Recollections

It was so dark. The blackness overwhelmed everything and seemed to choke the very life out of the air. A grunt and muffled "ow" sounded from in the midst of the silence, and Astoria Greengrass opened her brown eyes. She could hardly tell the difference between having her eyes open and closed. Her head hurt, but when she tried reaching up to her temple, she found that her hands were bound. The smell of the air around her was musty, with a hint of death. Tori shivered and tried to recall anything she could, reaching into her memory for a reason that she might be imprisoned and tied up. 

Nothing. Why couldn't she seem to remember how she got here? She knew that she had flown here, to England, with her family. She remembered her best friend from Ilvermorny, and how hard it had been to say goodbye after the announcement of her transfer to the wizarding school of Hogwarts. She even remembered walking into a strange shop in Diagon Alley; but when she strained her mind to focus on the events leading up to this blackness, all seemed hazy. 

-No.

 Wait. One thing was still there, and she focused on that with all her mental strength. It was a face, the face of a boy about her own age. He was holding a wand pointed at her head, whispering something, when her memory and vision had failed her.

Now she was in this icy nothing- waiting for something, anything to show itself. She pulled herself back to the present, and the pain in her wrists and the stiffness in her back reminded her that there were more pressing items to attend to. So she was tied up. Well, that could be easily remedied. Tori moved her bound hands toward her back pocket, but her searching fingers found nothing. Whoever had her had also taken her only weapon. Smart move, Tori thought, giving her captors a mental point. She would have done the same had she been kidnapping someone. Still wondering where on earth she was, she twisted around, trying to see anything in this overwhelming ebony.

Hang on—what was that? A rat? Tori detested rats. She wriggled franticly, pushing with all her 15-year-old strength, and was rewarded with a sharp pain behind her right ear. A gravelly voice sounded menacingly behind her. How long had he been there?

"You move, missy, and the master's pet will have an extra treat with her meal." Tori immediately stilled. She had no idea what this pet was, but all the same it didn't sound inviting. A rough shove on her right shoulder pushed her to her feet as a light appeared on the tip of a wand, shining on the walls around them. Looking around curiously, despite her situation, she realized that her prison chamber was not the simple room she would have suspected. She was in a very old dungeon. As she was hustled up a flight of stairs, the light drifted over some ancient torture devices; their shadows eerily slithering across the walls. Tori shuddered and decided that maybe curiosity was not the best idea right now.

At the top of the stairs, Tori was crudely shoved through a door into a chair and left alone. A single torch illuminated the stone prison, and as Tori looked around, she realized that there seemed to be no way of getting in and out, or a place she could be watched from. Of course, she reasoned, I doubt that I'm really alone. There were always charms or hexes that could be used to spy on her, and it would be idiotic to not watch her if they really wanted to keep her here. No. They want to see what I will do. Well, that was the question, wasn't it. What could she do? Trapped who-knows-where, by magic-wielders she didn't know, for a reason she couldn't decipher, and with no cell phone or wand. It would be extremely dumb to try and make a run for it. Tori shrugged to herself. If she couldn't leave, she could at least take this moment to review her situation.

She was in an unknown place, her guess was an old mansion, run by a "master" who had a creepy pet he used to threaten people. So far, so bad. Her hands were tied, her only real weapon was taken, and she was most likely being watched very closely. At least she was alive. Tori wrinkled her nose. Don't jinx it! she told herself. Ha- Jinx it! This was pitiful.