Seven Devils ★ T.M.R ★

Chapter Fourteen

╔═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗
FEATHERS AND FINGERNAILS
╚═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝

.•° ✿ °•.
Content warning:  blood, seizure, CPR.
°•. ✿ .•°

MARINA WATCHED AS Billy eagerly tucked into the eggs and bacon on his plate. He was only eating on one side of his mouth, since the other half of his jaw was swollen and scarred looking from some sort of old injury that had twisted up his lip and consumed most of the nearby teeth. The years had exacted a mighty toll on Billy.

They sat at a small, simple café with old-fashioned furniture – though Marina supposed it was very modern for the era. It was quiet with only a few other patrons and a waitress who was attending them kept giving them curious looks. They must have made a very strange-looking trio – a teenage boy in wizard robes, a woman in jeans, and a messy, wild-looking man who was inhaling food at breakneck speed.

Marina looked down at her cup of tea and stirred a teaspoon of sugar into the milky drink, sipping it with great relish. Sitting next to her, Riddle had opted for hot water with a slice of lemon which he was yet to touch.

After devouring half the plate of food, Billy looked up at the two of them, askance. "So 'ow come you look like tha' then?" he asked as he started on the beans and toast. He had a very strong Cockney accent and Marina had to lean forward to concentrate when he spoke. Billy didn't seem to care though. So far he had paid Marina very little attention – his eyes were fixed on Riddle.

"I don't know what you mean," Riddle said coolly.

"You 'aven't aged a day, 'ave ya?" Billy accused.

"I've been lucky, I suppose," Riddle replied, not quite meeting Billy's eyes as he laced his fingers through the fine handle of his cup.

"Can't say the same abou' me though, can ya?" said Billy. He gave a strange, grating laugh that drew the stares of the other patrons. Billy's expression turned suspicious again. "Then 'ow come you're dressed like tha'?" He swivelled to Marina. "An' you, you're dressed funny, too."

"We're going to a costume party later," Marina said dismissively. "Billy, can you tell me about what happened to you?"

"Where to star'," Billy said with another bark of a laugh, accepting her excuse almost too easily. He returned to his meal with gusto.

"How about with when I left for... my school," Riddle prompted in a tight voice. He seemed deeply uncomfortable and Marina shot him a slightly concerned look.

"Oh yeah, tha' school of yours," Billy nodded, expression going distant. "You know, afta you wen' away the firs' time, we all dreamed they'd come for us, too. Couldn't believe you got out, know wha' I mean?"

Riddle raised his cup and took a sip. Marina stared – it was the first time she'd ever seen him consume anything.

"Anyway, fings got bad when you was gone away at school," Billy continued. "The war got worse, an' all the good food stopped coming after the donations stopped, remember tha'? No one's got no money for orphans when they can't feed their own kids, do they?" Billy laughed again and kept eating. Marina and Riddle listened in dead silence. "We was always so jealous when you'd come back from school looking fed, an' we was like li'il skele'ons. Tha's why you was the tallest, we always said, 'cos you ate the best."