DEVIL WITHIN

Shadows we cannot escape

Voldemort
1998

Voldemort stood at the threshold of a forgotten manor, its once grand facade now crumbling beneath the weight of time. The moon hung low in the sky, casting an eerie glow over the desolate landscape. As he stepped forward, the ground seemed to swallow his every footfall, pulling him deeper into the abyss of his own creation.

Within the decaying halls, whispers lingered like ghosts, and the memories of a bygone era clawed at the corners of his mind. He wandered aimlessly, haunted by the specter of Grace Berkshire, a name etched into the very fabric of his existence.

In the dim light, he saw her – a vision of ethereal beauty, her eyes like pools of darkness, her voice a melody that echoed through the corridors of his soul. She reached out to him, her touch a fleeting caress that sent shivers down his spine.

"Tom," her voice was a whisper, soft and alluring, "why do you hide from the truth?"

Voldemort recoiled, the tendrils of fear tightening around his heart. "There is no truth," he hissed, his voice a hollow echo in the emptiness that surrounded them.

Grace's laughter filled the air, a haunting melody that danced on the edge of madness. "Oh, but there is, Tom. There is always truth, even in the darkest of shadows."

He tried to turn away, to escape the memories that threatened to consume him whole, but she held him fast, her gaze piercing through the mask he had crafted for himself.

"Look," she whispered, her voice a plea wrapped in sorrow and regret.

And so, he looked.

The world shifted and twisted, morphing into scenes from a life long past. He saw himself as he once was – a boy with dreams of greatness, a hunger for power that burned like wildfire in his veins. And there, by his side, stood Grace, her presence a beacon of light in the darkness that consumed him.

Together, they walked a path paved with ambition and desire, their hearts intertwined in a dance of love and madness. But beneath the surface, shadows lurked, waiting to devour the fragile threads that bound them together.

He watched helplessly as the darkness consumed him, his lust for power driving him to unspeakable depths. He saw the choices he had made, the lives he had destroyed in his quest for immortality. And through it all, Grace stood by his side, her eyes filled with a sorrow he could not bear to see.

"I loved you," she whispered, her voice a bittersweet symphony that echoed through the chambers of his soul. "But you chose darkness over love, power over redemption."

Voldemort felt the weight of her words like a thousand daggers piercing his heart. He had known love once, had tasted its sweetness and felt its warmth. But in his arrogance, he had cast it aside, forsaking the one thing that had the power to save him from himself.

As the visions faded, he found himself alone once more, trapped in the prison of his own making. The echoes of Grace Berkshire lingered like a ghost, haunting him with the truth he had long sought to bury.

In the depths of his despair, Voldemort knew that his downfall had already begun. The shadows that had once been his allies now closed in around him, their whispers a constant reminder of the sins he could never escape.

And so, he embraced the darkness, knowing that it was the only path left to him. But somewhere deep within the recesses of his soul, a flicker of hope remained – a whisper of the truth he had long denied.

For even in the darkest of nights, there was always a glimmer of light, waiting to guide him home.

As Voldemort stirred from his dream, the echoes of Grace Berkshire still lingered in the recesses of his mind. He knew that his past would forever haunt him, a reminder of the choices he had made and the lives he had destroyed.

But perhaps, in the darkness that surrounded him, there was still a chance for redemption. Perhaps, somewhere in the depths of his soul, the light of hope still burned bright.

With that thought lingering like a promise unspoken, Voldemort vanished into the shadows, his destiny entwined with the fate of all who dared to tread the path of darkness