The Deeper you Dig, The Darker it Gets

83.

            "How do you even know it would be in this spot?" Aary asks.

                 "I don't," I tell her. "But I just have a weird feeling."

      I can't see the three of them but I know the facial expressions they're making. I'd probably be making the same face too if they were in my place. But I'm desperate for answers, I'm desperate to end this.

                   "Do you see anything so far?" Blaise hollers.

       It doesn't take me long to get in the ground a decent amount. The dirt is dry and sandy, easily moved. The sun has gone down which is making it hard to see anything in front of me, which makes me ten times more impatient.

               "Mal, I don't think anything is down there." Draco says to me.

         There has to be something. And maybe it's in a different spot on the lot, I should probably try somewhere else. But I can't. The deeper I dig the darker it gets, the only thing surrounding me is pitch black. Not just in my vision but in the air. And just when I feel like giving up, I see white.

              "Why'd you stop?!" Draco shouts. "Did you find something?!"

       A piece of white sticking out through the dirt. My first instinct is to pull it from its place, so I do just that. And of course, when you pull a bone from the ground you're not going to assume the worst. Maybe it's from an animal, a cat that used to roam this neighborhood.

        But then I see more white. And one of the bones I pull up from the dirt is bigger than any animal's body. These bones are from a human.

             Who, though?

          "Is everything okay down there?" Blaise says in a somewhat playful tone.

      ~                   ~                     ~       

July, 1997

              "So what are these horcruxes exactly?"

        My father gives me an irritated look. "That's not really your business, is it?"

        "Actually, it is." I mutter. "If I'm going to have to find them then I should know."

                   He lets out a heavy sigh. "I suppose you're right."

       As he begins explaining and the words fall from his lips, I feel shock slowly come over me. He talks about his goal of immortality and how the horcruxes are going to help him achieve that. He also tells me his plans for the wizarding world after Harry Potter is dead.

           I swallow the lump in my throat. "Y-you want to get rid of all muggle-borns?"

         A smile grows on his face as he runs his fingers across my face. "Yes, Malory. And you will help me."

         I push his hand aside aggressively. "I'm not going to help you murder people, are you mad-"

        Within an instant, his hands are gripping my face and I'm pinned against the nearest wall. When I try to look away he forces eye contact again.

         With his mouth only a centimeter away from my face he hisses, "You're lucky I need you alive."

          "Why do you keep saying that?!" I weep. "All you do is hurt me, dad! Why can't you just kill me?!"

           The real answer is on the tip of his tongue, but he pushes it back quickly.

         "Because we need to do this together, my dear. Together we can do so many incredible things-"

        "I don't want to!" I say with tears in my eyes. "Can you not see how scared I am of you?! Why would I ever want to do what you do or be like you?!"

       The expression on his face changes slowly, but drastically.

          "Oh, Malory," He whispers. "Just wait until you see how similar we actually are."

      He moves his hands from my face and I push myself as far away from him as possible. I wait for him to try and stop me from leaving, but he doesn't.

        "If you don't want to help so badly, then leave." He sighs. "Soon enough people will find out what you really are, then they'll kill you themself."

               What I really am?

~                             ~                               ~

What I really am.