the cage (Merry)

Snapping out of his day dream, Connor realized that he was not alone in the library all of a sudden. He could hear the sound of someones heart beating nearby, though he did not move to locate the source. If he went to investigate he would have done something he regretted in the end, he was sure of that much. Listening in on her phone call, he seemed mildly interested in what she had to say. She was going out dancing, not uncommon for someone who appeared to be here age. With any luck she would just move on without noticing him, then he could be contained and left in peace.

His heart sunk when he realized that was not the case however, he could hear the change of tone in her voice. She was aware that she was not alone in this place, he remained absolutely still as she hung up her phone, trying to choose his own words very carefully. Sitting up, he looked down at her for a moment, considering how odd this must have seemed to her. He would have assumed that the person sittong on top of the shelf was some sort of monster in her position, yet she didn't seem as unnerved as he would have expected.

Looking her directly in the eyes, he smiled at her with the most charming show of teeth he could manage. "It would mean the world to me if you could forget you saw me here, just this once." he said. He never expected anything like hypnosis to be real but he figured it was worth a try, he knew absolutely nothing about what he could and could not do just yet. It was unlikely to work, he was too inexperianced and unfocused due to hunger. She looked like the most delicious thing he had ever encountered in this moment, everything in him wanted to sink his teeth into that sweet spot.

"I see you've taken notice of me, at least enough to know what I prefer to read." he said, seeming a bit flattered by it. "Merry is it? I guess it'd be unfair for me not to introduce myself, wouldn't it?" he asked, sighing softly. He had planned to spend his evening in solitude, but it didn't seem like that was likely to happen at this point. "You can call me Connor. I come here so often, I am surprised I haven't spoken to you before." he said, seeming as if he was in deep thought about that. "But that is not so important, what is important is that I stay here tonight." he said, his tone seeming nervous.

Connor watched her carefully to judge how well he had done, though it seemed that it didn't work entirely as intended. He felt the power leave him, which left im astonished at the very least. He had been acting upon a vampire myth that suggested that he could hypnotize people into doing what he wished, his surprise when it turned out to be somewhat true almost made him fall over. Never taking his eyes off of Merry, he relaxed a bit as she finally offered not to anyone that he was here late at night. Nodding his head slowly, he smirked at her wondering how much of it was his influence and how much was her own personal choice.

"Believe me, the pleasure is all mine, but you don't have to be so worried. I am not going to hurt you, I can assure you that I only have good intentions." he said, a smile on his face even though it was clear that he was in some sort of pain. To even know that she was here, alone, and his to drain made it so much worse for him. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you still here? Usually you're all out by this time.." he said trailing off, though he realized that it sounded a bit odd. Oh god, he was a creepy stalker, somewhere he had crossed a line with this whole idea.

"You have a good survival instinct but it's unneccasary here. You wouldn't happen to know where a ladder is so I can get down, would you?" he asked, smiling sheepishly at her. He would play off the odd encounter like it was just a way for him to hide from people who would have escorted him out. He could tell how concerned she was for her life however, he saw it in the eyes of the people he hurt when they knew that the probability of their death was near inescapable. Frowning slightly, Connor sighed inaudibly, he was tired of this curse already after only six years.

"I appreciate your kindness. I promise you that the library will be just as it is in the morning. You look like you're late for something, you're dressed way too nicely for a shift." he added politely, figuring he'd pay her a compiment for possibly saving someone else's life tonight. Her life however still hung in the balance, he could feel his body wanting to move on it's own, to tear her open.

Connor couldn't help but laugh, he realized how bad this was being recieved. This was all wrong, but there was probably no way to put her mind at ease. If he let her walk away, she would most likely flee and possibly go back on their deal. However he couldn't keep her here against her will, that was very far from the sort of man he was. The hard decision was whether or not to come down from the shelf or wait it out. "Girls night, right I should have guessed. Looking at you it's hard to figure out what type of woman you are, you seem like you're full of surprises." he said, leaning forward putting his chin in his hand.

He watched with a mild amusement as she backed away slowly, though he should have taken offense. Connor was not a dog, he was not going to give chase to her simply because she made sudden movements. Shaking his head, he nodded at her before calling out. "I actually don't believe you are going to. You don't believe what I am telling you, do you? I can see it in your body language." he said, pushing himself off the edge of the shelf. Connor fell the nine to ten foot height of the shelves, landing without so much as a sound or effort.

"I find that hard to believe that someone like you has no one to look that good for." he said, a warm smile on his face. "Surely there is someone you can think of that you'd like to be out with?" he asked, yawning as he made his way closer. His movements were slowly, as if he was trying not to startle her any further than his fall probably had. No one else would have made it so gracefully, without hurting themself. It was only a matter of time before she pieced together what he was, they all did in the end.

In the blink of an eye he was gone, finding himself to be next to her, leaning against the wall near an elevator door. His eyes were trained on her, their sparkling green depths captivating. This close he could hear the sound of her panic so well, it was tempting him like he had never felt before. He wanted to drink so badly, but he summoned every ounce of his willpower to be still as he was right now. "I just want you to know that I am not some creep, stalking anyone in paticular. I just need somewhere to imprison myself, out there something bad could happen to me, to someone else.." he trailed off.

"Just remain calm, try and relax. Everything will be alright."

"A singer too? Well, you are quite the rare find in this city. Beautiful, humble, and you can sing." Connor said, watching her with an amused gaze. She was worth getting to know, that much he could tell from listening to her speak. There was something about her that spoke to him, though right now he couldn't afford the luxury of taking his mind off the thirst. The moment he did so, she was going to die that was the harsh reality of it all. This was how it always went, the nights he chose not to feed were the ones where he met people he would rather not feed on. It was a vicious cycle, one that could only be broken with the death of his body.

Connor laughed, he couldn't imagine why that would be true in any world. Smirking at her, he shook his head for a moment as he thought of what exactly to say in response. "Mm, well, I find that hard to believe at all. A stunning librarian, you're ever college boys dream." he commented, a short laugh following afterwards. It was a bit inappropriate, though it was funny to him all the same so he let it be. Though she seemed genuinely confused by why he was asking these questions, he was too. "I was simply making small talk, though I have to say even I am intrigued. You have a nice eye for fashion and you offered to help me even when I could hurt you. Hell, maybe I should take you out." he said, finishing with a chuckle.

He did his best to avert his gaze from hers a bit, so that the supernatural charm would lose it's affect on her. He wanted to speak to the real her, not the woman that his powers forced into submission. Even though she seemed to be doing well so far in resisting him, which was a blessing to him. Inevitably he knew she would start asking questions, so when she finally arrived to the mother of them all he paused without a real way to answer it. Wearing a pained expression, he thought for a moment how to word his response. He would scare her most likely no matter what he said, what a terrible situation. Sighing softly, he shrugged his shoulders, "Sometimes people get hurt around me, even though I never mean for it to happen." he said slowly.

"There are times when the temptation is just too much.." he said, trailing off as he got close to her. "Times when I can't control the most basic urge my kind feels." he said, standing behind her and drinking in the sound of her racing heart. The sweet fount of nourishment rested only inches away, just beneath the skin. With a mere thought he could have it, but then he would be right back to where he started. "I lock myself in here when you've all gone because then I cannot be tempted, it is safer this way." he said, his tone reflecting just how much he was struggling to stop himself, just how much he despised what he was.

"Everyone has a dark side. I can't control mine.."

She was still so guarded, there was absolutely nothing he could do or say he realized at this point. Resigning himself to the fact that he might have to find somewhere else for the night, he offered a low inaudible sigh. "Aside from tie myself to a pole, is there anything at all I can do to put you at ease?" he asked, placing his hands behind his back and folding them. It was a gesture of good will he figured, to remove them from his apparently imposing presence. "But you're welcome, if anything the odd stranger can help make your night eh?" he replied.

"I understand what you mean. I am not fond of large groups either, nor people in general usually. Most tend to rub me the wrong way, it can get pretty dicey very quickly." he said, also smiling a bit nervously. She seemed very confused about his intentions, Connor could not clarify them for her either as he was equally unsure of his own intentions. Connor smiled at her though when she admitted she did this simply because she enjoyed it, that made her a hard worker, he could respect that. "It's not every day you hear someone with money make that claim. Pretty cool if I say so myself." he said, laughing at her final comment. "I'm sure she does, completeing that sentence obviously being one of them."

A frowned threatened to consume his features, Connor was rendered speechless for a moment. "I uh.. don't know what to say. I'm sorry, I can't imagine any of that ever got any easier for you." he said, trying his best to sound comforting. She was doing an excellent job of keeping him engaged, keeping his number one drive out of the picture. Maybe she was the one person he could count on to hold him at bay. "If you would like, maybe I can help you figure that out. I'm sure you've already figured I'm not normal, or else I would be a crumpled heap on the floor near the bookcase." he admitted, smirking nervously.

"I have not. Until just this very moment, I was not actually aware that they were real, in a non-creepy religious sort of way." he said, tilting his head to the side. Unlike others like him, the things he knew were actually rather limited, he still didn't even know the true extent of his abilities. "I figured I couldn't be the only one, but how do you go about looking this up? I didn't think I could just google 'what is the extent of my vampiric power and does the thrist ever end' you know?" he said, offering a laugh. The cat was out of the bag now at the very least.

When she touched his cheek, he inhaled sharply, the warmth sent shivers down his spine. It induced a moment of weakness out of him, one he might come to regret in the days to come. Taking her hand in his, he held it against his cheek, and then turned it over and bit her. The initial wave of euphoria sent him reeling, though everything in his head screamed to let her go.

He was talking to her as casually as the situation would allow, then the next thing he knew he was bleeding her dry. His hatred of what he was ran pretty deep, he wanted to cast himself out into the sun most mornings. Here he was about to do it again, he could feel her warm life blood pouring over his tongue as he drank greedily. The worst part about it was that they usually suffered, he didn't exactly stick around for a crash course in how to make your victims numb to the pain. All that mattered in this moment was the sound of her heart and the blood he consumed like a glutton.

In the back of his mind there was laughter, his sire mocking him for being weak like he was in this moment. He could hear her laughter mixed with the screams of those he killed, or was Merry screaming at him? Snapping back to reality, Connor summoned every ounce of willpower he could manage to free himself from this vicious cycle. As she pressed against him, he opened his mouth and stumbled backwards like a drunk. The blood was smeared all around the bottom half of his face like some nooby fledgling, which was precisely what he still was.

Connor wanted to tell her to run, to get away from him, but all that came out was a deep predatory snarl. That was not his voice! Shaking his head to find some sort of clarity, Connor turned his head to the side as if slowly figuring out what he had done through a drunken haze. "Merry.. g-go." he said quietly, though he could feel the urge to attach himself to her coming back once more. The blood was out in the open now, it incited a frenzy in him much like the feeding frenzy blood induced in sharks. "I'm.. sorry.." he said, making a choking sound as if he was fighting to hold himself in check.

With all the strength he possessed, Connor threw himself into a sitting position on the ground. He'd watch her shoot towards the elevator, his body fighting him once more as he rose without a thought of his own. Connor blurred after Merry, though when he finally caught up to her he stopped only mere inches away from her. "You have to help me Merry, I can't stop this. I hurt all of my friends." he said, though the gaze of a monster was still present he was fighting back the urge to kill her from this close. "Cover the wound, it's driving me into a frenzy."