d e s p a i r (gabriella)

[igloogirl]

Gabriella was extremely grateful when Isaac became conscious once more; she had been worried that he would be out for a while. She watched as he drank all of the bags of blood in rapid fashion. "More?" Gabriella asked, already halfway to her feet to get more blood out of the fridge. They had a pretty large store, and she had added a few bags since Isaac had disappeared, not knowing what to expect.

[malfoy]

"More," Isaac confirmed, his voice hoarse. He felt as if he had been stranded in the desert for weeks with nothing to sustain him, he was so very weak... Suddenly what had happened over the past few months hit him like a bag of bricks. The adrenaline he had had was receeding, letting the memories come flooding back. Isaac closed his eyes, as if it would make it any better, though his efforts were in vain.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella nodded, walking as quickly as she could manage, which was very slow for her, to the kitchen. She grabbed another bunch of bags and headed back to where Isaac was, setting them on the floor next to him again. He looked completely awful, and not just because he was physically drained. Isaac appeared to be in mental and emotional pain as well. Gabriella didn't know what to say, so she stayed quiet for the time being.

[malfoy]

It took less than five minutes for Isaac to drain what his wife had brought for him, but he finally felt that his thirst had been satisfied. Slowly, he pushed himself up to a seated position, his back against the wall as it seemed like too much trouble to support his own weight. Isaac put his elbows on his knees, and held his head in his hands, only vaguely aware that he was trembling. For the first time in his life Isaac wished that he could cry, he needed an outlet, and none of them seemed to exist.

[igloogirl]

When Gabriella noticed that Isaac was quite visibly shaking, she felt the need to cry as well. She wrapped her arms around her husband's frame, hoping to bring some comfort to Isaac, who looked as though he desperately needed it. Gabriella didn't know exactly what had gone on at Malfoy Manor, but she was sure it hadn't been pretty. Gabriella just hoped that it hadn't gotten too much worse than them starving Isaac.

[malfoy]

Isaac wasn't sure what to do with himself, all he wanted was to forget everything that had happened, but each memory was like a wound directly to his heart. He felt so incredibly guilty, not just because of what had happened to him, but what he had been forced to do to others. "They made me do it," Isaac practically mouthed, even his voice shaking.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella was puzzled by what Isaac whispered, his words barely able to be heard, so Gabriella pretty much just read his lips. "They made you do what?" she asked quietly, confused as to what he was talking about. What had Isabelle and her Death Eaters forced Isaac to do?

[malfoy]

Isaac shook his head lightly, he wasn't going to say, at least not then. He would spare Gabriella the horrors that he had been put through, he did not want her to feel the things he had, or even come close to it through hearing it from him. As long as his wife knew that he had not comitted those acts willingly, Isaac would be at least somewhat content. He kept silent, focusing on getting himself to stop shaking so violently.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella waited for Isaac to say something more, but he only shook his head. She sighed slightly, figuring he wasn't ready to talk about it just yet. Gabriella took his hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze. "You should go upstairs and rest," she suggested. Despite draining most of the blood Gabriella had stockpiled in the fridge, Isaac still looked exhausted. Gabriella was very worried about him.

[malfoy]

Isaac only nodded in response, although he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to geet off the floor, much less all the way up the stairs and to the master bedroom at the end of the hall. He mentally told himself to stop being such a whimp, and so he shakily pushed himself up to a standing position, his knees trembling the whole way. Isaac leaned against the wall a moment, digging deep to find the strength to go up that flight of stairs. His progress was slow, but Isaac was not going to stop, even if he had to take it one stair at a time.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella followed Isaac upstairs, nervous that he might fall. He was extremely shaky, more so than Gabriella had ever seen him before. At long last they reached the top of the staircase. Gabriella mentally willed Isaac to get to the master bedroom so that he could rest. He looked completely drained; Gabriella could scarcely even imagine how he must be feeling.

[malfoy]

Isaac gazed upon the bed, it looked soft, inviting... It would be a nice change over the mouldy stone floor he had called his sleeping area for so very long. He knew in the back of his mind that he was filthy, but Isaac didn't have the energy to change his clothes, or even remove the tattered, blood-stained set he had on. Wordlessly, he allowed himself to fall face-first on the matress, on top of the blankets and everything.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella watched in silence as Isaac collapsed, face-first no less, onto the mattress. She raised her eyebrows slightly at the sight of him, with clothes on, on top of the blankets, but said nothing. Figuring Isaac would probably just rest now, Gabriella left the room, wondering what she would do with herself.

In a way, she guessed she had thought that bringing Isaac back would fix everything. But he seemed to be broken beyond repair at the moment. Gabriella could only hope that time would fix Isaac's wounds, but she wasn't so sure this time. After a few moments, Gabriella found herself walking into the corner bedroom, which was still unfinished. She curled up in a ball on the window seat, tucking her head into her knees.

[malfoy]

His slumber did not stay peaceful for long, his subconscious brain brought up terrible images from the weeks past. Isaac thrashed in his sleep, but he seemed too far gone in order to wake himself up-

The spell pinned him against the wall while they opened the door to his cell. One of the Death Eaters, McGregor, shoved in a timid girl. She couldn't have been older than thirteen or fourteen, the tattered clothing she wore hanging loosely off her too-thin frame. A haunted look was etched permanently into her dark brown eyes. "Rape her or we'll cut her hands off," McGregor snarled as he slammed the cell door closed and released the spell on Isaac.

He fell to the ground, already dreading what was going to happen. A horrible feeling churned in the pit of his stomach, he could smell her blood as her heart pounded in her fear. "I'm sorry," Isaac said softly, his voice echoing off the damp stone walls. The girl hung her head, tears streaming down her face...

Isaac thrashed some more, his subconscious brain unable to tell him that he was safely in his own bed. For all he knew, he was back in that damned cell again with the innocent girl- violating her for the amusement of someone else.

[igloogirl]

All was silent for a few moments as Gabriella stared out the window. Then she heard the muffled sound of Isaac thrashing around on the bed. Without so much as a sound, Gabriella pushed herself off the seat and went back into the bedroom, where Isaac was still asleep, but thrashing about wildly. Gabriella put her hand on his shoulder and shook lightly, then harder to wake him up. "Isaac," she hissed, hoping he would get up and realize he was home, not back in that awful cell.