Depths of Despair ✶ Theodore Nott

twenty one. chaos

Crazy, how quickly things may take a turn.

From happiness, to desperation, from exhilaration to deep-rooted fear — Valerie knew not how it could have possibly gone so wrong, so
quickly, but either way she was on her feet the very second the first image of the outside scenery forced itself inside her mind: volatile thoughts being drawn to her as if some sort of beacon.

Zipping the exit to their tent open, she stepped outside on shaky legs: hazel-tinted gaze flickering back and forth between the panicking people running to save their lives, and the line of masked perpetrators: wands raised, firing spells at the innocent as if considering it some game of tag — "Run, don't let me catch you, or pain will be the last thing you remember before you die.'

Valerie was immediately sick to her stomach.

Finally coming to her senses, forcing her body to move, she ran back into the tent. "Kieran!" Sparing no gentleness to her tone, she hurried inside her best friend's sleeping quarters— reaching for his coat he'd messily thrown aside before falling asleep, mindlessly swiping her empty hand downwards and hence magically dragging him out of his bed. "Kieran, wake up!"

"What the fuck—?", he silenced real quickly when the echoing of screams collapsed upon him like a brick wall. Exchanging a single look with Valerie, and so her subconscious use of magic was gone forgotten, Kieran on his feet half a second thereafter. "What is happening?"

"I—," rare was it for Valerie to not know what to say, however at this very moment she was indeed robbed of the ability to express herself even in simple words. Inhaling deeply, she somewhat pieced together her composure — knowing he would very much panic if noticing her hesitance. "I don't know, but we have to get out of here. Now."

Voicing no complaints, Kieran accepted the coat she pushed into his arms: putting it on before reaching for his wand. Valerie was already gone by the time he turned back to leave the room.

     In a frenzy, she ran into her own sleeping quarters — digging through her few belongings brought along, finding her capelet and some gloves: putting it on at the mere memory of the chilling climate outside. With each second, the screams appeared to be coming closer, and with each second Valerie Leclere felt the awful sensation in the pit of her stomach that something even more awful was about for take place grew stronger.

     One last time did she go over the small area with her eyes, cursing loudly when unable to locate her wand. "Shit, shit, shit...." She continuously muttered on her way into what could be compared to a living room — taking notice to how Kieran had woken up his dad, them both now standing at the exit to the tent: eyes wide from terror.

     "Valerie, we have to go!" Kieran called out at the sight of her aimlessly stumbling around the room. He received no answer, hence why he stepped back into the tent and grabbed a hold on both her arms mere seconds later. "Valerie, come on—"

     "I can't find my wand." Tone laced with panic, she looked back at him hopelessly.

     "I'm sorry, but we have to leave—,"

     She cut him off yet again, when determinedly whispering a summoning spell aloud. "Accio wand." Although not expecting it to work, her eyes — along with both Kieran and his father's — widened upon her empty hand catching the detailed object half a second later, a relieved sigh forcing it's way past her lips. "Okay, let's go."

     The outside world was pure havoc.

     The same crowd of people previously moving toward the Quidditch arena in anticipation for the World Cup, was now running away: fearing for their lives. The lack of space seemed even more suffocating now than before, considering danger was approaching with devastating pace — the shadow of masked individuals flashing past Valerie's mind each and every time she accidentally picked up the thoughts of someone around.