1 YOUR NEW BODY
From the moment
you first ran your tongue along your teeth after the
transformation, it was clear that your body had undergone
changes. But to what extent? It isn't just the fangs that
are new. Many functions of your former body have
dramatically increased, slowed, or stopped altogether. Each
modification occurs so you can become a sleeker, more
effective blood-obtaining-and-processing machine. Below are
the most dramatic improvements.
DIGESTIVE-CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
The
nutritional and dietary needs of your body have changed. You
now eat from only one food group, blood, which, when
consumed, is absorbed through arteries of the stomach wall
(1) and small intestine (2). Because of this, your stomach
no longer produces acid, and your saliva no longer contains
enzymes to break down starches. Instead, your saliva
contains new enzymes that prevent the blood from
coagulating. Any blood that is not absorbed by the stomach
or small intestine makes its way to the newly enlarged
appendix (3), where it is stored.* The imbibed blood is
whisked to the liver (4), where impurities are filtered out.
From there, the purified blood passes through your heart
(5), which sends it to the rest of your body. The blood's
vitality is then slowly absorbed through a biochemical
process that releases light-negating hemo-photon particles,
invisible to the naked eye.
EXCRETORY/URINARY SYSTEM
A
vampire's body utilizes 98.9 percent of the blood it
processes, so there is far less waste to remove.
Consequently, your bladder and large intestine are no longer
necessary, and effectively shut down. The kidneys likewise
shrink, and your ability to generate the blood-production
hormone erythropoietin also halts. The little waste left to
remove-dead blood-cell walls and chemical impurities-is
discreetly flushed from the body via the sweat ducts (6) of
the feet. INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM
Undead is not dead. Hair and nails continue to grow,
albeit stronger and more slowly.* Your new nails, if grown
long, can be used effectively as gouging or slashing
implements. A vampire's skin will continue to grow as well,
but instead of flaking off, the base components are absorbed
back into the body when they are no longer functional,
making your complexion smooth and powdery. In addition, your
skin no longer produces vitamin D when exposed to sunlight.
Instead, the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight prevents the
release of hemo-photon particles the epidermis emits as a
by-product of processing vital energies from the blood; this
can cause grave injury.
IMMUNE SYSTEM
You no longer need an immune system. Viruses and
bacteria that find purchase in living hosts do not meet a
friendly environment inside a vampire's body. The one
notable exception is that the feet, moistened from the
constant excretion of waste, are susceptible to the fungal
infection tinea pedis, known colloquially as night foot, or
to the warm as athlete's foot.
ENDOCRINE
SYSTEM
Your endocrine system was formerly
responsible for regulating the release of hormones in your
body. Most of the glands (such as the pituitary) that made
up this system all but burned themselves out in your rapid
human-to-vampire transformation. Some, such as the adrenal
gland, enlarged and are now constantly active, contributing
to your enhanced reflexes and strength. The thyroid and
parathyroid glands also enlarged, which gives you increased
energy and aids in your rapid healing
response.
MUSCULAR AND NERVOUS
SYSTEMS
While a vampire's strength and
reflexes have increased dramatically, their functionality
has not changed at all.
REPRODUCTIVE
SYSTEM
The reproductive system as you knew
it is no longer functional. Your genitals are no longer
necessary for you to procreate and can only perform
sexually. Reproducing is now carried out by allowing a
victim to feed on you. A vampire is technically of three
parents: a human mother, a human father, and the vampire who
turned him. All those responsible passed on the genetic
materials that make up you as an individual. The vampire's
genetic material-its particular strengths and
weaknesses-have been passed on to you via the blood consumed
to initiate the turning.
SKELETAL
SYSTEM
Your bone marrow has disappeared,
meaning that you no longer produce your own blood. This
makes you lighter and able to jump higher.
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
Your body no
longer needs oxygen in order to function, and you no longer
need to breathe. Your lungs operate on a purely voluntary
basis, and are used primarily to allow you to mimic humans,
to speak, or perhaps to smoke, for dramatic
effect.
2 YOUR NEW
POWERS
In order to slake your newfound
thirst, your body has undergone a series of changes that
radically elevate your predatory capabilities. As you settle
into your superior form, you will marvel that you were ever
able to get along as a human.
A word
of caution: the dawning awareness of your enhanced abilities
can be initially disorienting, then ultimately intoxicating.
Many vampires go through a delusional period early on. They
confuse superior with invulnerable and behave recklessly
until they either realize their limitations or perish
following an act of supreme foolishness.
STRENGTH
Your feeble human form may have
been hard-pressed to lift a case of beer without wheezing,
but a vampire can lift a car over his head with ease.
Increased strength also endows you with the ability to jump
great distances and climb vertical surfaces utilizing
minimal hand- and footholds.
SPEED AND
HEIGHTENED REFLEXES
On average, vampires
can move twice as fast as humans, enabling them to chase
down any prey with ease. When necessary, microbursts of
incredible speed are also possible, though they require a
great deal more energy. Your reaction times are also
decreased, making it much easier to dodge a clumsily wielded
stake aimed for the heart.
HEIGHTENED
SENSES
Increased speed and strength alone
will not help you find your way around in pitch-blackness.
Fortunately, with your new body, the night comes alive. You
now possess superior night vision on the level of the cat,
which allows you to penetrate the darkness with ease. With
your owl-like hearing, you can hear a jugular vein pulsing
from yards away. Like the wolf, you can smell the delicious
fear coming in waves off a victim. When you taste your
victim's blood, you will be able to identify his blood type,
what he had for his last meal, and what prescription and
nonprescription medications he was taking. Only your sense
of touch will be unchanged-which, admittedly, is a bit of a
letdown after the dramatic increase in the other
senses.
MIND CONTROL
The
ability to hold sway over the warm is difficult to master
because it is completely new and alien. You lifted objects
as a human, so lifting heavier objects is not hard to
understand; it is probable, however, that you never
controlled another human's mind. When it happens to you, it
will come as a surprise. One minute you'll be thinking of
how distasteful it is that someone is a smoker, and the next
minute you'll watch that person crumple up his pack of
cigarettes, never to smoke again. After this happens for a
fifth time, you'll start to understand and appreciate the
causality, and you can work on honing your abilities for a
greater purpose.
All mind control
requires is that you fix your concentrated gaze on a human
while thinking about what you want him to do. If he looks
into your eyes, he will bend to your will.* At your command,
he will follow your orders, remember what you tell him, or
forget what he saw.
There are
limitations. You cannot make people harm themselves. For
example, you can command a victim to stay in position while
you glide over to feed on him, but you cannot make him jump
out a window or cut his wrists over a wine glass so that you
can drink the blood in a sophisticated manner. The longer
you control a human, the weaker his grasp of sanity becomes,
so unless you want a gibbering fool on your hands, do not
control one human mind for longer than is
necessary.
CONTROL OVER
ANIMALS
In addition to controlling humans,
you will be able to communicate with and control certain
types of animals. The type of creature varies from vampire
to vampire. Most can control rats, while others have
dominion over bats, wolves, or dogs. Older vampires can
command multiple species.
RAPID
HEALING
Many humans labor under the false
impression that the vampire cannot be harmed by anything but
specialized weapons. This is untrue. Vampires can suffer a
full spectrum of injuries, but heal incredibly quickly.
While a vampire may be in a great deal of pain after getting
hit by a car, he will be able to walk it off within minutes.
There are exceptions to this rule (see chapter 3,
"Weaknesses"), but by and large, most cuts, punctures, and
blunt-force traumas will not impede you for
long.
LONGEVITY
As long
as you stay out of sunlight and avoid having your heart
impaled with a wooden stake, you will live
forever.
A NOTE ON
AGING
As you get older, some of your
powers will increase. You will be able to control a wider
variety of animals, lift heavier objects, and hypnotize
larger groups of people.
You will also
find that, around the one-hundred-year mark, new powers will
begin to develop. The only reason they are being enumerated
this early in your development is so that you know what to
expect before you receive misinformation from another
vampire. Don't be obsessed with these powers. They will
develop in due course.
TRANSFORMATION
You will be able to alter
the structure of your body so that you can assume two new
physical forms, albeit for a brief period of time. The first
is a bat, granting you the power of flight and the ability
to crawl into small spaces. The second is a mist, which is
useful for accessing secured spaces, but you can't carry
anything. At first, the transformations take a few minutes,
but they will eventually occur instantaneously. Clothes do
not make the transformation with you, so when you turn back,
you will be left naked and vulnerable. Make sure not to
carry items of value or anything that may indicate the
location of your lair if you plan on utilizing this
power.
POWER X
At around
the one-thousand-year mark, every vampire receives a power
that is unique to him. It may be extremely advantageous or
merely amusing. Some have reported the ability to move
objects with their minds. Some can predict the future.
Others can belch small flames on command. There is little
advice to offer regarding this power, save that you must
wait patiently for it.
3
WEAKNESSES
To the dismay of many
vampires, your new strengths are accompanied by a whole new
set of weaknesses. It is true that you will no longer find
yourself laid up in bed with a stomach flu for days at a
time, but after one inadvertent pass through a sunbeam,
you'll wish for such pedestrian woes. These impediments are
not insurmountable. Simple precautions can be taken to avoid
them.
IRRITANTS
GARLIC
Garlic is very unpleasant to a
vampire. The odor is noxious, often inducing gagging or
retching. Like an allergy to MSG in humans, you will feel
like you're breaking out in hives if someone cracks a clove
of garlic in your vicinity. The Science: There are
many theories as to why this simple foodstuff is repulsive
to the vampire. The most common is that the pungent odor of
the bulb is strongly associated with food and triggers
latent human hunger urges. The vampire body, having evolved
into its superior form, reacts strongly to squash those
urges, often turning the body against itself. Unfortunately,
this remains only a theory. No one wants to get close enough
to garlic to conduct the experiments necessary for
proof.
SLEEP
Like most
creatures, vampires undergo regular periods of dormancy.
Unlike other creatures, our loss of consciousness is nearly
total. From sunrise to sunset, we slumber, and nothing is
able to awaken us. There we lie, vulnerable to any predator
that wishes to do us harm.
The Science:
In addition to the normal fatigue a body feels after a full
night, ambient solar radiation interferes with the internal
blood-digestion process. As the sun rises, your body
converts blood to energy more slowly, and it becomes more
difficult to function. The body weakens and thoughts become
cloudy. As soon as a state of repose is achieved, the mind
closes to almost all external stimulus.
NO
REFLECTION IN MIRRORS
No matter how hard
you work to pass among the warm, one inadvertent stroll past
a mirror will reveal your true nature. You may be able to
brush aside inquiries by making up something about warped
glass or plainly being able to see yourself, but the seed of
doubt will be planted, and your nervous quarry will become
more suspicious. Worse still is trying to seduce a human to
feed on and being foiled by messy hair or a smear of blood
on your cheek. This is why it is ideal to have a grooming
partner who can look you over and give you the all clear
before you go out.
The Science: An effect
of the conversion of blood into energy is the release of the
aforementioned hemo-photon particles from the skin. These
particles nullify the light rays that would otherwise show
up as your reflection.
INABILITY TO CROSS
THRESHOLDS WITHOUT INVITATION
Try as you
may, it is impossible to enter a house without first
securing an invitation from a resident. Any attempt to do so
will end disastrously.
The Science: A
human's dwelling is imbued with a familial aura that
disrupts the vampire's stasis. The body is locked out by its
inability to physically function within that space. (For
information about overcoming this problem, see chapter 21,
"Getting In: Invite-Only Buildings.")
COMPULSIVELY COUNTING SPILLED SEEDS OR
GRAINS
This vulnerability has been all
but forgotten in human lore, and there's a good reason for
that. Vampires have worked hard for centuries to eradicate
all knowledge of this obsessive behavior so that it cannot
be used against them. There's nothing worse than chasing
your prey and seeing him spill a bag of sunflower seeds he's
been snacking on, because you are compelled to count each
and every seed or grain before continuing. This is where
autistic vampires have an advantage, as they can count the
seeds at a glance without breaking stride. While this
compulsion leaves you open to any of the attacks listed
below, it's not fatal unto itself. It's simply very
inconvenient and embarrassing.* The Science: The
prevailing wisdom on this subject is the Evolutionary Theory
of Compulsive Counting.* In essence, it states that before
books or other nocturnal diversions, vampires used to count
small objects to keep their minds occupied. Often, they
would count the smallest things of human value available to
them, which were seeds, grains, and rice. These were all
abundant, easily obtained, and useless to vampires as food.
Over time, vampires who kept themselves from going mad with
boredom and walking into the sun were the strongest
counters. The counters thus had more offspring, who carried
the trait, which eventually evolved into an outright
compulsion.