Page 36 of Hospital for Immortal Creatures

Today, the sun was shining over the green trees on its way west. In another time and place, Amelia would have appreciated the view… But unlike previous days, Amelia’s heart weighed heavier than usual. She ran a finger over the new clothes the chambermaid had brought today – black tights and a wide shirt. Beige underwear was folded next to them.

Three days! She’d been locked into this cursed room for three days, with no human interaction and no explanation of what was coming. Mikhail hadn’t returned. Neither had the voice in her head.

But not all days were like that. Sometimes, a flame of hope would burn in her heart, promising her that she would escape this place and go back to her boring life. And when she did, she would not let days pass her by anymore. She would not bury herself in work and a safe routine, all to avoid living because she was too afraid to. Being locked between four walls in the middle of nowhere with monsters for guards had shown her the parallels with her own life. And it was up to her, as it always had been, to change that. It might have taken being kidnapped for the realisation to sink in, but now that it had, the image of that new life was enough to keep her going.

If only she could talk to Mikhail Korovin again. Let him turn into whatever the fuck he wanted – a lion, a wolf, fucking Godzilla. This time, she would be ready for anything. And she would negotiate her escape.

What if he’s not open to negotiations? The thought caused her to slump her shoulders and dampened her enthusiasm.

More days turned into more nights, sunsets into more sunrises, and nothing ever changed. She continued to be alone.

Then, one day, after hours of being afraid to fall asleep, she fainted on the couch, and the second dream came.

The sun’s light burst through the window and lighted Mikhail’s face while he was sleeping in a small bed.

Suddenly, he woke with a start. He needed a few moments to remember what had happened. Panic and fear poured over him, merging with the physical pain he was starting to feel. He made a pitiful attempt to raise his head, but the anguish was too strong. He groaned in sheer misery.

“Take it easy,” said a white-bearded wrinkled man. He was smoking his pipe at the far end of the room. “Truthfully, I didn’t think you’d make it. Very severe wounds… deep ones. It was the Turks, right? Remember my words, son, one day we’ll slay them all!”

“Where… am I?” Mikhail rasped.

“The Sakar Mountain! In the home of old Vasil. I found you in the bushes… Honestly, young man, I thought you were a goner, but my granddaughter – she wants to be a healer – said you were alive. I threw you in my cart and brought you here. She took out the bullets – twenty-seven! Washed your wounds, and the four cuts across your chest, and said you’d probably die, but we thought we might as well take care of you. It’s only human. We’re not like the Turks, eh? But you, young man, are a miracle! Your wounds started healing. They’re gone now. Didn’t even leave a mark. Except for those four nasty ones to the chest. It was the zaptiyes, right? Horrible thing. You’ll have grave scars, but at least you’re alive!”

Mikhail tried to lift himself again.

“I”—he coughed—“have to go.”

“What do you mean, go? You haven’t recovered yet! You… you’re not from around here, are you?” The man’s calm demeanour changed, and he started eyeing him with suspicion.

“My mother”—another coughing fit interrupted him—“was Bulgarian.”

Amelia opened her eyes. The same nausea as before roiled through her, but even as she rushed to the bathroom, she couldn’t get Mikhail’s features out of her mind. Once more, she’d been in his mind – been him – in the dream, and she didn’t know what to make of it. Kneeling before the toilet bowl, she thought of the grief and sorrow etched on his face, and how he’d seemed… broken. Very unlike the man she was used to.

And as much as she despised him for kidnapping her, his ability to overcome adversity left her in awe, and she couldn’t help but admire him.

13

‘The Minister of Transport and Communications, Georgi Vrabchev, was found dead at a rental apartment in a luxurious building in the Lozenets neighbourhood. He had been missing for five days. His wife had filed a missing person report on the evening of October 7th.

The cause of death is believed to be a heart attack. The body was discovered by the landlord, who received a call from neighbours asking him to investigate the putrid smell coming out of his apartment. Vrabchev rented the residence a few months ago under an alias and, according to unconfirmed sources, was using it to meet up with call girls.

There is no evidence that he had company in the apartment, but neighbours claim they saw an unknown dark-haired female entering the building around 5 p.m. on October 5th. Police have concluded their investigation and confirmed no foul play.

Minister Vrabchev was mentioned in a scandal involving the disappearance of over fourteen million euros in European funds…’

Zacharia shut his laptop. The only lead to Kaliope’s murder had just hit a dead end. At least this explained why the bastard was so hard to track.

He dumped his empty beer bottle next to the other three and grabbed a new one. His hybrid metabolism was fast – way too fast – meaning that to get drunk, he needed to consume high amounts of alcohol. Even when he got slightly tipsy, it didn’t last. Sometimes, he envied humans for their ability to get intoxicated.

At least he didn’t envy their diet. As a lycanthrope-vampire hybrid, his was as far from diversified as possible – a sack of blood twice a week and a little game the rest of the time to quench his basic needs.

Zacharia drank from the bottle and slumped down in the chair in front of his desk. Twenty years ago, he was living in a cottage at the foot of the mountain. When he’d been offered a security position at the Hospital, he had moved into the building. Not that he had any complaints. What more could a creature like him want in life? A roof over his head, food in his belly, a little physical pleasure now and again, and a mystery to occupy his mind.

A sudden urge to solve this devil’s riddle forced him to reach for his laptop one more time and play the video that had already loaded on the screen. The date coincided with when the box had materialised. The surveillance cameras had recorded everything around the main gate, including the road winding up to it and parts of the thick forest surrounding it. A second later, the scene was the same, except the wooden box had appeared. Even after he cleaned the images, they didn’t show anything of relevance.

He stared at the black curtains obscuring his windows. The box had indeed ‘appeared out of nowhere’ as Idiot One had claimed. No, dumbass. Someone left it. But was there a creature that could move so fast that it was invisible to the naked eye? Vampires and nymphs were quick, but not that quick.

Teleportation?

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