O r p h a n ● Tom Riddle [Harry Potter Fanfiction]

⑫ Douze - Bloody Dead, Red.

"Rouge, rouge, oh! Rouge! c'est beau sur vous, mon amour!

Permettez-moi de vous buvez, mon beau vin rouge.

Vous êtes si belle, la noyade en rouge."

---

Anatolia II:

Vivienne C. Rosewood,

"He's... he's going to get us"

I watched as Anatolia's eyes began swelling up with tears; her voice came out muffled by the cloth around her mouth. She was barely audible, but with no other sound than those of our heated breaths, her words weren't too hard to comprehend.

I kept my eyes shut and my ears open, waiting for the sound of footsteps again. Whoever it was had stopped right at the entrance of the room, and hadn't stepped in. Were they waiting for us? Had they seen us come in? Boundless questions rushed into my mind, there wasn't much to think about besides the phantom... and... well, the stench – there was always the stench.

I listened carefully - waited, even - to catch a sound from the phantom. "He's not going to make a sound. It's just us. We can't do anything"

I peaked a look at Anatolia, and found her eyes now fixed on the door of the cabinet. "He's going to kill us"

I furrowed my brows, annoyed. "Shut. Up."

Anatolia shut her eyes and shook her head furiously. "You don't understand... You don't understand..."

"What don't I understand, Anatolia?" I was seething at this point, unable to contain any of my annoyance I shouted, "Why you're so cryptic? Why none of what you've said makes any sense? How do you know any of what you've told me, any of what you've warned me?!"

Anatolia's face held a confused expression; her eyebrows were furrowed and her eyes squinted towards me, questioning every word. For a moment I watched as she darted her eyes between the cupboard door and myself, her worry only seemed to escalate from my raised voice. I let out of a sigh and relaxed myself, no movement seemed to have been made from my shouting, and all I knew was that the phantom was still there... waiting.

I mentally scolded myself for being so reckless as to raise my voice and continued waiting, in silence.

"He's coming! He's coming! You have to hide, Vivie, hide!"

My eyes widened and started to panic – what was she talking about? The phantom hadn't made a sound, how could she hear anything? "Anatolia... A-Anatolia, what are you talking about? You're scaring me"

Anatolia shook her head furiously, her eyes widening as she lowered the napkin from her mouth. She became still and simply stared at the cupboard doors. Her red ribbon stood out the most in the darkness, and it was a bold contrast against her dark hair. As I stared at her, watching her still body, my only thought at that point was that red looked good on her. "Anatolia..."

"Vivienne, your last name is really pretty... Rosewood, isn't it? I've always wanted a last name. It means you belong; you belong to a family. I-"

Anatolia's voice quivered and cracked as I watched a tear slide slowly down her dirtied cheeks. She hadn't moved a muscle, and remained staring still at the door. "What do you mean, Anatolia? You don't sound like you're saying what you're saying. Please, Anatolia you're worrying me greatly. Please, look at me. Anatolia, look at me!"

Her eyes quickly darted at me, fear pouring out of them. It was as if I was staring into fear itself, I had never seen such an expression. It was so raw, so afraid. I had never wanted to hurt anybody, anyone, ever. But as I stared into her eyes I'd wanted it all to stop, I wanted the world to stop and see her. See her, as she was, right now; eyes shaking, body still, red ribbon tied to her hair as if it were blood clinging to her, and her fear... so beautiful.