Ann Cyncaid

Interviewing vampires usually unnerves us not only because they have the potential to kill and/or alter us to be like them but also because it means that the session has to take place at night and we really like our sleep. Having previously met Ann Cyncaid we were more afraid of dozing off during another painfully awkward interview than for our lives. 

She continues to use the pseudonym Cyan in place of her real name, is currently 24years of age and is still a waif-like 5ft 2in tall. For the most part she remains a timid, introverted and sensitive character who is overly-cautious and highly introspective. Knowing that the kind and soft-hearted are easily trampled we try to be sympathetic by not yawning too often and feigning interest on the odd occasion where she speaks without prompt. Much of the following information is therefore subjective and gleaned from the sparse few questions she was able to answer.

In many ways Cyan is the embodiment of your atypical ‘vampire who doesn’t want to be,’ a pathetic half-starved wretch whose self-esteem went on hiatus and never returned. Perhaps a little less crushed under the destructive weight of depression than the first time we met, Cyan is still a miserable soul prone to tearful moments and emotional outbursts. Her bleak and ultimately negative outlook means we’d probably have had more fun interviewing a limpet. 

A social outcast by her own doing, she inadvertently makes situations such as this one more problematic than they are which is quite a feat considering her origins. Having a mind ravaged with guilt and dark thoughts, it is apparent that she often allows her fears and worries to consume her. Whilst we appreciate much of this anxiety is justified it does prove difficult to hold a conversation when the other party is continually looking over their shoulder and jumps at the slightest sound.

During the interview she nervously gnaws the corner of her mouth and constantly fiddles with the hematite band around her thumb. Being a lip-biter appears to have caused scarring and indicates it’s something she does frequently to the point where it repeatedly bleeds and heals otherwise no mark would remain. Her anxious habits are most distracting and when questioned about the origins of her ring she clams up as though we had asked what colour knickers she is wearing.

Although usually of a demure nature Cyan’s excruciating insecurity makes her liable to catastrophic thinking and the occasional bout of melodrama. Clearly uncomfortable in her own skin, she is very aware of personal space and dislikes being touched. To say she is hypersensitive would be an understatement, plus we never thought we’d meet anyone who could best our writers when it comes to ridiculously lavish over-exaggerations.

What is perhaps surprising about her lack of self-confidence is the fact that it is coupled with the sheerest determination we have thus far witnessed. Whilst on the one hand she spends a lot of time lost, confused and blubbing like a baby, on the other she dropkicks every challenge life throws at her so squarely in the jaw she may as well be made of metal. It’s enough to make one’s head spin, but therein lies the nature of her depression; she simply cannot recognise her own successes. To do so would be like admitting that it’s ok to keep breathing, which would in turn mean that it’s ok to be Cyan and a vampire, which she intrinsically ‘knows’ to be incorrect and won’t be told otherwise.

Thus Cyan only feels justified when berating herself and believes she deserves to be punished. She mentally tortures herself for every little mistake and scrutinises every part of her being whilst glossing over all the faults of others, even other vampires. Most of her woe is self-inflicted and likely existed before she was sired; being vampiric is simply another convenient excuse for self-flagellation. Yet for all her melancholy she has a fierce will to live and strong sense of moral grounding, she will readily fight for her beliefs and those she cares about.

It strikes us that Cyan could probably use a sharp wakeup call followed by a big motherly hug, however by the end of the interview her eyes were a hunger-ravaged yellow so don’t judge us for not volunteering, ok?