College

Ella stood over Max with her arms crossed:

“Max, we have a problem…”

Max, lying on the floor with a pillow and blanket, answered:

“What problem?”

“I’m not even a little tired. I can’t sleep…”

“And exactly what am I supposed to do about that?”

“Don’t sleep!”

“What? What do you mean don’t sleep? I have university tomorrow — I need to wake up early!”

Ella turned and walked toward the front door, opened it:

“I’ll be back before you leave for university.”

Max stared at her in surprise.

Ella stepped outside and closed the door. A few seconds later, the sound of her taking flight came through.

Max sat up and looked at the window.

“Did she just… storm off?”

Ella was flying through the darkness of the night — and even the second time, it was more fascinating and peaceful than the first.

The tiny lights of cars moved across the city in every direction, and the glow from house windows had gone almost completely dark. Only the sound of wind and stillness reached her ears.

Ella murmured:

“So this is what the night sounds like?”

She looked down and continued:

“From up here you can see almost everything. In a way, I actually like this — this situation, these powers… Before, I was constantly on my phone. I couldn’t live without it. But now it’s been almost a full day and I haven’t even thought about my phone or the internet… Actually, I don’t even have a phone.”

She spun slowly in the air and looked out over the city — until something caught her attention. It felt like something was happening on the ground below.

She looked down and saw three people who had cornered an old woman and her young daughter at knifepoint. A moment later they tore the necklace from the daughter’s neck, shoved her, and ran.

Ella watched the whole thing from above and murmured:

“Time to test some of the vampire abilities I created.”

She dropped toward the ground at full speed and landed on her feet at the last second — directly in front of the three men.

Their path was blocked. The thieves were in such a hurry that they didn’t even notice Ella had fallen from the sky. They came at her with their knives.

But from Ella’s perspective, they were moving so slowly she could have finished an entire cup of coffee between their strikes.

Within their sluggish movements, Ella slipped past every blow and snatched the necklace from their hands before they even registered what happened.

By the time the thieves recovered and reached for their weapons, Ella had already landed a punch or kick on each of them.

When they realized they were outmatched, they quietly slipped away and fled past her.

“Smart choice,” Ella said, and walked toward the old woman and her daughter.

To keep them from being frightened, she said nothing — just handed the necklace back to the old woman and turned to leave.

Before she could go, the old woman called after her in a trembling voice:

“Wait! Come back a moment.”

Ella turned. The old woman was roughly the same height as her, though her daughter was considerably taller.

The old woman looked at Ella, lifted the necklace, and draped it around her neck.

Ella didn’t move. She simply watched as it happened — until the old woman stepped back, smiled, and said:

“Thank you for your help. Keep the necklace too. Our road is long, and it’s not unlikely we’d run into trouble over it again. Besides — accept this from me, as thanks for the risk you took.”

Ella said nothing in return. She simply walked with the two of them in silence until they reached a busier part of the city, then parted ways.

With the necklace now in hand, she took to the sky again and scanned the shops from above:

“I legally obtained a necklace. It doesn’t look particularly heavy or expensive, but either way — it might at least help a little with Max’s debt.”

After a few minutes of searching from the air, she finally found a jewelry shop, went inside, and showed them the necklace.

She walked out with around eight hundred dollars.

“What am I even supposed to do with eight hundred dollars? This isn’t even one percent of Max’s debt…”

She pocketed the money and glanced at the clock inside the shop. It was around three in the morning.

“Hmm… what do I do until morning?”

She thought for a moment, then looked at the street in front of her.

“I guess the best thing right now is to just walk.”

She started down the sidewalk, thinking as she went:

From this morning until right now, I can honestly say this has been the best day I’ve ever had. My normal life had gotten so repetitive — I kept starting new stories and abandoning them halfway through. But now, with all of this happening, it feels like I have to finish this one. Not by writing it. By living inside it.

A small smile crossed her face. She thought about everything that had happened today alongside Max — finding him, his ridiculous behavior, the way he was completely unbothered by things that should have bothered him.

“I really did write my favorite character…”

She was still smiling when she noticed two broad-shouldered men across the street, arguing as they walked. She let her gaze drift in the opposite direction — and it landed on a large sign.

Ravan Boxing Club.

The entrance door was half open.

Ella stopped and stared at it. She thought for a moment.

I don’t think any gym would be open at this hour… unless…

She quietly pushed the door open and stepped inside. A staircase led downward, lit from below. She descended slowly until she reached the bottom.

The stairs opened into a small room — a front desk, another door leading further in, and a man behind the desk who was fast asleep.

Ella stepped forward and shook him.

“Hey! Wake up! Wake up!”

The man snored, then slowly stirred. He looked around, and finally found Ella standing right in front of him. Still half-asleep, he said in a drowsy voice:

“Oh! Yes — something wrong, young lady?”

Ella crossed her arms.

“This is a fight club, right?”

The man answered, still dazed:

“No, this is a boxing gym. If you’re looking for the women’s branch—”

Ella slapped the desk hard enough that the sound jolted him fully awake.

“Huh?! What happened?!”

Ella asked louder:

“Is this a fight club or not?”

The man stood up and came around from behind the desk toward her:

“And why does it matter to you, little girl? Even if it is, you’re not allowed in. Now beat it.”

Ella answered calmly:

“I want to enter the big competition you’re holding.”

The man looked her over. Not particularly tall. Not particularly built. Nothing about her screamed fighter.

He started to laugh — quietly at first, then louder.

Still laughing, he said:

“That was great, girl!! I haven’t laughed like that in a long time… Either way, this isn’t a place for kids like you.”

Ella’s voice rose:

“I don’t have time to argue with you. I want to enter this fight club — on my own responsibility.”

The man smirked again, walked back behind his desk, dropped into his chair, and said:

“Look, I don’t know why you’re not getting this, but I’ll say it one more time so maybe it sinks in. First — you’re way too small and weak for a competition like this. I don’t even think you’re old enough. Second — you’re a girl. Fight clubs don’t let women in anywhere in the world. Now if you understand that, get out of here. I’m tired.”

Ella answered:

“Then why not test me? I need that prize money. I have to compete.”

“You want prize money? We usually put up four hundred thousand dollars for the winner. How about we bet two hundred thousand on an arm wrestle? If you win, I’ll find a way to get you into the fight club — plus the two hundred thousand. But if you lose, you pay two hundred thousand and never come near this place again. Deal?”

Ella smiled.

“Works for me.”

They sat across from each other at the desk and locked hands. The moment the man felt her grip, he smiled to himself:

What is she thinking? With hands like these, how could she possibly fight? She can’t even arm wrestle…

Still smiling, he said aloud:

“Alright. Ready — three, two, one, go—”

Before he could finish the word, his hand was already flat on the table.

He sat in shock for several seconds. Eyes wide. Hand completely numb.

“What the hell did you just do?!”

“You lost, sleepyhead.”

The man shot to his feet.

“What do you mean?! That doesn’t count — I didn’t even know it had started!”

Ella’s voice sharpened:

“So you’re trying to back out? You said if I won, you’d give me two hundred thousand dollars and let me into the competition.”

“I didn’t think it was going to go like that…”

The man’s eyes went glassy. Ella stepped in front of him, held his gaze, and said quietly:

“You’re going to give me two hundred thousand dollars right now, and register me as an official competitor.”

“Of course. No problem — I’ll get it right now.”

A moment passed. The man came back holding a single banknote and handed it to her.

“Here you go.”

Ella looked at it.

“What exactly is this?”

“Two hundred thousand dollars.”

Ella’s voice went sharp:

“What do you mean this is two hundred thousand dollars? We don’t have two-hundred-thousand-dollar bills!”

Then she paused and murmured:

“…Actually, we might. A lot of things here are different from the real world.”

She pocketed the note and headed for the stairs — then stopped and turned back.

“By the way, when is the competition?”

The man, still under, answered:

“Four days from now.”

Ella called back as she walked out:

“Perfect.”

The sky hadn’t fully brightened yet. That in-between hour — not quite night, not quite morning — when the world seems to be deciding whether to wake up or not. A cool pre-dawn breeze slid across Ella’s skin, carrying the smell of damp earth. It was nearly five-thirty in the morning, and she was finally heading back to Max’s place after a long night.

In her hand was a single two-hundred-thousand-dollar banknote. One small piece of paper — but it felt heavy enough that she might as well have been carrying the whole night on her shoulders.

Max’s house was down below — a single-story place, small and old, with a worn shingle roof. But it was solid. It held together. And it didn’t smell strange… usually.

Ella landed softly. The dry dirt of the yard shifted under her feet. She exhaled and knocked. Max opened the door and headed toward the kitchen.

Inside, the house was dark except for the faint light coming from the kitchen.

She took a few steps in and found Max making coffee — hair disheveled, wearing a fresh t-shirt that smelled of laundry detergent, holding a cup that was clearly very hot and very new.

Ella said, without any particular feeling:

“Max, I got something.”

Max looked up, blinked a few times — like he wasn’t sure if he was awake or dreaming.

“Oh? What did you get?”

Ella set the two-hundred-thousand-dollar banknote on the table. The sound of paper hitting wood was very loud in the morning silence.

“Get a little excited — I scraped together some money for you.”

Max picked it up with disbelief.

“…Is this it?”

Ella sat down, cooler than the morning air.

“Yeah. The way you say ‘is this it’ — like you pull one of these out yourself every day. Also, I registered for the fight club.”

Max raised an eyebrow.

“Thanks for the note, but how did you get into the fight club? They don’t usually register women.”

Ella gave him a tired look.

I can’t tell him I ended up using hypnosis. Though honestly, it was fair.

Max held the banknote up to the kitchen light. It passed right through.

“Huh. Never seen anything like this before. Didn’t know these existed…”

Ella’s voice sharpened:

“If you don’t want it, I’ll take it back.”

“No no no! I want it!”

Max paused — then suddenly, as if something had just occurred to him, put on a very serious and very ridiculous expression.

“Ella… I have an important question.”

Ella tilted her head slightly with a look that said: what now.

“What?”

Max pointed at her short-sleeved shirt.

“Aren’t you burning in that? With short sleeves?”

Ella stared at him for a moment.

“Max, the sun hasn’t fully risen yet… Do you understand — it hasn’t risen!!!”

Max nodded very seriously.

“Yeah, but it’s getting close! It’s five-thirty. The sun — you know — it’s coming up from behind that mountain over there… and you… well… your skin… you know…”

Ella sighed.

“I’m not burning, Max.”

“You sure?”

Ella cut him off with the coldest tone she had and answered loudly:

“You don’t need to worry about me. Everything is fine right now.”

Max said with full confidence:

“Alright.”

The pale light of sunrise was creeping into the kitchen. The air had grown slightly warmer, but it still carried the raw smell of early morning.

Max added from behind her:

“But seriously… a long-sleeve shirt could’ve—”

Ella, without turning around:

“Max… shut up.”

Max muttered under his breath:

“Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you when you combust.”

After that exchange, Max finally got up. He was quiet for a few minutes — just the sound of his footsteps on the wooden floor. He went to his room, changed, pulled on a clean t-shirt (still with his usual preference for long sleeves), packed his bag, and stuffed his books in. He ran a hand through his hair and glanced at himself in the mirror for a moment — not out of vanity, just to confirm he didn’t look like a completely destroyed insomniac.

When he came back out, Ella was exactly where he’d left her. Standing, arms crossed, same cold expression.

Max put on his shoes, tied the laces, and walked to the door.

Hand on the handle, he said:

“I have to go — and unfortunately they don’t let vampires in, so take care of yourself. I’ll be back in about four hours.”

Ella answered quietly. Cold, but not hostile.

“That’s fine. I promised I’d look out for you — but I don’t think there’s much I can do from here.”

Max laughed.

“Yeah, it’s not that important. Look out for me the other times.”

Ella gave a small smile.

Max opened the door.

“Take care.”

Ella answered:

“You too.”

Max stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

Ella stood at the window, watching — and a slow, dangerous smile crossed her face.

She murmured:

“…What would happen if I enrolled in that university too?”

The air was cool, morning light spread across the streets, and the city was just waking up. Max made his way toward the university at his usual pace. Every now and then he shook his head and smiled faintly. Under his breath:

“How did I end up meeting a vampire? Honestly — what if she’d torn me apart that first day?.. Who cares. She’s been decent to me so far and she’s trying to help.”

Cars passed by. The smell of fresh bread drifted from a small bakery. He had the feeling today was going to be stranger than usual. He already knew he was glad Ella was around — even if half the time her words left him confused or mildly terrified.

At one of the turns, he spotted three older students from the university. The same ones who always passed him and tried to put him down or make his life difficult.

One of them said:

“Hey, look who it is. Our beloved second-year.”

Max said shortly:

“Hi.”

Another one smirked. “Heavy bag? Need some help?”

“No thanks. I’ve got it.”

He walked past. Their mocking laughter followed him, but he didn’t care. His mind was somewhere else entirely today.

When he reached the university, he went straight to class. A few students were already there, the rest trickling in. Max set his bag on the desk, took a slow breath, and pulled out his books. The professor walked in at that exact moment, pushed his glasses up, and said very casually:

“Right — we had an exam today. We’ll start once everyone’s here.”

Max went rigid.

“Wait… what? An exam?”

The professor looked at him steadily.

“Yes. An exam. The one I reminded you about five times last week.”

Max murmured:

“Oh no… I completely forgot to study…”

And right then, he understood — his day was about to go from strange to catastrophic.

Back at the house, silence settled in again. Ella stood there for a moment, arms crossed, staring at the door. The quiet wrapped around her like a thick curtain, but her mind wasn’t still. She murmured:

“Max is going alone… university… and I promised I’d watch out for him.”

She walked to the wardrobe. With her usual detachment — though behind it, an irritating curiosity was already nagging at her. She pulled out a black hoodie. Then picked up a plain face mask and held it in front of her.

“This at least covers the teeth… no one needs to know I’m a vampire.”

She put on the hoodie, pulled the hood as far forward as it would go, put on the mask, and looked at herself in the mirror.

She looked like a suspicious figure about to rob a bank — not a regular university student.

Ella gave a crooked smile.

“…Not bad, actually.”

She stepped outside. The sun was just coming up. That golden, cursed light was cutting straight through the tree branches and hitting her face. Ella frowned, raised a hand to block it.

“Ugh… not the time to get scorched.”

She found shade, moved along the wall, then had to stop behind a sign to avoid direct light. It wasn’t a simple route. Every few seconds she had to pull the hood down further or adjust the mask.

She muttered:

“If Max finds out I’m playing hide-and-seek with sunlight for his sake, he’ll mock me for a week.”

She finally reached the university. The grounds were busy — students coming and going — and Ella had to move without drawing attention.

She made her way to a large tree near the main entrance, tucked herself behind the trunk, and stood still with just half her face peeking around the side.

“Alright… time to start.”

Max came out of the exam room looking utterly defeated. He had his head in his hands and was arguing with himself under his breath.

“Max, you’re an idiot. A genuine idiot. You ruined your midterm because of a vampire? What now?”

He went to the courtyard and sat on his usual bench. He had a cold sandwich from the cafeteria in his hand but no appetite for it. He thought back to yesterday — that cursed moment in the forest when he opened the coffin and Ella stepped out with that piercing gaze. At the memory, his heartbeat somehow steadied. A smile found its way onto his face.

“In a weird way, I feel more alive right now than I did before…”

After twenty minutes, he dragged himself back to the next class. The other students were already there. He dropped his bag on the desk and started flipping through his books, hoping something would click.

The professor walked in and announced loudly:

“Right — we have a new student today. Please make them feel welcome.”

Max, still buried in his book and half-convinced the professor was just being tedious, didn’t look up. A few seconds later, the sound of whispering spread through the room. Max glanced up out of curiosity — and his gaze landed on the front of the class.

The air left his lungs.

It was Ella. Same black hoodie, mask covering the lower half of her face — but her eyes… her eyes had a strange brightness in the classroom light. She didn’t look at Max once. With a terrifying, composed dignity, she walked to a desk at the back of the room and sat down.

The professor was saying something, but Max’s ears had stopped working. He just stared at Ella, who had the faintest, most triumphant smile at the corner of her lips. Her eyes found his and said, very clearly: And that’s that.

The rest of the class passed for Max like a waking nightmare. He spent the entire time trying to catch Ella’s attention with looks and gestures, but she treated him like a complete stranger. When the bell rang, Max was the first one out and cornered Ella in a quiet spot in the courtyard.

His voice was shaky and tense:

“Ella! What are you doing here? How did you get in? What did you do to the administration and the professors?”

Ella pulled the mask down slightly. Her smile deepened.

“Hypnosis? Maybe… it was a simple enough way to convince them. And as for coming here — Max, you know I promised to keep an eye on you. Who better than me to look after a student like you?”

Max smiled and stepped back slightly:

“I don’t have a problem with you being at the university…”

Ella raised an eyebrow.

He continued:

“I really don’t. Actually… honestly, it’s kind of good.”

Then he rubbed the back of his neck and said with some hesitation:

“But I do feel like the hypnosis thing… isn’t that a little much?”

Ella looked at him for a moment. Then, very slowly, she pulled the mask down a little further and gave a very small smile.

“You’ve watched too many movies, Max.”

Max frowned.

“What?”

“Hypnosis isn’t like what you see in films. I didn’t control anyone’s mind.”

Max was still confused.

“Then what did you do?”

Ella shrugged.

“I just adjusted a small piece of information in their heads.”

“Information?”

“Yeah. Right now, the most natural thing in the world to them is that a new vampire student named Ella joined the class today.”

Max was quiet for a few seconds.

“So… you made them think being a vampire isn’t a problem for attending university?”

Ella said simply:

“Exactly.”

Then she continued:

“Don’t worry. I’m not here to study, not here to help anyone in particular, not here to make strange friends or bring anyone home. I can just walk into any class you go to without anyone questioning it.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“I’m just here.”

A few seconds of silence passed between them.

Then Max took a slow breath and smiled.

“Well… if that’s how it is, I don’t have a problem with it.”

Ella tilted her head slightly.

Max said:

“Just… do what you said. Keep an eye on me.”

Ella answered very quietly:

“That was the plan from the start.”

A few minutes later the bell rang and they both headed back inside.

When the next class ended and they came back out to the courtyard, Max understood almost immediately what had happened.

Ella wasn’t alone.

A full circle of students had formed around her.

Several girls were talking to her with obvious excitement. A few guys were trying to look casual but were clearly drawn in by her strange presence.

One said:

“You just started here?”

Another:

“Which classes are you in?”

Ella stood still with her usual composure, occasionally giving a short answer, occasionally just offering a small smile.

Max watched from a few meters away.

He smiled.

Under his breath:

“Alright… let her enjoy it.”

He shifted his bag on his shoulder and walked past without getting any closer.

The sun was low, casting long shadows across the ground and painting the stone walls of the university in a deep orange. The grounds had nearly emptied — only the distant sound of a few students heading toward the parking lot remained. Max and Ella came out of the main building side by side.

Max took a slow breath and adjusted his bag.

“Can you believe it? I stared at a blank page for half an hour. That exam was a genuine disaster. I hadn’t studied anything…”

Ella had her hands in the front pocket of her black hoodie. She glanced up at the sky. She’d taken off her mask, and the cool evening breeze moved through her hair. Unlike Max, she looked calm — almost luminous.

“You should have kept track of it. That’s on you… Either way, it was a strange day for me too.”

Max turned to look at her. “Strange how?”

Ella paused. She seemed to be reviewing memories that didn’t quite belong to this world. She thought of her old life — the days she sat at a desk writing stories she’d never lived. Her life as a writer who abandoned everything halfway through had been nothing but an endless loop of staring at a phone screen, checking pointless notifications, and sinking into cold, hollow routine. But today, she was inside the story.

“For the first time in a long time… I felt like I was actually here. All those people gathering around me, talking to me, asking questions… this attention, this new feeling… I genuinely enjoyed it. It felt like I was finally living something.”

Max smiled.

“Well, I’m glad you had a good time. Even if you basically took over the entire university. Starting tomorrow you might need to hire a bodyguard.”

They were nearing the side exit of the grounds, where tall maple trees made the path a little darker. Suddenly, three people stepped into their way.

The same older students who had bothered Max that morning. The ringleader — tall, in a sports shirt — looked at Max with a smirk, then let his gaze slide over to Ella.

“Well, well. Look who it is. Our second-year hero and the university’s new star.”

Max stopped. Something unpleasant turned in his stomach. “We’re trying to get through. Move.”

The guy stepped closer, voice dropping into something contemptuous:

“In a hurry? I was just thinking — what’s the logic here? What does a girl like that see in someone like you? What do you have that we don’t? Money? Looks? Or did you learn some kind of trick?”

Ella didn’t react. She just watched the three of them with her usual cold composure — like she was looking at insects buzzing for no reason.

Max, jaw tight, stepped forward.

“That’s none of your business. Get out of the way.”

One of the others laughed and shoved Max backward. “Getting brave? Think you’re something?”

He shoved Max again, harder this time. Max lost his footing and stumbled back. The ringleader raised his hand — going for Max’s collar, ready to make a real point of it.

“Time to remind you where you stand.”

In the exact moment his fist closed, Ella moved.

Quietly. With a terrifying, unhurried dignity, she stepped between Max and the three of them. Her hands were still in her hoodie pocket.

The ringleader stopped and stared at her. “Oh — you’re going to defend him?”

Ella raised her head slightly. Her hair had fallen across her eyes, but when she lifted her face fully, the air changed. It felt heavier. Colder. The sound of birds cut out.

Ella looked into the eyes of each of the three men.

Then her eyes began to glow. A deep, dark red — a piercing light from the very center of her pupils that seemed to reach straight through them. The three of them froze. They couldn’t move. They couldn’t even blink.

Ella’s voice, when she spoke, was no longer cold. It moved like a vibration in the back of their minds:

“Listen carefully. From now on, you have no problem with me or Max. Max is my closest friend, and whenever you see us, all you feel is respect and calm. Max is off-limits to you. Understood?”

Their voices came back in unison, flat and synchronized:

“Understood.”

The glow in Ella’s eyes went dark. She walked past them without a second glance and gestured for Max to follow. The three of them stayed exactly where they were, like statues — as if their memories were being quietly rewritten.

Max, heart still hammering, fell into step behind her. When they were far enough away, he said under his breath:

“Ella… what was that? For a second I felt like the whole world stopped.”

Ella, without turning around, answered in her usual calm:

“Just a small behavioral correction, Max. They won’t bother you anymore. Come on — it’s getting late and I’m hungry.”

Max panicked:

“Hungry?! Where am I supposed to find blood out here?! Don’t eat me!!!”

Ella shouted back: