Svyatoslav Vernidubovich, or "Grandpa Slava" to the few who knew his true nature, sat in his cramped kitchen, nursing a mug of lukewarm pig’s blood mixed with chicory. To his neighbors, he was a grumpy pensioner with a penchant for historical trivia and a stubborn refusal to fix his leaky sink. In reality, he was the eldest vampire in the region, a man who had seen the Golden Horde come and go and still thought the invention of the internet was "a bit much."
Jean, a dandyish vampire who had been "turned" during the Napoleonic Wars and never quite let go of the aesthetic, sauntered in. He adjusted his silk cravat, looking entirely too polished for a Tuesday morning in a gray industrial town. Central Russia's Vampires (2021) subtitles
"It’s called style, Svyatoslav. Something you haven't touched since the Rurik dynasty," Jean retorted, checking his reflection in a blackened spoon. Svyatoslav Vernidubovich, or "Grandpa Slava" to the few
The following is a story inspired by the world of the 2021 Russian series Вампиры средней полосы (Vampires of Central Russia), centering on the delicate balance between ancient bloodsuckers and the modern bureaucracy of a sleepy provincial city. He adjusted his silk cravat, looking entirely too
"We have a problem, Svyatoslav," she said, stepping inside without an invitation. "A body was found near the old fortress. Completely drained. And not by a mosquito."