They escorted me out of the building after I turned down the offer. The man behind the desk - who I’d later learned was called Mr Harel, although he insisted everyone called him Gabe - was disappointed, sighing and putting his arms up in the air in response to my answer.

‘Well,’ he’d told me, thrusting a business card into my hand, ‘Give me a call when you change your mind.’

As I got on the last Central Line train home, I studied the card. No expense had been spared; thick, matte card was embossed with stunning serif lettering, an off-black to complement the pale beige of the background. At its edges ran a thin line of gold leaf, shining gently in the blue light of the underground train. A faint watermark sat behind the text: the last letter of the Greek alphabet, the Omega. They really did think a lot of themselves, then.

I reached home in Mile End, the events of the evening still weighing heavily on my mind. A cursory glance at Twitter, Instagram, and the international news sites told me that the announcement was spreading fast. By the morning, there wouldn’t be anyone left on the planet who didn’t know of the existence of vampires.

More than that, though. Siren hadn’t just announced the existence of the vamps, they’d announced the existence of… everything.

...Vampires are real. As are werewolves, ghosts, ghouls, zombies. Banshees. Mermaids. Unicorns. Trolls. Ogres. Sirens…

The woman’s words ran through my head. Most of these creatures were news to me, too - but at least I had the benefit of having seen vamps myself. Perhaps others would have a harder time believing.

Of course, certain sectors of the internet seemed to be going crazy for the news. Vampire erotica - often featuring Tristan Maxwell - trended heavily, as well as satirical news articles about the announcement: Tristan Maxwell unable to check himself out in the mirror. Millions weep.

It didn’t seem quite like people were taking this news as seriously as they needed to. Vamps really were out there, and they were more of a danger than how Siren was portraying them.

I tried to sleep, but found myself tossing and turning with the weight of the news hanging on my mind.

Hours later, with not a wink of sleep, I stepped back out of the house. There was nothing to calm the mind like a good slay, and I had a lead I’d been working on for a few nights. Just around the corner, a butcher’s in Mile End had been spotted selling someone huge amounts of animal blood; thank god for the nosey people of Twitter.

I found a spot in the back alley where I could crouch in the darkness and began wait for the vamp to inevitably appear. This wasn’t an uncommon route for vamps to take to get their fix of blood. Killing too many humans attracted too much attention, and so the vampire community in London seemed to have come to an understanding: human blood is for special occasions only. Of what I’d heard from the local vamps - in the time between meeting them and my stake being driven through their heart - most of them thought that this was honourable.

The back door of the Butchers opened, drowning me in light. I kept still, holding my breath, and managed to remain out of the proprietor’s sight while he threw a bag in the bin.

Not wanting to risk the same thing happening again, I moved to a slightly better position, one where I wouldn’t be disturbed by something as inane as taking the rubbish out.

It wasn’t long before she appeared.

A tall woman stepped out of the darkness at the other end of the alley, wearing a long, black, trench coat. She tapped three times on the back door. There was a rhythm to it, a predetermined knock.

Tap. Tap-tap.

There was a shuffling from inside, and then the door swung open once more. Light enveloped the vamp as at had me earlier, and I got a better look at her. She fit all the typical stereotypes: she was tall, slender, with an intricately made-up face that didn’t quite hide how pale her skin was.

After a short, whispered conversation, the vamp passed the butcher a small wad of cash. The proprietor returned into the building, the door swinging shut behind him. The vamp had the luxury of darkness once more.

In the absence of light, vampires had the advantage. Where my eyes struggled, theirs excelled - and their heightened sense of smell also came into play. Without the distraction of the butcher, the vamp seemed to notice that there was someone watching her. Her eyes went wide, darting around the area, and she tilted her head to one side as he listened out for signs of life.

I retreated softly against the bin I was hiding behind, taking myself out of sight. There was no sense in me losing the element of surprise.

The door creaked open once again, causing the vamp to stop scouring the area. The proprietor hauled out two great sacks of animal blood, and the vamp reached out to grab them.

With my target distracted, I charged towards them, wooden stake at the ready.

But the vamp must have sniffed me out, as she was ready for me. She stepped backwards as I jumped, bringing her body out of the way of the swinging stake. I tumbled to the floor to her right, landing on one of the dropped bags of blood, which soaked my clothes through to my skin.

The vamp pushed past the man into the building, throwing him in front of me. As I ploughed after her, I tripped on the falling man, and staggered to the wall to keep my balance. I ran on after her through the interior of the butchers, weaving through blocks of kitchen furniture and startled employees.

‘Hey!’ one of them called out after me. ‘Leave ‘er alone!’

I ignore this polite request and carried on towards the front of the building, where the vamp was charging out the main door. She flicked at the latch as she swung it shut behind her, and it sealed with a clunk.

I pulled on the heavy door, trying to get it open - without any luck. Without the luxury of time with which I could navigate the numerous door locks, I turned my attention to the main window. One of the employees noticed what I was about to do.

‘Don’t you fucking think about-’

But it was too late. I smashed through the shop’s window, falling to the ground below, and catching my hands and knees on splinters of broken glass. Being already covered in blood, I chose to believe that any new red patches on my skin was not my blood, but an animal’s - and the pain shooting around my body was purely in my head.

I charged on down the A road towards the vamp, who was across the road, heading into Mile End Park.

‘Leave her alone!’ a young man shouted at me, but he didn’t approach to press the matter further.

I lost sight of my target as she ran behind powered-down fairground equipment, and I groaned as I forced my body to pick up the pace.

As I turned the corner behind the carousel, I found that there was nobody in sight.

‘Fuck!’ I shouted to myself, stamping the wet, worn grass beneath my feet.

And then a force behind me pushed me to the floor. There was an intense pain in my neck as the vamp’s teeth dug their way in.

Instinctively, I swung my stake around to my side. It didn’t catch the vamp in the heart, but the side of the abdomen. While this wouldn’t kill them, it would certainly hurt - as evidenced by the shriek that followed.

I took advantage of the vamp being weakened to roll over on to my side, tossing my assailant off me.

As I scrambled to my feet, the target did too - and we stood, still, facing one another with intense glares as we each gathered ourselves for the fight to come.

It was the vamp who charged first. Having the luxury of not requiring oxygen, they didn’t need to catch their breath. I, on the other hand, did.

She collided with my cut, pushing me to the floor, making me drop my stake, and winding me all in the same action. I gasped for breath, and the vamp pressed herself on top of me, once again going in for the bite.

I fumbled for the stake that had fallen to my side, and slowly brought it up between us, meaning to thrust it through the vamp’s heart while she was distracted.

But she was savvy - and retracted her teeth as she noticed my hand moving. As she saw the stake, she instinctively jumped back off me, recoiling a few metres.

‘What’s the matter?’ I gasped through deep breaths. ‘Don’t like my pointy friend here?’

She said nothing - but instead growled at me.

Just like the animal you are.

I walked slowly towards her once again, stake held high, and the vamp began to step backwards. In gripping the stake tightly, I could feel it pressing a shard of glass into my palm. I gritted my teeth through the pain.

The vamp gasped as she backed into the side of a fairground ride.

I sneered at her. ‘Looks like your time’s up.’

When I got close enough, I held the stake high, and began to swing.

But a hand reached out from behind me, and grabbed my wrist.

‘When they said you could leave,’ the owner of the voice said, ‘They didn’t mean for you to continue killing.’