EXILE | TOM RIDDLE

06. In Flight (I)

"That is bad news, Rebekah," Helena says from where she lurks above me in all her ghostly glory, her silver dress blowing behind her as she swishes through the air. "You ought to put that back where you found it."

"It belonged to Salazar," I continue with an impatient tick in my tone, hugging the book tight to my chest, as though Helena is about to snatch it out of my grip. "It is important, sister."

"I did not say otherwise," she presses her lips together. "But Rebekah, you do not know of the dangerous activities Salazar participated in. You were not here, you had gone missing. I was here, I witnessed his downfall. His pure corruption. Rebekah, he went mad after you disappeared. Absolutely mad, dabbling into the worst sorts of dark magic — Godric had to have him removed from the school, after it went too far. Only the Lord above knows what happened to him after."

"It is just his book, Helena. I do not think it will hurt me," I attempt to protest.

"I know the book itself will not hurt you, but the content inside may be damaging," she continues with a deep breath, exuding sheer exhaustion, as though she has had this conversation many times before. "Just...Rebekah, please, return it. Return it and do not look at it again."

"What are you going to do to stop me?"

Her eyebrows raise. "You dare defy me? Are you forgetting who is the elder?"

"Are you forgetting who is alive?"

A hiccup escapes through her parted lips, eyes growing wide as a fist full of guilt punches me in the stomach.

"Helena, I am sorry—" I begin, stumbling over my feet to approach her, but she rises even further in the air, eyes refusing to meet mine.

"Leave me," she jerks her chin to the side, towards the door to leave the room. "I wish not to see you."

"Helena, I just wished to speak about this book with you before I read it—"

"I cannot stop you," she interrupts me, folding her arms over her chest. "I wish I could, but I cannot. It is up to you, Rebekah, what you do. But heed my warning, Salazar's fascinations with the arcane do not stop at what is morally right. If you open that book, if you read what he says...you need to remember that it is not okay."

"Salazar would never hurt anyone," I attempt to protest my sister's insinuations, though even as I say these words, I find myself unable to decipher whether or not there is truth to them. My last interaction with him had been discussions of evading the afterlife, evading what God had intended for us. Surely that was not moral. Surely Helena had a point.

She simply shakes her head, the saddest of smiles on her lips. "Oh, Rebekah, you—"

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" A voice cuts off my sister as the door to the room we are in pushes open, revealing Tom. His lips are curved upwards ever so slightly, and his brown eyes flicker passively between me and my sister. Before either of us can say a word, he continues, "Rebekah, I see you've met the Ravenclaw ghost, Helena Ravenclaw."

I nod. "Yes...I...I ran into her. I was lost."

"She's very helpful, isn't she?" Tom looks up at Helena with a smile. "Thank you, Helena, for helping out Rebekah. She's new, you see. I imagine she's struggling to adjust."

"Of course," Helena smiles back at him, and I frown. Do they know each other? Well, they must, I suppose, considering they have been sharing a castle all these years. "I must be going now. Tom, always a pleasure. Rebekah, it was...it was lovely to meet you."

I try to ignore the pained expression in her eyes as she floats away, disappearing through a wall and leaving me alone with Tom.

"What's that you've got?" He asks, motioning towards Salazar's book, still hugged tightly to my chest.