Lost | Tom Riddle ✔

Chapter 98

Tom didn't complain when Alexa pulled him towards her. He didn't complain when her tears soaked his white shirt. In fact, he held her close. If a year back someone had even suggested that he would allow someone to crumple his well-ironed shirt, he would have doubted that person's sanity. Yet, there he was. Letting her use his shirt as her handkerchief. He let her hold him. He let her blabber things.

After all, she had just found about the lives they lost during their unwanted adventure.

"W-Why is... is it me al-always, T-Tom? W-Why people... they... die s-s-saving me?" She hiccuped questioning him. "I-I don't d... d... deserve it."

Alexa felt worst. Adrian blurting out that two of the people who had come to rescue her and Tom had lost their lives had shaken her. She was wrecked from within. She didn't know the other person - Mr Browen, but that didn't mean it didn't matter. She knew that she had wronged him and his family would never forgive her.

She deserved to die.

She didn't even want to think about Averys. They had offered her shelter. They offered her food. Hell! They gave warmth of home after a long time. And she paid them back. How? By pushing them to feel an eternal loss. She destroyed a perfect family where everyone loved everyone else. She didn't have the courage to face them. She was their culprit.

Helga! She deserved to die.

She was Satan. She had contributed nothing in her life. All she had been doing, since the day she born, was destroying the lives of others. Her father. Her mother. Her aunt. Antonio Avery. Mr. Browen. She was so close to losing Tom's life. All of them risked their lives to save hers. And she wasn't even worth it. Why was it always that the cost of her sins was paid by others?

Merlin! Why didn't she die?

For her, living with this type of sins was far worse than death. She should die in the worst way possible. She was fade up with living off by sacrificing innocents.

Her brain was rattled with guilt. She felt liable for all deaths. She couldn't shake off her responsibility for this destruction.

Tom was never good at consoling someone. To be honest, it was quite rare for him to feel sympathy towards people. He had seen many of his acquaintances had no spine to stand straight even in the slightest of the storms. They cried for a bad score, but they didn't study. They cried for lost opportunities, but they were not ready to stop passing their time. They cried for failed relationships, but they never learned. Human emotions and their need for ephemeral attention were pathetic.

Tom never sympathize with them, because he worked hard for his scores. He knew that anything that was gained without a sacrifice wasn't worth achieving. He was smart enough to learn even from the mistakes done by others. Perhaps, these were the things that made him intrinsically different from others. Perhaps, this was the reason why he had hard times in reassuring Anthony in the past. When it came to the havoc of emotions, the young boy relied on his actions, rather than hollow words.

Perhaps, this was why when Alexa blabbered her guilt, instead of saying petty words, he held her close and patted on her back. His actions conveyed that he felt bad for her. He continued running his hand on her back to soothe both of them just a little.

"I-I w... wish it w... was me n-not the-them," Alexa sobbed and Tom tightened his hand around her waist. Unlike her, he didn't wish it was her. And he didn't want her to continue wishing that.

He pulled back a little forcing her to look back at him. He felt uneasy when he saw that her violet eyes looked dull and lifeless. He didn't wish for that. Holding her in her place with his right hand, he tipped her chin in his direction with his left. His eyes locked on hers as he didn't allow her to look away.