the dawn of darkness | t riddle [incomplete]

Chapter 1: The Ranks

Chapter 1: The Ranks

- 23rd of October, 1949 -

They walked through the moonlit night, a strangely thick sense of unease hanging in the air. "So tell me, has much changed back home?"

Tom Riddle did not slow, nor did the steady sound of his footsteps falter, though his eyes did linger on the space between them as he contemplated the words that would grant Estela her answer.

"I'm sure everything will be just as you remember it."

***

They appeared out of nowhere in the narrow, moonlit lane. For a second they both stood quite still before Tom Riddle began forwards and Estela Markorp followed him closely.

Estela's gaze was drawn towards a high hedge that seemed to stretch infinitely into the night, ending at a pair of imposing wrought-iron gates. Beyond lay a magnificent manor house, its imposing presence looming out of the darkness, its diamond-paned windows glinting in the darkness like distant stars.

"You live here?" Estela's voice was a mix of awe and disbelief as she beheld the grandeur before her.

"For now," Riddle's attention remained fixed on the gates.

Estela's curiosity piqued as she wondered about the nature of Riddle's endeavours singe their days at Hogwarts. "What exactly is it you do now? You never told me."

Riddle halted, the silence that followed was palpable. He faced her, and his voice, when it finally came, was a whisper so dark it carried on the wind. "You're about to step into a world where my word shapes reality. And you, Estela, must quickly decide where you stand in it."

Estela was about to crack a small smile before she realised that he wasn't joking. It would seem that his supreme arrogance hadn't changed one bit after all these years. If anything, it might have become worse.

"Do you understand?" he pressed.

She bit her tongue, holding in the flurry of words that could have so easily poured out, and gave him nothing but a single, sharp nod.

As they ventured towards the manor, the feeling between them seemed to shift. The hedges obscured their vision left and right with no sight except the house before them, and the sound of the gates shutting with a clash behind them. The yew hedges muffled their footsteps, and a rustle somewhere to their right caught Estela's attention immediately, but as she turned her wand on the noise, she saw it was nothing more than a pure white peacock, strutting majestically along the top of the hedge. Her eyes narrowed as she turned to face Riddle, who took no notice of the bird in the slightest.

The handsome manor grew nearer as the hedges grew smaller as they approached, revealing vast gardens to their left and right. The imposing doors swung open without a touch, as if the manor itself sensed Riddle's approach.