sorry this took so long, guys! I've just been super busy D: ENJOY!
|| Chapter 16 : The Shrieking Shack ||
The Shrieking Shack was on a hill at the end of a long, winding path, placed so that its broken windows and peeling walls were hardly visible through a mass of trees. Pansy stopped at the bottom of the hill, and I thought for a second she had changed her mind: chickened out maybe. But she turned around to face to rest of us and said, “So, who wants to go first?”
Everyone was silent until Adrian suggested, “Shouldn’t we all go together?” I thought I saw Pansy exchange glances with Marcus and Draco before she shrugged.
“Well if you want to take the easy way out,” she said, exaggerating the word ‘easy.’
“Just to prove that this bloody shack isn’t even haunted in the least,” Theo said heading up toward the great hill toward the tiny, rundown building with Blaise at his side. I followed with Adrian who I could almost sense quaking with fear. He was huddled at my side by the time we reached the top of the hill, slowly approaching the front door which was already slightly ajar due to its rusty hinges.
“Well go on already,” Pansy said, giving Theo a bit of a shove. He was just about to kick the door open when Draco spoke.
“Wait,” he said, speaking for the first time in a while. “Maybe… maybe this isn’t a good idea. What if it really is, er, haunted...”
“So?” I said. “There are ghosts in Hogwarts and those never seem to bother anyone. It’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, I know,” he continued. “But, it’s just that—
“Oh Dracey baby,” said Pansy. “The Gryffy is right. We have nothing to worry about.”
But the glint in her eye suggested otherwise. I shot her a glare before following Theo and the others inside. It was a dimly lit place, but even in the darkness I could make out moldy floorboards, dusty furniture, and broken glass. The only light was from the full moon, shining through the cracks of the windows.
“See,” came Theo’s voice. “There’s nothing here.” He spun around the face Pansy, but she, Draco, the two goons, and Marcus had disappeared.
“What the…” Theo muttered, scanning the room like the rest of us, seeing if they were hiding somewhere.
“Probably some unfunny, practical joke they had planned,” I mumbled, and instinctively, I moved closer to Theo, who didn’t seem the least bit fazed.
“Come on guys,” he said, raising his voice a bit, making sure he would be heard in any part of the house. “Joke’s over.” I had half expected Draco and Pansy and the others to emerge, frowning in defeat. It would be something we’d laugh over Pumpkin Juice and biscuits later, but nothing happened.
There was silence. No movement. Only the eerie sound of wind whistling in the branches outside.
Suddenly, I felt like I was in some kind of horror movie. Not even the good kind with blood and explosions. The kind where people just went missing for no good reason and nobody could ever find them until a twist was revealed at the end.
So, what was the twist this time, Pansy?
Slowly, Blaise drew his wand, and I could sense that even he was nervous. His tough guy act was nothing when it came to the Shrieking Shack.
“Whatever,” I said, my voice sounding much shakier than I had intended for it to. “Let’s just get out of here.”
Adrian nodded in agreement and made a break for the door, but he stopped in his tracks at the sound of an earsplitting shriek.
I guess we all knew now why it was called the Shrieking Shack.
We were all paralyzed in fear, so even though our instincts were telling us to get the hell out of there, we couldn’t.
It wasn’t until that through the dark we saw two, piercing yellow eyes, a long snout, and bared teeth that panic struck.
“Holy shit!” Blaise yelled, as he stumbled backward, trying to grope his way back toward the door.
From the other side of the room, I heard Theo’s voice. “Remy?! Remy, come on!” But I couldn’t move. I was mesmerized by those yellow eyes which were now staring deep into mine. Theo stumbled over to me, tugging on my arm, trying to yank me towards the door. He was just about to pick me up and carry me out until there was a terrified whimper which I had thought came out of my own mouth until I saw the creature recede backwards and bound out of an opening in the shack.
Theo was panting, his hot breath in my ear as he whispered, “Let’s get out of here before it comes back.” And I couldn’t argue with that. We both turned, finding our way back to the door, and once the cold night air hit our faces, we ran, back down the hill. Only then did a scream escape Theo’s mouth.