FAIRFAX: Shannon had fallen asleep on him the night he visited. Fairfax had sat there for a long time, just watching him sleep, thinking about how short the human lifespan was and how unfair it seemed. Even though technically, Fairfax was in his s, he had the mentality of something much older, and he would live for far longer. After that night, he'd gone about his business in a normal fashion, going to work, going home. But a few days later, he snuck in at night to see Shannon again, a little earlier this time. He stood at the foot of his bed for a few moments before speaking. "Hello."

SHANNON: The days were getting harder for Shannon. Fairfax had met him on one of the few good days he'd had in a long time and today was one of the bad ones. He was barely awake when the man came in and he didn't even see him until he said hello. Shannon lifted his head slowly and turned to look at Fairfax. A small smile came onto his thin face and he murmured back a "hello". It was good to see Fairfax. No one really came to visit him anymore.

FAIRFAX: Fairfax wasn't used to being depressed, or sad. He made fun wherever he went, and he gave people what they wanted. He'd never gotten attached to anyone either, but he found the mixture of emotions he felt when he saw Shannon were enough to keep him thinking about the boy all the time. Feeling death hanging in the room, Fairfax actually looked around--half expecting to see some sort of creature waiting in the wings for Shannon. Sitting down next to his bed, Fairfax leaned forward and put his chin on the mattress, looking up at him. "You look so small."

SHANNON: "I feel very small today." Shannon agreed and he let his eyes close again, comfortable now that he knew that there was someone there with him. "I'm very tired. But I'm glad that you are here. The nurses have been busy today and no one had time to sit with me." So he'd been alone all day and it did nothing to help his spirits. He tried to be hopeful, but when he felt like this there really was no hope. "I missed you while you were gone."

FAIRFAX: He didn't like it when Shannon wasn't looking at him because it felt like neither one of them existed anymore. For a being that would live so long, Fairfax had a very tremulous sense of what it meant to be real. Moving his spindly hand so that it rested over Shannon's, Fairfax sighed. "Sometimes I come in when you're asleep. Is that creepy? The nurses think it's weird that I'm taking any interest in you at all. I'm just a janitor."

SHANNON: Opening his eyes, he looked back over at Fairfax again. "You must be why I wake up in the morning and I feel like I've had company." Knowing that Fairfax had been there at night made him feel less alone. "I always feel my best first thing in the morning."

FAIRFAX: Most of the nurses he had wrapped around his little finger, but when he started asking about Shannon, they got a little suspicious, as if he'd gone from being a sweet guy to some sort of vulture. Even though Fairfax wasn't looking at Shannon, he could feel the instant he was being seen again and it gave him a relaxing shudder. "If I could do something to help you, would you want me to?"

SHANNON: "There isn't anything that you can do, Fairfax. THey've tried to do everything and now it's just time to wait. Tonight maybe." he smiled a little bit. "Maybe I can go, because you are here now. I didn't want to die alone." Though he had resigned himself to it. Because what was left of his family had stopped coming months ago. And what was left of his friends had stopped coming long before that.

FAIRFAX: Alarmed, Fairfax tugged at Shannon's hand. "Tonight? No! I need more time than that." He hadn't convinced Malcom to do anything yet. "I just met you. That isn't fair." He was used to getting his way and when it was presented to him that he might not, Fairfax was quick to panic.

SHANNON: "It's not always fair. What's wrong with tonight? Tonight seems like a good night." he closed his eyes again and just sighed. He was ready to let go, but if Fairfax didn't want him to go just yet he'd try to live for al ittle while longer. "I'm just glad that I got to know you a little bit.'

FAIRFAX: "I know someone." Fairfax's voice was very quiet. "I think that he can help you." He was certain Malcom could make it so Shannon didn't die--but it wasn't a guarantee that he could make it so Shannon didn't want to die. "And my life is always fair." He said firmly, staring at Shannon's hand, playing with his fingers a little bit.

SHANNON: Shannon just stretched his fingers out, letting Fairfax toy with them however he wanted to. Being touched was something he'd really started to miss and now that he was touching him he felt like he couldn't get enough. "Your hands are warm."

FAIRFAX: Shannon's hands were chilled, and he tried to imagine what it would be like for him to always be cold. Forever. He swallowed and wished he could push out the sad feeling in the pit of his gut. Leaning over, he put his lips on Shannon's hand, kissing the cool skin. "I really like you. It's weird."

SHANNON: "Why's it so weird?" He didn't understand why liking someone was weird. Unless it was just because said person was dying and it seemed foolish to put emotional stock into someone who wasn't going to last. "I like you too.'

FAIRFAX: "I like lots of people. They do things for me; they watch me; they like me." But it was such a utilitarian relationship that it couldn't even really be counted as friendship. "I make them see what they want to see and they give me the things I need." But Fairfax wanted Shannon to see him and that was all.

SHANNON: "I like you." He muttered again before letting his fingers settle back down onto the bed. "I'm tired now, Fairfax." Shannon didn't think that he was going to be able to stay awake very much longer. "Come and see me in the morning. I'm always better in the morning."

FAIRFAX: Fairfax was afraid to come in the morning. If Shannon was better then, he was afraid how much he would like him. Nodding a little, he stood up. "All right." He'd try, at the very least. Standing there for a few minutes longer, he finally turned to go, sneaking past the nurses station skillfully.

FAIRFAX: The next morning was his day off, and Fairfax was glad of that. He didn't want anything to interrupt his visit with Shannon. The night before, he'd gone to see Malcom who had finally decided on his price. Fairfax, however, hadn't decided on whether or not he could pay it. Popping into the room, Fairfax liked how bright it was. At night the place seemed frightening somehow.

SHANNON: Shannon was sitting up, having been propped up by the morning shift nurse when she gave him his breakfast. He hadn't eaten much of it. Just a few bites here or there and then the tray had gotten moved to his nightstand, where it still sat, mostly untouched. When he saw Fairfax come in he smiled and sat up a little more, though it was hard to stay completely upright no his own. "Fairfax."

FAIRFAX: Better, in this case, wasn't quite better. Fairfax felt his heart give a leap when he saw him though and he scrunched up his face a little with worry. "Hey." He smiled though, and glanced over the tray. "Not hungry?"

SHANNON: "No." Shannon shook his head and he took a slow breath. Everything was labored anymore and took so much effort. He was deteriorating quickly. "I'm glad that you came. I wasn't sure if you would. I had a dream of you last night."

FAIRFAX: Tilting his head with interest, Fairfax came closer to the bed and leaned the fronts of his thighs against it. "Did you? Tell me about it." Because he wasn't sure if Shannon meant his visit last night, or an actual dream. Either way, he wanted to hear Shannon talk about it.

SHANNON: "We were in the trash bin again. And you werep laying with my hand like you were when you were here. And it turned into a boat again and there was water all around. I fell off though and into the water and you tried to reach for me but your fingers slipped."

FAIRFAX: Fairfax frowned. That didn't feel like a good sign; if dreams were omens. "Where is your family?" He had to ask. Why they weren't here everyday--he couldn't figure out. Who left their own to die like that? Fairfax wondered if his parents would do the same--though it wasn't fair to judge since they didn't know where he was.

SHANNON: "My dad is with his new wife in New York. It was too much work to be down here all the time. My grams was here but they had to put her in a nursing home and she doesn't remember who I am." Shannon didn't like how Fairfax was frowning so he reached over and he tried to push the corner of his mouth up with his fingertip.

FAIRFAX: Fairfax leaned into the touch, which made his mouth go up even farther and it was a rather comical look. "You wouldn't fall off my boat." He said finally, shaking his head and pushing Shannon's hand away. "I wouldn't let you."

SHANNON: Shannon smiled at that but then he started coughing and that made his whole body start to shake. By the time he was finished he was sucking in huge, ragged breaths. He was wheezing loudly, hardly able to even breathe. He groped blindly for the nurses call button, his eyes on Fairfax because he couldn't bring himself to look away.

FAIRFAX: Not quite knowing what was going on, Fairfax felt his own breath start to shorten and he finally was able to tear his eyes away from Shannon's to push the call button for him. He'd seen the dying before, but somehow he'd avoided them so deftly when it got down to the wire.

SHANNON: The nurse came in after a minute or two and she helped Shannon lay back a little and she put an oxygen mask over his face. There wasn't much else she could do but she handed him his morphine button and he pressed it. It was a timed dose, he could press it all he wanted but he could only have one pump every certain period of time.

FAIRFAX: Watching, and feeling like a miserable late-comer to this twisted carnival, Fairfax shifted uncomfortably. He found that his own glamor didn't comfort him at all and he left himself rather bare, looking perfect even in his worry. When the nurse left, Fairfax put his hand back over Shannon's.

SHANNON: For a while there was no noise between them save for the rasping of Shannon's breath, but even that settled down after a while. He kept his eyes on Fairfax the whole time, sure that he was going to die at any minute and he wanted Fairfax to be the last person he saw before he went. But he settled down a little and when the drugs kicked in he started to feel a little better.

FAIRFAX: "I'm not human, you know." He said after awhile. "I don't want to make you scared, but I'm something else." Maybe that would give Shannon some hope that Fairfax could help. He'd heard lots of good things about the power of hope and how it could keep people alive.

SHANNON: Blinking slowly, he didn't really seem to comprehend what it was that he was saying. Shannon lifted his fingers just a touch, letting the tips of his nails brush against Fairfax's palm. "Are you an angel?" he asked in two very labored breaths.

FAIRFAX: Fairfax shook his head. He was far from that, though he'd been accused of it occassionally. It always struck him as funny because of some of the mean things he did to get his way. He was a bit of a spoiled brat when it came right down to it. "Don't talk for awhile." He advised, unable to bear the way it sounded right now.

SHANNON: When the drugs finally took their full effect he closed his eyes and was out. He didn't have the strength to stay awake after that. Though the steady beep of the heart monitor was enough to ensure that he was still alive.

FAIRFAX: Feeling like his heart was going to break, Fairfax felt like he was being cheated. He hated that, and he wouldn't allow it to happen. Putting his ear to Shannon's chest, he just rested it there, listening to the faint beat of his heart. He didn't trust that mechanical monitor, and when he was finally convinced it wasn't lying to him, Fairfax knew he would have to act tonight.
---------------------------

SHANNON: By the time night rolled around, Shannon was fading in and out of consciousness. Whenever he woke he'd just give himself more morphine and go back to sleep. Though he dropped the button the last time and when he woke after dark had settled he couldn't reach it to giveh imself another dose. So he just laid there, awake and in pain. He didn't want to burden the nurse to have her get it for him to he turned his attention out the window and he tried to see the stars.

MALCOLM: Fairfax had agreed to Malcolm's demands and the vampire couldn't be happier. Who cared if it meant he'd have a little progeny running about? It also meant he'd be able to play with a fae--not something every vampire got to do without consequences. He smiled widely to himself as he put on his lab coat, and nametag, looking perfectly official. He was a specialist, he said, and with just a little coaxing, he was led to Shannon's room by one of the new night nurses. "Pity I couldn't get here sooner. The research world is so--time dependent." The nurse nodded, not really understanding, but Malcolm was very convincing.

SHANNON: When Shannon heard voices from the hallway he turned his head slowly in the direction of the door. He still had the oxygen mask on over his face but he was awake and lucid on account of his inability to give himself more morphine. He didnt' recognize the doctor or the nurse but he figured that they must have been coming to do some sort of final test.

MALCOLM: "I don't need help." He informed the nurse. "I'll let you know when we're finished." His smile was cruel and cold; he couldn't help it. But even though it gave the nurse a chill, she accepted it because some doctors just weren't very personable. When they were alone, Malcolm yanked off the oxygen mask and replaced it with his hand pressed hard over Shannon's mouth.

SHANNON: Shannon's eyes went a little wide behind his thick dark glasses and he tried to reach for the call button. In his panic he knocked the button off of the edge of the bed and it went clattering to the floor, hanging by it's cord. He didn't have the energy to fight and even if he had been % healthy he never would have been able to fight off Malcolm.

MALCOLM: Struggling was very inconvenient for him, but part of him thrilled at the fight. "Fairfax sent me. He likes you so much that he traded his life for yours." Which wasn't exactly true, but he often used lies to manipulate his victims. A lie was the same to him as the truth.

SHANNON: Pulling his hand up, he wrapped very thin and weak fingers around Malcolm's wrist so he could try and pull it away, but he couldn't even budge his wrist at all. When he said the bit about Fairfax trading his life his eyes welled with tears.

MALCOLM: "Aw, how cute." He had to laugh a little as his fingers inched up to cover Shannon's nose as well. His seemingly delicate arms were painfully strong, firm like stone. "You get to live. You should be happy. Grateful." He found that the blood was somehow so much better when it was laced with adrenaline and sorrow.

SHANNON: Panicking even more when his nose was covered, Shannon started to thrash around but he wasn't making any progress in getting away from the vampire. He was quickly running out of oxygen and he started shaking and coughing, though there was no air to cough so he was just making pathetic noises.

MALCOLM: "He was right though. You're so pretty. So, so pretty. I'll bet you'll get even better with me inside of you." Those words were bizarre--maybe he was going to rape Shannon. Or cut him open. Do horrible things to him. Turning his head so hard to the side that it almost snapped his neck, Malcolm was very careful not to apply deadly pressure yet. A broken neck wouldn't do. "This will hurt." Because he wasn't about making his bites nice for anyone but himself. Sinking his teeth in, he tore the skin viciously.

SHANNON: The blankets were tangled up around his legs as he kicked and thrashed around. His hips twisted and his body ached from all the movement. More movement than he'd been capable of the past few days. He kept on jerking and trying to break free. When Malcolm's fangs broke hsi skin and sank into his throat he cried out, all sounds muffled by the hand cover his face.

MALCOLM: Malcolm truely loved this part. He dug his teeth in harder, so deep that he hit the harder parts of the neck, shredding muscle and ligaments. It didn't matter how much damage he did since it would all even out in the wash anyway. The blood spray against his face and over the white hospital sheets would be particularly good and he'd brought a small digital camera to take pictures. Malcolm, through his studies, had figured out the exact amount of time he could leave a body unrisen. During that short time, he liked to photograph it.

SHANNON: The more that the blood sprayed from his throat the harder it was for him to move or even fight. Shannon's movements stopped before the noises he was making did but those too ended eventually. With an entirely limp body he just laid there, his eyes open, his heart beat slowed to a stop. He was gone and for most people that meant there was no coming back.

MALCOLM: Of course, this time would be different because Shannon had caught the attention of a changeling, and one with connections. He chuckled to himself, tugging out his camera and starting the countdown in his head. The wound was first. He had countless pictures of his handiwork on his computer, and would spend some nights simply flipping through all of them. Shannon looked nice with his pale skin and the low lights from the parking lot outside the window shining in on the ghastly scene. Finally, after Mal was satisfied, he cut his own arm, from palm to wrist so that he could put it to the dead lips of his victim.

SHANNON: The blood dripped from his hand into Shannon's mouth, his lips coated in the red as it slipped down his throat. The blood slid down on it's own, coating his throat and sinking its way into his system. There was a minute where he was still and nothing happened but when the blood completely saturated his insides he jerked his head back, gasping in a breath of air. Pain wracked through his body and his spine bowed, arching him up off of the bed.

MALCOLM: Malcolm was quick to cover up his mouth again, even though it was slick with his blood. The hospital room was a mess, but he would leave it quite clean and bare when they were done here. He just didn't want any nurses coming in to check if Shannon managed a scream of pain.

SHANNON: The scream came out but it was strangled. The transition was painful and he could feel it aching from the inside out, all the way down to his bones. His skin was changing, a flush coming to his cheeks and it softened. His dark hair curled and started to get shiny, changing from the dry brittle hair that was left behind after all the chemotherapy and radiation. Fangs slid out from where his eye teeth had been and they stayed put, though most vampires had the ability to retract them, it was just something that came with time.

MALCOLM: The fangs sliced against Malcolm's palm and he smiled because it didn't hurt so much as create a peculiar tingle up his arm. He'd never personally understood pain very well and maybe that's why he found it so easy and alluring to inflict it on other people. "You'd better be quiet, Shannon. You're not a human anymore and if they find you, they'll hunt you down and kill you." Someone would, anyway, eventually. "And you wouldn't want Fairfax's price to be for nothing, would you."

SHANNON: Tears were still in his eyes but now they were tinged red and he was trying to settle down and not make any noises but he was absolutely terrified. He stared up at Malcolm, trying to still himself so that the man would just let him go. What did he mean he wasn't human anymore? He could already feel the changes in his body, he didn't feel so sick.

MALCOLM: Releasing Shannon's mouth from his hand, Malcolm replaced it with his own mouth, licking the blood from Shannon's lips like an animal. The wound on his neck had already healed and he captured the new vampire's arms so that he couldn't push him away as he lapped up the already sticky red along where the wound had been.

SHANNON: When Malcolm licked his lips he jerked his head to the side and started to struggle again. "Let me go." he said, slicing open his lips with the first words to come from his new mouth because he didn't understand how to talk around his fangs or what to do with them. He cried out softly, whimpering. This was all too confusing and surreal.

MALCOLM: "Shhhh." He hissed, the sound so very quiet, yet cutting all the same. He let himself down from the bed, feet on the floor, sliding his camera back in his pocket. Removing the lab coat, he tossed the fake identification on the nightstand. "Get up, and be quiet about it."

SHANNON: For a long moment he just laid there. When he moved to try and get up, shannon nearly fell off of the bed but he managed to keep himself upright as he clung desperately to the blood soaked sheets. He glanced over at Malcolm, wanting to get the hell away from him but he didn't know what the man had done to him and he was beginning to think if he was going to find out he needed to at laest stick close to him.

MALCOLM: Shannon's coltish, newborn movements brought something like tenderness briefly to Malcolm's face. Still, it seemed more as a mask rather than a genuine expression. His face was strangely plastic. "You're going to break hearts." Something a grandmother would say and it sounded obscene coming from Malcolm. "Gather those up." He pointed at the sheets.

SHANNON: There was a large rebellious streak in him and he wanted to tell him no but he was still so terrified that all he could do was gather the sheets up as Malcolm instructed him to. He nearly slipped in his own blood, and he ended up on his butt with an arm full of bloody sheets.

MALCOLM: The wobbliness was wearing thin, and Malcolm reached down to lift Shannon up easily, like he was weightless. "We're going." He would twist the shadows to help them escape without being detected. It was a simple trick, a talent that predators picked up or faced many uncomfortable failures.

SHANNON: The strength that he left his muscles and his body was returning though it was a slow process and one that felt unnatural. He clung to the sheets and to Malcolm as they left the hospital and he was amazing that none of the nurses even so much as looked at him. "Where is Fairfax?" he asked, trying to keep his fangs from cutting his lips.

MALCOLM: The dark craddled them, and Malcolm moved easily through the hospital halls. "Shut up. Enjoy this. You're never coming back here. You're never going to get sick again." Not in the literal sense, anyway. It was yet to be seen if Shannon would be able to stomach eating. Some vampires simply couldn't bring themselves to do it. If that was the case, Malcolm would utterly abandon Shannon, someplace Fairfax would never find him.

SHANNON: "Where's Fairfax?" he asked again, his voice more distressed this time as Malcolm took him out of the hospital and into the night. This was terrifying and all he could think was that fairfax had asked for this to happen to him. "Where is he?"

MALCOLM: "I wouldn't let him come. I told him I'd bring you to him when we were finished." Fairfax had begged Malcolm to let him be there to explain. But Mal wasn't about to make this easy on anyone. No one got eternal life the easy way where he was concerned.

SHANNON: There were tears still in his eyes as he was toted away from the hospital. It was literally the first time in almost a year that he had set foot outside of those doors and he was hit by the cool night air. It ws alarming almost, leaving the place behind even though he'd dreamed of leaving it. Malcolm said he'd take him to Fairfax so he wasn't saying another word.

MALCOLM: They would walk. Malcolm liked walking because it allowed him not to miss the sorts of things he would while driving. It wasn't a long way to Fairfax's place, and Malcolm was a creature of his word. It was a small, shitty apartment on the top floor, but it overlooked the large park in town and that's why Fairfax had chosen it for himself. Sometimes he even slept outside in the park, pressing his cheek to the grass when it was warm outside. Tonight though, he stood with his arms wrapped around his waist, staring out the window trying to see through the darkness for Malcolm's arrival.

SHANNON: When they got there, Shannon wiggled down out of Malcolm's grasp and he tried to break free of him. All he wanted was Fairfax and for him to explain what was going on and why this mand had attacked him. Fairfax would know, he was sure of it and he'd tell him what was happening to him.

MALCOLM: Letting him go, Malcolm opened the door because Fairfax was the sort of fae to leave his life unlocked to people. Fairfax hadn't seen them and their entrance startled him into spinning around and asking who was there. It was dark in his apartment and he couldn't see, having dimmed the lights in hopes it would help him see the street below better. Malcolm snorted, walking smoothly across the room. "It's your package."

SHANNON: Shannon only made it a few steps into the room before he ended up on his hands and knees. "Fairfax?" His eyes adjusted easily to the darkness now and he could make the fae out across the room. Though he looked a little different now and Shannon could see the ethereal glow eminating from his skin.

FAIRFAX: He hadn't expected those eyes and they almost hurt because they were a mixture of Shannon's human eyes and the preturnatural glint that Malcolm's eyes had. It made Fairfax wince because he could feel the gaze and it was colder, more piercing, terrifying. "I'm here." As if Shannon didn't know. Malcolm rolled his eyes. "I'll be back tomorrow night. Blood-sucking starts." But for now, he couldn't stomach their reunion. He left, shutting the door behind him.

SHANNON: "What's happening to me?" Shannon reached for Fairfax but he couldn't quite get to him so he just hunched over and put his head in his hands. The entirety of his body felt strange and Shannon really didn't know what to do with these new feelings. They weren't painful but they might as well have been with how foreign he felt to himself now.

FAIRFAX: Immediately, he was afraid he'd made a selfish mistake. He could hardly bring himself to touch Shannon, but he walked toward him and knelt down with him. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to die. It wasn't fair that you were going to die when I'd only just met you. I wanted more time." To get to know him, to understand why he felt like he did.

SHANNON: "What did he do to me?" There were sobs being choked back with every breath that he took and a shudder ran through with him when Fairfax finally touched him. "I feel so strange." His lips were trembling and he pressed his hand to his mouth to touch the fangs.

FAIRFAX: "You're changing. It'll be all right." He tugged at him, trying to gather him into his long arms, tangling them around the scared thing. "Remember how I said I wasn't human? Well, there are other things that aren't human either. It'll be okay." He repeated, mostly just for his own benefit, to make himself believe it would work out.

SHANNON: "It won't be okay, it won't. I was dead... I think I was dead." Because he vaguely remembered the lights going out and feeling this peace and then he'd gotten sucked right back out of it. "I wanted to just be dead." He'd been so ready for it and now he was here, alive and just confused and in pain.

FAIRFAX: "No--you didn't." Somewhat incredulously. Fairfax could hardly understand why anyone would want to be dead. "You didn't want to be dead, Shannon. People don't just accept that, not when they're as young as you are." He tugged his head up so he could look at him. "Don't say things like that." The apartment started to change around them, the carpet becoming grass, the furniture large serene rocks and trees.

SHANNON: "Stop, stop it." Shannon wiped his hand over the grass as if he was trying to wipe it off of the floor and erase the illusion that fairfax had created it. "It's not real. It's not real, this isn't real, I'm not supposed to be here, not like this." He looked up at him, eyes full of red tears. "Why did you do that, you should have let me go."

FAIRFAX: Shannon's hand through the illusion made it go away. The vampiric perception was stronger than a human's and it was harder to make his fantasies stick. "Because--" At the moment, there didn't seem to be a good enough reason to put someone through this kind of pain. "Because you see me. And because I like you."