A/N: This is an alternate ending to this story. If you haven't already read the full story yet, it would probably be best to go back a chapter now and read that first. The references to Padfoot will be especially confusing if you haven't already read the original story.
The Doing Time in Azkaban Contest - Regulus Black
Word Count - 518
Regulus angrily tosses Padfoot's note into the corner of his cell. "How could he do this to me? After everything I've done for him, he leaves me to rot in this place!" Regulus doesn't believe that his friend will come back for him. Why should he? Why would he want to come back to this place? No, if Regulus wants to escape from this hell, if he wants to confront his friend, he must find his own way out.
Regulus stews in his anger for days. He allows the dark and depressing aura of the prison to feed his anger, to make it grow more and more. Finally, an opportunity comes. When his cell door is opened for his food to be given to him, there is a distraction. He doesn't know what, he just hears screams and the sound of someone struggling. The dementor immediately goes off in the direction of the sounds, carelessly leaving the cell door open. Regulus can hardly believe his luck. Maybe he will make it out of here after all.
Regulus quickly runs through the open door. It has been years since he was brought here, so he has no memory of the layout of the place. He just starts running. He hopes he's heading in the right direction. He has no idea how much time he has before the dementors realize he's escaping. Inmates shout at him as he runs past their cells. He's not paying that much attention to them, but he does hear some of them begging him to take them with him. Regulus just keeps going. He doesn't have the time or the means to help any of them.
Regulus is stopped in his tracks when he turns a corner. There are several dementors waiting for him. He can see the large entrance to the prison just behind them. He's nearly there. He just needs to find some way to slip past them and out the doors to freedom. If Padfoot could do it, then so can he.
Taking a deep breath as the dementors advance on him, Regulus gets a running start and just before he reaches the menacing creatures, drops to the ground and rolls under them. It hurts, but it is worth it. He has made it past them. Ignoring how sore and bruised his body feels, Regulus quickly gets up and starts running again.
Regulus is nearly there, his hand outstretched to open the large door, when something cold and clammy yanks him back. He lands roughly on his back, the air being forced painfully from his lungs. He finds himself staring up into the terrifying faces of the dementors as he gasps for air. They have pulled back the hoods that normally cover their heads to reveal grey-skinned, eyeless faces, their horrible gaping mouths open, eagerly sucking in the air around them as they prepare to kiss him. Regulus finally draws in a breath and releases a horrifying scream before he goes quiet, his mind going blank and his eyes staring into nothingness.
