Bound By Blood.

ch.35~ Ghost.

"I'll never forget the look in your eyes, as I stood before you. 

I'll never forget, how it feels to be forgotten.

To feel like I was nothing. 

But now I smile, knowing thats how you'll feel once you meet your end, your end that I will help deliver."

Recovered undelivered correspondents between Order Member Alexandra Brooks, to Death eater Mattheo Riddle, Dated 2003.

The Riddle Manor, 2003.

Alexandra.

The large door of Riddle Manor loomed before me like the jagged teeth of some monstrous beast, gleaming in the moonlight with an unsettling presence. 

Black iron twisted into ornate designs, each flourish a silent testimony to a wealth built on blood and betrayal. 

My heart thudded against my ribs—a relentless metronome marking the rhythm of my unease.

This was their life now—a life drenched in luxury, draped in money and faux success. 

Marble sculptures glinted in the manicured gardens, and extravagant chandeliers flickered behind the windows, casting playful shadows across the perfectly arranged lawn. 

What cruel irony that this was how they chose to thrive.

I took a moment to steady my breath, battling the wave of nausea that surged through me. 

The weight of the past crashed in with each step, memories of warmth and connection shattered into sharp fragments. 

I couldn't fathom how I had found the resolve to walk into this den of monsters, much less to face him after all this time. 

And yet, here I stood, immobilized by the intrusion of conflicting emotions.

With each shallow breath, the ache of betrayal twisted in my gut, squeezing tight as I imagined the life he led within those walls—the kind of man he had become. 

There was a time  when I thought he might be more than the monster hiding beneath the veneer of charm. 

But as I gazed up at the manor's grand entrance, a prime example of a false promise, I found myself flooded with bitterness. 

He had willingly chosen this life, built a paradise of pain upon the ashes of everyone I lost. 

No. 

Don't. 

I was here for a reason, a purpose that overshadowed the reeling doubt that threatened to consume me. 

I walked forward, determined to erase the ghosts of our shared past or at least paint over them with revenge. 

For Freddy. 

For me. 

Swallowing hard, I reached for the wrought-iron handle. The cold metal sent shivers down my spine, a harbinger of everything that was to come.

As I stepped tentatively into the manicured paradise, I could feel the breath of the past trailing behind me, urging me to remember everything I had lost.

And the very thought of facing him, of seeing those familiar features once more, made me feel sick to my stomach.

Because deep down I knew he wasn't in there, not anymore.