This… this couldn't be happening… get up! Get. Up. Even at the urging of his own anger, his own frustration, his muscles wouldn't move. There was no way… this… this had to be some sort of nightmare, it was the only explanation. You should've planned better, shouldn't have rushed in, whispered the tiny traitorous voice in the back of his head. The monster wearing a man's face stalked closer
"We are the guardians of justice! Priwen shall prevail!" he spat, he knew that even should he fall, his compatriots would come after the monster that stood before him, he'd taught them well. Still, he hoped that the words would give him the motivation, the couple of breaths' reprieve to get his feet back under him. McCullum wasn't sure if it was the effects of the relic wearing off or if it had simply been the length and ferocity of the fight. There was a gentle click of fine shoes on the wood ahead of him.
"You can't accept that we're not enemies can you?" the snake said, calm and collected as though he'd just finished a stroll in the park… bastard. McCullum lowered his head, trying to will the spots out of his vision
"We always have been and we always will be! Of all the evils that threaten mankind, your kind are the worst." he snapped, the rage burning in his veins giving him enough strength to lift his head but little more, his arms and legs were trembling with the effort to remain even partially upright.
"Perhaps you're right…" the leech said and McCullum felt a brief flash of surprise before the monster continued speaking "Maybe I am a monster that deserves no mercy, but that's not all I am." The pressed lines of the dead man's pants, mussed from the fight, came into view. Geoffrey would've scoffed at him if he'd had the breath.
"You're nothing but a corpse animated by evil, Doctor, don't try and fool yourself."
"There is no way you'll ever let me be McCullum?" the Doctor's voice was finally starting to sound agitated and the guard couldn't help but feel a bit proud for finally getting under the monster's skin, even if it meant his death "You'll always hunt me down won't you?"
"There is no escape leech. Kill me now for there is no way you can sway me to your ideals." he spat, trying to goad the monster into it. He flinched when a hand wrapped under his chin, pulling his head up, all his muscles protesting the movement.
"That's… where you're mistaken." the monster said and McCullum felt the sweat run cold down his spine
"What do you mean?" his traitorous heart suddenly thundering in his ears with the leech's ominous words. The hand holding onto his chin suddenly yanked him upward and he flailed, grabbing onto the dead man's arm as he fought for balance and then he was staring directly into the monster's red, red eyes as it spoke.
"I'll make you a vampire McCullum. I'll make you one of us."
"No!" Geoffrey felt his stomach plummet as the words sank in "Kill me!" he pleaded. The Doctor released him but he didn't even have the strength to stand and fell back to his hands and knees. He couldn't see what was happening but he could hear a brief grunt from the leech somewhere above his head.
"Prepare yourself hunter, you're about to be hunted, just like me…"
"No! No!" the hunter flailed, trying to push the monster back, but he might as well have been a kitten for all the good that did him. A cold hand closed around his throat, just below his jaw. The beast was still muttering
"When I kissed my poor Mary goodbye I had no idea what I was doing, but now I do, consider this my kiss of Judas." those monstrous eyes were staring him down as he still struggled, trying to push the leech, to escape, to cut his own throat on those claws, it didn't matter, he just did not want this.
Cold, wet lips pressed against his own and he squeezed his eyes shut, nostrils flaring as he refused to part them, he would not yield, he'd rather die. Claws dug deep into his shoulder and the gasp he gave in response was automatic and then the cold, wretched blood was seeping down into his mouth. The inhalation sent the horrible liquid straight into his lungs and he choked on it, coughing and sputtering. The hands holding him up released him and he fell, spitting some the cursed stuff back onto the ground, but deep down he knew… it didn't matter. It was already inside him. He could feel his nerves jolting, feeling like pins and needles and somehow more leaden than before. The coughing didn't subside as he collapsed onto his side, each breath felt like it didn't have enough air, his heart felt like it was going to hammer out of his chest. McCullum could feel his limbs twitching on the ground, could hear the Doctor march away, stating coldly
"Welcome to the world through the looking glass." before the gates slammed closed. Feeling his own heart skip a beat, and then another, before giving out entirely, only cemented the horror of the situation as his vision blurred and he felt consciousness slipping away from his scrambling, desperate grip…
The world returned with all the gentleness of a bucket of cold water and Geoffrey found himself shooting up gasping for air as though he'd just awoken from a nightmare. The sense of unease and tension did not lessen upon waking however, instead the hunter found himself feeling exceptionally wary though he couldn't say why. His mind felt like it'd been stuffed with cotton, as though he'd gone on a particularly ill-advised rager. Everything hurt… his head, his limbs… his stomach clenched in hunger. He hissed in a breath through his teeth, putting an arm around himself as though that would ease the cramping sensation.
"Think dammit." he grumbled, trying to forcibly shake himself out of the strange sensations. Everything felt just so slightly off and he couldn't put his finger on it, he was struggling to string thoughts together and it was starting to piss him off. His stomach cramped again and he curled in on himself, taking quick, shallow breaths that felt strangely hollow.
"What the hell…" the hunter grumbled, trying to pull himself together. He'd had his fair share mornings waking up hungry but this just felt… wrong on some level. Deep breaths, he thought to himself, he had to find out where he was, how he'd gotten there. Everything seemed to be tinged with a strange grey color, which he'd first attributed to it being dark but… there wasn't a lack of light, just color. McCullum blinked, then rubbed his eyes when that didn't solve the problem. When that still didn't work he decided to work with it, ignoring the issue until he could get back to base and ask their medic about it.
Looking around told him he was in the attic at the Pembroke, why the ever living hell why was he here and why were the recent memories so fuzzy? He got to his feet, a little shaky at first but quickly stabilizing despite the shaky weakness in his limbs. It was the same sort of weakness that he'd felt after getting over the flu a year or so ago when Thomas and his other men had had to practically force him back to bed to recover. The hunter shook his head at the memory, and took further stock of his surroundings, his clothes were more roughed up than usual and he was missing a fair number of bolts for his crossbow. Okay so he'd been in a fight and based off of waking up on the ground it hadn't gone well for him. A glance around the room and he found his sword laying on the ground. At least, he presumed it was his sword, the blade was glowing strangely, or parts of it were. With a heavy frown he stooped to pick it up and was startled that despite the shaking muscles the longsword felt far lighter than normal. He ran a finger over the glowing portion and it smeared onto his hand, and suddenly the smell struck him.
Overpowering and metallic and it made his stomach clench with want. Before considering it he'd already brought his hand to his mouth and laved his tongue over the bright smear of color coating his fingers. A shiver wracked its way down his spine and he sighed, quickly running his fingers through the mess on the blade again in much the same way he'd done as a child when his mother had handed him the bowl coated in cake batter.
"Hnn…" the noise eeked its way from his throat before he could stop it and he was considering abandoning all pretenses and running his tongue down the blade itself… He stopped. The sword clattered to the floor. What the hell was he doing?
"No…" there was only one thing that would reasonably be covering his blade… The hunter could feel his hands shaking as he probed his mouth with his tongue…
"No! Fuck!" he shouted, this can't be happening… As if to spite him his stomach clenched in hunger again throbbing in time with the fangs that he'd noticed in his mouth. The memories of recent events were clear enough now to remember the order of events, if not the specifics. Geoffrey cursed under his breath, trying to get a handle on himself, to feel a bit less unhinged but it was extremely hard to think through the icy cold craving that tore through his insides.
He was sorely tempted to pull out his pistol then and there and put an end to this madness here and now. The image of the leech doctor's horrific eyes flashed through his mind. He'd heard tales of such monstrous leeches but had never faced one himself. He had to warn his men at the very least. Perhaps one of them would do him the kindness of putting him out of his misery. The hunter swallowed fruitlessly and wiped his blade with the edge of his coat despite how much he wanted to lick the blood straight from the metal. Despite the fact that he no longer needed to, the deep breaths helped to calm his nerves. First thing was first he needed to get out of this building and exiting the way he came in was a bad idea. This was a hospital. There were people wounded and bleeding down there. The thought alone was enough to remind him of the hunger surging within and he shook his head as though he could knock the horrible ideas loose. He sheathed his sword and wandered over to the singular window and poked his head out. It was a hell of a drop to the ground but there were some promising looking pipes running down the length of the building. Geoffrey heaved a sigh and carefully worked his way out of the window, it was a tight fit for someone as tall as himself but he was able to make it work. He reached for the pipes and only made it about two steps down before the one he placed a boot onto gave way beneath his weight and he found himself falling toward the ground.
Slamming into the cobbles outside the hospital hurt just as much as he would've thought but there was no sound of breaking bones so it could've been much worse. To his surprise though the pain faded quickly but it only made the throbbing in his teeth so much more prominent.
"Fuck…" he managed, brushing himself off as best he could. There was the sound of someone calling out a faint
"Who's there?" but Geoffrey was already on the move, not trusting himself to approach anyone in his current state. It looked much brighter now than what he would've expected for the middle of the night, and there was no sign of the sun on the horizon. He stalked down the streets quickly, keeping his collar flipped up and his eyes down, thanking all of his lucky stars that he didn't run into anyone on his way away from the hospital.
Halfway back to headquarters he stopped, he couldn't go in there like this… He didn't think he could go in at all, not without every one of the Guard gunning him down before he could warn them. It made him both strangely proud and frustrated, they were welcome to kill him after he told them what happened. He looked around himself again, getting a brief bearing of his surroundings. It was surprisingly difficult to do so when the color was drained out of the world around him but the hunter was fairly certain that there was a safehouse in the nearby streets. That would at least keep him from the sun in the morning. He started toward it only to stop at the throb of dull red that he could see echoing down an alleyway, it's just registered only for him to suddenly hear the screech of a Skal in the same direction.
Geoffrey took off in the direction of it, sword already in hand, years of honed hunting instincts compelling him forward before he could even think about it. He rounded the corner, still seeing in the strange grey world, there was a splatter of bright red on the ground and the duller pulsing red hovered above it in an almost humanoid shape. There was the screech of the Skal and McCullum dodged to the side out of reflex, surprised and stumbling when the motion sent him farther than he anticipated. There was no time to consider what had happened as pain flared bright white hot in his guts. The creature had gotten a lucky shot in at his torso, a wound like this would've killed him quickly just the previous night. Instead he just bared his teeth at the monster, a snarl wrenching its way out of his throat as he leaned forward, grabbing the leech back, aching teeth sinking into a grimy throat. He couldn't have stopped even if he wanted to, the Skal's blood was lukewarm at best but it helped to warm his freezing limbs and calmed the ferocious hunger clawing at his belly.
The hunter followed the creature down to the ground as its legs slowly began to give out beneath it, paying no mind to the weaker and weaker flailing of arms against his body and face, too distracted by the relief that was pouring into his mouth. When the blood quit pulsing into his mouth he wrenched his face away, remnants dripping off his fangs onto the corpse below him. He was panting, trembling even, unable to control the wondrous joy that surged through him unchecked. When the trembling started to fade and he'd gotten a bit of a handle on his own breathing the realization of what he'd just done hit him like a punch to the face. He couldn't have stopped… what if they'd been human? This was too much… He wanted to do it again…
Geoffrey wiped a hand over his face, looking at the dark thick blood that coated the back of his fist and barely contained the urge to lap it off like some kind of perverse dog. With the influx of blood color had at last returned to the world, though looking down at the mess he'd created caused it to slip again, briefly, before he was able to clamp down on the surging hunger within. The woman that the Skal had found was long dead, her remains barely recognizable for what they were. He sighed and picked up his sword from where he'd dropped it, he still couldn't believe that he'd just dropped it like it meant nothing, and cut the leech's head off for good measure.
At least it'd only been a Skal… he had to get out of here, he needed to think. To decide where to go from here. His boots quickly ate up the pavement on the way to the safehouse, the windows were boarded up and the door still locked. A couple moments of dexterous fingers later and it clicked open, blissfully, thankfully empty. He quickly peeled off his scarf and coat and tossed them aside, unsure if they were even salvageable at this point but he needed to get this blood off of himself. There was a rickety old sink basin in the other room with a just as beat up mirror hanging, cracked and foggy, above it. Someone had filled a water pitcher last time they'd been in the safehouse and at this point Geoffrey wasn't going to complain that the water was musty. He grabbed a cleanish rag that had been left near the sink and dipped it in the water, wiping the worst of the blood from his hands, wincing as some of it stuck and pulled at his skin. Once the worst was gone he pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it to meet the same indeterminate fate as his coat and scarf. He then looked at his face in the mirror, instinctively shivering at the blood covered sight that met him.
It only helped to cement what had happened in his mind and the hunter didn't much care for it. He swiftly wiped at his face, splashing the water over and over, scrubbing at his jaw until it hurt. There was a long, slow, deep breath and he looked up at the mirror again, forcing himself to take it in. He needed to remember what he was doing, he was just going to warn his men of what the doctor had become, then he'd turn himself in to whatever method of death they thought was best. He hoped they'd at least make it quick.
The veins that encircled his eyes were still faded, but evident enough to point him out as inhuman to anyone who knew how to look. The blue eyes that looked back at him were a little paler than he was used to but the sense of relief that they were still his eyes was unexpected. He paused slightly before baring his teeth, taking in the points of the fangs that still hadn't retreated. It made his stomach turn unpleasantly just looking at them, knowing what they represented, what had become of himself. He looked away, disgusted, that was enough of that… There was a faint pale light beginning to seep in from around the curtains not quite dawn but it was fast approaching, the heavy weight that was starting to weigh on his mind reminding McCullum that he would never again enjoy the sun's rays upon his face. That alone was far more a saddening thought than his own impending death at the hands of his own men.
It must've been morbid curiosity that pushed him to do so but he could not help reaching his hand into the morning's light that was swiftly starting to stream around the edges of the curtains. The second his hand crossed into the beam he yanked it back, cursing and swearing up a storm as he watched in fascination as the wound swiftly began to scab over and peel off as though it had never happened.
"Sucks nearly as much as it looks to." Geoffrey grumbled to himself, rubbing over the freshly healed skin, intrigued that it felt similarly 'new' in the same way a peeled scab did. His stomach clenched in desperate hunger and the hunter bit back a growl. How bad would it be in the morning? Would he be able to keep himself long enough to get in contact with his men? Either way with the sun streaming in the window there wasn't much he could do about it now. Sleep wouldn't cure all wounds in this case but it would at least provide a bit of respite.
The vampire hunter's dreams were full of heat. Red hot rage and anger and rich hot blood and the sweet satisfaction of vengeance taken. When he woke he felt neither satisfied nor rested and a strange list of materials and ingredients echoing through his mind. McCullum shook his head, rubbing a hand through his hair, grimacing as it stuck in the way he pushed it. Those lists… the anger… those weren't his thoughts… He wracked his head for anything he might've read on the topic, coming up blank, Priwen weren't really the ones to do deep research into the abilities of vampires, beyond how to counter them. He swore though, if those turned out to be the damn doctor's… He'd kill him twice over for that alone. The last thing he wanted was to be in the man's head. Well it was a problem for another time. He had other issues to handle at the moment. A glance out the window revealed that it was in fact nighttime, nothing but a darkness flowing in. A darkness that the hunter still found lacking, having been granted eyes that were meant for it. McCullum was pondering how best to approach his men as he dressed and opened the door into the night.
The very last thing he was expecting was to open the door straight into a patrol rounding a corner, chatting and joking as though they weren't out to hunt the very things that went bump in the night. He froze. They froze. The young man who was clearly in charge of the unit, who McCullum knew had been introduced to him on more than one occasion but couldn't remember his name for the life of him, stepped forward, squinting in the darkness of the alleyway that the safehouse was located in.
"Mister McCullum?" he said, raising his torch to get a better look at the man. Geoffrey raised a hand to block the light from his eyes just in the knick of time until the young man lowered it with a swift apology. "Mister McCullum! That's a relief! After you didn't return from the fight with the doctor, we feared the worst, thank God you're okay!" The young man was beaming from ear to ear and his sentiment was echoed in some of his compatriots in soft mumbles around them.
Geoffrey just blinked a couple of times, not entirely sure of how to react, they sounded genuinely pleased to have found him but… did they not notice? Clearly some training was lacking in these recruits if they couldn't recognize a leech right in front of them but the hunter wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Aye, I needed a place to rest after, nurse my wounds." he said. The patrol all nodded, as though it made perfect sense that their leader had just walked away from a fight with a powerful leech with nothing but a few flesh wounds. If they were going to be gullible, so be it, at least it would work to his advantage and he'd tell his captains to give them a good verbal whipping before they sent him off. "Could one of you send for Lloyd? Not sure I'm up for the whole slog back to headquarters just yet."
"Of course!" the leader of the squad piped up "Do you need one of us to stay with you?"
"No." McCullum said, perhaps too quickly as the squad leader paused before nodding.
"Alright, Alvin, Russel, you two are the quickest, go and fetch Mister Morton for Mister McCullum, the rest of you are with me, we've a fair bit further to go tonight." the young man gave a quick salute to McCullum and waved the rest of his group with him. Two broke off, pelting back down the alleyway the way they had come; the smell of the pair, sweat and damp wool and fresh blood… Geoffrey flinched, vision flickering dark and pulsing in time with the fangs in his mouth. This wasn't good… he clenched his teeth and his fingers curled into fists against his will but the group of men didn't turn back. He stood there, stiff as a board, until they were completely out of range of his senses. When they finally did he felt all of the air rush out of him in a woosh, unaware that he'd been holding it until it left. The hunger was still clawing viciously at his stomach and pulsing in his teeth but the temptation was no longer standing in front of him.
"I need to do something about this before I speak to Lloyd…" he grumbled under his breath, turning and heading down the alleyway, pointedly turning the opposite way that the patrol had. It didn't take him long to hear the sounds of a sewer beast snuffling and snarling in a particularly dirty corner of the twisting roads. The hunter felt the eagerness to fight roll over his frame before he remembered why he was searching for the damn thing in the first place. His stomach roiled with revulsion for what he was about to do and nearly thought of turning back but it turned and noticed him, eyes glinting the lamplight back at McCullum in an eerie green glow. It growled at him and Geoffrey growled right back, feeling the sensation actually reverberate in his chest as he darted forward, ducking low under the attack that he already knew was coming. He slashed up with one hand, bright red suddenly decorating the air and his breath caught seeing it, mouth suddenly flooding with saliva as he wrenched his gaze back to the fight at hand. They tangoed for only a moment longer, the beast attempting to gut him with one long clawed mitt, the hunter caught it by the wrist, feeling far faster than he used to. He used its forward momentum to wrench the arm behind its back and force it to its knees allowing him unimpeded access to its throat. He should've been mortified, disgusted, repelled by the feeling of his own fangs tearing through flesh in a desperate bid for the blood that pulsed beneath. Instead… instead he just groaned in pleasure, clawing tighter at the monster that he'd trapped in his grip, jaw clenching and fangs tearing at the skin and releasing more cool blood down his throat.
He still had the monster's flesh clenched between his teeth when he came down from the high this time and had to actively relax his jaw and extricate himself from the beast. Geoffrey's breath was coming in and out in heady pants as he stood despite the fact that it hadn't been a very strenuous fight and it took several long moments before he managed to calm it. He wiped his mouth with his already severely bloodied scarf and only then took note of the claws decorating the ends of his fingers.
"Fuck…" He grumbled, flexing them several times, taking in the horrifying appearance even as they started to recede, the darkened bloodied color flowing up his wrists before disappearing under his sleeves. McCullum tried to pay attention to how it happened, the way he could feel the flow of it, ready to be called upon again at a moments' notice. He couldn't help running his tongue over his teeth, sucking the remaining blood off of them before shivering. Whether it was out of pleasure or revulsion was not something the hunter was willing to explore at the moment. He needed to get back to the hideout, to clean up before Lloyd got there. Not that that would fool the man but he didn't exactly want to be wearing the evidence of his kill all over his face when his captain showed up.
-Twisted Fate-
Geoffrey was starting to feel a bit more like himself after cleaning up as best he could with the meager supplies of the safehouse. It surprised him that he was able to feel so… human, despite his now monstrous nature. He looked in the beat up mirror again, the fangs hadn't receded entirely but they weren't as obvious as they had been, he was fairly certain that his captain could walk in here without him feeling the need to tear his old friend's throat out. McCullum busied the rest of his time doing what he could to clean up his scarf and coat and maintain his weapons. It was soothing, nearly meditative, to do the usual maintenance on his crossbow and to clean and oil and sharpen his blade with neat, even strokes. By the time there was a gentle knock on the door he was nearly done with the process.
"Come in," he said. He didn't even look up as Lloyd let himself in, the door thunking softly behind him. Geoffrey took a deep breath and looked up at his captain, his second in command if he was being truly honest with himself, he was prepared to see disgust, to watch as a man he'd grown up around pulled a weapon on him. Instead there was just an expression of relief that spread across Lloyd's face as he walked forward, clapping a hand on McCullum's shoulder.
"Geoffrey, I cannot tell you how relieved I am to see you." he said, smiling wearily. There were bags under Lloyd's eyes and a weariness in the slope of his shoulders that the hunter immediately felt responsible for. The man had probably been shouldering the majority of the leadership of Priwen in Geoffrey's absence. But… did he not notice? How could he not? He'd known McCullum for ages, the signs should be incredibly obvious. Perhaps… perhaps he was just being kind, gentle for old times sake…
"You went to confront that doctor and then when you didn't return that night… well we all feared the worst. I was certainly more than a little surprised when those two scouts came to me with news that you were holed up over here… and to see you alive and well…" he paused and smiled genuinely at his leader "It's a damn nice stroke of luck." he said. Geoffrey couldn't help but pause, could he actually not tell?
"I…" Geoffrey trailed off, did he play along? Did he force the other man to acknowledge the truth? The indecision must've been obvious on his face as Lloyd just patted his shoulder good-naturedly.
"You don't have to talk about the confrontation right now if you don't want to. Heal up a bit first then we'll file the report, okay?" he said, his expression so genuine that McCullum felt his gut clench in guilt. He hadn't actually said much of anything but he still felt as though he were lying to one of his few friends. He swallowed, the hunger settling in a low burn in his stomach and reminding him of what had happened. What he had become. The horrible mental image of just giving in and digging his teeth into Lloyd's throat flashed, unbidden through his mind, just as quickly replaced with the image of the monster that had done this to him in the first place. There was concern hanging like a heavy cloud over the captain as he watched his friend.
"He must've really done a number on you huh?" he asked, catching Geoffrey's attention once more from the nightmare it'd wandered off to.
"Yes." Was the harsh reply that fell from the hunter's lips. He needed to tell them what the doctor had become… but… what good would it do? Could they even hope to stand up to such a monster? The ease with which he'd fought both the Skal and the Sewer Beast came to mind and at first he dismissed it out of habit. He'd become that which they fought, he needed to turn himself in! But perhaps with his own monstrous abilities… Maybe they stood a sliver of chance… "I'm lucky to have come away as well as I did." he said, resolve hardening as he opened his mouth to speak. He too was a creature of deceit now wasn't he? Lloyd watched him for a bit longer, still appearing worried before a grin broke out on his face.
"Well! The important thing is that you made it back alive and in one piece, we can worry about the details more tomorrow evening when you've got some of your strength back. I'm just thankful to have ya' back Geoffrey." Lloyd didn't often call him by his first name, it was just another sign of how worried the other man had been. It all piled in to make McCullum feel all the more guilty for playing into the man's lack of insight. The other hunter straightened, shifting his coat a bit in the chilly room before looking back at his commander
"I'm going to go join that patrol that passed through recently, unless you'd like me to stay?" Lloyd suggested.
"No." Geoffrey said, perhaps a bit too quickly as his friend gave him a sideways glance "No, I'll be alright, I'll make my way back tomorrow evening, like you said, make my report on the battle then." he continued. Lloyd just nodded along, rising to his feet and giving his leader one more hard stare.
"Take care of yourself McCullum, I don't know what we'd do without you." he said seriously before collecting his own sword and slamming the flimsy door behind himself. The fledgling vampire let out a sigh, tension bleeding out of his frame as he fell backward onto the bed. He still wasn't sure how on God's green Earth Lloyd hadn't noticed what had become of him, the man had known him since he was a spindly angry teenager. Perhaps that was part of the problem. Perhaps his friend didn't want to see the changes in him, and the patrol squad were just too green… He snorted, yeah and he was the King of France… it was all just too unlikely.
The larger question was what had he done to force them not to be able to see? Geoffrey was experienced enough to know about the nasty mental tricks that they could pull. He was usually able to push through or around them himself. Most of his captains were able to do the same and a good number of the recruits were able to see past the usual glamour that surrounded a vampire well enough to identify them on sight. The leech doctor hadn't been able to fool him, he'd known the moment he'd laid eyes on the monster, and he knew many patrols had tried to stop the damn leech in the streets. Meaning they too had seen through the glamour. Those had been rough reports to file, too many young men's lives cut short… It only strengthened his resolve to end the damn doctor himself before turning himself in. If he died trying… well it was no real loss at this point…
What did he have to work with? He'd be able to restock his weapons tomorrow when he went back to the small office that they used as their headquarters. He somehow had managed a glamour that his own men couldn't see through, though he couldn't tell what it looked like himself. That was also something he wasn't sure he could count on… So that was a maybe. He had more strength than he had before, but the winding snarling hunger within reminded him how quickly that would fade unless he… McCullum closed his eyes, took a single breath in and out and pushed the details from his mind. He'd keep his strength up. Somehow. There were other leech tricks too. He'd managed to manifest the claws when he'd been fighting the Sewer Beast but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to do it again, or any of the other things that he'd seen other leeches do. His limited understanding was that it took practice and a sort of innate power of ones' bloodline, if the rumors he'd heard from the stuck up pricks from Ascalon held any water. No option but to practice… he supposed, face scrunching up in distaste.