This story was written as a belated birthday story for megsuperfan! it is incredibly belated and I'm glad to have her as a close friend. This story will be in two installments, but could be read separately.I hope you enjoy and criticism is always welcome!
"Darkness. The absence of light. Some say it was Man's first fear. The fear of the dark and the creatures of night. This is the truth, but there is a darker history to this fear. In fact, there was a creature that initiated this fear. It slithered in the shadows preying on all living things. It was called the lethifold. It was darkness itself. A great carnivorous shadow eating those sleeping sound in their beds." The speaker paused as a black, silk drape was pulled dramatically across the stage. It settled on an actor 'sleeping' in a bed. The actor, unbeknownst to the audience, lifted the covers a little and slid under the trap door hidden in the top of the bed creating the illusion of a body being eaten by the drape. The audience gasped as the cloth then drifted away from the bed leaving no trace of the actor.
The speaker continued, in a monotonous tone, to narrate a story of a detective investigating the strange deaths, hunting down the creature, and killing it. It was an interesting story, Newt supposed, but not at all realistic. The lethifold would not target any young, healthy human. In order to remain secretive it mainly targets the weak and old. Occasionally it will attack younger people, but the muggles and most wizards and witches have not caught on to it.
That was why Newt had to do what he did. To save lives. Sure some of the creatures he killed were beautiful or endangered, but they were a threat to the wizarding world. So, that's what he was doing right now he supposed. Saving the future world.
Now the average muggle, witch, or wizard would not be able to notice the lethifold. It was clever. It hid in plain sight and not in the shadows like the narrator had said. For example, there was one on stage at this very minute, unnoticed by all.
Newt saw it, though. There were slight tells to a lethifold. A slightly darker shadow, an odd shape or movement in a shadow, or even, for the bold ones, a curtain swaying with no breeze. Unfortunately for the muggles, they had not noticed the slightly darker shade of the curtain on the left side, or the way it swayed with no wind.
Newt wasted no time. He immediately began to creep around the outer edge of the dark theatre towards the front stage. No one noticed him as he hastened toward the front because he had cast a disillusionment charm on himself before he had even entered the building. Now, he just had to be careful not to make too much noise, or hit something or someone.
Newt froze for a moment as he accidentally bumped into a woman's handbag that was hanging on her armrest. She jerked to the side and peered up and down the aisle looking for the individual who had disterbed her bag. Seeing nobody in the aisle she slowly turned back to the play. Newt let out the breath that he had been holding and continued onward.
Once he made it to the front, he hopped up onto the stage and snuck around the ordinary curtain to backstage. He looked at the lethifold across the stage. It hung limply on the curtain rod, innocent. Newt scowled. He drew up a chair and waited for the lethifold to make its move. The play ended spectacularly, with the antagonist defeating the dark creature by trapping it and burning it in the sunlight.
Newt scoffed. That is not how you kill a lethifold. You can't trap it as it can easily escape through any crack in the wall and normal sunlight does not harm it. You have to surprise it. Only great wizards and witches can achieve this.
When the actors scurried off the stage, Newt jumped into action. He leaped to his feet and darted forward before the lethifold realized what was happening. He whipped his wand around and whisper-shouted, "Expecto Patronum!" The light seemed to seize the unsuspecting fabric and attack it. The curtain let out a horrible shriek.The light grew brighter and louder, until… it stopped. The light began to dim and, as it did, the drape, that previously terrifying, but magnificent creature, slowly fell like shredded darkness to the floor, melting in the now normalized gas lighting.
Newt lowered his wand, tugged up the lapels on his trench coat, while looking around for witnesses, and silently strode away, oblivious of the pain he had caused the lethifold.
Stepping outside he looked at the cold white stars in the sky, alone in the dark sky. Mr. Scamander then mused, 'If it came to it, I would rather be with others in the night, than alone as a star.' He then strode off into the black night.