Blood Lines

Chapter I: The Vampire Hunter's Field Guide

Author's Note: Story number three has begun! Yippee! I was so inspired by SafetyMunkey's SoaBL that I had to write a cool vamp story. Hehe. So here it is. Any feedback is welcome.

It was not a dark and stormy night, but it should have been. It was indeed quite dark, but the grass was only slightly damp. From above ground, thirty-seven Ambergrove Street looked very much like a normal house. It had a door and two windows, a white coat of paint, and a red roof. It had a small square of grass and a patio for a backyard, and a driveway lined with bricks for the front. It also had a small staircase concealed behind a large refrigerator (Bookcases were too obvious) that led to a vast underground lair.

There was one inhabitant of this house, and he was even less average than the dwelling he lived in. His name was Brian Carter. And he didn't know about the lair.

But before I can tell you the story of his death, I believe an excerpt from The Vampire Hunter's Field Guide is in order. One Marcus Enroe wrote this handbook, after he retired from the field of hunting. The information that follows should be enough to answer any questions you have about vampires, but feel free to e-mail me if you have any more.

"Chapter II: Bloodlust

Many of the rumors you, dear reader, have heard are not true. Vampire's bloodlust is not psychological, but physical. They actually require human blood to survive, much like we kill animals for food. Their dead hearts do not function; hence they need fresh blood every so often to replace the dying cells they have in their body.

Being dead, their cells don't last nearly as long as live ones. A living human's red blood cells live for an average of one hundred twenty days, while vampire blood lasts only sixty. This is assuming neither member has a blood disorder, such as sickle cell anemia. Therefore a vampire intakes blood roughly every forty-five days or so, to be safe. After about fifty-five days the vampire becomes comatose until a transfusion can be made.

Surprisingly, being bitten by a vampire is not a painful experience. They release a substance through their fangs (along with histamine, to keep the blood from clotting) that causes the brain to release seratonin. Seratonin is a chemical that induces a happy feeling, and is often released during drug use. Ecstasy, for example, makes nerve endings in the brain burst, releasing all their seratonin.

Ecstasy, however, damages the nerves in the brain, while vampire bites do not. If you are bitten by a vampire, you will not necessarily become one. Nor will you if you are bitten, live a happy life, and die later. The only way one becomes a vampire is if he is bitten, and killed in the process. Vampirism can also be attained if you are killed by the white wolf of ill omen.

Fortunately, the wolf has not appeared for over four hundred years, and vampires rarely kill by biting. In fact, vampire attacks are even less common than shark attacks, for most just go to the blood bank. Either vampires are biting less often, or they are becoming better at covering it up.

Chapter III: Weaknesses and Abilities

Vampire weaknesses are few and far between, and many of those you have heard are not true. Garlic, for example, does not affect vampires in any way whatsoever (most enjoy it, in fact), unless of course, they were allergic to the bulb in life. You might make them sneeze, and that would probably make them quite angry.

Your crucifix wall hanging or cross necklace won't save you either. Much of the world is religious, and many had some religion or another during life. The cross will not affect these ones, and vamps that had no religion during life will usually cause the cross (or other holy symbol, like a Jewish Star) to turn in on itself or break. Towns long ago had crosses on their roofs and churches, and if a vampire passed through town that night, the townspeople would wake up to find all of them bent away from the street in the same direction.

Many vampires attend church on Sunday, so have no delusions that you are safe there. There are three places you are truly safe from vampires. The holy mosque of Mecca and the Grand Cathedral in Britain are good choices. The third is the center of the Earth.

They do indeed have problems with holy water, provided a true priest or monk, in a ceremony that takes several days, blessed it. Televangelists and false bishops do not count, sorry. Neither does that dirty crap by the front door. Holy water is not picky about religion, so any priest can perform it.

The issue of running water. Unless the river that runs by your house is one of holy water, vampires should have no problems crossing it.

Silver hurts them, god dammit. It won't necessarily damage them more than a cold steel weapon, but it will slow their regeneration abilities to one-tenth the normal speed. For instance, a limb cut off by iron will regenerate in a few days, while one dismembered by silver will take about a month. A vampire decapitated by silver is a dead vampire, unless the head is re-attached within a few hours.

Yes, sunlight hurts vampires. Their skin has an utter lack of melanin, a chemical that causes tanning. Their skin will start to burn within about five minutes of exposure, regardless of race or skin color during life. (Vampires that were African-American during life, for instance, still retain their color during vampirism, if a little lighter. They still burn like a white baby's ass, however.) It is estimated a vampire burns at roughly one hundred times the normal human rate. A vampire should melt away after about twenty minutes of direct exposure, fifteen if it's cloudy out. (The clouds magnify the UV rays the sun gives off) A simple umbrella or large coat will negate these effects.

A lastly, everyone's favorite, stakes. I refer of course to a sharpened piece of wood, not a slice of dead cow. As most people know, you can immobilize a vampire with a stake through the heart. It will stay in this state until the stake is removed or destroyed. If you remove it, the vampire should decapitate you with one clean swipe, get up, and walk away. The whole in its chest will heal in five minutes or less.

Vampire abilities: Vampires can assume a gaseous state twice a day. Weapons cannot harm them in this form, but fire, acid, and holy water affect them normally. They can still be seen, and have the consistency (but not the temperature) of steam, and can pass through the smallest cracks.

The kings of the undead can also become invisible for limited periods of time, and can attack during this form. Weapons affect them normally, but they cannot be seen in infrared, due to the lack of heat in their bodies. They can be seen normally with ultraviolet light.

They can of course, transform into large bats. They can retain this form as long as they wish, and occasionally mate with actual bats (how did you think vampire bats were made?). Rarely, you may find a vampire that can half-transform, resulting in bat wings almost as large as the vampire itself. Their fangs grow, as do their talons. They are called Halflings in this form, and are extremely dangerous. Any relation to a small human is purely coincidence.

They can also levitate at will in human form, and are adept at various other types of magic. They wield too many spells to count, but some of the most fearsome are Flesh to Stone, Flowsteel, and Hellblast. The raw power of these spells is often enough to kill several adversaries at once.

Vampires are extremely fast, strong, agile, and durable creatures. They can leap from one hundred feet (Roughly eight stories up on an apartment building) and hit the ground unharmed, while powerful specimens can walk away from a one hundred fifty foot drop. An average vampire is roughly three times as strong and four times as fast as a grown man, and powerful ones can easily lift and toss large objects, such as semi-trucks. For example, a strong, unarmed vampire could kill Muhammed Ali at his peak in fifteen seconds, give or take.

The top speed for a dashing (that's sprinting, not handsome) vampire is clocked at roughly eighty miles an hour, but do not expect them to be able to maintain that speed for long.

Vampires are, however, extremely charismatic. You will find many as leaders of street gangs or important business executives. Many will follow them simply because of their flawless appearance, and because they emanate raw power and skill. An easy way to tell if someone has fallen victim to a vampire's charm is a glaze over the eyes, or shrunken pupils. Large veins on the hands are also a common sign of mental domination.

The most effective way to kill a vampire? Stake the bastard, saw his head off with a silver blade, and leave him in the sun to dry. Then move far away, because they will probably find a way to survive, and will be looking for you within a week. He will likely have your social security number, street address, telephone number, and a list of loved ones. Vampires are like the Mafia. Don't screw with them."

I wanted to do something dark for a change, and there it is! I hope you liked, cause if I get some good feedback I'll continue it (even if it was short). I don't know how good I am at spooky writing, but if you guys want more, its gonna be one hell of a ride. Now go read Shadows of a Broken Life! If you're Cait, don't, cause you kind of wrote it. You know you want to, it's my charisma. *grins revealing fangs*