Manipulative (Tom Riddle fanfic)

Chapter 19

TW: THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER MIGHT BE TRIGGERING TO SOME READERS

"Are you sure he's coming?" Tom asks when we hear the bell ringing in the bell tower telling us it's already half past one. "He said he would." Tom disappears behind the door again and after a few minutes, I hear footsteps, fortunately, they are not those of Filch or one of the professors.

"Hey, sorry I'm late, a Prefect was watching me, so I had to pretend to go to bed first. And only about thirty minutes later did I hear him go to his room." "Don't worry about it, I'm glad you got here before Filch did."

"Why did you want to meet me here at night? If you want to look at the stars then I know a few gorgeous places."

I smile, "I wasn't planning on stargazing, but I think it would be fun to do that another time." "Deal, tomorrow night? Then I'll pick you up from the dungeons so you don't have to walk through the castle alone."

"Awww, that's nice, let's do that." As I agreed with Tom, I take Lucas's hand and take him into the girl's lavatory. He smiles shyly as I hold his hand, but the smile fades as the door slams shut behind us and he sees Tom, "What's he doing here?" Lucas asks me confused.

"Tom put your wand away, you're scaring him." "Come here, dear," he says, without responding to me and while smirking at Lucas disturbingly. I let go of Lucas's hand and walk to Tom, still, I have no idea what we're going to do here. He grabs me and holds me in a way that is quite painful.

"Let go of her..." Lucas whispers, with a tremor in his voice that was probably caused by fear. "She likes being held like this, don't you, Jane?" I nod softly as he caresses my throat, Lucas looks at me worried. "Don't worry, Wood, you're going to help us." "What do you mean?" whispers Lucas and takes a step back, further away from Tom and me.

"Crucio." With his hands pressed against his head, Lucas cries out in pain, his eyes closed. "Tom, stop!" But he doesn't listen to me and continues to hurt Lucas, I can't stand it and give a hard tug on Tom's arm so that his wand is no longer aimed at Lucas.

As carefully as possible I put my hand on Lucas's shoulder, who takes a quick, panicky breaths, "I'm sorry, I didn't know he-"

"Jane, come here," orders Tom, staring at me furiously. "Why did you do that? Why would you hurt him?" My voice cracks, and Tom, seething, pulls me away from Lucas and pushes my wand into my hand. "Use the Cruciatus Curse on him." Lucas opens his eyes and stares at me terrified. "What? No."

Tom clamps his hand around my wrist and pushes it towards Lucas, "Do it," he hisses in my ear. "No, he's my friend-" With an irritated sigh he continues, "You know what happens if you don't do as I tell you."

He's talking about the Unbreakable Vow, if I don't do what he wants I'll die... But I can't hurt him, he's my friend, and he trusts me. What if I make him get out of here? Then I'm not literally declining Toms order, I hope...

"Lucas, you need to get out of here before-" Tom's hand closes around my throat and applies pressure, "Do it." Lucas pushes himself up on the sink and looks at him anxiously but angrily, "Let her go..."

His words make Tom smile, "Jane, do it." I gasp as he releases my throat and points his wand at Lucas, "I'll kill him if you don't." Tears fill my eyes and I know he means it, I have no choice...

"I'm sorry, Lucas, really..." My voice breaks and I look at him with regret, "Crucio." The hand holding my wand shakes but Tom keeps it pointing at him, tears stream down my cheeks and I sob loudly.

He doubles over in pain again, but this time it's my fault...

"Enough." As soon as Tom says it he pushes my wrist a little to the side and the pain thankfully stops. "I'm sorry, Lucas, really..." With his eyes closed, he takes a deep breath to recover from the pain and whispers, "It's not your fault..."

He looks like he's about to pass out. "Lucas!" I want to help him stay upright, but Tom stops me, "Here," he says, pushing his dagger into my hand, the same dagger he had used for the scar on my arm...

"W-what am I supposed to do with this?" I stare at him in fear, afraid of his answer. "Kill him." I shake my head slowly, unable to believe that he actually said this, "No... Tom, no."

The dagger falls from my hand and onto the ground with a clang, Tom picks it up again and hands it to me for the second time, "Do it." "You're crazy... I'm not going to hurt him..."

With the same fury as before, he ignores my words, grabs my wrist and slowly pushes my hand with the knife towards Lucas. "Why are you doing this?" I exclaim in panic, then suddenly everything becomes clear... It takes a sacrifice to open the secret room, what if the entrance to the secret room is here? Lucas comes from the Wood family, his parents are both wizards...

Mattheo was right, Tom lied to me.

"No... I'm not going to kill him, he's my friend. It's not worth killing him for some stupid room... Tom, please..." "I'll hold him for you, with those words he lets go of me and puts Lucas's arms behind his back.

"Stab the dagger through his heart." Lucas looks at me terrified, with tears in his eyes. "Jane, please... Please don't..." "Of course, I won't..." I think of Sophy, his little sister who needs him, his dreams, and his pets, he wants to take over his father's plant business...

Tom hisses something at Dabria and she slides up my leg and puts her head close to my neck. "You have ten seconds to do it, otherwise she will bite you, a bite in the neck will be fatal because then the poison will undoubtedly spread through your body." I breathe panickily and don't even try to get her off me, before I even touch her she would already have put her teeth into my neck.

"And don't think you can 'save' him by dying, if the poison flows through you I would still kill him, but much slower and more painfully. Think of it as a way to save the both of you."

But I won't save him that way... He will die, because of me... I look at Tom pleadingly, but he doesn't care. "Ten." The dagger trembles in my hand. Mattheo was right all along... This had always been Tom's plan, he manipulated me until I couldn't live without him.

"Nine." I shake my head, very softly because I'm afraid the snake suddenly decides to bite me, "Eight." "Tom, please-" "Seven." "Kill me-" "Six." "in his place." Tom shakes his head with a sickening smile, "Five." A sad sob escapes from my throat.

"Four." I don't want to die, I don't want to die. "Three." Only three seconds left before her teeth sink into my skin... "Two." I can't die. "One..." With a thrust, the dagger slides between his ribs, straight into his heart.

I take a shaky breath and watch as life slowly flows out of him, from a caring brother, someone with dreams and passions, to an empty body, nothing more than a memory of what he once was.

I start to hyperventilate when I realize what I've done. I killed him, I killed Lucas, the nicest person I've ever known, I took his life from him...

Worst of all was his look, of disbelief, he trusted me, despite everything he still trusted me, he wasn't ready for his death, there was still so much he wanted to do, so many people that needed him.

"Well done." Tom smiles at me and lifts Lucas up, carries him to the sinks in the centre of the room and sets him down. I'm still frozen in the same place, sick of myself, I'm a monster. He takes the dagger from Lucas's heart and pours his blood into the sink, talking to the marble with Parseltongue.

The walls of the washbasins disappear into the ground and a staircase appears. Now Tom turns to me and puts his hand on my cheek and kisses me, his hand smears the blood on my face.

I don't want him to kiss me, I really don't, but on the other hand, I don't want him to ever stop, when he kisses me I'm reminded of what it was like when I could still be happy.

Dabria slides off my neck and onto Tom's shoulders.

He takes my hand and together we descend the stairs that lead to the Chamber of Secrets...