The World is Yours | Tom Riddle

chapter xli.

"You and I both know this ends in blood."

- unknown

Atarah.

Both Francis and I step outside and begin to walk to the end of the property. After leaving Tom's room I rushed to the kitchen where I left the bag and I finished packing everything. Francis was waiting for me at the front door and now the time has come. I cast a glance towards the sky and notice how clear it is tonight and how I can make out a lot of constellations.

A memory rushes back to me of the summer between my third and fourth year at Hogwarts. It was a few days until the new year would start and Annalie and I snuck out of her house and made it to the clearing on the edge of town. We collapsed on the ground in laughter and as we laid there we would point out what we saw in the night sky.

"We're here." Francis breaks the memory and I realize we are standing at the gates. I pull my jacket tighter around me as I face Francis. "I think you better do it." He nods his head and holds out his arm for me to grab. Once I loop my arm through his he waits only a short moment before apparating us to the location we picked out.

We land on the wet ground and as much as I want to stay there I know we cannot spare a minute. I stand up quickly and begin taking in our surroundings. We are in a forest and the trees are tall and thick here, allowing us a bit of protection.

Francis walks up next to me and pulls out the map he brought with. I look down as he opens it and holds it in front of us. "We are right here and this is where she told us to meet." He points to the spots and I notice that ahead of us there is a clearing. The perfect place for us to be vulnerable for an attack.

"I misjudged where we needed to be so we are going to have to move forward more so we can get a better view." We begin moving forward, slowly enough to not make too much noise.

We both carefully watch where we are stepping and I am about to take another step when I hear Francis inhale a deep breath. I turn my head towards him and see that he has stopped moving and is staring forward. "Francis?"

He doesn't respond to me and I turn in the direction he is looking and the moment I see her I stop breathing. Annalie is laying on the ground and her arms are bound behind her. Movement catches my eye from the side of me and I turn just in time to see Francis try to make a run for her. As quickly as I can I grab ahold of him and the force of him trying to break from my hold brings us both to the ground. I make sure that we land so I am over him- giving me leverage to make sure he doesn't move.

"Look at me, Francis." I have to repeat my words twice for him to finally look me in the eyes and stop fighting. His jaw is clenched and I know that it's killing him that he can't help her right now.

"Tom was right, it is a trap. I know that you want to help her and trust me I want to as much as you do but if we act carelessly then we will all end up dead."

"You sound just like him." He speaks the words with malice but I brush it off quickly. He is worried about her and he has every right to be mad right now. But I want to save her and not get all of us killed in the process.

"Dumbledore is smart but we are going to have the upper hand right now. We know that he is here and we've been training for this. I need you to tell me that you understand."

"I understand." I wait another moment to make sure he does before I get off from him and I step back to allow him room to get up.

"So what's the plan now?"

"We need to check out the area and find where they are hiding before they find us. And as much as I hate the idea of splitting up, I think we should. The faster we do this, the faster we can get to her."

Francis nods his head telling me he understands and without further instruction he begins to walk to the left side. "Be careful and keep your guard up."

I turn to the right and begin walking. I have my wand pointed in front of me and I hear my heart begin to beat faster the farther I walk. I reach the end of the forest on this side and just as I am about to turn around and begin walking back I notice a dark figure hunched in the bushes facing the clearing.

This is it. I silently step forward and I point my wand at the figure and am about to mutter a stunning spell when a force hits me from the back. I scream in pain as I hit the ground and before I can turn around a hand grabs my hair and begins dragging me forward into the clearing.

I struggle to get air into my lungs as someone kneels into my back. Dumbeldore brought backup- it's no longer him against us. Maybe it never was. "ATARAH!" Francis yells for me and with the energy I have left I scream one word to him, "Run!" I only hope he can make it out of here. A scream pierces the air a moment later and a sob escapes me as I realize it came from Francis.

More weight pushes me into the ground but still I manage to turn my head and I watch as Francis is thrown to the ground. A fist goes across his face. Again and Again and Again. "Stop! Please!"

"You can stop it all now, Atarah. Just give me the key." Dumbledore steps in my view and a smile plays at his lips. At my silence he shakes his head and squats down next to me. "Remember then that this could have been stopped."

He looks past me and speaks to someone, "Do it and make it hurt."

"Yes, sir." A voice replies to him and with that a force hits me behind the head again. Everything becomes fuzzy and my eyes begin to shut on their own. And as I fall into unconsciousness all I can think about is how familiar that voice sounded.

...

Tom

I open my eyes slowly as I feel the warmth of sunlight and realize that for the first time in years that I slept for several hours. I've never felt comfortable enough to do that and not without horrifying visions waking me. Automatically I reach my hand across the bed searching for Atarah only to be met with cold sheets.

I jerk up into a sitting position and look around the room but I already know she's not in here. I move off the bed and throw on a shirt before leaving my room. Before I begin my descent though I see Vittorio, Cyrus, and Abraxas huddled together talking. However it wasn't the sight of them that caused me to stop, it was the looks on their faces.

Vittorio sees me first and whispers something that draws all of their attention to me. "What is it?" They all back away from one another and cast a quick glance to each other as if deciding who will be the one to speak. Suddenly Cyrus steps forward and speaks for the rest of them.

"Francis and Atarah are gone." Everything silences around me leaving room for anger to take over. Again. She left again. And this time I fear that they will not return. That she will not come back.