Catharsis [Tom Riddle]

Chapter Sixty-Three

The green dissolved into her at the same time the color drained out of her.

Her body slumped in Lestrange's arms, lifeless and limp.

Tom screamed, but the sound didn't reach his own ears. He stared at her, refusing to believe what he just saw. It couldn't be real. No, she couldn't be dead. She couldn't fucking be dead. Avalon wasn't dead.

No, she couldn't be...

But, she wasn't moving.

She wasn't fucking moving.

For the first time in his life, he felt frozen. The war raging around him faded to nothingness as his mind succumbed to the darkness that was threatening to consume it. All he could do was drag his eyes up just in time to see the sadistic grin painted on Lestrange's lips a moment before he winked and enveloped his own body in the thick black smoke once more, disappearing into the air.

Avalon slumped forward onto the ground, her hazel eyes staring blankly into space. They were still painted with the last glimpse of her dying fear.

Tom felt time come to a standstill.

But, the battle around her continued. It didn't stop. It didn't pause. It didn't even falter.

She was dead, and the world kept spinning.

Tom's world, though, did not.

He slowly pried his eyes away from her and toward the man who had killed her.

Rosier had a satisfied smirk on his lips. He looked roughly the same age as Lestrange, though he was nearly unrecognizable. His typically stoic face had been replaced with a deranged mania similar to Xavier's. He exuded maleficence, the sinister smile on his lips a harrowing reminder of his insatiable hunger for death and pain.

Tom was going to kill him. He was going to kill all of them. He was going to burn the whole fucking world to the ground for taking the light from his life.

And he didn't care. He didn't care at all. He'd make them pay if it was the last thing he ever did. Because at that moment, he lost it. His control, his restraint, his hope, his everything. His love. He lost it all and gave in to the fury, the heartache, and the vengeance within him. His hate. The hate he'd pushed down and locked away for so long.

A crowd of Death Eaters had slowly congregated around Rosier, joining him in his triumphant laughter as they watched Tom's eyes darken. He felt his grasp tighten around his wand, his frenzied gaze watching Adonis wave his hand at the Death Eaters, sending them toward Tom with a complacent glint in his eyes.

A handful of them began running toward Tom, their wands pointed and ready as they cast flashes of purple in his direction. But, he paid them no mind. He slowly walked toward Rosier, not even glancing at the Death Eaters as he sent flashes of green toward each and every one of them.

They dropped to the ground one by one, corpses scattering the floor. He stepped over them, his eyes locked on the one who had stolen his light all in one instant.

Rosier quipped a brow up, watching Tom as he killed one... two... three... four... five... six...

All seven of the Dark Lord's followers dropped dead onto the battleground.

Tom didn't even flinch as he ended their lives. He could see several students and Professors pause for a moment, watching him with wide eyes as he mercilessly took down opponent after opponent, but he was far too crazed to be stopped by a sideways glance.

One last Death Eater raced toward him, sending forth another pathetic attempt to kill him. Tom easily blocked it, but when his eyes landed on the man before him, he felt his blood boil.