“You’re the one Cash warned me about. What do you want here, and what did you do with the real Remus?” Harry asked bravely as he struggled helplessly in the grip of the vampyre.
“If I were you, I’d be more concerned about what I’m going to do with you, my little prince.” Gustavas growled. “Never fear boy, I’ll take care of your mother’s friends and lover when I’m done with you. But until then,” Gustavas continued as he lifted Harry in the air by his wrists, smiling cruelly as the boy’s feet swung in mid-air. “You will be staying here with me. You see, since Olia ruined my last toy, I’m a bit bored, and you will do very nicely as a replacement.” he said as he slammed Harry into the cold stone wall, knocking the breath out of him. Releasing his grip, Gustavas smirked as the boy slowly slid to the floor, his legs still too weak to support his own weight.
“Come now boy, I would expect better sport from Clan MacLeod.” Gustavas taunted, “I have never taken on a MacLeod without at least adding one scar to my collection.” Running his finger along Harry’s scar, he continued, “Then again, maybe I’ll just take yours…I can skin it right off of your body…would you like to see me demonstrate?” he asked as he pulled a long thin knife from under his shirt.
Harry narrowed his eyes as he stared hatefully at the vampyre, watching the gleaming knife closely as Gustavas moved it from side to side, reflecting the light of the candles.
“We don’t have time for games” said a familiarly cold voice “Lord Voldemort has given you orders to kill Potter, save your games for the Sidhe bi***, I’m sure she’ll be more entertaining than this pathetic excuse for a wizard in any case.” Lucius Malfoy spat disdainfully. “And have the sense to take his wand…”
Gustavas turned sharply to face Malfoy as he swung his arm out, striking the death eater soundly across his face. “Who the blazes do you think you are boy?” Gus snarled, “I will do this ‘my’ way” he stated simply, as an eerie calmness settled on his face. “I want him alive for as long as possible. I ‘want’ him to call the others. I intend to get rid of that Methuselah of a Gangrel as well as everyone that she loves.”
Gus turned and looked condescendingly at Harry “Is the little prince unable to defend himself without a stick? Shame on your mother for not training you better. She must be losing her touch, or her fear. In either case, a stupid move on her part.”
Harry smirked at Malfoy and Gus, “And why would my mother be frightened of either of you? Cash and Raul already told me how frightened you are of our clan, they say you don’t dare attack us straight on. You need to hide in the dark and attack children. Looks like they were right.”
Harry winced as he felt Gus’s large hands wrap around his throat, choking him as he was lifted in the air. As much as Harry wanted to call out to Cash for help, he knew he couldn’t, he heard what Gustavas had told Malfoy, they were going to use him as bait to catch Cash. If only he could figure out a way to hold on until the shield of silence crumbled. Cash had made it very clear as soon as it cracked, his mum would come back immediately and take care of the Tremere.
“Very brave for someone who’s going to be dead in a few minutes.” Gus said coolly as he waited for Harry to panic and call out to his clan. He watched as the boy’s eyes began to bulge from the lack of oxygen, he wondered how long the boy would be able to hold before he fainted. Judging by the look of him, it wouldn’t be much longer.
Not willing to lose his plaything so soon, Gus slammed Harry into the wall once more, jolting the half-conscious boy back to a very painful sense of awareness. “You are NOT going to die that easily boy.”
Dropping him onto the hard floor, Gustavas signalled to Malfoy. Immediately Harry felt several pair of hands on him, dragging him across the floor and chaining him to the wall. Harry had no idea so many death eaters had been in the room with them, it must have something to do with that spell, he thought as he kept his eyes fixed on the Tremere. He immediately noticed the fear and loathing Malfoy had for Gustavas, apparently Lucius must have serious doubts about his ability to control the vampyre.
Gustavas paced the room aggressively, contemplating his next move, the boy may not have his mother’s powers, but he certainly had her mind. He leaned against the wall opposite the boy and stared at the boy as he fished through the pockets of his trousers. Reaching in, he pulled out a pack of Camel Turkish Royals and a book of matches. “Hope you don’t mind if I smoke?” he taunted Harry as he lit a cigarette and took a long drag from it.
“What to do, What to do?” Gus mumbled almost distractedly as his eyes darted around the dungeon, evaluating everyone and everything in within their site. He quickly decided who would live and who would die tonight. Most of the death eaters would be used as fodder to detain the Gangrel, Gus had seen the Methuselah frenzy before, he could go through several humans in a matter of moments without even slowing down. The survivors, if there were any, would probably slink off into the darkness or be killed off by the boy’s mother. Malfoy however was quite another matter, he could tell the moment he met the man that he would become his toy. In fact that fool Voldemort had already made it very clear that Gustavas could do as he see fit with Malfoy, and he intended to do a great deal to the egomaniacal wizard before tearing out his heart. “So Harry Potter MacLeod, what are we going to do with you?”
Looking down at his cigarette, a thought crossed Gus’s mind “Pain is very motivational, did you know that? It’s a proven fact. I’ll give you an example.” he said as he walked over to Harry and stood uncomfortably close to him “I know you don’t want to summon Cash, you know you’ll only be leading him into a trap. But I’m both a calculating man, and a betting one. And I’ll bet that with just the right amount of pain and fear, you WILL summon him here.” So saying, Gus touched the lit end of the cigarette to Harry’s face, causing the boy to whimper in pain. “Hmmm, well, it’s a start” Gus said as he admired the blackish burn the cigarette had left behind “but I can do better.” he added as he pulled back his muscular arm and punched Harry in the stomach, causing the boy to spit up blood……..
“Remus?!!” Sirius gasped, “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be with Harry, you promised me you’d keep him in Albus’s office until I got back.”
Remus shook his head “What are you talking about? This is the first time I’ve seen you since the ball last night. And I haven’t seen Harry at all today, he wasn’t even at breakfast, I was on my way to find him now.”
Cash groaned loudly as he realized what must have happened. “We have to find him, fast!! Remus, go to Gryffindor tower just in case Harry did the smart thing, Sirius and I are going to start searching the school. Remus if you don’t find Harry in the tower, go straight to Albus’s office and get him back here. He‘s in London at the Ministry…”
Remus nodded and took off at break neck speed towards the tower as a creeping fear took a hold of his heart. He knew Harry wasn’t going to be there, not if whoever disguised themselves as him had managed to fool Dumbledore and Sirius…..
“Olia!” Cash yelled out. “Find Harry and stay with him, do what you can until we get there… and as soon as there is so much as a pin hole in that damn shield, find Angel.”