Cigarettes [Mattheo Riddle]

thirteen

"Nowhere to run, Mattheo."
"Nowhere to hide."
"Come to me, my darling."
"I won't hurt you."

[tw: slight abuse]
Mattheo ran down the endless halls. He entered dark rooms with bloodstained walls. He ran aimlessly.

"Mother, please!" Mattheo fell over. He lay on the floor and felt his mother's black heels dig into his back.
"Now, where were we?" She cackled. His mother took off a shoe, raised it, and whacked him over the head with it. Mattheo was out cold. His mother dragged his body back to the room.

Mattheo bit his teeth after regaining consciousness, grinding them together. He'd hate himself for punching a woman, but after what she'd done to him, God did she deserve it.

He broke his ankles free and stood up.
"Look at you. You disgusting b-" His mother frowned.
Mattheo built up all his anger in his right hand. He balled it into a fist.

With every ounce of strength in his body, he threw his right-hook at his mother's jaw. She fell to the ground. Was she dead? He had not the slighest idea.

His mother seemed dead, so Mattheo grabbed a house-elf.

"Please take me.. take me to London." Mattheo pleaded.
"I cannot, Master Riddle. The Dark Lord forbade me to."
"What? No, you have to let me! They'll kill me, he'll kill me!"
"I cannot disobey my highest master."
"I am one of your masters!" Mattheo pleaded, tears flooding his flawless face.
Mattheo turned around, surveying the room hallway for an escape. "Fuck." He groaned, his eyes fixed on a tall glass window.
He took a step back and ran at it.

Smash.

"If that wasn't straight out of some book, I don't know what books are." Mattheo laughed anxiously, brushing himself off and taking shards of glass out of his skin like it was nothing.
He started running, hopelessly, across the countryside.

Olive-toned hands glided down a mahogany banister. Blaire walked down the steps, a fake smile plastered on her face, in a black gown that covered every inch of her body- of course.
"Get down here now! You need to look after your siblings!" Her mother screamed from the kitchen.
"Yes, mother." Blaire's smile vanished. She looked at her feet nervously, and walked into the kitchen.
"Dishes, now. Father is coming home in a few minutes. Magnolia got him. That filthy creature-"
Blaire nodded blankly. She glanced at her siblings, all shaking with fear.
"Don't worry, you'll be okay, I'll protect you."
"Blaire! Protect them from what?" Her mother grabbed her wrist firmly, making Blaire flinch.

"I'm sorry, she had a nightmare."
"Enough. Go to your room, I don't want to see your face." The mother snarled.

Blaire approached her room. It was just like her siblings's rooms. A four-poster bed, dust, and windows that were locked shut.

Blaire dreamt of an escape. She fished a piece of paper out of a drawer and wrote a letter for Blaise, Willow, Luna and Mattheo.

How are you all? My father's coming home soon. Hope you're well. I love you all.

On the other side of London, Mattheo was running through streets aimlessly, his legs and lungs aching.
He finally came to a halt outside a beautiful townhouse. Mattheo ran the knocker, covering his face - he was badly known in these high wizard-populated areas in London.

"Riddle. What are you doing?" Blaise groaned, wearing a gray turtleneck and greyish-brown jeans.
"Blaise, please can I come in? My mother-" Mattheo asked, frantically checking the roads for people.
"I'm sorry, my mother has one of her husbands," this word he drawled with despair, "-over right now."
"One of them?"
"You know her. Getting husbands, taking their money, killing them."
"Oh, right."
"Look," Blaise sucked his teeth. He held the gap between the door and his body very small, so Mattheo couldn't see his mother by accident.
"It isn't safe living here. The husbands- they- nevermind." He said, his voice hushed. "The back window. If you look at the house from the back, it's the far right, third floor. That's my bedroom. I'll find a way to get you up there. Okay?"
"Thank you so much, Blaise. If you ever need anything, ask me." Mattheo smiled gratefully, then ran to the back of the house.
He saw a silhouette of a man and woman in one of the windows- they were kissing all with too much intension.
Must be his mother.