Bound By Blood.

ch.76~Two Seconds.

"Alexandra fucking talk to me. 

Write back at least once,

Just let me know your okay."

Recovered Translated Correspondents between Death Eater Mattheo Riddle, to Order Member Alexandra Brooks, 2004.

Unknown Location, 2003.

Mattheo.

I know I'm not a good person. 

I didn't need anyone to tell me this. 

I knew I was manipulative, borderline insane, and at times murderous. 

And with it marking two weeks since I've seen Alexandra, and received three letters clearly dodging and avoiding me, I was feeling all of those emotions ten times more than usual. 

Which was too much for me to keep my sanity. 

Two weeks since I'd miscalculated, intruded upon her thoughts like an uninvited guest, unraveling pieces of her that she had hoped would never see the light of day. 

The look of shock on her face when I had accidentally slipped into her mind—not completely intentional, but there I was, an intruder in her most private spaces—still played on repeat in my mind. 

Her three letters had been direct, and yet so artfully evasive, as if each word was a carefully carved stone, rolling away from me.

I couldn't blame her for wanting to put distance between us. 

The truth was a bitter pill. 

And I knew my territory well... with everyone else but her. 

I know her, how she thinks, her calculated moves, and this distance was intentional. 

She was pushing me away. 

She didn't want to see me, speak to me, fuck, be anywhere near me. 

And while I said I couldn't blame her, it didn't mean I would accept it. 

I would let myself lose everything, before I lost her. 

This though, is something she should know. 

I had her now, I finally fucking had her, and I wasn't going to allow her to get away from me so easily. 

The air in the room felt thick enough to cut, filling my lungs with a combination of dread and anticipation. 

I was still lost in my thoughts when I heard footsteps approaching the door. 

Theo barged in, his usual exuberance on full display, a grin carved across his face as if he were about to reveal a secret joke.

"We've got a meeting, sleeping beauty," I wish that sleep was that easy,  he chirped, carefree, as if the impending chaos didn't weigh heavily on me. 

He and Draco had been talking about this for days—about the raid, the thrill of the hunt, the chance to finally corner them.

"Right," I muttered absentmindedly, my focus drifting. 

The reality of the raid loomed over me. I had no doubt Alexandra would be there, either as a pawn in their game or as part of the striking force. 

All I could think about was how I would protect her if everything exploded into violence—given how the boys have been acting like a bunch of caged animals.