Ethan found himself extremely thankful for his mask, for without it the look of abject terror warping his features would have been there for any to see. A hand wrapped in athletic tape clamped down on her arm in a futile attempt to wrench himself free, feeling the coolness of the woman's unnaturally smooth skin. Tilting his head away as much as he could as her fangs drew alarmingly close, he desperately tried to keep himself from panicking under her crazed, predatory gaze. He could hear her breath blowing over his mask as she hissed her warnings through sharp teeth. After an eternity beneath that frightful stare, she released him, Ethan's knees managing to keep him standing.<br/><br/>"I<span style="font-style: italic">don't</span>kill indiscriminately, I thought we had just covered that..." Ethan panted, the hand that had clamped so ineffectively to her a moment before rushing instinctively to pull his drawstrings of his hood, re-covering his throat. "I take out problem individuals, when my warnings fail and I am forced to fight for my life. I'm<span style="font-style: italic">not</span>a vampire hunter." Ethan panted, his voice masking the sound of his other hand drawing a karambit out of its sheath, both hand and weapon remaining in his front pocket. "And I think we both know that I am already in way too deep. If I were to try and leave this rooftop, you would be on me before my first step hit the gravel."<br/><br/>Pausing for a moment, Ethan leaned against the stairway access, desperately trying to control his breathing and pounding heart. His free hand moved to his face, as if to wipe the beads of sweat forming on his brow, only to be reminded of the mask on his face. "If the killings of humans in this area were to stop, I would hang this mask up and go on with my life." Watching Arciel struggling to maintain control, he had to resist taking advantage of the opportunity to run while she was distracted. The only thing keeping him rooted in place was the fear of his flight goading her predatory instincts further, leaving him a bloody ruin. That, and a grim fascination with this young woman, whom he had been smitten with a few weeks previous. "I didn't want this..." His heart throbbed in his throat as he spoke, the knife in his front pocket, the knife he prayed he wouldn't need to use clutched in a white-knuckle grip.