chapter three,    let the fun begin

e v e l y n

THE KNIGHTS OF WALPURGIS— Evelyn rolled her eyes, swinging her leg, moving her polished black heels in the dimmed room, her back straight and confident as her lips were puckered in boredom.

Those followers that were called with the most pathetic name, were boring her, they were the definition of bland. All they were talking was about the gossip between the other pureblooded families— oh no, her husband slept with another woman... Oh no, the wife of the cheating husband is fucking another man too.

Yet, what intrigued her the most was the fact that every single of them knew that Tom Riddle was a cruel man. Most of them feared him as much as they respected him and it made her wonder— was blood purity such an important thing for these people? Will they blindly trust Tom until their own destruction?

"What about you, Evelyn? Aren't you excited about the upcoming reformation?" A woman suddenly sat beside her and Evelyn let out a huff, she wanted to get out of here and have some fun with someone.

"Very excited," Evelyn replied, her voice laced with fake happiness as she turned her eyes to the woman beside her and pushed down the laughter in her throat.

     From the accent, she could decipher the woman was French, but from her appearance, she knew she didn't care about the reformation at all. Her dress was tight, a corset laced around her waist making her breasts almost pop out from her cleavage— this woman wanted to seduce the one that was starting the reformation. Nevertheless, Evelyn had to admit that this woman had very nice breasts.

     "Have you heard? Lord Voldemort wants to mark us all, that would make us all really seem like a group, no?" The woman chattered and Evelyn slightly raised her eyebrows. It wasn't for marking them to make them look like a goody-good team, Tom Riddle wanted to track them. He was wise on this one, but there is no way Evelyn will get that mark on her skin.

"You seem very excited to be in this group, I am delighted," Evelyn softly replied, batting her eyelids as she smiled widely at the woman, who was sitting with anticipation for Tom Riddle to walk in.

And so he did. Tall and confident as always, always dressed in a different suit, there was Tom Riddle and beside him was Malfoy and Nott. Only then did Evelyn really notice how pale Tom Riddle look compared to the fair-skinned and bleach blonde Malfoy. Something was up and Evelyn wanted to know what was going on.

As soon as Tom stepped in, the woman beside her straightened her back and slightly shook her head so her long curls would fall nicely on her shoulders. Evelyn took the moment and barged into the woman's mind, to find out if she knew something about Tom Riddle.

Apart from the fact that the woman named Marilyn Roe wanted to fuck Tom Riddle more than anything and that she had a husband of her own, Evelyn found out something about his past. Tom Riddle was an exceptional student at Hogwarts and there was no secret that the man used dark magic.

The woman's mind was useless, but it put Evelyn's mind only in one direction— Dark Arts. Her mind was buzzing with her knowledge, different spells and rituals entering and exiting her mind. She wanted to know what he was doing— she wanted to know the real reason for the reformation and she had no doubt that it was just a cover-up for something much worse.

Not that Evelyn really cared how mischievous his thinking was, he wasn't the first man in her path with evil intentions that ended up in the ground. But there was something about him— something in the way he was holding his head high, something in the way he looked at someone as if he could kill them within a second...

"I am sure you all heard about the mark," Tom started, turning everyone's attention on him. "It's just a safety precaution. The Ministry of Magic is starting to rattle and they are getting suspicious... We do not want to give them a reason to go after us."

"But we are planning a reformation..." A silent voice of a man was heard in the room.

"Which will, without any doubt, be proceeded calmly. However, the minister is not in a good mood lately, he is being paranoid," Tom replied, stuffing one of his hands into his suit pants pocket, his eyes from time to time dropping on Evelyn.

"I do not believe that— calmly? The minister would never give up his position just like that," another man beamed.

"Are you afraid of fighting?" Tom asked, his voice laced with poison and it certainly boosted Evelyn's mood.

"What if we lose— what if everything goes to hell— What about my fortune?— What about—?" The man started to rant and Tom simply raised his hands slightly and walked closer to the man, his steps echoing with danger.

"Are you doubting me?" Tom asked, his voice lower than usual.

"If it costs my good name— I am," the man gulped loudly as he looked like a chicken trying to be brave. Evelyn shifted forwards, a sly smirk on her red painted lips as she watched this scene— if that man won't be tortured, she will be very disappointed.

Anyone, with a clear mind, could have guessed that it won't be a peaceful reformation. They were signing up for war and they had a leader, like it or not.

"My dearest followers," Tom turned to others, his hands behind his back, "I want to make one thing very clear from the beginning— there is no democracy. If you want out— the only way you can leave is if you are dead— I believe our hatred for muggles are well justified and it is time for you to make some sacrifices— You already joined me... Don't act as if violence is something unacceptable to you." He finished with a soft smile and Evelyn couldn't believe that even if the woman beside her got scared, a part of her mind still dreamt of him shirtless.

"For those of you who think leaving or disagreeing is the only choice— here is my one and only warning," Tom exclaimed and within one movement of his hand, the man in front of him started to choke.

Many of the people in there didn't even move— their eyes were wide, but deep down they knew how twisted Tom Riddle was and they liked it.

Tom walked behind the man, his eyes dropping on Evelyn once again as he gifted her his smirk. Something inside of her moved to see him like this. In his hands appeared a shiny bottle and Tom quickly forced the man to open his mouth, holding him by his jaw as he dropped only a few drops of the liquid from the bottle and kicked him down to the floor.

No one made a sound— no one dared to make a sound. Evelyn's eyebrows raised as the man started to wail loudly, grabbing his throat, tiny little dark veins appearing on his neck, spreading quickly to his face, making him let out choking sounds.

"Apologize," Tom demanded, looking down at the trembling man on the floor, who could barely breathe.

"I am sorry—" The man choked out, his face turning slightly blue as he started to scream as loud as he could, begging for Tom to spare him.

"It's good that I have the antidote, isn't it?" Tom cheekily replied, another little bottle appearing in his hands and he threw it on the ground, near the choking man— "It slipped, oh my," he exclaimed with a fake concerned face and stepped on the bottle, crashing it and he gave a faint look to the others.

He stepped back, making the man roll to the puddle of antidote and shards and lick everything from the ground. Evelyn was enjoying this shit-show, but she wanted to see some blood, so she simply stood up, smoothing out the end of her dress, feeling his stare on her... She noticed he liked to watch her.

"And where do you think you are going?" Tom asked and Evelyn grabbed her bag from the couch and she gave them all a soft smile.

"Oh, I thought we were over. The man is tortured and then saved— I got bored, my lord," she sarcastically snarled as she got better things to do than to watch him torture someone. For example, finding something about him that no one knew— that was way more thrilling for her.

Evelyn noticed something evil flash in his eyes. It was clear his patience was running low with pretending to be a good boy. Since he revealed his true intentions and how cruel he was, Evelyn wasn't afraid of him— He would not dare to touch her with one of his fingers and stay alive after.

"Do want to be the test object two?" Tom softly pointed at the man, who was shaking on the floor, finally being done with licking shards and liquid, leaving his own blood on the spotless marble.

"Gladly, but I have no time for that— Now if you excuse me," Evelyn smirked to all of them and clicked clacked her way out of the hall, feeling the murderous stare of Tom Riddle.

Finally, things were going to get interesting. Since she knew he will follow her.

☾

EVELYN FOUND HERSELF in a local bookstore, of course, a magic bookstore, in the forbidden section, scanning through the books with her eyes. It was silly for a bookstore to have a forbidden section that was so easily accessible, but she didn't care enough to think about it.

She enjoyed the dark atmosphere in this small bookstore, surrounded by the smell of leather and paper— it felt oddly calming and she enjoyed this for a few minutes. Sometimes you don't even understand how hectic your life is until you have a calm moment with yourself.

Soon in her hands appeared a book about Dark Arts and she flipped through the pages, reading already known words, searching for something that would make sense. That would make sense about Tom.

     "And now I find you here," his voice appeared from the shadows and a cheeky smile appeared on her lips— he really followed her.

     "Can't stay away from me, can you?" Evelyn answered, her eyes still fixated on the book, flipping the pages.

     "Don't flatter yourself, Evelyn," Tom answered, stepping closer to her.

     "Huh, already on the first name basis? So what," she closed the book and raised her head to see he was standing in front of her, close in the narrow gap between the bookshelves. "Are you here to torture me? I have to say you are talented at brewing potions."

     "You disobeyed me," his voice was ice cold, even if his eyes were eyeing her.

     "You dropped your goody-good mask pretty quickly, Tom," Evelyn exclaimed, placing the book on the bookshelf as she stood tall, almost touching his body with hers.

     "Why should I pretend?"

     "Why did you pretend at the beginning? To attract more people that your cause is for a better world? It is clear that you want to rule the world," Evelyn replied.

     "And?"

     "Do you know what happens to arrogant men like you who want to conquer everything?" Evelyn softly exclaimed, her voice warm like honey, contrasting with the cold tones of his.

     "Enlighten me."

     "They get forgotten, they fail— you will fail too."

     "Oh, but there is one difference between me and all of the others you are talking about," Tom exclaimed, his hand quickly wrapping around her neck, pushing her body to the shelf behind her, receiving a smile from her as he leaned to her ear, slightly squeezing her neck, "I always get what I want and I am not afraid to kill someone if they disobey me... And you, Evelyn," Tom softly murmured in her ear before leaning back, stroking her curls back from her face, his eyes dropping on her lips. "You disobeyed me."

     "And I will do it again," she gave him a smile, pushing a small knife against his stomach, receiving a chuckle from him.

"You look pathetic with your little knives, darling," he sarcastically mumbled, clearly doubting her magic knowledge, but she didn't have to prove him anything.

"Say that again, we will see where it takes you," she encouraged him, pressing the knife into his shirt, closer to his stomach as she wasn't afraid to use it against him.

"Let me be very clear with you— you disobey me again and I will make you suffer," he slightly squeezed her neck as she pushed the knife more into him.

"Mm, let me be very clear with you, dorogoy," she softly chirped, pushing his hand up from her neck and locking it behind him and grabbing his other hand and pressing it tight against his own neck, the little knife now on his neck. She didn't need magic to make men suffer, as much as she hates getting her hands dirty, men with egos need to be taught the old fashioned way. "I am not an idiot like the rest of your followers. I am not afraid of your magic tricks and your poisons... You may think you are my worst nightmare, but you are not— You are just a man with hilarious ambitions." She pushed him to the bookshelf behind him and received a smile from him, his eyes on her lips.

She knew he craved her as much as he wanted to kill her.

"Is that clear, my lord?" She sarcastically whispered the nickname against his ear, her voice laced with sweet venom, her lips pressing to his jawline, feeling little goosebumps on his skin.

"You said you wanted me to teach you my magic. May that be your first lesson— we don't use magic that often when we can use our physical strength. You look like a man that wouldn't mind seeing blood on his hands," she softly exclaimed and pushed the knife away from him, releasing the grip of him as she grabbed the book from the shelf that she was reading before.

From one glance she could see how mixed his feelings were— his eyes were murderous, not delighted with the loss. But that faint smear of red lipstick on his jawline made his body develop chills, meaning he craved her. Oh, how Evelyn Hawthrone-Orlova loved leaving him with mixed feelings.

But before she could leave, he grabbed her hand and pushed her to him, his body touching her as he once again brushed the strands off her face. He was just looking at her, his hand under her jaw, softly lifting it so he could face her better. Only then, in the dimmed room Evelyn noticed the fight between his own mind.

"You don't know who you are playing with," he murmured, his voice surprisingly soft, his hands on her jawline, looking straight into her eyes.

"Oh, I do and I like playing with you," she whispered before she softly ran her fingers on that spot where her faint lipstick was on his jawline.

She saw how he was holding something back, she knew he wanted to ask her something, but he was silent, his thumbs touching her cheeks— his cold hands left shivers on her back as she slightly tilted her head. What was he hiding in his locked mind?

     Then it clicked to her— Tom Riddle knew he might fail, that's why he wasn't afraid to act brave now. Was this man in front of her splitting his soul into little pieces?

we have this lovely cover made by -sikeren hear me sobbing in the distance this is amazing!! <3