Remembrance (Newt X Reader)

Chapter 21~ James The Crank

A light cast long shadows on the walls at the end of the long tunnel. They were moving and dancing and drinking. A crude kind of music, which was mostly just what sounded like pots and glasses being banged together, echoed off the damp ceiling.

The group of girls had been spotted before anyone had time to move or run in the other direction.

"Guests!" someone shouted, only a flickering figure outlined against the merrily crackling fire. "Come! Come!"

When no one moved, the man half walked- half jogged over to you, staggering a little as he went. "Don't be shy!" he called, stopping in front of Harriet and flashing her a wide, toothy grin. His teeth were yellow and full of gaps where he'd long lost some.

"Back off old man!" Harriet shot back, taking a few steps towards Sonya. "We don't want any trouble." He cackled. Really cackled.

"We're not going to hurt you," he said, voice softening suddenly as if he was talking to a baby. "I promise. What do you need? Water? Food?" Harriet glanced back at Sonya, then at you. You just shrugged.

"No I don't-" Harriet started, then cut off as a loud, high-pitched screech pierced the air, and a few dozen people were standing around you, cutting off any exits.

"What is this?" Sonya hissed, walking right up to the old man and shooting him a hardened glare. "We'd like to be on our way, thanks."

"You must come party with us for a while!" he exclaimed, raising his hands in the air. "There's plenty of food for all!"

Before anyone could react, the surrounding men and women began pushing in, and the group of girls was herded towards the light and shadows. You walked with them, eyeing the broken bottles and ropes and splintered shovels-- one older woman had a rusty-looking gun hanging from her belt.

You caught up to Harriet and nudged her with your shoulder. She turned to you and bent down to whisper urgently, "What the hell are we supposed to do now?"

"I think this guy's a Crank," you hissed, looking at her with wide eyes. "He's off his rocker." She only nodded and stared ahead again, eyes glazed over.

The old man (who'd been walking in front of you, glancing back every five seconds or so, as if a puppy was following him, and not an angry group of teenagers) turned a corner and everyone followed. You were bathed in muddied light as you came out into a crowded room. Everywhere, people were dancing and singing and drinking. You ducked behind a couple who were just stumbling around, doing a few turns but hardly dancing.

"Go!" the man shouted over the noise. "Dance! Enjoy yourselves!"

Harriet snatched your hand and pulled you through the crowd and over to one of the only corners that weren't occupied by a couple either eating each other's faces off or puking off to the side.

"We have to get out of here!" she whispered harshly. You ripped her hand out of her grip and nodded.

"I know, but you realize they have... guards, I guess, at every possible exit?" She glanced around at the few men on the far side of the room who weren't dead drunk, holding tightly to a few pitchforks and knives. One had a screwdriver, and you didn't care to think about what he used it for exactly. "And besides, how're we gonna get twenty-five girls out of here unnoticed?" 

She sighed and shook her head. "I don't know."

"You think we can overpower them?" 

Harriet looked at you like you'd grown a second head. "W-what?"

"Well, there are a lot more of us than there are of them. It's so loud in here, a little scuffle wouldn't bother anybody."

"Are you crazy?"