At the Madness of New Year

From a safe distance, Indiana watched as the large nightmarish tree-trunk creature stopped walking in the middle of the street before it opened all of its mouths, all of which began inhaling without pause. He could feel the winds being drawn from all over although he had a feeling that it was likely consuming something that couldn't be seen easily by the human eye.

But as Indiana watched from hiding, he felt the temperature become even colder than ever before the sudden wave of despair and hopelessness swept over him, causing the youth to breathe heavily. The sudden rush of air above drew his attention just as the moonlight illuminated the night sky and Indiana shivered at what he had just saw. Four Dementors were flying in the sky like vengeful ghosts in cloaks on the prowl. From what he knew, the Dementors fed on happiness and positive emotions yet those two things were used to power a Patronus Charm that could drive them off. Indiana did wonder if Professor Jaeden really knew alternatives to combating Dementors but he never did inquire further. He watched the Dementors move on a course that would bring them towards the tree-trunk beast, whose ten mouthed tentacles at the topmost part of its form looked as if they had detected them.

The four Dementors opened their hoods to reveal an eyeless face that only had a mouth designed to consume souls. Yet they moved to surround the creature before inhaling. The tree-trunk beast appeared to be angered as its many mouths gnashed teeth before it sent its tentacles to ensnare two of the Dementors, immobilizing them before subjecting the pair individually with a mouthed tentacle that began inhaling. This time, Indiana could see a faint blue light being drawn out of the mouths of the two Dementors while the other two were having to fend themselves against the beasts' other tentacles. The captured Dementors began to convulse as the pale blue light became more pronounced and it wasn't long before the wraith-like soul-consuming entities disintegrated into dust that landed on the black ice that the beast was standing on. It immediately seized the other two Dementors before repeating the same action and Indiana had a hunch that it was capable of consuming the emotions of happiness just like the Dementors. But the pale blue lights that came out of the mouths of the Dementors before the creature consumed them were either the souls of that the Dementors had consumed from their victims or their lifeforce energies. Perhaps he could be wrong on those guesses but seeing a Dementor, let along four, being consumed by the beast was just mind-boggling. But it really didn't matter as he heard the nightmarish creature laugh telepathically before several more mouth tentacles erupted from the top-section of its body. As if growing bigger from a feast wasn't bad enough, now it had more parts than before.

"Dementors, happy emotions, and possibly good dreams are what that creature consumes, I think." Indiana whispered before getting to his feet. The creature swayed a bit before it began walking again, this time away.

"Trista, want to go see where it's going or would you rather call it a night?" Indiana asked in a whisper through the darkness.

Trista once more dared a glance over her shoulder and praying she wouldn't tumble down on some black ice in the process, stealing another look at the creature. She couldn't seem to stop looking at it no matter how much danger it was putting them in, and how uneasy she felt just by being in it's presence. Her curiosity of the unknown was definitely making it's appearance tonight, whether she liked it or not. Certainly not one of the greatest times for it, but it was still there no less. She noticed that it had stopped again and was once more inhaling from all of it's eery-looking mouths. She could feel the air around her gravitating in the creature's direction almost like a draft slipping in from underneath a crack in the door, and absently she shivered again. She had a feeling that whatever it was doing, it had almost nothing to do with breathing in air.. it was something much, much different. Something she just couldn't put her finger on..

Noticing that Indi had stopped and taken cover behind something she quickly fell into hiding behind him, blending into the darkness well. She knew her heart was still thumping rapidly in her chest and her lungs felt constricted, almost as if no amount of air she deposited in them would crave their desire for oxygen, and yet she was remaining calm the best she could with the given circumstances. Indi hadn't lost his cool yet and she wouldn't either, she vowed. No matter how much she felt like a scared little girl inside, she was waiting for her Gryffindor roots (daring and nerve) to show. Hopefully they would come out of hiding sometime soon, because she really couldn't believe what she was witnessing right about now. The temperature had dropped even more and along with that, so had her mood. It was unexplainable but she didn't have much time to ponder over it before her attention was captured four cloaked figures that had appeared.... Dementors? This was beginning to be surreal but she couldn't stop herself from watching with intense fascination and mild fear at what was about to play out in front of her very eyes as the Dementors surrounded the creature, who seemed outraged by their actions.

She watched with wide eyes as the creature mindlessly took on the four Dementors, seizing them each before inhaling much like she'd seen it previously do. Her ajar lips fell open in surprise when she saw the blue light coming from each Dementor's mouth as it's life was sucked out of them, until they were nothing but dust particles on the black ice beneath the creature. Again she shivered and she could feel the fear mounting as she realized just how dangerous the entire situation was. It had taken on the Dementor's (which she'd never seen for herself before, this entire experience was mind-blowing) without so much as trying! What would happen if it got it's tentacles on them? She bit her lip, not even wanting to think of such things. She felt chilled to the bone at the telepathic laugh that echoed through the confinements of her skull and she couldn't believe her eyes when the creature sprouted even more parts. Bloody hell.. where had this thing come from, why, what did it want, and how was it even defeated?! So many questions...

She tuned into what Indi was saying, her expression still slightly dazed. That all did make sense, considering what they'd just seen.. and yet she had so many questions still. None of which she would ask, not at the moment anyhow. Now was not the time. Slowly she stood after Indi did, inclining her head in his direction when he spoke her name. Seeing he was presenting her the choice, she exhaled slowly. Now, she really did want to follow it (even though she was finally feeling better that it was going away.) But wouldn't it be better to escape while they still could? She bit her bottom lip hard, not wanting to put either of their lives in danger, but.. the creature was going in the direction she'd have to go if she were to leave anyhow! "Let's follow it." She whispered finally back. She felt a small thrill when she said this, but her fear started all over again. Just don't let us get hurt. She hoped in the back of her mind, hoping she hadn't made a simply foolish decision.

Hearing Trista's answer, Indiana wondered on how fast they could make an escape should this beast pursue them. He had yet to take the Apparition test so making Portkeys was his trump card. Speaking of cards, the youth reached into his coat pocket before realizing that the deck of runic cards he had brought with him were still there along with . Thinking up some of the measures that he could use just in case, Indiana figured that the danger of following the creature lessen slightly if he and Trista knew enough spells to keep it at bay. What he hated the most was not knowing what kind of creature they were dealing with. The lack of information was one reason to be nervous and even scared. The creature's appearance was scary enough, like some grotesque beast from some twisted nightmare or from beyond the stars in the sky. After seeing it take down and consume four Dementors, Indiana figured that the hazard threat had just gotten higher.

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, Indiana began to move after the creature with his wand out before taking cover behind another tree. He slightly recoiled a bit when he noticed an opossum from the hollowed base and figured that the large critter had made its den there before backing away and moved behind a parked car. From the distance, the creature moved slowly onwards, leaving black ice behind in its tracks. Unsure if the black ice was hazardous or not, Indiana avoided contact by staying as far away from it but just enough such that he couldn't lose sight of the creature. Seeing the beast stop in another area of the neighborhood just down the road, he watched it began to inhale with all of its mouths open, feeding on happy emotions and dreams of the people slumbering away in their houses. Once more, he could see the creature become bulkier in size like a gluttonous animal that had just consumed a large buffet. Indiana didn't like this whatsoever before he heard heavy music and the screeching of tires coming from the intersecting street ahead.

A white car appeared up ahead, making a turn onto the road that the creature was standing on. The moment the tires made contact with the black ice, the driver apparently lost control as the car began sliding with high velocity towards the creature before crashing with a resounding impact. There was no doubt that the creature felt the collision of the large car that it stumbled forward before turning around in their direction. At first, Indiana thought that the creature might have sensed him and Trista along with the car and its driver that crashed into it. However, the creature began to move around the car before its tentacles took hold of the car door on the driver side, attempting to rip it off its hinges. The tentacles were having trouble at first but it would only be a matter of time before the metal gave way to its gnashing jaws.

Taking his small telescope out, Indiana zoomed in on the car before seeing that the driver was rolling his head about, a sign that he was heavily drunk and completely unaware of the danger. This was not good at all! While Indiana may not tolerate intoxicated individuals that try to drive home, he'd be a bad person if he allowed the person to be consumed or harmed by the creature. Then there was the Statute of International Secrecy that forbade the use of magic and the law regarding underage sorcery. This was truly a hard decision but what would justify him standing by and let this beast consume a person? Placing his telescope away, Indiana took aim with his wand and was about to send off a spell when he saw the passenger door open and the now-partially intoxicated driver stumble out just as the beast ripped the driver door off. Despite the effects of alcohol still on him, the man was seemingly stable enough in the mind to run across the black ice and onto the sidewalk while yelling about a monster ripping his car up before turning a corner to another street and ran off out of sight.

Tossing the door aside, the beast flinched before somewhat recoiling away from something in the car and to Indiana's shocking surprise, some of the tentacles appeared to shrivel as they lost some of their original size.

"What in the world just happen?" Indiana whispered as he watched the creature move away from the car as though it was a bad thing. But it then stopped and roared before it began making its way in the opposite direction towards them! Even worse, it was moving across the black ice that it left behind a bit faster than its earlier snail-like ambling!

Taking aim at the black ice ahead of its projected path while not caring about breaking some laws, Indiana focused a good amount of his magic and chanted. "Incendio Maxima!" A bright orange beam shot out from his wand before incinerating all of the black ice that was ahead of the creature into nothing. The creature's initial approach was hindered before finding itself walking on white snow, its speed now reduced to ambling along after them.

"Run Trista! No time like the present!" Indiana yelled as he began withdrawing.