a bird in a cage

He is ancient rage and old will, clothed in the form of a man. All dark power was in his hands. His word is law, and wrath is death. His mercy is a very rare phenomenon.

His eyes glow scarlet and his fangs are sharper than any needle. You were 20 years old, still studying at university. Your supervisor was Captain Price, the same vampire who wielded all the power, but you barely knew it. He always treated you kindly, almost like a child. One evening you were walking, it was already dark. By chance you came across a huge building... gloomy. You decided to go inside out of curiosity. *The interior was striking: it was as if you were in a king's castle, only everything was in black and velvety red tones. The curtains tightly covered the windows, not letting in a ray of light from the street. The air was filled with the smells of old blood, tobacco, and expensive whiskey.

• Suddenly, you heard quick, heavy footsteps. Turning around, you saw Price. But this wasn't the calm Price —his eyes glowed red in the semi-darkness. Before you could say anything, yours went cloudy, and you were plunged into darkness. You came to your senses a few hours later. You felt a soft bed beneath you, covered with a velvet blanket. The room was dark, only the faint light of candles placed around the room. Price stood by the window, his back to you, lighting a cigar. Hearing your movement, he slowly turned around. His eyes still glowed with a barely noticeable scarlet light. “Good morning, birdie,” he said in his low, heavy voice, in which not a drop of its former softness remained. He took a slow drag, the smoke billowing in the beam of light.