Against the dark Hearts

Chapter 46

This chapter contains abuse and the threat of sexual assault.

A few days after the joint collapse in the undercroft, we sat in the great hall. Imelda pondered over a few notes while Poppy and I engaged in a game of chess. Sebastian sat beside me, trying to find better moves than the ones I made.

I had already swept Poppy's queen off the board, but she still had both knights and a bishop, as well as a few pawns. She had captured both of my knights early in the game, and one of my bishops as well. The other one she had trapped, and if I didn't want to lose my queen, I had to sacrifice it.

"You're going to lose," Poppy said confidently, capturing my bishop with her knight. Four moves later, her king was checkmated.

It wasn't lighthearted all the time. On the contrary, the tension ran high. I had reopened the map chamber after locking it up the year before. Although I was a keeper now, it should have been left alone. But the situation with Evangeline had changed everything. Stronger measures needed to be taken, and unfortunately, that didn't go unnoticed.

Professor Heart became increasingly curious and started asking me questions. I didn't trust her one bit, she was just too interested in the matter. As the search for Evangeline gained momentum, Anne contacted Sebastian again. She was doing better. A witch named Kendra Dumbledore had conducted research and discovered a form of treatment that wouldn't fully cure her but would make the pain more bearable. Her eldest son was a first-year in Gryffindor. Anne wouldn't need anyone to take care of her anymore and could live independently or return.

She knew about Fieldcroft, which is why she wanted to wait for clearance, but that could take time.

We had made progress, there were clues to Evangeline's whereabouts. Someone had seen her in the Scottish Highlands, somewhere up north, but the exact location was unknown. A few Aurors had picked up her trail, saying it was only a matter of time until she was found, but I couldn't believe that.

I was afraid.

If she was still alive, anything could have happened to her. It was possible for Evangeline's body to return but her mind to be absent, like warmth in Antarctica. Who knew what would happen? Weeks went by. We waited day after day. We couldn't do anything else. We were forbidden to leave Hogwarts, so I did what I could. I spent time in the map chamber with the other keepers. Niamh was confident that she was fine, but Percival and Charles weren't convinced. San Bakar stayed out of it.

When I suggested using ancient magic to search for Evangeline, I was quickly brought back to reality. It was impossible because she didn't leave any traces. How could she?

It was a dead end. The end of all questions and most answers. I just had to wait. Distract myself and wait.

I no longer slept in the Ravenclaw dormitory. I couldn't bear her absence. Most of the time, I slept in the Room of Requirement, which now had a bedroom after spending two weeks sleeping on the sofas there. Sometimes I had company in the form of Sebastian, Poppy, Imelda, Ominis, or Natty. Sometimes we were all there together, drinking late into the night. We studied there, ate there, slept there. We left the Room of Requirement to attend classes.

The daily routine became mundane. Dull. Boring. We waited and waited. Day in and day out. There were clues. There were clues. There were clues.

Were there really clues?

I lost myself in the emptiness of waiting for news. I grew colder with each passing day. I had nightmares at night. More real and horrific than ever before.

I saw Evangeline being tortured. I saw them shaving her hair off, and I saw her sitting in a cold cell in the darkness. She cried. She was alone.

I heard her screams, and her screams became my screams. I woke up in Sebastian's arms and cried. I woke up next to Ominis and screamed. I woke up while Imelda stayed awake, making sure I didn't become restless in my sleep.

There were clues. There were clues. There were clues.

But there were no clues. They were leads that led to absolute nothingness.

Until one Wednesday afternoon in December 1992. It was three days before Christmas when my friends stormed into the map chamber, holding a letter in their hands.

"Elisabeth!" Poppy gasped as she stopped in front of me and handed me an envelope.

I examined the envelope carefully.

It was stained. Red-brown stains that looked like blood.

It was blood.

They hadn't used ink to address the letter but blood.

On the back were words that made my blood run cold.

To the Heroine of Hogwarts

I knew what it meant. I knew that this letter had to come from Margaret Grimward. The seal looked like a red diamond.

Out of fear of what message it might contain, I didn't want to open the letter. I was incredibly scared.

My fingers trembled.

There were clues.

I tried to loosen the seal.

There were clues.

With a faint tearing sound, I opened the envelope and unfolded the letter.

There were clues.

Elisabeth,

They forced me to write this.

It was her handwriting. It was Evangeline's handwriting.

They hurt me. Cruciatus. Elisabeth, I have to write this.

I knew she must have written those words in pain because even though I could recognize Evangeline's handwriting, it appeared unsteady and shaky.

I barely ate anything, and they shaved my hair off.

Margaret Grimward threatened to cut off my fingers if I didn't write this letter.

Why would they send it like this?

Please help me. She said they can do worse to me than the Cruciatus. I saw their looks. I'm afraid. They're just waiting for her permission.

I felt sick. I knew what she was talking about without her having to say it.

Just give them what they want, and they'll let me gggg

She didn't finish the sentence. Someone hurt her while she was writing it.

Please help me, Beth, please.

Tears burned in my eyes.

Tell Ominis I lovkkkkkkkk

Again, just scribbled at the end of the sentence, but I knew what it meant.

We are in Shellcroft on the coast.

Come alone.

Nausea overwhelmed me. I passed the letter on and paced back and forth through the room. Back and forth.Back and forth.

I ran my agitated hand through my auburn hair, which hung limp.

Come alone.

They not only tortured her, but they also forced her to use her own blood as ink.

"I will go," I said determinedly.

Natty, Poppy, Imelda, and Sebastian met my gaze and tried to stop me. They talked wildly, but Ominis cut through the chaos with a raised voice.

"We'll all go," he said. He was tense, but not in an excited way. He was determined. He had made a decision.

"We'll save my woman, and we'll kill Margaret Grimward, but before that, we'll make her suffer as Evangeline suffered."

In Ominis pale eyes, there was determination and a darkness I didn't know. He would do anything for Evangeline, even if it meant taking the dark path.