Crimson || Tom Riddle [1]

𝖋𝖑𝖆𝖘𝖍𝖇𝖆𝖈𝖐

869 AD

When Arabella had first turned, her humanity had been on. She could still feel. She had woken up in the forest she had died in, and when her eyes found her brother's dead body, anger surged through her so quickly that she sprung up from her sitting position.

She remembered feeling shock. Her body had just moved at an unnatural speed. Everything was heightened and she could hear conversation from the village, far away. She heard people starting their day, waking up. She could smell the metallic scent of her brother's blood a few metres away, though it felt like someone was holding it in front of her nose. When she looked through the trees, her vision became suddenly zoomed, and she could see every speck of dirt, every insect climbing the trees. She quickly shook her head, willing her eyes to turn back to normal. Every rustle of the leaves, every whisper of the breeze, echoed in her mind with crystal clarity.

But it was not just her physical senses that had quickly intensified. Her emotions surged within her with a force she had never known before. The shock of it all, the searing anger that burned within her, yelling at her to let it out, kill them all. Kill, kill, kill. It called to her. But beneath it all, even stronger than the anger, was the bloodlust.

Her mouth was dry, yearning for one thing only. It was as if a ravenous beast had awakened within her, it's hunger gnawing at the very core of her being. Each heartbeat echoed in her ears like a drumbeat, urging her, driving her toward the intoxicating scent of her prey.

It was a hunger unlike any she had ever known, a primal craving that consumed her thoughts, her desires, her very essence. It whispered to her in darkness of her mind, seductive tones, promising release, ecstasy, oblivion. And with each passing moment, it grew stronger, more insistent, until it was all she could see, all she could feel, all she could crave.

And though she had blood right in front of her, it wasn't what she wanted. This blood was toxic and dead and smelled of poison. But this was also the blood of her brother, and she could not do that to him. His blood held memories, his blood was sweet and nice and caring and brave and funny. His blood held memories of life with Arabella, with his mother. This blood was sacred and deserved to be left alone.

Arabella suddenly dropped to the ground, and before her mind could catch up with her fast-moving body, her face was flooded with tears. They kept pouring down her face, her neck, and soon, droplets of tears had drenched her bloodied tunic. She didn't know why, though. She knew what she had to do, she needed to be in the village, killing every last one of those rotten souls. But she couldn't find it within herself to move away from her brother's body. He couldn't be left here all alone. He needed to be with his mother, his family.

Arabella would join them soon, but not yet. It was not her time.

So, she got up and started digging quickly. Her heightened moves became extremely helpful because in a matter of 3 minutes, she had dug a hole. It was beside a tree, wide and long enough to fit Finn and deep enough that no-one would stumble across it. Carefully, she grabbed Finn's body and lowered it into the hole, and began filling it up again. Soon, the dirt above the hole was covered with flowers.

Arabella didn't feel time pass as she sat on the dirt beside the flowers, but soon the sun was setting. Where had the day gone? It was just sunrise...

Arabella would say that the reason she was not moving was because she did not want to leave her brother, but that wasn't true. She knew Finn was more than capable without her, and he was dead anyway. He didn't need her anymore. But perhaps Arabella needed him. The true reason she had tried so hard to ignore the gnawing bloodlust within her was because she was scared.

Arabella had just ruined her life. She didn't know what to make of the hunger within her. She knew that she craved it, she needed it as much as the air she breathed. It was hard ignoring it. But she couldn't fathom taking the life of someone else, much less an entire village. It was unnatural, inhuman. But Arabella wasn't human anymore...

And then suddenly, she remembered something. Lilith had said something of a humanity switch. What was it? What did Lilith say? She said... she said she could it turn it off. That's right, Lilith had said she could turn her emotions off.

Arabella knew, deep in the back of her mind, that turning them off was wrong. She should feel the remorse and all the other feelings she would get when taking the life of the villagers. But did they feel remorse? No, Arabella thought. They hadn't felt any, instead they had attacked her and drove her and Finn out the village.

Arabella was dead because of them, and now she would get her revenge.

She knew she would it, it was the very reason she had turned. She had to do it, the vengeance swam through her body. It was right, it was right, it was what she needed to do.

Arabella dug through her mind to remember the instructions Lilith had given her. There were so many, she found that they had all jumbled inside her mind. Humanity switch, Lilith had said it was an inner mechanism. She would know it. Arabella mentally raked her mind, and soon searched her emotions. It was pulsing in the back, waiting to be turned off. Her head ached with pain. Switch it off, switch it off. It was right there, the solution to all her problems.

There was no turning back now. With a steady resolve, she mentally pushed down the switch, feeling it click into place.

And in that moment, it was as if a dam had burst within her, flooding her senses with a dark, primal hunger. The emotions that had once tethered her to her humanity were gone, replaced by a void as vast and consuming as the night itself. There was no fear, no grief, no doubt - only the insatiable craving for blood, for vengeance, for justice.

Her eyes gleamed with a feral light as she rose to her feet, her movements fluid and purposeful. The villagers, once her neighbours, were now nothing more than prey to be hunted and devoured. The thought sent a thrill of anticipation coursing through her veins, igniting a firestorm of exhilaration that burned hotter than any emotion she had ever known.

Arabella's lips curled into a predatory smirk as she set off toward the village, her senses sharpened to a blade's edge. The scent of human flesh filled her nostrils, driving her onward with an almost magnetic pull. There was no room for hesitation, no room for doubt — only the relentless pursuit of her prey, the intoxicating rush of the hunt.

And as she descended upon the unsuspecting village like a predator, Arabella knew that she had become something darker, something altogether more terrifying. For in that moment, she was no longer just a girl in the woods - she was a creature of the devil herself, driven by the desire for blood and justice.

Killing was nature, after all. Arabella was just playing her part.

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a.n. ...i actually love this flashback 💕