Hey guys!
I'm sorry it's been so long, this chapter took a tooooon of hard work and revisions! I tried to get it perfect for you guys but any feedback would be appreciated!
Thank you so much for sticking with me and reading and thank you for 9k reads also!!
Hope you enjoy <3
***
Previously on The Bracelet...
*
When I first wake up, my conscience comes to me slowly.
My eyes peel open as though they've been glued shut, and every muscle in my body aches horribly. For a moment, I can't see anything; my vision is completely clouded with a blackish static.
But oddly enough, I can still hear that same cold laugh. Even through the grogginess that contorts my mind, it sounds as loud and clear as it did in my dream.
This is when I try to lift my arm.
However, I find myself unable to. And after a few more moments, I realize that I can't move any part of my body at all.
As my conscience returns to me completely, I look downwards, and with horror, see that all of my limbs have been strapped to a wooden chair.
Even more horrifically, though, is that I suddenly hear the all-too familiar laugh I'd heard in my dream only minutes ago.
The only difference is that this time, I'm not dreaming.
Slowly, I realize that I'm not in my bed anymore.
In fact, I'm nowhere near Hogwarts at all.
***
Jennifer's POV -
As I realize this, my heart sinks to my stomach.
I start to jerk my arms back and forth with frustration, but the restraints won't come loose. I struggle, more and more with each second that the ties holding me down don't release, until my wrists and ankles are raw.
Cries of frustration escape my lips, and I can't seem to stop fighting until -
A slender finger slides beneath my chin, tapping lightly.
"You can struggle all you want," A rough voice whispers, "But 'tsnot gonna get you anywhere."
I stare down at my lap, suddenly paralyzed.
I know the gruff voice from somewhere, and wherever that place may be, it's giving me a terrible feeling of dread.
Suddenly, the hand grips my jaw harshly, yanking my head upwards.
The man standing before me is only inches away from my face. He looks scruffy, and his face is hollow and sunken in. There are several cuts on his forehead.
A deep, gravelly chuckle blows past his lips as he studies me, sending a wretched wave of hot breath across my face.
"Shit," He smirks, and I can tell he's not speaking to me. "It really is her."
With horror, the truth slowly dawns on me.
The reason that I recognize this man is because he's one of the three Death Eaters that tortured me at Malfoy Manor.
"Course it is." A shriller voice chimes in from somewhere across the room. "The Dark Lord wanted her, here she is. He'll be fucking ecstatic."
The man in front of me bites his upper lip, and I feel repulsed. I want his hands off of me, and now.
Momentarily forgetting that I have common sense, I rip my face from his grip, and clamp down on the flesh in between his thumb and index finger with my teeth - hard.
"Fuck!" He exclaims, ripping his hand away from me harshly. "You're going to pay for that, little bitch."
He draws to his full height, reeling his hand back, and swings it across my face with a loud crack. My head is forced to the side, a sharp sting vibrating throughout my cheek.
I shouldn't have retaliated. If anything, all I did was make things much worse for myself.
Distantly, I hear what sounds to be shuffling towards the back of the room, and two other tall male figures appear in front of me.
The second - the one with the shrill voice - I recognize from my torture at Malfoy Manor, too. I know the man; he's psychotic, and my stomach is sent into a frenzy at the mere sight of his thin face.
The third man, however, I don't recognize at all. He has a stocky frame and a sickly yellow ponytail slicked onto the back of his head.
By now, I've managed to figure out that all three of the men are Death Eaters. My eyes flit towards my charm bracelet, and it suddenly feels like I can't breathe anymore.
"Well, looky what we have here." The second man says, his thin lips curled back into a sadistic smile. He draws his wand from his pocket, slowly trailing its sharp tip across my cheek. "You're a special girl, aren't you?"
"Amycus, don't get too excited. She may not know everything yet." The man with the blond ponytail says quizzically.
After examining me for another moment, the second man pockets his wand reluctantly. "Soon, though."
"We know a lot about you, Jennifer." The first man says. I've never heard one of them say my name before, and it sends a shiver traversing up my spine. "Maybe more than you're comfortable with. Maybe more than you know yourself."
He stands up, clasping his hands behind his back as he begins to pace in front of me slowly. "For starters, you have a spontaneous power. We aren't quite sure what it is, or what it does, or where it even came from, and we also know that you don't know any of that either, so don't pretend that you do. However, we do know that it's extremely powerful, and unlike anything we've ever seen before. In fact, it even killed one of our own Death Eaters." He chuckles to himself, although I doubt he finds any of this funny.
Suddenly, the man stops. He slowly turns to face me, and when he does, he's not looking at me anymore.
He's staring right at my bracelet.
"But, that's not the main reason why we're here."
I glance down at the metal on my wrist, and carefully try to tuck it underneath the restraint, as though if I hide it, he'll forget that it's there.
Even if my bracelet isn't the real horcrux, I can't let them get to it. If they did, they'd find out what it really is - a fake.
"No, that's not it at all." He starts again, sucking a breath between his lips. He begins to pace closer to me. "We're here because you have something of Lord Voldemort's, something that he's been looking for for a very long time...we're here for that." He sticks out a finger, pointing it straight at my bracelet.
I try to pull off a believable look of confusion, but they clearly aren't having it.
"Shut the hell up." Amycus growls at me, although I don't recall saying anything to him. "She knows, Antonin. The bitch knows and she's pretending she doesn't."
"I'm no fool, Amycus," The man in front of me spits over his shoulder. "Of course she knows."
He turns back to me, his face cold with anger.
"That bracelet will end up in the hands of the Dark Lord one way or another, whether you think you can help that, or not. If you try to resist, you'll only be making it more difficult for yourself."
Already, I have begun to survey the area for escape routes. The room is cramped and musty, straw covering the ground and a dingy lightbulb strung from the ceiling. There's a rickety door in the corner, but I don't look closely enough to see if it's locked - I don't want them to become suspicious of me.
"So," Antonin says, drawing me from my thoughts, "We have decided to provide you with two choices, one of which is very generous, considering all of the trouble you've caused for Voldemort in the past several months. The first is that you join us, hand over the bracelet without struggle, and become a Death Eater. The Dark Lord is in desperate need of that bracelet of yours, and if you willingly hand it over to him and become one of us, he will grant you whatever your heart desires - riches, royalty, safety, anything. Your extraordinary powers could be of great use to the Dark Lord's side, Jennifer." He says, gesturing to my hands, which are balled into tight fists.
I surely hope that they aren't under the delusion that this is the generous choice. I'd prefer anything over becoming a Death Eater. When I think of what Voldemort did to not only my mother, but Draco, I feel like vomiting.
"And the second choice, which is much more unappetizing, would be that we kill you."
Amycus giggles somewhere a few feet back. It's a sick and demented noise that makes him sound almost thrilled at the idea of murdering me. I know he would be.
"Right here, and right now." Antonin says casually, "Slowly and painfully. And after that, we'll kill everything you love. And then, well then, we'd get the bracelet anyways." He looks at me, cocking his head and smirking, almost as if he's taunting me. "All that trouble, just for the same exact outcome, Jennifer. I sure know what I'd do."
My heart has begun to hammer against my ribcage uncontrollably. I have to come up with something, and quick - but my mind is so jumbled that I don't know if I'll be able to.
"So, what's it gonna be, Jen?" Antonin sighs, sounding rather bored as he pulls a slender knife from his pocket. It bears an uncanny resemblance to the one that Rhazien Morgan used to carve a scar in my face. I grip the edges of my chair harshly as he taps the weapon against his palm. "You gonna join us, or are you gonna die at the hands of Lord Voldemort?"
His slow pace comes to a stop, and he turns his head over his shoulder, looking me dead in the eye with a sinister smile.
"-Just like your mother did?"
At this, I lose it.
My body suddenly fills with a rage so hot that I feel like I'm going to explode, and I no longer have control over myself as I spit,
"Let's see if you can kill me then, motherfucker."
The man looks at me, appearing almost surprised. And for a moment, I swear that I see a sly smile cross his face.
Then, all three men are charging at me.
I feel my hands begin to grow extremely hot, and hear a soft sizzling noise as the tight ropes binding my wrists burst open.
Amycus's hand grips my neck forcefully, and with a shriek of pain, I swivel the chair around and strike him with one of the legs.
He cries out an absurd word, but I have no time to think - Antonin is swinging his wand around in the air, and the blond man is running at me with a knife.
As the Death Eater screams out an incantation, I shoot my hand out forcefully, a clear bubble protruding from my palm and halting the spell mid-path.
"Get back here, little bitch!" Amycus shrieks, plundering towards me from the corner of the room. I shoot my hand out, a violent burst of red light protruding from my palm. I don't have time to see whether or not it hits him, for a crushing weight suddenly heaves itself on top of me.
As I hit the hard floor, I feel a hot jolt of pain in my hand, accompanied by a sickening crunch. A hoarse shriek tears past my lips.
The blond man - I'd heard one of them call him Yaxley - is on top of me, his beefy hands closing around my neck. I feel my windpipe squeezed shut. My vision has begun to fade, and my hands fly about the air violently, clawing this way and that, but nothing that I do can remove his strong hands from my neck. I can't see anything anymore as Antonin's hands close over my flailing arms, forcing them to the ground.
This is it. This is it. I'm done for.
I hear a laugh, a twisted laugh that makes me want to throw up, and with one last burst of energy, I shoot my knee upwards.
My blow lands perfectly, hitting Yaxley right where it hurts.
He grunts in pain, and with a surprising amount of strength, I roll the two of us over, positioning myself above him.
I spit blood and clumped hair out of my face, trying to think quickly.
Yaxley is much stronger than me, and I wouldn't win in a fight. Throw in another tall and burly Death Eater, and I'd for sure be done for.
I feel electric-like energy surging down through the veins in my forearms, and a sudden thought pushes itself into the front of my mind.
Of course - how hadn't I thought of this earlier?
Mustering all of the strength I have left in me, I force the buzzing energy down to my hands, and a sizzling sound emits from beneath my palms. Yaxley screams - a sound that tears through the room like a jagged shard of glass. I press my hands harder into biceps, and grossly notice that his bare flesh is melting beneath them.
Quickly, I reach for his face, but I'm yanked from his body forcefully before I can touch it.
Antonin is behind me once more, gripping to my elbows so tightly that the skin has begun to bleed. A slick noise sounds from behind me as he unsheathes his knife from his belt. I feel my breath begin to quicken.
Just as he places the pointed tip to my neck, I grab hold of his arm, twisting it around sharply. A deafening crack echoes throughout the dingy room as Antonin's arm bends at a terribly unnatural angle. He swears colorfully.
Taking advantage of his agonized state, I wriggle free from his loosening grip and bolt towards the door. As I pass by, I catch a glimpse of Amycus, still curled up on the matted straw pitifully.
When I reach the door, it's unlocked. I don't hesitate as I throw it open and burst through, leaving the three injured Death Eaters behind me for good.
***
I can't do anything besides run.
Adrenaline is coursing through my veins like salt in the sea. I can smell blood, but I don't know from where. The wind whistles past my ears tauntingly, and I can hear my feet as they pound against the earth, grinding dead grass beneath the soles of my shoes.
I must have been at it for hours now, yet I haven't slowed down one bit. All I can do is run - run like hell away from that room.
After awhile, my adrenaline is no longer enough to keep powering me forward.
I collapse onto the ground, each of my limbs completely exhausted from sprinting for so long.
By now, dusk has fallen. I have no idea how long I've been gone from Hogwarts - a day, maybe even two. All I know is that somehow, someway, the Death Eaters managed to break into my dorm at the school and take me away.
Exhausted, I pull myself to my feet again. I have to keep moving.
With barely enough energy to lift a finger, I force my feet forward, and begin to limp off in the opposite direction.
***
It's only been the lesser part of an hour when I hear the loud, whirling noise behind me.
I can barely manage to stand up straight anymore - I haven't consumed anything in at least a day's time. But when the dark noise sounds from a distance behind me, panic infiltrates my body once again. I'm extremely weak, and it wouldn't take much time for the Death Eaters to catch up to me.
With that thought in mind, I grit my teeth, forcing my feet to move forward. I have to keep going.
However, it's only been a few minutes when I hear footsteps behind me.
My entire body freezes over.
There's a sound - grass and leaves crunching beneath hard boots. I know that they've caught up to me.
Panic-stricken, my eyes dart around, surveying the area surrounding me.
The open space is flat to the horizon in every direction. There's no mountains, no hills - only yellow grass, dead shrubs, and tall weeds, stretching out for what seems to be miles. There are a few acacia trees in the distance, but they're much too far away for me to run to.
Quickly, I drop behind a patch of fountain grass, trying to quiet the breath heaving in and out of my lungs.
Just as my chest begins to tighten, the footsteps quietly fade away. A small sigh blows past my lips, the tall grass skimming my nose. For the shortest of moments, I feel relief in my chest.
He must've gone the other way.
But my time of relaxation is short lived, for I hear the footsteps once again, growing louder and louder - and heading right in my direction.
"Shit." I breathe out.
There's a pair of large feet approaching quickly, suited in tight black leather - and they're coming straight towards me.
Thinking quickly, I scramble to my feet again, and begin to trip off as quickly as I can in the opposite direction. I run as fast as my legs will carry me, but they're completely exhausted, and can barely manage a weak limp.
Suddenly, a gruff voice sounds from behind me.
"Hey! There she is!"
At the sound of this, I freeze. The voice is too familiar not to recognize. I can tell it belongs to one of the three Death Eaters.
I break into a dysfunctional sprint. The three men are quickly gaining on me - I can hear their tough boots pounding against the earth rapidly. There's only one word, repeating over and over again in my mind like a broken record player -
Run.
I throw my body forward, but they seem to be getting closer by the second. I begin to feel hot, ragged, breath on the back of my neck, and I have no choice left.
Without thinking, I whirl around and shoot out my hand powerfully, mustering all of the energy I have left. I let out a hoarse scream as a catastrophic burst of white light explodes from my fingertips.
All three men are sent flying backwards, collapsing onto the ground like flimsy dolls. Their bodies land at least twenty feet away.
Immediately, I turn around and begin to dry heave. My back arches painfully, and my hands fall to my knees. I feel empty inside - so weak and starved that my fingers have begun to tremble, and I don't know how much longer I'll last.
But no, no - I can't do this now. I can't give them time to get up.
I draw myself up the best that I can manage, and glance over my shoulder quickly to make sure the three Death Eaters are still lying on the ground. Sure enough, they are - although Antonin has begun to stir quietly.
Quickly, I drag the back of my hand over my crusted lips, wiping away the acidic taste, and then force my feet forward once again.
There's a shabby-looking building off in the distance, and it's my best bet to take cover before the three of them wake up - and take after me again.
***
When I reach the building, I discover that it's much shorter than it had first seemed. It may have just been my eyesight, demented by exhaustion, or maybe my desperate need for shelter.
The structure is short and intimidating, with several stories. The outside walls are lined with rusted steel paneling, and tall windows made from thin, shattered glass, all of which have been smattered with the corpses of mosquitos and fruit flies. It's clear that no one has entered in a long time.
To the left of the building is a pond - something that I find myself overjoyed at the sight of.
I rush over to the small pool of water on sight, kneeling down by the surface and lowering my lips to the water. I can see the dead bugs and dirt swirling underneath, but I couldn't care less - the feeling of cold and wet trickling down my parched throat feels like heaven on earth.
Just then, a quiet rustling noise sounds from a few yards away.
I lift my head from the pond instantly. My ears strain, and my eyes flit around, scanning for the source of the sudden sound.
Then, I hear it again - shuffling, the crunching of dead leaves and tall grass.
Quickly, I scramble to my feet, and tear off towards the dark building.
Whether or not the noise is being produced by a Death Eater, I don't know, but I sure as hell don't plan on sticking around to find out.
The interior of the building is extremely dark - there's no light, and I can only manage to make out the silhouettes of rusted-over filing cabinets and splintered planks of wood, all blanketed by a thick film of dust and cobwebs. The floor is littered with broken glass.
Carefully, I take a step forward, my feet cautiously avoiding all things that may produce noise. I don't want the Death Eaters to come searching for me before I can find a way to escape.
The inside of the building appears to be some sort of maze - each room is built like a single cell, with one long and empty window. It almost seems to be never-ending.
I begin to move forward, very slowly. My eyes flit about the area this way and that, almost as if Yaxley or Amycus will dart out from a corner at any moment. I feel my sneaker accidentally tap against a wall, and a large rat scurries out from within the shadows, causing me to jump back in disgust.
There can't be much more time until they find me; the footsteps are growing louder and louder outside of the building.
As if on cue, a blinding white light flickers from outside one of the empty panes. Immediately, I drop to the ground.
There are flecks of misted silver and fluorescent blue within the glowing luminescence, and with a creeping dead, it dawns upon me.
This sort of light could only be produced from one source - a wand.
My blood runs cold in my veins. I clamber to my feet, making way to sprint off to another room.
But immediately, my plans are soiled. The light has disappeared, and has instead been replaced by something else.
Footsteps - but they're no longer proceeded by the snap of twigs and brown grass. This time, they're hard and hollow, ricocheting off of each wall, almost as if the feet they belong to are now pacing against a much more solid surface.
Suddenly, I realize that I'm not alone in the building anymore.
I close my mouth, quietly exhaling through my nose.
Whoever my company is knows that I'm near them, and I can't give them any clues as to where I am. Carefully, I slink around a tall cabinet, dust collecting on the tip of my nose.
More footsteps sound from a few rooms back; they're slow clicks - so slow and gentle that they're almost taunting. My insides begin to tighten, and I get the uneasy feeling that I'm being chased.
I take another step, gently placing the tip of my toe against the ground with the same caution of a glassmaker.
Just then, a sound that chills the very marrow within my bones echoes from behind my back.
A whistle.
The noise is drawn-out and eerie, almost as if the man chasing me is humming a gentle melody. The pitch is low, and then high, and then low again and climbing higher. It's meant to haunt me - and it does - almost as if I'm the prey, and he's the predator.
I take another step forward, trying to put as much distance between me and him as possible. I slip through another doorway, leading to a large room split into two by a long wall.
From further behind me, the man takes a few torturously slow paces forward. The sound causes my head to thrash over my shoulder in surprise.
Without turning my head back to watch, I take another step forward.
It happens in slow motion.
My foot knocks right into two empty paint cans. The metal buckets skitter across the floor, clanking against each other erratically and producing possibly the loudest noise that I've ever heard.
It's no secret now.
The Death Eater knows where I am, and he'll be here within seconds.
Terrified, I skitter behind a stack of wooden crates, not bothering to stay quiet anymore. Glass crunches beneath my feet, which pound against the ground so violently that I swear it shakes.
For a moment, it's silent.
But then I hear the same footsteps - dreadful, in an almost leisurely way. They grow closer and closer, and I can't move, until they're only a few feet away from me.
Then, they stop.
I hear him breathing. There's a sort of calm pleasure to the sound, almost as if he's relishing in the chase.
"Jennifer." A voice calls from behind the long barrier. Immediately, I recognize it as Antonin Dolohov. "I truly hate for it to be this way - you could have easily just given up that pretty little bracelet of yours and sided with Voldemort. He could have been an astounding mentor to you."
I have to hold in the vomit that surges to the back of my throat. His words, the sound of his voice - they all disgust me and fill me with hate.
Antonin sighs tragically, mocking me. "But, here we are, going through all of this trouble, just for the same damn thing to happen anyways." He pauses for a moment, chuckling to himself. "Of course, that's no problem for me. I figured you'd be stubborn, just like your bitch of a mother. She would've done the same thing."
For a moment, all is quiet.
"Well, there's no going back now. You've made your choice."
He goes silent, and all that can be heard is my crazed breathing. I can feel the tension rising in the air rapidly as my heart thrashes beneath my ribcage so violently that I think it might escape.
Just then, Antonin lets out a tremendous yell. An explosion of red light bursts above my head, and the horrific sound of shattering glass erupts from above me. I barely manage to roll out of the way as the thousands of glittering shards rain down from the ceiling.
With a circle of his wand, he screams once again, and a violent hue of green light detonates from his wand, rupturing the second skylight above me. I dodge out of the way, smacking my head against the ground as I launch myself away from the hazardous glass. A yelp of pain escapes my lips, but he doesn't hear it.
As another thunderous spell bursts from the end of his wand, I scramble to my feet, dashing away as a third load of glass falls to the ground. All I can hear as I sprint away are Antonin's furious screams echoing across the building, and hordes of broken glass raining against the floor.
Soon, the violent noises have stopped, but I continue to hurdle away as quickly as I can.
If I wasn't already dead, I sure am now; the man seems to have gone completely insane with the idea of destroying me.
My breath trembles in my ears as I skid to a stop when I hear his taunting footsteps behind me once again. I attempt to quiet the noise down as I slip behind a small stack of rusted boxes.
His footsteps are growing closer and closer, and I stay as silent as I possibly can. Cold sweat has begun to stick my hair to the back of my neck.
And then, the most dreadful thing happens - my foot, closely tucked into my chest, slides out from behind the boxes, making a quiet grating noise against the cold floor.
Although Antonin doesn't see my leg, I know that he hears it. I can feel him shift in my direction. He begins to walk closer to me, just as slow as he had before. My eyes clench shut, and I suck in my breath silently until -
Suddenly, he stops. He's standing right behind me.
Whether or not Antonin sees me, he stands there for awhile, his breath slow as he surveys the room. The dread begins to settle into my stomach. I know that he's bound to catch me at any given moment.
Just then, the quiet noise of tinkling glass sounds from a few rooms down, and a door opens and closes loudly.
Antonin turns on his heels, and begins to walk in the other direction.
Silently, I release the breath that I'd been holding in.
Whether or not the sudden noise was a coincidence, it very well may have saved me.
Not wanting to wait for him to find out where I'd actually been after all, I slide off of the boxes and onto my feet, dashing away quietly.
***
At this point, I've begun to search for an exit, as quickly and quietly as I possibly can.
There's only one thing on my mind. I have to get out of here, I have to make it out alive, not for me, or my friends, but for one lone reason.
Draco.
I can't fail him. I can't leave him alone in this.
I can almost feel the man on my heels, as though he knows where I am and remains hidden just for the fun of it.
It's only when I find a rusted door - most likely the one that had open and shut earlier, that I hear footsteps - coming from directly behind me.
With fear blossoming in my chest, I slowly turn around.
It's him.
He has a soft smile on his lips, clearly laced with malice, and his eyes are narrowed in satisfaction. His face is smudged with dirt and sweat, just like mine.
Quietly, my hands begin to shake. I'm not sure if I can manage to summon any power right now.
"There she is." Antonin says mockingly, clearly relishing in the moment. "Jennifer Mania."
The death eater throws back his head, a hoarse laugh blowing past his lips. "Boy, have you caused me a shitload of trouble over the past few days."
His words come to me as an icy shock.
Few days?
"But, no matter." He sighs, his eyes flitting down towards my bracelet. I sweep my wrist behind my back. "You shouldn't have tried to run - clearly, it was pointless." There's a dark look lurking in his eyes as he stares me down from across the musty room.
"Now, I'm just going to kill you, anyways."
Antonin unsheathes a knife from his coat pocket, a slick noise echoing throughout the room as he begins to approach me hungrily.
I freeze, dusty remnants of fear seeping back into my tight chest as I manage to croak out one word.
"Wait-"
But he doesn't have to.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice cries out from a few feet away, and the entire room is shrouded in darkness.
At first, I'm completely dazed - I stand there, dumbfounded, and unable to move. Quick footsteps are hammering towards me rapidly, and I begin to stumble backwards.
Then, Antonin releases a horrible, agonizing scream from a few feet away, and I hear the sound of something large hitting the floor.
My entire body spasms in fear, too afraid to run or retreat in any sort of way as the heavy footsteps start again - right in my direction.
I hear the same voice say something else quietly, this time just a few inches from my face, and the blackness in the room vanishes instantly.
The face that lies in front of me leaves me in a state of complete shock.
"Kyle?"
The word leaves my mouth in a dry croak. Quickly, I catch a glimpse of Derek behind his shoulder.
"It's okay, Jennifer." He says softly, pressing a gloved finger to his lips.
But for some reason, I don't feel that it is anymore.
Before I can manage to say anything back, I see his clenched fist shooting out towards my face, and then nothing.
***
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it took a lot of hard work and I'd really like some feedback on what I could do to make these kinds of scenes better written out and more readable and enjoyable for you guys! I'd really appreciate any feedback!
Thanks so much for reading and everything you guys do <3 I appreciate you all and hope you have a happy holiday!
See you soon ;)