Chapter 13
James was starting to panic. The small window was now well below the surface of the water.
"Help!" he yelled as loud as he could. "Can anybody hear me?!"
The young man did not know that no one was around for a long time. The whole deck he was on was deserted.
"Hello! Help me! Help me!"
James started banging on the pipe with the handcuffs, unaware that no one could hear him.
"Can you hear me?!"
The young man thought of Lily. what about her What are you sure about?
He hoped so.
The young woman was smart. James hoped she wasn't waiting for him or looking for him. He so hoped she was in one of the lifeboats. But he also knew that Lily would never leave him behind.
If Lily was not safe because she was looking for him and something happened to her... James didn't even want to think about it.
Lily will not die. The young man will take care of that. Well, at least he would if he wasn't handcuffed to a pipe.
Inevitably, his thoughts wandered to Regulus.
Please let him be one of the lifeboats too, thought James. He was 100% sure that Regulus had already left the ship.
James' heart clenched. He would have loved to tell Regulus the truth. He wanted to reassure him that he wasn't the one who stole the locket from the safe.
And now he would die without speaking to Regulus again. And Regulus would spend his life thinking James did it– that James betrayed his trust.
"Can anybody hear me?!" James tried to draw attention to himself. "Somebody help me!"
~~~~
"Mr. Andrews?!" Regulus yelled as he ran down the halls.
The man Regulus was looking for was a few hallways down.
"Steward, check the starboard corridor," said Mr. Andrews to the man.
Part of the crew was still busy waking up the passengers.
A middle-aged woman opened the door of her cabin. She was just putting on her gloves and glared at him. She didn't seem to understand this Situation – not yet.
"Madame, please put on a lifebelt. Get to the boat deck immediately."
Mr. Andrews walked on and passed a house cleaner.
"Lucy, for God's sake put on your lifebelt and set a good example."
"Yes sir."
Mr. Andrews opened the door to the next cabin.
"Anyone in here?"
Nobody was there - either the guests were already outside, or nobody had lived in this cabin.
"Mr Andrews!"
Regulus almost ran past the hall where Mr. Andrews was. But the young man recognized him in time.
"Mr Andrews! Thank God!"
Regulus turned down the aisle and ran towards the other man.
"Where would the Master at Arms take someone under arrest?" Regulus asked immediately as he stopped in front of Mr. Andrews.
"What?" he said, the older man confused. "You have to get to a boat right away."
"No! I'm doing this with or without your help, sir. But without will take longer," Regulus then pointed out.
Mr. Andrews shook his head slightly, as if wondering how Regulus could be so stupid. To be honest, Regulus was wondering the same thing. But as they say, 'Love makes you crazy'.
Also, Mr. Andrews didn't know why Regulus was asking him that.
Finally, Mr. Andrews then answered Regulus' question.
"Take the elevator to the very bottom. Go to the left down the crewmen's passage. Then go right and left again at the stairs. You'll come to a long corridor–"
~~~~
"This could be bad," James murmured.
He had to think of something fast– very fast, otherwise he would drown here.
James took a deep breath. The young man had already freed himself from tricky situations.
This situation worsened drastically for James when water started leaking under the door into the office.
"Oh shit! Oh shit!"
James stepped onto the table that was standing next to him due to the ship's tilt. He climbed up and tried to force the pipe apart.
He did not want to die, not like this and not today.
James still had so much he wanted to do; so many places he wanted to see. His life couldn't end today.
The young man couldn't hold himself any longer and climbed down again.
More and more water flowed into the office. James tried unsuccessfully to squeeze his hands through the handcuffs.
"Come on. Come on."
~~~~
Regulus did not stop until he was in front of his one of the elevators. The last elevator operator tried to prevent the passengers from boarding.
"I'm sorry, sir, but the lifts are closed," he explained to Regulus.
But Regulus didn't care. He pushed the operator into the elevator.
"I'm through being polite, goddamnit!" he hissed. "Now take me down!"
The man, slightly frightened, pulled the lever and the elevator started.
"E deck," Regulus declared, closing the grille.
What Regulus hadn't counted on was that part of E Deck was already under water. He and the other man jumped when the water poured into the elevator.
"I'm going back up," the other man explained.
"No!"
Regulus pushed him aside once more, opened the grate and entered the passage - the icy water almost reached the young man's knees.
"Come back!" the other man tried one last time, but Regulus looked around.
He looked around to find the crew passage.
"I'm going back up! I'm going back up!"
Then the man operated the lever again and the elevator went up again.
"Crew passage," Regulus murmured, reading the small sign above the door.
A small smile crossed the black-haired young man's lips – he was on the right track.
He fought his way through the water with difficulty and had to clear one or the other chair aside. All the little wooden furniture was now floating on the surface of the water.
After a few meters Regulus reached a staircase - now he had to turn left.
"James!" Regulus shouted.
He was just walking down the hall when the light also started to flicker.
"James?!"
"Regulus!" the young man heard a voice, James' voice.
Regulus stopped. The voice came from one of the cubicles Regulus had just passed.
"James!"
"Regulus, I'm in here!"
Regulus turned and hurried back. He followed James' calls and the tap on a pipe.
"I'm in here! I'm in here!"
Regulus opened the door, and a wave of relief went through Regulus. He had found James; he had made it.
The thought had even occurred to him that he might be too late, but Regulus had banished that from his mind immediately.
The younger Black brother crossed the room.
"James! I'm sorry," Regulus apologized. "I'm so sorry."
James was momentarily confused as to why Regulus was apologizing. He hadn't done anything wrong.
James wanted to tell him that too, but he got distracted when Regulus walked over and kissed him.
"That guy Malfoy put it in my pocket," James said when he pulled away.
The young man just had to say it. It had just slipped out of him. James had to tell Regulus again that he was innocent; it was that easy.
"I know, I know, I know," Regulus assured.
He was so happy to see James it was embarrassing. But it was just him and James down here, so Regulus didn't care how awkward he was being.
"Listen Reggie," James said and Regulus reluctantly took a step back. "You're gonna have to find the spare key, all right? Look in that cabinet right there."
Regulus turned and walked over to the small wooden cupboard. He opened it and looked at the keys that were neatly hung there.
"It's a little silver one."
The younger man quickly looked at the keys, but there wasn't a silver one.
"These are all brass ones!" Regulus declared.
"Check right here."
James gestured towards the desk and Regulus now walked onto the desk.
The young man yanked out the drawer and rummaged around in search of a key.
"Reggie," James addressed the young man.
The addressed stopped and looked at James
"How did you find out I didn't do it?" James wanted to know.
"I didn't," Regulus said. "I just realized I already knew."
James and Regulus looked at each other for a moment, both with small smiles on their lips.
Her looks said it all - they were full of love.
What had he done to deserve Regulus? James thought. The other young man was just risking his life and saving James'.
And Regulus was glad James wasn't mad at him. He would have been in his place.
He had decided against his family (other than Sirius) and for life with James. A life full of adventures where he would learn something new every day.
And Regulus couldn't wait.
Both men snapped back to reality.
"Keep looking."
Regulus searched every place where a key could be kept. Unfortunately, the key for the handcuffs was nowhere to be found.
"No key," Regulus murmured.
"There's no key!" Regulus complained louder. "Why is there no key?"
"All right, Regulus, listen. You're gonna have to go find some help. It'll be all right."
Regulus nodded. The young man glanced at the door and then back at James.
"I'll be right back," Regulus promised, and went to seek help.
"I'll just wait here!"
~~~~
Regulus ran back to the stairs he had just run ahead of.
He climbed the stairs and walked through the empty corridors.
"Hello? ls there anyone here?" he called.
"Hello?"
"Is there anybody down here? We need help! Hello?"
"Damnit!" he murmured.
He didn't have time to go upstairs and get help. By then, the corridor James was in would be completely submerged.
And even if he had the time, nobody would come down here with him.
"Can anybody hear me, please?! Hello?! Hello?!"
Then Regulus saw another man walking down the halls.
"Oh, thank God," Regulus murmured.
He approached the man.
"Wait, please, I need your help. There's a man back here and he's–"
Regulus tried to explain to the man what was going on, but he just ran past him.
"Wait!"
Regulus looked behind him. He was disappointed that he hadn't even stopped to listen to Regulus.
But if Regulus was honest, he could understand the other man. He was scared too and the fact that James was still down there and needed his help kept Regulus from running away.
Regulus was alone once again, with no one to help him.
"Hello?"
He walked a little slower now. Then the light went out – leaving Regulus in complete darkness for a moment.
The young man leaned against the wall, his breathing quickening. He hated the dark.
Regulus calmed down a bit when luckily the light came back on.
Then the young man thought he heard footsteps coming towards him.
"Hello?"
A steward ran into the aisle. He had some life jackets under his arm and was… stressed? … anxious? Regulus guessed both.
"Sir, you shouldn't be here now."
"I need your help," Regulus tried to explain. "There is a man down here and he is trapped."
The steward was not listening to him. He grabbed Regulus' arm and pulled him along.
"This way, yes. All right."
"Wait! You're going the wrong way!" Regulus tried again.
"Don't panic-"
"I'm not panicking!"
Regulus jerked his arm out of the steward's grip. He stumbled forward and hit his face against the wall.
"I'm so sorry, but-"
But the steward still wasn't listening to him. He got up again, just said "To hell with you" and just kept running.
Regulus could only laugh. Although this situation was not at all amusing.
"Believe me, I'm already in hell," the young man murmured, banging his back against the wall.