Tom had very few possessions, and as a result it took very little time for him to move them into the upstairs rooms of Borgin and Burke's. The room was plain, with black sheets and bedclothes, and thick black curtains, and Tom liked it that way. He carefully placed his clothing into the cupboard, marvelling at his numerous black dress pants, dark green ties, and black dress shirts. There were several other objects, his Slytherin uniform, and some cloaks but overall Tom's wardrobe was plain, yet sophisticated, it paid to be well presented in the wizarding world.

Once the room was completed to Tom's high standard he removed his ring and placed it on his desk, smiling at how it gleamed in the desk lamp's light. He was annoyed that it had taken him so long to think of turning the ring into a horcrux, but at least it was happening at last. Tom looked up at the book case, only the bottom shelf was full, he had not the money to buy many books, the ones that he did have were all second hand, bought from the depths of sale bins in Knockturn Alley, nonetheless, they were dark books filled with terrible magic that many dared not even imagine. He leant forward and with his thin nimble fingers pulled out his diary, grinning as the rush of adrenaline and power surged through him as he held his first ever horcrux. He placed it next to the ring, smiling to see how the two complemented each other.

Tom smiled down at the two objects that meant so much to him. The diary that held the memories of all his ambition and power from school, all the good things that he had achieved and the disappointment of the chamber of secrets failure. He had been too risky and bold then, but it had taught him much. He was not finished yet, when he returned as a teacher to Hogwarts, he would open the chamber and take control of the school. Removing the impure from the sacred hallways and ensuring that magic, was once again a pure trait. Of course there was the problem of breeding, as he put it, but that too was easily fixed. Tom had already started to plan a system that analysed bloodlines from all over Europe, from England to Russia, and propose marriages to ensure that the blood lines were not destroyed by incest.

Love was not real, it was merely a figment of one's imagination, and love counted for nothing in relationships, his parents was proof of that. Proposed marriages had worked in the past, they would work again. People would be able to grow fond of one another if they put their minds to it; it was not difficult he was sure.

Besides, for the well being of the wizarding race, sacrifices would have to be made in all parties. He chuckled at the brilliance of his plan. No one needed to know that his blood was not entirely pure; the blood that was magical in his veins was some of the purest oldest blood. He hated the fact that it had been watered down but there was nothing that could be done about that. He would never have children, for he'd be passing on his impure blood, but he alone would survive forever.

At the thought of his magical blood Tom turned his attention to his ring, fondling it with pride. How amazing that his blood lines went back for centuries, back to the beginning of all time directly for all he knew. It was the perfect object to place a part of his soul into.

He grinned as he realised he was playing creator, dividing the very essence of his being into different parts. His only disappointment was that he could not choose which part of his soul to remove. If he could then that would be the ultimate achievement. Yet none of the darkest books he had purchased mentioned the ability to choose, they merely stated that upon committing murder the soul was broken apart, whilst still in the body but separated from the rest and only a wizard of exceptional constitution, strength of mind and skill that section from their body and place it into an object. This object would then be known as a horcrux and few things could destroy it. Whilst a horcrux survived the person could not die. Tom was still unsure just how many times a soul could be divided, but he was sure that with the resources available to him here at Borgin and Burke's finally he would be able to find books that answered all his questions.

He scowled as he remembered Mr Burke's words outside the Black house. His new boss was right, Riddle was not a suitable name, and he would have to think of a new one, one that pulsated with pureblood power. Outside an owl hooted and flew away, as though pre-empting what evil was about to occur in the room.

Tom awoke the next morning and headed downstairs to familiarise himself with the stock that the store had before he would begin working out what people had that could be of interest to him and the store. He felt lighter, more confident now that he had successfully created his second horcrux. He was confident that this job would enable him to make contacts with the right sort of people that would later on help him achieve his goal.

Mr Borgin was already downstairs, wiping a dirty cloth over the service bench as though it would help.

"Ahh, Mr. Riddle, good morning." Mr Borgin stated with a sarcastic sneer. Tom smiled and replied nevertheless,

"Morning, Mr Borgin. Just thought I would familiarise myself with the stock before I go looking for things to buy. See what things seem popular and so forth." Mr. Borgin shrugged,

"I don't particularly care what you do, just stay out of my way. I don't need you down here talking my ear of all day!" Mr Borgin sniffed and blew his nose on the 'cleaning' cloth. Tom nodded with a smile before wandering off to the back room to begin learning about the stock.

As he neared the front of the store he heard voices, and out of habit, he began to listen in.

"Pandora! Will you hurry up and choose something already?" Sounded a female voice, another female responded in a short crisp Irish accent,

"Shut up Prince, we can't turn up to Slughorn's party without a stupid gift for him. Neither you nor I are talented enough to be in his group were it not without our connections. He doesn't understand the fame and money that hippogriff racing can render yet, once he does my place in his little collection will be permanently secured." Pandora stated with firm distraction. The girl, whose name was Prince, muttered under her breath as she walked away,

"You mean you're not talented enough. I am in his collection because of my potions." Prince picked up a knight from a nearby chess set, and muttered under her breath. Tom waited expectantly, to see what Pandora would do. Tom moved closer able to see the girls, he saw a short fit girl, with fashionable shoulder length blonde hair, and a finely designed face with a familiar upturned nose splattered with freckles. Tom recognised her as Burke's daughter from the portraits.

Pandora strode forward towards the Prince girl, a snarl on her face that sent a shiver of excitement through Tom's body,

"I heard that Eileen. Don't think that Slughorn gives a damn about you and you're stupid potions. All you do is sit in the library all day, studying all alone, trying to be good at something to justify your reason to live, and your reason to take up space and breathe air. You need to try to be good at something, I don't.

I have ambition, intelligence, good social skills, I can manipulate any person into doing what I want, believing what I want them to, saying what I tell them too.

You know full well, just because I am not top of the class does not mean I am not worthy of my place on Slughorn's shelf. I do well in every class, am on the Quidditch team, I train hippogriffs for racing, I have reason, power, people look up to me. People think about me, they want to please me!" Pandora paused to tilt her head sideways, she was inches away from Prince, and yet the taller girl was cowering away, unable to meet Pandora's gaze. Pandora stroked Eileen's cheek,

"You're just some poor hopeless Slytherin that is asked to join his crew because he screwed your mother years ago when she was still his student, and now he's afraid to not dote on you in case she spills the beans." The Irish girl slowed her voice so that every malice filled word cut into the Prince girl, who was now whimpering in fear.

"I'm sorry Pandora, I'm sorry." She begged to Tom's surprise, he had expected more of a fight from the tall, pale dark haired girl. Her nose was slightly crooked, obviously having been broken before, her greasy hair was tied back in a simple flattering pony tail, she would no doubt have been attractive were she not standing next to Pandora. The blonde girl oozed confidence and charisma that enhanced her Irish beauty, Tom could easily see how the blonde gained so much power from her peers, she had ever factor that created the sort of person who could become a leader.

Tom leant on the shelf and Pandora's head snapped round to glare at Tom, she looked him up and down with unhidden disdain, "we're having a private conversation, so, whoever you are, I'd prefer if you didn't stand there and eavesdrop," Tom smiled his most charming smile and bowed his head in apology,

"I'm sorry Miss, I overheard voices and wanted to know if you needed any help choosing anything?" he lied, Eileen went to speak but Pandora dug her manicured nails into the other girls arm to stop her,

"Help us? You must be father's new employee, Tom isn't it?" She asked, head tilted to the side,

"rather common name Tom almost would think it's a muggle name," Pandora stated as she looked at Tom as though he were no more than a piece of rubbish underneath her Italian leather designer shoes. Tom, although he was bristling with anger inside, acted as though the comment did not bother him,

"I heard you mention that you were interested in purchasing a gift for Professor Slughorn, may I suggest something? I know him rather well," Tom offered calmly, the look on his face one of pure conviction that even Pandora could not ignore,

"What is it?" she asked cautiously, walking after Tom as he led her to one of the other rooms,

"This, Slug used to have one but it was broken, I know that he liked it very much." Tom stated, picking up an hourglass in which the sand was swirling quickly,

"An hourglass? Surely a watch would be a better idea than that?" Eileen, the greasy haired girl piped up with a sneer that caused Tom's smile to waver,

"This is no ordinary hour-glass, it is, I must admit, a trivial object however Slughorn enjoyed it, the slower that the sand moves the more interesting the conversation," Maria glanced at it and pursed her lips in thought,

"Are they rare?" Tom nodded, and she smiled reaching out and taking the proffered object from Tom's hand, her fingers brushing his ring and sending a flash of power and excitement through his body as she almost leapt back, clasping the hour glass to her chest staring at Tom's hand in horror,

"I'll get Mr Borgin to wrap it," she whispered silently, unable to meet Tom's eyes as she turned and quickly marched from the room, followed by a confused Eileen.

Pandora glanced back at Tom and he saw fear and curiosity etched into her features, and then and there he swore that he would discover what it was she had seen or felt when she had touched his ring, his horcrux. Tom slipped the ring off and placed it into the inside pocket of his vest before returning to his browsing of the store, his mind almost completely on the task at hand.