The World is Yours | Tom Riddle

chapter xlii.

The curtains have closed

but our story is not yet over.

-Forthestars

Tom.

Abraxas, Vittorio, Cyrus and I apparate to the location that Annalie sent us hoping that Francis and Atarah are still there. I just hope that they're still alive but I fear for what I will find when we get there. The ground becomes solid beneath me and straight away I scan my surroundings. And my heart stops when I see a figure laying on the ground.

I break into a sprint and as I get closer I know that the one on the ground is Francis. I hear the others running behind me but I reach him first. Cyrus kneels beside him a second after I reach him and he starts to shake him. "Shit wake up Francis, please." Francis stirs slightly and a groan of pain leaves his lips.

"Cyrus, take him back to the house. Vittorio will go with you and get him healed. Abraxas and I will continue to look here."

Cyrus lifts Francis in his arms and the three of them apparate, leaving Abraxas and I alone. "Search that side." I point to the left and make my own way to the right. They left Francis alive on purpose which means that Atarah is alive too. For now at least, which is something for me to hold on to and use. Before I was going to give Dumbledore a swift death but now I'm going to make it last.

...

Abraxas and I return back to the house half an hour later after not finding anything else that would give us a clue to where they may have gone. We walk into the house and make our way to Francis's bedroom where he is conscious. Cyrus sits beside him and Vittorio is on the couch on the other side of the room.

"How do you feel?" Abraxas asks Francis as he makes his way over to the bed. "My head hurts, I had a few broken ribs and a fractured collar bone but other than that just fine." At least he still has his humor even in a situation such as this one.

I lean against the wall and Francis looks towards me, his face filled with both guilt and fear. "It was my fault. I went to Atarah and asked her to join me knowing that she wouldn't say no. I made the plan and had her deceive you."

I listen to his words carefully, using all of my control to not rush over to him right now and strangle him. But I know Atarah and I know that everything she did was her decision not his.

"Tell me what happened."

"We had a plan to get there early and scope out the area. But then we saw Annalie tied up alone. We knew it was a trap and that is why we made sure to check out the edge of the forest before going to her. I was on the other side when I saw her get dragged into the field by two people I didn't recognize. I stepped forward to go for her when she screamed at me to run. That's when someone grabbed me and the rest is a blur. They knocked me out pretty quickly. They should have killed me but they didn't and I think that the only reason I am alive right now is because of Atarah."

"They left a note with him though." Vittorio stands up and hands me the folded up piece of paper. I take it and open it, almost ripping the paper with the force.

Atarah is alive for now. Let's just hope she gives me what I'm looking for otherwise you'll be left alone once again.

"They'll kill her once they find out she doesn't have the key." I put my hand in my pocket, clutching the half key. The jagged edge of it breaking my skin and I feel the warmth of blood begin to run. I hold onto that pain- needing it to ground me.

"What is the plan then?" Cyrus looks at me and waits for a response. I keep my gaze locked on the floor not answering him.

"We're not just going to leave her to die, right Tom?!" His voice begins to raise at my silence. When I don't reply again he scoffs and mutters under his breath loud enough for everyone to hear, "and to think that I was beginning to believe that she would be your salvation but I guess there isn't any saving you from yourself is there?"

I finally meet his gaze as his words hit me. And I hate the impact they have on me.

"Everyone should leave, Francis needs to rest." Vittorio breaks the tension in the room and ushers all of us out. We all walk in separate directions, taking this time to sort through our thoughts.

...

The fire blazes before me and I down the rest of the whiskey in my glass. As the burn of the alcohol flows down my throat I slam the glass into the flame and watch as it shatters.

I've never let myself lose this much control but the need for the numbness it will bring was something I needed. But because of that it has opened myself up to acknowledge feelings and thoughts that I would have forever kept hidden if I had a choice.

And as much as I hate it, I let Atarah in and she's become a part of myself. The way she looks at me with slightly parted lips. The way they felt against my own and the taste of her. The way she has changed from when I first saw her and I know that I made her change into who she has become. I've put her in danger and the way I've hurt her is something I can ever change or take back.

But maybe I can make up for some of it. And as that thought crosses my mind I know exactly what I have to do.