Paradox | T. Riddle ✔

~•2.1•~

His agate grey eyes fluttered open, the darkness fading into the familiarity of his bedroom. And even though the darkness had faded, he couldn't get rid of the images swirling in front of his eyes even then.

He couldn't get the snippets of that scene out of his mind; Eleanor strapped to a bed, his bed, her ankles and wrists bound tightly and her voice forcefully shut away due to a Silencing charm as he mercilessly tore her apart.

He had done nothing of that sort to her yet deep down it felt as if that night had taken place but he had somehow forgotten it completely. But he couldn't fathom that how could he forgot something so extreme yet only recall it in snippets.

His thoughts flickered towards the possibility of a Memory charm being used upon him and he knew Eleanor could do that for she was quite an exceptional witch, though the fact that he believed that about her without any proof was still a mystery.

A lot of things about her was a mystery.

That night was playing on repeat over and again, a strange tightness encaging his chest until he glimpsed the red drops tainting the white bedsheet. His hand shot up to his own face, feeling the blood trickling down from his nose, the coppery taste filling up his mouth as well.

Immediately, he rushed for the bathroom, heaving over the sink as he coughed out clumps of clotted blood. From the past few days, he had been feeling different and he knew it was due to the Horcruxes he had created. There were times he would cough out an immense amount of blood, as a result he had grown even paler and though it seemed as if he was physically growing weak, in truth he was getting stronger.

He was slowly but steadily discarding his humanity, taking steady steps toward his final goal.

The goal of becoming immortal.

Tom Riddle had only one fear and that fear was of dying. He couldn't bear the thought of living a life of power but then ultimately succumbing to death.

He craved a life without the fear of it having to end, he craved power beyond reach of any other man or wizard, he craved to be immortal.

And to achieve that, he had looked up a lot of ways but chosen one only.

He had studied on the Elixir of Life as well as on the supernatural properties of unicorn blood but to him those two options were temporary.

The only option that seemed most promising to him was creating a Horcrux. But in doing so, he had to rip a piece of his soul and latch it onto an object that would become a vessel for that piece of soul to stay.

So that if even death comes to take him away, that piece of soul would remain at Earth and he would be able to regain life once again.

He had decided to create multiple horcruxes, a total of seven as he knew that number to be the most magical, so that he would be closer to immortality. Not even multiple deaths would get rid of him.

But the catch was that to rip a piece of his soul, he had to commit murder. No big deal he had killed before, he could easily do that seven times or probably even more.

However, the more horcruxes he created, the less human he became. That was why he had lost such a large amount of blood but was still able to survive because his body no longer operated as that of am average human. While in some thoughts, the idea of being very less human was flattering, at times as these when he was in pain due to the pools of blood he was coughing bout, it felt nothing short of a curse.

He knew that by becoming less human, he would eventually lose his handsome looks as well. And for a man in his position, his looks and charm were one of his deadliest weapons that he could not bear to lose.

He looked up at the mirror, taking in the pale skin stretching over his bones tightly, the red tainted thin lips and the slightly trembling thin body.

Apparently, he was weakening to a drastic extent. And if he had been a normal human, he would have died long ago.

He turned open the faucet, washing away the blood, a wave of dizziness striking him shortly after. Holding the wall for support, he stumbled out of the bathroom, collapsing on his bed out of exhaustion.

It had happened twice before as well and by then he knew that each time he would create a horcrux, he would have to go through the same ordeal. And he knew it would subside after he took some rest so he decided to go to sleep instead.

But sleep was no longer a refuge for him either because the second he would close his eyes, Eleanor Troy's irresistible features would swirl into view.

He forcefully pushed her out of his head, knowing that he wouldn't be able to resist against her thoughts for long. But he forced himself to resist, trying to think about anyone or anything except that daring witch who had robbed him of his peace and calm.

Reluctantly, his thoughts flickered towards his last victim with whose murder he had created his third horcrux.

Sweet and naive Nicole Burke who had not seen it coming at all.

He hadn't lied when he had told Eleanor that he hadn't wanted her to die. She was just a pawn on his chessboard and yet she had been so delectably innocent that he couldn't help but feel drawn to her.

Her soul was the exact opposite of his. Pure white compared to the pitch darkness that resided in his own self.

He did not love her, he did not care for her yet he had wanted to own her such that when she had offered him to get engaged, he hadn't refused even though he knew really well that marrying her and settling down to a happy normal life was something he wouldn't do even if it was the last option left for him.

But sweet Nicole Burke had started to suspect him and eventually he had had to get rid of her akin to an obstacle hindering his path.

His eyes flickered towards the engagement ring on his finger that Nicole had lovingly placed on his hand herself. The words of the killing curse resonated in his head, her delicate body falling lifeless in front of him, and her doe like hazel eyes looking at him as if shocked.

He finally closed his eyelids, exhaustion taking hold of him. And as he drifted off to sleep thinking about the ring and the person who had gifted it to him, he couldn't help but think that it was no longer an ordinary band of silver she had slipped onto his finger the day the two had gotten engaged.

After Nicole's murder, it had been transformed into a horcrux.

***