[Kitsumi]

Enigma Anima

This place was perfect. The variety of people made it easy for him to find several different emotions to suit his tastes, and the crowds made him practically invisible. It was close to impossible to spot him for what he was, but his odd behavior had drawn attention to him several times. Enigma hoped that the large flow of people in and out of the city would cut down on that risk. And to make things even better, Enigma had found the perfect place to feed: a psychologist's office.

He didn't want to get too close, but he couldn't feed without being near the source. Getting into the room with the emotional clients was obviously off limits, but the vampire was willing to settle for the next best thing. Stuffing his hands in the pockets of his worn grey hoodie, he plodded into the lobby of the building. His headphones were in to discourage anyone around him from talking to him - he had a hard time concentrating on the world around him when he was focused on feeding. No one seemed to spare him a second glance, luckily. He looked like the kind of guy who would be seeing a shrink.

Setting into a seat, he crossed his arms over his chest, splayed his long legs out in front of him, and leaned his head back against the wall. His eyelids drooped shut, and his mind wandered to examine the emotions of the different clients within the building. He wasn't sure yet what emotion he was in the mood for tasting, so he let himself sample the different 'flavors' trying to find one that suited him today.

[Flame]

The past few hours had been filled with shouting, crying, and a good deal of uncomfortable silences. However, for some people, this was all in a normal day of work. Such was the case for the building’s resident clinical psychologist, Lilianna, or Lily, as she preferred to be called. In fact, for a person in her profession, there was actually a surprising small number of outbursts from the people who came into her office, which was a testament to how well she performed her job. Of course, that wasn’t to say that their problems were any more trivial – she just knew how to deal with people with troubled minds, and she took her occupation very seriously. Since a young age, she had always wanted to help people, and considering her job, one could say that she’d gotten exactly what she wanted.

Despite having what she would call her “dream job”, the truth was that her life was also filled with pain. No, it wasn’t due to personal issues, or problems at home…in fact, the reasoning found its origin in her job itself. While her unusual ability made her perfect for her occupation, it also came at a price, and that price was the fact that she could feel exactly what her patients were going through. Needless to say, this uncanny ability for empathy was invaluable in the course of treatment, but over several hours and many patients in a day, the effects of their troubles wore against even the sturdy wall she’d built up around her mind and emotions.

It was mid-afternoon, and having just seen a patient with severe marriage issues out, she sat back for a moment to breathe, knowing full well that it was only a slight, momentary reprieve. After all, she could still hear everything going on in the heads of the people sitting outside in the waiting room. She’d begun to develop a headache, but she pushed it aside after a moment, knowing that she had no choice but to continue with her day as usual. It would pass, eventually. With a small measure of effort, she pushed herself up out of her chair and made it over to the door, turning the handle and glancing out at the room beyond. “James?” Her voice was a question as she glanced from face to face, soon picking his out from the crowd. “James, you can come on in now,” she said to him, gracing him with a small, warm smile that hid her own weariness.

As James preceded her into the office, she caught a glance of an unfamiliar face in the waiting room. She didn’t think much of it though – after all, while she wasn’t scheduled for any new patients today, he could easily be here with someone else. Shutting the door behind her, she let her thoughts return to her patient as she settled back into her seat. His emotions were a heavy blend of anger, sadness, loneliness, and self-hatred, much like they had been the week before. He hadn’t seemed to have changed much since then, but he’d only begun seeing her a few weeks ago, and she knew full well that the mind could not be forced, but could only change through a will of self. “It’s lovely to see you again, James. So, tell me about your day.”

[Kitsumi]

It was a difficult thing, to sort through all of the emotions surrounding him and find which suited his current tastes. He was a man of many flavors, and he rarely feasted upon the same emotion twice in one night. Even if he wanted to taste the same emotion again, it was risky. He could easily succumb to the emotion and lose control of his personality for awhile, being filled only with the emotion he fed off of. And if he fed on the same person too often, he was known to take on their persona for days, or possibly even weeks.

Enigma suddenly grimaced, as he came across someone who was feeling particularly betrayed. Betrayal was a tantalizing flavor at times, but it was almost too much at the moment. It was almost like meat that had been disgustingly over-salted, and it made him want to vomit. For a moment, he had second thoughts about even feeding that night. He could make it a day or two without gorging himself, and he was beginning to grow weary of searching for a particular emotion that stood out to him. He was just getting ready to stand, when a door opened and a woman came out of it.

The man she addressed stood, and as Enigma's attention was turned to the man, he tasted the turmoil of emotions inside of him. That's it! He thought to himself, suddenly grinning happily. It was the perfect mixture of emotions, and he had found his 'meal'. The woman seemed to take slight notice of Enigma, and for some strange reason, he found himself winking at her.

Damn it, Ig, cut that out. He swore to himself. That's what you get for going to back to that womanizer for seconds...and thirds. I couldn't help it though. That insatiable lust was so good! He argued silently with himself for a moment before realizing that the door had closed and both the woman and the client were gone.

That suited him just fine. The man was still within feeding distance, and so that's what Enigma began to do - feed. He drew his legs up closer to the seat, so that he could rest his arms on them and hide his face in his arms. He tended to murmur things or make odd faces when he 'ate', and figured he should hide it.

[Flame]

After a moment of bracing herself, Lily let her patient’s thoughts and emotions wash over her, immersing herself entirely in his pain and suffering. Any other person might have cried out or at least grimaced at the sudden flood of feeling, but years upon years of practice had stilled her face against giving away her secret. Her expression was fixed in one of attention and mild concern, perfectly controlled, her gaze fixed on the fidgety man seated before her, merely nodding lightly at the appropriate intervals and occasionally pausing to jot down particularly important notes in the notebook before her. Every now and again, she asked a question, but most of her attention was focused on sifting through his torrent of jumbled emotions, seeking to find the source of the man’s misery.

This tended to get harder to do as the day progressed, especially on a day like today, when her head already hurt to begin with. She found herself having to concentrate harder and harder to make heads or tails out of the impossibly convoluted emotions, and almost completely missed the fact that something had begun to feel…off. In fact, it wasn’t before a good 10 minutes or so had passed before she realized that being in James’ head was getting easier. At first, she suspected that perhaps she was finally starting to figure him out, but after a few more minutes of waiting and observing, there was no denying the fact that he was becoming calmer, the sea of emotions gradually simmering down to a roil instead of a hurricane.

She peered at her patient, trying to make heads or tails out of this sudden change of heart, knowing full well that no matter how good the psychologist, it was absolutely unheard of to see such dramatic results so suddenly. His demeanor had changed too, and now he was much less fidgety, his eyes almost calm as he spoke. It felt almost as if his emotions had simply…vanished. The anger and sadness had not resolved into acceptance, but instead, seem to simply have disappeared. Now that she found concerning. Reaching back into his mind, she stopped, almost shaking her head in disbelief. If she wasn’t mistaken, the emotions were moving, and out of his very head it seemed. She could almost visualize a stream of emotions leaving his body and out of the room. She was entirely perplexed, since it wasn’t something that she had ever seen, but if there was one thing she could be scientifically sure of, it was the fact that there had to be something causing this effect. However, she wasn’t about to let on to James that his emotions were taking a vacation out of his brain and into the adjacent room, so she settled on puzzlement until his appointment was over.

[Kitsumi]

((Sorry if this post is a bit short))

The feeding process often took a long time, despite Enigma's attempts to speed it up. At one point, a woman who was probably the receptionist tapped on his shoulders. Enigma looked up as she asked him if he was waiting for an appointment. Uttering a low growl that only she would be able to hear. "Excuse me, miss, but I'm busy." He hissed the words as she stared at him in shock. Then, sighing in annoyance, he dove into her emotions, gobbling her confusion, anger, and hurt. He made sure to also consume her concern and curiosity, so that she wouldn't return to bother him until he was finished.

Satisfied, he returned to his meal. It didn't take too much longer to finish. Enigma had gone a little overboard in his feeding. Usually he had fairly good control over his feeding, but the man's emotions had been perfect. He had completely sated himself. He really should have left at that point, but all he wanted to do in that moment was to sit back and relax.

So, propping his feet up on a chair across from him, he leaned back and let his eyes shut once again. Until someone asked him to leave, he was going to stay right there...

[Flame]

Half an hour later, the patient’s time was up, and as Lily wrapped things up, he stood to leave. By this point though, she was more than just a little concerned – she was legitimately worried that there was something wrong with this man. In the entire time she’d known him, and in the hours that she’d spent speaking to him, she’d never once seen him so calm. It was almost disconcerting, just how blank his gaze was compared to how it had been when he’d walked in. “How are you feeling, James?” she asked, a little apprehensive of the answer she was going to receive, if any. After all, as the session had progressed, the man had grown steadily and steadily quieter, until she was doing most of the talking, and he was almost taciturn. Her headache had been forgotten as she tried to get to the root of exactly what was happening here.

“I’m fine, Ms. Winifred,” James replied evenly, his gaze slowly moving to hers. “Good…that’s very good, James,” she responded, frowning almost imperceptibly. “Same time, same place next week then?” She studied him closely, wondering if it was safe to allow him to wander out onto the streets alone in this state of mind. “Sure…sure….” She stood, leading him cautiously to the door, watching him carefully every step of the way. Function-wise, he seemed like he had perfect motor control over his own body. It was just as if all of the emotions had simply been wiped out of his mind, and she worried that maybe they wouldn’t come back. Sure, it was good that he was no longer feeling the pain and turmoil he had been dealing with when he’d walked in, but at the same time, not having any emotions was arguably even worse.

Opening the door, she walked him out, but instead of retreating again, made her way over to her secretary’s desk, intending to ask her to call a cab for the gentleman. However, when she got there, she realized that the woman was wearing the same expression as her previous patient. Her mind was just as emotionally blank as James’ was, and at this point, Lily was legitimately alarmed. Glancing around the room, as if she hoped to find the agent that was causing it sitting there, her gaze lit upon the man huddled alone in one of the seats – the only person still remaining in the room that wasn’t ‘brainwashed’ aside from herself. Delving experimentally into his emotions, she was puzzled to find something akin to satisfaction there. As odd as that seemed, she was running out of ideas, and she had no choice but to explore her options. Taking a chance, she sent her assistant off with James, as he was her last patient for the day, and once they were gone, turned back to the stranger in her waiting area.

His eyes were closed, his posture and expression entirely unchanged from how she’d last seen him. She hesitated for a moment, then finally plucked up her courage and walked over to him. “Excuse me, sir, can I help you in any way?” She had no idea what he was doing here in her office, nor did she know what affliction had struck her patient and employee. There couldn't be any way those things could be related, could they? All-in-all, this was adding up to be a very strange day indeed.

[Kitsumi]

Despite already being gorged on emotions, Enigma was still able to feel his own. When he was himself and in control of his own emotions, guilt was usually one of the primary ones he felt. As the guilt began to creep up on him again, he did a rather odd thing - he smiled. It wasn't that he liked the guilt, or felt that it was something to be proud of. He simply had a hard time expressing his true emotions lately, and his body often reacted to one emotion as if it were another. He tried to push away the guilt as he forced the smile to vanish. You're not truly hurting anyone, he told himself. If anything, you're giving them a slight reprieve from their emotions. Within a couple of hours - five at the most - they'll be completely back to normal. The emotions will come back gradually as they always do, without overwhelming the poor soul.

Before he had the chance to argue back at himself that he was still technically stealing from them, the woman he had seen earlier approached him. He tried to look friendly, but his facial expression registered as a scowl for some reason. He shook his head, suddenly looking confused, which was surprisingly the right emotion to portray. How did he respond normally? After a few moments of trying, he finally got a smile on his face.

"Ah, no." He kept his voice easy. "I'm beginning to think that I came to the wrong office - I guess I should have realized it earlier, huh?" He forced a chuckle. "I should probably be going. I don't want to disturb anyone..."

[Flame]

As Lily waited for a response, she watched the man’s face intently. After all, anyone could say anything they wanted to, but it was harder to hide one’s expression, and certainly even harder to hide one’s mind, especially if they didn’t know it was being observed. As she tentatively reached her mind out towards his, she began to sense an overwhelming feeling of guilt. This brought her a moment of pause. Now what in the world did this man have to feel guilty for? Had he committed a crime before walking into her waiting area? Despite the fact that Lily could read emotions, the unfortunate fact was that it still gave her no insight into what people were actually thinking. All she could do was look at the quantitative facts and make her best guess based on her experience with human psychology.

When he didn’t speak at first, she opened her mouth to say something else, perhaps to prompt a response, but a second or two later, snapped it shut again, even more thoroughly perplexed. What person smiled when they felt guilty? There was nothing in his thoughts that suggested any form of satisfaction, and yet…there it was, that odd, out-of-place smile. For a moment, she worried that perhaps she was dealing with a psychopath – after all, the symptoms so far seemed congruent with the diagnosis. However, she wasn’t one to jump to conclusions, and perhaps for the better, as just a moment later, the smile had been replaced by a rather sinister scowl, almost causing her to take a step or two back. He seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, then finally seemed to settle on a suitable expression. This time though, the smile was friendlier than it was frightening.

As a psychologist, Lily had seen a lot in her life, and although this situation was entirely new to her, it would take more than an undecided face to deter her. If anything, her innate sense of curiosity and a hint of concern for this strange man told her that she ought to get to the root of whatever was bothering him and to do whatever she could to help him fix it. It didn’t matter that she was off the clock – if she could come to the aid of a person in need, that was reward enough for her. “That’s alright, sir,” she said, her tone of voice soothing and gentle, “It’s no bother, and I’m sure it’s a mistake anyone could have made.” If she could make him comfortable enough in her presence, perhaps he would open up to her. “Perhaps I can help you out. Which office were you looking for, if you don’t mind me asking?”

[Kitsumi]

It was obvious that the woman was disconcerted by his lack of control over his facial expression, but that was the least of Enigma's worries. He felt as if he were suddenly being probed, his emotions on display for this woman to see. His smile vanished as he stared at her in shock. "Are you doing that?" His voice was quiet, barely audible. "You're doing that, aren't you? I didn't know...I thought...are you one too? Are you Awakened?"

His words would probably be gibberish to anyone who didn't understand their meaning. Awakened vampires were very rare, and it was even more rare for them to feed the way Enigma did. But this woman obviously had some sort of gift in reading emotions, and Enigma didn't know of anyone else who had that ability save for himself. He was an Awakened vampire, so if this woman had a similar ability to his, perhaps she was as well. It was mostly a false hope, since the vampire longed to meet someone like him. It was a rather lonely life, and finding someone who understood him would be a wonderful discovery.

But then he felt her fear and confusion, and he suddenly became angry. He laughed - once again reacting in a way that wasn't suitable for his emotion. Ignoring her questions, he berated her with questions. "Who are you? Why are you talking to me? You don't know my secret, do you? You can't know my secret!" His voice rose in volume as he spoke, until he was shouting. Tears streamed from his eyes as his laughter morphed to crying, and he began to feel completely drained of emotions. He let himself drop back into his seat, not even aware that he had stood up as he began shouting. He was losing control of his emotions quickly, something which was a bit common after feeding. He took some slow, deep breaths, attempting to reign in his emotions. He was losing himself, and that was something that couldn't happen, definitely not in public.

Once he was sure that he was able to speak calmly, he looked at her apologetically. "I honestly have no suitable excuse for what just happened. I suppose you should call security and have me escorted out. However," he paused, wondering whether or not he should even attempt to find out what her link to emotions was, and if it was similar to his. After a moment or two of debating, he finally figured he might as well. "I know you can read my emotions, just the same as I can read yours. Any chance you'd be willing to speak somewhere private - your office, perhaps? I promise I'll behave. I think I've gotten myself under control now."

[Flame]

If Lily wasn’t confused before, she knew she was clearly in for an adventure when the man spoke up again. How was she doing…what? Awakened? What in the world was he babbling on about? If she hadn’t already witnessed a good amount of weirdness today – and in the past few minutes, nonetheless – she probably would have just written him off as being a tad off his rocker (not that she was entirely crossing out the theory either, though). It wasn’t as if he could feel her thoughts probing his emotions…could he? No, that would be preposterous. As far as she could tell, and as far as her years upon years of experience told her, no one ever felt the other presence in their head. It wasn’t as if she were controlling his thoughts or anything, but still…the scientific, empirical side of her continued to nag that perhaps there was a first for everything. Until she was sure of her suspicion though, she wouldn’t be jumping to give away her secret just yet.

Trying to maintain a calm visage (which she was something of a pro at), she watched as his face transformed in another chain of jarring, seemingly unrelated metamorphoses. The odd thing was, his thoughts seemed to be changing with the same frequency, and observation soon put to rest the idea that he was simply putting on an act. Every face seemed to match perfectly with a flurried burst of new emotion, although where each came from, she could only guess. A sudden outburst of shouting caused her to take a small step back as he rose out of his seat, but she managed to maintain the air of composure she’d been wearing as she calmly tried to soothe him. “It’s alright, sir. You simply got a little lost and wound up in my office, but I’m sure that if you take a few deep breaths, you’ll feel better, and together we can help you figure out what it is that you need.”

To her relief, it seemed that he’d already had that idea in mind as he sank back into his seat, and she could feel him struggling with the turmoil in his mind. When he had finally composed himself, she let him speak, chuckling lightly at his suggestion to have him hauled out by security. She was about to respond with a lighthearted retort when his next words stopped her mid-word. He knew that she was reading his emotions? It was a moment later that she realized her mouth was still hanging open, her words lost somewhere in translation. “…Really?” she finally managed to get out, still trying to wrap her head around the idea that he knew. She remained lost for words for another moment or two, then her brain finally seemed to catch up with reality, realizing that she’d left his question hanging. “Oh…why, certainly,” she responded, her expression returning to something akin to normalcy. “I’d be more than happy to speak with you in my office, if you’d so please.” Taking a step back, she managed an affable smile, gesturing towards the door of her office. What an odd day indeed.

[Kitsumi]

((Sorry if this post is a bit short.))

Enigma had to give the woman props for remaining calm. While she did step back a bit when he had stood - a completely mild reaction under the circumstances - she hadn't freaked out like he had expected. That was good. If she were completely freaked out, he wouldn't be able to speak to her. She wouldn't have let him. If she really was able to sense emotions the way that he was however, she was probably a bit more open-minded than most.

He had pretty much ignored everything that she had said during his tirade. Now, however, he was able to actually pay attention to her. For the first time, she actually seemed genuinely shocked. She hadn't expected him to know, obviously, which was actually a bit of a disappointment to him. If she hadn't recognized him as Awakened, then she wasn't one either. It was disappointing...yet fascinating. He hadn't known that there were others who were able to read emotions, and he had always assumed it was a trait limited to those of his kind. If the woman wasn't Awakened, then who knew what other abilities she possessed? Reading emotions might have just been the beginning of her abilities.

"Yes, really." Enigma would have chuckled at her reaction, had he not thought that it might have offended her. Plus there was the risk that the laughter would come out as crying, or scolding, or who knows what else. When she remembered to answer his question, he nodded. "I appreciate it." He stood again, this time in a non-intimidating way. He opened the door to her office at her invitation, gesturing for her to go in first. It was, after all, her office. As he walked inside, he closed the door behind him. Chances were, they would be talking about things that neither of them would want others hearing.

[Flame]

As Lily stood to guide the man to her office, she tried to absorb and make sense of all that had just happened. However, there wasn’t really all too much to go on, if she had to be entirely honest with herself. All she really knew about this man was that he’d shown up at her office, her patients (and all the people around him, for that matter) were behaving very strangely, and the kicker to top it all off, he could read the emotions of others the same way she could. Her mind churned through possibilities, as limited as they were, but unfortunately, her conjured solutions were only as diverse as her imagination allowed. How could she possibly have known that vampires existed, and even if they did, that it was possible for them to feed on pure emotion instead of blood? No person in their right mind could possibly have leapt to that kind of conclusion. For all she knew, he was an individual who happened to have the same gift as she did, but could also tell when his mind was being pryed.

All in all, this was a pretty exciting advancement, as she’d been raised and had lived with the assumption that she was just some sort of freak with a strange ability. An accident of nature, if you would. If there were more people out there like her…well, perhaps they might be able to help her with her ‘noise’ issues. Smiling and thanking the man politely as he held the door and gestured for her to enter first, she walked back into her office, turning to shut the door behind her visitor as he joined her. Glancing at him for a moment, still thoroughly curious, she gestured at the chair she generally offered to her patients – a comfortable-looking, well-worn brown couch. “Please, if you would be so kind as to take a seat.”

Instead of taking a seat behind her desk, she pulled up a plain, four-legged chair and placed it next to the couch. Seating herself delicately in the chair, she folded her hands neatly in her lap and turned her full attention to her new visitor. “I believe that proper introduction is appropriate here. My name is Lily,” she said, extending a friendly hand to shake his, assuming that he’d at least reciprocate with his name. After all, it would make the exchange a lot less awkward if she had a proper name to refer to him by. “So tell me, how did you know of my ability, and how did you find me?”

(No worries, mine's a little on the short side too. ^^;)

[Kitsumi]

((Delayed replies suck, I know Dx My muse has always been a fickle thing.))

The vampire felt quite a bit of anxiety as he took the seat offered him, although he hit it well. He was afraid that this was some sort of trap - if there were other Awakened in the area, they might resent the fact that he fed on emotions and not blood. That explanation couldn't work though, because the woman had influence over emotions. Still, what if she weren't exactly what she seemed to be? No, that wouldn't be a problem. Enigma could read her emotions easily, and she didn't seem to pose him any sort of threat. He just needed to relax and talk with her. So...he did.

"A pleasure to meet you, Lily." Enigma took her hand and, instead of shaking it, kissed it. He realized that the gesture was from a time long-since passed, but old habits died hard. "I'm Enigma Anima, although my friends call me Iggy. At least they would if I had any friends." He laughed nervously. "Your sort of ability is easy to figure out if someone has a similar talent. I can read emotions along with...some other things." He shrugged. "And in all honesty, I wasn't looking for you when I came here, so I can't say that I 'found' you when I wasn't looking. I was actually...erm..." He ran a hand through his hair in an embarrassed gesture as he mumbled the last word, "Feeding."

[Flame]

Lily smiled reassuringly as she watched her unexpected ‘client’ take a seat in the chair she had offered, doing her best to be as supportive and comforting as possible. After all, she could feel the anxiety running through his thoughts as clearly as if they had been her own, and she could understand his fear. Although she didn’t know anything about him yet, it was always unsettling the first time anyone visited a person who was generally paid money to pick your brain. She was glad when he seemed to calm down on his own though – it meant that he was relatively good at having a handle on his own emotions, which was much better than many of her regular patients. She sensed no threat or danger emanating from him, so she was relatively certain that he meant her no harm.

“It’s lovely to meet you as well, Enigma,” she responded warmly, smiling kindly at him. “Would you prefer that I call you Enigma or Iggy? Choose whichever would make you more comfortable.” He caught her by surprise when he took her took her hand, and instead of shaking it like she was expecting, kissed it. It brought a faint blush to her cheeks – after all, as a psychologist who didn’t really get out much aside from being in her office, she was used to being treated as a doctor, not as a lady. She managed to keep herself outwardly composed otherwise though, not wanting to make him feel self-conscious. Nodding in quiet understanding as he explained the circumstances which had brought him here, she mulled over what he had to say. She’d never met anyone else with an ability like hers – indeed, she’d thought that perhaps she was the only person in the world who had it. To be honest, it was something of a relief to know that there was someone out there who perhaps knew and understood what she had to go through every day of her life, and could empathize with her.

However, his next statement gave her a moment of pause. In fact, it was likely the most surprising thing she’d heard for a long time (and her regular patients weren’t exactly the most run-of-the-mill people either). “Feeding?” she echoed, as if checking to make sure that she’d heard him correctly. What could he possibly have meant by that? Like, he was looking for a good joint to eat at when he’d come across her office? That seemed…strange. “I’m sorry, but could you clarify what you mean by that?”

(No worries. ^^ I know what it feels like when muses go on vacation without leave. XD)

[Kitsumi]

"You can call me either, honestly." He knew it wasn't an answer, so he added, "Iggy is fine. You can save my full name for when you're pissed at me, or when we're in some sort of life-threatening situation." He grinned, showing that he was joking. Hopefully he wouldn't piss her off within the next few minutes, and she probably wouldn't stick around long enough for him to get her in any sort of trouble. At least, he hoped that would be the case. Not because he didn't want her to stick around, but because he wasn't exactly as in control of his emotions as he seemed to be.

Noticing the blush, Enigma mentally chuckled. He had noticed that most ladies of this time weren't used to his respectful and admiring gestures. It had confused him at first, until he realized that women were fighting to be independent and treated with the same respect as men. It was understandable of course, but Enigma could never treat a lady the same way he could treat a man. After all, women really were often more delicate than men, whether they admitted it or not.

His smile faded when she picked up on the last word he had spoken. This was where Enigma usually lost people. "Earlier, when I was asking if you were Awaked...I was asking if you were like me. I'm, well, a vampire." He sighed. "You probably think I'm crazy - you've probably seen a lot of crazy, haven't you? But I'm not crazy. I don't feed on blood like normal vampires though. I was a vegetarian before I turned, and I remained one after." He paled just at the thought of drinking blood. It was sickening. "I feed off of emotions. It's how I can read emotions, and why a place like this is a good place to feed."

Enigma wasn't sure why he was being so open and honest to someone he had just met. It didn't make sense for him to trust someone after being so wary and cautious all his life. It was probably because she had a similar gift. The vampire was so lonely and tired of being alone, that he wanted to cling to anyone who might possibly understand at least a small piece of what made him unique.