The Dawn of Darkness || T. Riddle

Chapter 26: Love or Loyalty

Estela moved closer towards Grace and William, taking in their youthful appearances in astonishment. She wanted to speak to them - wanted to hold them tight and tell them she missed them. Tell them how sorry she was was for leaving them in Norway without any warning except for a rushed letter. To tell them she was sorry for everything she had done and everything she had given up. But she knew they could not hear her, and that broke her heart just a little bit.

"It's bad this time," Grace said, pearls of nervous sweat shining on her forehead, her bright eyes strained. "I've never seen her so agitated. She won't wake up, William, do something, please-"

"Shh, it's ok, she's ok... It's just another one of her nightmares."

As Estela moved closer towards her adoptive parents, she saw that Grace's hand was gripping a much smaller hand very tightly. The hand of a child.

The child in the bed was moaning loudly, thrashing her arms and legs about as though she was being attacked by some invisible force that nobody else could see. There were endless streams of tears running down her small face, and an occasional cry of terror would escape her lips in a deafening, high-pitched scream.

Estela stared in wonder at the child in the bed. Her old bed which would be far too small for her nowadays. She didn't know what was going on. But then William spoke as he kneeled down beside the child whose eyes were shut tightly as though they would never again open.

William stroked the girl's dark hair away from her face where it had stuck to her forehead in a layer of sweat. "Shh, Estela, Shh, you're dreaming. It's ok. We're here. Grace and I are here..."

Estela's breath caught in her throat as she stared down at the child. It was her. She must have been no older than five. And yet there she was, as real as anything, close enough to touch if she wasn't so afraid to do so. She was flaying and lashing out at something that seemed to frighten her very much.

"Wake her, William, please. I've never seen her as bad as this."

"You know we're not meant to. You know it's dangerous."

"But-"

"Grace, trust me, she'll be fine."

An ear-splitting scream filled the room and Grace had to cover her ears as though she couldn't bear the sound.

The little girl's distressed tone cried out in the moonlight. "Leave me alone! Get away from me!"

And the next sound that came from the little girl made Estela's entire skin freeze over. It was a horrible hissing sound that seemed to echo around her, meeting her ears like the sound of nails on a chalkboard. But whilst Grace and William couldn't seem to discern the hissing noise, Estela understood it as though it was her mother tongue.

Stay away! Stay away from me! Don't hurt me, please!

Parseltongue.

It sounded so horrifyingly unnatural coming from such a small girl, as though it wasn't her own voice that was hissing those haunting words.

"Estela, wake up!" Grace cried out desperately. "Please!"

With one final cry of pain, the little girl fell still and silent, and the look of concern on Grace's face could have been framed. It was as though she was expecting the worst. But when the girl's eyes fluttered open, the sigh of relief that escaped both Grace and William's lips was enough to make Estela herself feel at ease.

Grace swiftly swept the girl into a close embrace and wiped the tears off of her cheeks. "It's ok, it was just a nightmare."

"I'm scared," the little girl whimpered.