The Road to Nowhere • Fantastic Beasts x OC

nine • disturbing the hallow

Shopping is boring. Nothing in particular happens, I'm tired after looking in just two different shops and I don't even have the money for anything halfway decent.

It's brilliant.

I pick up my camera after the requested two hours and it's as good as new. I'm not entirely convinced that Harold didn't just go out back and pick up a new one of the same model. Either way, I call him an angel and get out of there, ready to go back to the Plaza for dinner.

However, I'm just heading across Pike Street and reminiscing about my small talk with my potential murderers, when I hear some muttering coming from an alleyway.

At first I walk right past, determining that it's none of my business, but then I hear a name that causes me to turn around and retrace my steps.

Modesty.

I enter the dark, enclosed space a little hesitantly, resisting the urge to cast a light spell.

I edge closer, close enough to the stranger to recognise them beyond a tallish shadow with glinting eyes. The boy from the orphanage stares back at me, the one who bumped into me this afternoon.

I think it takes him a moment to recognise me. At first he looks like a deer caught in headlights, but then something clicks in his memory and he ends up looking like a deer caught in the sun.

There's a short silence as we simply stare at each other. The darkness feels a bit too hidden and intimate for my liking, and it's not the ideal place to have a casual chat at the best of times, so I break the quiet as soon as I know I'll be able to do it without backing away. However, I do it with words and a tone that sound unintentionally ominous.

"We meet again."

The boy is still visibly startled. "You're Miss Dolman," he says. "From earlier. I'm really sorry about your camera."

"You need to stop apologizing. It's okay, really. I just bought a new one, look."

I hold up the fixed original as evidence, and he shrinks back like I'm about to beat him with it. He looks so genuinely scared, so I've already given up on thinking he enjoys this life, the one where he's trapped in an orphanage with nothing to do but hand out flyers for something as twisted as the Second Salem.

My next move is to hold up my hands like he's got his wand to my throat. I consider trying for a smile, but I think he'll be less suspicious if I stay sincere.

"I'm not here to hurt you, alright?" I say gently. "I'm trying to help. How long have you been here?"

He looks around, like he's hoping to lock eyes with something else. "Long enough," he mumbles.

"Don't leave, if you're planning to. I need to ask you something."

His feet stay rooted to the spot, but I can tell he's wavering.

"This... This isn't the question, but what were you saying?"

"Huh?"

"I heard you talking when I walked past." I use one hand to gesture behind me, then raise it again. "You said the name Modesty. She's one of the orphans. Well, I suppose you already know that, but the point is... She's special, isn't she?"

There's another long pause, but the boy finally nods stiffly, staring at the ground.

I take this as a cue to usher him further into the darkness. I'm now satisfied enough with our initial conversation to begin the one I actually want: the interrogation I wish I could've had with him earlier.

"Right, so, this is going to be a hard conversation, and a very confusing one - for you, at least - if I'm wrong."

"Wrong about what?" he demands, panic rising in his quiet voice. "What's happening?"