Trust me, I'm a doctor

Being a member of the sadly diminishing group of physicians who actually did house calls, William's office was fairly small. It was located in a non-descript brownstone building downtown, with his name written on a metal plate on the door. The interior was a rather bare waiting room, both because the doctor had not been on the island long and because the more medical items were in a different room, as was his office. The wraith preferred to do all his work himself for various reasons and therefore had not hired a secretary. He did have a phone with an answering machine - he was not completely hopeless with modern technology. But he much preferred to meet people in person.

And William was very much looking forward to meeting the particular person who was the reason he was waiting in his office right now. He wasn't actually sure the young man would even show up. But he didn't have much else to do yet and felt like he should catch up on some informational reading. He knew so little about this island's inhabitants. This supposedly immortal horseman would certainly be very interesting. Even if he proved not to be so immortal, the wraith was quite willing to feed off of someone willing. He might have been afraid or regretful of this fact, but Maria was keeping him firmly numbed. She generally didn't want him to resist until after he'd done something he would regret. He knew this. But he couldn't feel anything right now. And he could convince himself that the boy agreeing to this made it acceptable or at least that was the lie he told himself.

He was simply reading in his office with the door opened until the boy arrived. Even if he didn't hear the main door open, this horseman's taste was different from most others, fainter. But it still drew him. He licked his lips unconsciously and rose to go greet the young man as he entered. He was not wearing his gloves, which may have been a mistake, if the young man decided not to go through with this. Needless to say he did not offer to shake hands and kept them firmly clasped behind his back. "Mr. Rathier... I ..." He was going to express his slight shock at the young man actually arriving, but changed his mind. He hadn't fed in a little while and the faint taste of illness incited his cravings. "I imagine you have questions."

@Saber

The doctor's sense of smell was not strong enough to detect any scent of death on the boy, and after all he probably smelled similarly of corpses. Not to mention the lingering taste of the horseman's illness overrode pretty much everything else. William was staring perhaps a little too intently at Johnathan, unconsciously licking his lips, tasting the air like a snake might.

As eager as he was to drain this young man, the wraith kept his hands off and simply turned to lead him out of the waiting room and into his actual office. He offered the boy a chair, though he himself was too restless to sit and stay still. The man actually placed himself in a corner so he would not embarass himself by circling the horseman. He was taken aback by the boy's seeming calmness. There was certainly no fear on him at all. It certainly gave credibility to the idea that this horsman was immortal or believed he was. But even with immortality, the doctor would have expected some hesitation. Even when he dealt with the willing, the ill, the depressed ones seeking their end, there was generally some degree of fear when the moment came. He had experienced that himself.

Quietly, torn between making sure Johnathan wouldn't change his mind and just giving in to his cravings, the doctor asked, "What questions do you have, young man? As I said when I gave you my card - it should not be painful, but it may kill you. You seem very calm. Perhaps you are as numb as I am. Did you wish to know why I would do this?" William might have tried subterfuge or trickery on some people, if he thought it would be more effective. But he planned to be honest with this one - the young man was a volunteer after all, and it seemed to be the best tactic.

The doctor didn't usually underestimate the intelligence of others, even young men. He had learned to be sneaky, even when dealing with normal humans, and was quite aware of his limitations. He may be practically immortal himself, or at least invulnerable, but he was a very weak man, it wouldn't do for him to be captured, even by regular police. William was, however, unused to this island and momentarily taken aback by the horseman's perceptiveness.

It did make sense that the young man would have come in contact with vampires and that most forms of hunger were easy to satisfy on this island. The doctor actually was not quite sure death was necessary to stop him from fading away, but he knew his cravings and that he would not have the control to stop on his own once he started. He estimated the boy would still be able to fight him off for maybe five or six minutes before the draining would make him too weak. Of course, he wasn't going to tell John any of this. He already felt uncomfortably exposed. He was not used to being so open about these things.

"You are perceptive, young man. Yes, perhaps... I do suppose life force is the best way to describe it. I have not had the opportunity to research before arriving here. And she is most definitely not an aid in this. I do what I must to survive." He didn't care to say much more than that. It may have been a short answer, but it did answer the why part of the horseman's questions fairly well. The how was an even simpler explanation. He held up a bare hand, palm facing in the young man's direction. "You may have noticed I generally wear gloves. I simply touch your skin, usually your hand or arm will suffice, and I drain. You will probably feel dizzy, but no one has complained of any discomfort." Of course, he hadn't had many people survive, but the ones who had come to him willingly had never complained of any pain, and it never seemed to wake up those who might have been less willing when conscious.

The doctor debated on telling John how quickly it would weaken him, but decided against it. He still wasn't quite sure the young man would go through with this, once it was actually happening. But he did add, "Most of... the people who have come to me have not been healthy. I would estimate it will take about 15 minutes, but I've only... done this with humans before."