Chapter 34

"And then on the summer outing — we take them out, you know, once a year, to the countryside or to the seaside — well, Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop were never quite right afterwards, and all we ever got out of them was that they’d gone into a cave with Tom Riddle. He swore they’d just gone exploring, but something happened in there, I’m sure of it"

HP6

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Evelyn knew that she had to face her sins someday.Her cousin Milly was just an empty shell of the proud, lively girl that she was used to be. Her screams echoed into Evelyn's mind. She recalled all the energy she had to use to perform that kind of magic. It was like the Cruciatus was sucking her magic away as it was sucking it from Milly's sanity. She did it because Tom told her to.Milly was moving her low head back and forth. "I'm so sorry" Evelyn whispered, her heart aching.Milly ignored her mumbling something.Evelyn leaned closer to try to catch something "What are you saying? Can I help you?"."No" abruptly Milly raised her head to stare at Evelyn with wide head. For the surprise Evelyn retreated so fast that she lost balance and fell sitting on the floor."You chose it" Milly stood up from her bed and walked to her scared cousin, suddenly her sanity seemed back "That's also your name. Evelyn. Not so lovely, but evil! And he was born in New Year's Eve! I don't need to be Merlin to notice that!".The light started to tremble and flash, Milly's voice raised so loud to echo strong like a thunder.Evelyn wanted to scream and felt unable to stand up and move away. The light died and darkness engulfed her.

Evelyn jumped up on her bed, her heart beating fast, her skin sweating cold.It was just a nightmare, she realized thankfully. But her relief died when she noticed a shadow in her room.Before she could react, the shadow moved and a candle was lit. So she could see the face of the shadow and her heart calmed again."Are you alright?" Tom asked with a confused frown.She sighed with relief and struggled against the blanket to reach him, but he prevented her and approached her to hug her."You're back" she breathed wrapping her arms around him and smelling the smell of the sea on him.He went on a trip on his own for less than a day but she had already feared that something wrong happened to him.The world was on fire. The muggles were into a fierce world war, just like the magic world was collapsing into the global wizarding war led by Grindelwald."Of course I am" he said giving a peck on her cheek "You were already missing me, weren't you?".She smiled unlacing his cloak "So will you tell me now where you've been? And why I couldn't come with you".He sat on the bed cuddling with her "I already told you that I wasn't sure it was safe for you. I will take you there tomorrow, I promise. Can you handle with your curiosity for a little while?"."I can still kick you out of my bed for this suspence" she teased him."Try it" he challenged her undressing himself "Seriously, you need to sleep now. We have a tiring trip tomorrow. I won't take you there if you'll be sleepwalking"."I hate you" she snapped "As if I can sleep while you're doing a striptease in my bed!".He chuckled and slithered under the blanket pulling her down with him.She felt his skin was cold and wet and wondered if he was going to take her to a beach to enjoy the sea in those hot summer days.It was a lovely idea, but her heart was darkened by her recent nightmare and her backstabbing to her uncle to cover his dangerous revelations.She wished she couldn't just enjoy her boyfriend, but an unpleasant scheme was taking shape into her mind. Too many coincidences menaced to blow up the utopic romantic relationship she was dreaming with Tom.She recalled when she used the memory charm. A dangerous spell she wasn't used to perform and that could destroy the relative she loved the most. All because she needed to protect him and herself. And she performed it in a coldblooded way. She felt she was becoming like Tom Riddle.

It was late in the morning when she woke up. It was a cloudy day and the curtains covering the windows made her lost the cognition of time.Tom was already up and ready, waiting for her for some breakfast. Then he instructed her how to dress and they waited for her uncle and aunt to leave them alone."Be ready for a Side Along Apparition" he said offering her his arm."Can't you just tell me where we are going?" She disliked the idea of apparating with him."You don't know that place" he explained patiently "I couldn't apparate either yesterday because I forgot how it looked like so I had to use muggle means of transport to find it. That's why it took me so long. Now it will be quicker. Come on. Deep breath".She obeyed and grabbed his arm. She closed her eyes until the unpleasant pressure of the Apparition abandoned her.When she opened her eyes she inhaled salty air.She rarely visited the coast, so seeing the large sea was a lovely experience for her. "Where are we?" She asked smiling at Tom."Wales. We can't attract attention. There's a muggle village right there".She followed his nod and saw a small group of houses."We are not here for that village" he explained to her confused look "Let's go to the cliff. There's a cute sight from there".Evelyn followed him, imagining how the sea would have been on a sunny day. On that day everything seemed grey."So how do you know this place?" She asked him.After a long silence, he replied a bit coldly "When I was a child, they brought us here in some summers. The only trip we had".It made her speechless. She wondered why he would visit a place linked to his hated orphanage.

They reached the edge of the cliff, where it looked dangerous. She could stumble and fall on the sharp rocks on the bottom of the cliff.She noticed that Tom had two wands in his hand and checked her pockets. He had taken hers without her noticing it.She opened her mouth to question him, but the fear made her voice die in her throat.What she imagined was a lovely trip, was turning into something creepy.Tom waved her to step closer to the edge as he did "Isn't it enjoyable how strong the wind from the sea is?"."If the wind blows from the opposite direction it would push us down there" she joked, but it didn't mean to be a joke. It was the crude reality.He was staring thoughtfully down so she also looked down from the cliff, a view that made her feel dizzy."I want you to let yourself fall" Tom said in a whisper.She looked at him feeling her mouth getting dry.He wasn't joking. He was determined.And she wondered why he brought her there to make her such an insane request. She swallowed hard.Perhaps he got tired of her in the end. Perhaps he decided that he had to strive for his ambitions alone.He was patiently waiting. He turned his eyes to her with an unreadable gaze."Tom?" Her voice was almost begging."Trust me" he said strongly, like an order.She stared at him flustered and glanced at her wand into his hand. She didn't know many wandless spells that could save her from that fall. She was sure that those dark rocks would win over her and destroy her life.If she refused, she feared that Tom would simply push her."Why?" She needed to know. She got the suspect that she was trapped into another nightmare. "Why don't you trust me?" He echoed."Evelyn?" He called when she just took her time, trying to understand what was going on and looking around.They were in a muggle land. She felt no magic around that could save her.She rested her eyes into his again, as if finally she accepted her death sentence.She had no words to tell him, she hoped he could understand by simply looking into her eyes.Then she stepped towards the nothingness and the wind caught her into its cold embrace.

Falling wasn't a pleasant experience. She felt the acceleration, the howl of the wind that made her ears hurt, she saw darkness melted with light, but before the dark rocks could touch her she felt like falling on an invisible big pillow.She moaned with surprise, cursing herself for believing it was the end. Tom was soon by her side and he helped her on her feet on the wet rocks.He looked incredibly happy while she was still confused by that odd adventure."You're not scared of getting wet, aren't you?" He provoked her pulling her to walk in the low water to reach a small cave under the cliff.Evelyn held her breath feeling the cold water on her legs. If it was a sunny day, it would have been a better sensation.Tom helped her keep her balance on the slippery rocks and led her into the small cave, that Evelyn guessed would get filled with water with the high tide."Nobody can find us here" Tom whispered, his voice echoing "When I realized I can control my abilities, I climbed this cliff down and found this place. Nobody had been here before. You're the forth person to step in here".She was looking around herself, finding nothing interesting in there "Forth?"."I brought two muggles with me. You can imagine that they never dared to harass me again and they turned very loyal" Tom smirked in a mischievous way."What did you do to them?" She asked fearing her own question.He looked at her with a sinister smile "I didn't torture them. Not physically. They learned to do whatever I asked them".Evelyn froze.Trust me, he said. And she did what he asked. She could have killed herself just for his pleasure. That was what she had feared the most, losing her own will to obey to Tom. It was growing more and more harder to say no to him. He was winning and she was failing, she realized. Also because she was tired of fighting him and telling him where he was wrong.He stepped closer to her, raising a hand to touch her face "When I was little this became my favourite place because here I was free to use my magic, to master it. And I realized I was able to manipulate also people just as I was able to easily tame animals. And to inflict them pain, if I wanted to".Evelyn imagined a child version of Tom, a wizard amongst muggles, whose hatred became something so dangerous. And she recalled her adventures with the Founders and Lyanne and how her uncomprehended abilities made her the perfect victim for the Obscurus.Wrong choices that could be so lethal for the whole world."So is this why you brought me here? To be free to hurt me?" She asked in a low whisper.His eyes lingered in hers "Is that what you think? That I'm manipulating you too?".He handed her her wand and waved his own, making her sigh with relief as she felt her clothes turning warm and dry."I brought you here because I wanted you to know this place, since I don't know many interesting places to show you" he explained patiently "I didn't mean to scare you. I wouldn't have asked you to throw yourself down from the cliff if I wasn't sure that you were safe. You know that I need proofs that you trust me sometimes"."You should just trust me as much as you want me to trust you" she said tired."I try. I do try" he nodded, then grabbed her hand and pulled her deeper into the cave "The most interesting place is down there"."A cave of snakes?" She wondered with a chill in her spine. They were leaving the daylight behind. In front of them there was only darkness.Evelyn was grateful to have her wand back, but the light she produced wasn't enough to fight all that blackness.They walked through a narrow passage, that led them into a huge cave that left Evelyn breathless.There was a sea into the mountain. The lake was as large as Hogwarts Great Lake."Please, don't let me get lost in here" she joked but she meant it almost as a beg.He tightened the grip to her hand "I'm not going to leave you here".Evelyn felt so small and helpless in front of that nature wonder, unknown to the world. It was the perfect place to hide something, some big crime that had to be buried.She pushed those thoughts away and tried to enjoy the lake as Tom made some lights float on the water.It was a place all for them."There's a lake" she realized "Did you try...?".He smiled broadly at her pulling her closer "Of course I tried. And no sword came out yet. I'm really glad the lake gave you my same idea"."That's the only reason I would come here" she said reasonably."Really?" He mocked unlacing his cloak and transfigurating it into a fur blanket that he placed on the bank of the lake "Wouldn't you enjoy to swim?".She grimaced "It doesn't look like a safe place to swim".He pushed her closer to the water "Because there might be something in there?".He pinched her side making her startle and jump against him.Their laughs echoed in the cave, where once had echoed screams of pain.