Chapter 15:

Joanna pulled herself out of bed and hurried after Annoria. The pain in her thigh became more evidently present as she was forced to limp on one side.

As she made it out into the hallway, Annoria was no longer in sight.  A wave of panic washed over her as she imagined Professor Dippet reading the diary.

Quickly, she headed left, towards the headmaster’s office. She knew she was moving too slow as the pain in her thigh was increasing, but as she turned a corner, she spotted Annoria. She was relieved at sight, but it was a short lived one, as standing in front of Annoria, blocking her path, was Tom.

Joanna quickly dodge out of their view as she strained her ears to listen.

“You were the one that killed that girl!” Annoria said loudly, though unable to hide the fear in her voice.

“Well technically, the basilisk did,” Tom replied calmly. Too calmly perhaps.

“You sent it on her!”

“I sent it on a lot of people. I can send it on you too.” Joanna was sure Tom smirked as he said that.

“You wont be able to. This will be given to Professor Dippet before you can do anything horrid again.” Annoria laughed falsely, trying to cover up the quiver in her voice.

“The only horrid thing I plan on doing right now is to kill you.”

“And how are you going to cover up your tracks?”

“Some stupid, naive student like Hagrid shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

There was a short moment of silence before Tom spoke again, “Where did you find my diary anyway? I’m curious on how a girl like you could possibly break the enchantment on my book, let alone find it to begin with.”

“I found it-“

“Annoria!” Joanna had to cut her off as she limped into sight.

“Give the book back to Tom,” Joanna said, keeping eye contact on Annoria, and careful not to look at Tom.

“No.”

Joanna slowly headed towards her and whispered, “He WILL kill you.”

“And you’ll stand here and let him do it?” Annoria asked in disgust.

“No. Of course not. That’s why I’m asking you to give it back to him!”

“Aw, come on Joanna, she’s too stubborn, let me just finish her off,” Tom spoke without a hint of emotion.

Joanna finally turned to look at him, unsure if she should be shock at what he had just said. She knew he was capable of murder, and have the least amount of remorse, but she it didnt dawn on her that he was coldblooded.

“No, you can’t kill her, I wont let you. You’ll have to kill me first.” Joanna quickly stood in front of Annoria.

Un-mistakenly, she saw the expression on his face change. He didn’t want to kill her.

“Don’t be silly. Get out of the way,” Tom said in a different tone, unlike his previous.

“You can’t kill her Tom,” Joanna pleaded.

That was when she heard Annoria made a run for it and disappeared around the corridor behind Joanna.

“Great,” Tom muttered.

Joanna quickly grabbed a hold of Tom’s arm as he ran past her.

“Don’t. Let me,” Joanna said.

“What are you going to do? Talk her out of it?” Tom gave a soft chuckle.

“I’ll get the book back without having to hurt anyone,” Joanna answered and headed after Annoria.

Annoria had not gotten far as Joanna found her hidden in a broom closet, trying to catch her breath. Upon having the closet door open, Annoria tried to run for it, but as she shoved Joanna out of the way, Joanna fell and could not get up after as an electric like pain surged through her leg.

Annoria must have heard her fall as she came rushing to her side.

“I’m so sorry!” Annoria said, as she helped Joanna up.

Annoria was about to run off again, but Joanna held on to her hand tightly.

“Don’t! He won’t let you go! Just give it to me, and we can pretend this never happened!”

“Do you think he’ll still let me go after today? Even if I hand this back to him? I know all his secrets!”

“I’ll tell him not to hurt you!”

“He won’t listen to you. He’s crazy. He’s sick. He killed his own family! Do you know that?”

“Yes, I do.”

“What?! And you’re o.k with it? That’s why you’re helping him aren’t you?!” Annoria pulled herself free from Joanna’s grip.

“You don’t understand,” Joanna tried to explain, but she couldn’t find any reason to make Tom look any bit innocent.

“I understand enough.” Annoria took off.

Joanna thought briefly on what she was about to do, as she didn’t have much options. It was now or never.

To Be Continued…

(Leave a comment below or vote on what Joanna should do next!)