He's Back || Sebastian Sallow

CHAPTER 27 - POACHED

3rd PERSON POV

The sensation of cold metal around her wrists and an earthy smell filled y/n's nose as she came to. At first, she thought the events from the night prior had been a monstrous nightmare. But as she took in her surroundings, she realised her nightmare was in fact her reality. She was curled up on the floor of a dark enclosure, a dirt floor beneath her, a tray of food (if you could call it that) and a jug of water by the door of her cell. She crawled over to drink up the water, as her head throbbed from dehydration and also the impact from falling on the rock. The metal bars on the door of her cell made her feel like a caged animal.

She remembered that she was somewhere deep in the Forbidden Forest, and judging by the smell and the lack of light, it seemed she was underground. She looked through the bars to see a slightly larger room, also with dirt floors and vines hanging from the ceiling, and ominous candles in clusters around the room, casting an eerie glow on the walls. There was a table with a terrifying array of tools - knives, whips, prods, nails, hammers, and a big wooden X-shaped cross in the middle of the room, with metal loops and chains attached to each corner.

She shivered in disgust at what was to come.

"Let me GO!" y/n screamed desperately, clutching her pounding head.

The poacher appeared from the shadows, a sick chuckle escaped his lips as he unlocked the cell door, and dragged y/n out to the middle of the room.

She struggled against her restraints, whimpering, as he fastened her wrists and ankles to the wooden X.

"Wh...who are you? What do you w...want from me?" she cried.

The poacher loomed menacingly over her, brandishing a large knife he'd picked up from the table.

Y/n's eyes widened with terror, her body trembling against the wooden cross.

He seemed to be relishing in y/n's fear.

"We're going to start off the old fashioned way," he laughed maniacally. "You see, you have something I want. Something very precious indeed. And I always get what I want..."

He pressed the knife at her cheek, and flicked it across her face. She winced, and felt her warm blood trickle down her cheek.

"Hmm... used to feeling pain, are we?" he circled her, looking her up and down and licking his lips. "Perhaps I can do something a little more sinister to make you truly fear me and my intentions..." he mumbled.

His hot breath was invading her face as he inched closer to her. With a cruel cackle, his knife ripped through the top buttons of her shirt, exposing her décolletage and cutting deep into her skin at the same time.

She began to sob.

"Ahhh, there it is!" he shrieked with glee. He extracted a small vial from his pocket and pushed it into the corners of her eyes.

He was collecting her tears.

***

The next morning at breakfast, Ominis's owl swooped down and dropped a note in his lap.

His fingers quickly unfurled the note and traced across the braille. If he could turn a paler shade of white, he did in that moment.

"Is it from Anne? What did she say?" Violet asked desperately.

"Sebastian has been with her the whole time..." Ominis gulped. "And y/n is not with them..."

"FUCK!" Hunter yelled as Austin hung his head in his hands.

"I knew something was up, this is really fishy," Austin groaned. "What do we do?"

Hunter quickly scrawled a note to respond to Anne.

Anne,
We were with y/n last night when Sebastian came into The Three Broomsticks and roughly escorted her away.
She didn't come home last night.
We are really concerned.
Are you sure he was with you the whole time?
Hunter and Austin

They waited in the Hall well past breakfast, awaiting her response.

Finally, the owl returned, dropping a note to Austin.

Austin,
Nice try...
But stay out of it.
I'll return to see y/n when I'm ready.
Sebastian

"Fuck fuck fuck!" Austin threw the note down and shot up from the table. "He thinks I'm messing with him to trick him back here to see y/n. Ominis, it couldn't have been him last night... something is seriously wrong... we need to talk to him face-to-face."

"Let's go," Ominis said determinedly.

"I'm coming too," Violet said, following the boys as they raced out of the Hall.

"No, Vi," Austin put his hand on her shoulder gently. "You and Grace go to class, you need to cover for us. And besides, I'd rather you stay safe here at school. We don't know what we are about to face..."

Violet nodded reluctantly and took off with Grace for class.

The boys ran to the nearest Floo, to get to Feldcroft.

***

Ominis burst through Anne's front door, followed by Hunter and Austin. Anne and Sebastian were quietly sitting at the dining room table playing a game of Wizard's Chess. 

Sebastian glowered at the boys as they barged their way into the small cottage.

"What the hell?" he said, annoyed. "Come on now... you're taking this too far..."

"Sebastian, shut up and listen," Ominis demanded.

The boys filled Sebastian and Anne in on every detail from the evening prior. Sebastian's annoyance quickly shifted to distress.

"So, you're telling me that you took y/n out to the pub, while she was an emotional wreck, plied her with liquor, then someone violently took her away into the night, and YOU LET THEM?" Sebastian yelled at Hunter and Austin.

"Well... it sounds really bad when you put it like that..." Austin said sheepishly.

"He looked just like you, Sallow. We were completely torn... we tried to stop 'you' but we also didn't want to intervene in your fight with y/n," Hunter rationalized, his voice tinged with panic.

Anne went pale. "Oh no..." she clasped her hand to her mouth.

"What? Anne, what?" Sebastian pulled her hand away from her mouth impatiently.

"Sebastian... that night at the Hog's Head..." she began.

Ominis gasped. "We were talking about... her tears... their healing abilities... her magic..." he clenched his jaw.

Anne shut her eyes for a moment, "That was just over a month ago... enough time for someone to brew a Polyjuice Potion..."

"Sebastian..." Ominis said in alarm, "Y/n's been poached!"

The room fell silent for a moment as the grim realization spread among them.

"We need to find her. NOW!" Sebastian whisked around the cottage packing a bag with Wiggenweld Potions, combat potions, some clothes and other essentials. "Let's split up. Hunter, Austin, you go back to Hogsmeade. Talk to Sirona, question the locals. Go to every shop, every vendor, every home and villager. Don't leave until you've talked to every person in sight. Ominis, you take Anne, go to every town and village surrounding Hogsmeade, find out where the poacher camps are. I'm going to Hogwarts to get back up."

"Not Violet and Grace?" Austin asked, concerned.

"Hell no," Sebastian scoffed. "We need people who are brave and can actually fight. And I know just the duo..."

"Should we inform any of the professors? Or the ministry?" Anne asked.

"No... not yet. I want to deal with her abductor personally," Sebastian's voice was dangerously low. Anne and Ominis shivered, knowing he would stop at nothing to get revenge, which meant he was likely going to use dark magic again. But now was not the time to lecture him about that.

Everyone dispersed, taking Sebastian's marching orders. 

Blood was pounding in his ears as he mounted his broom and whisked off to Hogwarts.