Chapter 310: Bella, Ruined
The Dark Awakening.
The Master's gift to him. That densely concentrated body of dark knowledge, bearing the twin properties of Mental Corruption and mental seduction.
She had delivered the bone box to Grimmauld Place with her own hands. Watched Regulus open it right in front of her. When she returned, she reported every detail to the Master, who reviewed her memories and concluded that the Dark Awakening's corruption was gradual but inexorable. Even if the initial response was feigned, sustained contact would eventually assimilate the host.
Now she could see it.
The composure he'd maintained all evening was cracking apart, and his mouth was twisting into an expression she had never seen on his face.
The Master was right.
Bellatrix let out a shrill, wild laugh. Her whole body shook with it, and somewhere in the middle the laughter turned wet, tears rolling from the corners of her eyes. Whether it was the body's reflex at the peak of madness or something else, even she couldn't tell.
"You feel it, don't you!" she screamed at Regulus, her voice warping through the laughter. "It's biting you! It's crawling through your bones! You're afraid of it..."
Her lips peeled back further, baring every tooth. "No. You love it!"