TORMENT

[Azkaban]

"Why are you keeping me here?" Ryan Lance pleaded for the umpteenth time, his eyes brimming with tears.

A stern-looking wizard with a hook nose scoffed, "Ryan Lance, your list of crimes is a mile long. You are a murderer, a thief, a scoundrel, and worst of all—a traitor. For those reasons and more, we've decided to keep you here until the Minister of Magic has had enough of your blubbering."

Ryan had no idea what to say or do. He had been trapped in a cold cell for a while, fed scraps of food, and treated like an animal by his jailers. They had told him he was on a special watchlist, and the wizarding community was scrambling to decide his fate. He knew he shouldn't be surprised. After all, his bad luck from his past life had followed him to this one.

It's been two months since he woke up in his own body, here in this little cell in Azkaban. Two months of being kept in isolation, locked away from the rest of the magical world. Two months of sleeping on a cold stone floor and wondering what would happen to him and why he was here in the first place. Then there are those dementors... He shuddered at the thought of the wraithlike creatures that hovered outside his cell at night, sucking out his happiness and filling his mind with terrible memories from his previous life on Earth. He didn't know if he could survive much longer in this place.

He was not alone in Azkaban. An intimidating woman with curly gray hair and a hooked nose liked to make surprise visits, bearing bad news for Ryan. According to her, a select committee was studying his case, trying to figure out what to do with him.

"You are a very dangerous criminal," she had said with a sneer. "It's only a matter of time before you get the Dementor's Kiss."

Ryan shuddered.

She continued, "They're taking their time, but they'll eventually come to the conclusion that you should be executed, and your soul will be destroyed by the Dementors. There is no justice more fair than that."

Ryan stared blankly ahead, not knowing what to say. Executed? Soul destruction? The woman smiled and left. He sighed and leaned back against the cold wall of his cell, taking in the stench of human filth that filled the room. What kind of prank was fate playing with him, now? Is this really the end for him? He still remembers how happy he was when the gatekeeper of the souls gave him a chance at a second life. He had a dream, a new beginning, a fresh start.

But what did he do wrong to deserve this fate?

Did that gatekeeper deceive him with fake hope? Was this his plan from the beginning to get him killed properly to send his soul to either heaven or hell? In his situation, after hearing those accusations from those wizards and witches, which he had no recollection of, Ryan was certain he was going to hell for sure.

While those thoughts consumed Ryan, the dementors are back to suck out his happiness. As usual, he could feel their presence. His skin grew cold, and a sense of hopelessness overwhelmed him. He slumped down into a fetal position, ready for the torture to come, tears streaming down his face. He wondered, who was that Ryan Lance, the accused? He felt like he wasn't him. He wasn't a scoundrel, murderer, thief, and a traitor. He was not a criminal!

An agonizing scream snapped Ryan from his thoughts, the dementors were sucking out someone's happiness. "No! No! Please no! Help!" A voice echoed through the prison, a woman's voice. "Mercy! Have mercy!" the voice cried in agony.

Ryan peered into the darkness that enveloped the prison, straining his eyes to see who it was. The haze outside was blocking his vision, but he could see the cell block opposite to his where two dementors were hovering before the cell, sucking the prisoner dry of her happiness. He shivered as he felt the dementors' magic as well, and his cell started to grow colder.

After a few minutes of agony-filled screams, she finally went silent for a few seconds before her pitiful cries and moans came to his ears. Ryan exhaled, his body still shaking with fear. It's not over yet. The dementors were flying toward him now. He rushed back inside his cell as his back met the cold wall. He took deep breaths as he felt the dementors' powerful presence in front of his cell.

Then the sucking began, and his emotions started to fade away as he felt something from deep within himself getting sucked out, his soul being drained. His happy memories were fading away as his sadness increased. He was experiencing the worst trauma from his previous life. The disappointment, the sadness, the life of a loser, the endless torments, and finally his death in the most stupidest way possible, being zapped while peeing on a live wire.

He felt the dementors sucking those memories, feelings, and emotions with vicious hunger, leaving only despair in its place. He was rapidly losing himself. The fear in his heart was now mixed with sadness and grief.

"ARGGGGG!!" His screams were mixed with the woman's. They sounded like two broken souls begging for mercy, but they both knew none would come. His vision blurred as his mind turned blank. His legs lost strength, and he slowly slid down the wall, slumping onto the floor, lying like a lifeless corpse. His consciousness refuses to fade away as he is forced to experience all those horrible memories over and over again.

Then it stopped, just like that. The dementors had moved away from him, but he couldn't even move an inch, much less turn his head. He could barely see their grayish, blurred outlines in the corner of his eyes as they moved towards the next cell and the next after that... Soon, there were only cries of despair echoing through the prison.

How much more of this torture could he bear? He wondered if it would be better for him to die right here. He wanted to kill himself, but the spell within the walls prevented him from doing so, he had tried it thrice after all. Despair and agony are all that was left of Ryan Lance. He sobbed silently as he tried to stay strong, but all he wanted to do was to lie there and let those dementors take him away and finish him off.

Time passed...

Ryan is now just a shell of who he once was, sitting against the wall of his cell, staring blankly at nothing. There was no hope, no happiness left in him. Only despair. He had given up long ago, no longer caring about the screams and cries coming from the other inmates of Azkaban. Those who have survived are too afraid to speak or cry.

He had already forgotten what his name was or why he was here. All he knows is that he has been here for a long time. The days had turned into weeks, and the weeks into months. There was no concept of time in this place. Time no longer existed for him. Only darkness.

More time passed...

Ryan was lying on his side in the darkness, curled up in a ball on the cold stone floor of his cell, staring blankly at nothing when a thunderous "crack" broke him out of his trance. It was loud and sudden, but he did not care. He closed his eyes and resumed his stupor.

There was a new prisoner brought in, no doubt, he heard a female's voice shouting at the dementors to leave her alone and find them, but they never bothered to listen. He felt the air grow cold again as their presence drew near to his cell or maybe the dementors were passing by his cell. But he couldn't care less since it's been days or months... Maybe years since the effect of the dementor's presence around him had decreased significantly. Instead of frequent visits, they swing by his cell, occasionally, sucking his soul.

The pain has become a part of him now, but he hadn't had any dreams for a while, even when the dementors used to come more often. He was slowly losing his mind and senses. His senses were starting to numb, and his mind was gradually losing itself in the vast void of emptiness. It's only a matter of time before they break him completely and take his soul.

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[17 advance chapters]