Chapter 1
"Kenny! Pssst...Kenny! Wake up!" Kendra blearily rubbed her eyes to see her best friend hanging over her. His dark hair was hanging in his face and he kept having to raise one hand to impatiently brush it away. His eyes were shining with a kind of wild excitement.
"Jeez, Tom, gimme some space, will ya?" As Kendra untangled herself from her covers, Tom Riddle easily shimmied down the ladder and waited for her to do the same. Kendra slowly backed herself down, clutching at the sides of the wooden ladder. Tom stood protectively behind her, waiting to catch her if she fell.
"Mary's gone?" he asked, jerking his head towards the bottom berth of the bunk bed. Bunk beds were a necessity in the orphanage because they saved space, and space was not a priority.
Kendra yawned and rubbed her eyes again. "Yeah. She got up about an hour ago, I think." Mary McCorley was Kendra's roommate. She was nice, Kendra thought, if not a little ditzy. Then she noticed the strange gleam in Tom's eyes.
"OK...what's up?" Tom flashed her one of his famous mischievous smiles.
"Nothing." And then he strode out the door. Kendra dashed awkwardly after him and caught him by the arm.
"Don't give me that, Tom. Something's going on, and it better not have anything to do with the trip to the seashore today." One look at Tom's guilty face and she knew she was right on the money.
"Tom! Don't you even think about it. You and I are going to sit, we are going to eat, and we are going to behave like the good children we are." Tom shot his best friend a disgusted look over his shoulder.
"Cut the act, will you, Kenny? You're not as innocent as you pretend to be. You've seen too many of my schemes for that. And as for me," here he gave a short, dry laugh. "I'm as far away from innocent as you can get." Kendra unsuccessfully tried to roll her eyes.
"Please. I know that. Just pretend, will you? For my sake?" Tom shrugged.
"Sure, whatever." And the two continued on down to breakfast.
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At the seashore, all was peaceful. There was the usual clatter and chatter of the orphans running around, enjoying the sun and the sand. Mrs. Cole and the other directors spread blankets on the ground and laid out a savory picnic. Kendra delightfully indulged in a sandwich and some bread pudding for herself, and leaned back, enjoying the new scenery. Tom, on the other hand, finished his meal within about two seconds before he jumped up and announced to no one in particular:
"I'm going to go exploring!"
"Great, get yourself in trouble again, why don't you?" Kendra grumbled under her breath. Tom ignored this comment, or perhaps didn't hear her.
"Anyone want to come exploring with me?" he continued. His gaze settled on Kendra, and she shook her head so vehemently that her ponytail whipped around and hit her on the cheek.
"Oh, no, Tom. I'm not getting wrapped up in one of your crazy schemes and getting myself in trouble. I'm a good girl, remember?" Tom clearly doubted this statement, but let it go.
"Aw, come on, old Mrs. Cole's not even looking." Indeed, she was busy breaking up a fight between the Stickle twins, and had noticed nothing.
"No. Besides, you know I couldn't keep up with you. I'd probably fall and break something on those rocks." As this was true, Tom realized it would be futile arguing more. So instead, he turned around and headed for the caves. When Kendra chanced a look in his direction, he was gone.
Three hours later, Kendra was hot, tired, and sunburnt. She was very relieved when Mrs. Cole announced that it was time to leave. Mrs. Cole assembled all the children around her and did a quick head count. Her brow furrowed in confusion.
"Has anyone seen Tom Riddle?"
"He went exploring in those caves, ma'am." Kendra said quietly. She mentally kicked herself. Now Mrs. Cole was going to go drag him out, he would get in trouble and he would be mad at Kendra for ruining his fun. Oh well. Mrs. Cole sighed deeply.
"I'm missing Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop, too. They must have gone with him. Stupid children." It was plain to see that Mrs. Cole did not really like children. Why in the world she ran an orphanage, Kendra didn't know.
At that moment, someone tapped Kendra on the shoulder. She turned around to see Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop standing behind her. Both were as white as a sheet and trembling from head to foot. Their eyes were dull, glazed over, and wide with some unspeakable horror. And trembling harder than either of them was none other than Tom Riddle.
He looked like he had just seen a ghost. His face was the color of parchment, and his eyes were wide and bulging. His mouth was hanging slightly open. He looked a little like a fish out of water. His entire body was covered with a sheen of sweat. Kendra gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth.
"Tom...what happened?" she whispered, horrorstruck. Tom gazed as though transfixed at his own shaking fingers.
"We were just exploring..." he said hoarsely, his voice cracking slightly. "And then...I did it...I did it, Kenny, I did it!" There was a pleading tone to his voice, and Kendra sensed that Tom Riddle, who had never cried before a day in his life, was about to cry.
"Tom...what did you do?" she asked, her own voice wavering a little. Tom slowly shook his head from side to side.
"I did it, I did that to them." he muttered, his words drifting off into a stream of intelligible gibberish. "Don't know how, but I did it, I didn't mean to, didn't mean to hurt them..." Then Mrs. Cole saw them and she rushed over.
"What happened?!" she cried. Tom and Kendra shook their heads. The other two seemed incapable of speech.
"I don't know, ma'am." Tom said, his voice regaining some of its steadiness. "We were just exploring." Mrs. Cole looked disbelieving, but at that moment, another fight broke out between the Stickle twins over a pail and shovel, and she dashed away. Kendra was about to ask Tom something else, but she never got the chance.
"Come, children!" Mrs. Cole called, with forced cheer in her voice. "We're going home!"
A/N: Wow that was my longest first chapter in awhile, over two pages. I was thinking about making this two separate chapters, but since nothing really happened in the beginning of the chapter, I decided to make it one. Next chapter you'll find out a bit more about Kendra and Tom. Please review!