Back Into The Water Closed

Taken from Yo, Dude!

“I was on trial.” He glared back towards Erin while he searched his mind through the haze, remembering some of the facts of his experience in the lake. “I had to serve them…for redemption. Until I escaped…or was I let go?” Whatever happened, it wasn't over

"They? You said HE,"

The weight of the rain increased with each breath from Thomas, each word accelerating the blood flow to their beating hearts. One could almost hear this sound as it multiplied. Ivy did not know what Erin began to realize, but the contagion of her fear had a radius that quickly infected the girl. This new presence did not linger behind the wood line very long, beginning a steady approach, why hurry the inevitable. Her large dark figure fought against the distant shadows. There was both a he, and a they. Thomas did not consider it important to share the latter. “She’s coming now…forget the door.”

"Are you cracked? We are getting you away from here!"

"Thomas, Erin's right. We should go back to the castle. Let's go. Please."

[Permission to resist granted by Erin Ryan]

The state of panic behind the boy was once again met by his silence. He fumbled to escape the grasp of the girls’ accumulative effort to pull him away. He turned his shoulders excessively from each touch, attempting to send flying elbows backwards to force the girls back. One of them may have contacted their stomach, warranting a sharp loss of air. Eventually the boy was able to escape, squaring his body with the approaching hag. He approached her hesitantly, traveling down the porch steps as she sung a tune about the London bridge, wood and clay will wash away. Entering the building would do the trio no favors.

Thomas remained fixated on the creature, reaching the bottom of the steps, submerging his boots in the thick adherent mud. As if a knight before his queen, Thomas leisurely lowered his head, coming down to one knee. He waited patiently until the hag concluded singing its tune. He turned his head at the muffled screams from within the building.

"Thomas!”

His head jerked back into focus, wearily gazing up towards the hag.

Thomas! I smell you and I smell something sweet. What have you brought for me,"

“Y-your grace.” His responsive tone trembly with respect as if he spoke to a tyrannical ruler. “I have done as you asked.” Thomas has brought Erin here on this eve, with the intention of fulfilling this implied request. Her involvement with the crones was spoken of that night in the common room, with many witnesses. “Sweet?” There was not a better subject to provide. “You said she would feel no pain...” He reminded the hag, likely an empty promise. A great fool Thomas was to believe the hag would not end her life on this night.

Enter a pair of figures atop the muddy hill, illuminated by the occasional flashes of lightning. From his position, Thomas could not make out the faces of the new parties. He deduced they were too small to be a professor, likely a pair of prefects that discovered the absences during dorm accountability checks…assuming they did those.

It was not until the boy offered a responsive tune that Thomas would recognize this voice. How fitting, the star-crossed lover, Romeo, singing to his one true love. Except he was not singing to Erin Ryan. No, he was singing to the creature. He remained to be Erin’s knight in shining armor, veering the creature’s path away from them, now ascending to greet Fox. Well, greet was an understatement.

For the first time this evening, there was a moment of clarity for Thomas. Though the hag never felt inclined to eat Thomas himself, she expressed her hunger in various ways. She feeds on the innocent, and the pure. Thomas did not believe Fox to be either after the lengthy discussion the two shared in the boys’ dormitory. The hag would deem his blood faulty, there would not be much beyond just a taste... with some tongue action.

[Assuming Erin and Ivy exit the hut]

Thomas rose from his knee, turning back towards the part-veela. He rushed in her direction. “She won’t do it.” If Ivy emerged from behind Erin back into the rainfall, Thomas would shout, motioning towards the castle. “Run!”

“She’s coming now…forget the door.”

Dire trepidation, that was the sense that filled the young girl as she saw the lumbering creature emerge from the fringe of the Forbidden Forest. There was that sense of fight or flight, that instinct of self preservation that screamed run! She could not run away alone, not without Thomas. She tried to grip his hand, his wrist, his forearm, his shirt, it mattered not as long as she had him. Thomas resisted her grip as she tried to pull the dullard into the shack, their only promise of safety. Instinct screamed that shelter was their best option. To flee rather than face whatever danger came trudging from the woods. 

She had no issue with Ivy. If there was a resentment felt towards her for being another person to consider, it was in the back of her head. She did not know the girl and therefore had no affection for her. She obviously had some affection for Thomas because she tried to save him. He would not come with her, he slipped from her grip and she did not notice as she ordered them to get her something heavy to block to door. 

But she would soon realize the purpose of their journey and her heart would ache. It called out his name. He was waiting for her and called her your grace. She would feel sick, her stomach would twist and she would have the urge to vomit. Ivy hadn't done anything, time seemed to slow. It felt as if she had been standing there for over a week. As if she and... was that Paracelsus? By Merlin it was!

Her hand shook as she took the knob in her hand and opened the door. How did he get out here? He was so far from the castle... There was a part of her that thought he was working with Thomas after he addressed the crone telling her that he had done as she had asked. She had not known that when she had divulged what she knew of crones she had revealed something dangerous. She had made that deal with another set of crones. Crones prefer to work alone but work best in threes. This crone would be working with two others, all of which would have been aware for the most part with what deals they have made. That would mean that Erin either made a deal with a crone that was done in secret without the other two knowing, treachery within their ranks, or even worse... there was a second coven. The later would prove disastrous for not only the hags but who or whatever was caught in the crossfires.

“Sweet?” 

She was not referring to Erin but rather Ivy, the sweet airhead she likely was or Erin's idiot boyfriend. Yes, Paracelsus was a good guy, he never seemed capable of making time for her and he never seemed to care for her in particular until recently, but he always accepted her even if it was on the level of tolerance. Erin yelled for him but it was a measure of futility as he serenaded the monster.  

And like many dead bards before him, he rolled for seduction. 

Was success a 'bad roll' or a 'good roll'?

What was he doing?

“You said she would feel no pain...”

The sort of phrase you use when telling someone that before you put their dog down. Before you put down a potential threat in case someone was reticent. If she had not believed that she was lured to her demise before, after all he had insisted multiple times that Ivy return to the castle. He wanted to bring only Erin, promises of a truth. What a fucking crock. Not that she had time to stew or even glower at the snake. "Friends..." she muttered through clenched teeth. She could not even look at him. She did not have the time. She did not have that luxury.

"Fuck off," her voice shook but she was not crying. Not on the outside at least. Her eyes burned but nothing would come, her heart was bounding. Those flood gates would open later when she had time to mentally grasp what had just happened. If she lived that long. 'Fuck off' might be the last words she ever said to the boy, today his vengeance. 

She dashed towards the hag. There was no conniving. There was no time. Just brawn, luck and the unlikelihood of her choice that would dictate her motions. Thomas was between her and the hag but she was not going to assail him. It was a waste of time. He likely never heard what she said from the cabin, not that she cared either way. Perhaps that was why he turned towards her. Or perhaps it was when she called Paracelsus' name.

“She won’t do it.”

Thomas claimed as if he could be trusted at his word. His lips moved, his throat made noises but the sounds that came out would ring as hollow and untrue. Erin knew one thing about hags and one thing about Parce, even his Parce. He was too good for her. The operative word there was good. She did not know about the cruel trick, that she was indeed unlovable. Perhaps had she, she would not have been so willing now. No, she would have still tried. There was a part of Erin that realized her friendship with LeStrange likely went one way, not to this degree of course, but she knew. 

"She is going to kill him!" Erin snapped as she brandished her wand. Erin was a terrible wizard, she had always lacked the passion until they saved her from the dreary existence that was nothing but shades of grey. Was she better now? Yes, some but she was not even close to as strong as a hag. Both her hands gripped the wand and she shook but continued to move closer to the hag and that terrible stench. Old, forgotten fish and cottage cheese. "Alarte Ascendare!" She shouted at Jack Burnett rather than the hag as she made a swishing motion with her wand.  

Alarte Ascendare - a spell that makes the target fly up high into the air, in this case Jack. If the hag held on, she would be going for a ride. Jack would suffer for being shot so high up with no means of a painless descent, the ground was muddy but it would still be hard. He would likely break a leg or an arm, hopefully not his neck. 

My accuracy v Jack's evasion to hit.
Erin: 2 + 7 (Accuracy)
Jack: 4 + 7 (Evasion)

Erin Missed.

@Erin Ryan @Thomas Lestrange @Jack Burnett

Perhaps in her fear, Ivy's brain had stopped working, because Thomas had not followed them into the hut, and she did not notice until Erin ordered for them to get something to block the door and she looked around for him to see... nothing. Scrambling for the window, she could see that Thomas was approaching the monster. Why the hell was he approaching it? Had he lost his goddamn mind?

Ivy's grey eyes would widen with confusion when she heard the monster call out Thomas' name, its voice high-pitched and eerie, and when he responded with 'your grace', her confusion only grew. She glanced over at Erin, who was watching from the window, stony-faced. What am I missing? Through the thick rain, Ivy could see the figure of - one person? two people? Someone was singing, that was for sure, a song with similar words and tune to the one the monster had been singing. For a second, she thought it might be a professor or two, and she sagged in relief. But as the figures neared, she realised, with a sinking heart, that they were students. Ivy did not recognize either of them, but Erin did, screaming out the name 'Parce'. The Gryffindor frowned - another mention of whoever 'Parce' was once again.

Erin fumbled with the door, but Ivy's stupid brain did not fully process what she was doing until she ran out into the rain. Have they all gone mental?! She briefly pondered whether or not idiocy was a common trait among Slytherins before running after her. Perhaps Ivy, too, was an idiot, for she did not stop to think that she would be safer in the hut. "Wait! Stop!"

As she neared Thomas, trailing after Erin, Ivy noted that he had announced that he had done as the monster had asked. A shiver went down her spine as she realised that the monster itself was a hag, a dark creature she had read about during her DADA class. It had seemed like a waste of time in the classroom and she had not read the passage properly, as Ivy thought she would never encounter a hag or an Acromantula as she did not plan on chasing after them anyway. Now she wished that she had paid more attention - Ivy knew she could not come out unscathed, but the more she knew the better her chances of surviving were.

"Sweet? You said she would feel no pain," came Thomas' voice, his tone holding a hint of doubt as he spoke. She. Who was it that he was referring to? Ivy, or Erin? She did not understand what was happening, but she knew that she was scared. Why, oh why, had she not returned to the castle when she had the chance? She watched the exchange between Erin and Thomas in confusion. Trying to understand this was like a fish trying to understand oxygen. Erin was clenching her teeth, eyes furious as she swore angrily at Thomas.

"Fuck off."

"She won't do it." Thomas sounded as though he were trying to reassure her, but his words seemed to aggravate Erin even more.

"Do what?" Ivy demanded loudly. "What on earth is happening? Why were you talking to the hag?"

Thomas turned to her. Was that remorse that flashed in his eyes? Ivy couldn't be sure.

"Run!" he ordered, gesturing toward to the castle wildly. Ivy would be happy to oblige, but it would be cowardly and selfish if she ran and left Erin and Thomas - and the pair she had seen coming over - alone with the hag, although she wouldn't be much help in defeating the hag, who had now picked up a boy - notably, the one who had been singing earlier on, much to Ivy's alarm. Struck dumb with horror and unsure of what to do in such a situation, she could only stare as Erin shouted an incantation, fired a spell in the hag's direction... and missed. The sight of a spell being used seemed to stir Ivy from her stupor and she drew her wand from her pocket as well, but not to attack the hag. Reminding herself of the spell she had been taught in DADA at the very start of the school year, the Gryffindor raised her wand to the sky and shouted, "Periculum!" The spell, if successful, would shoot up red fireworks into the night sky, and hopefully attract someone who knew how to handle this situation.

Action: attempts to cast Periculum into sky

A follow-up reminder as we are approaching the month mark.

The bright light would blade from the tip of Ivy's wand and briefly color the sky. It was not much, but it was enough to draw unwanted attention to this reunion. Had there been a post in the past near 2 months from the boy trapped in the hag's embrace, he would have known that there is a thin grey area between passion and hunger. That Jack was by far the sweetest thing near besides perhaps the girl out of her reach. That it was not for lust that the hag would devour but rather an appetite for another kind.

Erin would try to rip Jack free, but her cast would fizzle. She was a brawler, not a caster. Failure however not an option for Erin. She would not heed Thomas' claim that she would not do it. Bullshit. She would make a decision with her heart rather than her head as she rushed the hag. Erin never was the sort to back down, not when she had a reason. However, the flare was all it took to loosen this hag's grip over these past 2 months few seconds. Enough for Jack to slide out, even if he is enamored by the feel of cellulite and chapped lips. Enough for Erin to grab the hormonal pre-teen by the collar and drag him away.

The hag would not try to capture Jack, but rather her rough hand would grip Thomas' forearm. "Come boy, before they arrive." The voice a crackling whisper.

TL;DR

Just ending the thread so we can all move on.

((OOC Note: So sorry; this was not enough of an ending or had enough finality for me. I need more closure and am thus posting again. x_x Feel free to ignore this, though, as I'd hate to mess with anyone's timelines.))

Apparently, Jack's tagalong companion (Jack Warren) had long since turned back toward the castle, intimidated by the sight before them, for Jack saw neither hair nor hide of him after. As a result, only he was left there in the open to attract the strange, foul-smelling being's attention.

"Well sung," the woman-ish creature told him. Then, as if in reqard, "Give Aunty Petunia a kiss."

No Disney princess has kissed Ursula and lived? Perhaps not, but could the same be said for a Disney prince?

Not that Jack was eager to find out. Though he was mildly distracted by the overpower odor that forced him to breathe through his mouth, the sound of Thomas' name on this 'Aunty Petunia's' tongue, and Erin's desperate call to 'Parce', the first year's attention was mostly taken up by the chapped pair of puckered lips presented to him.

"...A kiss?" he repeated, pausing a nano-second before plucking something out of his pocket. "Hershey's kiss? Nope, sorry; fresh out of those. But try one of these instead!"

Pressing an unwrapped Fizzing Whizzbee between the hag's slightly-parted lips, Jack was momentarily side-tracked by a few spells shot near himself and his captor. One missed, but another sent a flare into the sky, causing the rough finger pads that gripped him to loosen up enough in surprise that he thought he could slip down and out from under them.

From there, he found himself grabbed and for a split second became panicked before realizing it was only Erin who had caught hold of him. While dragged away from 'Aunty Petunia' by his collar, he blinked, wide-eyed, as the being held Thomas by his forearm.

Thomas? he thought quizzically, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. The dark-haired Slytherin boy had called her 'Your Grace' before and Jack doubted it had been meant sarcastically. He wanted to call out to the older student, wondering where the creature was taking him, but still too dumbstruck to understand the entirety of what had just happened.

Was that...a hag...?

@Thomas Lestrange, @Erin Ryan, & @Ivy Bellamy