Mind Games | Tom Riddle | DISCONTINUED

Fourteen: A Thoughtful Gift

Little Hangleton quickly returned to normal. The police ruled Marvolo Gaunt's death a tragic accident. There was a quiet burial, and the people of the town forgot that the incident happened at all.

Azalea and Tom were still staying at the small inn in the village of Hangleton. Since they had nothing left to do for the rest of the holiday, they chose to stay in the village. Tom could tell Azalea was feeling occasional spurs of guilt from killing Marvolo Gaunt. The girl knew that she was overreacting because Gaunt wasn't her first kill. Then again, he was the first that Azalea watched die. Still, she was practically unbothered by the events that transpired the day before.

"Is there anything to do in this town?" Azalea asked irritably as she stared out the window.

"Why do you think I hate it so much?" Tom responded dryly.

"You have daddy issues, Tom. That's why you hate it," Azalea said with a wry smile.

Tom rolled his eyes and leaned back in his winged chair.

"I didn't expect to spend my birthday among Muggles," Azalea grumbled.

Tom raised his eyebrows. "It's your birthday?" he asked.

Azalea turned and nodded. "Yeah. My parents' owl should arrive soon. They're probably going to put a lot of thought into the galleons they give me," she said while rolling her eyes.

"It must be tough to get gifts from your parents," Tom scoffed.

Azalea rolled her eyes as she grabbed her wand. "I'm going out. I'll see you tonight," she said as she walked out the door. She hurried down the staircase leading to the lobby of the inn and stepped out into the cold. Azalea walked down the busy street, eying the shops and looking for something to catch her eye. She saw an array of expensive jewelry in the window of a store and walked through the dark green doors.

"Welcome!" a woman's voice called. The source of the voice appeared from the back of the store. She was dressed in a tailored black suit, and her pointed features were fixed into a small scowl that appeared upon seeing Azalea.

Azalea ignored the dirty look and began looking around the pristine shop. She made her way to a gold-rimmed glass case that was filled to the brim with diamond-encrusted jewelry. She looked to the woman, who was still sneering at her, then snapped her fingers and pointed to a necklace and a pair of earrings sitting at the top of the case.

"You did see the price, right?" the shopkeeper asked.

Azalea was absolutely outraged. She was practically royalty, and the Muggle in front of her was looking down at her. Azalea reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a stack of crisp Muggle bills. "I did," she sneered.

The woman blinked slowly, then disappeared into the back of the shop with a ring of keys in her wrinkled hand.

Azalea waited calmly for the woman to return. Moments later, she saw the blue velvet box in the woman's hand. Azalea placed the stack of bills on the glass countertop and took the box. "Keep the change. Perhaps it's enough to send you to a nice school that'll teach you to respect your superiors. It's clear that you've spent every day of your miserable life uneducated," she sneered. Then, Azalea turned on her heel and walked through the door with a proud grin on her lovely face.

Feeling incredibly smug, Azalea strolled through the town looking for another store to browse. Right after she noticed another store that caught her eye, she heard a low whistle.

"You look like you could use some company, Darling," a gruff voice said from behind.

Azalea whipped around, completely prepared to incinerate the man where he stood, but then remembered where she was. A better idea came to her, and she responded, "Maybe I do." Then, she turned and headed towards the alleyway she and Tom met in the day before. She could feel the man's filthy gaze following her as she walked. The only thing keeping her from massacring the man in the middle of the street was the thought of killing him moments later. She turned and walked to the end of the alleyway, then turned and waited.