Against the dark Hearts

Chapter 50

I looked at Margaret Grimward with wide eyes. She still had that malicious smile on her face. I wanted to wipe it away, to see the light fade from her eyes. I aimed my wand at her once again.

"I'll give you anything if you let them go, all of them," I said flatly.

I couldn't possibly make a decision.

"Him or them" she said emphatically.

I looked into the eyes of my friends, they all looked at me with despair. I knew there was a right choice and a selfish one, and I wasn't prepared for either. I would regret any decision I made.

"Please," I pleaded softly, my voice breaking under the pressure.

"I can kill them all right now, Heroine of Hogwarts," she said, holding her wand against Poppy's throat, who was kneeling on the outer edge. Poppy whimpered. Imelda tried to free herself, but she was rendered helpless with a blow to the head.

I flinched.

"Of course, she'll choose me," Sebastian said disdainfully, and I looked at him in shock. Why would he say something like that? He laughed, "She's so desperate for love and attention."

I frowned.

That was unusually mean of him, even though we had been fighting a lot lately. The others looked at him equally confused and frightened. Sebastian laughed again, this time louder and more piercingly, as if he wanted everyone to hear how he amused himself at my expense.

"She would betray anyone if she could save me, wouldn't you, Elisabeth Darling? How much you love me that you would betray everyone else," he challenged me with his gaze. I didn't know what to say or do. What moved him to say such things?

Margaret Grimward released Poppy and took a few steps toward him. I wanted to step forward, but as I moved even slightly, her guards approached me. I stepped back.

"You're a gem, aren't you?" Grimward asked as she crouched before Sebastian, a corner of her mouth curled up. She whispered something to him that I couldn't hear, but I saw her lips move, and in that moment, I wished I could read lips. Grimward stood up and laughed. Sebastian looked at her with a glare that could mean anything.

I looked at the others. Imelda was unconscious, just like Evangeline. Natty and Poppy had fear in their eyes and dared not move. Ominis looked as if he wanted to see something, as if that something was the world, burning.

There was no good decision, but with one of them, all my friends would die, and only Sebastian would remain. Did I want to save him if he spoke to me in such a way at the moment of decision? As if it were natural for me to choose him? Did he really want me to choose him at the expense of Ominis' life? Ominis had been his best friend since they met at Hogwarts. Why was it so indifferent to him now if he died?

Did he really want to see Imelda killed by these people or something worse? They had known each other for almost seven years. After all, they had played on the Quidditch team together for a while. Didn't he want Poppy to survive this? Poppy had been a good friend to Sebastian; they had always understood each other. Surely he didn't genuinely want to see Natty and Evangeline dead either, did he?

Was this all just a game to him? Was it more important for him to be with me than for the others to live, or was this just another proof of the power he had over me? What was his goal?

"Just say it, Elisabeth, you choose me, it's not difficult, darling, come on," the way he said it could almost lull you, but with each word, my antipathy towards him grew. How could he?

I clenched my hands into fists, my nails digging into my skin, and looked away. Tears burned in my eyes. I bit my lip, trying to suppress any sound that might come from my body.

I thought he would tell me to save the others, it wouldn't have made things easier, but I would have known it was in his best interest. Now, however, I had to learn that it would be more in his interest to sacrifice them? To be with me? Why would I even want that now?

"You can keep him," I whispered, my voice drowned in tears and pain.

"I didn't hear you. What did you say, little heroine?" Grimward asked with delight. With every millisecond that passed, I wanted her to die.

"I choose them," I said, pointing to my friends. "You can keep him," I said with a firmer voice now.

Grimward smiled maliciously.

"Not true love, huh? What a shame," she said, swiftly moving her wand. The bonds of my friends fell to the ground, and they were released.

She grabbed Sebastian and dragged him away. I wanted to follow, but again, her guards stood in my way, their wands pointed at me. Sebastian didn't resist for a second. Grimward stopped walking and turned to face me.

"We're even, little heroine," she said, looking directly at me and then at her guards, "Make sure they disappear and don't kill them. I'll keep my word."

Then she walked away, and the grand gate of the castle closed.

We were dragged out of the castle amidst protests. Ominis had to be incapacitated, but I didn't resist. I walked away, not wasting another glance. Sebastian was lost. Whatever they would do to him, he wouldn't be the same when I encountered him again.

It was a shame that it ended like this. It was the worst thing that could have happened. It was worse than if one of us had simply died because now he was in their clutches, and I could do nothing.

After that, we watched the castle for a while, but nothing stirred. I had a plan to rescue Sebastian from there, but when we set off days later with patched-up wounds and renewed energy, we found the castle empty. There was no one there. They left nothing behind. Not even a speck of dust.

He was gone.

When I saw him again, my worst fears had become a reality.