Battered Remains PV Continued Elsewhere

Howard crouched low as he scurried through the brush, his wand held out before him. It was dark, but he dare not light it, not that he needed to anyways. Whatever beast he was following had left a clear path for him as the moonlight lit up the twisted and broken foliage. The sounds he chased after were hard to decipher. A mixture of snapping wood and clanging metal met his ears. He pressed on.

A few moments later the thicket would lighten as he came near the grounds to the castle. The faint light that emitted from the school would peak through the trees, catching his eye now and again. Howard paused for a moment as the crashing sound came to a halt. He squinted into the darkness ahead. If he had not seen in before, he would swear his eyes were playing tricks on him. Diving forward, Howard would land in a prone position. Not far off the light would bend and warp around the creature, like watching a mirage move through darkness. Breathing deeply, one arm would follow the other as he army crawled closer to it. As it shifted its position, he would see the long silver hair of the woman he had attacked before. The next moment would turn his stomach.

The shadowy figure lashed out as light burst forth from the woman’s wand. Like a flash from a camera, the moment would be be briefly burnt into his eyes as he blinked. An arm rose to the throat, a splatter of red erupted through the fingers. As his eyes reopened, the creature would be no where in sight. A few tense moments would pass before he rose to his feet. The woman was staggering away from the scene towards the stables. Howard could not risk calling out to her, although injured she was still a viable enemy. He followed as quietly as he could. 

It did not take long for her to succumb to her wounds. The woman paused near a tree, the next moment she would collapse underneath it. Howard approached cautiously, wand at the ready.  The young boy had experienced some violence in his life. Broken noses, cuts and scrapes from the numerous fights of his past, but he had never seen a wound so ghastly. It ran the length of her shoulder, creeping its way up to her neck. His eyes widened as he saw how deep it was, the raw tissue exposed, the blood pulsed out with every heart beat, running through her fingers and down her chest. He couldn’t be sure if she was aware of his presence. Her eyes rolled as she muttered what seemed like incantations. The magic seemed to stem the flow of blood as Howard knelt down by her side.

“H-Hey.” He reached out with a shaky hand, placing his hand over hers. It was moist, warm and sticky with blood. With a gentle pressure, Howard would attempt to remove her wand from her grasp. If successful, he would hold it out of her reach, his free hand would nudge her face, attempting to rouse her. With a deep breath, he steadied himself. “I do not know how to help you.” A true statement, but also a bargaining chip. “Tell me your purpose and I will call for help.”

She tried to stymie the blood loss and hope that those dark claws did not dig too deep. She was getting woozy, the ground was uneven and the field she was staring back at was a haze. Her knees wobbled and her shoulders felt as if a weight was holding her down. It was as if a rug was pulled out from under her as she stumbled forward, her free hand bracing herself as she fell down hard. She barely felt it as her knees crashed down on the stony earth and instinct compelled her to brace herself with the trunk of the tree she fell before and rest her back against it. 

She let out a breath of air through clenched teeth. Just need a few seconds to catch my wind. She lied to herself. The bleeding had slowed to a slow trickle but her heart was still pounding. The respite of the trunk against her back and stony earth beneath her gave no comfort, it was going to come back for her again she reasoned. If it did not find her, then the sun would rise and she would not make it to dusk. 

Something was coming, she could hear the crunch of gravel beneath feet. She held her breath, a jolt of panic shot through her as her body tensed. What found her? She gripped her wand tightly in her hand. "Go away, I am warning you," she warily called out with as much menace as she could muster. Her warning was not heeded. The moon gave an outline, the shape of a boy. It was not the darkness, not that she thought it was -- they made no sound.  She had not even realized that he had followed her there, she was too busy trying to survive.

“H-Hey.”

It was as if he was trying to calm down a feral cat. She moved restlessly. "I'm-- warning you," shied away from him. She  would resist Howard's attempt to disarm her. The wand was sticky and cool, her flesh felt ice cold. "Stop," she complained, perhaps demanded but there was no force... no firmness in her voice. "It's coming back," she warned. There was panic in her voice, a sort of almost babbling fear but words were clear enough to make some sort of sense. "And they are going to rip and gnaw and grow..." Maybe not a lot of sense.

The back of his hand would nudge her face. "Stop," she would repeat with an air of stubbornness but her rambling would cease. She would get a whiff of butter-beer, had her mind been clearer she would have recognized Howard as the drunken youth that she had encountered on the shore of the lake before the darkness had found her again. She just saw some teenager, probably a student.

“I do not know how to help you.”

"You can't," she claimed. She was being a headstrong fool but what else could she do? She was too determined to admit defeat. Too prideful to ask for help. "I just need to get out of the sun," she commented not to him but to herself. She was still restless, she shifted uncomfortably. Her eyes were half open eyes. 

“Tell me your purpose and I will call for help.”

She shook her head, her eyes widened. She looked more fearful of help than she did her present predicament. "No help. No," she shook her head some more. "I am fine, just tired. Just a scratch..." If only she had seen Monty Python she would get the joke here, she was nearly bisected by whatever that was. Whatever it was that she drove back with a spell as elementary as Lumos. The wound that ran from the back of her neck to her collar was mostly clotted, her hand moist, the blood more like syrup as she parted company with the still-healing wound. 

"I need to get out of here, now," she determined. She would try to stand up, her bloodied hand would attempt to push Howard back. If she was successful in even trying, there would be no strength or force behind it. Howard would only budge if he wanted to. 

There was a disconnect. A delay. "Where is my wand?" She just realized that it was no longer clenched in her hand. Like any wizard, it was like the loss of a limb. A sense of defenselessness. She would spy it. "Return it," she demanded.

The moonlight reflected off her pale skin sharing its hue with her, or maybe it was blood loss, most likely both. Howard’s hand would retract the instant that it made contact with the flesh of her cheek. She was like an ice sculpture brought to life. If she wasn’t breathing and moving, he would have sworn her dead. It was beautiful in a way. Not the way that most men are attracted to women. Nature had produced something powerful and within that power Howard found beauty. A beauty he now held within his grasp.

Her eyes would flutter open, she would threaten him and warn him of returning danger. His eyes would peer over his shoulder, scanning the darkness of the school grounds. It was a clear night and the moon shone bright in the sky, but how do you spot a shadow monster amongst the shadows. A chill ran up his spine as he returned his gaze to the mysterious woman. Some what delirious from blood loss she may be, but her words ring true. They would both perish if that thing returned.

Her wand would slide from her grasp. The hand that once held it did not react from the loss. As he threw out his bargaining chip, her words would surprise him. Howard was tempted to throw them aside as jibberish, as her eyes rolled, barely remaining open. What did she mean, out of the sun? His hand found her face once more, still as cold as winter as he patted her cheek. “Hey. Stay with me.” Howard’s bargain was a backfire. The women would refuse him with a sense of urgency. Who would refuse help in her current state. Better to be caught than to die against a tree. His mind spun. Whatever her intention here were, being discovered must be worst than the threat of death. He recalculated his approach.

“Don’t be foolish. That is anything but a scratch. You may have stopped the blood flow for now, but even I know it must be treated further.” The woman made an effort to rise as her urgency to leave pushed her past the pain. Howard would grasp the bloodied hand that attempted to push past him. He would not push her back down, but instead help pull her up. Taking a step back, he would hold his wand at a dueling position and hers off to the side. She would finally realize it’s absence. “Be quiet and listen.” The moon shone behind him, casting his face in shadows, his tone turning just as dark. “You are in no place to make demands from me. Answer my questions and I will aide you in escaping. Refuse and I will send up the red sparks. It won’t take someone long to get here.” He paused briefly to judge her reaction. “Now. Why have you come here? What was that thing that attacked you? And...what are you?”

There was this feeling that if she could just close her eyes for five minutes everything would be better but she knew better, five minutes would become five hours or even five days. She would not be getting back up if she laid her head, if she was not so stubborn she would have been thankful for the meddlesome youth that was rousing her.

“Hey. Stay with me.”

"Gah," she complained.

“Don’t be foolish. That is anything but a scratch. You may have stopped the blood flow for now, but even I know it must be treated further.”

He was not wrong even if she had too much pride to admit it. She needed to get out of there, get away. There was not much thought beyond that, it was as if she was drunk or drugged, thought was limited to simple survival. He helped her to her feet, the field spun, her head pounded and flashes of light overtook her sight. She let out a rattling hiss as she swayed and staggered. She blinked thrice and regained her bearings. 

Shen demanded the return of her wand once she realized it was missing. It was like losing a finger in a major accident and not noticing the amputation until several minutes later. Howard would step back as she attempted to snatch it back, a look of irritation on her face. The only problem, only one of the two was armed.

Howard was not like the average youth, there was something about him that made him rougher... harder than normal kids his age. Most children would have ran when they saw the shadow beast. Most children would have ran for help when they saw someone with such mortal seeming wounds. Most children would not have thought to take away her wand before she roused. And most children would not have raised a weapon preemptively, but Howard did.

“Be quiet and listen.”

He was making the demands now. She was stubborn, but unlike Howard's previous adversary she was not stupid. The corner of her lip lifted into a sneer, exposing her canine. It was longer than a normal tooth, sharp and pointed. 

"You are in no place to make demands from me. Answer my questions and I will aide you in escaping. Refuse and I will send up the red sparks. It won’t take someone long to get here.”

There was a low rumble in her throat and an exercise of restraint. She felt this impulse to simply rip into him, to rend, tear and bite. Perhaps she was better than that. Perhaps. Or there was the distinct possibility that it was a fight she might not win in he debilitated and unarmed state. His threat was effective, he could see it in her eyes when he mentioned sending the red sparks. Her mouth twitched a bit and perhaps it was only Howard's imagination but it would seem as if that fang-like tooth retracted into her gumline.

"Fine," she conceded.

“Now. Why have you come here? What was that thing that attacked you? And...what are you?”

"I was brought here," she admitted. "Through the forest," she pointed back. That answered how, not why. "To protect our 'lil ones," she added. Not that Howard could understand what she was talking about. "My husband's... well, ex husband's..." she let out a sigh "security. He always had a penchant for keeping his hands clean in most matters." She left out the fact that perhaps there was a reason for such violent measures, but she was not about to oust herself like that. Not until she got back her wand at the very least. "As for me... a vampire," she admitted. Knowing what she was would be hardly relevant for a student that likely lacked the means by which to deal with her kind. 

None of her answers were complete less the last one, but even there her statement could have benefited from elaboration. "Now can I please have my wand?" She extended her bloodied hand in his direction, palm facing upward. 

With a step backwards, Howard would help the woman to her feet. His left hand would linger, outstretched for her to grab hold of if she were to lose balance. The rise to her feet had taken an obvious toll as she swayed. Howard expected this, as he would from anyone who had sustained such an injury, but it was what came next that would catch him off guard. Most humans would grunt, yell out, or scream in pain, but as this mystery woman rose, a snake like hiss would erupt from her throat. It was the second time Howard had heard it this night. He gazed upon her with an intense look, one of awe mixed with fear. His mind raced as the two powerful emotions battled within him. The woman looked human, but the tone of her flesh and the sounds she emitted marked her anything but. 

The boy swallowed hard, steadying his voice and pushing down the fear as he made his demands. Her reaction was instant. The woman did not make a move against him, or issue threats of her own, but her mouth would form a sneer. Like any true predator she bared her teeth to him. An expression that would have looked silly or childish on any normal human, but Howard’s observant eyes would notice the canines. The tooth was elongated, ending in a sharp point. Could it be? The boy had read of these creatures before. They were dark and more importantly, very powerful.

Howard’s threat mixed with her injuries seemed enough to hold her at bay...for now. Her lips would quiver, and in an instant the sharp canines would disappear. Had he truly seen it in the first place? He listened closely as she began to explain herself. The woman was brought here, something about protecting little ones, perhaps children? He couldn’t be sure. Then a mention of an ex husband and security. This confused him. What security measures did she speak of? And who was this person? Could it be that the creature was set upon her to protect the school. Howard’s frustration was on the rise. The woman was not taking him seriously, answering in half truths. “Do not bullshit...” 

Howard’s words would be stopped short as she told him her true nature. His eyes would widen as he took a step back, his wand arm shaking slightly. A vampire! Not only had he chased a shadow monster, but he now stood in front of her another dark creature. She confirmed his suspicions from a moment before. “A vampire?” His question would  come out in a whisper. If she watched his eyes, she would see a brief flash as fascination trumped the fear. “You have...little ones here, at Hogwarts? Why? What are they...your children?That...thing was sent to attack you on purpose?” The questions spurted from his mouth uncontrollably. His left hand would slide into his pocket, retrieving her wand. “Answer me and I will return your wand. Tell me. How did you become to be?”

The pain was blinding, her vision sparks that overwhelmed her sight. Yet she was too stubborn to falter and to fall. She had betrayed herself when she hissed in pain. How far had she fallen, taking orders from a mere teenage boy. It was an embarrassment and still had her pride. She was compliant but she would not beg, rather she demanded that he remit her wand.

There was fear in him, she could see it in his eyes. Howard was always afraid, not that she would know that. He was a product of fear that corrupted into anger and eventually violence as well as a yearning for power, strength and authority. She did not see these things in him, she just saw the fear. "Oh, you poor boy," her tone low almost mocking but not quite. Howard simply had no idea what he had stumbled into. Of course, she had no idea how tangled this boy was in this mess. That he was both a victim and miscreant in all of this. That he was forged by the very darkness that was forming about Hogwarts, like a miasma. 

“Do not bullshit...”

There was a hardness that surpass his youth in that statement. Not the words. Words were cheap, can be copied and pasted, repeated without understanding the meaning. The hardness was not from what was said but rather how it was said. "I'm not," she claimed, not that she had any means to prove a negative. She gave him what he wanted, albeit half-answers but he did not ask the right question and even if he had he would not understand the answer. "There are just some things that are outside of your purview--" 

“A vampire?”

The least of the truths he needed to know. "Yes, you're a child wizard." She confirmed. "Vampires are as mundane as muggle in London." He should know this. Her tone was pointed as she carried on with this tête-à-tête with a veritable child holding her wand hostage. She was being patient, but her tolerance and restraint were not enduring with this swelling feeling of indolence. 

“You have...little ones here, at Hogwarts? Why? What are they...your children? That...thing was sent to attack you on purpose?”

He shot off questions like a terrified solider would waste bullets on a battlefield. There were too many questions to answers them all, the answer any fully or correctly. "What?" She furrowed her brow. It was hard to keep up with him. 

“Answer me and I will return your wand. Tell me. How did you become to be?”

All demands. "I have jackets that are older than you..." she complained, sounding more like a parent than a victim. She was a fast healer and Howard was going to soon be imperiled. "I have one child left, a Squib..." of all things "...poor-poor thing," she clicked her tongue as she answered the first question. The other one was dead and had been dead for years. "Making friends with the wrong people, hags being the most vile." It was a shame that students were not actively taught about hags early on in their academic journey. The danger of corruption they posed. Some things are even worse than coming to a place like this. "He is here somewhere." She actually did not know exactly where. Was she telling him the whole story? Just enough to tell him what he needed to know? What he needed to hear? There was a flaw in her statement, one he might not catch but of he pondered well or hard enough he would notice that something was not quite right.

The truth: there were several turned vampires, first generation on the grounds. Her son was on the grounds but they were not on the same side in the conflict that was about to come.

It took a few moments to fabricate something close to the truth. "The shadows are... a security measure" she actually told the truth there. It was like a magical restraining order. She reached towards Howard as if she wished to stable herself. Her hand would possibly clench onto his shirt. "My husband... ex-husband and I are not on the best of terms. A charm or perhaps a rune of some sort I suppose, but this just screams Solomon," she complained as she rolled her eyes. She did not know for certain it was him, but it was probably him. She blamed him at the very least.

The Truth: Solomon Lear was responsible for the placement of several runes throughout the grounds, mostly in areas that the students frequented such as the Great Lake, the Grounds and around Hogwarts that would react to her presence. She had been on these grounds for over a year. Last year a "girl" was seen on the grounds before shadows attacked some of the students during a camp out, non-intelligent they simply attacked. She was that "girl." It was amazing what a little bit of magic could do to change once's appearance. Those students had merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time, however they also saved those students lives without them knowing. She was luring a student to their 'first death.' The emergence of these shadows indicated to Solomon that Morgantha was somewhere on the grounds, he has been vaguely aware of her presence since but she has evaded his discovery.

As for the last question, if there was a look of disproving on his face she would frown. "Please we are not in the dark ages. Vampires are born." Well, they can be made as well but that was an uncomfortable conversation for another day. Humans always saw the transition to a creature of the night as being somewhat akin to becoming a hell-spawn. 

Truth: She was made. She is lying here completely.

"Satisfied?" She extended her hand expectantly, her other potentially still holding onto the youth.

“Oh, you poor boy,”

Her words usually would have brought anger, however her tone wasn’t quite mocking. It was hard for Howard to tell. What worried him more in this moment, was that her words just might be sincere. The facts were stacked against him. He was an untrained wizard of only thirteen years of age, and before him stood some being of power, not to mention a shadow monster still lurked somewhere...well, in the shadows. The fear was hard to repress. He knew that she could see it in his features. His breath came quick, his eyes darted around his skull, his hands had the slightest of trembles. It was always there. It was what fueled him. It was only his burning curiosity that kept him from fully succumbing to it. The drive to gain power and to use that power to forge his way in this world. It gave him the strength to keep the fear at bay, to take it and mold it into anger.

“Don’t not bullshit...” His tone hard.

“I’m not, there are just some things that are outside your purview...”

“A vampire?” He whispered in awe, drowning out whatever she may have been trying to explain. His eyes would meet hers, a flash of fascination. 

“Yes, you’re a child wizard. Vampires are as mundane as muggles in London.” How was he to know. Howard was Muggleborn, he had never met a vampire before. It was likely his Muggle upbringing that fueled his fascination to the creature before him. Sure, he had learned that vampires were nothing like the ones from the movies or Muggle books, but he was young, and youth is prone to flights of fancy. There was no time to argue.

“You have...little ones here at Hogwarts? Why? What are they...your children? That...thing was sent to attack you on purpose?” The nerves got the better of him as he shot off one question after another. He cleared his throat, trying to regain some composure. “Answer me and I will return your wand. Tell me. How did you come to be?” There, that was better.

“I have jackets that are older than you.” Howard ignored her complaint. “I have one child left, a squib... poor-poor thing. Making friends with the wrong people, hags being the most vile.” The two words stuck out to him. Squib? Hags? Something wasn’t quite right. He moved forward slightly, listening closely. “He is here, somewhere.”

“The shadows are...a security measure.” She swayed forward just slightly, her hand rose. Howard did nothing to move away, allowing her hand to rest on his shirt. His guard was down, a potential lesson in the making. If she paid any attention, she would feel the hammer of his heart. “My husband...ex-husband and I are not on the best of terms. A charm or perhaps a rune of some sort I suppose, but this just screams Solomon.” The last word would cause Howard’s eyes to pop. Solomon? He had only ever known one, and he was right here, doing whatever headmasters do.

“The Headmaster?” Howard asked in a barely audible whisper. His eyes searched hers, but she only continued.

She frowned as she spoke. “Please we are not in the dark ages. Vampires are born.” Her free hand extended towards him expectantly. “Satisfied?”

Her words spun in his mind. Something just wasn’t right. His brow furrowed. Squib...born...click. As he spoke, she would feel the handle of her wand in her outstretched hand. “You’re lying.” The hard tone returned as his free hand pushed away the one that rested on the front of his shirt. If not immediately cursed, he would continue. “You say you were born a vampire. If that was true, how could you have mothered a squib?” Howard took a step back from her. “I’ve returned your wand. Do as you will. I only want the truth. How were you made?”  

She had no way of knowing that Howard was a muggle-born. Odd how there was such an increase in wizards this generation and the propagation of new wizards from muggle bloodlines. A spontaneous mutation or a forgotten legacy rearing its' head, hard to say. In her time wizards were a dying breed, with each generation proud lines were being broken along with the hearts of their parents as their babies were being born without the spark and glory of their parent's greatest legacy. 

She complained but she told him what he wanted to know. She was not telling him the truth. Howard recognized that something was wrong, just not exactly what. However, he would catch onto a lie, even if how he caught on was not quite right. He was correct. She was manipulating the narrative -- this was how someone gets a stake between the ribs. She could feel the cool wood of her wand in the palm of her hand. Her fingers wrapped around the length of wood, it made her immediately feel safer once it was within her grasp. 

“You say you were born a vampire. If that was true, how could you have mothered a squib?” 

How cruel. He had no idea what he had just said to her. How callous it was. She frowned. "How rude," she announced eyeing the youth hardly noticing him push away from her. Her lower lip quivered for a moment before she clenched her jaw and blinked away a shine to her eyes. "I-- don't know," she looked down at her hand and her wand. He was not the first person to ask that, to accuse her and make it sound like it was her fault. That it was someone's fault. There needed to be someone to blame and why not her? It was an emotional internal reaction but he was not wrong. "The same way a squib finds their way into any pure-blood line," she claimed, there was a tone of defeat in her voice. No wizard parent wanted to admit that they had a squib child, a squib was a family's shame.

The Truth: She was not a pure-blood wizard before she was turned. She had traceable muggle lineages in her family genealogy. Not even Solomon knows she was not born a vampire and that she was a mixed-blood wizard.

“I’ve returned your wand. Do as you will. I only want the truth. How were you made?” 

She wanted to remain steadfast in her claim that she was as she said, but she was tired and injured. There was a chance that she might remain in the youth's temporary good graces long enough to find refuge from both the shadow and the light. "I was killed January 11, 1993," she took a breath. "In Kidsgrove, England. I was turned in a random act of violence and mercy some time ago," she claimed with a shrug that reminded her just how badly she was hurt. "I was nineteen at the time," and from the looks of things she hardly aged a day.  

"Where are the stables?" She finally asked. Why the stables? She needed something to eat, the blood of the beast might be foul but it would satisfy. At least it would take away this craving, this feral need to feed. Howard was like a cheeseburger being left in arm's reach of a fat woman on a diet. Yeah, the stables... She breathed as she raised her free hand to the wound. The scent of her own blood turned her stomach but she was a fast healer.

Howard White was forever the unfortunate in these chance circumstances it would seem. In home, in school, his lot in life and even love. This encounter being no exception. There was no win for him. If she decided to choose convenience and sink her teeth into him, she could drain him before help could come. If she decided to flee, Howard would be left with a dangerous secret. Could she trust him? No, of course not. "Can you show me?"

The Plan: When Howard's back was turned to either leave or to lead her, she was going to attempt to bite him. She is not a fair fighter, she would attempt to draw him into her, trapping at least one of his arms to his side, her other hand over his mouth to prevent him from screaming and then try to bite him. She would drain him and try to turn him. 

Howard’s “gotcha” moment did not bring the reaction he expected. A flash of confusion would cross the young boy’s eyes as he looked into hers. The emotion was brief, but it was clear. They shone bright, the lower lip quivered, she clenched her jaw as she swallowed the feelings back to where they came from. His ignorance had him see only a super natural creature. Dark, mysterious, powerful. In an instant, he would see her in a different light. He would see her in a way that would touch what was left of the boy he once was, or at least what he use to pretend to be. His soft spot if you will. In that brief moment he would think of his own mother. Oh how many times he had seen the pain in her eyes. It was clear his words had hurt her, a pang of guilt rushed through his chest. His guard would slip.

“I did not mean to offend you. I’m not from this world. I...sometimes forget.” A true statement. Howard had learned, just like so many Muggle born before him, all about magical ancestry. How it defined the lives of some witches and wizards, how still to this day it mattered in this world. It was one of the defining facts that drove young Howard. He detested the sense of superiority that some pure bloods held. Yet another body of people that would see him pushed down. He looked her over, another pure blood, but what would she be considered now? The change she had experienced, what was it like? He opened his mouth to speak, but she would beat him to the punch.

Howard leaned in a little closer as she spoke of her past, of her change. If she paid any attention she would see the flash of intrigue in his bright blue eyes. Two words would stand out from her statement. Killed...turned...nineteen. They churned in his mind. 1993? Quick math would tell him that was 26 years ago, she appeared to barely have aged, if at all. Was she immortal? The flash of intrigue that lit up his crystal blues would quickly turn dark. Was it possible? Again he would open his mouth to speak, again she would cut him off. The stables? Howard’s dark flash of fantasy turned back to confusion. He blinked twice before looking to his right in the direction of her query.

A vice like grip would grab hold of his left bicep and with a violent thrust Howard would find himself spun on the spot, his arm pinned to his side. “Umph!” An icy cold hand covered his mouth as he called out in surprise. Silver hairs would intermingle with his black as he felt her cool breathe against his flesh. “Guhhh!” He screamed into her palm as a searing pain tore through his neck. His body shook and quivered as all his muscles flexed in protest, his wand slipped from his hand as he immediately felt the strength leaving him. He leaned back into her as his knees began to wobble, his free hand would reach back to attempt to push her away, instead of strike, it would appear as if he was petting her. “Hmph...hmm...hm.” His free hand fell limp to his side. 

Flashes of light began to pop in his vision, his peripheral lost as he stared down the tunnel. He swayed on his feet, if she did not hold him up, Howard would fall forward, crashing face first into the ground. However, in that moment before consciousness was lost, something...shifted, something...changed.