"Okay," he says with a softly resigned exhale as he settles into his seat. Eventually, telling this story will get easier, won't it? "For starters, my name wasn't always Max. Erik is the one who gave me this name after he... enslaved me." The tone of his voice begs her patience, he knows this sounds bad but like he said, context.
"I was barely twenty-one and I went to a party near my school's campus one night. A woman--actually, she was Erik's twin sister-- invited me to the basement for sex. I didn't know who she was and I'd never met a vampire before so I didn't notice anything wrong until she started to bite me. Vampires in my world aren't supposed to hurt humans; it's against the law, but I guess she didn't care. I fought her off and got really lucky. I killed her." He used to feel so much guilt about it, but now it just makes him sad.
"It all happened so fast. Erik found out and he came right away because other vampires also heard and they wanted revenge. Erik's sister had really powerful allies. Vampires have their own version of a law system, and they said that for killing an Elder I should die, but Erik stopped them. He used an ancient right of first blood to claim me as his human Pet and said that no one else was allowed to touch me without his permission. He promised me that as long as I was his Pet, he'd keep me safe. I didn't want to die, but part of me did that night. Erik started a house fire to cover up my disappearance. He made me fake my death and change my name. That's how I became Max. I lived with him for seven years like that. It wasn't... horrible. I wasn't happy living there, not really, but Erik tried to make things as good for me as he could. We were close, and I still think of him as part of my family even now. We both know that what he did to me wasn't right... but he did what he did to save my life and I've forgiven him for it. He doesn't treat me like that anymore. We're equals now."
He goes quiet now, fidgeting in his chair while he waits for her to digest that, and waits for whatever reaction she's going to have. This is always the scariest part. What if she can't understand?
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Date: 2025-04-10 09:28 pm (UTC)"I was barely twenty-one and I went to a party near my school's campus one night. A woman--actually, she was Erik's twin sister-- invited me to the basement for sex. I didn't know who she was and I'd never met a vampire before so I didn't notice anything wrong until she started to bite me. Vampires in my world aren't supposed to hurt humans; it's against the law, but I guess she didn't care. I fought her off and got really lucky. I killed her." He used to feel so much guilt about it, but now it just makes him sad.
"It all happened so fast. Erik found out and he came right away because other vampires also heard and they wanted revenge. Erik's sister had really powerful allies. Vampires have their own version of a law system, and they said that for killing an Elder I should die, but Erik stopped them. He used an ancient right of first blood to claim me as his human Pet and said that no one else was allowed to touch me without his permission. He promised me that as long as I was his Pet, he'd keep me safe. I didn't want to die, but part of me did that night. Erik started a house fire to cover up my disappearance. He made me fake my death and change my name. That's how I became Max. I lived with him for seven years like that. It wasn't... horrible. I wasn't happy living there, not really, but Erik tried to make things as good for me as he could. We were close, and I still think of him as part of my family even now. We both know that what he did to me wasn't right... but he did what he did to save my life and I've forgiven him for it. He doesn't treat me like that anymore. We're equals now."
He goes quiet now, fidgeting in his chair while he waits for her to digest that, and waits for whatever reaction she's going to have. This is always the scariest part. What if she can't understand?