Serpents and Shadows: A Tale of Two Outcasts

"Angelina! Angelina! You must wash the clothes right away, or you'll go without supper!" Cook Susan banged the kitchen door with a cast-iron pan to emphasize the seriousness of her words. After yelling five or six times, she went inside. If that wretched girl, Angelina, hadn't heard her, it wouldn't be Susan's problem – no supper for her.

"Not going back?" asked a boy, crouched in the shadows with a girl on the other side of the wall.

Angelina's feet were numb from squatting. She shook her head, saying, "No, Susan won't give me supper anyway." Besides, supper was just a few slices of bread and cold, watery soup. She'd rather stay with the boy, possibly getting more and better food.

The boy, about eight or nine, wore ill-fitting, old clothes that exposed his skinny ankles. He didn't seem much better off than Angelina, probably overworked and underfed.

It wasn't surprising. In these times, few people were well-fed, except the rich. They were not only children but also homeless children.

Angelina knew the importance of a full stomach in her current situation. Everything else could wait; she forced herself to forget her past.

As darkness fell, she didn't want to return too late. Susan would lock the back door, and Angelina would have to spend the night shivering behind the trash cans. She didn't want to try that again, but she hadn't received any food from the boy today. She knew he was doing it on purpose.

She tentatively asked, "Why don't you have your snake find us something to eat?" Birds, rabbits, anything but rats would do. Sometimes, she even wanted to eat one of his snakes, but considering his attachment to them, she never mentioned this idea.

He looked at her slyly and said, "You have to do something in exchange. I won't give you food for free."

"Didn't I give you an idea last time?" she argued. "Didn't you find your birth certificate from the orphanage director?" The boy lived in an orphanage, seemingly better off than Angelina, but they both had to work and were always hungry.

He had always wanted to find his parents, holding onto the fantasy that he came from a remarkable background. One day, his parents would find him, and he would become rich and powerful, like the gentlemen on the streets in cars and top hats.

To her, it was a child's fantasy, but she never tried to dissuade him. Everyone had the right to imagine that they were special, even if they would later grow up and find it ridiculous.

She told him that there must be information about his arrival at the orphanage, like the names of the people who brought him there. If he had been there since birth, there would be a birth certificate with his parents' information – a name or an address.

"True," he nodded, unimpressed. "I found out my mother's last name is Gaunt, but you were rewarded for that, right?"

Angelina frowned with slight disgust. Tom, the boy, had always acted superior since they first met. At first, she understood he was a child, but she gradually became annoyed. She didn't want to show the gratitude he sought. She said, "Yes, we had roast chicken that day, but that was two weeks ago. You promised me that if I followed you, I'd be full every day."

His expression darkened, as she knew it would. His need for control could hardly tolerate disobedience or defiance. He seemed to see himself as a king.

Angelina stood up, shrugged, and said, "If there's no food, I'll go back." As she expected, his face grew even angrier. She turned to leave when he suddenly called, "Stop!"

She stopped, looked back impatiently.

He tilted his chin and narrowed his eyes, gesturing for her to come back. She noticed something in his pocketed hand and returned, standing before him.

His cold gaze scrutinized her, but she wasn't scared. He was just a child; how bad could he be? Besides, she knew he needed her – not for what she could do, but for the companionship everyone needs.

He might not understand, but Angelina did. Compared to him, she had far less fear of being alone.

Because she was not a child.

After ten minutes of this, he handed her two warm, hard candy blocks.

She took them without offering to share. Even though they hadn't known each other long, she understood his mindset. To him, giving her things was a favor. He always saw himself above her, and she below him. All she needed to do was accept his gifts, anything more was unnecessary.

She put the candy in her pocket, saying calmly, "Well, I'm going back." She didn't move, waiting for his approval, which he enjoyed.

Eventually, he nodded, saying, "Alright, go. Come back at this time tomorrow."

Only then did she turn and run, feeling his gaze follow her around the corner, making her back feel hot.

Tom Marvolo Riddle. What a strange child.

Angelina had no parents, or at least she didn't know who they were. Cook Susan always said she was an unwanted child, that her father was a drunk and her mother had abandoned her. Angelina had never met either of them.

Susan claimed to have taken her in, giving her a job, food, and shelter. Every week, she took Angelina to church, where the girl had to kneel before God and pray her gratitude for Susan's help, promising repayment. With that, Susan would be happy. Perhaps that evening, Angelina would be allowed to sit at the table for supper.

Angelina knew there was truth in what Susan had said. Without her, Angelina's circumstances might be much worse. Child corpses were occasionally found in the small ditch not far from the city, and begging children were a common sight on the streets. Not to mention the teenage girls in the alleys who would do anything for a piece of bread. Compared to them, Angelina truly didn't have it that bad.

If she were a child, she might fully believe Susan's words. But she wasn't. She was grateful to Susan for taking her in, but that didn't mean she enjoyed the endless work and only being permitted one meal a day. Susan was not a saint. Angelina suspected that in a few years, when she was thirteen or fourteen, Susan would sell her to a brothel. She was on good terms with a woman named Sofia, who ran a brothel in a back alley on a small street. Sofia would always make a point of pulling Angelina aside to chat when she came to see Susan, calling her a 'lovely girl'.

Angelina harbored no prejudice against Sofia and the women who lived in her brothel. In a world like this, having enough to eat was the most important thing. She knew this was merely a way of surviving.

However, she naturally did not want to choose this way to live.

Her hope was to serve as a maid or cook in a slightly wealthy family. This way, she would have a job and retain her dignity. When it came time to get married, it would also be more convenient. She might even marry a cultured man, even if he were only a messenger or secretary. Their future family life would be much better, at least not as poor as those of the workers.

Angelina had already planned out her life for the next fifty years. She insisted on staying with Susan simply because she wanted her to help introduce her to a family that needed a maid. She'd worked in the kitchen for so long that cooking, cleaning, and laundry were all within her capabilities. She could even take care of children. If she had the opportunity, she would study secretly in the future. Learning more could never be a bad thing.

But all of this was for the future. Right now, she was only seven years old. Even if she claimed to be literate and able to read, nobody would believe her. Everything had to proceed slowly, and she had to be patient.

Every day after four in the afternoon was the time she had agreed on with Tom, and she would go see him. Sometimes he would have tasks for her, but more often he would vent his frustrations about the other children in the orphanage because they wouldn't listen to him.

"I'll show them what I'm capable of!" he said, laughing sinisterly.

If it were in the past, she would not like a child like Tom, who was too vengeful. She preferred more innocent children who were more childlike.

She couldn't recall if she had ever encountered a child like him before, always so certain that everyone should listen to him, should grovel at his feet, or he would seek revenge.

Sometimes she thought his thinking was too narrow and wanted to persuade him with words like, 'Actually, they might not think like that' or 'You should think positively'. But it was useless. Tom was like a bottle filled with dark thoughts. In his eyes, everyone in the orphanage was out to hurt or look down on him. Although some of this was true, keeping track of all of it and always waiting for a chance to retaliate was too much.

Today, as he repeated the whispers of the other children in the orphanage, she said, "Don't you think the best revenge on them is to ignore them?"

He had been mumbling to himself but looked up at her after she spoke.

She continued, "Then all you need to do is live a better life than them, and they will naturally be envious. In a few years, you will have completely forgotten about these insignificant people. When they come looking for you, you won't even remember them. That's the best revenge!"

Looking at his dark face, she didn't know what he was thinking. Then he said, "Really? When I become a rich man and return to the orphanage, they will naturally surround me. Perhaps they will even try to curry favor with me, hoping I will give them money, take them away, and let them live a rich life. Then I will say: Sorry, I don't remember we ever met, may I ask who you are?"

He suddenly started laughing loudly. The harsh laughter was frightening, but he was genuinely happy, and his laughter was filled with arrogant joy.

For the first time, Angelina started to dislike this child named Tom. He made her uncomfortable. Although she had wanted to become friends with him because he could control snakes, and then get his help, she now realized that he was a person who couldn't be befriended and was best avoided.

He was too dark.

In layman's terms, such a person was likely to have a psychological disorder, and he was particularly vengeful. If she offended him in the future, wouldn't she be remembered and heavily retaliated against?