The sun shone high and hot above our bus. Our caretaker, Mrs. Cole, sat in the front as it pulled into a parking spot near the beach. Once stopped, the doors to the bus opened and a wave of children pushed out. I sat waiting in the back and watched as the other children left. "Come on, Tom. Out we go," Mrs. Cole said in a rather annoyed voice as she stepped of the bus herself. I pushed myself out of my seat and exited the bus. Turning, I watched as the driver closed the doors behind me and drove back onto the street. I was now stuck here for two hours until the bus returned. "No matter," I thought to myself. "I have been waiting for today".
The other orphans all spread out along the beach. Some playing in the sand while others amused themselves by swimming. These children were of no importance to me at the moment.
Scanning the stretch of sand, I finally found them. The two lovebirds were sitting in the shade, far from the rest of the group, gazing at the sea. My eyes narrowed at the sight of them. Amy Benson, the girl whom I had once loved, and that Dennis Bishop, the boy who had stolen her from me. I made my way over to them as memories flooded my mind. The memory of our love and the memory of the vow I had made to myself the day she left me. The vow to never love again. The vow I promise to uphold.
Drawing up next to the two, I greeted them. "Hey guys."
Amy and Dennis's heads tilted up as they looked at me. "Hi," Amy replied. Dennis glanced at me and nodded. Now was the time for my plan to begin.
"You guys have to follow me! I've found the most amazing place!" The two pondered the thought for a moment but finally, deciding I was trustworthy, got up and brushed the sand from their clothes. I then began to lead the two much farther from the rest of the group.
The three of us walked in silence for quite a long time until we reached a large cliff that overhung the sea. I smiled slightly as I gazed at the questioning looks on the faces of my two victims. "And how, might I ask, are we going to get down there, Tom?"
"Fall of course," I replied. At that I pushed the two of the cliff. They fell, quickly nearing the bottom. Focusing my thought, I pointed my right index finger at the two falling bodies, their screaming breaking the once calm silence. Dennis and Amy started to slow until finally they came to a stop inches above the sand. I broke my concentration and they hit the ground softly.
As the two regained their senses I jumped over the edge of the cliff, landing softly below. Pulling the other two to their feet I began walking along the bottom of the cliff. "Follow me," I said, as if nothing had happened.
"You wait on second!" Dennis said. "I don't know what's wrong with you or what the hell is going on but I'm going back!" The boy turned and began to climb back up the face of the cliff.
"I said Follow ME!" I yelled. I stuck my hand out and violently pushed down through the air. Dennis fell of the side of the cliff and hit the sand face first. "Now, COME!" I yanked at a non-existent collar and Dennis began to be pulled behind me as if there was an invisible leash between us. The stunned Amy followed.
We made our way into a large cave and I threw the boy onto the ground. Amy ran to his side. "Now the fun begins," I laughed. "Move aside Amy. Dennis first and then you."
"What do you plan to do with him?" she yelled. "I won't leave him!" She threw herself onto the boy, trying to shield his body with hers.
"Move aside girl!" I flicked my wrist and Amy flew off Dennis, hitting the wall of the cave. She tried to pull herself off the ground but her body became stiff, as if bound by invisible ropes.
"Now then," I said, turning to Dennis. "I'm going to make you feel a small portion of the pain you caused me." I moved toward him and grabbed his left forearm. He began to scream in excruciating pain, his cries bouncing of the cave's walls. My eyes lit up as I watched the boy squirm, trying to free his arm, but I only held tighter. After a while of torturing the boy, I happily obliged and let go of Dennis's arm. Dennis remained motionless on the ground, whimpering.
"Please," he moaned, "Stop. Please stop." Dennis lifted his left arm to his face, examining it. It burned bright red.
"I take it you've had enough, I said, a strange smile present upon my face. "Stand up boy!" Dennis pulled himself off the ground and face me. "Come closer!" Dennis walked toward me, our faces inches from each other. We stared into each other's eyes. It was clear that Dennis was trying with all his will power to appear brave in front of me but the enormous amount of fear he had showed clearly through his dull bye eyes. Suddenly, I grabbed the boy's neck. He began writhing in pain, his limbs jerking and twisting at his sides. Amy cried loudly.
"Let him go!" She yelled through large amounts of tears. "Please, just let him go, Tom!"
I turned to look at the girl, my hand never leaving Dennis's neck. "Oh, do not fear Amy. It is your turn now." I threw Dennis to the ground. The boy was still much too engulfed in pain that he could not move. He coughed, trying as hard as he could to get oxygen to his air-deprived lungs. I began to walk toward the girl. Fear swam in her eyes. She tried to move, tried to escape by any means possible, but she was bound to tightly. I stuck out my hands and grabbed both of her wrists. Her cries echoed and the cave magnified their volume by twenty. I held her like this for ten minutes, twice as long as I had Dennis. I watched her all the while, occasionally looking toward Dennis to see that he hadn't moved.
Finally I let go. The girl fell to the ground. She breathed hard and irregularly. Staring at them both on the floor in pain, I laughed. I laughed hard and long. Their pain gave me such a rush like nothing ever had. Like nothing else ever would.
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"Get up! Both of you!" I said, five minutes later. "We're going back. You will never speak of this to anyone. I shall know if you have. If you attempt to, I will seek you out and punish you more greatly than you could ever imagine. Do you understand?" I stared at the, while they pushed themselves off the ground. They stared back at me, fear swimming in their eyes. Their silence answered my question. I moved toward the two. "Empty your pockets," I commanded. They did as I had ordered, always staying silent. A mess of random objects fell onto the ground. I leaned over them eagerly. Reaching down, I grabbed a small, silver thimble. "Excellent. A little souvenir to remember our exquisite adventure." I pocketed the thimble and walked out of the cave. "Let's get back," I called over my shoulder without looking. "The bus will be here soon."
We reached the cliff and began to climb. This took much longer than falling, but eventually we all made it to the top. The two walked in silence in front of me. To this day I still do not remember how I came to learn the exact location of the cave.
After a while, the large red bus came into view, as well as Mrs. Cole. When the woman spotted us she ushered us into the bus and the orphans and I left the beach. I would not return to this exact spot until years later, and for a much different purpose.
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That had happened three weeks ago. Ever since that day, my life has taken an unexpected turn. A week after our adventure in the cave, Professor Dumbledore, a strange man who I had not known at the time, arrived in my orphanage. He told me of my powers and invited me to his school. I was happy to agree. I would have agreed to anything that would take my away from this god-forsaken place. After getting a sack of odd gold coins from the headmaster, I left the very next mourning.
Walking toward the train station, I made a left onto Vauxhall Street. The street was not that wide and I saw next to no one else on the road with me. All the better, I never preferred company over the solace of my own mind. Suddenly I froze. I don't know why I did. Perhaps I had seen the store in a dream or premonition. But I stopped in front of a small variety store. The lights inside the shop were dim and every surface was dusty but I decided to enter. I saw many strange things in that shop but the item that stole every ounce of my concentration was a small, black, unembellished book on a shelf near the front window of the shop. I walked over to it slowly, as if the book was a wild animal which I was attempting to tame. Picking the book up, I opened it and flipped through the pages. The book was entirely blank. It was a journal.
The storekeeper, an old man in his eighties who had a rough air about him, had been watching me from the moment I entered his small store. Only now did I turn and acknowledge his presence. "You will give me this book," I commanded.
The man's eyes narrowed and when he spoke his voice sounded hard and war-torn. "I will do no such thing! That diary costs twenty pounds! I'm not going to give it away for free!" he yelled.
"Oh yes you will," I sneered as I turned to walk out of the small shop. The old storekeeper leaped off his desk with amazing agility for a man of his age and tackled me. I difficulty climbed out from under him and grabbed the man by the throat, pulling him off the ground. His eyes widened as he realized I was no ordinary eleven-year-old. I was much, much more. I tightened my grip and lifted the man higher by his neck., restricting passage to his lungs. The storekeeper died in my hand. I threw the limp body into the back wall of his shop, journal in hand, and made my way to Vauxhall station. I entered the train station and grabbed a seat on the train heading from Vauxhall to London, Waterloo. Thankfully, no tickets were checked as I had not bought one. I again flipped through the blank pages of my newly obtained treasure. Iwas growingvery attached to that small book. It was becoming a part of my soul.