Ekaterina Netchitailova

Anna, a 108-year-old Russian vampire, is sectioned in a Sheffield psych ward.

They don’t believe me here, and I have no proof that I am a vampire…

Even before the antipsychotic injections they gave me, my powers were weak. I told you already: I can disappear, but not as spectacularly as Henry can. He can disappear and reappear in another country! In my case, I can (can I?) disappear just over the wall.

Now I can’t do anything. I am not even able to show my fangs. That’s what Greg, who believes he is an Apostle of Jesus, asks me to do.

“Show your fangs, Anna!” he asks cheerfully when he sees me emerging from the dining room.

He is obviously in a good mood. I am not. I just ate some beef pie and a toffee pudding with custard. This stuff can maintain me for a while, but I will soon need blood, and the only way to get it (we don’t attack humans anymore) is via a blood bank of trusted humans. Something I can’t do without Henry. He has the network; he has the means. But I haven’t heard from him, and I am a bit scared. What if they decided to leave me to rot here, in England, sectioned under the Mental Health Act? And I am still wearing a hospital dress.

I decide to address the matter and go to the nurses’ post. They are typing, as usual. The pleading guy stands in front, asking to go for a walk. But they are all busy.

I see Samara, who quickly glances at me while typing. She briefly smiles at me, stands up from her place, and walks towards the corridor. “In a moment,” she tells the pleading guy, and then comes to me.

“What is it, love?” Her smile is genuine and kind. She is my favorite nurse.

“Can I have some normal clothes, please?” I ask her quietly. “Not this?” I point to my hospital dress.

“Oh, Anna,” Samara says, looking at me kindly. “Let me finish my report, and I will take you for a walk?”

I smile at her and sigh with relief. Finally… I might finally start looking presentable, ready for whatever comes next.

“Can I have a walk, please?” the pleading guy asks Samara, but she turns around and goes back inside the office.