the devil's redemption [tom r.]

48|| The Last Adieu.

So, before you go

Was there something I could've said to make it all stop hurting?

It kills me how your mind can make you feel so worthless

So, before you go

~Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi

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FEAR. FEAR WAS ALL Rosalind could feel as May 2nd rolled by. She was finally of age, but that thought terrified her more than it should've. The clock was ticking, counting down the days until June 1st came.

Her birthday passed in a blur. No celebrations, no gifts, just like she'd insisted. There was no letter from her mother and uncle, like they used to do back when everything was normal– because her uncle was dead, and her mother had no clue that she existed.

It was strange, actually. Rosalind had always wanted her Seventeenth birthday to be something special. She became an adult, taking a huge step in her life. But right now, all she felt was dread as the days ticked by.

It was the last Saturday of the academic year. The final Knights of Walpurgis meeting. How did the days pass so quickly? The school year was a blur in her memory. All the things she'd been through would've seemed completely insane a year ago.

She remembered meeting Tom in the library for the first time when she'd been roaming the restricted section. She recalled how hostile they were to each other and almost laughed. How much things had changed.

"As you all know, this will be the last meeting of our Sixth year," Tom began, his voice cold and authoritative. He was seated in his throne-like armchair, looking down upon the rest of his followers. "I think it would be fair to end this year with a duel. I want to see your magical abilities, and if you've improved at all."

They seemed to shift in their seats, most squirming uncomfortably. She almost scoffed at the looks on their faces. They deserved to be afraid. They were the ones that willingly followed a dark lord in-the-making. They had a choice, but she didn't. She was forced to join Grindelwald.

"Now, Walburga and Lestrange, do show us what you've got," Tom ordered, the malicious gleam in his eyes too obvious. He was doing it on purpose. Tom knew of the pair's feelings towards each other, and so he chose them to duel. Everything was an amusing game to him– he was the wicked puppeteer, making them hurt each other just for his pleasure.

Rosalind hated that. She always loathed the side of Tom that she saw during his meetings. It was the manipulative, cold part. The one that viewed everyone and everything as a mere pawn, the one that power completely consumed.

The furniture vanished with a wave of Tom's wand, offering them space to move freely. The duels went on, Lucretia against Evan, Orion against Mulciber –who were both completely dreadful, Abraxas against Druella, and Theodore Nott against Ernest Avery. She was the only one left.

"I'm definitely not impressed," Tom spoke haughtily, pacing back and forth in front of them. "Most of you are rather incompetent," He sent Orion and Mulciber a deadly glare, causing them to lower their heads in shame. The amount of control he had over his Knights was unreal.

"But you must improve over the summer. I don't want inept airheads fooling around and pathetically crumbling to their inevitable deaths whenever a challenge comes across," he spat, his eyes flashing red for a fraction of a second. The Knights were terrified, to say the least. They didn't seem to mind the amount of insults he was attacking them with. And if they did, they weren't able to do anything about it.