What Happened in the Cave

"We should tell Ms. Cole," Amy muttered, clinging to Dennis' arm.

She was still shaking.

"Don't be stupid," Dennis replied, swallowing hard. He was faintly green. "No one will believe us... I'm not sure that Ibelieve us."

Under normal circumstances, Dennis would have shoved Amy away. She was, after all, a girl. But just now, he didn't care.

Amy sniffled, trying valiantly not to cry. Ahead of them, Tom Riddle turned back to give them one of his hard stares, and Amy lost her battle with her tears, her face crumpling.

Tom smirked and turned away, walking up the beach.

"H-how did he know? How could he tell what we were thinking?" she gasped.

"I don't know," Dennis replied, tensing his jaw. "How did he make that snake appear and do what he wanted? What were those hissing noises he made?"

"We should have just given him our toys when he asked," Amy turned her face into Dennis' sleeve, hiding it from the world.

"We should have," Dennis agreed.

He waited for Tom to move farther up the beach, not sure how far away he needed to be before he wouldn't be able to hear them.

Unless he could always hear them. Dennis would believe it, now. After what happened in the cave.

He would believe anything after what happened in the cave.

Gripping Amy's arms, he turned her to face him, looking into her eyes. "We have to swear right now, Amy. We have to swear we'll never tell. Never." He glanced at Tom's figure in the distance. "And we have to swear never to forget. It really happened. We were both there, and it really happened."

Amy nodded, the sun catching on her tear streaked face, then knelt, picking up a shard of a shell from the surf lapping at their feet. She used it to cut her fingertip, then handed it to Dennis.

Understanding what she wanted, Dennis took the shell, slicing his own finger. Solemnly, they pressed their digits together, their blood intermingling.

"Never tell," Amy whispered.

"And never forget," Dennis finished, voice hoarse.

They stood there until Ms. Cole called them, frozen together standing in the surf.