Death's Daughter || Tom Riddle

Into the past (Meeting Death) | 22

The evening was windy and cold, the children retreated into their respective rooms and bundled up in their blankets to keep warm. Some children, who could withstand the cold, continued to play outside, wearing coats they had outgrown and wool gloves.

A rather small girl with long black hair and alarming pale skin was leaning against a battered and old window. She watched as the kids played from her room, her onyx eyes scanning each of their faces. She spotted a small girl with short brown hair and freckles across her face waddled into the cold air, about to join in the fun with the larger kids.

The tiny girl had obviously misjudged the temperature because once she was bare to the wind, only her coat and hat to protect her from the harsh wind. She trembled and shivered furiously but for some idiotic reason, she continued her way towards the group of kids running around. Nyx continued to watch the girl walk to her death, watching the girl make the worst decision of her life without a chance to even regret the choice. But even though she knew she could still save the girl's life by shouting from the window from where she was, down to the girl below, she decided against it.

This girl was just another victim of Death, and she had learned not to mess with such a powerful being.

The small figure continued walking towards the group of larger kids until she reached them. At first, when they noticed the little girl, they laughed at her tiny size and her stupidity in playing in the freezing cold. Nevertheless, they let her join them because she was a 'fighter'. The group played tag, one person was 'it' whilst the others were runners. Nyx watched the older children point to the small girl and run. She concluded that they made the small girl 'it'. The poor girl had no strength to chase down the much faster and quicker children. Soon enough, she was out of breath and trying to catch her breath. Nyx now noticed her skin had gone an alarming pale color, possibly even paler than herself.

For a moment, the world seemed to slow down. The older children laughed slowly at the small girl's terrible attempt at tagging them, and the small girl's figure falling slowly to the ground. And then, everything seemed to have come back to the normal speed. She watched the brown-haired girl fall to the ground, unmoving, and the older kid's laughter stopped abruptly. The group of kids around the area rushed over to check up on the girl, and just like Nyx had predicted, the girl was dead. Now only just a memory that will haunt the other kids.

~——————————————————~

Some time after the incident, the remaining children were called into the large dining room where two long tables were placed. And along with the long tables were the long chairs that Nyx was now sitting on. She was sat in the back, alone. Most of the children around her shuffled away from her as earnestly as possible.

At a young age, she was already feared and hated for what she was. An evil offspring of Satan. She could make weird things happen around her at a young age. Once, she even 'accidentally' set a bully's room on fire. To be exact, she set the room on black fire. Fortunately for them, it was just like normal fire, it could be extinguished with an extinguisher or water. It was just black for some odd reason. The event terrified the children and the caretakers, but mostly the children. Whilst the children feared her, the caretakers hated her. She was somewhat of a troublemaker to them but she swore, she was just an innocent girl with no control over her magic.

The caretakers often discussed about getting rid of her. Either by sending her to a church to get washed in holy water, or to send her to court where she might get a trial to execution. But luckily for her, none of those had yet to happened.

Yet.

Back to the present, the matrons had now covered the small girl's body with a large white cloth. They were all saying their last goodbyes to the 'now at peace' child. The matrons gave a speech about how she was a nice and loving child, which, she knew was a lie. The caretakers and matrons barely knew each of the children's names or their whereabouts. All that mattered to them was, the fewer the children, less mouths to feed.

After a long moment of speech and unnecessary stuff, the matrons placed the deceased girl on a stretcher and made their way to the cemetery a few ways away. A couple of children accompanied the adults, including Nyx, to lay her there. Where they arrived, there was already a hole they had dug, ready for the next victim to fall at the hands of Death, and tossed the girl in with a large thud, with not a care in the world whether the girl face-planted or not.

The matrons and caretakers retreated back to the orphanage, followed by the rest of the kids, leaving only Nyx and an adult man draped in black, with a large scythe who came out of nowhere. He jumped into the grave, and right after he jumped in, a wisp of whitish, silver, and blue rose up into the air and disappeared.

Nyx watched as the man climbed back out and stood there, shaking his head. "What a pity such a young life was taken away so soon." Said the man suddenly. Nyx looked up to see the man was now looking over at her. But instead of feeling creeped out or intimidated, she felt calm. The odd man seemed to have brought a sense of calmness to her. "She was stupid to have gone out in the first place. It's best the non-intelligent people leave and let the more intelligent stay." The mysterious man chuckled and leaned against his scythe. "Nyx, is that right?" He asked. Her eyes widened when he said her name. How could this man know her name? She nodded her head, intrigued.

"You have grown up quite a lot since I last saw you."

"Have we met before?"

He smiled sadly. His hood that had covered his face was withdrawn back, showing his expression and appearance. He was quite as pale as her, with black hair and black eyes. Almost- exactly, like her.

"You were just a baby when I first laid eyes on you."

She stepped closer to the man, unsure whether her theory was right or not. As she stepped closer, she saw a hint of affection in his cold, yet, warm eyes.

"Who- who are you?" She suddenly asked, dreading, yet, hoping her theory was right.

"It seems unironic if I straight up tell you who I am, is it? Take a guess."

"You're Death, are you? And you're- you're related- to me?"

"Smart guess for a child at your age. Yes, both of your conclusions are correct."

For a moment, the world seemed to stop. Then the other moment, her head was spinning.

"It's confusing, yes, but I tell you, everything that has happened was for a good reason. Like how I couldn't take you in. I just couldn't. I wasn't supposed to even have you in the first place."

Nyx shook her head, even though she was only eight, she understood what he meant when he said he wasn't supposed to even have her in the first place.

Death was suppose to bring death, not life.

She was life.

"And my mother?"

"Dead."

There was a pause, where only the crows and ravens were heard, and the whistling of the wind.

"Take me with you." She finally uttered the words. "I have nothing to lose."

Death shook his head, and said, "Life is destiny, death is fate. To face your fate, you must experience destiny first. And for you, young one, you still have a long way to go." He added, "Live for me, will you?" She nodded her head, promising to do so.

And with that, before he departed and went his way, he planted a ghostly kiss on her forehead, marking her Death's Daughter.