Masquerade¹ → Tom Riddle ✓

chapter twenty five

Little Hangleton was a quaint village: there was almost nothing alive within Evelyn's eyesight and the weather reflected the gloomy mood much better than anything else ever could. Although it had a dark atmosphere: it was magical.

Tom cleared his throat with a loud raspy cough. "This way." He started walking towards a quaint-looking house peeping over the hill and Evelyn took off following him. The ground felt hard against her feet, dried up from the evident lack of rainfall in the village. Tom made no attempt to make polite conversation along the brisk walk so Evelyn assumed it best not to try. She usually found it better that way.

It didn't take long to get to the building but when they did, they both stopped in their tracks. "We'll be staying here overnight and then tomorrow morning I expect you up early for our little job," Tom commanded. Before Evelyn could get a word in, Tom stormed off into the B&B.

Evelyn reluctantly followed him again, she'd found herself doing this quite often, much to her dismay, yet she knew acting otherwise would land her in trouble. The foyer of the B&B was dimly lit by a rugged lamp in the corner of the room. Evelyn shrivelled her nose in disgust when she first laid her eyes upon the receptionist; a stumpy man with a coiled grey beard, dirt trickling down his forehead, trapped in beads of sweat: he was a mess.

In the space of time it took Evelyn to fully digest the situation, Tom had already collected their room keys and was waiting impatiently by the wooden staircase. Evelyn took one last glance at the man before following Tom up the stairs, cautious not to step on any weak floorboards.

"Mudblood." Tom simply said, sending Evelyn into a state of confusion. "The man you were just looking at."

"Your point is." She trailed off.

"I saw the way you looked at him, it was the way I look at them too. You're much more similar to me than you think Evelyn."

"I-I don't know what you mean," Evelyn stuttered, pausing in her place behind Tom.

"You don't have to try and hide it around me, I feel the same way too." He said with a look of disgust on his face.

Evelyn stopped herself before she said anything else. She could keep up the act with Tom and infiltrate further into his ranks or she could jeopardise the whole task with one simple word. She thought about it intensely, furrowing her brow before coming to a conclusion.

"They're unworthy." Evelyn spat, mimicking Tom's tone of voice.

Without another word, Tom passed Evelyn the key to her room and bid her goodnight before disappearing down the corridor. Evelyn inspected the key, turning it in her palms three times before placing it in the keyhole and unlocking the door. She tried to hide her disappointment when she entered the room but the look on her face gave it all away.

As much as Evelyn knew she wouldn't be staying in a five-star resort, she had at least expected a room that wasn't crawling with mould and didn't have a severe rat infestation. Tom Riddle had higher standards than a room like this so she wondered why it had even crossed his mind to stay here. They could have simply apparated in the morning and then do whatever was needed to be done during the day. Evelyn knew that sleep would not come easily in a room such as this.

Evelyn had not brought anything with her on their journey other than what she was wearing so she hesitantly removed her top and skirt until all the remained on her skin was the pale underwear that tightly clutched her naked skin. She felt bare. With lightning speed, she threw herself into the bed and under the covers, breathing a sigh of relief as the blankety heaven drowned her. She shut her hazel eyes tightly and attempted to drift away to the sound of scurrying creatures.

A loud thud awoke Evelyn from her peaceful slumber. With a groan, she rolled over in the bed and stretched. "What is it?" She called out, her voice crackling with every syllable.

"Evelyn hurry up!" The voice replied, ringing bells in Evelyn's ears.

During her peaceful slumber, she had almost completely forgotten about Tom Riddle and his stupid good looks. Hesitantly, she rubbed her eyes and stood up beside the bed. Before she even got the chance to adjust to her surroundings, the door swung open revealing the mysterious Tom Riddle stood in her doorframe. He leant against the doorframe with a look of pure disgust, a look that could kill.

His snake-like eyes stared with such intensity, Evelyn swore they were about to pierce a hole through the wall. Without a word, he shuffled out of sight and Evelyn proceeded to get changed with a sense of hurry that his look had installed.

Once she was appropriately dressed, she swung open the door to reveal exactly what she had expected: Tom leant against the wall with his wand already prepared in his hand. Evelyn took one last look in the rusting mirror at her reflection before closing the door behind her and placing herself beside Tom.

"Well, at least you're finally wearing some clothes," Tom muttered as he caught a glance of Evelyn.

"Is that humour I just detected Tom?"

With a stern look, Tom immediately silenced Evelyn before she could dig herself a deeper grave. "Follow me." He ordered.

Evelyn knew better than to disobey his command yet as she trailed behind him, she made sure he was aware of her curiosity. "Where are we going?"

" Gaunt House."

"Why are we going to the Gaunt House?" She asked.

"Somebody that lives there has something that I want, need" He quickly corrected.

"And what is that exactly?" She pestered, picking up her pace so that she walked beside him.

"Do you ever stop asking questions?" He said with a sigh.

"No. I'm a very curious person. I like to know what's going on all the time. I like to know people and things. It makes me uncomfortable not knowing." She explained.

"You don't know me. Do I make you uncomfortable?"

Evelyn thought about her words before she spoke them this time. Tom Riddle definitely made her feel something but uncomfortable wasn't it. "No."

"Is that a lie?" He began to slow his pace.

"No." She said with a hint more confidence than the previous time.

"Good, because we're here."