While my belief in communism may not be as strong as others I know, I believed that there was nothing truly unnatural. There was nothing supernatural. Nothing that science couldn't explain. My education as a nurse only strengthened this belief.

 

Lately though, I find that belief tested by...whatever that is in the observation theatre. That thing the spetsnaz brought back from the Carpathians.

 

My parents were both in their early twenties when the Great Patriotic War began. The monsters in the horror stories they told me were all men, humans like me. My father served on the front lines, my mother a nurse in a Moscow hospital. The monsters I grew up having nightmares of wore grey uniforms with the emblem of an eagle.

 

But my grandmother, she told of other things. Beings that had the shape of a man but were so far removed from one. Things that turned into wolves, spirits of the dead that came back to vex the living. She told of creatures like what I've beheld just a week ago. Creatures that drank the blood of men in order to nourish themselves.

 

The Romanians call this thing 'strigoi.' My mother named it as 'verdilak.'

 

In English, it is called vampire. No matter the name, it can't be anything other than this predatory nocturnal being. It stands a little over two meters, with skin the color of ash and pointed ears. Its fingers end in sharp claws. Not a single strand of hair occupies its hair or chest. Its eyes are like two golden orbs and the ears resemble daggers. 

 

It isn't skinny though, not a malnourished revenant like in the stories I've heard of. Its form can put even the most well built spetsnaz operator to shame. Its chest is broad and muscular, the arms thick and sinewy. 

 

And it speaks. I've heard it. I've heard it shouting in Romanian after bursting forth from its coffin and then speaking in halted Russian when addressed over the intercom. It has seen me once or twice. My job is to help feed it. I ensure the transfusion bags are prepared for it, properly stored and free of impurities. I have not entered its chamber though. 

 

The military seems to think they can find out the source of its power and then adapt it for the use of our own soldiers. I admit, the idea is an intriguing one. But I cannot wait for the day this thing's presence is no longer necessary. Until then, I will do my duties as best I am able. 

 

That won't be easy though. As horrifying as it is, the creature is oddly...tantalizing. It radiates strength but is no brute either. There is no denying the hunger in its eyes. Its desire to slake that thirst is never far from its mind but despite all my best efforts I find myself wondering something.

 

When it gazes at me, is it thirsty for my blood alone or something else as well?

 

And should it demand that...other thing...what would I do?