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Snow Tart
270774
>How secret is our existence and are there repercussions for breaking that secrecy?
>what things are fatal to vampires?
>What hurts vampires?
>How do you feed without tipping folks off to the presence of vampires in their community?
>How do you avoid attention from the authorities?
>Why are we secret when [we]'re stronger and faster than humans and are their predators?
>Give us important info on not getting caught as a vampire
“But we have to be somewhat cautious, right?”
“Oh, yes,” says Pascal. “Of course, they cannot enforce every little thing. There are vampires who keep humans as companions - I do not understand this, but it is common. And what does it matter, if they are quiet? It is when you make a scene that you are in danger, and not from humans.”
Pascal looks at him again, and this time he grabs his sleeve, to command his attention. “Ricardo. This is the first and most important thing I will teach you. The most dangerous thing to a vampire is other vampires.”
Ricardo opens his mouth to reply, but Pascal’s face is more serious than he’s ever seen it. He wets his lips instead. “Alright. Are you going to expand on that?”
Pascal doesn’t release his sleeve. “All of this business about salt and garlic is nonsense. A stake in the heart will only kill you if there is no one there to pull it out, and to lose your head will only kill you if there is no one to put it back - this is why we live at least in pairs, always, but of course now that there are no vampire hunters, these things do not happen. And what human can take our head off, without a silver blade and years of training? What human could get close enough to you? What human could remove your heart, and then to wait for your body to die, and then destroy your heart so you cannot regenerate from it - especially if you live with a companion, as we are meant to, who will retrieve it for you? Humans are only dangerous to you in groups, with training and knowledge, and we have taken this from them.”
His hands have now transferred to holding Ricardo’s elbow, and Ricardo is too absorbed in the inflow of information to shake him off. “I will tell you in what way humans are dangerous. They are dangerous because when their own begin to die, especially in ways they cannot explain, they panic. They are dangerous because when their own die, they become obsessed with finding out why, because they do not want to be next. Humans are dangerous because they are curious and persistent.” Pascal’s tone, like his expression, is more serious than it has ever been before. “And if you trigger this panicked curiosity, you will make other vampires angry. This is why humans are dangerous.”
Ricardo can’t tell if they’ve been walking for a long time or not. This is more information in a few minutes than he had managed to piece together from five years of eavesdropping and inference. “I will tell you about it, Ricardo! I will tell you stories so you know I am serious,” says Pascal. “Ones you have maybe heard about. In the late 1800s, in England, there was a vampire who fed as he pleased, and he caused panic in London. I think he was of no house. Even vampires use the name he used among humans, just calling himself ‘Jack.’ He made the humans so frightened that it was nearly impossible for any other vampire in the city to feed cautiously. It took them less than a month to find him and kill him.”
That’s a mystery solved, Ricardo thinks dryly.
“Even nobility are not exempt from this,” Pascal continues. “One of my own house! My sire’s own cousin, the Countess Elizabeth Bathory, fed as she pleased, far more than she needed, and with frivolous brutality. She was not at all cautious, and rumors spread quickly, and the panic among humans was enough that many correctly guessed at her vampirism. Being nobility of course she could not simply be murdered, but she was locked in a room and starved to death. They say she survived four years without blood, even so, because she had fed so opulently before.” Pascal pauses, tilting his head. “I think that is just a story, though. Even a very old vampire cannot survive more than five or six months, and she was not much older than I am at the time. But what I mean to tell you is that if you disturb the hunting grounds, you will never be safe from the wrath of other vampires! That is why you must be quiet and cautious, and eat no more than you need. Maybe humans will never catch you, but vampires who are being made to fast because you have caused uproar will find you, and they will be angry.”
“Okay, okay, got it. Don’t make other vampires angry by risking a scene.” Ricardo cracks his neck. “What else? There have to be risks, besides starvation and murder.”
“Well, yes. But they are easy to avoid. You will live forever if you are careful.” They’re crossing a bridge, now, and Pascal’s eyes flick to the side. “Learn to fear water, Ricardo.”
“Water?”
“I know. To a human it is the most harmless thing in the world. And you will find that man made things - like a shower, or a bathtub, or, euhhh, man made canals, fountains - these things are harmless. But a river, or an ocean, a waterfall - these things you must be wary of.” Pascal’s hands are tight on his elbow until they’ve crossed to the other side, and then he relaxes. “If you fall into natural water, you will sink to the bottom right away, and you will be unable to do anything but walk on the bottom to get out. But even this you will be unable to do, because you will be mad with pain. Especially in running water, anything with a current - rivers are the worst, and the ocean is as bad. You will be unable to think, or to reason, or to do anything to save yourself - but of course you will not drown. If you fall into a river or something, I will be unable to walk in and save you, and you will suffer forever. Do you understand?”
“I -” Ricardo exhales. “You know, this is the kind of shit I wish I would have known earlier.”
“And this is why I say to you I thought certainly you would not survive,” Pascal replies lightly. He giggles then, nervously. “To travel between America and my home, I used to need to take these long boat journeys, over and over again. It was so frightening. I was mad with fear, the entire time I was on the boat. All I could think of was if the ship would wreck, maybe, and that would be the end of Pascal.” He then changes the subject, brightly. “Of course you have found sunlight will not kill you!”
“Yeah. Spent a good month or two avoiding it, though, no thanks to you,” Ricardo scowls. “It does hurt, though. Gives me a headache. And I can’t see in it.”
“Yes, that’s true. But you’re young, and so it doesn’t really hurt you. Vampires who are very old, maybe two thousand years or older, for them sunlight can be truly dangerous. This is one of the reasons for the system of wards and sires. You cannot defend a castle if you are always asleep and vulnerable in the daytime! But if you have young wards, who are resistant to sunlight and can function in the day - even if it hurts them - then you are safe, you see?” Pascal presses the fingers of his free hand to his lips, smiling. “But it is still better to stay out of it. The less you expose yourself, the longer you will last without it harming you. But I love sunshine, and so I go out in it more than I should. Probably it will become dangerous to me when I am only five hundred or so.”
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