03

"Stay with me? Why would you prefer to stay with a human when you can roam freely in the world, on your own terms?"

"What? Where did you get that idea?"

"Just look at you! You must fear nothing! You strike fear into anyone!"

"But I'm not a creature that goes out in the middle of the night just to scare others... after all, didn't you want to hear about how I got here? It might be good for us to talk a bit... and of course, then I'll disappear from your life, I promise..."

"Okay. But remember to keep your promise."

So Ângelo went to fix the messed-up bed, but he noticed that the sheet covering the bed was soaked with blood from the vampire's hands, which prevented him from sleeping in that bed that night.

"You'll have to sleep somewhere else; I'm sorry for ruining your bed."

"It's fine... I'll lie on the floor, but don't try anything, you know that I'm armed."

"Don't worry, I've managed to control my instincts, thanks to those blood bags. I won't harm you, not much, not now."

So Ângelo lay down next to the vampire, who was also lying on the floor, now with his wounds covered and much healthier.

"How was your tedious journey to this place? I'm dying to know" (being ironic).

"Well, I'm not here because I want to be. In fact, I'm a fugitive; I fled from my world, and your planet was the closest refuge. By a strange coincidence, I ended up here."

"Don't get too comfortable!"

"Is that how you are all the time? Annoying"

"I don't have the patience to put up with anyone!"

"They're after me..."

"They who?"

"The Night Guardian, he's the security of that place. He doesn't let anything in or out without the vampire king's permission."

"He's after you?"

"Not just him, but the Archangel too."

"Archangel?"

"One more who's eager to beat me up and kick me out."

"Sounds tough..."

"Yeah... but lucky me... do you believe in destinies?"

That's a load of nonsense...

"You think so?"

"Can I ask you something?"

-Oh, sure."

"What's your name?"

"Me? My name?"

"Don't you have a name?"

"It's just that... we can't tell our name to any creature. It's like an honor we have to carry, you know..."

"Then how can I call you?"

The vampire thought for a moment before responding.

"Tyrone, you can call me that."

"Okay, Tyrone."

"Now that I know your nickname, I can make the hours pass quickly. I want to tell you something... maybe you'll be the first and only person to hear it... but it doesn't matter anyway. In a few hours, by the break of day, you won't be here to look at my face and face the horrible person I am."

"...you have a chance..."

"I lost my mother, I think you noticed that from that picture of me and her. I can't go on living without her, everything has become harder. Without her, I'm just a lonely boy. I honestly don't know how to deal with losses, and the only way to silence this pain in my chest is to go with her."

Tyrone's gaze towards Ângelo was filled with love, he looked as if love was emanating from his face towards Ângelo. His gentle gaze contained all the pain, and with a hug, he shared the pain Ângelo was feeling.

"I understand... but I tell you, that's definitely not the solution. I also lost my mother when I was a child. I swear to you, even today, I wish I could get my hands on the person who did that to her. She didn't deserve the cruel death she had. But without getting into personal matters, I can stay with you a little longer until you feel better about it."

"I'm sorry, I've been a complete idiot all this time. It's true that you broke an expensive glass, stained my bed sheet with blood, but you're a good vampire, Tyrone. You're a good friend."

At the sound of these last words, Ângelo couldn't hold back the tears that wanted to flow from his eyes, and he began to cry in front of Tyrone, who saw a human crying with emotion, unlike the other times they cried, begging for their lives.

Ângelo grabbed the knife from his waist, which he had used to intimidate the vampire, and placed it on his wrists, marking them forcefully, the sharp teeth of that knife cutting layer by layer of skin, turning red, very red until a stream of blood gushed from his wrist. While Tyrone watched Ângelo's distress, he inhaled the strong smell of blood, a unique blood, and it awakened in Tyrone a strong desire to taste that blood. So Tyrone got up from the floor, even wounded, he managed to stand tall, and as if asking Ângelo to stop mutilating himself, he held Ângelo's cut arm and opened his mouth, showing all his sharp teeth.

Ângelo, seeing that he was about to become vampire food, pushed the knife into Tyrone's abdomen before he could bite his wrist, causing the vampire to bleed again.

"Why do you make me bleed?"

"Why the hell do you want to bite my arm?"

"You wanted to die, right? I could end it quickly! But if you don't want to give me some of your blood, cover that wound with a cloth, don't let this weak blood show, or I'll lose control here."

"If I turned into one of you, would I start biting other people too?"

"Of course, that or you'd starve!"

"Never! Never would I feast on someone else! I'd rather bleed to death!"

"Sometimes saving yourself means saving others..."

"And sometimes saving others means condemning yourself!"

"Just don't throw your life away; you won't get another chance."

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