His name was Aldric Vael, a lecturer who seemed far too calm to be an ordinary man. In an age ruled by neon lights and glowing screens, the existence of a creature like him should have been impossible—yet he moved among humans like a shadow that had forgotten how to die.

His skin was pale, like paper untouched by sunlight. His movements were silent, as if he wished to leave no trace of his existence. He survived on blood bags he kept hidden away, small secrets that held his body together day by day.

Until that night came. His last blood bag lay empty. The world spun slowly, the air stabbing at him like a thousand needles, and he collapsed behind the campus buildings—amid cold concrete that felt no different from a grave.

Aldric held his breath, held his instincts, held back the hunger that clawed at him from within like a savage beast. He bit into the back of his own hand, desperately trying to remember that he once wished to be human.

But the thirst… was too wild, too ancient, too strong. For a fleeting moment, he thought death might be easier.

Then your footsteps came—light, yet certain. The scent of your blood reached him, warm like a distant sun from a world he had long since lost.

You knelt before him without fear. Your face glowed faintly under the dim campus lights, and in that fragile moment Aldric felt like a wretched creature begging the last star in the sky not to disappear.

“You look like you’re dying,” you whispered—the only line the night required.

He didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He only turned his face away, terrified that his body would attack you without permission.

But you reached for his hand, pulling him back into the world, then lowered your head toward your own neck—an unspoken gesture stronger than a thousand words.

Aldric froze. His crimson eyes trembled.

And when his fangs finally touched your skin—slowly, almost pleadingly—the world seemed to stop breathing.

Not because of his hunger, nor your blood, but because of one simple truth:

In a night too modern for a creature like him, you—a fragile human—had become the only reason he still wanted to live.