Chapter Text
After another long night of “rounds” (i.e. desperately avoiding a painful death at the hands of Skals or the Priwen Guard while attempting to give aid to the citizens of disease-ridden London), Dr. Jonathan Reid has been summoned to the office of his colleague Dr. Swansea. Despite his utter exhaustion, Jonathan makes his way to the second floor of the hospital, politely greeting the nurses and doctors that he passes on his way towards Swansea’s office. He hopes for the meeting to be brief, as he would really appreciate an opportunity to rest.
As Dr. Reid arrives before the office of Dr. Swansea, he is able to overhear parts of a tense conversation that the man is having with someone whose voice the doctor does not recognize. He hesitates briefly before opening the door, not really wanting to intrude, but Swansea was the one who called for him at this time and, damn it, Jonathan really just wants to get this over with.
As he steps inside the office, Dr. Reid is met face-to-face with a very loud and very agitated irishman who seems to be offended by his presence in the hospital.
“God protect us, you’ve got a leech in the hospital?!” The strange man growled at Dr. Swansea.
Leech? Dr. Reid thought to himself, confused by the terminology. He had never before been referred to as a “leech”, however he assumes that it’s not a compliment, considering the negative connotation of the word, as well as how the man practically spat the words out of his mouth.
Dr. Reid couldn’t help but be insulted by the man’s disrespect, after all, he was still adjusting to the fact that he was no longer human. He had already accepted that his life could never be the same again, but it still stung to be so aggressively reminded of his current condition.
Dr. Swansea proceeds to deflect the complaint and dismiss the man, who he now addresses as Geoffrey McCallum, who Dr. Reid recognizes as a vampire hunter of the Priwen Guard. McCullum approaches Jonathan, who is still standing in the doorway of the office, and glares at him. If looks could kill, Dr. Reid certainly would be dead (if he weren't immortal).
“You cannot hide from the guard, you leech bastard,” the man spouts angrily at him.
However, Dr. Reid cannot focus on any more that McCullum says after that point, considering how deeply the man is looking into his eyes, almost as is he were staring straight into the doctor’s soul.
My, what beautiful eyes this man possesses, Dr. Reid thought, lost in the deep blue eyes of the vampire hunter who seemed just as entranced as he did.
Vaguely, he could hear Dr. Swansea in the background admonishing him for standing in the way of McCullum, asking him to leave the man alone. But Dr. Reid, still lost in those eyes, felt as if he could not move a single inch. It wasn’t until Dr. Swansea spoke up once again, something about how the hospital was “neutral territory”, that McCullum turns away to face Swansea, almost as if he was annoyed at being disrupted by the other doctor.
“And I just had the carpets cleaned!”, Dr. Swansea states exasperatedly, hoping that that would dissuade the two from escalating whatever was going on between them.
McCullum turns back to Reid with an unreadable look in his eyes. Begrudgingly, he steps to the side to allow the other man passage through the exit. The vampire hunter begins to walk past him, but stops suddenly, and grabs onto Dr. Reid’s arm. Had it not been for the doctor’s superhuman abilities, the grip might have been considered crushing.
“Don’t think this is over, Leech” he growls between clenched teeth, glaring deep into Jonathan’s eyes, before storming out of the room.
Something about that man deeply intrigued the doctor, and he thought briefly of following him. He turns to pursue the irishman, however Dr. Reid’s thoughts are interrupted by Swansea, who beckons him further into the office so that they may discuss whatever he had initially summoned him for. Dr. Reid hesitates before sighing and approaching the head doctor’s desk. Something told him that his night was far from over.
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Dr. Reid was given the assignment of investigating the contagion in West End, one of the richer districts of London. Apparently the man suspected that there was something going on in West End that was related to the spread of the epidemic. Jonathan, after taking a brief rest, set out for West End the next night in order to see if the head doctor’s suspicions held any truth. After some investigation that involved the questioning of the few nocturnal residents that roamed the area at night, and some instances of breaking and entering, Dr. Reid had compiled enough evidence to state without a doubt that the source of the epidemic was a single woman. Which is how he ended up inside the theater of Miss Doris Fletcher, titled theater star as well as diabolical Skal.
The crazed Skal’s mission was to infect everyone in England with the disease, so that they would share her fate. By killing the poor woman, and effectively saving the lives of those who would have also been exposed to the disease, Dr. Reid would say he’s well on his way to ending the dreadful epidemic altogether.
Despite this, the doctor couldn’t help but wonder how this had happened. How had Doris Fletcher become infected with such an illness in the first place? Certainly she could not have been the original source of the epidemic, as she said herself that she had not wanted the fate she had been given. As he was staring down at the woman’s disfigured corpse, deep in thought, he sensed that he was no longer alone in the theater.
Suddenly, he heard what sounded like the firing of a gun from the balcony on the opposite side of the room from him. Before he could react, he felt what seemed to be a bullet hit him, going straight through his abdomen and out his lower back. He looked down at the wound, and then upward towards the source of the gunfire. Up in the balcony, Dr. Reid could make out the figure of that man from Dr. Swansea’s office, Geoffrey McCullum.
Jonathan stumbled backwards, sensing that whatever had hit him was no ordinary bullet. He watched as McCullum’s lips moved as if they were forming words, however Jonathan couldn’t make any of them out. The doctor struggled to remain upright as he could feel whatever poison had laced that bullet seep into his blood system, but could feel himself growing weaker and weaker as the seconds ticked by. His efforts were ultimately fruitless, as his vision blurred and he quickly began to lose consciousness. The last thing that Dr. Reid sees before blacking out is his adversary jumping down from the balcony and strolling towards him with a wicked smile plastered across his face.
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