Disclaimer: Nope its not mine... JK owns it all... Blah, blah blah...
Authors Note: Okay, so this is chapter one... I don't know when I'm next gonna update, seeing as the next chapter isn't ready... But it should be soon! Please review! 3
Chapter One
Three days earlier…
"How can I help you, Tom?" Mrs Cole asked warily. She shut the door to her small office, once the boy had walked in and muttered, "Sit down," whilst gesturing to a chair before her desk, which was currently littered with humbug wrappers, and empty ale bottles.
Tom declined the seat, and remained standing. "Mrs Cole, I have an idea to put forward to you. You see, I was reading the paper the other day, when I came across a location, not far from here. You see, I was thinking that perhaps, the Orphanage was due an outing of some sort, and this place seemed the perfect place to be going."
Mrs Cole nodded, warily. "Yes… Continue."
Tom reached into his back pocket, and pulled out the newspaper cutting that he had acquired, and unfolded it carefully. There was a photo of a beach, accompanied by a short article, which Mrs Cole did not have the chance to read, as the clipping was whipped from under her nose, seconds later. Tom tucked the cutting back into his pocket carefully, and slowly pulled out the thin stick of wood, that never left his side. He pointed it at Mrs Cole, and muttered, "Obliviate! Mrs Cole, I never came in here, you think that it would be a wonderful idea to visit this beach, we will visit this Wednesday, and you will give us all time to explore the beach at our own free will. You do not remember any of this conversation." He finished the spell, and left the room, a confused Mrs Cole, coming to her senses.
The bell sounded loudly, allowing every child to know to gather in the courtyard. Tom grinned knowingly, and he left his room, making his way outside. Mrs Cole still looked rather stunned when she made the announcement, but Tom knew that his plan had gone flawlessly. That Wednesday, the orphans had piled onto a old, rickety coach, which had taken them the miles to the shore.
"Hey, Benson, Bishop. I have something to show you," Tom called to Amy and Dennis. "It's just over here." The teenagers followed him, unquestioningly, and he lead them to the edge of a cliff. "Come on, we've just gotta climb down here, and then I'll show you what I have found."
"Um, Tom… I don't think we should be doing this… I mean, we could fall!" Amy said, backing away from the cliffs edge. How he got there, she did not know, but all of a sudden, there was a loud crack, and Tom was behind her,, pushing her forwards.
"Tom, let go of her! We'll go, ok, we'll go!" Dennis yelled. He started his descent, and Tom 'helped' Amy down. Tom scaled the cliff face in minutes, and was walking towards the entrance to a cave by the time Amy and Dennis had reached the bottom.
"Come on," Amy whispered, and she clung to Dennis as they made their way across the rocky beach, to the cave's mouth. They knew that they could be stranded if the tide came in too quickly, so they really hoped that whatever it was that Tom wanted to show them, he would show them quickly.
None of them were really dressed for rock climbing, but they had heard things from the other children… Things about Tom, and what he was like… What he could do. They didn't want to offend him, for things would not bode too well for them if they did. So despite their natural instincts, which was, to run as fast as they could in the opposite direction, they followed the sixteen year old into the cave.
"So what was it you wanted to show us, Tom?" Amy asked, shakily, her voice echoing around in the almost impenetrable darkness. She could hear the sound of water, sloshing around somewhere nearby, and then something a little fainter… Was that… Oh, please no! She could have sworn that she could hear snakes! Snakes?
"Tom, what is that noise?" Dennis demanded, holding Amy protectively.
"Ah, she's here… I would like you to meet Nagini." There was a loud hissing noise, and Tom muttered something. There was a sudden light, coming from his direction - he seemed to be holding it. Soon their eyes adjusted to the sudden change in light, and they could see Tom, as clear as day, holding a python, which was drape over his shoulders, and in the other, what seemed to Dennis and Amy, like a simple stick of wood.
"H-how are you doing that?" Amy stammered, when she realised that the light was coming from the stick of wood. "T-that shouldn't be possible." She had started to back away as soon as she had seen the snake.
A hissing sound seemed to be coming from Tom's mouth, and the snake lifted its head, before slithering down and making its way towards Dennis.
"I don't think you'll be going just yet, Benson." Tom waved the stick in his hand, and a loud grating noise started behind her. She turned just in time to see the cave mouth, seeming to close itself.
"What the hell, Riddle? How are you doing this?" Dennis yelled, backing away from the snake, whilst Amy ran to the now closed cave entrance. "L-let us out!"
"You know what, I don't think I will…" He smirked, and walked towards them. "Now, you two are going to come with me." He lead to the edge of the rock, and stuck out his hand, reaching for something that wasn't quite there. There was another loud grating noise, and he pulled down, on a chain that had appeared. He pulled, and a boat started to float towards them. "Get in," he commanded, pushing the terrified teenagers in, ahead of him. "Oh, and I wouldn't touch the water, if I were you. Its current residents might become… restless."
The boat was small, and it really didn't look like it would be able to hold the three of them, but it sailed smoothly across the lake within the cave. Dennis looked over the edge and into the black waters - he was sure that he could see something in there… "Tom, what is in there?" he asked carefully. He didn't want to say what he thought it was out loud - what would Amy think?
"Lets just say, some old friends of mine…" he replied, grinning. Oh no… He had killed?
"Tom, please… Just let Amy go back, please…" Dennis didn't like that fact that he was begging this, this madman but he had to. There was no other way that he could get out of the predicament. But Tom just laughed. The snake was painfully close to Amy's head, and she could almost feel it on her skin. She was only too happy to get off the boat once they had reached the little Island that was in the middle of the lake, and she moved as far away from Tom as she could.
"Amy, promise me that you won't look in the water, please," Dennis begged her, holding her face in his hands, once he had got to her. "Please, just trust me on this."
Amy nodded and rested her head on his chest, squeezing her eyes shut, not wanting to look at Tom, or that snake!
"Please, Tom… What do you want with us?" Amy whispered into Dennis' chest, his top muffling her voice even more, it was almost impossible for him to have heard her. But he did.
"I need your help. You see, I have been searching for a while, for a place to put a personal item… I suppose you could call it a family heirloom. And as you may have noticed, I think I have found just the place. Don't you think its nice?" he replied, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"Why did you have to bring us here though? You've obviously found a place of safekeeping, you didn't need to drag us along here with you!" Amy yelled. "Just please, I'll do anything, just take us back!"
"Silence!" Tom shouted, and the hysterical girl fell silent.
"Please, Tom…" Dennis said, stepping forwards towards him. "You can see how scared she is, just take us back…" It hurt his heart to see her so terrified, he just wanted her to be safe.
"Benson, come here," Tom demanded. She didn't move towards him, but just hid behind Dennis. "I said COME HERE!" he shrieked. The echo covered what he said next, but whatever it was, it didn't sound english. Something flew from the end of that piece of wood, which Dennis had deducted to be a wand (though how, he did not know - wasn't magic just fiction?) and began to drag Amy forward, effortlessly. The 'thing' pulled her over the rocks, and dumped her before Riddle.
"What the hell did you just do?" Dennis shrieked. He ran his hands through his hair, and made his way towards her.
Riddle pointed the wand towards her again, yelling out "Crucio!" and a blood curdling shriek came from Amy's mouth as the curse took effect. "You stay back, Bishop, or she'll feel more than that!" he warned, once he had lifted the spell. Amy lay in a heap, shaking uncontrollably. Her face had a long cut running down it, from where she had hit it on the rock.
"What do you want me to do, Tom? P-please, I'll do anything, just don't hurt me again," Amy gasped when she had caught her breath.
Riddle pointed to a basin of, what looked like water, and said, "Drink all of that."
"Y-you… You brought me here to drink water?" Amy stammered.
"Amy, Amy, Amy… I thought you were smarter than that! It seems that I am able to perform magic. Lets say that my time at boarding school, hasn't been quite what it seems. You see, I am now, the most powerful sorcerer that there ever was." Riddle smirked. "You are going to drink the whole contents of the basin, and you," he said, pointing to Dennis, "are going to make her. That, or she will die."
The next half hour was excruciating for Dennis. He almost had to force the liquid down his friends neck. She cried, screamed and begged him to stop, but he knew that if she didn't drink it, they would both die. She was a trembling heap when all of the liquid was consumed. Riddle stepped forward, dropped a locket on a silver chain into the basin and then filled it back up with the same liquid that had previously been in there.
"W-water… I need water. Tom, please…" Amy gasped. He sneered, and kicked her away, towards the rock's edge. There was nothing else she could do, so she stuck her hands into the water, and drank as much as she could.
"Amy! Amy, get away from the edge!" Dennis yelled. He ran forwards, pulling her backwards. That was when she saw them, rising up from the water. Bodies, lifeless bodies were clambering towards them. A hand closed around Amy's ankle, and then another and another. They were pulling her in, they were too strong for Dennis! "Tom, please! Look, she did what you asked, get them off her!"
Half of her body was in the water, and she tried to grip the rocks edge, cutting her hands even more. Suddenly, her eyes filled with fear, a cold, dead hand began prising her fingers from the edge, and she went under.
"Please, Tom! She's going to die, please, please, get her out!" Dennis had begun to cry. He hated crying, especially in front of other people - it made him look weak. But he was broken. He was sure that Amy was going to die, no, he was certain.
"Shut up! I will get the dirty muggle out." He waved his wand, and a couple of seconds later, Amy flew out of the water, and landed near Dennis. He ran over, and pulled her into his arms. She was alive, she was breathing. "Get in the boat, we're going back," Tom growled. "And if I hear that you have told anyone about this. Well, I'll let you imagine what will happen to you. I have friends, very powerful friends, who are just like me." The boat ride back was almost in silence, the occasional whimper coming from Amy. Dennis had given her his top, which seemed to swamp her, but it was warm, and that was what she needed.
"H-how do we get out?" Amy asked, her teeth chattering.
"It wants a blood offering," Tom replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Where? Where do I wipe it?" Amy asked. Tom grabbed her forearm and dragged her over to the point in the wall. He shoved her palm onto the patch of the wall, wiping some of the blood off, and onto it. The loud grating sound came back, and the entrance reappeared. The sea was getting closer and closer to the cliff that they would soon be forced to climb, so the three teens, made their way to the cliff face as they could.
"Um… I don't suppose you could help us up there?" Dennis asked. "You know… With… With…" He dwindled off. That flash of red seemed to run through his eyes again, but this time he sighed, pulled out his wand, and grabbed the two. He turned on the spot, and apparated.
Amy threw up after that. That mornings breakfast emptied from her stomach, out onto the ground. Dennis carried his friend to where the rest of the Orphanage's residents had last been seen by him, and another boy, the age of seventeen, spotted them. He ran over to them to see what had happened.
"What the hell happened to her?"
Authors Note: Yeah, so here's the next chapter! Please let me know what you think! It's going to be finished soon... I think! Unless I get a sudden brainwave that makes me wanna carry on with it! Ah! Oh, and please review! :)