Wool's Orphanage

A Magical Game of Hide and Seek

After Breakfast, Chara didn't feel like reading anymore. She also didn't want to be stuck in her tiny room all day so she decided to go outside, even though the sky was still depressingly grey it had stopped raining. The door leading to the backyard was wide open and Chara could already tell that many children had started playing tag because she heard them arguing. Today was a good day. Chara was in a good mood, classes were cancelled because of Halloween and she even felt like interacting with others. Betty and Amy sat next to each other on the swings, giggling and whispering into each other's ears, as always. No one else was on the playground, well it wasn't really a playground because it only had a set of swings and a sandpit but everyone called this corner of the backyard 'the playground'.
Chara walked over to Eric Whalley, who was obviously hiding from Billy Stubbs behind a big bush. He was startled when she tapped him on the shoulder. "WHAT? Shhh" he put his finger on his lips "We are playing hide and seek"
"Yes, I can see that. I want to join in, is that okay?"
"Sure after this r-"
"HA! I found you!" Billy yelled, running towards Eric and Chara.
"That's not fair! It's Chara's fault!" Eric yelled at Billy, pointing to Chara.
"I-"
"It's your turn! New players always have to be seeker!" Eric interrupted her. Chara decided not to start an argument.
"Well, who else is playing? I have to know who I have to find."
"It's only me, Eric, Walter and Barbara." Billy answered
Chara just put her hands over her eyes and started counting to 30 out loud. Through her fingers, she could see Billy getting behind some bushes next to the playground.
They played a few times, with a lot of arguments in between rounds due to Chara and Billy never agreeing on the rules, then decided the next round would be the last one because they would be called to lunch soon.
It was Billy's turn and Chara desperately wanted to win this round. She looked around, Billy had already counted to 15 and was starting to count faster, when her eyes fell on a few trees next to the wall that separated Wool's Orphanage from another big building. She quickly ran over and started to climb up the most hidden tree, while making sure Miss Lester, who was overseeing the children, couldn't see her. Though Chara immediately regretted that decision because the tree was wet and therefore slippery. She started watching Billy from above, he found Eric first, who hid in some bushes yet again. Chara was getting bored, so her mind started to wander.
She wasn't really enjoying this game of hide and seek. Billy was annoying especially when he was losing. The only guy Chara hated more than Billy was Dennis Bishop because he was always so mean. He used to make a lot of jokes about Chara's parents abandoning her until Mrs Cole told him to stop. Betty said that he was mean to her because he had a crush on Chara but she couldn't understand the logic behind that. Everyone was always talking about who had a crush on whom but Chara really didn't care about things like that. She never had a crush on anyone.
She tried to avoid thinking about her parents but especially today she wondered why they brought her here. Chara didn't really care about finding them or knowing who they were, she didn't know them now and she would never know them. They didn't want her. Maybe they were too poor to care for a child. Well, she would never know the answer. Of course, sometimes Chara wished they hadn't abandoned her but not because she wanted a family desperately, like many children here, but because she hated this place. Wool's Orphanage. What a sad little place to grow up in. Everything was so loud, she disliked so many children here and the place was scabby and nearly everything was falling apart. Most of the other children were almost obsessed with finding their parents, but some children were here because their parents died.
A sudden hissing noise made her snap out of her thoughts. Chara looked down to see someone sitting next to the tree she was currently hiding in, but she couldn't recognise them. Looking over to the other side of the backyard Chara noticed that Billy had found everyone except her. The hissing continued and it almost sounded like words. Chara wanted to see who the person was and started to climb down a little but she had forgotten how wet the wood was and slipped.
"Ahh-"
Time seemed to slow down as she was falling, she closed her eyes, waiting for the pain of hitting the ground. But it never came. Chara was confused, she couldn't feel anything. She slowly opened her eyes and was even more confused.
She saw grass. The ground was right in front of her but gravity seemed to have stopped working and she was floating just a few centimetres above the grassy soil. She was amazed. This feeling was great, it almost felt like flying, as if she didn't weigh anything. Chara only remembered there was another person present after he started speaking.
"This-this can't be- I'm not- this is not- I'm not doing this!"
Chara stopped floating after she recognised Tom Riddle's voice and hit the ground. She looked at him in shock.
"Please-PLEASE don't tell anyone about this!" she begged, still not quite believing what just happened.
"I-how did you-I thought I was-" he stopped himself and glared at her, he seemed angry. Chara didn't understand why and slowly got up.
"Pl-" she started.
Tom sighed. "Do you really think anyone would believe me? Are you that stupid?"
"Hey! I-"
"FOUND YOU!" Billy came running over with Walter, Barbara and Eric right behind him. He noticed Tom standing next to her. "Aww, I see you were too distracted by Riddle to stay in your hiding place." He added mockingly. The others started to giggle at his comment but Chara didn't care. "No, I got bored and you weren't gonna find me anytime soon so I decided to come out, then I saw Tom and started telling him how bad you are at hide and seek. It's not even fun to win if you have to wait an hour until someone finds you!" she almost yelled.
"It didn't take me an hour!"
"It would have if I hadn't come out of my hiding place."
Billy glared at her for a few seconds, then turned around and walked away.
"Who wants to play tag with me until we get called to lunch?" Barbara asked them.
"Me!" Walter and Eric answered in unison.
"I think I'm gonna go to my room." Chara said more to herself than to anyone else and headed to the entrance. She noticed that someone was following her and of course she knew who it was, so she continued faster, took two steps at a time, ran through the corridor and quickly closed the door to her room behind her. She told herself that it was stupid to be scared of him and he wasn't following her intentionally, he just wanted to go back to his room.
Chara sat down on her bed, causing it to make a squeaking noise, to calm down a little. She still tried to find a rational explanation for what had happened. She was floating, hovering just above the ground. And she wasn't crazy, Tom saw it too. His reaction was really weird when she came to think about it. He said 'I'm not doing this' and he was angry and maybe a little annoyed? Everyone else would have been confused, astounded or scared. Chara just couldn't understand. What was he doing there anyway? He was rarely ever outside.
She looked at her pocket watch. They would be called to lunch in 20 minutes.
She got up, sat down at the desk and started reading again. She was very hungry and exhausted and she just noticed that she was shaking. She had been looking forward to trick and treating but now she just felt like sleeping really early today.
Chara froze for a second as she heard the door behind her open and close again. She turned around to see Tom standing in the middle of her room with a serious expression on his face.
"How about knocking before you just enter someone else's room?!" Chara said while standing up. He didn't answer, he just stared at her.
"Okay... what do you want from me?"
"An explanation." He said, in a demanding way.
"I-um- I don't know what you're talking about." Chara tried not to show that she was a little frightened but as he took a step forward she couldn't help but back away.
"Do you think I'm stupid?! You know exactly what I mean! Talk. NOW."
"I don't know what you want me to say. I- I don't know what happened- or how I did that. I'm just happy that I didn't get hurt ... and that feeling- I felt so-"
"I don't care about how you felt. Does stuff like that- weird stuff- does that happen to you a lot?" He interrupted.
Chara tried not to break eye contact with him but he was really intimidating.
"I'm not sure. Sometimes. Maybe... I don't know." She mumbled.
Tom didn't seem happy with that answer.
"Oh come on. Stuff you can't explain, things that happen for your benefit, objects floating or appearing somewhere you didn't put them, stuff like that?" He was definitely annoyed with Chara and yes things like that had happened to her but should she tell him?
"Why do you ask me this?"
"This is a waste of time, you're oblivious." He gave her one last look of annoyance before he headed for the door.
"It's happening to you too, isn't it?" This made him stop, he just stood there for a few seconds, facing the door, probably trying to decide if he should tell her or not. Chara didn't know how to feel about this. Were they different from the other children? Of course, she had noticed some weird things that had happened around her but after today she couldn't just ignore it anymore. The fact that Tom could be the same made her feel better somehow.
"It's not just 'happening' to me. I can control it to some extent." He was facing her again. Chara was sick of standing now and sat down on her bed.
"You can control what? What is 'it'?" She questioned.
"I would say it's some kind of power. I thought I was the only one with this power."
"Is that why you never do anything with other children?" She regretted asking this question right away because Tom just glared at her.
"No, I just don't want to waste my time with others, most of them are so dull." She had to agree with him there. It wasn't always fun talking to other children here and some of them just never got anything the teacher was trying to teach them, which was annoying.
"If you can control it, can you show me?" She asked him eagerly. He thought about it for a second, then started to look around, seemingly searching for something. His eyes landed on Chara's books on the table. Tom's eyes met Chara's again and the book started to fly around the room. He didn't even move his hands or look at the books.
"This is so amazing! How are you doing that?" Chara got up and tried to catch her favourite book but they were too high for her to reach.
"I'm just thinking about it. I command them to fly in my mind and with enough concentration, they start doing what I want them to do." Everything he said was emotionless. Chara couldn't understand how he wasn't amazed by his power.
"I want to try!" She pulled her pocket watch out, put it on the bed and started staring at it. Nothing happened. Confused, she looked over to Tom and expected him to tell her what she had to do.
"I guess I'm just more powerful than you." He was smirking now, it was pretty obvious that he loved being better at this.
"Maybe I just have to practice a little." She looked back at the watch, trying to concentrate. 

"LUNCH IS READY, I want everyone down here in less than five minutes!"
Miss Lester's yelling broke Chara's concentration and Tom's apparently too, the books hit the ground and his smirk was gone again. They both went for the door without picking up the books. Chara looked at Tom with a big smile on her face which he didn't return.