Chapter 8: Exceeding Boundaries
Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Joelle was enormously quiet on their way back into the orphanage, her expression did not change since the trial. Bryan and Mrs. Cole both congratulated Joelle and patted Tom's shoulder, but none of the two said a single word.
"Elizabeth - ah good you're back, quick, Nick caught the flu, you might want to check." Said Martha, the helper from the other wing. Mrs. Cole nodded and hurried off with the other woman while Tom, Bryan, and Joelle stood in the kitchen.
"Can't believe he tried to kill you, Joelle. Tom, you are a hero! High-five!" He held up his hand to Tom, but the latter merely raised an eyebrow, sitting down by the table.
"Errm. Well, I'll take a shower." Said Bryan then, chuckling as he started to walk off. Joelle stared out of the window with parted lips and a cloudy expression, then turned her face towards Tom, wanting to say something.
"Wh-"
"Don't even start." Tom frowned. "He deserved it." He added.
"Marvolo..." Whispered Joelle. "I...I don't know what to say-...did-did you plan this?" She asked, walking over to him to look into his eyes. Tom shrugged.
"Maybe."
"Marvolo! This is not a game!" Shrieked Joelle. Tom's eyes narrowed greatly. Was she not thankful?
"I've done the both of us a big favor - I've done it for you!" He bellowed. Joelle sat down on the chair, running a hand through her hair.
"Why are you so stressed? Need I remind you of what he did? Don't you think he deserves to be locked up for a long long time? He would've gotten maybe five years at best with the sexual assault stuff - but an attempted murder...well, sadly it wasn't enough proof for them that he indeed seriously", he rolled his eyes at that, "attempted it. His defensive lawyer then beat him out of it, didn't he? Just because of my bad acting. I should've said that the wound on your neck was caused by John, I forgot to mention it! That would've given him a lifelong imprisonment for a serious attempt of killing you, yes, maybe even death penalty! But so be it. Fifteen years will suffice. For now..." He murmured almost absentmindedly.
Joelle stared into Tom's face as if she had never seen him before.
"Marvolo..." She whispered. "You scare me..."
Silence.
Tom glared at her, his nostrils starting to flare. "Go into your room." He suddenly said. Joelle frowned, shaking her head in confusion, wanting to retort something with a semi-chuckle, but Tom shot up from the table.
"Go into your room!" He barked, the chair behind him shot against the wall and Joelle gasped and ran upstairs and away, locking the door, staring at it in disbelief. She walked backwards, sitting down on the bed with eyes still widened, not knowing what to say, not knowing what to think, for sweet Marvolo could not truly have aimed to legally kill somebody through a manipulated statement. She sighed, lying down the bed, thinking about it all. What an exhausting day.
"Joelle." Came a voice later. Joelle blinked her eyes open, staring into Tom's face in front of her. She yawned and looked around, rubbing her forehead. It was two in the morning.
"Hmm?"
"Are you mad at me?" Tom asked, sitting down on her bed. Joelle pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head.
"No." She said gently. Tom looked into her eyes, trying to see if she spoke the truth, then sighed when he was sure that she did. He couldn't help glancing away, then back at her again. She was distant. It was unacceptable.
"You think I'm a monster." He said. Joelle frowned, shaking her head once more.
"No, no. I don't think that. I just think that it's really early in the morning." She chuckled softly, still rubbing her head. Tom stared at her before resting his back against the wall, listening to what she said.
"I know you did that because you wanted to help me. But it could've...gone awfully wrong, Marvolo. I would never want you to be the cause of somebody's death, do you understand me?"
Tom looked away. "He doesn't deserve it any other way." He murmured. "And remember what he tried. He tried to manipulate the case, too. Saying you wanted him to touch you. He tried!"
"Because he is a horrible person. You are not a horrible person." Joelle said firmly, then sighed and hugged Tom against herself, kissing the crown of his head. Tom closed his eyes and, after a whole minute of doing nothing, he eventually hugged her back.
"Silly snowman." She smiled, not able to help yawning again. Tom looked up to her, letting go eventually.
"What's on your mind." He asked in his usual commanding manner. "Tell the truth!"
Joelle frowned, shaking her head. "Enough, Marvolo." She spoke firmly, picking up her well known warning. Tom huffed, crossing his arms then.
"I'm making the rules here." He grumbled, causing Joelle to purse her lips in amusement again. It was like Tom merely reminded her of it, as always, but had no other choice but to drop the topic anyway.
He had to admit it, to some extent she was making the rules as well.
Tom Marvolo Riddle, as a child, has never cared much about social contacts, never wanted to have any sort of friend, never needed much attention. As long as he had himself, things were perfectly alright. Joelle Cole was one of those exceptions he was sure to find only once in his life. She never asked him to change, never judged him for the things he could do - and during the next couple of months, because yes, Joelle indeed moved into the orphanage, Tom and she were glued together as though they were one person. He did not like to see her away from him, stopped talking to her when she met a friend, and still followed her to school whenever he had the chance. One day, Joelle caught him leering behind a bush and instantly stormed up to him in anger.
"Marvolo! Quit following me around!" She had yelled.
"I can go wherever I want." He had responded then, causing Joelle to be the one to not speak to him for a whole three days - Tom couldn't bare it at all, proven by the many glasses that mysteriously crashed down in the kitchen. Mrs. Cole was the least happiest, she had to buy new ones, but at least Joelle talked to Tom the next day again, things were normal, as they should.
It was a warm day of April, the very first sun rays lit up the dining room, freshly plucked flowers embellished the table's center. Tom glanced at them, reminding himself of the day he and Joelle sneaked into the winter garden of their neighbor Mrs. Kenneth, who was an awful old lady, always screaming at the kids for being too loud. Joelle was never the spiteful kind of girl, but that changed when Mrs. Kenneth shouted out of her window at Joelle, telling her she looked like a slut and should dress up properly.
"Good news, children." Grinned Mrs. Cole during dinner. "We will go to the countryside this summer, we've been there three years ago, who remembers?"
"Me, me,I do, me!" The kids cheered. Tom sighed, not caring much about it, but Joelle smiled brightly.
"Can I come too?" She asked. Tom snapped his head towards Mrs. Cole, he would not go anywhere without Joelle - or furthermore, could now allow her to be away from him.
"Of course you're coming." He said in a tone of finality. Everyone glanced at him, then away again.
"Oh dear, I would love you to, if it's possible, of course. I'll see what I can do as you're not officially a part of this orphanage and you know your father just gave us his okay for you to live here, it wasn't that legal but- ah well. I suppose he's stressed as it is, the divorce is still not through, Marianne is trying a lot to prevent it..." Mrs. Cole sighed, rubbing Joelle's shoulder, but Tom was not satisfied.
"Miss Cole, Joelle has to come with us. Where can she go anyway when we aren't here for seven days?"
"Well, she would stay with Martha in the other wing with the younger ones." Said Mrs. Cole. "But don't worry, Tom. I'm sure we can find a solution for that."
"I won't come with you, though." Said Bryan suddenly. Joelle frowned. "Why not?" She asked, obviously not so impressed by that.
"Well..." Bryan grinned brightly. "They wrote a letter, saying if my grades won't change I can start my training after summer!" He blurted out and Joelle gasped in surprise, hugging him.
"Yay! I'm so happy for you, Bryan!" She squeaked and Mrs. Cole smiled feverishly as well, nodding in pride. "Congrats my boy!"
"So you will become a man of law." Joelle said and sighed happily. Tom glanced at Bryan, raising an eyebrow. Ever since the whole incident with Joelle those months ago, Bryan wanted nothing more than to become a policeman. He couldn't imagine a man less suited for that position. Sure, Bryan had the body to be, he trained a lot and was kind of muscular, but definitely lacked in strictness. His only hope was for everyone to surrender upon his good looks. Tom chuckled to himself. Ridiculous.
But somebody did not seem to find it ridiculous at all. Tom's eyes glued to Joelle again, narrowing steadily. She hugged Bryan. And that dreamy expression, it was unbearable. This did not go the way he wanted it to. He tried to catch Joelle's attention, but impossible, she was too distracted by perfect Bryan. Tom felt his heartbeat increasing upon the anger rising in his chest. She broke the rules! Tom forbade her to be in any sort of contact with Bryan, still yet, they kept on chattering around, giggling and laughing; even hugging. Tom got up from the table.
"Come, Joelle. I want to show you something." He murmured. This phrase turned out to be Tom's code for "you did something that displeased me and I want to confront you with it." Joelle, of course knowing this, just sighed and nodded, getting up from the table and followed Tom into his room.
"What is it now?" She asked.
"Sit." He demanded, locking the door.
Joelle raised an eyebrow, but sat down on the bed nonetheless, her lips curling up into a small grin.
"You broke the rules." Tom said calmly, almost businesslike.
"Ah come on, this was an exception, Bryan was so happy. Isn't it awesome how-"
"I never included exceptions." Said Tom firmly, not taking his eyes off of her. Joelle sighed, then chuckled. "You should be a teacher someday. Your strictness is the best asset for that."
"I do indeed believe that you need to learn your lesson. Even though I thought the trial already gave you some insight on how I can be..." He sat down next to her.
Joelle frowned, it was for the first time that Tom was sure she did not believe he was joking, maybe the bubble popped at last. Now was the moment Joelle finally knew he meant it.
"But..." She fished for words. "You would never hurt me."
"I don't want to hurt you...I never said I wouldn't." Murmured Tom, getting up from the bed now. Joelle crossed her arms, observing him closely but with a wary expression.
"Marvolo..." She said warningly, eyebrows constricting as he stood in front of her. She looked up to him curiously, his eyes showed no awareness of her condition.
"If you think I'd resolve to methods like spanking or other forms of physical violence, you can breathe again." He said. Joelle's eyebrows had a dance of disbelief, eyes joining, she did not even think of that.
"No." Sighed Tom. "No, as much as I detest John and what he did, he taught me that physical violence against you is as good as pointless. I thought of something else."
Joelle stared at him, her mouth gapped open.
"I am fair, Joelle, you see. I am letting you know what awaits you." He still looked into her eyes, but they were oddly empty, still.
"Be compliant - things are okay. In case you are not...Someone dear to you has to pay for it." He said.
Joelle blinked. "Marvolo, e-enough, you're going too far!"
"Joelle", said Tom softly, a grin crept up his face. "This is not a game."
More time passed, the cold days were finally over. Joelle never gave Tom a reason to hurt somebody else, however, warmed up at some point again after a while of distance towards him. She returned from school earlier this day because her teacher broke his leg somewhen before class - almost nobody was there when she came back. Joelle rarely visited the other wing of the orphanage where Martha was, as there were already plenty of things to do here, however, it was almost scary to see nobody around. Walking upstairs, she frowned greatly when she passed by room 27, seeing the door tilted open slightly.
"Marvolo?!" Frowned Joelle; Tom shot up from his desk, eyes widened. She never caught him off guard.
"What- what are you doing here?!" He frowned. "Nobody is here at this time!"
"No, what are you doing here?!" She crossed her arms.
"I...caught a cold." Said Tom, clearing his throat and quickly climbed back into the bed again. Joelle raised an eyebrow.
"Don't insult my intelligence." She walked closer, sitting down on the edge of his bed.
"Sweetheart, you need to go to school."
"You're not at school right now, are you!" He barked.
"My teacher, unlike you, does have a health issue." She said sternly. Tom mumbled something under his breath.
"I hate school, Joelle. I don't want to learn all those things I already know."
"What do you think is the sense of school?" Joelle asked. "Do you really think it's learning?"
Tom shrugged. "By the sound of your question probably not."
"It's to differentiate. Whatever they tell you, Marvolo, school produces people fit for certain areas of professions. I would die unhappy knowing you landed under a bridge someday with that potential of yours."
"Hmpf..." Huffed Tom. "Everything is so boring."
"You just need a goal."
"Just she says..."
Joelle sighed, her hand rested on Tom's shoulder securely, rubbing her thumb up and down but said nothing for the while.
"What's your goal? What do you want to do with your life?" Tom asked.
"I want to study. Psychology fascinates me."
Silence.
Tom grew paler than normal, his body turned oddly rigid, eyes widened in destructive anger. His lips thinned upon those words, he turned his face to her, only managing a breathy "No!"
"Hm?" Joelle frowned.
"YOU WILL NOT!" Yelled Tom, shooting up from the bed. Joelle's eyes widened and she looked to the left and right as if to find her mistake somewhere, not understanding the error of her answer.
"But what-"
Tom clenched his fists. The doors of his wardrobe flew open and closed again aggressively, Joelle jumped up but Tom pushed her back; she had absolutely no words left - was too shocked.
"You will not! You will not become a doctor, no, NOT YOU!" He yelled.
"But sweetheart-"
"Don't sweetheart me! You will not be one of those...those...fools...trying to find out what's wrong in the mind, like them, like those idiots, no. I will not allow it. Do you hear? I forbid it! Don't test me, Joelle!" He yelled again, Joelle just massaged the bridge of her nose.
"Swear to me!" Tom frowned, grabbing her shoulders. "Swear you'll not be one of them...!"
"Marvolo. Please calm down. And let us talk about-"
"There, there, you're already starting like them!" He growled.
"Marvolo!" Joelle yelled back suddenly. Tom's nostrils flared, his eyes were still widened, chest heaving up and down, but he let her talk for now.
"I don't even want to become a doctor. Not all psychologists are doctors, alright?"
Tom's eyes softened a little, he let go of her.
"You'll not become a doctor?" He asked again.
"I won't...if you promise me to go to school again." She grinned. Tom glared at her at first, but her grin activated a smirk on his lips as well. She had learned from him.
"Well played." He huffed, then nodded. "It seems like a deal, though."
"You've had some bad experiences with doctors, hm?" She asked.
"They think I'm mad." Tom glared. "I'm not mad, Joelle." He looked at her and for once she could see something in his eyes that appeared vulnerable; it made her heart ache.
"No, you're not mad." She said softly but with as much conviction as possible, and Tom would know because he listened closely when she said it. If she indeed believed Tom was mad, she was a great actress, for Tom could not hear the slightest of wavering melody. No. Joelle did not believe he was mad. Not his Joelle.
Not his Joelle.
It was a beautiful day in June, at least as beautiful as a day could get for Tom. Bryan Lessing moved out of the orphanage, but not only that, he had to move further out of town because London wasn't the cheapest of places to live in. This was just perfect. Joelle wouldn't see Bryan at all anymore as he would also soon stop going to school - perfect, perfect, perfect.
"Hey Joelle." Smiled Amy Benson once she walked over into the kitchen. Her eyes met those of Tom - and she quickly turned around but Joelle was oblivious to that little nonverbal conversation behind her back while fixing something to eat.
"Hey Amy, sweetheart. How was school?" She asked.
"Good!" Amy chirped. "I made something for you." She grinned brightly and pulled out the ugliest painting Tom has ever seen - but of course to Joelle it was nothing but sheer art. Tom rolled his eyes, Joelle loved art. One day, he accompanied her into a museum and thought he had never visited a place more boring - but Joelle was downright fascinated.
"It's just black and white." Tom had said, standing in front of a so called piece of art. "No colors at all, but it's still a painting. That's idiotic."
"This is not just black and white, Marvolo. This is the most colorful painting that you can lay your eyes on."
Tom did not quite understand, Joelle had explained to him why exactly that was the case but he did not care much, it was what it was, a black and white painting. Full stop.
"This is just awesome, Amy! I will totally hang this in my room!" Joelle squealed. Tom rolled his eyes again.
"When's food going to be ready?" He asked dryly, earning himself a glare from Joelle.
"Marvolo, instead of asking me you could just get up from that chair and help me, how about that?"
Amy giggled in a high pitched voice while pressing her hands to her mouth, falling silent upon realizing whom she laughed at.
"Hmpf." Grumbled Tom, resting his chin on his folded arms on the table, watching Amy disappearing from view. He rubbed his chin, deeply in thoughts over something, but his eyes swept over to Joelle again.
The next week was simply amazing. Their trip to the countryside started and Joelle was the squeakiest of all people, Tom could not help but smile to himself when she observed everything with big eyes - she has probably never been here before. Their camp was a lot tidier than the last time, he looked around the several tepees and instantly claimed the one in the very back, pulling Joelle along.
"Marvolo! Pfaha, wait, where are we going? Why this tepee? It's so far away from the rest of the group." Sighed Joelle.
"Which is what I want." Said Tom, walking into the tent. He glanced at Joelle, waving her by. "Come on then." He said softly and Joelle walked in as well. The teepee was tall enough to stand upright and quite roomy for two people. Tom started to pull out two blankets that were stored in the back, fluffing up some pillows, then sighed, feeling satisfied.
"I would love to see more of the landscape." Said Joelle, starting to walk out of the teepee again while Tom followed.
Later that evening, the kids sat around a fire while roasting some bits of food - the scent of burnt wood lingered in the air and the warmth of the fire made everyone cozy under the starry sky. Joelle almost cried upon feeling so good, Tom could clearly see it on her face.
"She walked into the cellar...the creaking sounds of the floor accompanied her every step...everything was dark when suddenly...ROAR!" Growled Billy, laughing at everybody's screams of fear, Amy fell off of her seat. Joelle laughed heartily, holding her stomach while wiping away a tear - only Tom was bored. He sighed, observing the place.
"Come to me..." Said a soft voice. Tom raised an eyebrow, wondering who had said it. His eyes wandered over to the rustling grass, frowning a bit when he saw it moving again.
"Follow me..." It said again. Tom's eyebrows twitched together, he got up to look around but could not see what or who it was.
"Marvolo? Are you alright?" Asked Joelle with a smile, rubbing his shoulder gently. Tom looked around, then nodded at her again.
"He's scared of the story and looks around for the monster." Grinned Eric and the other kids chuckled - but Tom's eyes were still glued to the same spot. How very strange.
"Well then, children. It's late. Let's go to sleep." Said Mrs. Cole, yawning a little as she stretched up. The rest of the group got up as well and Joelle started to count to check if everyone was there. "Six, seven, eight...nine. Yes. Everyone's here." She said, then waved at the group, walking off with Tom - furthermore Tom pulling Joelle with him.
"Good night Marvolo." Smiled Joelle as she cuddled under her blanket. Tom nodded at her, smiling a slight bit.
"Good night Joelle." He said, watching how she closed her eyes. It didn't take a lot of time for her to fall asleep, but it annoyed him to see that she turned around and her back was facing him now. Grumbling lowly, Tom rolled on his back and eyed up the tepee's crown, then sat up with a frown.
"We're here...we're everywhere...if you want us to be there..."
That voice again. Tom rubbed his eyes.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"We are your friends." Said the voice.
"I don't need friends." Said Tom darkly, looking around. "Show yourself." He said again. He looked over to the tepee's entrance and even his eyes widened upon the very view. A snake slithered in and Tom's first reaction was to frown.
"Are...you the voice?" He asked.
"Yes." Said the snake.
Tom shook his head, rubbing his forehead. Was he dreaming?
"You can seek our attention, if you please. You can find us in the cave."
"Cave?"
"Yes."
"Mhnmh..." Groaned Joelle.
"Do you want me to take care of that human?" Asked the snake, inching closer. Tom frowned, glaring.
"Nobody will hurt her." He hissed at it and the snake curled up, nodding, its tongue sticking out as it eyed up Joelle, then started slithering away.
"Marvolo?" Asked Joelle, rubbing her eyes. She turned on a small oil lamp.
"I'm sorry. It was Eric, he thought this was the restroom tepee." Said Tom and Joelle yawned.
"Alright dear. Go to sleep now." She said softly and turned around again. Tom watched her for a few seconds before his eyes wandered off again, to the spot where he had last seen the snake.
23rd of June, 1938
Dear Bryan,
I hope you are doing fine. You have no idea how awesome it is here, the sun is shining like crazy at the countryside. (Yes I was allowed to go.) The landscape is simply fantastic, there are hills and seas everywhere, it's all green. We are staying in a tepee camp (in case you don't know what it is, a tepee is some sort of tent), which is awesome, it feels like we're one with nature! Of course Marvolo shares a tepee with me, what did you expect? Anyway, I have to quit writing now, Marvolo's already whining about not paying attention to him.
Hope to see you soon,
Joelle
"Joelle!" Frowned Tom. "How many times do I have to call out your name?!"
"My attention is all yours." She smiled at him, but Tom was not amused at all.
"I've been calling out your name for at least six times. I doubt your attention is all mine. Whom is that card for?! To whom are you writing?" He growled, but Joelle sighed.
"Marvolo, it's such a beautiful day, we are spending so much time together for the coming week, we even share a tepee. Calm down, will you?" She asked, packing the card away into her bag.
"Where are you going!" Asked Tom. Joelle spun around to him with a glare, warning him to continue his tantrum now - and Tom decided to keep quiet for once, but he watched how she put the card into a large bag next to a sign that read
letters and cards will be collected and sent out each Wednesday. Please make sure to include enough stamps.
Tom inhaled deeply, inwardly counting to ten before he walked over to Joelle and the rest of the group, but his anger did not vanish. Joelle was busy as always, doing something else with someone else, chattering with Mrs. Cole and a bunch of other older people while the orphans played around. The anger did not decrease. Quite in fact, it grew beyond measure while Tom watched Amy being busy with her Yo-Yo and Dennis played the harmonica next to her, both of them sat under a tree. The anger in Tom's chest started to feel like a fire taking over his body, burning his innards. His eyes wandered over to Amy's Yo-Yo again before, with a flick of his will, it flew out of her hand and into his. Amy gasped, walking over to Tom and Dennis followed.
"Tom! Give it back!" She squeaked but Tom started to walk up a hill already, Dennis and Amy following.
"Tom! Stop! Give it back! Give it back, Tom!" Growled Dennis but Tom was quicker, he was much taller than them after all.
"I'll tell Joelle!" Squeaked Amy again. Tom stopped dead in his tracks, glaring, wanting to retort something, but then smiled sweetly.
"I just want to play with you." He sighed, pointing over to a cave across the sea. Both Dennis and Amy gasped. They stood on a very tall hill, a cliff almost, and for the briefest of moments Tom felt his fingertips twitching. He had to suppress the urge.
"Whoah..." They said in unison, eyes twinkling. It was a gigantic place in children's eyes, stony and of intimidating beauty with waves breaking on the cave's surface. The entrance was barely visible - but they could still see it.
"Are we going there?" Asked Amy excitedly. Tom nodded.
"How did you know it was here?" Asked Dennis in awe.
"Saw it on Joelle's postcard." Said Tom.
"How can we get in?" Asked Amy, but Tom smirked, turning around, grabbing Dennis's harmonica and started to run off while the other two giggled and followed him. Amy fell on her bottom a couple of times while they slid down the several hills, the air turned chillier the closer they came to the water. The cave seemed a lot nearer when they stood on top of the hill even though it turned out to take an awful long time to reach it; but they eventually did.
"Whoooahhh..." Murmured Dennis when they eyed up the cave's entrance, completely unbelieving of its size. Amy, however, snuggled closer to Dennis, not able to compensate the scary aura that this place gave off.
"Den, I wanna go back..." She whispered up to him, looking around. "Where is Tom?" She then asked.
"I hid your toys in there." Said a voice behind them suddenly. Amy and Dennis both spun around to Tom, back towards the cave's entrance, gulping upon its darkness, then started to walk in together while Tom watched them, a faint grin grew on his lips.
"And then I found it, can you believe it?!" Laughed Mr. Werner, an old man that visited the tepee camp for the twenty seventh time now with his wife Amanda. They handed over plates of cake for everyone.
"Where's Marvolo?" Asked Joelle, looking around while stretching and yawning. Mrs. Cole shrugged.
"Aren't you usually having him on a leash?"
She chuckled and bit into a nice piece of cake. "Mhm. This is delicious, Amanda, did you bake this?"
"He kind of ripped himself away." Chuckled Joelle. "I can't see Amy and Dennis either." She then added and Mrs. Cole's face instantly paled, clawing onto the plate, her chewing slowed down as her eyes widened.
After unsuccessful attempts of finding the children, Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop returned an hour later, none of them said a single word and Joelle was sure she has never seen two kids more frightened than that - their eyes reflected sheer and naked horror.
"Amy? Amy, sweetheart, are you alright?" Asked Joelle. Amy looked down at Joelle but her lips were pressed together softly, eyes cloudy, she did not respond to anything at all and neither did Dennis when Mrs. Cole tried. Joelle's eyes instantly went over to Tom who watched the whole scene with crossed arms, gasping when Joelle rushed by and ripped him around and into the tent.
"You need to tell me what happened, Marvolo!"
"Why would I know? I was sitting on top of the hill and watched the waves. I've seen them walking out of a cave, though." He said softly. Joelle considered him for a moment, raising an eyebrow.
"Marvolo...we have been looking everywhere, we did not see you."
"I've been further away." He shrugged. "Told you, I have seen them coming out of a cave. Surely they will tell you what happened...should they speak, that is. They didn't tell me anything when I asked. It must have been horrible." He added, smirking when Joelle nodded and turned her face away from him.
"Horrible enough to stop the trip and return to the orphanage." Sighed Joelle sadly while starting to pack up everything - causing Tom to frown when she lowered her head.
The whole thing was a big ordeal. Much bigger than it needed to be, Tom thought. Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop did not speak for the coming week and of course, as Joelle said, they returned back to the orphanage the very same day. Dennis and Amy were instantly sent into whatever hospital.
Did Tom had a bad conscience? Not at all. The only thing he slightly pitied was the fact that he could not spend some time with Joelle at the countryside - but on a second thought, it did not matter where they would spend their time together; here or there, what did he care? The result mattered. The only odd thing that Tom encountered was the increasing absence of Mrs. Cole into her office lately. He knew about the several Whiskey bottles that she neatly hid somewhere in her mismatched furniture, chuckling at the imagination of Joelle's aunt on the couch, philosophizing over where she had gone wrong with Tom.
Little did Tom know that in fact, Mrs. Cole opened a letter.
"Professor Dumbledore?" She murmured to herself and frowned, raising an eyebrow. And he wanted to discuss Tom Riddle's career?
