WARNINGS; mental illness, depression, suicide, violence, blood, gore, murder, sexual abuse, misogyny, racism, antisemitism, toxic relationships, death, self harm, alcohol abuse, heavy smoking, profanity, blasphemy

he's a god, he's a man, he's a ghost, he's a guru
they're whispering his name through this disappearing land
but hidden in his coat is a red right hand

nick cave and the bad seeds, red right hand

. . . 

NADYA BERKOVA is not recovering, despite all the rumours. 

(This is because to recover, you have to have something to recover from; some traumatic experience that will never stop replaying before your eyes like a broken record, each time more glitched, more shaky than the last, never pausing for reprieve. — and Nadya has never experienced that, of course.)

She is fine — her grief is stifled, her pain is dulled by the red poison she ingests so regularly, her anger is dying out like a supernova on the brink of destruction. She has never been better; a survivor's heart in the body of a corpse, slowly rotting and eroding away, a jagged cliffs edge with rocks of steel. 

So there is no need for their pitying smiles, sympathetic sighs, their illegally obtained monetary donations (well, she's okay with the money). A rich heiress has no need for petty troubles and secrets, to concern herself with their toxic gossip. So she confides in only the deathless, speechless shadows on her bedroom wall and the cracked, bloody glass windows that never seem to repair themselves, no matter how many times she tries. Her hands are stained with blood that she can't scratch off, no matter how many times she shoves them roughly under her taps and scrapes and shouts and slashes at her ivory skin. And, most tragic of all, she is alone again. 

So Nadya grits her teeth, painted with violent crimson, washed with pain. She grits her teeth, lets the grit of the gravel tear at her skin and clothes and nails and hair, allows the water to fill her lungs and choke her, permits the rich pureblood families of England to suffocate and stifle every word she speaks. 

Because Nadya Berkova has a job to do, and nothing will stand in her way. 

&&. 1946, LONDON.  

The war has finally ended, and with it has ushered in a new era of revolution. British politics is failing; the economy is stumbling, rations are still imposed. The country is left in disarray; the empire crumbles and a new party is elected in government. In Bulgaria, things aren't much better. The People's Republic of Bulgaria has just begun; the economy is starting to pick up, due to new leadership and an evolving opinion on Western capitalists. 

Nadya Berkova has found a home and is well on the way to making a new life for herself in Britain, despite the tragedy and enmity of the public that she can't seem to shake off, and the general sense of distaste she's greeted with whenever she introduces herself. It's difficult for a girl of her age to make a name for herself, especially considering she spent the last six years in s sheltered boarding school trying to pretend there was no war, but she ignores that. She is a Berkova, and an opportunist. She can, and will do whatever the fuck she wants and if they don't like that, fuck them.

One night in March, Nadya comes home, chilled to the bone, a cigarette pressed between her teeth and dark red lips. Only to find her windows smashed in and a body hanging from a tree like a windchime, softly swinging in the breeze like feathers and snow, neck pulled at a grotesque angle, eyes so glassy and empty and blank and — dead.

Suicide, they say, like liars in the wind. He killed himself from the tragedy of it all, from his fallen pride and legacy, his poverty and reliance on others. He flew too high and dropped too far; like Icarus, or Bellerophon. If only he hadn't soared so high, he might've survived the fall. 

Nadya swears she will cut out the tongue of the next person to repeat that treacherous lie. It was not a suicide; Ivan was murdered, and she is going to prove it. She can't stop replaying the scenes of his death, stop seeing his face in the mirror, hearing his voice in her dreams. Ivan is warning her, trying to tell her something and Nadya will get no rest until he is at peace — which leaves her no choice. No matter how many more crimes she has to commit along the way, how many more bodies rot in her basement, how many more times she has to kill, she will solve his murder. Both for her cousin, and her own peace of mind. 

Amidst the chaos, Nadya finds another kindred soul who will stop at nothing to solve Ivan Vasinov's murder — though not for the same reason. Tom Riddle, the man with a a love of gold, an angel's smile, and a hand stained permanently red. 

Nadya would bathe in blood and burn the world to the ground for her family, and now she has no family left. She may as well do it for vengeance's sake. 

NINA DOBREV as NADYA BERKOVA

the red right hand

( TOM HUGHES as TOM RIDDLE ) 

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

"red right hand" is from the epic poem Paradise Lost by John Milton, where red right hand is used to refer to the hand of God / divine vengeance.  it's also a song which was covered by arctic monkeys which is where i knew it at first, i'm not an intellectual lmao

newayz, i'm actually so excited and proud of this concept lmao . britain sucked at this point. british empire and all that. but they were getting ?? better ? anyway i'm not that educated on bulgarian history so i've been doing a lot of research about it and it's so interesting? why do i only research things for fics?  anyway if i'm ever doing a pop quiz on post-war bulgaria i'll ace that shit. i'm getting off topic, 

i'm so proud of this idea because tom riddle post-hogwarts >>>>> tom riddle in hogwarts in terms of how fun he'll be to write, like, no rules at all, no dumb-dore , and nadya herself is such an interesting character, originally based of sara berry from my original fic, and she's absolutely LAWLESS bahaha i love her

i watch too many crime dramas, gotta get that murder mystery yk, even though we all know who the murderer is 

DISCLAIMER: 

no i don't own harry potter,

fuck jk rowling, yeah?

all rights to Nadya & her story belong to me

DEDICATIONS: 

i love you guys sm ! 
ohmyolympusssy. vegemites. rcmanovas. hippolytas.
athenawinchester_x. lyrliarr. -STARSHlPS. -serpcntis. viIIaneIIes. soulsentwined. bumiaangs. nezukology. lilac-barf. vaderology. COMAT0SEQUINN

- this is not a healthy relationship. it's tom riddle. it's hideously toxic.