Chapter 2: Hell Breaks Loose
Underneath the cloak was uncomfortably warm as Lily traipsed her way across the castle grounds towards Hagrid’s hut. Already, the sky was dark, and the full moon was shining brightly, calling back all those nerves and fears she had. Lily gripped her wand tightly, wondering if it was worth the trouble to prove how brave she was. But that wasn’t the real reason she was out here. No. The real reason was simple: she didn’t want to spend her Halloween trapped in the castle while everyone else got to enjoy the fresh air and cheer of Hogsmeade. Unfortunately, as she neared the hut, the forest seemed to darken and emote a sinister air. She fervently began to hope that Scorpius would change his mind and decide to sneak over to the village.
No such luck. Scorpius’ eyes were wide open in anticipation as he crouched in the pumpkin patch. Lily had to hand it to him- he was certainly brave.
–Scorpius, I’m here,†Lily whispered as she pulled off the cloak, her hand still clutching her wand for dear life. The cloak fluttered to the ground of the pumpkin patch.
Scorpius glanced her way and his grin widened. –Good. Now the fun can begin!â€
He stood up and walked over to her, his eyes now on the map. His wand was nowhere in sight, something that caused Lily to panic.
–Where’s your wand?†she cried.
–Well- the creature we’re hunting can sense magical instruments. We’re going to have to leave behind the cloak and our wands if we want to catch the it,†Scorpius answered nonchalantly.
–Are you crazy? Go into the Forbidden Forest without our wands? How stupid do you think I am?â€
Scorpius scowled at her. –Oh, come on. When we find it and kill it, we won’t need our wands!â€
–Don’t you mean if we find it? What has gotten into you? Why can’t we just sneak into Hogsmeade?â€
–Where is your sense of adventure, Lily?â€
–You have lost it! There is no way that I am going into that forest without the protection of my wand. That is final!†Lily shot him a glare and turned on her heel. –I’m leaving. Good bye.â€
–Fine! I can hunt it by myself.â€
Lily shook her head and began trekking back, hoping against hope that Scorpius would follow her. After a few steps, though, a dead weight settled in her stomach. She whipped her head around and saw, to her eternal trepidation, that Scorpius had disappeared. How can he be so foolhardy, she thought.
With a groan, she started her way towards the forest, wrestling with the screaming voices inside her head warning of danger. I can’t let him be alone in there. I’m his friend.
After a couple seconds, Lily began to panic. She couldn’t see Scorpius, and the forest was getting darker with each step. Tentatively, she called out, –Scorpius? Where are you?â€
Nothing answered, and she took note of the fact that everything was eerily silent. Shouldn’t a forest be alive with sounds? Not even the wind was howling. A shudder ran through Lily. –Scorpius?â€
She shuffled forward, but stopped suddenly. She could swear that something was watching her. Breath hitched in her throat, Lily backed up against a tree. –Scorpius?†Her voice trembled with the name.
Every which way she looked was swallowed in blackness, but Lily didn’t dare light her wand for fear of attracting attention. Though she hated to admit it, she was starting to wish that her older brother was here- he had always been more courageous than her, and that much more intuitive. She, on the other hand, felt herself beginning to reel.
Hrrrrrr.
Lily jumped right out of her bones. –Help me!â€she cried, though she couldn’t bring herself to scream it. –Scorpius?â€
Her eyes closed in anguish. Get a grip, Lily! she chided herself. But every vein in her body was chilled, and she could feel panic stealing its way through her heart.
Taking as deep a breath as she could, Lily allowed her eyes to take a peek at her surroundings. Nothing. Just gnarled trees and eternal darkness. With shaky resolve, she slowly began walking again, her fingers clasped tightly together around- Lily stopped. Her wand! Where was her wand?
She turned sharply around and fell to her knees, her hands desperately searching the ground. But there were too many leaves and thorns and plants. What had happened to her wand?
Hrrrr. HRRRR.
Her head snapped up immediately, causing her long hair to become tangled in front of her eyes. She quickly brushed her hair away, and she caught sight of something tall looming in the shadows. Her heart went wild, and the rush of adrenalin left her faint. Short, staccato breaths followed, causing her body to tremble uncontrollably. She couldn’t move; she couldn’t scream.
The something lunged forward on bent hind legs and human-like feet sporting long curved yellowed nails. Tattered skin drooped from its skeletal limbs all disjointed and jagged. The creature paused and lifted its evil nose as though it were pondering if Lily was the meal it desired. Its sunken eyes seemed to bleed ice as it growled into the night, and as the wind began to pick up, the creature glared directly at Lily.
Terrified tears slipped down her cheeks and her mind went haywire: I’m going to die! Die! What am I going to do? What is that thing? I’M GOING TO DIE!
Its talons swiped the frigid air in front of her face, and she finally found her voice. With a bloodcurdling scream, Lily fell backwards into the dirt, scrambling for anything that would help her. Nothing met her fingertips but the autumn leaves surrounding her.
There was only one thing left to do. She quickly clambered up from the ground and sprinted as fast as she could from the beast. Screams continued to issue from her mouth, but her voice began to die out from the effort. The beast swiftly followed her, rather agile for a crippled creature. It howled with a blood thirst greater than any monster Lily had heard about it. The sound alone caused her hearing to deafen, and the vibrations threatened to burst her veins.
As she ran, Lily noticed that her legs were carrying her deeper into the forest, dashing her hopes of reaching an adult or even Hagrid’s hut. At the same time, the beast hadn’t managed to catch her, but Lily’s only real focus was to keep running.
Somehow, she managed to scream one last thing before her voice completely failed: –SCORPIUS!â€
Her feet were growing weary, her heart was near exploding, and now she had lost any chance of recovering her wand. As she dashed past another tree, she wondered if she was fast enough to climb her way out trouble. Giving herself no second thoughts, she deftly threw herself up the very next tree.
The creature didn’t even hesitate. Its talons gripped the trunk of the tree in hot pursuit. Lily could feel its putrid breath on her ankles, and she wildly kicked out at it. Her foot connected, startling the beast and seriously dislocating her ankle, causing her to slip. She looked down at the monster and saw she had managed to put a gash in its forehead, but instead of blood, the gash was filled with shattered ice. Horrified, Lily almost lost her grip. What kind of fiend is this?
It growled at her through its ashy lips, and at the same time, Lily heard a crack. With a start, she realized that one of the branches she was clutching was very brittle and couldn’t hold her weight.
It happened so fast that all Lily could remember of it was a blur. She purposefully broke the branch and swung it at the beast, smashing its face. With an earsplitting roar, it crashed to the forest floor. Unfortunately, so did Lily. A couple of years of flying had given her some excellent reflexes, however, and she was able to land with minimal damage.
The monster continued to howl, but at the moment, it was incapacitated. Flushed with success, Lily rushed off back the way she had come, blood pounding in her ears. The only thought in her head was that she had to get as far away as possible from the beast.
Surprisingly, she found herself at the edge of the forest much sooner than she expected. Thanking Merlin that she hadn’t managed to get lost, she hurried over to Hagrid’s hut. Her hands grasped at the handle of the door as a chilling growl sounded behind her. Without hesitation, Lily forced her way inside, slamming the door shut behind her.
–Are you okay, Lil?â€
Her jaw dropped as she spotted Scorpius lounging on the other side of the room. –You- you- you’re not- what are you- what are you doing here?â€
He peevishly looked at his fingers. –Well, when you left, I didn’t want to- what I mean to say is that I-â€
A howl cut him off, causing Lily to spasm and Scorpius to instantly sit up. –What was that?â€
–That is the thing- the thing that is going to- to kill me,†Lily sputtered. In exhaustion, she slumped to the floor. Scorpius knit his eyebrows in confusion, and he ran to the window.
–Merlin’s beard, Lily! What is that?†He crouched down next to her, and for the first time in her life, Lily saw fear flash across his features.
–I- I thought you had- and I followed- and my wand- my wand- it attacked- it attacked- and I-†Lily felt the sting of tears and her voice choked.
–Lily! Calm down!†It almost sounded like he was telling himself to relax, but Lily took no notice of it.
–I- I can’t!†Her head fell into her lap, and her body began to shake violently.
A menacing growl sounded right behind the door. Lily instinctively grabbed Scorpius’ arm and hung on rather tightly.
–Do you- do you have your- your wand?†Lily asked tentatively.
Scorpius’ eyes widened. –I left it in the pumpkin patch-â€
Lily groaned. –James’ cloak! I forgot all about it, and it’s in the- in the-â€
–Pumpkin patch,†Scorpius finished for her. He stared off into the fireplace that was burning merrily, unaware of the two children in danger.
–And the- the map?â€
–Lotta good it will do us,†Scorpius grumbled. –It’s in my pocket.â€
–What are we going to do, Scorpius? How- how are we going to get past that- that monster without- without-†Lily bit her lip.
–I don’t know! Do you have any idea what it is?â€
She shook her head. –I don’t- I don’t think it’s alive. Have you- have you seen it?â€
A clawing noise interrupted them, and Lily could hear the creature’s heavy breathing. In a small voice, she said, –I think I w-wounded it…â€
–You think?†Scorpius asked, the effort of trying not to panic beginning to show in his eyes.
–Well,†Lily started, flustered, –I k-kicked it hard in the- in the head, but it d-didn’t bleed, Scorpius. All I saw was- was shattered ice.â€
Her comment lit his face up. He scrambled up off the floor and gazed out the window again.
–What? What is it?†Lily cried, bewildered at her friend’s actions.
–I think it’s a Wendigo,†Scorpius answered in a mixture of awe and fear. –My dad told me about them. They’re Dark creatures that feed on the hearts of their prey. The creepy thing is that they started out human, but became consumed by their lust for other human flesh, causing them to turn into Dark beings with hearts of ice.â€
Her own heart leapt into her throat. –I don’t th-think I needed to kn-know that.â€
He grimaced at the story himself, but he gave Lily a small smile. –Oh, Lily. Don’t worry. I won’t let it hurt you, I promise.â€
–Your dad told you how to kill them?†Lily asked, relief flooding her.
–No, but from what you said and the info from Dad, I think I know how.â€
Incredulous, Lily inquired, –How?â€
His eyes lit with that wild excitement he was so well known for. –Fire!â€
–Fire?â€
–Yeah, fire!â€
Lily gaped at him. –Erm…â€
Scorpius rushed to the fireplace. –It’s perfect! We have a fire right here. All we have to do is attack the beast with it, and I am positive the heat will cause the creature to melt and die.â€
–But-â€
He held up a hand to silence her. –Lily, what other choice do we have? Come on, I know you can do this.â€
The sincerity in his voice relaxed Lily far more than she remembered ever having felt before, and the Gryffindor determination kicked in. –Okay. What’s your plan?â€
–We each take a log from the fire and thrust it at the monster’s heart.†He sounded rather sure of himself, causing Lily to smile.
Somewhere, bells began to peal, and Lily glanced at her watch. –Merlin! It’s already 7 o’clock.â€
Scorpius carefully selected one of the burning logs. –Come on, Lily. We don’t want to wait for the animal to get inside, do we?â€
She barely heard him. Her eyes were busy marveling, once more, at her watch. Logic, not magic, could prevail…
–Lily?â€
Shaking herself out of the reverie, Lily knelt next to the fire and picked up a flaming log. She and Scorpius glanced at each other, the grimness of the situation still very real.
–Ready?†Scorpius asked. Lily nodded in response, and the two crept over to the door, bracing themselves for what lay on the other side.
Scorpius threw open the door, and the two children found themselves facing the snarling beast, its sunken eyes glowing black with rage. At the sight of the fire, the monster screeched and reared back.
–Lily, now!†Scorpius shouted, and he thrust the fire straight at the creature’s chest. Lily threw her own log with as much force as she could muster. Her aim was true, and the monster shrieked. Its drooping skin caught fire, and the howling beast scampered off towards the Forbidden Forest.
–Let’s not wait for it to change its mind,†Lily hurriedly suggested, grabbing Scorpius by the hand. They made a short stop at the pumpkin patch to gather the cloak and wand, and then took off for the safety of the castle.
---
The next morning, Lily moodily pushed her sausage around her plate. Despite having managed to escape death last night, she didn’t know how she was going to explain to her parents or her teachers what had happened to her wand. She almost wished she had joined death last night…
Scorpius slid in next to her. –Hey, moody. Why so glum? Was last night’s adventure not exciting enough for you?â€
Lily sighed. –I think I’d rather face the Wendigo than my own mother right now. How am I supposed to tell her that I lost my wand in the forest?â€
–You know, we never did get the chance to find that serpent and gain enormous power from it. If you’d rather face that than your mother…â€
Despite the nerves within her, Lily laughed. –No, thank you, Scorpius. Next time, we sneak into Hogsmeade.â€
He smiled at her and nodded. –Next time, we’ll sneak into Hogsmeade.â€
Kill It Before It Dies by Nagini Riddle
Chapter Endnotes: Reviews are highly welcome! I have virtual cookies for you... :p