The Search Is Over

Chapter 25

Chapter 25: The Quiet Scares Me Cause It Screams The Truth

As it turned out, it wasn't terribly difficult for Regulus to convince Dora to go to America for a bit. While she prepared for their departure, Regulus wrote Kreacher a final time. This letter begged the elf for forgiveness and promised to do anything necessary to make it right. To ensure no one else read the letter he placed a concealment charm on it that would only show the words to Kreacher specifically. If anyone else attempted to lift the charm, the letter would burst into flame. This would keep his words forever between Kreacher and himself without risking anyone else ever seeing them. He begged Kreacher to write him back, and sent the letter off with the pigeon charm. It had had no more or less success than putting Mortis or Dora through the trouble, and was more expedient so he went with it again. Two days after Regulus sent his letter, Dora was ready to leave. Kreacher had not replied, even though Regulus provided his address. Though he knew he would normally be interested in seeing a new place, instead of eagerness, Regulus left with a heavy heart full of despondency and loss and most of all a world of regret. As he stared out of the window of the Muggle aircraft into the night full of stars, Regulus silently grieved for all the could have beens and all the mistakes. Kreacher should be at his side. They should be experiencing this potential Muggle hell together to keep safe from the evil that was Voldemort. Or better yet, if Regulus had somehow been wise enough never to have gotten involved with Voldemort in the first place, he and Kreacher could now be traveling the world together in wizarding style. Free, in love and happy. Their worst problem could've been avoiding the ridicule of wizarding society, but instead it was living through how Voldemort had torn apart the whole family. Dora hired a private jet so there was no one else on board with them other than the pilot. She explained that vampires often traveled thusly for extra safety and protection. She gave the pilot instructions to lock the plane once it had landed, leaving an extra key inside. This was because the flight would arrive in Orlando Florida where Dora's house was located, an hour after sunrise. The two would remain undisturbed in their coffins locked in the aircraft until sunset. Regulus would have been more than reluctant to trust a Muggle to keep their unresponsive selves safe through the day, but the vampiric hypnotism under which Dora placed him ensured said Muggle had no choice. Mortis would be there to guard as well, and perhaps that was what truly reassured Regulus. As the day held Regulus paralyzed in its firm clutches he had dreadful daymares of Kreacher. The elf looked at him with anger and hate, claiming that Regulus had ruined his life and that now Kreacher would never be the same. As a result, sleep hadn't improved Regulus's mood, and upon waking, his spirits were as low as ever. When he pushed back the lid of his coffin, the first sight that met his eyes was Mortis, neck deep in a box of mini cheese crackers. The black phoenix had orange cheese powder all over his head. Regulus chuckled, which garnered a curious glance from Dora.

"Ah. He likes the crackers I grabbed him. I thought he would." She smiled.

"Orange cheese somehow doesn't seem very healthy...or legitimate," Regulus commented and Dora laughed.

"He's a phoenix so I really don't think it will kill him. A death phoenix to boot. And if it does happen to kill him, again phoenix, so he'll literally come right back!"

"Not funny," Regulus told her.

Her smile did not waver. "Oh I think it is." Moving to the front of the aircraft she picked up the extra key from where the pilot had left it on his seat. After they exited, she relocked the craft. While Mortis and Regulus waited, she turned the key in to airport security where the pilot would pick it up later. When she rejoined Regulus, they went for dinner. Regulus had a business man who beat his daughter. When Regulus had drained his last drop of blood, he then relieved the man of his wallet full of money and his heavy gold watch. Then he waited beside a night club for Dora to return from having her own meal. They rarely ate together because it was safer not to do so. It drew far less attention to hunt alone. Regulus didn't mind in the least for unlike him, Dora was more of a believer in survival of the fittest so was not as picky about who she ate. Her food didn't need to meet any particular moral criteria. That combined with the messy and literally bloody way Pandora relished her food made Regulus more than willing not to dine together.