Human blood or animal blood?

The sound of footsteps approaching the house pulled Ella out of her thoughts.

She immediately went on guard and slowly rose from the couch.

She could smell blood.

Ella stopped behind the door and wrapped her fingers around the handle.

The moment whoever it was reached the other side, she pulled the door open.

Max—who was clearly trying to lean against it, lost his balance and slammed onto the floor.

“Ahhh—!”

Ella rushed to him and crouched beside him.

“You alive, earthworm?”

Max turned his face away slightly.

“Yeah… I’m fine.”

She narrowed her eyes, studying him.

“Your face… something happened to you. That fall alone couldn’t have done this.”

Max slowly sat up and leaned against the couch.

“No, nah. Obviously not from falling. A few friends did this.”

Ella frowned.

“You sure those were friends?”
Max chuckled.

“Heh. Yeah. Friends do stuff like this all the time.”

Without changing her expression, Ella replied flatly:

“Then maybe you should start looking for enemies instead.”

Max kept smiling until Ella pointed at the plastic bag that had slipped from his hand.

“That’s animal blood in there, right?”

Max froze.

“Wait... hold on. You can see that too?? Don’t tell me you can—”

Ella cut him off loudly:

“No, idiot, obviously I can’t! I smelled it. It smells like blood!”

“Ohhh… thank God.”

Ella went quiet, thinking.

"According to the story, he was supposed to get the blood and come back unharmed…"

But now he’s back injured.

"Something that was supposed to happen at night, inside the house, happened outside in broad daylight."

That doesn’t make sense.

Max stood up, picked up the bag, and walked into the kitchen.

“I’ll get you blood,” he said over his shoulder.

“But not human blood. I’m not killing anyone or stealing someone’s blood so you can drink it.”

“I would never ask you to do that, idiot!”

Max laughed.

“Anyway… what do you think about making a deal?”

Ella sat back down on the couch, crossed her arms in an exaggerated vampire pose.

“What kind of deal?”

Max smiled.

“Well, you’re a vampire, and I’m human, We both have strengths and weaknesses, so maybe… we could cover each other’s weaknesses?”

Ella snapped back sharply.

“Don’t give me that bargain-bin philosophy, clown, Say it straight—what do you want?”

Max flinched slightly, then forced an awkward smile.

“Okay, okay…

I provide food and a place to stay, You protect me.”

He hesitated, then added:

“I don’t think you can survive out there on your own…And this way, people won’t get hurt either.”

“That actually sounds interesting,” Ella said.

“But how exactly am I supposed to protect you?”

“Well… you know. Like a bodyguard.

I’ve got a lot of enemies. So having you around might help.”

"Exactly what I wrote in the story, Ella thought, He wants me to protect him so he doesn’t get himself killed."

She paused for a few seconds, then nodded.

“Fine. I don’t have a problem with that, But have you thought about how I’m supposed to protect you when I can’t go outside in the sun?”

“Huh? Oh—right…

So that means you can only help me at night.”

Ella stood up and stepped closer to him.

“Not exactly. There is a way around it, But it costs money, Max.”

He shifted uncomfortably.

“Right… and what exactly is that cost?”

She turned back toward the couch.

“Coverage.”

Max blinked.

“Coverage?”

“Yeah. If my entire skin is covered, sunlight shouldn’t be a problem, Vampires don’t produce their own heat you know that.It’s the direct light that causes trouble.”

Max’s eyes lit up. He rushed toward the door.

“That’s great, Ella! Let’s go find something that can do tha—”

“Hold it, idiot, You really think I can go out right now? It’s noon. The sun’s practically sitting on our heads.”

Max peeked through the curtain.

The midday sun was scorching—too hot even for a normal human, let alone a vampire.

“…Yeah. Okay, I guess we should go exactly when I head to work.”

“Work?” Ella repeated. “You have a job?”

Max shrugged.

“Yeah. I work at a pizzeria.

I’ve got to be there in about two hours.

By then the sun should be a bit weaker.”

Ella sat back down and looked at him.

“Good...Now bring me some of that blood you got, I’m starting to think about things I really shouldn’t.”

Max stiffened.

“My blood tastes terrible,” he said quickly.

“So you’d better be patient until I get you some!”

Half an hour passed.

Ella was full now.

Max sat on the floor, leaning back in a relaxed sprawl.

Ella thought to herself:

"Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to start a conversation. At least we won’t get bored before he leaves for work."

She turned toward him and asked quietly:

“So… why are you so quiet? When you first found me, you wouldn’t stop talking, Tell me a little about yourself.”

Max smiled faintly.

“My mind’s a bit tangled, I need to figure something out before I go to work.”

Ella leaned toward him. Slowly.

Their faces drew close.

From afar, Ella looked scary. Up close, she was even scarier.

“You said you want my help,” she said softly.

“Then you should tell me everything.

That’s the only way I can actually help you.”

Max leaned back a little, then exhaled.

“…Alright! Fine. I’ll tell you.”

Max exhaled slowly.

“Last year I entered university. Before that I was already working, but just to survive, Now I have to pay for university… and on top of that, a huge debt to a certain group.”

“Debt?”

Ella frowned.

"I never wrote anything about Max being in debt…"

“That’s right,” Max continued.

“I supposedly owe a huge amount of money to the mafia that controls this city, But honestly, it’s nothing more than extortion.”

He leaned his head back against the couch.

“In the same year I started university, a few members of their group broke into my house. They said if I didn’t want to get hurt again, I had to pay them, The funny part is… I never owed anyone anything.”

He chuckled bitterly.

“There was no way I could fight a mafia group by myself. So for almost a year now I’ve been working nonstop. I search for antiques and sell them, trying to pay their monthly ‘debt’, But even then… I’m always short.”

Ella looked confused.

“What do you mean? Even in the world I lived in there were laws.

There has to be something like that here too, right?”

“Well, yeah. There’s the police,” Max said.

“But they don’t go after this mafia unless a lot of people’s lives are at stake. There’s nothing in it for them. I asked for help many times… but they never even moved a finger.”

“What about your parents? Can’t they help you?

Why don’t you just leave this city?”

Max gave a faint, bitter smile.

“…I don’t even know who my parents are.”

He paused.

“You might not believe me, but I remember nothing about my past.

It’s like I was born last year.

Everything before that… is just blank.”

Ella fell silent.

"How is that possible? Something is wrong, Things are moving outside the story.

I never wrote that Max owed money to the mafia. The conflict between them was only supposed to come from an old dispute…"

She suddenly froze.

"Wait… could it be because I never wrote the details?

I wrote a lot about the vampire. her history, her abilities, her family… her whole backstory.

But for Max… I only wrote his existence and one problem.

Right now… Max is basically a character without details in my story."

"Ella’s expression darkened with frustration.

This is my fault! I should have worked more on Max’s character, All this misery… this debt… it’s because I left his life blank! I didn’t even write about his family or his past…I have to fix this!

I’ll make sure Max gets the life he deserves!"

Ella suddenly stood up.

“Max!”

Max quickly got to his feet.

“Yes, my lady???”
Ella stretched out her hand.

“I, Ella, the only vampire in this world, promise you this:

I will help you walk the path ahead, I will personally deal with that mafia.”

Max gently took her hand.

“Thank you for wanting to help me. And I know you could kill every single one of them…”

He paused.

“But I don’t want them all to die.”

Ella stared at him, shocked.

“What do you mean?!

They beat you, they extort money from you every month, and you’re saying you don’t want them to die?!”

“Well… yeah, I’m angry at them,” Max admitted.

“But a lot of people in their neighborhood are actually happy with them.”

Ella blinked.

“They do take money from everyone,” Max continued,

“but whenever someone there has a serious problem, the mafia helps them, It’s like… a strange relationship between them and the people living there.”

He looked down.

“I don’t want that to collapse just because of me.”

Ella murmured quietly to herself.

“That actually makes sense… It fits the personality I gave him.”

"I don’t want to make him uncomfortable, I’ll follow his lead."

“Alright, Max,” she said.

“But you need to tell me what is your plan for paying their debt.”

"sure! I'll tell…….."

Max looked at his watch.

Suddenly his eyes widened.

“Oh no—we’re going to be late! We have to go!”

“But it’s still sunny outside!”

“It’s fine,” Max said quickly.

“Just wear one of my hoodies. Come on!”

He grabbed a black hoodie from the closet near the door and tossed it to Ella before rushing outside.

“Hurry up! We’re going to be late!”

Then he ran across the street.

Ella watched him with a small smile.

“Maybe he doesn’t have many details…..but I like the character I created.”