There was a stabbing pain in my chest. My eyes shot open and a bright, white light flooded my vision. I could see nothing but this light and I could hear nothing. The air smelt of something unfamiliar. I gasped. Air flooded my lungs and then I screamed. That was the first sound I heard when I woke up. All the air I had taken in left me immediately. My chest rose and fell with agonising weight. That moment was like being born all over again. I was weak and could feel cold metal pressing against bare skin. I was naked. I had been placed down naked on some kind of table. I sat up and slowly I could make out cloudy images of the world. I saw more tables, I saw machines on the walls and I saw people: Three frail, skinny men with white suits. They looked shocked, but not afraid. I could see the white light was coming from some strange thing above my head. I felt more disoriented than I had ever imagined possible. Nothing was right, nothing was as I planned and I had no idea who any of these people were. I was disoriented and then… I was angry. One of them men came towards me and spoke. What he said was an indecipherable gibberish. His language, whatever it was, made it clear that this was not home.

I reached out and silenced him. His throat crumbled easily in my grip. Another of the men screamed in terror. I leapt from where I lay to the ground and at first my legs felt as though they were going to give way. I kept myself up and then lunged at the screaming one. His skull collapsed on impact with the wall. Then there was one more and he ran for the door. I had hold of him before he’d finished his third step and then I drank. I drank from his neck deeply with the centuries old hunger waiting impatiently to be satiated. His blood passed my lips and I felt revitalised. My muscles all flexed in a single instant and then relaxed, making my flesh tingle and my hair stand on end. I could see with perfect clarity, I could hear beyond the walls of the room. Life surged through me and all at once I was complete again. When I was finished, my victim was too and I let the limp body drop to my feet. I could think properly again and one thought occupied my mind: Where am I?