The Hard Way <3 Tom Riddle

Chapter 6

The following day I stayed in my bed almost for a full hour debating what to do. Pandora said she was worried about me and invited me to join her for breakfast. It was a Sunday, so I didn't have any classes to pull me out of bed. I'm not sure I'd go even if I did. Finally, I removed my numb legs from under the sheets; the tingles ran up my legs as I tried to walk. Putting on my uniform, I left the robe on my bed; if I needed to run, it would be easier without that bulky fabric. I had finally decided to go to Dumbledore's office and tell him everything that happened; he would know what to do.

-

Walking down to the office, I kept my wand close to my side, checking the corners looking for him to appear out of nowhere. Paranoia followed me, its claws scratching on the walls as it got bigger and bigger the closer to the office I went. Finally, I was standing in front of the Eagle statue. I fidgeted with my fingers when suddenly I heard, "Annette, what are you doing here?" I snapped my head to the side to see none other than tom riddle. He came out of the dark, hands behind his back.

"T-tom," I stuttered. Calm down. He may not know it was me. "Oh, nothing... What about you? Why are you here?"

He stepped closer, "oh, nothing, princess, but I have a question."

Princess? My cheeks immediately went into a blush. For a second, I forgot what breathing even was. "And what is it. Riddle."

His arm slipped out a strap of my heel on the tip of his finger, "do these belong to you.." I couldn't do it; I couldn't lie to his face. His eyes were looking into my mind. I felt my face drain of all blood. I looked like the ghosts here.

"N..no," my voice came off slightly shaky at first but then I reinforced it, "those aren't mine."

He stepped closer, dropping the heel to the ground. I took a step back, but he closed the space between us, grabbing my wrist; his hand tightened around me like an anaconda. His face was close to mine, "why are you here, Annette?" He looked at me with a large amount of doubt in his eyes. He was venomous, and I was his prey. He knows.

"Let go, Tom," I said, my voice failing me. He only tightened his grip, I tried to rip away, but it was too hard.

"One more question," he said in a low dark voice. I was trying to rip my arm away from him, but he grabbed my other wrist, putting me in my place. Fear sat on my face, "do you want your shoe back, Cinderella?" Not being able to rip away from him or grab my wand, I quickly thought of what to do. The only thing I could think of was to take a step back and ram my head forward, head butting it into his. "The fuck?" I heard him mutter as he let go of my wrists, stumbling back from the force. I took this chance to sprint down the hallway. Holding my head, I felt so much pain. I'm unsure if I did that right, but it doesn't matter now. My enormous headache made it hard to think; not knowing what to do, I sprinted up the nearest stairs.

-

I could hear tom chasing after me; this staircase was circular and very, very long. Annette! The echo screamed off from the walls. Sobs came from me, my legs felt weak, but there was nowhere to go but up. Leave me alone, Tom, Please! I yelled back. The echo taunted me, with the steps getting louder and louder. It felt like the world was spinning around me; I had finally reached the top; it looked like the top of the astronomy tower. I felt so weak. So so weak I couldn't keep running from him. I took out my wand and put my back against a pillar. He soon came out from the staircase, catching up on his breath. "I can't believe you fucking headbutted me," he said, pulling out his wand.

"I can't believe it either," I said, my other hand holding my head. I felt a warm liquid on my fingers, "I don't think I did it right."

A smirk went onto his face, "Expelliarmus," he stepped closer. My wand flew out of my hand, but all I could focus on was the overwhelming amount of fear and pain.

"Please, tom.." I said, putting my hands in front of me, "don't kill me" I trailed off into a lot of pleases under my breath. He stepped close enough to where I felt my arms pushing against his chest.

"Why would I kill you?" he said, without a tone of sarcasm.

I looked at him dead in the eye, "I know it was you," I spat out.

"Oh really?" He said almost an inch from my face.

"How could you," I said, looking into his eyes. "Marin, Mrytle, who else have you killed?"

"You don't understand, Annette," he looked down at my lips. I felt my arms weak, not even pushing him anymore.

"I don't understand what? You're a psychopath?" My eyes were watery, and I felt a tear go down my face.

He sighed, looking away from my face and backing up a bit. "Stop crying."

I laughed out loud, "how could you say that?" I felt everything coming back to me. I should have said I love you to Pandora. I should've stayed at that party. The thing I regret the most is that my heart is beating during this. He looked back at me, wiping the tears off my cheeks. I hiccuped, "Are you going to" Hiccup "kill me?" hiccup.

"No." Hiccup, He said, backing up. I slid to the ground, not having his body to support me anymore.

I looked up at him in confusion through the tears. Using my shirt to wipe them off my face. "Then why did you chase me?" I touched my extremely sore forehead, "why the fuck did I headbutt you then."

He looked down at me, "because, of course, you had to do this the hard way." shaking his head, he said, "you're not going to tell anyone about this, and we are going to see each other more frequently."

"What do you mean?" I asked, calming my breath down.

"I mean, there are things I need to know that I can't know being...well. Me," he said, playing with the wand in his hands.

"You want me to be your spy?" I said. He put the wand in his pocket. He bent down, taking my chin with his fingers.

"Do you not want to, princess?" he said, looking at me with a stoic expression.

I paused for a second, "I don't think I have a choice."

He stood back up, looking down at me, "I expect to see you tomorrow for our tutoring session." I gave him a slight nod, and he said, "good." He then muttered a spell, and I felt the darkness overtake me.