Darkness met her as she struggled to open her eyes. Her whole body was aching in pain and she felt terribly worn out. It was very dark but she could guess that she was thrown in a prison cell and by the suffocating atmosphere and the dampness, it was probably underground.

The stench of death hung around her, reminding her of everything she had witnessed before being attacked; her parents suffering the torture curses, her whole body convulsing with pain and the killing curses striking both Henry and Diana Troy.

She should have been dead too as she had been there when it all happened; when the Death Eaters broke into their home and attacked them.

But she wasn't dead, instead she was kept captive. And that made her even more anxious about what could have happened to her younger sister.

Esmeralda sat up and tried to look around but only darkness met her eyes. Due to the horrible stench and the eerie air that hung about the cell, she didn't want to feel her way around, scared that she might come into contact with something revolting.

And she was right. Because she had woken up in the cell was where Lord Voldemort threw his prisoners and none of them had ever gotten out. Not even the corpses of those poor tortured souls had left that ghastly prison.

So there was a high chance that rotten skeletons would be strewn all around her.

However, a dim light struck up as if someone had lit up a wand and she straightened, eyes following that waning source of light. A hooded figure drew closer and she instinctively retreated, flinching as her hands came in contact with what seemed to be a dead body.

"Esmeralda Troy," an unfamiliar voice spoke out her name and she stilled, a chill running down her spine at the scathing quality of that voice.

"W-who are you? Why have you kept me here?"

The figure came closer until there were only the metal bars separating the two. There was an eerie feeling about that mysterious man shrouded in black. It almost seemed that Death itself had come to talk to her.

"So you do not recognize me?" An amused chuckle left those concealed lips, "take a guess, sweetheart, you should know who's mercy you are at right now."

"The Dark Lord..." That title escaped her in a hushed whisper and the chilling laugh that sounded after it was confirmation that she had guessed right.

He removed the hood and she drew back further, shocked to see the appalling inhumanity of those features. That pale face, serpentine eyes and malicious lips were in no way reminiscent of the handsome man he used to be. 

"Lord Voldemort," he remarked and she gasped in alarm, the name stirring up an unfathomable fear inside her, "or as your sister would know me; Tom Riddle." 

"Ellie..." Pain crossed her features to think of her younger sister. 

She did not know what had happened to Eleanor and that was tortuous in itself. And the way Lord Voldemort had mentioned her almost made it seem as if she was in captivity too.

"Fret not, your lovely sister is alive and safe," he read what she was thinking and spoke up, "though for how long is the question here."

Her heart sank to hear those words and the only thing she could think of right then was to somehow protect her sister from his wrath. But she knew she was helpless as she was herself in captivity.

The Dark wizard in front of her had not only gotten her parents to be murdered but was also the mastermind behind a war that had just started. An ordinary witch like Esmeralda was no match for him.

"Don't hurt her," she spoke up, still attempting to save Eleanor somehow, "she has nothing to do with you or your mission, leave her out of it. Please..."

Those serpentine eyes flashed in an incredulous look, "she has nothing to do with me? Miss Troy you have no idea of how much Eleanor has to do with me and everything that has happened up till now."

Something in the way he said Eleanor's name made her think that he was hinting at a fact she didn't know but was somehow very crucial to all that had passed till then. But she couldn't overlook that he was the murderer of her parents, he was the one who had captured her and right then, he was posing a threat to Eleanor as well.

A seething wave of rage coursed through her veins which was sensed immediately by him. An amused spark played upon his lips as he leaned closer, "I see, you also share the same spark she has when she gets angry."

"Where is she?" Her voice trembled not from fear but from uncertainty and pent-up rage, "what have you done to her?"

"Ah, you do not understand," he chuckled as if it was all a very amusing play to him, "I have done nothing to her yet. You see, you are here as a bargaining chip. I'm sure she'll turn up soon."

Her eyes widened in shock. "Wh-what do you mean by that?"

"Questions, questions," he shook his head, the smile still lingering, "such a lot of questions annoy me, Miss Troy. Save some for later too, you're going to be here for a long time after all."

"What do you want from us? There's no point for you to keep me alive when your men so mercilessly killed my parents."

His eyes pierced through hers menacingly, "you are alive because of your sister. That's all I can say for now."

"I don't understand..." Her head throbbed the reeking stench of death getting intolerable by every passing minute.

"Don't stress yourself out," he spoke dismissively as if it was no big deal, "just hope she shows up soon. I've been waiting for long enough and my patience is running out."

"What do you have to do with Eleanor? Why can't you just let her be? You've killed so many, kill me as well but don't hurt her. I entreat you."

The meaningful smirk on his features widened and it sent a chill down her spine again, "I don't grant wishes no matter how much you entreat me. As for Eleanor, let's just say she has an unpaid debt to me and it's time for her to pay it back. And if she doesn't, you will be the one to suffer."

With that cryptic and somewhat terrifying remark, he left the cell, the echo of his footsteps being the only other sound she heard in the numbing silence as the gates to the dungeons closed with a slam. That prison was no different from a grave in which she had been buried alive.

Her eyes searched for an escape but found none. So all she could hope for was that Elanor stayed safe from Voldemort and that somehow she would be able to make it out of the prison as well.

But deep down she knew that both those situations were impossible. Neither could she escape from that prison and nor would Eleanor be safe from Lord Voldemort's deadly trap.

***