The three of them cautiously stepped through the doorway past Richard, and he closed the door behind them. The warehouse was mostly barren; the remnants of partially torn down walls were spread throughout the space, suggesting the building had once been alive; possibly occupied by separate business and operations inside, workers of different trades making their living and spending countless hours here. Within what once were rooms sat decaying desks, years of paperwork spread across them as well as the floor; even some still had rusted, abandoned typewriters, frozen in time. The buildings prime was clearly long gone, now haunted and dismal, and the only light that could be seen came from a distant corner, occupied by a crowd with candles around them. Richard walked in front of them, and they silently followed.
"What are we doing?" Queenie whispered to her sister who was walking slowly in front of her, as they all searched the area around them as they passed, looking for any sign of Jacob.
We have to play along, for now. Tina thought, attempting to avoid any attention from Richard. That's the only way we'll find him.
Queenie nodded, and out of nervousness she grasped Newt's arm as he walked beside her, his other hand still firmly gripping the wand in his pocket. He glanced down at her before looking straight ahead, and the distant voices were now becoming clearer.
"Whaddya got there, Rich?" A darkly featured man in a sleek brown suit spoke aloud, hushing the rest of the group, before he exhaled the smoke from the cigar that burned between his fingers. His eyebrow raised in curiosity as he scanned the three of them, and he took a step forward.
"It appears that we have some potential new… recruits." Richard answered, looking back straight into Tina's eyes as he emphasized his words. She forced a nervous smile in return, glancing up at his eyes for only moment before she looked at the crowd behind him, fighting the nervousness creeping up from her bones.
He grabbed her arm with a forceful grip as he walked forward and into the congregation, prompting Newt to step towards them, but Queenie held him back as she held his arm. He bit his lip to restrain himself, and Queenie walked with him as they followed into the crowd. Newt typically was one that was able to control himself, but when it came to danger, Tina—and her past lover—there was a weakness within him that was almost impossible to ignore, and now here he was facing all of the above.
Richard led her to the front before releasing her arm, and now stood before them all as he faced the group of fanatics. His usual arrogant smile spread across his face, tight-lipped as he scanned the room.
"Let us resume," he started, his arms now at each side as his features transformed into an expression of rigid seriousness; his smile was gone, and he now looked like a sergeant before his soldiers, emotionless and commanding. They returned his likeness, standing with arms at each side in rank and file, eyes focused on the man before them; all casual sense between everyone in the room was gone and replaced with militaristic coldness. Newt and Queenie squeezed through the crowd before they reached Tina. They now stood just behind her, with Newt's fingers subtly grazing Tina's arm protectively, the others still wrapped around his wand.
"The time is nearing. Soon, we will be strong enough to achieve our goal. Soon, we will no longer hide from the No-Majs."
He subtly smirked now, before raising his fist into the air.
"They will hide from us!"
The crowd cheered, breaking their stone-like composure.
"They will fear us!"
Another cheer, with fists now raising throughout the crowd.
"They will serve us!"
Faces throughout the crowd twisted with pleasure at the thought as they loudly cheered, all fists now raised in the air. None of the three could get themselves to join, even if for the sake of blending in. Clapping broke out, as Richard's fist still hung in the air, now smiling brightly as he scanned the crowd. The smile faded slightly once his eyes landed on the three of them, silent and awkwardly hunching away from the group they were surrounded by. Tina had now reached back and tightly gripped Newt's hand, terrified by the eager hatred around them, struggling to maintain her façade.
"Oh, Tina…" He now stepped towards her, ignoring both Queenie and Newt. Her eyes widened slightly as he approached her, letting Newt's hand go. She cleared her throat and stared straight into his piercing green eyes.
He slowly raised his hand and touched her chin lightly with his fingertips, gazing into her eyes. The crowd was quiet now, watching intently. She held her breath, unsure what to prepare for.
"Come here." He lowered his hand and now his palm was facing up in front of her, inviting her. Newt supportively touched her back, fighting every urge that was clawing from within him to duel him right there at that moment, but trying to keep himself together for the sake of finding Jacob. Queenie held her breath as well, watching as Tina hesitantly took his hand and followed him to stand in front of everyone; her brown eyes wide and clearly terrified as she now faced them all, she unwittingly let go of Richard's hand to put them both in her pockets, and calmed herself with the feeling of her wand in her coat pocket.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, here stands one of the most intelligent, dedicated, and bravest women I have ever met," he started, gazing over to Tina, who didn't dare to return his look, frozen with anxiety. The various eyes which met hers as she scanned the crowd were fervent, earnest as they ate up every word he said, like young children as their schoolteacher taught them a lesson; the eyes of not only strangers, but of the paper boy on the street, the teller at the local wizarding bank, even one of her professors at Ilvermorny years ago. She could feel a twist in her gut as she attempted to swallow the fact they were here—not for any other reason like her, but to gather in their mutual desire to enslave the No-Majs and take over their city. They had fallen for Grindelwald's message and blindly followed—people of all colors, genders, classes, and creeds.
"Tina Goldstein. Here stands another one of us, no longer able to live under these oppressive laws. Do you welcome her?"
Cheering erupted through the room once more, accompanied by clapping and a few fists in the air. She swallowed, attempting another forced smile as she looked at the various faces. Her eyes fell upon Newt and Queenie, the latter giving her a subtle reassuring smile, and the former simply staring into her eyes, attempting to comfort her as much as he could with his gaze.
Richard's hand snaked along her back to grip her hip, pulling her side to his. She took in a sharp breath as she felt the control over herself starting to break, tightening the grip on the wand inside her pocket.
"And Queenie…" His eyes now fell upon her sister, who hurriedly stood straight, almost trembling as the crowd now turned to face her. He simply nodded to her, and she nervously cleared her throat, before she mustered up the courage to begin walking forward. Queenie had always been one to play her part more convincingly than Tina, always more adaptable to whatever may be happening, regardless of the danger she faced. Tina watched as her sister broke out from the crowd and now stood next to her, staring straight ahead of her taking slow, steady breaths.
"Her beautiful, elegant sister… How about a warm welcome for her as well?"
The crowd once more broke out as in cheering and applause; Queenie grabbed her sister's hands as she lowered her eyes to the ground, unable to meet the eyes of the people gathered before her. Tina watched as her sister struggled to fight the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes; she squeezed her sister's hand. Hang in there, Queenie. She stared intently at her now, her instinctive protection over her little sister kicking in once more. For Jacob. He needs you.
Newt was now at the front of the crowd, his eyes steadily watching the three of them as they stood there, with his wand at the ready but remaining still. As Richard looked over the crowd he only so much as glanced at Newt before he moved on, ignoring his presence almost completely. They had all forgotten him completely as they all watched the sisters who stood before them awkwardly beside their leader.
"You two couldn't have picked a perfect night for your first meeting, actually." He walked away from them, releasing Tina's waist, and nodded to a long-haired, redheaded woman who stood in the corner. She promptly disappeared through one of the back doors, and he now faced the gathering once more.
"You aren't the only special guests this evening. Tonight, we're sending our first message." A few members of the crowd cried out and clapped, and the three of them curiously watched the back door.
The door burst open as several people walked through; before each member of the fanatics walked a No-Maj, bound at their hands with tape over their mouths, their eyes wild and frantically searching the room. Many of them had bruises on their faces and small trickles of blood from their temple; they stumbled as they walked, weakened from torture. Tina gasped and covered her mouth, before she looked down at the ground, unable to look at the agony on their faces.
They all were forced on their knees in front of the crowd; both Queenie and Tina backed away, staring at the backs of the tortured No-Majs. There was no sign of Jacob; the first was a frail older woman, clearly homeless, her clothing torn and dirty and hair in strings around her face, the second was a teenage boy, clean-cut and bright-eyed, still dressed in his school clothes from earlier that day, and the third was a man around their age, his dark hair matted and dirty, dressed in a laborer's work shirt and dirty trousers. None of them dared to look up at the people in front of them, all watching almost hungrily with a murderous lust in their eyes.
"Tina," Richard called to her, standing behind the kneeled No-Maj as he stared, and he gestured across the row of them. "Pick. Who is lucky number one?"
She swallowed, holding Queenie's hand tightly now, and she simply stared back at him. She couldn't find the courage to speak as the room was silent for many uncomfortable moments. She caught Newt's eyes in the crowd, his expression as blank as hers.
He laughed loudly, turning back to the congregation. "They're always so shy the first time, aren't they?" They returned his laughter, and he now looked down at the kneeling No-Maj, their eyes still straight to the ground. He nudged the man with his foot, who grunted softly, but did not look up at him.
Richard bent over to this eye level, and ripped the tape from his mouth, making him wince in pain.
"What's your name, No-Maj?"
The man still didn't look up, but with a trembling voice he answered, "C-Connor."
"Connor, huh? So he's not only a No-Maj, but he's a mick too!" They all laughed once more, and he shook his head as he stood up.
"Get him up." He barked at the woman from before, who rushed over and grabbed the man underneath his arms and rose him to his feet. She firmly gripped his bound hands, and Richard now stared directly into his face.
With one hand he gripped the man at his chin, forcing him to look up; with the other he raised his wand, and pointed it directly at his forehead.
"You're all going to learn your place." A twisted grin grew across his face, only inches from Connors. "You'll be the first lesson."
The man screamed out in pain as Richard began to carve into his skin; S… L… A…
"Expelliarmus!" Tina cried, her wand now point at Richard, and his wand flew across the room behind him.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Newt ran forward and cast on the woman, who had let go of Connor and raised her wand to Tina and Queenie. She froze and with a loud thud, hit the ground directly in front of the two of them, and Queenie let out a yelp as she stepped out of the way. Richard let go of Connor as well, letting him fall to the ground, his hands still bound. As the fanatics rushed towards the four of them, Connor, with his wound fresh and bleeding down his face, and the other captured No-Majs stumbled as they stood up and ran for the back door.
Newt now joined Tina and Queenie at the front of the room, the three of them with their wands at the ready as they stared at the mob before them; a man from the crowd had retrieved Richard's wand and now handed it to him. His eyes were dark as he stared into Tina's; Newt protectively stood in front of her now, his wand pointed directly at Richard.
"Kill me, then." He now looked at Newt, walking closer. The tip of Newt's wand was now within an inch of Richard's chest, his piercing eyes unwavering.
"You won't. I know what you're here for." He smirked. "And, lucky for you… you'll get it."
The crowd now surrounded them with Richard at the forefront, wands drawn and eyes focused.
"Do the honors, would ya?" Richard looked over to the man from before, his dark features cold and unaffected; he simply nodded and stepped away from the group, heading towards the same back door.
"I figured I'd save the best for last." He chuckled, still standing within only inches of Newt's wand.
"You're not going to get away with this," Newt said sternly, his blue eyes fixed on Richards; although he didn't have it within him to kill in cold blood in the way the man before him callously did, he was struggling with every fiber in his being to just stand there and stare at his arrogant smirk. "They're going to notice you're gone."
"Gone?" He raised an eyebrow at Newt. "I never left."
"Nobody is falling for—"
He laughed. "No, I'm sorry, but I'm not him. You honestly believe we are that uncreative? But once the Aurors realize what's happening here, which should be any minute now, they'll come running… and, hey, maybe you'll get a personal visit."
Tina's eyes narrowed as she watched him speak, realizing they had been planning this all along. Giving them the pamphlets, stealing Jacob—they must have sent someone to alert MACUSA about this meeting—all to give Grindelwald the perfect window to escape. Rage burned inside her; she stepped forward, clenching her fists before she punched Richard across the face with all of her strength. His head turned with a snap, before he raised his hand to his chin, rubbing it slightly. He rotated his jaw before turning his head back to smirk at her.
"You always were a feisty one."
And with that the fanatic reappeared, bringing in Jacob in similar fashion as the other No-Majs they had captured. He almost limped as he entered the room; he looked battered more than any of the others before him, his eye near swollen shut with its bruising and a small trickle of blood from his lip and temple. He didn't even bother to look around; his eyes were closed as he slowly walked forward.
Queenie cried out, covering her mouth as tears immediately welled up in her eyes.
"Oh, Jacob!" She started to walk towards him but was immediately stopped by numerous wands pointed in her direction. She watched with her hand covering her mouth as he was guided over to them; the crowd now parted to allow view of the tortured Jacob, and both Newt and Tina remained silent, fighting everything inside of them to fight, but they knew that they were severely outnumbered.
"P-Please, don't hurt him…" Queenie managed to beg through her tears, as she took another step towards him.
Jacob raised his head to the sound of her voice, opening the one eye that he could. He smiled softly at her, and she now broke out into sobs as she gazed at him; all she wanted was to run to him and hold him, and take his pain away. She felt a deep ache of guilt in her chest; this innocent, wonderful man was now beaten and bloody because of her… because of what she was. She would never speak to him again, never walk past his bakery, never say his name again, if it meant he would be safe.
"I-I'm so sorry, honey… I'm so sorry… Jacob, honey…"
The man now threw Jacob to the ground, and with a cry out he landed on his face; Queenie broke out in a run towards him.
"Crucio!" He exclaimed, and Jacob twitched with agony, yelling out in pain. Richard grabbed Queenie's arm to stop her, and Newt and Tina both ran towards them. Newt grabbed Richard by the jacket, pointing his wand at his face once more, his own features twisted with anger; Tina was grabbed by one of the fanatics, who smacked her across her face as she tried to struggle free.
"Can you do it?" Richard mocked, staring directly into Newt's blue eyes, dark and raging with an unfamiliar fury; his hands trembled as he held the wand, unable to speak as his mind raced.
"Stupefy!" A number of voices shot out across the room, and many of the group now fell to the ground; across the warehouse now stood the Aurors of MACUSA, wands pointed towards them all, with Madam Picquery at the front.
"Step away from the No-Maj!" she yelled as the Aurors approached. The fanatics still standing turned around to face them, and within moments, the groups were running towards each other as spells were hurled across the floor.
Newt let go of Richard and ran over to Jacob; he took him into his arms and lifted his head. Jacob's breathing was shallow, and his hand trembled as he reached for Newt's jacket; he gripped it gently, and through one eye he gazed up at him.
"N-Newt…"
Newt nodded frantically, and attempted to start moving him gently, away from the duels throughout the warehouse. "Yes, Jacob—"
"I remember you. T-The guy with the suitcase…"
Newt paused for a moment, looking at Jacob's battered face as he lightly smiled. Newt fought the tears that were now at the edge of his eyes, smiling back and nodding frantically once more.
"Y-Yes, Jacob, it's me. C-Come on… we're going to go over here…"
Jacob could barely move as Newt pulled him as gently as he could away towards a far wall of the warehouse, struggling to breathe and doing the best he could to ignore the pain that surged through each inch of his body. The memories of everything—Newt's creatures, Queenie's eyes shining bright as he her enjoyed her cooking, the jail of MACUSA, the feeling of the warm rain against his skin as he stepped out from the subway—were flooding back into his mind now, and he closed his eyes as he relived them all, praying that if he was going to die, they would be the last things he saw.
Tina fought through the crowds, casting spells at each body she passed; as she glanced at their faces, all she heard was the screams of pain from the No-Maj as Richard carved into his face, the tears of her sister as they stood together before them all, on display and humiliated before the crowd, Jacob weak and bruised as he walked across the warehouse, his body writhing on the ground at the Crucio curse.
Thunder roared throughout the warehouse, and the sound of heavy rain suddenly came down upon the windows; the wind pounded at the glass, and the sound of it whistled in the air. The windows were already struggling to withstand the pressure as the storm menacingly in the air.
Her dream. It was happening.
She cried out as her spell casting became furious and intense; the bodies of fanatics dropped on each side of her path as she made her way through, tears spilling down her cheeks and her breathing becoming heavier, until she came to a full stop.
There stood Richard, his wand drawn towards her, with his usual arrogant smirk upon his face. His green eyes glistened against the light, their edges creased with amusement as he watched her approach him, and he let out a soft chuckle.
"You really disappointed me tonight, Tina. We could have done great things."
Her lips trembled as she struggled to speak; she raised her wand to him, her brows furrowed as tears still slowly slid down her cheek.
"H-How could—how could you? Why are you doing this?" She fumbled over her words as she stared at the man she had known for years; the man she had met as a teenager, fallen in love with, spent years at school together—even shared a home with afterwards. The man who she had once envisioned spending the rest of her life with, who had betrayed her—as much as he had hurt her, she never imagined that he was capable of this.
"It's not too late, Tina. Come back to me."
She started sobbing, hunching over slightly with her wand still pointed towards him, consumed by the confliction that was waging war in her heart.
"We're rising, Tina. We're going to be—"
"Shut the fuck up!" She screamed, standing up straight to face him once more. His eyes were wide now; he raised his wand to her. He started shaking his head, looking down at the ground.
"You're smarter than this, Tina. You are so brilliant. Don't waste it."
She silently stared at him, her hand still trembling before her. He sighed, and slowly drew his wand back, a sudden distance and coldness in his eyes.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A/N: I apologize for taking so long to update! Between final exams and the holidays approaching, my schedule has been pretty busy lately. This is another very "action-packed" and darker chapter, and I apologize if any of the material (I purposely kept it very vague, but just in case) was triggering. I wanted to show just how much of an a-hole Richard is as well as Grindelwald's army, accurately but not too explicitly! Anyways, thank you all so much for reading, and as always, thank you SO SO much for the feedback! Please let me know what you think of this chapter- I'll be updating asap! :)
