Memento Mori

Chapter 11: The Case of a Missing Rabbit

1st January 1938, London

The new year was ushered in with a quiet dinner on the eve of the year ahead—not with fanfare and loud chatter. On the eve was Tom's birthday, like all the children at Wool's, he too was treated to a celebratory dinner like the previous years and like the previous years, it was a suffocatingly dull affair, so dull in fact that Tom, himself left the moment he had finished his portion of his meal. He didn't even wait for the presenting or opening of his birthday gifts.

Perhaps, he knew in advance that like the previous years, his gifts would be miniscule compared to the other children and he was right. It was the same as the previous years; a chocolate bar from Margaret, an old notebook from Beatrice, a scarf from Mrs Cole and Martha and finally, Cordelia had gotten him a coat with the little allowance she had gotten from her chores and her uncle. All those gifts were left outside his room forming a sad little pile that Cordelia had to kick in through his door. Tom didn't even spare a glance at any of those gifts, only being moderately pleased at Cordelia's gift.

The morning after, he had been quiet—actually, when Cordelia really thought about it, he had been quiet since his argument with Billy on Christmas Eve. The argument supposedly ended with Billy biting Tom—Cordelia didn't really know what happened, she only saw the bite mark on Tom's arm and had only heard about the matter from others. She still found it hard to believe that Billy would even bite someone. It seemed the children at Wool's were gradually losing bits of their sanity, if Amy and Dennis were any indication.

"...What?" Asked Tom when he felt Cordelia nudge him. Cordelia didn't look at him for a second and Tom had to crane his head in front of hers to grab her attention. He had her attention, she was just checking what he was staring at. "Did you want to ask me something?"

Cordelia pulled her chair in and took a moment to observe everyone around the table. Lucy was busy near the hall talking to Martha and Peter who was leaving that day while the others were talking around the table among themselves. No one was paying attention to Tom and her. Nervously, she let out a quiet deep breath and turned to Tom. "Why were you staring at Billy?" She questioned in a quiet voice. She flinched a little when her gaze met Tom's.

His gaze had darkened at Cordelia's question, narrowing in like a snake before the corners of his lips went up as if he was amused by her nervousness. "I wasn't." He calmly went back to cutting up his eggs and placing them on his bread before adding a little bit of beans covered in tomato sauce on top. "Why did it seem like I was? " He asked with a small grin and he took a bite of his toast. Cordelia didn't answer. "Maybe you should stop staring at me and eat."

He motioned towards her untouched, nearly piece of toast and half-finished eggs. Typically they'd have simple porridge with nuts—if they were lucky but for the sake of the beginning of a new year, they were given a full English breakfast. She had no doubt Mrs Cole had broken their winter funds for this and their January was going to be a little rough as usual.

"Something's not right." Cordelia muttered under her breath, chewing on the bottom of her lip in quiet frustration. Something wasn't right. Tom hadn't said a word to Billy since their argument. Every now and then, Billy would glance at Tom with fear that something was going to go wrong in his life. He clutched his little living fluffy ball of what he called a rabbit to his chest and glared at Tom before shoving a piece of toast into his mouth and running off. "Something's definitely not right." She repeated, quiet enough for her to hear as she watched Tom watch Billy like a snake hiding in the grass.

"You said something Cora?" Tom looked at her innocently and shoved her plate closer to her. "Eat. You know what happens to you when you don't eat properly."

"It's strange, nobody's presents went missing this year." Cordelia carefully began while picking up her buttered toast. Tom's eyes narrowed in on her. "I mean it's been like that for the past two or three years—actually, it's been like that since you got sick out of nowhere."

His grip on the knife and fork tightened but he quickly loosened them before Cordelia could notice but she did notice. She fought to hide her confident grin and carried on eating her breakfast as if nothing had happened. "Maybe, it's because everyone's been on their best behaviour—" He paused and subtly turned his body towards the hall where Billy had disappeared off to. "Well, almost everyone."

"Are you talking about Billy?" She prodded, being very careful not to draw anyone's attention to them. "Because he bit you. Are you going to do something about it?"

"Hmm." He quietly hummed. "Why? Do you want me to do something?" He in turn questioned with an amused light smile. It wasn't like her to push him to do something…bad. Cordelia didn't care about good or bad, only what was right in her eyes or if something interested her.

It only took her a moment to realise that he might be onto her so she quickly shoved her empty plate to the centre with all the other empty plates. "Forget about it." Cordelia got up and tucked her chair. She was about to go towards Lucy but she was stopped in her steps when Tom caught her wrist and tugged at it, pulling her closer to her.

"Do you want me to do something?" He asked again. A strange but eager look in his eye and a small wild grin on his face. He stared at her waiting for her answer as if her answer would justify whatever he wanted to do or was about to do.

Mouth slightly agape and her mind completely blank, Cordelia stared at him with wide eyes. Somehow that look on his face scared her. "N-no." She managed to stutter out. Immediately, she cursed herself for sounding so weak. "No." She repeated, exhaling and trying to stand up straight, showing she was braver than she looked which only caused Tom to crack a smile. "Forget about what I said. I was…just curious—" His grip on her wrist tightened at that particular word. "Ow, Tom."

"Sorry—it was an accident." He loosened his grip and looked up at her. "What were you…curious about?"

She swallowed. "About why you've been so quiet lately. I know you Tom, I'm sure everyone at Wool's…does, you don't sit around when someone makes you angry or picks a fight with you. I know you're behind some of these 'incidents' that happen around here."

The grandfather clock in the foyer chimed a few times, interrupting her train of thought. Neither spoke for a second as the other children began to file out. "What makes you think I'm the one behind those…incidents."

Her eyes narrowed in one him and he didn't budge. There was a stupid knowing grin on his face that she so wished to wipe off. He knew she didn't have any proof, no one did. "I know." She said. "I'm not stupid, Tom."

"Never said you were, Cora. In fact, I think you're one of the brightest people I know."

"Then—"

Tom cut her off. "But you should know that it is very rude to accuse someone of things you have no proof of them doing. It's awful." He pretended to appear a bit sad but she could tell, he could care less about her accusations. It only spurred him on to do something he probably wasn't going to do that lifetime.

Before Cordelia could even get a word in, he had left the dining room, leaving her all alone. She wasn't alone for long as Amy poked her head into the dining room. She turned her head left and right, checking if there was anyone but when she saw Cordelia, she jumped.

"I'm s-s-sorry. I-I didn't s-see you t-there. I-I d-didn't mean t-to b-bother y-you." The girl stuttered out, looking anywhere but at Cordelia.

Cordelia frowned. Amy was an annoying girl, she couldn't stand her but seeing her so pathetic, she pitied her. "You don't have to apologise, you live here too." Cordelia tried to lighten the mood. Amy didn't seem to get the message as she bowed her head in fear. "Amy." The girl in question flinched when her name was called. "Are you okay?"

Silence answered her. Amy huddled into herself, almost turning herself into a ball. Then she started to tremble and looked up to take a peek at Cordelia, to check if she was still there. When her eyes met Cordelia's, she quickly looked down as if Cordelia was some monster that was going to eat her. That hurt and offended Cordelia, she hardly did anything to Amy. In fact, it used to be the other way around at one point before she and Dennis went completely silent.

"Amy?" Cordelia tried out again. She knew Amy should've been left alone but somehow she just couldn't leave the poor girl alone. Something told her she shouldn't. "Amy?" She called out. Amy's body shook hard like she was freezing or really scared. Cordelia liked to think it was the former rather than the latter. "You alright?"

Amy ducked her head even lower like a turtle going back into its shell. She didn't meet her gaze. She didn't dare to. The scared girl gnawed at her bottom lip, pulling at it aggressively before she started almost chewing on it.

In the midst of Amy's oddly concerning actions, Cordelia could hear her barely chant something under her breath. "...Mustn't go near Cordelia." Amy quietly murmured like a mad person. "Mustn't—Cordelia. Mustn't go—Cordelia. Mustn't go near Cordelia." Over and over, she kept going on, forgetting Cordelia was even in front of her.

"You want me to get Mrs Cole?" Cordelia tried but the girl wasn't listening. She was about to leave when Amy reached out and grabbed her.

Alarmed, Cordelia jumped back but Amy didn't let go. She was about to say something when Lucy ran into the dining hall. She glanced between Amy and Cordelia in confusion and she was about to say something when Amy let go of Cordelia like Cordelia was on fire or something. The girl then ran away without a single word, leaving Cordelia and Lucy in complete confusion.

"Alright then." Lucy watched Amy's shadow disappear around the corner. "I see someone trying to be a Hollywood actress." She joked, looking back at her friend. She expected Cordelia to laugh or agree but instead her friend stood there still staring at the hall.

If Cordelia wasn't so concerned at that moment, she might've cracked a smile but her mind was heavy with concern.

Why would Amy stay away from her?

What happened to her?

Cordelia pondered on those two questions for a moment, forgetting Lucy was even in the room. She had to go check her diary soon, things were not as she had thought them to be. Tom was acting strange, Amy and Dennis were even stranger. Billy was biting people when he had never done something like that sort of thing before. It was all so different from what she knew. She hated it. She didn't like change that she didn't understand.

The only one who hadn't changed was Lucy.

Lucy!

"—Delia!" Lucy waved her hands in her face. Her face had turned red from trying to get Cordelia's attention. Cordelia blinked a few times and turned to Lucy who was not happy at all. "Finally!" She clapped her hands together. "I've been trying to get your attention for a while now."

When Cordelia did remember Lucy's presence in the room, she realised Lucy wasn't alone anymore. Other children like Mary and a few more boys and girls had gathered in the dining room. They were all waiting for her.

"What's going on?" Cordelia asked as another boy ran into the room.

"Do you want to play hide and seek or not?" The boy who had ran in the room asked, tapping his foot impatiently. "Cordelia, are you even listening?"

"Alright, calm down, Ed." Cordelia rolled her eyes and tied up her hair before nodding her head towards the boy, Edmund. "You're gonna be seeker then?" Edmund bowed his head and lifted it vigorously. It was like speaking to her would only take more time. Cordelia didn't mind. It was easier for her.

Edmund rolled his eyes and ran out again but before shouting. "I'm going to start counting so you lot better start hiding." His voice was heard fading away.

The remaining children all looked at each other for one moment then they all scattered, scrambling to find a hiding place. Cordelia grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her along. The two ran past a few other children who were running around trying to find a suitable place to hide. No one wanted to be caught first after all, the first five to be caught had to help the seeker and nobody but Edmund wanted the role of the seeker. It was too tedious and searching in big places like Wool's took quite the effort.

They had barely any time to hide before it was all ruined.

One of the children pulled the wooden door of the grandfather clock and Mrs Cole's footsteps were heard. The old matron marched straight out of her room the minute the door was opened and glared at the boy in question. Some children lingered.

Hands on her hip, Mrs Cole glared down at the boy with reddish-blond hair. "What do you think you're doing Clive?" Asked Mrs Cole, firmly but a little softer than her usual tone.

Clive turned slowly and laughed awkwardly. "You see Mrs Cole, I was…" He glanced around at the other children for help but no one wanted to put their neck on the line, not even Lucy or Cordelia. "...Playing hide and seek?"

"That sounds like a question, not an answer, Clive." Mrs Cole's face turned red with anger as she breathed out loudly. "CHILDREN!" She screamed, alarming all the children at Wool's. Immediately some even ran down the stairs to check. Robbie, Margaret, Beatrice, Fran and the twins, Jack and Joe were the first ones to arrive as they were just outside sitting in the garden. More and more children began to gather. Mrs Cole eyed all the children and puffed up her chest, preparing to call all the children down once more. "Everyone get down here now! I won't repeat myself again! Anyone not here can forget about lunch and dinner!"

Hearing her, more sounds of feet stomping were heard and soon the foyer was crowded with all the children at Wool's. Tom was the last one to arrive, blending in with the crowd. He seemed tired as if he had been sleeping. Cordelia kept her eyes on him, only looking away to check on Mrs Cole.

Martha ran out of her office in a hurry, concern written all over her face. "What's going on?" Clasping her hands together, the nurse asked. She examined the foyer and then the open door of the grandfather clock before she let out a deep sigh. "Has someone been playing around with the clock again?" Mrs Cole glared at Clive only in response to Martha who sighed again. "Children," She softly addressed the orphans and abandoned children. "The clock is not a toy. Mrs Cole and I have made it clear that it is not something to be played with. It belongs to Dr Wool's family and he was kind enough to leave it with us so we mustn't play around with it."

"I only opened the door. I didn't even go in." Clive tried to argue, only for his arm to be grabbed by Mrs Cole, silencing him from speaking further.

"That is not the point, Clive." Mrs Cole spat out. She was furious and Cordelia backed away a little, going as close as she could to the stairs in order to not stand in the path of the old matron's rage even though Cordelia herself had never played around with the clock. "What we're saying is that someone has been toying and playing wrong with this—" She pointed to the clock and all the children looked at the clock. "And it is messing with the time. It no longer goes off at the crack of dawn as it should. It's almost like someone is deliberately sabotaging our set schedule."

"Who would do such a thing?" Margaret asked, looking around at the children.

"I don't know, Margaret. Who would do such a thing? Someone who doesn't stick to the curfew that we set in place for your benefit. That's who!" She glared at the children. Almost everyone avoided her gaze. Beatrice looked tired, she definitely was not one of the rulebreakers. "I do not care if you all play hide and seek or run around in the garden but do not touch the clock or run around in the halls." Everyone nodded along. "Are we clear?" She asked and everyone chorused a single 'yes' before Mrs Cole repeated herself. "ARE WE CLEAR?!"

"Yes Mrs Cole." Everyone chorused before collectively sighing.

"I don't want to hear you all sigh, the floor will fall apart if you all keep running inside and we cannot aff—hang on." Mrs Cole stopped mid-sentence. She kept checking all the face before she took step forward to the crowd. "Where is Billy?" She questioned.

"Billy?" Everyone started to check where Billy might've been. "Billy?" They all repeated, looking around for him.

"Well I suppose because of Billy, none of you will be getting lunch or dinner." Everyone groaned out at the same time with some crying out that it wasn't fair or cursing Billy. Edmund in particular cursed out Billy while the older children looked furious. Cordelia didn't care, she'd just go to bed early but she did feel sorry for those other children. "Oh don't moan and groan! Blame yourselves for not adhering to the rules we set."

"Mrs Cole, it is a little unfair on the other children." Martha looked sorry for the children, feeling sorrier for Billy whole as going to be cursed at by the other children.

"Well Martha, they should've thought about it before breaking the rules." Mrs Cole retorted. Tom put his hands up, first for him. It surprised Mrs Cole so much that she forgot how to speak momentarily. She stared at him for a short while. "Tom?"

Tom cut through the crowd to stand in front of the bannister. "It's unfair, you're punishing all of us for what one person did and because of Billy." He pointed out and the children of Wool's were stunned. Even Cordelia was stunned, it wasn't like him to speak out in favour of the entire house yet there he was.

Mrs Cole blinked a few times, still tongue tied. "Ah, yes, well. You see—"

Sound of footsteps running down the stairs cut her off immediately and everyone looked up to see little Billy sobbing his eyes out. He kept bawling while hugging a faded blue light blanket around him. "Mopsy!" He cried. "Mopsy's gone!" He wailed even louder.

Everyone groaned again at the same time and Cordelia couldn't help but crack a smile at the ridiculousness that was going on that afternoon. She covered her mouth with her hand, turning away to face Lucy only to find Lucy doing the same thing as her. The two friends met each other's gaze and physically held back their laughter in fear that Billy or Mrs Cole would think it was them who had anything to do with Mopsy's disappearance.

Mrs Cole's face softened as she tilted her head and let out an exasperated breath. "Billy." She said his name helplessly. "We're in the middle of something, where have you been?" Her tone of speaking was much gentler with Billy than it was earlier. That obviously ticked some people off as some of the children like Fran, Jack and Joe loudly gossiped among themselves. "Fran, Jack and Joe, be quiet!" Mrs Cole shouted at them before looking up softly at Billy. "Now what happened Billy?"

"Mopsy…" He cried out, tears fell down his face like a waterfall. With the way he was crying, Cordelia thought Mopsy had gone to heaven like her family not missing. Most likely the mischievous rabbit was alive and well, just hiding out of Billy's reach. If Cordelia was Mopsy, she too would hide from Billy with how rough he treated that rabbit as if it was a toy not a living creature. "Mopsy…is gone. I can't find him."

"Have you checked your room?"

Billy nodded, still wailing loudly. "What about under your bed or in the curtains?" Martha tried, walking up to Billy to try and stop his incessant wailing that was honestly making Cordelia's ear hurt.

"I checked everywhere!" Billy shouted before sobbing even louder.

"Alright," Jack covered his ears and glared at the little boy. "No need to shout."

"We can hear you loud and clear." Joe carried on. "Probably the whole neighbourhood can hear you."

Billy sniffed. "Mopsy…" He moaned.

"Probably ran away." Jack joked.

"If I was Mopsy, I'd run away too." Joe added.

"Joe!" Mrs Cole warned but neither of the twins seemed to care much at that moment.

Everyone was sick and tired of Mopsy's constant disappearances and Billy's wailing. It was bad enough that Amy and Dennis had turned into walking ghouls who silently whispered among themselves then Billy had to go make it worse by crying all the damned time. The children at Wool's couldn't go a day without Eric and Tom's little arguments or Billy accusing Tom of stealing his 'precious' rabbit. With the way things were going at Wool's, the place was turning into a madhouse.

"We'd run away." Jack corrected.

"Honestly, with the state of that rabbit and the way he treats it, I wouldn't be surprised if it did run away." Said Fran loudly, shocking everyone. "What?" She innocently questioned, slipping her hair behind her ears and flashing a bold smile at Jack and Joe who only giggled in response. "You all know I'm right. That thing is always suffocating with how Billy hugs it tightly. It's no wonder it's always trying to run away—"

"Francesca!" Mrs Cole yelled and Fran flinched before looking away innocently. "That's enough of you!"

"What? You know I'm right. Billy's the one at fault." She looked around for support and surprisingly, there were many. A lot of the children including Robbie and Margaret actually agreed with Fran. Cordelia and Lucy did too as did Tom and the others but most kept shut. Cordelia wasn't afraid of Mrs Cole and her punishments, she simply didn't want to get too involved and would rather watch the situation unfold from the sides. "See, they all agree. I bet Billy's going to blame Tom next, saying Tom killed that silly rabbit."

Lazily, Tom looked up. Silence fell. The moment his dark eyes laid upon everyone, they all looked away or at the floor as if a single gaze from him could turn anyone into stone. Cordelia was the only one who met his gaze. Unsurprisingly, he looked bored. "Leave me out of this, Nunley." Tom's voice rang out against the sudden quiet foyer before he looked away, still as uninterested as ever.

Yet…

Cordelia could've sworn she saw a ghost of a smile flitted across his face. There was also a little spark in his eyes, not a spark of happiness but something else. Her stomach churned as her mind went back to their conversation at breakfast.

He didn't.

He wouldn't.

He couldn't.

Could he?

She wasn't so sure but just thinking about it made her sick enough for bile to rise in the back of her throat. She turned away from the crowd and focused her attention only on Tom. He clearly must've noticed her staring because he looked up and smiled at her. His smile didn't comfort her and only unsettled her. Silently the two stared at each other while the play carried on. He did do something. She was sure of it.

"Delia." Lucy softly nudged her arm, pulling her away from her task of trying to figure out Tom. She looked at Lucy and raised a brow in question. "I think Martha's gonna make us look for Mopsy."

"You think so." Cordelia said, her attention elsewhere but just for the sake of Lucy she pretended she was there. "Hope not."

"Right? It'd be so tedious." Her friend moaned.

Gathering all the attention to her, Martha took centre stage again. "Look, why don't we all work together to find Mopsy? I'm sure we can find her by…" She turned around to look at the grandfather clock and read the time. "...lunch. That should be enough time with everyone—almost everyone's help. I do still need some of you to help me in the kitchen and to set up the table."

"Please take us with you." Lucy chanted under her breath but it was already hopeless.

"And that's anyone who typically helps out for Saturday's lunches. I'm sure you all know who you are." Lucy deflated and stuck out her bottom lip in a visible pout. "Right, the rest of you—I hope you all find Mopsy."

Mrs Cole nodded and Margaret along with some of the other girls clustered around Martha. "Oh they will," The old matron chimed in. "they sure do love playing hide and seek inside so finding one rabbit won't be too much of a task." She glared at the children and Edmund sighed audibly but it was masked by the sound of Billy's cries. "Billy, stop your crying."

Seeing nothing interested him anymore, Tom started to leave. Unfortunately, Robbie noticed him immediately. "Tom, are you not going to help us search?" He asked, being as nice as possible.

As usual, Tom made a face. Nobody even wanted his help, well, almost nobody. Cordelia probably did, she was a little torn at that moment, wondering if he actually did something or not. Tom sharply turned and looked at everyone, his head held high. "I hardly think anyone here wants my help." He said and started to leave again.

"The more the merrier, Tom." Robbie tried again.

"And you all have more than enough."

Billy's face grew a deep scarlet with every word Tom spoke. Cordelia eyed Billy wearily, knowing he was going to explode soon and he did. "I don't want his help! I don't want his help! He probably did something to Mopsy!"

"Billy!" Martha and Mrs Cole shouted out but Tom only chuckled darkly. Hearing Tom's laughter, Martha nervously wrapped her arms around herself while Mrs Cole had a difficult look on her face. "Tom, he didn't mean it like that." Mrs Cole tried to mitigate the damage.

Unfortunately or fortunately—Cordelia couldn't tell really—Tom didn't care much about what Billy said or that's what it appeared to her. "I'm sure he didn't but I know where I'm wanted and I'm certainly not wanted in the search party so I'll be in my room taking a nap. I will be down for lunch—if there will be one." He turned and started walking away again.

And the other children started to disperse. Mrs Cole or Martha had nothing to add to that. Billy was still crying while the children were grouping up to go hunt for the missing rabbit. Lucy tugged at the sleeve of Cordelia's sweater and Cordelia pulled away. She had other plans.

In the midst of the dispersing crowd, Cordelia hurried past the other children after making Lucy let go of her. She rushed after Tom. She had to speak with him. She had to know if he actually went on and did something to Billy's stupid rabbit after their conversation. It wasn't like she cared about Billy or Mopsy but the guilt of being the one to give Tom the idea was really eating at her heart.

"Tom!" Cordelia called out to him just as he stepped on the second floor landing. The second floor was deserted as the other children had all started their search from the bottom floor and garden. They would eventually move upstairs together. She had more than enough time to question him without anyone's ears listening in. "Did you do it?" She asked without even letting him a chance to greet her. "Did you do something to that rabbit?" Her voice gradually grew quieter as she closed the distance between the two.

The corner's of Tom's lips went up. "I thought we talked about accusing people without proof, Cora."

"That's not what I asked."

"You have no proof I did do it. If anyone were to hear this, I'd be in a lot of trouble." Tom looked away and pitifully sighed. She was not feeling pitiful for him at all. He wasn't even trying to hide it. "Do you want me to be in trouble? Everyone already thinks the worst of me. Do you want that to worsen?"

No, she didn't.

Still she couldn't find it anywhere to pity Tom Riddle.

When she saw his face, she didn't see someone who was pitiful. "You did something to Amy and Dennis, didn't you?" She asked instead and Tom's eyes darkened.

His jaws clenched and he looked away, not meeting her clear blue eyes. He pursed his lips and slipped her hair behind her ears. His hands were deathly cold, making her shiver before he backed away. "I'm going up to my room, if you want to talk then come find me but I won't be listening to any…stupid accusations."

A part of her pushed her on to tell him about her encounter with Amy while the other part told him to hide it away. It was obvious which part of her won because she didn't say anything else after that, letting him have the last word. She just watched him turn around and carry on in his march back to his room.