Begin to Hope

I looked back around the tree and realized that the men had apparently been satisfied that there was no one hiding in the car, and they started to branch out, looking in several small groups for us.

The group that started to look in my direction consisted of three tall blond men, whispering softly, but all I could hear was bits and pieces of their conversation.

"The Dark Lord--pleased--specimens."

"No--the children--kill or be killed."

I realized that they were in fact Death Eaters, which of course I probably should have realized sooner.

I turned slightly, making sure not to make noise, and leaned my back against the tree to try and examine my body and see how bad the damage really was.

Most of the cuts were opening flowing blood, but turning back, I realized I was lucky that they hadn't dripped a trail of blood to the spot where I was now hiding. I slowly pulled out each piece of glass, or the ones that were big enough for me to pull out, at least. I grimaced as I looked at my right arm, covered in at least a dozen cuts, which deemed it just about useless. My leg was cut twice on my upper thigh, where it had gone through my jeans, and then of course the huge piece of glass in my ankle.

"Spread out and find them! Kill the two boys, but keep the girl alive!"

A seizure of fear went through me as I heard the call. The rustling of all the Death Eaters running around made me drop to the forest floor, holding my breathe in terror. I looked around, before slowly crawling underneath a nearby bush that I hoped would provide more protection.

It was lucky I did, because at that second the three blonde Death Eaters ran past my tree, making sick jokes as they did. I breathed a sigh of relief as they went past, not noticing my hiding spot.

Apparently the leader of the Death Eaters was the tallest of them all. He had his hood pushed back to reveal his face, which I couldn't quite place. He was bald, with sharp features and cold black eyes. He kept turning around in the opening, examining the car but keeping an alert eye on everything going on around him.

I rested my head against the cool ground, feeling the vibrations of the running Death Eaters everywhere around me. In the distance I could hear the shouts of "Get them! Hunt them down!", but I did my best to close my ears to their noise and just concentrate on formulating a plan.

The throbbing of my leg was too much for me to handle. My leg twitched and I grabbed it and had to grit my teeth to keep from crying out.

Think. Think. I have to find Farley and Orlando, and I have to get out of here, and I hope that they haven't found the necklace and we have to make sure the others are alright, and...

My thoughts started to blur together and my eyes started to feel heavy.

I can't fall asleep! My mind tried to cry, but the rest of my body ached and wouldn't listen.

Within a minute I was unconscious.

When I awoke I had fallen out of the corner of the bush and I was surprised nobody had found me.

I was vaguely aware that it was much darker than it had been before, and I estimated that it was right around three A.M.

I rolled back into my bush and peered around. I couldn't see any of the Death Eaters, but that didn't mean there weren't any around.

After listening quietly for a few minutes, I determined that all of the Death Eaters had concluded their search, at least for now, and were all situated around a large campfire in the clearing we had crash landed in. Their voices kept floating down to me, and I could hear they were planning their next plan of action.

"We haven't found any--help needed--what are we to do?"

Well, at least they haven't found Farley or Orlando. I breathed a sigh of relief and rolled over onto my side to face the opposite direction.

I checked my pocket to make sure my wand was still in place before slowly trying to crawl away from the bush. I thought I could hear running water somewhere close by, and if I could get to it and wash myself of the dried blood, I would be much better off.

I used my arms to crawl as quietly as I could to where I could hear a trickling brook, or at least what I hoped was one. The sounds of the Death Eaters talking around the fire grew softer as I made it farther and farther away.

When I finally deemed it far enough that they wouldn't be able to see me if I got up, I was able to lean back and rest for a minute. I looked around, checking the area out, but seeing nothing but trees in every direction.

I stayed hunched over, but I crawled on my hands and knees, being careful to keep weight off of my right leg, towards the sound of running water.

After twenty minutes of sheer pain, I managed to stumble into the brook, soaking my entire body in the numbing water. It washed over me, releasing all tension from my poor body. I didn't dare take off my clothes, in case I had to make a quick escape, so instead I just lay back against the side and let the water trickle over me. It wasn't that deep, barely two feet, so I was fine and knew there would be no chance of me drowning or anything.

I submerged my head under the water, letting the water cool my face. I came up and felt my forehead with the back of my hand. I felt hot. Maybe I had a fever.

After another minute of soaking and washing out the rest of my cuts, I pulled myself out of the water, shaking slightly from the cold. I looked around, still not seeing anyone, and took my wand out and whispered a spell to dry my clothing.

I was about to stand up and test my right ankle, to see how it was holding up and if I'd think I would need any more treatment, when I heard a noise on the left. I immediately fell to the ground, looking around immediately in the dark for the source of the noise.

"Stop moving!" A stern voice commanded.

I immediately stood still, thinking the person was talking to me. But as I listened, I heard another voice.

Farley's.

"Let go of me!" He was shouting. "I'll hex you, I will!"

"I have your wand, boy!" The first voice shouted. "Stop moving! Silencio! Petrificus Totalus!" Immediately Farley fell silent and I heard a thud as he fell to the ground roughly.

"That's much better."

I tried to determine where they were. I looked around but couldn't see them anywhere in the dark. I thought about pulling out my wand and lighting the way, but I realized it would be too risky.

I crawled slowly to the left, trying hard to listen and see if they were saying anything more.

The Death Eater spoke again, quietly, and I couldn't hear what he was saying, but then another voice spoke up loudly.

"Can't we just kill 'em?" The person's voice pierced my eardrums with all the gentleness of a charging rhino. I immediately despised whoever it was. "They aren't worth much."

"No! We must first interrogate them. They will tell us where the girl is."

"Okay, fine. WHERE'S THE GIRL?" The annoying one yelled.

I shuddered at the thought of them getting their hands on me before I realized they were using the plural form, which meant they had Orlando as well.

I came to a small hill and I figured that they had to be hiding on the other side of it. I crawled up to the very top of it and quickly took a peek over.

There were Death Eaters, three of them. They had their backs to me, as they were watching Farley and Orlando, both of whom were bound and sitting on the ground quietly.

The Death Eater that hadn't spoke yet looked at Orlando. "Maybe this one will talk." He kicked Orlando roughly, but Orlando made no sign that it hurt, nor a sign that he had been kicked at all.

"Will you tell us where she is?" The fat, annoying-voiced one sat on the ground beside him and looked into his face, speaking loudly.

Orlando didn't respond. He didn't look up at all. He seemed to be either fixated intently on a small patch of grass on the ground, or else in shock and couldn't reply.

"Talk to us!" The last Death Eater gave him another swift kick and this time Orlando looked up.

"I know nothing," he replied coolly, looking the Death Eater firmly in the eyes.

"Don't lie to us, boy." The tall Death Eater responded, rubbing his hands together. He appeared to be the leader of the three of them. "It won't get you anywhere."

"If I knew where she was, I'd tell you." Orlando's voice grew louder, and my eyes widened in shock.

He must be lying, surely he wouldn't...?

"But I don't. So you can torture me or kill me, whichever you want, but I can't tell you a damn thing."

I shook my head. Don't kill him, don't kill him. I prayed.

The leader of the three of them shook his head, and moved away from Orlando, instead kneeling in front of Farley.

"Are you ready to talk?" He asked solemnly.

Farley's eyes widened, and the Death Eater took that as a yes. He said the countercurse and immediately Farley's binds were released. He sat up and rubbed his forearms, where the ropes had been especially tight.

"I'm not going to tell you anything either." he said firmly.

The last one sighed and rebinded Farley. "Why don't we just take them both back to camp? That way Malfoy can question them. This is getting tedious. We've been trying to get them to talk for the past hour and they haven't released any information."

"No!" The leader cried. "I want to get this myself. We don't need their help."

The last one sighed again. "Must you be so disagreeable, Taylor?"

"Shut up." The leader, apparently called Taylor, growled. "They're not supposed to find out our names!"

Orlando shrugged. "Why would we care? It's obvious you're going to kill us either way. There's no way we're getting out of here alive."

Taylor took a step back towards Orlando, as if to threaten him like he was going to kick him, but Orlando didn't even flinch. Taylor took the other two Death Eaters' arms and dragged them to the right, away from Farley and Orlando so he could talk properly. I tried to listen to what they were saying, but he spoke in such low tones I couldn't make it out.

"We'll get out of here, Orlando. Don't worry." I heard Farley vaguely mutter. "Kerry's a smart girl. She'll find a way to get here. She'll find us and save us."

"Be quiet!" Taylor shouted from his spot on the left. He turned back to the other two Death Eaters.

"Kerry, if you're there, come save us. I know you have to be near by. I know you're clever, girl. Come save us." His voice took on a soft tone and he was basically pleading with me. "Kerry, come save us. Please."

"She's not going to save you!" The annoying one sneered from his spot in the circle. Taylor pulled him back in.

"Kerry, don't let us die here. You have to come and save us."

I tried to send him a mental message that I was only feet away, that I was formulating a plan as he spoke.

Don't worry, Farley, I'm here.]/i]

I gripped my wand tightly in my left hand and shifted my weight on my right leg, testing how good it was feeling. It still ached, but I figured I'd be able to run if I needed to.

"Kerry, come save us."

"I'm warning you, boy." Taylor warned, shaking his fist angrily at Farley. "If you don't shut up--"

"Fuck you!" Farley screamed, struggling to move around. He tried to stand up but couldn't from the position he was in. "Fuck you, motherfucker! I'll get you, I'll kill you! You just--!"

He was cut off by his next sentence by Taylor pushing past the other two Death Eaters and taking out his wand and pointing it directly at Farley.

"Farley, stop." Orlando muttered, sounding for the first time extremely scared. "Don't say anything else, Farley."

"Why? What is he gonna do? Kill me? I don't care anymore, I don't care!" He gathered up all the strength he could muster and spit as far as he could, and it managed to land directly on the front of Taylor's robes.

Taylor looked down at it, completely stunned for a second before his face turned beet red and he started shaking. Without another word, he raised his wand.

"Avada Kedavra!"

A flash of green light, and Farley was gone.