For Tom, the most bothersome thing about being alive was other people. They constantly spoke about things that did not matter. The constant cacophony that enveloped the orphanage from the other kids who seemed to hate the concept of silence. Even when asleep, they would make noises, snoring, sniffing that stole sleep from Tom.
It was his fourth time evicting the other boys out of his room. It grated on his nerves the first time they came back and every time after that it only got worse. He had thought about using The Power on them but decided that having the people who he sleeps next to, want to kill him was risky. On the other hand, they were unrelenting in living in the same room as him. Tom decided that he would go halfway and just lock everyone in the building out of his room.
He found several pebbles and pushed The Power into them. After many days of experimenting, Tom had found the right amount of power to use so that the pebbles would let no one in the orphanage through his door. The rule had five children per room and Tom knew that there was only one boy in room C3, although the boy, Billy Stubbs, tried to pretend that he had others with him.
The fifth time Tom sent the children out of his attic bedroom, he knew they would stay out.
Because of the way they split the orphanage, with girls on the left and boys on the right, there was no way to go in between the wings without going through the main hall. Because the matron did not want there to be any problems between the girls and the boys, there was one empty attic room. Only Tom knew about a little hole in the back corner of the hall that connected the two attics.
If the matron had known about that little hole that children could fit though she would have thrown a fit. It was 'Improper' for boys and girls to interact without adult supervision after all. Tom did not really want to be near the girls, they squealed too much and they never cared about the important things in life.
Tom knew that he shouldn't have taken over room D2, but there was no-one who lived there and the other girls' room still had two spaces left. He began filling it with old bookshelves that he had found while exploring the basement. These bookshelves were rapidly filled with the books teachers gave him and books he stole from the other children.
The lightly used beanbag outside some rando's house was promptly claimed by him and from then on he had a comfy chair in his little reading room. Tom stashed non-perishables in his room, hoping to have extra food in case of bombings.
Every time a new girl showed up, Tom panicked. If someone was in his room, reading his books, he would go crazy. They were his only possessions other than the little trinkets he stole from the other children when they left it behind, forgotten after their lessons.
Every once in a while, Billy Stubbs would walk up to Tom with his shoulders thrown back and a smirk on his face. The bully would then threaten Tom, promising that if he did not hand over room D1, there would be hell to pay. Not that Tom did not believe him; it was just that he did not care. Nothing that Billy did could ever scare Tom.
Whenever the bumbling fool tried to lay claim on his room, Tom would tilt the corners of his mouth down and with The Power, take away the ability to breathe from Billy and watch as he slowly turned red, then purple, then white as he gave up, choking out that it was fine, Tom could keep the room.
It was a shame, really. Tom wanted to see what would happen if the air didn't flood back into Billy's lungs. It was always so much thrilling to trap a chipmunk, pin it to the ground with stakes through its little hands and feet, then slowly tear into the soft flesh of its stomach as soft shrieks spewed from the creature's mouth.
Tom knew he was not normal, he had The Power, and he loved the agonized yelps of pain from animals, or humans if he was feeling particularly violent. On one such occasion, it happened, Tom, torturing another human. It was a man who had come to the orphanage to adopt.
Tom did not trust him, and he was proven correct when the man tried to take him away. Usually, the adoption process took months, and only qualified people could get there. When this man walked in, Tom knew something was off. He looked like one of the men you would see in back alleyways pressing women against walls.
He waltzed in and looked around at the children milling about. When his-greedy, greedy-eyes noticed Tom, he froze and left the room. When he came back Tom had retreated into the little space behind the dresser of toys. The man had—somehow— adopted Tom with no arguments from anyone. Tom later thought he might have promised to take Tom to the countryside, where he would be safer.
The man did not do that, he instead took Tom to one of those alleyways Tom had imagined and began saying things. Things like,
"Oh, I cann'a wai' 'till I claim that pretty li'l arse of yours,"
His low growl sent shivers down Tom's spine.
As Tom did sometimes(unfortunately) listen to the older boys, he knew what arse meant. That word being used near him was odd, but Tom didn't mind. He was going back to the orphanage anyway. Tom just walked away from the man. When he heard footsteps behind him, Tom ran. He eventually got lost, but the footsteps were gone. He traced his steps back and found his way back to the orphanage. Using The Power, he erased the minds of everyone who knew about the man who had adopted him.
A little more than a month later, the newspapers released an article talking about how a serial rapist had finally been caught. He had assaulted fifteen little girls and six young boys before being caught. When Tom looked at the picture, his breath caught. It was The Man.
Tom was furious. He would shudder every time he thought about The Man. He could have been a statistic, him, Tom Riddle. It was the first time Tom had ever wanted to hurt a human. He had mused over killing Billy Stubbs, but Tom had never wanted to hurt him, not fatally anyway.
By the time Tom arrived at the police station, dusk had darkened the busy streets.
A week later they found a body so mutilated that the only identification the police could use was a note found atop him that said that it was William Brown, the serial rapist.
Tom was eight years old when he knew that he was special. He had known for some time. When he had shown one of the nurses his power, she got angry at him and called a doctor. When Tom showed it to the doctor, he was beaten. Tom could hide his emotions after that. When hidden, The doctors stopped coming.
~~The Heirlings~~
With his newfound freedom, he made his way to the secret room. Tom woke up one morning with the feeling that he should move all of the bookshelves away from the room. He ignored it. Oh, how he would regret that decision.
~~The Heirlings~~
I have changed the room Tom was in. In the books, he lived in room twenty-seven, alone. There was no indication that he lived in a room with other children, but for my story, I need Tom to have the only solo room. I would also like to mention that we are in the middle of a pandemic and everyone should stay safe. I am at a lake house with nothing to do all day. Because of this, I am thinking about posting once a week. Once my dance starts up again, I will go back to once every two weeks.
I really enjoy writing this, and I am hoping it will improve my writing. If you have any suggestions, please comment. If you want me to include things, tell me. I will try to incorporate any feedback I get.
I am also super happy to say that I have a beta now! They have helped me so much! I am super excited about it!
If you guys have questions, feel free to PM me, I should answer within the day. I hope you enjoyed, please comment on any suggestions or thoughts you had about this chapter.
I love you guys (male, female, other, and spoons)
Bookfairy
