they all had their wands pointed directly to her and were on the alert, despite the fact that she was made completely immobile. But even if she was able to hex them without moving her lips or her hands, she doubted she would be able to take down four of them without getting killed.

"Were you looking for someone, Meadowes?" asked Mulciber conversationally. "You seemed so purposeful, stalking along like that. It almost looked like you wanted to - kill someone."

Dorcas glared at him, wanting nothing better than to blast him to smithereens. She was surprised to find that she wasn't scared; not really. It didn't matter that she was outnumbered, it didn't matter that she might die, right here, in the cold dungeons. On the contrary, she felt at peace thinking that she may be able to meet her mother once again.

Emma Vanity sauntered towards her, smiling awfully. Her wand was still pointed at her. "Why the sudden interest in the dungeons? Wanted to meet your mother again, did you? And you wanted a quick and easy way to do that? Well, we aren't going to make it as easy, are we? You walked willingly into our lovely abode, and you will get your just welcome."

Dorcas wasn't paying much attention to her words, though she kept her eyes fixed on the death eaters in front of her. Her mind was on herself, on the ropes tying her down. She was uttering spells non verbally to undo the bonds, and she could feel the knots loosening around her wrists. Thankfully, none of her four captors seemed to notice anything odd.

"You feel so proud, don't you?" Dorcas said in a deadly calm voice. She wanted to stall for time, hope to gain herself an opportunity to escape. "Killing my mother? Is your Lord Voldemort proud of you now? Is he going to promote you to a higher position? What? Afraid to hear his name?" She sneered mockingly at them. "Does your Lord tell you all his secrets now?"

Emma Vanity exchanged a look of pure outrage with Mulciber, taking a few fierce steps forwards. "Don't you dare speak his name!" she seethed. "Don't you dare - you foul - besmirched -"

Dorcas didn't interrupt her as she spat out a few more curse words at her, which allowed her to shift her focus from her bonds to one of the torches in the wall. All four of them facing her, none noticed the torch as it slowly lifted off its bracket, causing the firelight to dance on the walls.

"Are you done?" asked Mulciber mockingly, scowling at Emma. "Let's get her to the common room." He sent a greedy look towards Dorcas.

"Common room? What for?" Emma stared at him incredulously. The hand holding her wand lowered a little. "Keep your blood thirst to yourself. I say we put her under the Imperius curse and use her to our advantage. The Dark Lord would -"

Behind Emma, Dorcas saw Crabbe playing lazily with his wand. No, her wand. She recognised the supple structure and the deep brown texture. His own wand seemed to be nowhere in sight.