Meant To Be

Chapter 24

"Wha-" was all he got out before everything went dark.

xxx

The hallway was dark and devoid of people as it usually was at the manor, but Elliot Jugson preferred it that way. He could be out there, like his comrade Gibbon, partying and reveling in their victory over Harry Potter, but he was not that kind of person. He was more of one to bask in silent victory, not show off. Showing off more likely got you into trouble, no doubt what Gibbon was doing at that very moment. No, he preferred the quiet solitude that he found with his own company, maybe a few others who enjoyed the same. Like now, he just wanted to sit back and relax, maybe have a glass of wine to celebrate and wait for his reward. And that was all that mattered, his reward. The Dark Lord had promised that it would be big, life-changing. Jugson couldn't wait.

Would it be riches? Valuable trinkets? Rare books? A house out in the country? Anything he would receive would be welcome, it was from the Dark Lord after all. And he was generous at times, very generous depending on the type of job it was and how well it went. This particular job was very high stakes and had gone off without a hitch. Only the fact that they had done so on their own and had thus been punished was the difference, but Jugson had calculated that into his thinking and it was but a minor offense. The reward would be just as good. How could it not when they had gotten rid of the Harry Potter? Oh, how victory was sweet. If Jugson walked a little straighter, prouder, then so what, it was an excellent victory.

Maybe I will join Manson for a drink, he thought pausing in the hallway; he was suddenly in the mood. He turned around to make his way back to the drawing-room where he had originally come from and came face to face with a cloaked figure. He blinked startled and took a step back, but the figure didn't move.

"Can I help you?" Jugson asked.

The figure only stood there, head tilting to the side as if studying him. The action sent chills down his spine and instantly his guard was up.

"If this is your idea of a joke Avery, it isn't funny," he snapped pulling his wand out and pointing it at the figure threateningly. The gesture didn't even faze it and continued to stare at him. "Stop it!" he said. Still, no reaction. "I don't have time for this," he said, "screw you." He was no longer in the mood and sidestepped the figure to go around it.

He didn't even have a chance to move when the figure attacked.

xxx

"...on..."

"...bon... a up."

"Gibbon wake up!"

Gibbon head snapped up and he blinked around blearily. "Wha-?" he mumbled and smacked his lips; his mouth felt like it was full of cotton. He moved his arms and found them tightly bound, and did as what any other person would. He panicked. As a result, the bonds got tighter.

"Stop that, Gibbon, you'll only make it worse," Jugson said.

"Yeah, yeah. I know that" Gibbons said calming down. "What happened?"

"No idea," Jugson replied and glanced over at him, "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Gibbon bristled.

"Well, then how else do you explain it?"

"I don't know, they are so going to regret this when I get out of here...where are we anyway?"

Jugson looked around the room, that wasn't really a room, covered in old stone top to bottom of what he could see. Which wasn't much, he could barely see what was a few feet in front of him, there were no windows and it was completely dark, and there was a constant drip...drip somewhere nearby "I don't know, but it looks like some sort of dungeon."