Deal with the Devil

Chapter 20

She was young, small, still with some of the softness children have around when they start primary. Her legs were kicking in the air as she sat patiently. Her father was at the door speaking to someone— two someones. She stared down at her blue patterned dress, listening.

"We'd like to meet her at least," said an accented voice. It was a man.

The woman said, "We've come all the way from Poland, Jack. You said you were sick. We should meet her before things progress." She had an accent too, but hers was easier to understand; Elena had heard it before in town.

He da sighed, his frail shoulders shrugging with the sound. Da had never been a big man compared to others, but he was larger than life to her. Lately, he'd become thinner, enough even she had noticed. "I thought you were divorcing her. Why do you want to meet Ella?"

"I wanted a child. Perhaps this child will do."

After another sigh, he stepped back and waved them in.

"Ella-bell," he said, running a hand through his greying strawberry blond hair, "There are some people I would like you to meet." He gestured to the two newcomers. "This is Missus Cassandra Vablatsky, and Mister Aurek Vablatsky."

She chewed at her lips, pulling the entire bottom inside, dragging her teeth across it until it popped out. "My mum's named Cassandra," she murmured.

The woman was beautiful. She was as tall as da, with raven-wing hair and raven-wing eyes. The man was beautiful too, though he was taller and had wider shoulders than her da. He was a big man. His hair was light, more like hers. His eyes were bright, too. He looked her over and a smile stretched over his face.

"Yes, darling," said the woman. "That's who I am."

"Oh." She blinked and looked between the two Vablatskys. "Is he your brother?" She didn't know much, but she knew siblings shared the same last name, unless they had different das, like the family down the way.

The pair laughed. "No, sweetheart," came the man's deep voice. He knelt down to her level. "I'm her husband, your step-father."

Her pale brows furrowed, but she nodded at the explanation. "Have you come to live with us?"

They laughed again. "No, we'd like you to come live with us, actually."

Tom pulled out of that memory. He could hear Elena's mind screaming at him, telling him he had no right to these memories. He pushed aside her voice and dove deeper.

She was wearing something frilly. That was her entire wardrobe now, frilly dresses and pretty things. Ribbons for her hair, shiny shoes. She hated it. She felt like she was always dressed for church, and they yelled at her if she ruined anything. She had no play clothes.

It was getting late, and she was putting her toys away. The door creaked open. "Hello, mausi," came the deep voice behind her. She froze, and big hands lifted her, cradled her against his chest. "Are you ready for bed? I see all of your toys are away."

"Yes," she said, squirming slightly to get comfortable.

"Daddy has come to help you get ready, sweetheart."

She frowned. "But you're not my da."

"Mausi, that's hurtful," he said. He set her on her bed and stroked her cheek. "I'm your father, too. I would like you to call me daddy. Or papa. Can you do that for me? We are helping your da, after all, aren't we? That's what family does. And I'm family."

"Okay," she said after moment. They were giving her da potions. Mother and Aurek—daddy—were magical. They had all sorts of things muggles like her da couldn't get.

"Okay, what?" he prompted.

"Okay, daddy," she said.

"That's my good little mausi." His thumb ran across her lips and he suddenly leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to them. "Now, how about we change you into your pajamas?"

"I can change myself," Elena insisted. "I'm big enough."

He shook his head, golden curls falling into his face. "Now, sweetheart, let daddy help you. It will take you longer on your own."

"But I can—"

"No," he said firmly. He knelt and tugged off her shoes, her socks, rubbing her small legs before he finally tugged at her dress. Obediently, she raised her arms. When his hands went to her last piece of clothing, she frowned again.

"Everything?"

"Yes, mausi, everything."

When she was stripped, he considered her intently. She wondered if he was looking for something wrong. He made her stand up and turn around too, before he finally pulled new underwear and a night gown out for her.

"There you are, sweetheart." Before he left her room for the night, he kissed her once more, and she thought she felt something wet against her lips.

She was thrashing in her bonds now, and a part of him still able to see her face noted the tears streaking down her face as she begged him to stop. He kept on.

There were baths, where his hands would scrub every inch of her. She was too little for more, he said. He was only teaching her.

Tom saw her under the bed the year before she started Hogwarts. She was hiding while he searched her room, and she was praying to God, Merlin, anyone, that he wouldn't find her.

She felt his mouth on hers, his hands wandering with some excuse or another— tickling, bathing, helping her with something— over and over and over again. Years of little moments, years of her mother looking the other way.

Tom sped through in his perusal, skipping through these horrendous moments, until he came to her the summer after she had outed herself as a seer.

She was sitting at a table in a garden, alone with the golden-haired man. He laid his hand on her knee, over the floral skirt with its petticoats that made her feel much younger than her age.

"You're growing so fast, mausi," he said. She stared at her teacup as his thumb stroked her thigh through the material. "In March, you will be of age, yes? A part of me misses when you were just a tiny little girl. But a part of me," his voice dropped and he laid his head against her neck, nose brushing it. "A part of me is glad to see you become a woman. There are so many things for you to learn, little mausi. Perhaps... perhaps I will give you a taste for Christmas, yes?"

She quaked, tears spilling down her cheeks, cold from her trying to keep them inside.

"You are so beautiful, my girl."

Tom pulled out of her mind at last and vanished the ropes, still staring at her. The whites of her eyes were red, the irises a brighter blue than he'd ever seen in contrast. There were tears and snot on her face. His hand was now holding her neck, rather than grasping her hair. She was shaking.

She blinked those bright eyes, realizing she was free, and pushed away from him, darting out the door and out of sight.