She opens her eyes and scans her surroundings before taking a step. A forest. It looks familiar... How did she get here? The trees are unnatural. They twist from the base and continue up to the top. The spindly branches sway rhythmically, except there's no breeze. She's having the dream again.
She gazes up at the stars that stare back at her. The milky nebulas churn against the constellations. Fear, a monster she knows well, festers within her core and moves up from her toes to her fingertips. What should she do? Her instincts screamed for her to hide. She lunges to the nearest bush hoping she won't be greeted by any ghastly creatures. She knows this sequence all too well.
"Esther!"
Her name echoes in the sky. Her mother... The person who brought her here in the first place. She needs to find her. Will the monsters get to her first? Her eyes dart in all directions searching for a safe route. Unfortunately, there's only a clearing aside from bare trees.
Groans echo. Oh no... The dementors are near.
'It's only a dream...' she reminds herself, although it doesn't assure her.
She can't shake her fear. She darts for the clearing. Her eyes race, searching for her mother. The vacant trees stare back at her.
"Mom!" She shouts.
Snap.
The branches. Her eyes gawk at the source of the sound. Two skeletal figures hover through the trees. Their stench fills the air as their groans continue. Their torn robes sway closer.
"No..." She breathes.
They close in on her, hover around her body, circling like a lion does its prey. They open their gaping black mouths to devour her memories. They feast their sunken eyes on her, gleaming like tiny black marbles. Gaps in their mouth where teeth should be and the rest are rotting. Flaps of decaying flesh cling to their skulls.
"Mom!" she cries while happiness drains from her.
Memories flash mind simulating a movie reel being rewound, leaving her. Her body forces itself to move, but she stays frigid until eyes close, accepting her demise.
"Esther!' The familiar voice rang.
It's closer. The dementors pay the older woman no mind, satisfied with their victim. Chills prickle down her spine. She feels emptiness, like an abandoned and overgrown hermit crab shell. Tears stream down her face as she recognizes her most recent memories are stolen from her. She will be having her first kiss tonight.
Suddenly, it stops. Is she free? She tries to open her eyes, but still too petrified to do so. 'You can do it. It's not real. It's just a dream.' She tells herself. She opens her eyes...
Her body convulses under her sheets when her eyes shoot open. Sweat drips from her petite nose as she fights for air. She reaches for her wand, certain of something within her room haunting her. Always too late. Her demons escape back inside her before she could relinquish them. She notices the darkness around her. The city is silent but she swears there's creaking from the ceilings.
'Just a dream.' she thought, slamming her head back into her pillow.
She fights her subconscious to go back to sleep. It's so difficult for her to drift off, worried she'll find herself in hell again. It isn't below her but in her mind. Her thoughts devour her until she dissolves with them.
December 6th, 1926, New York City. She moved here a year before traveling the world participating in magizoology internships. MACUSA, the Magical Congress of the United States of America, gave her a generous offer as Head of the Body for Protection of Magical Creatures.
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Beasts Within Us | Newt Scamander
Fanfiction'I did not ask for the things Ive been through, and I certainly did not ask my mind to paint and repaint the pictures in flashback form.'- Michelle Groth "I'm a monster.." the cadence in the witches voice trembles. Newt draws closer to her. Th...
