When vampires exposed themselves, not that way! Ya idjiot. When vamps revealed themselves to the world humans reacted as they always do to something that frightens them. With blind, murderous panic.
It wasn’t a planned reveal. They weren’t stupid. At least no more stupid than the humans they had been. They were picky about who they turned. Turning a human was difficult and left both maker and made vulnerable for years after the turn. Even a failed attempt left the maker weakened. Add that the success rate was less than twenty percent, and it made the vamps pretty damned choosy. Anyway, on a average the vamps were prettier and pretty smart.
It didn’t matter. Once we knew they were real we quickly learned to hunt them. They were faster than we are. Stronger, so much stronger. But so is every other predator on the damned planet. We figure it out. The really old ones have powers but even they sleep during the day. Harder than most.
When we find a vampire nest there is no stalking through the dark hallways stake in hand. That there is some bullshit. Naw, man. We block all the exits, set the whole thing on fire, and burn it to ash. Fireproof boxes or rooms get blown up and hit with flamethrowers and napalm, which works better on the flammable vamps than it does on us. Any human remains – vamps don’t leave nothin’ but ash. Humans are identified and a condolence letter with a check for ten thousand dollars is sent to their families.
They were already regretting being outed when the disease hit. Look, it’s not like the vamps were just waiting in their nests for us to come and get them. It was a war. We were winning, but barely. The old ones, the ones that have been around for centuries? They ain’t nothing if they ain’t survivors. They’ve seen us. They don’t even remember being human and maybe that lets them understand us better. So they, our side, released it. Him. Patient Zero. It was supposed to be a controlled experiment. That went to shit right quick.
The young vamps, it made ’em go crazy, right? Running right into sunlight. Trying to kill anything with a heartbeat. Sure, we took some losses. We had no idea how many there were. They were everywhere.
Yeah, so a fed vamp has a heartbeat and breathes. And of course, they need to breathe to talk. They don’t absolutely have to but then they aren’t moving. Like when they die during the day. A hungry vamp is actually more sluggish than a fed vamp. They’re just crazier when they are hungry. They don’t need to feed that much. They’re like cats. Or people. They don’t kill because they have to. They do it because it is their nature.
Anyway, that’s why they made it airborne. It worked. Until it mutated. Started affecting humans. We still don’t know if the mutation was natural or if the vamps did it. Personally, I think it was natural. The way it changed, it didn’t give the vamps no real advantage. It hurt ’em. Mostly. We, their sole food source, became contaminated. Feeding was risking death.
But?
Yeah, the big ole but in the room. Infected humans who were turned were immune. Not just immune. It’s like they were instant mini masters. It was rare for them to survive a turn. Percentile is in the low single digits. It’s worth it to the vamps. Even the loss of a few masters making these newborns.
They are more of a hybrid. Not as physically strong as regular vamps they are just as vulnerable to fire and sunlight. But they can wake during the day. Like, really be awake, not just react like other newborns. They can be awake all the time.
I mean, regular vampire newborns are a lot like any other newborn. Completely focused on their physical needs. In the case of the vamps: blood and emotion. Oh yeah, that part’s true. I think they feed off of us psychically. Some of the geeks say it’s the chemicals we release into our blood when our emotions are aroused. Sex, fear, despair, rage, anything intense. It’s why they have to feed from the source.
It takes them years to learn control. During that time they have to feed regularly from their maker. From what I’ve seen, the bond is intense. Few makers can handle more than two newborns at a time and they will be years apart. You kill the maker and its newborns will die.
Except these motherfuckers. The newborn stage of a hybrid is weeks. For some it’s days. Worse, once they exit newborn stage they come into their power. You know the stories about vampires mesmerizing people and shit? Used to be only masters centuries old could do that. These guys can do it after a few months.
They can wake during the day and they can mesmerize us.
Because their bond to their makers are shorter and weaker they also remember being human. Viscerally.
These people weren’t chosen and groomed for the turn. They didn’t want this. Not all of them. That’s how we ended up where we are now. They came to us. So I guess we’ll see what happens next.