Ethereal Catastrophe | Tom Riddle

chapter twenty-three

It was dark.

They both laid next to each other on the concrete-like bed.

She assumed Tom had cast a silencing spell because she could no longer hear the busy streets that hid behind the curtains.

It let her think.

The darkness and the silence.

Is anyone truly stable?

Her heart felt like it was about to rip out of her chest. Not in the panicking way, in the 'I can feel it's there' way.

She needed to cry but she couldn't.

Not only would it be slightly embarrassing, but she just didn't think she could.

She needed to shout but she wouldn't.

A raw, guttural cry, not a yell, a scream.

A raw, guttural, harrowing scream that would make peoples ears ring for a few days.

Something to release the weight pushing into her chest.

She wanted to scratch and scrape, try to pierce through and scoop the goo resting there.

Would red stain her hands if she did?

Would it be blood?

She didn't even think she was real in this moment.

An illusion moving through time, expect she wasn't moving, only time was.

Stuck.

Stagnant.

Waiting.

Waiting for what?

Tom to say something?

Tom to kiss her again?

Tom to do anything?

How stupid she felt that she though he may care for her- just a little bit.

She thought of him.

Always.

Not a minute, second that he wasn't on her mind.

Him, always on her mind.

It was like he had her brain, her heart and any other organs he liked in his hands, stroking them as if they were mere artefacts.

Nothing important.

He controlled everything she did.

Dressing for him.

Smiling for him.

Working for him.

Doing whatever he wanted, like a lost puppy.

That is what she was now.

And whenever she tried to stray from it, it just ended with him not speaking to her.

And that killed her, as much as she would like to say it didn't.

So she did something she didn't think she would have the balls to do.

She got up and left him there.

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁

He didn't follow.

He didn't move.

He didn't contact her for a week after that.

Until the day before the ball.

How convenient.

That is why she knew that he only needed her for this stone.

Nothing else.

When he met up with her, they discussed the plan.

Where everyone was going.

How to distract people.

How to retrieve the stone, etcetera, etcetera.

She wasn't really listening.

She had her plan and he had his.

He didn't need to know a thing.

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁

She looked at herself in the mirror before her. 

Golden locks drowned her shoulders, shimmering with the jewels embellished onto her dress.

What was she?

Was she anything more than a body and a pretty face?

Golden hair. Golden eyes. Golden dress. 

Golden mind?

Gold will always be worth something, but is it its beauty that makes it valuable?

Is it for what it's made out of? 

Abraxas didn't care for her mind, just for her name and beauty.

No boy had ever wanted to truly know her. 

Tom didn't, he just wanted her power. 

And perhaps a quick fuck.

She needed to leave but she couldn't.

Move away and be something other than a face. 

But people knew her. 

People would recognise her face.

People recognise her for her beauty.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Asteria.

They didn't truly love her.

Nobody did.

Not her friends, her family, anybody.

They loved her like one cherishes a piece of jewellery.

A piece of gold jewellery.

She looked at herself.

She was perfect.

She was what defined perfection.

But beauty only runs skin deep and if you cut deep enough, darkness will pour out.

Her dress was intricately detailed with golden diamonds. 

Her makeup was flawlessly brushed onto her face.

Her hair glowed as if glitter was in the strands.

Her eyes held fire.

Not that anyone would notice. 

Not that anyone did notice. 

They'll be too engrossed on whats she's wearing, how she smiles, how she walks.

Not what she says or what she thinks. 

Perfection is fickle.

She's going to get that damn stone before anyone lays one finger on it.

And if she gets caught, at least people will know her for more than her face.

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁

This chapter is a weird one. I wanted to get it out. Sorry that its so short, I guess its just a filler for the next one.