Motivation ? Tom Riddle ?

30

Emily blinked at me in disbelief, huffing quietly. "No to which part exactly?"

"Both. You can't tell anyone."

"And why is that?" Emily snipped, her eyes squinting at me. She wrapped her arms around Brianna's shoulders as she cried silently. "Can't you see, Abigail? You're so blinded by his charms that you can't let the fact that he's just a monster sink in!"

"Be quiet!" I snapped, leaning over the wall to see if he heard. "Do you want him to hear? Besides, Olly deserves this."

Emily huffed and shook her head slowly as I glared at her. All these emotions were building up inside of me and all I wanted to do was scream. I wanted to scream at her, at Brianna, at Olly, at my parents, at myself, and just plain scream. I was so angry and I didn't understand why. I was absolutely saddened at what Olly had done to me and now I was suddenly angry.

"No one deserves this. What is wrong with you? This isn't you, Abby."

Brianna kept quiet, whimpering, her eyes darting back and forth between Emily and I.

"Yes, well. Then I guess you just don't know me, then, huh?"

"Wow," Emily huffed, standing off the ground and lifting Brianna with her. "We're going to Dippet. You can either come with us...or you can stay here with your soulless monster. It's your choice."

Emily's eyes took one more darkened look at me before she slowly turned away with Brianna, and I did the only thing I could think of.

"Why you look down, Benjamin," Tom pouted, speaking in a mocking tone. He cocked his head to the side. "Wrong place at the wrong time? You wish it were that simple, don't you?"

"Wrong place?" Alison scoffed. "Excuse me, but I don't believe that you own this part of the castle. We are allowed to explore, are we not?"

Tom looked at Alison and his eyes hardened. "No," he spat. In less than a second his wand was pointed at her, and before I could react, he had already spoken. "Obliviate..." and then, after a second, he said, "imperio," and ordered Alison to leave for the Ravenclaw common room.

I didn't have my wand on me at the time; it was still lying beneath Emily's pillow. And when my eyes dropped to the stick standing out of her pant pocket, I lunged for it and pointed at her, pursing my lips. What was I doing?

Emily stopped stiff, spinning around with a crease in her brows. "What are you doing?"

Brianna looked back and forth between us, fear written all over her face and in her blue, watery eyes. "Stop it," she whisper yelled. "Stop it, both of you!"

"Come on, Abby, give -"

But I had already began to rotate the wand slowly. "Obliviate."

I focused on the bathroom scene, making sure that that be the only memory I steal. I did the same with Brianna despite her protesting sobs.

I didn't understand what was going on with me. There was a part of me screaming on the inside at my actions to stop what I was doing, but I wasn't listening.

I quickly forced Emily and Brianna out of the bathroom before they figured out I was in there, and I waited, hearing nothing but 'Nagini's' hisses and Tom's chuckles and Olly's sobs. And then I showed myself. I stepped into Tom's line of view, though his back was to me. Olly was the first to see me, and all he did was sob harder. Then Tom's snake saw me as she slithered around his legs, hissing. And, as though Tom had understood her hisses, he whirled around, staring at me as though he hadn't wanted me to find out what he was doing at all.

He didn't say anything. I didn't say anything.

I stood next to him in front of Olly, staring down at him in disgust as he cowered in his own blood and stared down at himself as though he, too, were disgusted with himself. What frightened me the most was that I didn't feel a speck of sympathy for this boy - who was so obviously in a lot of pain, scared, and half dead.

Tom's snake slithered toward Olly, her mouth wide open, sharp fangs almost sinking into Olly's leg.

"Not just yet, Nagini," Tom hissed softly and calmly.

Nagini shut her mouth and slithered back around, looking quite disappointed for a snake.

"No," I said without looking at Tom. "Let her."

I could feel Tom's eyes on me as I glared down at Olly, watching Nagini slowly slither toward him again. And she lunged. Over and over again, sinking her fangs in all sorts of parts of his body. At first, Olly didn't scream. He just cried and whimpered each time Nagini bit him. A smile crept up on my face, and I wasn't even the one controlling it. Olly started to cry loudly and scream as Nagini launched herself at his stomach and chest area, and I laughed. I couldn't believe it, but I actually laughed. I could still feel Tom's eyes on me as I laughed, and I whipped my head up to look at him standing next to me still.

"What?" I laughed.

"No one deserves this. What is wrong with you? This isn't you, Abby."

"This isn't you."

And then Olly let out a blood-curdling scream as Nagini sunk her teeth into his neck, ripping it. Olly's lifeless blue eyes stared up at me, and still, I felt no sympathy.