Sacred Silence | A Tom Riddle Story

28: Romantically homicidal

Shiv made sure to stay at least two steps ahead of Tom. She walked down the large open field that went down to the forbidden forest. She didn't really have a destination, but she was frustrated with the boy behind her and needed to look like she was in charge.
With the others left behind them, the air was now eerily silent. The only noise was coming from their shoes moving through the grass.

'Siobhan,' Tom called out from behind her, breaking the silence. 'We need to talk.'

'No, you need to talk. I have said everything I wanted.' She threw back, not slowing down her pace. She needed to keep moving. Otherwise, she was forced to turn around and make eye contact with him. She slipped her hands into the pockets of her robe and clutched her wand tightly. Even if it was unlikely she would win in a duel with Tom, it made her feel safer.

Her feet kept moving towards the edge of the forest. She had no idea where she would go from there.

'I feel like we should be honest with each other,' Tom started in his ever so calm voice.

Shiv laughed a high, cynical laugh. 'I don't think you could be honest with someone if your life depended on it, Tom.'

There were a couple of seconds of silence behind her. Good.
She rolled her wand between her fingers, and could feel weeks of pent-up anger boil to the surface. Her cheeks were hot from suppressed emotion, and she felt her hands shake a little.
The trees at the edge of the forest started to come clearly into view.

'You know I can't possibly let you go back to how things were before.' Tom sounded so sure of himself, like it was the most basic concept in the world. 'You know too much.'

'Are you for real?' Shiv scoffed, still marching forward relentlessly. 'No, you involved me in too much, and that is your mistake.'

She heard him sigh. It was a quiet but judgemental sound. It made her feel like he wasn't even listening to what she was saying, just simply waiting for her to finish talking so he could start berating her again.

'Siobhan, I'm trying to make this amicable,' he spoke, but his tone was far from friendly.

Shiv reached the first tree at the edge of the forest. She leaned against it with her shoulder and stared into the dark sea of trees. You couldn't see past a few yards, the tree tops making it unable for the moonlight to pass through. It was quiet here. She could hear their breathing and the rustling of small animals between bushes.

She heard Tom stop a little behind her. Still, she didn't turn around to face him. He was still calm, the thing that annoyed Shiv most. She didn't want to make things amicable. She wanted to yell at him, dig her nails onto his eyeballs. He needed to know that not everybody dropped to their knees for him so easily.

'Shiv,' he pleaded.

'Don't fucking call me that,' and finally she spun around.
How dare he use that nickname? It was preserved for friends and other decent people. Right now, it was used as nothing more then an obvious attempt to win her over.

She looked at him, eyes narrowed slightly. Her thoughts were racing with things she wanted to yell at him. They were completely out of sight for the people in the courtyard and probably out of earshot as well.

'You want to have an actual conversation, Tom? Do you want to actually tell each other the truth? Go ahead. Surprise me. It would be the first time I'd see you drop that pathetic act you keep performing.' Her words were harsh and meant to hurt.

Tom seemed surprised and a little amuszed by her tone. He didn't look threatened at all, though.
He looked her up and down, noticing her hand in her pocket that was clearly holding her wand.