Their bickering was interrupted by a sharp, rhythmic knocking—the kind of knock that sounded like a legal summons. Slava froze. It was the Keepers.
"Then you have a rogue," Irina said, her eyes narrowing. "And according to the law, if the killer isn't found by the next full moon, the 'Life for a Life' rule applies. I'll have to take one of yours, Slava. Starting with the youngest."
"Jean! If you use my surgical silk to mend your designer trousers one more time, I’ll bury you in the vegetable patch!" Slava bellowed. Central Russia's Vampires (2021) subtitles
As Irina left, the cozy, blood-scented apartment felt suddenly very small. Slava looked out the window at the gray streets. He didn't want a war. He just wanted to live his eternal life in peace, grumbling about the price of gas and the quality of modern bread.
"Jean," Slava said, his voice dropping the grandfatherly act to reveal the ancient predator beneath. "Get the boy. We’re going hunting. And tell him if he records this for his followers, I’ll personally break his phone." Their bickering was interrupted by a sharp, rhythmic
"It’s called style, Svyatoslav. Something you haven't touched since the Rurik dynasty," Jean retorted, checking his reflection in a blackened spoon.
Slava sighed, his shoulders sagging. He looked at Jean, who suddenly found the ceiling very interesting. "Then you have a rogue," Irina said, her eyes narrowing
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.