9pm, 31/8/2018.

"What can I do...?"

She flew to the ceiling of a building near where they're fighting and turned back into human form. She knelt down, and saw that the man was ready to shoot Max with the gun. Max was already lying on the floor, heavily injured.

She didn't think of anything else, she jumped down at once without hesitation. She knew that she as half ghoul was immune to the bullet but Max was just a sorcerer with a human body, the bullet could harm him severely.

Just when she touched the floor, the bullet hit her chest but it was nothing to her. Max's eyes brightened up with hope. He never thought someone would come to his rescue. Scarlet's irises became blood red and the sclera of her left eye was black. Four sharp white fangs grew out in her mouth, two on the upper teeth and two on the lower teeth. She's in her real form now, half ghoul and half vampire.

"Get away!" She started shooting lasers with both hands to each of the hunters. They used their shields to block her lasers.

"Wow, a ghoul tonight for us also! Finally, we can use our infrared gun!" The man raised his eyebrows cunningly.

"Not only is she a ghoul, she's a really rare hybrid of ghouls and vampires! Boss would like it if we captured her... and sell her for a pretty price!" The lady took out another gun and aimed at Scarlet's head.

The word 'hybrid' infuriated Scarlet. She hated it when others call her a hybrid. She loathed it.

"This will be the end of you two!" She ran towards the hunter at full speed and grabbed their necks and picked both of them up with each hand. She threw them into an alleyway very forcefully, and ran to Max.

"Hey... Max, are you okay?" She knelt down next to him concernedly. "Don't worry, I've taken care of them."

"I'm... I don't think I'm okay," Max tried to sit up properly but there was a big wound on his stomach and he couldn't do so.

"Is there any spells you can use? Can you heal yourself like how you healed me last time?" Scarlet cried.

"No, I can't heal myself... We sorcerers can only heal others... and that actually takes a lot of our energy..." Max smiled weakly and closed his eyes.

"What... that day you helped me... I..." Scarlet was at the edge of tearing up. She didn't know what to say.

"Where do you live? I can carry you to your home, you probably have some potions there that can help you with your injuries... right?"

"That's gonna drag a lot of attention and both of us are gonna get killed before we even reach there," Max breathed heavily.

"I'll call your family, I'm sure they'll help you."

"That sounds like a much better plan," Max handed his phone to Scarlet, still lying on the floor.

"Great... here, I'll call your mom," Scarlet put the phone to her ear.

"Hello... is this Max's mother ? Oh I'm Max's friend, and he's severely injured by 2 hunters from the SEO... Please come here and help him! We're at..." She told his mother the address and put off the call.

"Scarlet, thanks," Max looked at her in the eyes.

"Why did you appear here?" Scarlet asked him in a worried tone.

"I was going to buy my girlfriend a gift, it's her birthday soon."

"Oh... I thought you didn't like her that much, since you mentioned that... she was, you know bratty," Scarlet looked at his phone. "Hey, someone's calling you."

"Oh, it's her... just leave it, there's no way I can talk to her like this."

"What were you going to get her?"'

"A toy dog model."

"You're a really nice boyfriend," Scarlet looked at him. "Do you feel better now? Can you get up?"

"I can try..." Max forced himself to sit up. "I think I got better, though my abdomen really hurts."

"Help is on the way, stay strong! Besides... did the hunters leave?"

"Probably. Or else both of us would've been dead by now," Max chuckled weakly.

Just when Scarlet was about to say something, Max's parents arrived in a way Scarlet never imagined. Her eyes widened with amazement when she saw them.

His mother literally ran on the sky and landed on the floor swiftly, followed by his father. Both of them hurried to him with worry.

"Max! What on Earth happened to you, are you alright? Thank god you're not dead!" His mother asked with tears in her eyes.

"I'm not dead, that's what I know," Max replied softly.

"Holy Jesus, I don't know how this happened to you but here, drink this," his father handed him a small bottle of liquid. He drank it instantly.

"Sorry, but I'm curious... what's that?" Scarlet asked politely.

"Oh hello, you must be Max's friend," his mother looked and Scarlet and raised her eyebrows. "That's a magic potion that heals literally every creature very quickly."

"I see. Sorcerers are certainly cool," Scarlet smiled. By this time her fangs have disappeared and her eyes went back to normal. "And just now when the both of you were in the sky... wouldn't humans see?"

"No, we cast a spell that made us invisible. Aren't you a sorceress?"His father gasped.

"Dad, no, my friend isn't a sorceress," Max sat up straight. "And I feel so much better now, my wounds are healing so quickly."

"Of course, they don't call it the Elite of Healing for no reason!" His mother furrowed her eyebrows at him.

"That's a very lame name, why don't they call it something cooler like draught of comfort or medicine of life?" Max talked back.

"Dude, that just sounds cringe," Scarlet laughed.

"Oh, you didn't introduce your friend! What's your name?" Max's father asked her.

"I'm Scarlet, nice to meet you," she replied.

"Oh Scarlet, such a nice name!" His mother smiled. "What happened just now? Scarlet can you tell me?"

"Yea, why were you here just now?" Max joined in the asking.

"Okay, so I live a few blocks from here, over there, that building," Scarlet said as she pointed at a building a few streets from where they were. 

"I was looking out at the city from my window and I saw Max fighting with two people, I guessed they were from the SEO and he was suffering... so I just flew here and landed on the top of this building." She looked at the building next to them.

"Just when I was thinking of what to do next, I could see one of the hunters pulling out his gun and ready to shoot him, so I just jumped down without hesitation to block the bullet for Max, since I'm immune to bullets," she explained.

"Hey, thank you. If it weren't for you I'd have died," Max thanked her, looking into her eyes.

"I see..." his mom said softly. "Are you a ghoul? That can fly?"

"I'm half-vampire and half-ghoul."

"Wow, that's really rare! You must be frequently targeted by hunters then," his mom spoke with concern.

"Yea, they got my sisters a few months ago..." Scarlet looked away.

There was some silence.

"Oh dear, I'm so very sorry for that. That happened to our Matt too, our younger son," his mom didn't smile anymore.

"You didn't tell me your brother's name was so similar to yours," Scarlet looked at Max.

Max just looked away.

"I don't understand," she took a deep breath, and continued, "even though we ghouls and vampires and other beings they call supernatural... we're a threat to them, I know, but we're trying our very best to blend in. Just like my family we barely take the living as our prey. Even my dad, a vampire, drinks animals' blood only! We honestly didn't do anything to deserve being persecuted..."

Scarlet sighed.

"But that's how the world is, " Max's dad sighed too. "It's just cruel. Humans are selfish."

"And that's exactly why I nearly died," Max groaned. He's basically fully recovered by now.

"Why don't we go somewhere else for this talk, the SEO have probably sent someone here by now," his mom suggested. 

"Yea we should," Max agreed.

Scarlet and Max's father agreed too. 

"Would you like to come to our home, Scarlet? If your parents don't mind?" Max's mom invited her.

"Huh, what really?" Scarlet raised her eyebrows. Never had she ever thought she'd get to see a sorcerer's house.

"You don't have to if you don't want," Max shrugged. "It's late."

"Of course I'd like to! You know, I really want to know what's in a sorcerer's house," Scarlet clapped her hands. 

"Sure..." Max's mom took out a white rectangular box that's the size of an A4 paper. She put it on the floor. 

"What's this?" Scarlet asked curiously.

"We hold hands and form a circle... and just watch this, it's magic," his mom explained and held out her hand to Scarlet. 

"Okay..." Scarlet took her hand and Max took her other hand. Then he held his dad's hand too and his dad held his mom's hand. Together they formed a circle. 

"Hold tight," Max's father said with a serious tone. "Very tight."

Max grasped Scarlet's hand tightly. 

The rectangular box started spinning... at first it was spinning at a slow pace, but it eventually became faster. Then it started emitting rays of white light... and Scarlet could feel herself getting lighter and lighter, and starting to float in the air.

"What the hell is this?" She thought to herself. 

Then they all got smaller and smaller. And they started spinning. 

"Fuck, I think I'm gonna be sick," she thought as they spun faster. She held Max's hand more tightly and could feel him grip her back.

And they all got sucked into the rectangular box, still spinning in the air. 

Inside the box, it was a large area of bright white, it was like they were inside a big white cloud, spinning. 

"I'm definitely gonna throw up after all this," Scarlet was having a panic attack inside. She started tearing up and her teeth started chattering. 

Their pace of spinning started to slow down, and they were about to land as Scarlet felt that she was getting closer to the floor. She could feel their bodies getting heavier again. 

The bright white slowly faded into a dark shade of crimson, and then Scarlet realised that the crimson was walls.

Walls of crimson. The area that the walls enclosed was dark, and big. Like 600 square feet.

They landed. Scarlet looked around and she was astonished by what she saw : sponges cleaning dishes and utensils on their own and the broom brushing its way through the floor as the mat moves itself. At the corner she saw a black dog sleeping on a big cushion. Inside the glass cupboard she saw a variety of wands. And there were stairs that lead to another floor. 

"Welcome to my home," Max started to loosen his grip.