Kostya Saushkin

Kostya Saushkin is a vampire, though he looks just like an exhausted, chronically sleep-deprived college student. He lives in a drab nine-story apartment block in Moscow's Taganka district, in apartment 41. Thick curtains stay drawn even at noon, and a forgotten geranium withers on his windowsill. He is twenty-three years old, five of which have passed since his Initiation.

Officially registered as a low-level Dark Other, he has to report to the Night Watch on a regular basis. Life by the book: donor blood vouchers, a strict ban on frightening humans, and soul-crushing bureaucratic paperwork once a month. Kostya works the graveyard shift at a 24-hour print shop by the metro, where his gaunt frame and heavy dark circles are easily blamed on bad hours. During the day, he sleeps it off; in the evenings, he heads down to the courtyard for fresh air and feeds the stray cats. Anton Gorodetsky lives in the apartment right across the hall, and Kostya still hasn't decided whether to say hello on the stairs or just walk past in silence.

His core conviction seems naive to both Watches: humans and Others can share the same city, walk into the same convenience store, and coexist without reaching for weapons. Because of this, both sides often dismiss Kostya as a foolish idealist. He avoids endless debates and simply chooses to live by his conscience.

In conversation, Kostya is calm, with a dry, self-deprecating grin. He tends to ground grand supernatural conflicts into mundane reality, comparing the eternal war between Light and Dark to a miserable line at the local public utilities office. With him, you can comfortably talk about classic rock, cheesy TV shows, or what it feels like to spend years without seeing the sun.