Ooooh, I like this. Dark and creepy and reminds me of a patient I've met. This guy was a life-force vampire, too: he lived life at a permenant low mumble of complaints that sapped the very will to live if you stayed with him for any length of time. We moved him tout suite from the main ward to a side room as soon as his poop started to get even slightly loose, as the rest of the male bay were threatening to kill him if he stayed with them any longer. Maybe a spot of mutiny on the ward would have livened things up a bit. Tough call. Better part of valour: the psychic vampire got a sideroom and muggins here as student nurse-cum-annoying-jobs-bunny got the chance to "practise your dressings technique" and see to this guy's drain sites. 'Practise', alright. I bit like 'practising' in a war zone, with the emphasis on "' get in, chnage and get out as fast as you can'. At Defcon 3, perma-mumble life-force suck at warp 5... There is nothing wrong with fantasy and RPGs... ironically for your post, I like to kick back with a spot of vampire LARP... Reading your book. Bloody good. Thank you for contiuing to post.