Well, this is good eh? Two updates in the space of a, what, week? Quite good in my opinion. Anyway, for all you people groaning out there, yes, next on my list is my Marauder story, i promise!
Anyway, enough blabbing, here's chapter Five. Enjoy!
The rain pelted against the window rhythmically, as the harsh winds thrust the droplets against the glass. The ravens squawked loudly in protest as the thunder cackled loudly above their heads, and angrily took off into the air, pushing themselves against the currents of the winds until they reached the sanctuary of the trees, were they huddled together on a branch, preparing to wait out the storm.
A young man who had been watching this from his study window took his eyes away from the sight when there was a knock at the door.
The man started to cross the room, past the desk which was cluttered with books and parchment, and past the many book cases until he came to two large, plush red armchairs that sat on top of an antique fur rug, next to the warm glow of the fire. As he sat down, he called out uninterestedly "Come in".
There was a shuffling noise, followed by a stifled yelp, to which the man rolled his eyes at, and turned to face the fire, as the study door slowly creaked open, and two men cautiously walked in the room.
The first, a tall thin man, smiled as he entered the room, his black hair neatly combed away from his face and his blue eyes shining in the fire light.
The second, a short stout man, entered the room with a nervous expression on his face. His moustache twitched anxiously, as he swiped his balding light brown hair from his eyes, and pushed his round glasses further up his nose, making his hazel eyes seem all the more magnified.
When no one said anything, the first man who entered, clasped his hands behind his back and tutted as he looked out at the weather and commented casually "Awful weather, wouldn't you agree Basil?"
The second man, Basil, nodded vigorously saying, "Yes, utterly dismal, my, I've never heard a storm like it! And I've heard some st-"
"I have no interest in the weather. What do you want?" the man in the chair said in his deep suave voice, as he rested his chin against the palm of his hand, watching the flames dance about merrily in the hearth.
Both a fearful and nervous look appeared on Basils face, and he quickly nodded saying "Of course sir". Then turned to the man beside him and hissed glaring as his moustache twitched irritably "Of course he doesn't want to talk about the weather Emanuel, you fool!"
The man, Emanuel, ignored Basil, and stepped forward slightly saying calmly "Well sir, it's been three days..."
"Three days since what?" the man said, not once taking his eyes away from the hypnotising flames.
Emanuel glanced at Basil, who was shaking his head discreetly, and coughed slightly before saying, "Since you locked away the girl sir".
The mans eyes immediately shot away from the fire in recognition, but he didn't look at them, he focused outside as his expression darkened at the thought of her. After a moment he said darkly "I have no interest in her. If that's all you have to inform me about, leave".
Basil nodded, and turned as if to leave, but Emanuel quickly grabbed his collar, and stepping forwards, keeping a firm grip on Basil, he said "But sir, with all due respect, you can't keep her down there, she'll die!"
This time, the mans haunting dark brown eyes shot to Emanuel's face and he snarled "Maybe that's what I intend".
Emanuel shook his head, seemingly unaffected by the mans dark tone and said firmly "No, you can't leave her down there".
"And why not Emanuel?" the man said rising from his chair with all the grace of a royal, but at the same time appearing laid back and uninterested, "Why is it that I cannot do as I wish in my own home?"
Emanuel inclined his head respectfully saying "Begging your pardon sir, I never meant to insinuate that you take orders from anyone, but" Emanuel said stepping forwards "you cannot keep her locked up down there and kill the poor girl. It would cause too many questions from the towns people, suspicions would arise and they would finally lead them here, to you sir".
"They would still come if I let her go, she would run off telling stories of the 'cruel beasts' that reside in this place and the towns people would come. So either way, they're coming, and if they are, I don't see why you have to question my authority about my decisions regarding trespassers in my own home!" he finished angrily.
Basil gulped and glanced towards the door longingly; clearly he didn't want to be here anymore.
Emanuel glanced away from the man and seemed to hesitate before looking towards him once again and saying "But sir, she hasn't really done anything-"
The mans expression darkened severely and his eyes seemed to flash red as he shouted, "Are you questioning me!"
Before Emanuel could reply, the door opened once again, and in bustled a middle-aged woman carrying a tea tray. She had long, greying blond hair that was gathered neatly in a bun and the base of her neck, and warm honey coloured eyes as well as a rosy cheek complexion. She was fairly tall for a woman, and had a motherly figure, and with the slight smile that always seemed to be on her face, she looked like a kind but firm woman.
She looked at no one in the room as she made her way over towards the fireplace and placed the tea tray on the small table between the two armchairs.
After she had, she looked up smiling, as she smoothed out the creases in her long tan coloured dress, and said as she tightened the bow on her white apron "What's going on here?"
The man rolled his eyes irritably at the woman's question, and before Basil could say anything, Emanuel quickly said, "We were just discussing the fate of the girl".
"Discussing?" the man said raising an eyebrow, "There will be no negotiating where my decisions are concerned".
"Oh, really now," the woman said as she plumped the cushions on the armchairs, "there's no need to be so harsh, I'm sure you've made your point".
"Mrs Green!" Basil said angrily as his eyes shot towards the man momentarily "Kindly hold your tongue!"
The woman turned to look at him and said as she walked towards him shaking her finger threateningly "Now just you wait a minute Basil, don't you dare talk to me like that, you can't order me around, I'm not a servant and if you continue to speak to me like that" she said jabbing him in the shoulder, "there'll be none of that chocolate cake in the pantry at night for you to gorge yourself on anymore, you hear?" she asked raising an eyebrow.
Basil nodded mutely as his cheeks slowly started to redden.
The woman nodded, and said "Very well, and it's Bonnie, not Mrs Green".
The man sighed and said "All of you, out of here, now".
Emanuel stepped around Basil and Bonnie and said pleadingly "Please sir, just reconsider, she's just a girl-"
"No! I will not re-"
"Honestly!" Bonnie said loudly in a tone that would resemble a mother scolding their child, "Have you nothing in that pretty little head of yours? She's just a young girl, what could she have possibly done to upset you?" she finished folding her arms as she looked at him expectantly.
The mans eyes flashed, and he clenched his teeth, clearly he was getting very irritated with this woman, this in turn made both Basil and Emanuel flinch slightly, he wasn't exactly the type of man you wanted to get angry. But Bonnie remained unconcerned about his mood, and stood waiting for his answer.
"She was trespassing on my property" he said in and quiet but forceful voice.
"Do you know why?" Bonnie said as she gave a vase a quick dust using her apron.
The man narrowed his eyes and said, "The reason is not important".
Bonnie stopped cleaning the vase and turned to look at him incredulously and said "So you've locked her away and that cold, dark prison, without so much as hearing her explanation first?"
The man merely raised an eyebrow, it seemed as if he'd finally had enough of answering her questions, after all, she was his employee, not the other way around, he could do as he pleased.
At seeing she wasn't going to get an answer from him, Bonnie turned to look at Basil, who looked like he was about to faint, and Emanuel who'd been watching the whole scene with a triumphant glint in his eye, after all, she had gotten more out of him than he had. After giving them a hard look, as if this whole situation was their fault, she said angrily "Please tell me this isn't true?"
Basil looked away from her gaze, and brought his hand up to his collar, hopelessly trying to loosen it without undoing the buttons on his shirt.
Emanuel glanced at the man, before once again looking at Bonnie, he didn't answer her, it would be disrespectful to do so, but that was all Bonnie needed.
She shook her head saying "That poor girl!" then after she glanced around the room for a moment she said resolutely, "Well, I'm going to get her out then" and started to walk towards the door.
But Lottie was stopped in her tracks when the man said in a furious growl "No, you will not! "
It wasn't the words that had stopped her, nor the volume, it was the tone, it was deadly, she knew there was no negotiating, she knew that she would be crossing the line if she went any further. She may appear very disrespectful, but people had come to learn to expect that of her, but she definitely knew when she shouldn't push it.
The room was silent.
The man stood glaring around at the people in his study, whilst they all squirmed under his heated gaze, some, in Basil's case, more than others.
The minutes passed by, and Bonnie glanced at Basil and Emanuel before boldly saying, "Well, she can't stay there. She hasn't done anything, your ruthlessly murdering an innocent girl if you do keep her there. If you're going to insist that she stay here, she might as well be more comfortable".
Bonnie almost gasped as his gaze met her own, but she stood her ground, she'd been serving this man many years now, she knew him better than anyone else in this house, she knew how to press the right buttons.
The man stared at Bonnie, as if he was looking straight through her and said after a moment "You will not go and fetch the girl," and when Bonnie's, Emanuel's and Basil's eyes showed disappointment he carried on "I shall".
Bonnie's eyes widened and Basil said frowning "Sir, do you think it wise?"
The man turned raising an eyebrow and said, "Why wouldn't it be?"
Basil seemed to fumble over his words before he quickly nodded and said, "Yes, yes you're right, it's a marvellous idea sir!"
The man took one look at them all before elegantly striding from the room.
After he left, Bonnie straightened up a couple of books and smirked at the two remaining men, before she too left the room.
After she had gone, Basil turned to Emanuel and said angrily "How is that she can change his mind so easily whilst being so disrespectful?"
Emanuel patted his friend on the back saying "Clearly you have no idea of the tricks women possess" before he walked, chuckling, out of the room, leaving Basil, to stare confusedly out the window, as the ravens shrieked in protest at the loud claps of thunder.
Lottie groaned as she propped herself up against the door, all the walls were covered in damp, foul moss, and even she, in her mucky state, did not want to get that on herself.
She brought a hand up to her head to swipe the tangled strands of her hair away from her face, and then tried to rub some of the tiredness out of her eyes as her stomach rumbled loudly.
She had no idea how long she'd been down here anymore, it felt like years, but she knew that wasn't possible. Every so often, she'd fall asleep, not because she was tired, but because there was simply nothing else she could do, but each time she woke up, she was still tired, but there was a cup of water and a couple of slices of bread. It was like she was some animal that a child had taken home and their parents had told them to get rid of it, so they put it in a cold cupboard out of the way where they could keep it without anybody knowing it was there, that's how she felt.
But the thing that was still annoying Lottie, was why she'd been placed down here in the first place. Sure she had entered a home that wasn't her own, but as far as that, she had done nothing wrong, there was no reason for her to end up here.
As the time passed, she became more and more furious with the man who had put her here. She had no idea what he looked like, but he had a very distinctive voice, it was like no other she had ever heard before, she had to admit, it was beautiful, but that wouldn't stop her from giving him a piece of her mind when she came across him. If she ever came across him that is.
Another thought that had been plaguing Lottie's mind was her family. Where they all right? Where they concerned of her whereabouts? Where they looking for her? Was everything all right at home? Did they even realise she'd left?
She didn't have a clue, and quite frankly, it scared her, to not know how her they were doing, they were all she had, they meant the world to her, she never wanted to go through the pain of losing a person she loved again and she didn't want them to go through it either.
But as Lottie took another look around her prison, because lets face it, that's what it was, she realised, that they might end up going through it again.
Without warning, the door, which Lottie leant on, suddenly opened, causing her to fall backwards with a startled yelp, and whack her head on the cold stone floor.
Tears sprung to Lottie's eyes at the harsh impact, and she quickly closed them.
After cursing quietly to herself, she slowly opened her eyes, but immediately closed them again, when the light assaulted them, after all, she hadn't seen it for a while. Her eyes started to sting and well up as she rubbed them and after a moment, she sat up and cast her head downwards, her dirty and greasy hair forming a scraggly curtain, and warily opened her eyes.
She blinked in quick succession for a moment, and when she felt they were ok, Lottie opened her now sparkling emerald green eyes and promptly looked up for the source of the light, and when she did, she gasped and fell backwards onto her rear end in order to get away from the person standing before her.
They weren't hideously deformed or inhumanly menacing, in fact, they were quite the opposite...he was beautiful.
Now, Lottie had no experience whatsoever when it came to men, there was hardly any boys around her age in her old town, the only man she had ever spoke to who wasn't family was Jimmy who ran a music shop, and even he was in his late fifties. So she wasn't exactly well educated in the area of the opposite gender, but she knew enough to know that this man was stunning.
He was tall and well built. His long black pants that were tucked into a pair of knee length black boots, showed off his long muscular legs and his white shirt, which wasn't fastened at the neck, revealed his smooth toned chest, and glistening ashen complexion.
Lottie's eyes carefully travelled up the mans body, until she reached his face and her eyes widened considerably.
He had long dark brown hair, that came to just past his shoulders which was tied back elegantly with a black silk bow. This only helped to draw Lottie's gaze to his very prominent features, from his strong jaw, which had the faintest hints of stubble on it and smooth straight nose, to his high aristocratic cheekbones and perfectly arched eyebrows. But the thing that really captured Lottie was his eyes. It was impossible to decipher their exact colour, they were so dark but at the same time, they seemed to sparkle from the gold coloured flecks within them. If she had to choose a colour, Lottie would call them dark brown. But at the moment, she didn't really care, she was just memorised staring into their seemingly never-ending depths.
After a while, Lottie looked away from his face, catching sight of a large ruby ring on his finger as she did so, and looked at him as a whole. He didn't give off a very warm vibe, in fact, it was cold and intimidating. As Lottie really looked at him, she noticed his whole demeanour seemed...angry.
His perfect lips were formed into a tight thin line and his eyes were narrowed ever so slightly. His chin was raised so he literally had to look down upon her, making her feel as if she was something off the bottom of his shoe, and his shoulders were squared as his arms were firmly by his sides.
All in all, not very welcoming.
Lottie quickly looked away from this picture of perfection when she heard him subtly clear his throat, and her cheeks immediately started to flush a bright scarlet.
Usually, Lottie was not one who could easily be embarrassed, but there was just something about this man, he didn't seem like anybody else she'd met before, he made her feel so...insignificant, and her position at his feet didn't really help matters either.
Suddenly, the mans voice pierced through the tense silence saying "Get up."
Lottie realised with a start, that this was the man who brought her here. She looked up with both an angry and shocked look on her face, and this clearly was not the reaction the man wanted.
His eyes seemed to darken and he said slowly, as if he was trying to restrain his menacing anger "Get. Up."
Lottie blinked, before the message finally got across and she quickly scrambled to her feet, stumbling as she did so. After all, this was the most movement she'd done indays! She was bound to be a little clumsy with her footing.
Disgust flashed in the mans eyes, but before Lottie could see it, it was gone, replaced by that blank, but cold face once again.
Lottie frowned as the man turned, and swiftly, but gracefully, started to walk down the long, damp corridor. Was she supposed to follow him? She thought as she looked around in puzzlement.
But her question was answered when the mans suave voice once again met her ears saying, "Are you coming?"
Lottie's eyes widened, and she hastily started to make her way after him, she got the feeling it wasn't a wise idea to keep him waiting.
But as she quickly caught up to him, she started to get slightly irritated, but she hid it behind a mask of wonder, as she realised how long this corridor actually was, she couldn't remember it being this long when she arrived. Granted, she was thrashing about and screaming at the time, but still, it didn't seem this long.
At remembering the feeling of fear she had that night, her irritation with this man, turned into anger, but again, Lottie hid it, which was not an easy task for her, she didn't have the best temper and patience in the world. But she knew, there would be a time when she could release her anger.
Just not yet.
*Sneak Peak!*
Lottie breathed heavily as struggled gallantly to keep up with this mans long strides. Normally it wouldn't be much of a problem, she loved to go on walks, walking was fine with her, but when she went on said walks, usually the last time she'd eaten was not three days ago, and her body wasn't weak and tired from lack of food, sleep and fresh air.
They had long since left the cold, damp and depressing corridor that led to Lottie's prison, and were now walking along a corridor similar to the one Lottie had become exasperated with when she first arrived, towards another set of stairs.
Lottie groaned in protest at the sight of them, but the man paid no attention, in fact, he seemed to speed up.
Lottie shook her head as she reached the bottom of the stairs and said irritably as she paused, leaning on the banister for support "Can we please slow down?"
The man paused mid-step on a stair, and slowly turned around. He looked at her for a moment before saying emotionlessly "No. Now come".
Lottie's eyes hardened. Her patience was wearing thin, she doubted she could keep her thoughts to herself much longer, but who could blame her?
Obviously this man could see the state she was in, anyone with two eyes could, and thus should be able to comprehend the fact that she wouldn't go very far, very fast, especially up the hundreds of stairs he'd been leading her through. It was ridiculous! All this was his fault, she had done nothing wrong, and when he had gotten her out of her prison, she hadn't yelled, screamed or lashed out, no, she'd done what he'd said, mostly out of fear and embarrassment, but she did it nonetheless. And now, even when she asked politely, he wouldn't allow her a moments rest!
Lottie folded her arms stubbornly and turned away from him and sat down on the stair saying as she thrust her chin into the air defiantly "No."
...to be continued.
Phew! Glad that's over. I think it was quite a long one, wouldn't you agree? At first i intended it to be even longer, but once i'd wrote it, it was rediculously long, something like fifteen pages in word, and i couldn't post all that, so i've split it into two parts, but don't worry, it all flows nicely.
Well, that's all for now.
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