The Tribrid and Her Prison {Book One - Complete}

A Fantastic Reality Check

"Hope?" Newt called his voice a bit scratched from the panic set behind it. He ran his fingers through his hair as he walked the sidewalk alongside the other three. Jacob, Queenie, and Tina - who had given the suitcase off to another handler with the request to stay put until they found Hope.

"Where could she have gone..." Newt looked around, trying to see over the dozens of heads on the streets. A few traveled from one point to another, while some stayed put to petition at the banks and storefronts. Newt didn't know, and frankly, he didn't care. Hope was alone, distraught, in New York City.

Tina shook her head, walking faster. "I'm so sorry, Newt, I didn't realize she'd be so upset."

Newt swallowed and looked over at her. "You couldn't have known the bond they have. It will be alright, we just have to find her. She is a reasonable person, it's just- she can also be a bit impulsive. I don't want her to get hurt."

They cruised the streets, asking random pedestrians if they'd seen anyone recently matching Hope's description.

"Please," Newt pleaded with a couple who turned their heads and kept walking, "she has long dark brown hair. She was wearing a pantsuit. She probably looked upset. Her eyes are quite hazel in appearance with-with gold flecks."

The squeezing in his chest worsened as they continued, with no hint of anyone having seen her.

"Aye!" Called an elderly woman from a balcony window above.

Looking up, they all stared at her as she continued.

"I saw that girl you're lookin' for. She went down that way." She pointed a crooked finger to the turning alley just beyond her apartment. "Better hurry, though - not the best part of the city to be in anymore. Either heard a horn or a scream not five minutes ago."

"Thank you!" Newt shouted and dashed down the alley, his wand drawn from his pocket. Prepared to fight off whatever he needed to keep Hope safe.

However, upon reaching the intersection of alleyways, there was nothing.

They scanned the area, walking up and down. Back and forth.

"Newt," Jacob called, his voice quavering, "I don't like assuming, but...is that blood?"

The group rushed to the spot he was pointing at, and Queenie gasped softly.

At Jacob's shoes was a pool of blood, and next to it was a dented metal pipe. The exact shade of red covering the crevices.

Tina put a hand to her mouth and looked over at Newt, who stood above the puddle—staring blankly.

"We'll find her, Newt..." Tina said gently, touching his arm.

Jacob swallowed hard. "There's no saying this even is from her, ya know? Who knows, maybe she's the one who used the pipe. Yeah, you know she seems pretty capable of defendin' herself."

Newt was deathly pale.

He was about to be sick.

With his head spinning, he nodded slowly. "I...can't ask you all to help me continue looking, especially Queenie."

"Hey, don't count me out of this. We will find her. Let's keep looking."

It was as if Newt's hearing had turned off. "I need to get an Owl to Albus..."

Tina stepped in front of him. "Newt. Look at me."

She didn't continue speaking until his red-rimmed eyes connected with hers. "Jacob and Queenie will return to the Magical Congress and report Hope missing with her description. They'll get a team looking for her. I'll continue searching the streets while you send an Owl to Dumbledore. We will do everything we can to find her safely, okay? But we have to think clearly. I know you care about her and are scared, but..."

"I love her..." Newt murmured.

Tina froze, blinking as she stared at him. They all stared at him.

Tears fell as he took a shaky breath. "I will not rest until I find her." Newt disappeared in a twist, leaving them in the alley.

Speechless.