In My Blood - Tom Riddle

Chapter 2

Tom grew quickly, unusually intelligent for his age. His dark hair and pale skin matched his 'creepy' persona and the other children inhabiting the orphanage along with him were rude, and often isolated little Riddle from making any friends. He was treated terribly because they deemed his talents, 'unnatural' and 'strange.'

A group of kids walked up behind Tom, taking his small amount of food and ripping it from his grasp. "Talk to any snakes today, Vampire Boy?" They sneered mockingly.

Tom's temper flared inside of him, threatening to burst; But this time he kept under a cool mask, afraid that like usual he would act on his feelings and get punished by being put in 'the room.' He thought to himself about the cool damp, unkempt, room, and the animals that burrowed in it. His stomach cringed at the terrible punishment he had been forced into depressive solitude before.

As the other orphans scurried away, one of their ankle cuffs burst into unexplained flames. The children smacked and fought the flames until they died away and the children turned and gazed at Tom with terror in their eyes. "Vampire boy did it," they all whispered in fear before running away.

"I didn't do anything," Tom muttered to himself, tired of the unexplained phenomenon's that always occurred when he was bullied.

-

Tom's stomach grumbled and churned in starving pain as he shuffled through his items hoping to find even a scrap. All of his stuff from toothpaste, to soap had been stolen out of survival, because if he did not take it, he would not have anything.

"Evening," Tom bowed his head charmingly as he had learned to one of the workers as he walked down the hall. He examined the area outside of the room before slipping in. His hands searched on of the fellow orphan's drawers until he found a half-eaten chocolate bar and an apple.

Just as quickly as Tom slunk in, he left leaving no trace. He went back to his room, devouring the last bits of his stolen goods before he sat on the bare chair in the corner of his room, and pulled out his worn-book; Seemingly the only company in his small miserable life.

-

When Tom was 10, the orphanage had taken a trip to a nearby seashore. The day was bright, casting the perfect amount of warmth that he had always wished he could have at the orphanage. At each step with the group, Tom stayed alert, aware of every detail around him.

Mrs. Cole assigned groups, to make sure all of the children would be accounted for. Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop were two of the less bad children at the orphanage, so Tom had released a little less tension in his shoulders at the sound of their names being paired with his.

"Wanna go explore the beach for shells?" Amy excitedly begged the two boys. However, Tom had a better idea. He had spotted a dark cave, that looked like it needed exploring. Amy had followed his eyes, "do you think there will be cool shells in there?" The young girl cooed, asking Tom.

He internally smirked at how easy it was, "Probably the coolest. I mean I doubt anyone would search in there for shells," he used false enthusiasm to match her energy.

Dennis, however, was shrinking to his feet in fear of the dark cave. "I- I don't know," he quietly trembled in fear, "it- it looks dark."

Tom turned with a cunning sparkle in his eye, "don't you wanna be brave? You don't HAVE to come with us. You could always wait out here." He knew what he was doing, and exactly how, because Dennis puffed out his chest and tried his best to hide his fear.

The three ventured into the cave, and Tom inspected all of the rock shapes, mentally dating the minerals to an exact year. As the three got deeper, something unnatural and sinister lingered in the air. The hairs on the back of his neck rose, and two identical screams wrung from Dennis and Amy. He turned to see a large spider taking multiple steps towards them. Its massive legs were coated in thick black fur, and the black beady eyes inspected the three kids silently threatening them to become it's next meal.

Tom raised his hands defensively standing in front of the two other kids, prepared to run when a translucent circle shot from his hand firing the are acromantula backwards. "Go go go! Run," Tom ordered, and for the first intelligent time, the other two kids obeyed running out of the dark cave in tears.

Mrs. Cole was quick to blame Tom for he was often told on for his 'bad behavior.' "We were just exploring," he tried to explain, turning to Denis and Amy who were sniffling and shaking in terror, traumatized from what had just happened. Only nobody believed him, and the two children he had ventured with, turned on him. Not even defending his name.