Invisible String - Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Worrisome Dream

I'd handled worse.

As I made up my mind, knowing no Unforgivable would be off the table for me now, Rookwood appeared right in front of me, his stupid top hat falling far more forward now, wand clutched in one hand, and Sebastian in the other.

My heart sank. Shaking my head, I stared at the boy, freckled face blank and unreadable as he stared at me. His normally deep brown eyes vacant, staring through me without seeing.

He hadn't been Imperius'd. There was no faint green glow, like Ominis's eyes had when I'd done him. Whatever grip Rookwood had on him, however he was controlling him, it was a magic I did not know.

"No," I said, noting the way he shimmered around the edges. "No, he shouldn't be here."

Another dream, another moment of realization in it. Whoever was doing this, whoever was pulling these strings and putting us in this would certainly have a reason. Right?

"Seb! Seb, shake it off," I called, but he just continued to stare at me blankly.

"You know what to do," Rookwood sneered, twitching his wand and releasing Sebastian, before Disapparating.

"Rookwood!" I shouted, again struggling against the wizard holding me.

Sebastian stepped towards me, the other wizard still holding me down, though there was no need. My gaze was locked on him and I wouldn't- couldn't- move from it if I wanted to. Sebastian waved the man away, and with a loud crack, he was gone too. Emotion had just returned to Sebastian's face, his eyes still not quite right, but more him.

He brushed a strand of hair from my face, the way he always did, before roughly grabbing my chin in his hand. I flinched slightly.

"We can rule everything," he whispered, his face close to mine. "We just have to listen to them."

"To who, Sebastian?"

Silence.

"Seb, listen to me, I killed him. This isn't-"

"You did. He's gone, but this? This is very real." He held up his wand, twirling it between his fingers. "We are held back, when we could be the most powerful force in the wizarding world."

His face was close to mine, my breath catching in my throat as I looked at him. I searched his face, wanting to see the light his eyes held. Instead, his eyes were darker than I'd seen. Almost black. But the longer I looked at him, falling deeper into those dark eyes, I realized; He wasn't entirely wrong. Between his aptitude for the Dark Arts, and my ancient magic and those intoxicating dark wisps, would make us unstoppable.

But this wasn't real. Focus. Focus.

How could I though, with him looking at me as he was?

"Look around you, we aren't there anymore, are we?"

He was right. We were no longer at the ruined castle Rookwood had taken me to two years prior. We were back in the catacomb in Feldcroft, Inferi surrounding us. Placid. Waiting. Obeying. 

"But the relic-"

"Oh, darling, I don't need the relic anymore."

Sebastian's lips were impossibly close, his hand still holding my chin roughly, his wand still in his other hand.

"Join us, Abbi," he whispered, lips brushing lightly over mine as I had wanted them to last time we were here. "Let me show you."

His lips caught mine roughly, all thoughts vanishing instantly as I was surrounded by him. His lips, his hands, his labored breathing, his distinct scent all swallowed me whole, drowning me entirely. I kissed him back with a fervor I didn't know I had, wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling myself so my body was pressed tightly against his.