Page 41 of Hospital for Immortal Creatures

“What the fuck is this?” Right where the large intestine twisted at a nearly ninety-degree angle, something strange, grey and hard was protruding from the wall like a mushroom. “Fucking hell!”

One of the assistants leaned over to inspect. “Doc, what is that?”

Vladislav pointed to him. “You! Get me Viktor Volk, immediately. I don’t care if he’s sleeping or screwing a whore, bring him here! Got it?”

“Y-y-yes, sir.” The assistant rushed out the door.

“Fucking shit! Fucked up stuff!” Vladislav kept yelling out profanities as he peered closer to inspect the intestine.

***

The lab was unusually quiet in the absence of the twins. Viktor had grown so accustomed to their bickering that the place seemed desolate without them. They were young creatures and still needed rest, unlike him, so they left him when night set in. He, meanwhile, could last a week with no more than four hours of sleep. At least when they were gone, he worked in peace, without having to answer their questions.

Who was he kidding? He loved giving them answers. Viktor always had another story or lesson to pass on. Every day, they would learn something new – Alex, a little more than her brother.

She would often barge into the lab yelling, ‘Vik, guess what I learnt today!’ Then she’d tell him stories he had heard dozens of times during his one thousand one hundred and thirteen years on this earth. But had it not been for the twins and their work together on the creation of a cure for the slowed regeneration of immortals, Viktor would have probably jumped off the roof of the building by now without accepting any medical assistance.

The witcher he had been trying to cure these past couple of weeks had left this world yesterday. His body was cremated a few hours later, as was the standard practice with the death of any immortal.

Viktor headed for the shelf on the wall. On top of it, ordered in neat lines like soldiers, were his thick black notebooks, all identical except for the writing on the spine. He pulled out the one labelled WITCHES and opened it to the page where he’d last written. Below his old writing, he added: THE WITCH SPECIES DOES NOT TOLERATE WOLFSBANE IN HIGH DOSES!

Under the note, he wrote every detail of the witcher’s treatment, including the attempts with standard, double and triple doses of wolfsbane, the ensuing complications, and the cause of death – blood poisoning. He finished the entry with the date and his name, and returned the journal on the shelf.

The lab door burst open, and Alex rushed in, followed by some youngster Viktor didn’t recognise. “Vik, they need you in the OR!”

Whatever was happening had got the girl way too excited. He noticed the messy hair and the legs of her pyjamas stuffed in a hurry into a pair of rubber boots.

“What’s going on?”

Alex pointed to the boy. “That’s Nicolas, he’s working as a surgeon. He was knocking at your door so loud it woke me up five doors over! He said the head of the surgical ward asked for you. It sounds urgent.”

“Yes, sir.” Nicolas nodded. “Doctor Nyavolski needs you in the OR.”

“What happened?” Viktor was already at the door.

“We were performing surgery on a vampire who was stabbed with a stake, and discovered a strange formation on his large intestine.”

“What?” Alex followed them, eyes round like saucers.

Viktor stopped in his tracks. “Alex, go back to your room.”

“No, Vik! I want to come with you… please?”

He hesitated for a beat, then turned and resumed walking without saying a word. Alex took that as an invitation to join in.

She turned to Nicolas. “So, what was it you found?”

“Honestly, no clue. The doc started yelling and swearing out of the blue…”

“You’re new, right?” Alex asked as they were waiting for the lift.

“Just arrived from the Czech Republic a couple of days ago. How long have you been here?”

“Well…” She played with her hair. “Many years.”

“Really? How many?” The boy’s eyes glimmered with interest. Something Viktor also noticed.

“Let’s leave the chit-chat for later,” he interrupted. He didn’t know this boy and didn’t trust him.

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