Poison Ivy | T. Riddle ✔

[16] The Fifth Horcrux

Riddle was whiling the time away by walking through the woods like a predator thinking out what action to take next in order to capture the prey in its fatal grip, once and for all. While back at the cottage, Perseus had told her all about Riddle and his enmity and the reason why he was using all in his power to make Perseus surrender.

The eerie silence engulfed both of them like an impenetrable cloak until Renata broke it by speaking, "so... So you mean to say that Tom Riddle is after you because of all the books you've read?"

"Yes," he replied, his voice strained from all the shouting and attempts to threaten Riddle into letting him go, "he knows that I have all the knowledge he needs and he wants it for his own evil plans that will tear the world apart."

She seemed to have understood everything, "and that's why you have been resisting him for so long."

"I promised never to use what I had learnt through those books against anyone and I won't let him do that either." However his blue eyes shifted in agony as if he was faced with a big difficulty, "but if I don't tell him now, he will hurt you, Renata. I can't see you in pain. And he knows that. He knows all of my weaknesses very well and constantly uses them against me. Like he's doing right now."

She was silent for a short while as if pondering over all she had just learnt, "but if you tell him then..."

"Then the whole world would go to pieces. Tom Riddle is not an ordinary man. He has dared to create Horcruxes and can do anything to achieve immortality," he elaborated, "and if he comes to know of all that he's not aware of yet, he will become even more monstrous, using everything for his own benefit and for the world's indisputable demise."

Renata looked around her, her green eyes pained as she took in the surroundings knowing full well it was the same cottage she and Perseus had dreamed of living in happily, "when you first brought me here, I had so loved this place. I had thought of it as our home. And now it hurts to see all those dreams be destroyed one by one."

He looked up at her, clearly as distressed as she was, "I'm sorry, Renata. I'm so so sorry."

"Don't blame yourself, Perce. You have done whatever you thought best and all that is happening now is not your fault," she tried to console him but to no avail.

He knew it was all his fault. If only he hadn't read all those books in the first place, if only he had been more cautious in front of Riddle, if only he had somehow managed to hide the fact that he knew too much for him... 

If only he had never had the chance to meet Tom Riddle, he and Renata would have been back at Knockturn Alley living their lives happily instead of being locked up in their own dream house which was now transformed into a torture cell for both of them.

The crunching sound of boots against dry leaves could be heard and both of them stiffened for a moment. It could only mean one thing; Riddle was coming back and their time was up.

Perseus looked at her with fear in his eyes, for the first time he actually did feel terribly afraid because he knew Riddle wouldn't blink twice before killing either one of them. The fear in his eyes was not for himself but for Renata's safety.

"Perseus, listen to me very carefully," her voice shook him out of his wild train of thoughts that all led to one common destination; death, "you won't tell him anything."

"But if I don't he will..."

She nodded, her face was determined as if she had made up her mind and taken a tough but firm decision, "you vowed never to let the knowledge go into the wrong hands, and if you dare break it, then Merlin knows what kind of terrible things would happen. Perseus, please, stay firm. And don't falter because of me. I will stand by you through everything, even till my last breath."