"You're very charming. Not just charming, but beautiful in the sense that the world could almost pardon you for your sins."
- ✧ -
Victoria Locke and Tom Riddle are practically strangers. They're nothing more than that. It remains that way until she...
I didn't think about seeking help. I had no proof and Riddle- or Voldemort?- Riddle was certainly a better student than me. It was his words over mine and I couldn't bear his presence anymore, knowing what he was capable of. Still, I tried to find loopholes; explanations of misunderstandings... but the facts added up.
"I should've known what I was getting myself into," I muttered with a pit of regret in my stomach.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I found myself nearing the edge of the Forbidden Forest, which looked just as intimidating despite the snow. After everything that happened in what seemed like hours, I wanted to be as far away as possible from Riddle- or, Voldemort. Yet he would always be the murderous boy to me, I couldn't help but realise how much power he actually possessed, being the heir of Slytherin.
I ran far away, afraid he would send me somewhere worse than death. I was still covered in sweat from the previous events and the frozen forbidden forest didn't help. It was pitch black out and my only source of light was the moon. I couldn't risk using magic and being found. I stopped in the middle of a clear opening, drained and overwhelmed. My legs gave up and I fell to my knees, gasping for air. The snow melted at my touch and dampened my clothes.
My head began to spin and my stomach churned. The same intense feeling of being in Myrtle's restroom came back. My surroundings changed and a whirl of darkness surrounded me, screaming and moaning screeching in my head. I shut my eyes when an intensity of heartburn cut my breath shorter and shorter and the familiar rush of fear rippled through every vein in my body. A fear of my fate. They say your life flashes before your eyes, moments before you die but I couldn't remember one good memory to grasp onto. Only faces. Faces of the ones I knew I loved, but I could only know that. I couldn't remember the warmth of love.
Then I heard a voice. Serenity's voice calling my name. The whispers began to grow in my head.
Orphan.
Lost child.
"Enough," I mumbled, squeezing my palms against my ears. I heard Druella's voice and it horrified me, but I knew it wasn't real. I understood what the voices wanted–what the darkness wanted. It wanted blood.
Kill.
This time, it was Gwendelyn's voice telling me to do so. The pressure grew heavier second by second.
Now. Theo's voice whispered faintly.
"No, enough!" I screeched, overwhelmed and curling myself against a dead tree. I tried to find something to cling to and found myself gripping my hair. The darkness ricocheted away from me and created an explosion that flew out into the unknown. The voices left me alone and beads of sweat began to run down my forehead. My breath was shivering and heavy. I rocked myself back and forth against the tree for comfort. A twig snapped and I shot my head in that direction, my wand at the ready.
