The Search Is Over

Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Making The World A Better Place

Now that Regulus's hunger was satiated, he was finally able to actually contemplate the technicalities of feeding. He had many questions for Pandora when they arrived back home. The idea of killing someone daily was disconcerting, and he resented Voldemort for putting him in such a situation that he'd had to make that choice for his survival. As soon as the front door to Dora's house was closed behind them, he asked his first question.

"Do I have to kill to survive?"

Dora frowned in mild annoyance as she turned to face him. "Some overly soft souls choose not to but either they are weak from underfeeding or they take half the night to get enough blood. Feeding a little from someone then making them forget, then finding someone else and doing the same and again and again until you're full is, frankly, an unnecessary waste of time."

"So a vampire must instead be a murderer daily," Regulus asked and Pandora huffed a sigh.

"It's survival of the fittest. You are more than a human now. To be a murderer you would still be one of them, killing your own kind...those equal to you, and this is no longer the case, Regulus. You're going to have to change a lot of your human opinions now if you are to adapt, for they are no longer suitable. You are no longer human."

Ordinarily Regulus would've been devastated to lose his humanity...because it went hand in hand with his pure blood status in the wizarding world and his values as such. Voldemort had taken nearly everything, though, shattering many of his beliefs in the process. Right now he knew he was still shattered over that and mainly only cared about having Kreacher with him. This vampirism...it wouldn't be so bad, he told himself. It had its perks, and apparently it'd even drawn the attention of a Death Phoenix which was pretty bloody brilliant, he had to admit!

For his part, Mortis still sat on Regulus's shoulder, calmly gazing about as Pandora led the way back into her sitting room where Regulus had woken only hours before.

"Fine, but can I kill murderers, abusers, people like that? Is there a way that I can use my mind reading abilities to find those sorts of people," Regulus asked. He seated himself on the sofa where he'd remained unconscious for two weeks. "I feel I've done enough harm to Kreacher, to my family, hell to the world by supporting Voldemort. So if I could take evil people out, I'd be...repaying my debt somehow."

"Yes," Dora said, expression relaxing. She was apparently relieved that Regulus was no longer resisting the expedient vampiric method of taking his daily sustenance. "You can do that. The method isn't as fast as simply calling those who wish to die, but there are enough dreadful criminals in a large city that it shouldn't take you more than half an hour to find someone whom you deem to be suitable. That brings me to the matter of your training. We should begin that soon. Are you up for it tonight?"

Regulus nodded. "Of course. I just want to write Kreacher one more time before we begin." He couldn't imagine why the elf hadn't responded to him yet and now that the distracting hunger was gone, his concern over the situation was nearly consuming. This second note was shorter. He told Kreacher to at least respond that he was alright, and they would take it from there. He charmed the note to return to him and sent it off with the pigeon charm.

"Do we go back out onto the streets to begin," he asked Dora when the letter had vanished from his hand.

She nodded. "Your mind must be able to hear that which you are learning to shut out. On a busy street you will be surrounded by many minds. Learning the mental shields is more overwhelming in a large crowd, but also faster because you will have a greater need to do so than with only one or two busy minds bombarding yours," she explained. "You must learn to shut out the thoughts of others around you first, then learn to open your mind to those thoughts you wish to hear. The opening is rather like a filter on the shield that I will teach you first." Regulus nodded his understanding. The way Dora spoke of the mental shield and the filter made it all sound very much like magic. He always enjoyed studying the mechanics of various spells so found himself excited to learn these new skills. "Are you wanting to wait for your elf to reply to the letter," Dora asked and Regulus nodded. "How long should that take?"