Death's Daughter || Tom Riddle

The beginning of uncovering secrets | 27

It was now the middle of December; Christmas was closing in. The past days were miserable, according to Nyx. Every corner she took, every air she breathed, Mirage seemed to be there. The transferred student seemed to have picked up a hobby for stalking her like how usually a tiger would stalk its prey.

Some of their encounters would lead to conversations on the subject about herself. And only to extend her suspicion, Mirage seemed to be asking more and more personal questions every single time they talked. Because of this, she would retreat to Caelum and Hunter to ask about their opinions on the situation. Hunter would usually respond with, 'You're being paranoid,' whilst Caelum seemed to understand her.

"Tell Dumbledore. Wasn't he the one who warned you about her? Maybe he'll be able to help you out."

Nyx had told Caelum about Dumbledore's warning, which made his concern for his best friend even worse.

Caelum's suggestion of meeting with Professor Dumbledore wasn't a terrible idea, but she didn't feel like talking to him, for she felt weak and vulnerable under his gaze. To tell Caelum would expose her vulnerable side, which she did not trust anyone with, so she decided to turn to someone else instead- Riddle.

Riddle did tell her after all, to keep a lookout for Mirage.

Nyx walked down hallway after hallway, hoping to bump into him or either one of the Knights of Walpurgis. It didn't take long, for about ten minutes later, she spotted Abraxas Malfoy and Aiden Rosier walking side by side, in the middle of a conversation. She approached the two boys slowly without their knowledge, whilst they walked at a normal pace towards her.

"He thinks she's a powerful weapon-" Malfoy claimed, rolling his eyes in disbelief.

"Shut up, I reckoned your loud mouth made Rivers hear everything," Aiden smacked Malfoy on the arm, making him wince in pain and a scowl took place over his usual cocky features.

The Malfoy heir then strode over towards her in a manner that looked as if he owned the school. "Is eavesdropping your hobby now, Rivers?" The bleached blonde asked the dark-haired girl, stopping in his tracks once he was directly in front of the smaller figure. Nyx rolled her eyes and ignored his remark, "Where's Riddle?" She noticed Rosier raising his brow in surprise, and Malfoy furrowing his brows in deep thought, unsure if he should give her an honest answer or not, she assumed.

Suddenly, the blonde-haired boy who was standing quietly at the back spoke, "Riddle's busy." This time, it was Nyx's turn to raise her brow in suspicion.

"I asked where he is, answer the question."

"I can't tell you that."

"Why not?"

"He wouldn't want anyone to know."

"But I'm not just anyone, aren't I?"

There was a slight pause, Aiden Rosier took the time to contemplate on what he should say next, whilst Malfoy's eyes narrowed upon her. Anyone who passed by would have immediately sensed the hatred he held for her in a special place in his heart. And it was quite clear, too, that Nyx wasn't fond of Malfoy either, so she, too, glared hard back at Malfoy. Finally, Rosier's voice rang out, "Riddle's in the Room of Requirement. You know where that is, then?" Nyx broke eye contact with Malfoy and nodded her head towards Rosier. She walked past the two teenage boys, making sure to bump hardly into Malfoy's shoulder, and finally disappeared from Rosier's and Malfoy's line of sight.

On her way to the seventh floor, she couldn't help but wonder what the duo were talking about.

A powerful weapon?

A she?

Thoughts ran through her mind but before she could process or think of anything, she realized that she had arrived at her destination.

Nyx pulled at the metal door handle and the wooden door opened. Inside, the first thing her eyes laid upon was the figure crouched down on the floor, examining a book whilst writing something down on the floor. Upon hearing the door open, the head of the crouched person instinctively spun around to meet the intruder. However, instead of calming down upon seeing her, seemed even more panicked. Nyx had never seen Riddle this distressed before so she wondered if what he was doing earlier was anything good.

Riddle picked up his book quickly and cast a cleaning spell on the writing, erasing whatever it was, gone in a heartbeat.

"What were you doing?" She asked, coming closer to where Riddle was standing, but making sure to keep a safe distance away from him.

No response.

She groaned in annoyance and walked around where he was crouched down earlier. To her dissatisfaction, nothing was left for her to investigate.

"Who told you I was here?"

Nyx's heart jumped, almost forgetting Riddle was still in the room, due to his lack of speaking.

"Why do you want to know?" She questioned back, unsure if she should snitch on Rosier.

"I doubt you want to know." He replied smoothly and turned around to face her.

To be honest, there was a part of her that didn't, want to know what he was going to do, ever since learning he released a full-grown basilisk and ended up killing a student in the process. She shook that out of her head, "I came here to update you on Mirage." Riddle rolled his eyes, "And you decided now?"

"It's urgent."

He smirked, and sat back down on an emerald armchair nearby, one of his arms hanging freely over the armrest, whilst the other placed elegantly upon the armrest. He tilted his head to the side a bit and beckoned her to tell her about Mirage.

"She's suspiciously trying to befriend me, and asking me personal questions." For some reason, those words sounded childish once she spoke to Riddle. It was like a little kid reporting to their guardian about someone they didn't like. With this, she quickly looked away, pretending to admire the pattern of the way the fire in the fireplace danced.

Riddle was silent for a moment, then admitted, "I had my friends to look into her background. Turns out, there are no records of her existence anywhere. For all we know, she could have made up her background story and manipulated Dippet into thinking her life was endangered. But I have a feeling she's here for another purpose. A wicked one too." Nyx nodded, not all too sure if Riddle was speaking as truthfully as he seemed to be. Although Riddle's expression was the same serious face the entire time, she saw in his eyes, that there were still secrets hidden behind them. What, and Why, he should ever hide from her, she had no idea. Even though he wouldn't tell her, she felt like everything was connected to her.

Could it be Mirage knowing of her true heritage?

Could the powerful weapon Malfoy spoke of be her?

Could Riddle be planning something using her?

So many questions, yet she held no answers.

If Riddle was going to keep her in the dark, then so be it.

She, was going to become the dark.