Chapter 1
There comes a time in a person's life when they finally reach rock bottom.
At this point, said person has a choice - to either wallow in their own misery until the hot spark of life fades from their eyes, or to take that petrifying step of reaching out to a loved one.
To those who have no similar support, rock bottom is a death sentence.
Regulus Black is one such person. Broken and utterly alone, his thread of life lies limp, cut untimely short.
***
A lonely man sat on a bench, watching over a desolated beach from the cliff above. His heart lay numb in his chest and he stared at the distant horizon with eyes void of emotion.
In his lap was a sketchbook, filled with page upon page of the same haughty face and dark curls, drawn carefully with regret. On top of it was an unlocked phone displaying a contact and zero recent calls.
Yet another year of his miserable life that his brother had missed.
It was there on that windswept cliff, on the morning of his 23rd birthday, that Regulus Black finally settled on his only option.
Death. H
e was completely and utterly alone; abandoned. There was not a single person who would care about his fatal choice. His parents were dead, his friends consumed by their loving relationships, so much so that he had not talked to them in months, and his brother was uncaring and happy in his new life.
Regulus was completely and utterly alone.
This was of course not true, but to those hurt again, and again, and again by the cruel hands of fate it is easy to listen to the harsh words of your own tormentor- yourself.
When the news gets broken to him, Sirius will collapse to his knees. Estranged, loving, wonderful Sirius howling and overcome with a burning, tearing grief as his world collapses. Hot tears will course down his cheeks as he curses himself and his failure as an older brother. His heart will tear itself to shreds at each sorrowful word said to him, each condolence, each snide comment muttered by the disowned family. This feeling, the heavy weight of loss, will never leave him and will drag him down till the day he dies. The life of his dead brother weighs on his soul till the last city crumbles into the sea, consumed by its endless hunger.
Regulus did not know this, however, soon that bench, he began to write. He flipped to the last free page of his sketchbook, the only one untainted by his love, and smoothed it out, ready for his last words. As his pen touched the paper, tears spilled from his eyes.
To whoever finds this,
Tell them not to search for my body. The sea will treat it far better than life has.
And to my brother. Dearest Sirius, I hope your new life is better than any we had before you left. I still love you like we were kids. I wish you did too.
Regulus Arcturus Black
Regulus tore the page out and folded it neatly, placing it and his sketchbook under a rock on the bench. A grim smile briefly curved the corners of his lips.
He began to walk down the rocky path to the beach and across the salt marred sand, wind whipping at his clothes.
Each step brought him closer to death.
Each step brought him closer to relief.
And so he strode into the waves, unflinching at the chill. He did not look back and never stopped moving, even as the seafloor dropped beneath his feet. Even as foaming waves broke over his head- he kept going.
Not a soul there to witness it, Regulus Black sank beneath the surface of the dark water. The storm carried his breathless body far away and finally, Regulus Black was okay.