Inseparable

CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

After a few months of inventing and reading, Tom finally made a teaching device that would find his locket. It was the size of a muggle pen and worked like a pin on a compass. It would point in the direction of the locket.

Tom decided that he would use it now. The sooner he could get back to England, the better. He left the inn he was in and started to follow the pen. He couldn't use the floo or apparition to get there, as he needed the pen to be pointing in the right direction. Walking and muggle transportation was the only way he could get there.

He made his way out the alley and into the muggle world.

Tom stayed to the side of the road, minding his own business and ignoring all the muggles.

He walked for a long time without needing much of a break. Tom didn't need much sleep, as a couple of weeks ago, he performed a ritual on himself which would reduce the time he required for sleep. Tom didn't even know how long it was since he had a whole night's sleep. Tom stayed up most of the time to work on his locator device. Consequently, his skin paled from lack of sleep and looked grey in some sorts of light.

Tom could walk for twenty three hours a day, only needing an hour to eat, rest and pee.

...

After three full days of walking, which was sixty nine hours of walking, Tom made it to a small village towards the south of France.

It was only a coincidence that as Tom walked into the centre of the village, he saw a man wearing his locket around his neck.

Tom's eyes greedily lit up as they focused in on the locket.

He stealthily followed the man and walked into the man's home after him. The house was dark inside. None of the lights were on, and the sun had already set.

"Hello," Tom said creepily as the door of the house shut with a soft click.

The poor man jumped in fright and yelped when he spun round to face Tom. Tom's red eyes were burning like blood, dark circles underneath them, hollow cheeks. A manic expression on his face. To the man, an insane person just broke into his home and was waving some sort of stick in front of him.

"Wh-who are you? What do you want? Do you want money? I don't have money," the man panicked and rambled on.

"NO! I don't want your stupid money!" Tom shouted, "stop standing there and duel me like a proper wizard!"

The man could confirm it; there was a crazy person in his house.

"The winner gets the locket," Tom said, and got into a duelling stance.

The man clutched onto his chest and grasped onto his locket. The crazy man wanted his locket. He couldn't give away his locket. His parents gave it to him years ago. He remembered. He was a small boy, dreams plagued with nightmares. His mother said that he was becoming a big boy now and shouldn't sleep with his parents. His mother took off her necklace and placed it around his neck saying that it kept the nightmares away. He's never had a nightmare since. There was no way he would give it away to some sort of crazy man.

Tom was losing his patience. He wanted his locket.

He was in such a remote place; surely, it wouldn't matter if he used a few spells. Tom cast a crusio first. The man fell to the floor and screamed.

"Stand up!" Tom shouted when he let go of the spell, "get your wand out and fight me like a proper wizard."

Wand? The old man was confused. He didn't have a wand.

"How did sone stupid muggle get my locket!" Tom shouted, enraged when he realised that it was a simple muggle he was talking to rather than a relative.