Let’s say you’ve become a vampire. Assume you were bitten by some other unknown vampire who then took off.
You’ve discovered you have the basic traditional attributes of a vampire:
You need to consume blood on a regular basis. Let’s say about once a week or so. You only need a cup or so - not enough to kill a victim through blood loss.
You’re immortal. You don’t age or suffer any health problems. If you’re injured, you heal within a matter of hours. You don’t need to eat or drink except for the above-mentioned blood.
Sunlight will kill you. You can stand a few minutes of indirect daylight but no direct sunlight or prolonged exposure.
You can turn other people into vampires by biting them if you wish to do so.
So what do you do now? How would being a vampire affect your personal life?
Would you go public and tell people that vampires are real and you’re one of them? Would you seek out other vampires and, if so, how would you do that?
Assuming you don’t go public, would you tell your family and friends? Would you try to conceal it or go into hiding instead?
How would you go about obtaining the blood you need?
How would you stay out of sunlight?
How would vampirism affect your employment? Would you need to switch to another job? What kind of job could you work as a vampire? Would you need to work at all if you were a vampire?
Would you explore to see if you had other powers or vulnerabilities? What would you look for and how?
Would there be anyone else you would convert to being a vampire?
Well, I’d definitely have to start teaching night school.
I wouldn’t give up food or drink. I like them too much. I’d probably take Spike(reformed) as my role model.
As for the blood…let’s just say that I’d move to Las Vegas and troll the clubs for young ladies who are “having a happy period,” so to speak. Win-win. Of course, that would have to be after I had mastered my vampiric powers of mesmerism, because they sure wouldn’t be around me in my present shape.
Can I convert my cats? Cuz that would be cool. I don’t know if the wife would like to be un-dead, but I’d convert her if she so desires.
Hmm. On the one hand, becoming a vampire would let me do some really cool things. They can fly, right? That’d be cool right there. I could go to gang neighborhoods and whack all the bad homies. These predators are usually out at night, and I can’t be easily killed, so some gangs are going to go away. Even if homeboy shoots me, I tear his arms off (vampires are really strong, I think) and let him bleed to death. I can take a sip of his precious bodily fluids while I am at it. Every night I’d kill a few more. Imagine the news headlines: ‘Serial Killer Mutilates Another Suspected Gang Member: Victim Had Extensive Criminal Record.’
Vampirism could be used for the good of my fellow, er, former mankind. A benevolent vampire. Killing with compassion. Like Dexter. Or something.
On the other hand, I am in love with my wife. There is no possible way she would agree to becoming a vampiress. Even if I could prove she would never gain a pound, always be fit and sexy, never aging. I could not walk the nights alone without her. I would use my vampowers to set her up for life, then I would kill myself.
Minor nitpicky thing: we’re talking traditional Hollywood vampires, right? Vampires of various folklore traditions vary, and even with Hollywood vampires it’s hard to pin down a set of rules (some vampires are just fine with garlic, some need to be invited into a home to retain power, some can walk in sunlight with little ill effects, some are repelled by holy symbols, some are not, some do cast reflections, some can change into various animals, others can mentally control animals but not turn into one, etc.) so does this set of rules sound OK?
Vampires are harmed by sunlight and prolonged direct exposure will kill them
Vampires don’t cast reflections or shadows or appear on film/cameras (what about digital cameras?)
Vampires can assert telepathic control over some animals like bats and wolves and rats
Vampires are supernaturally strong and fast
Vampires can fly
Vampires must drink human blood to survive
Vampires are repelled by holy symbols, but only when brandished by someone who truly has faith in whatever that symbol stands for
Vampires have sharp, elongated canine teeth
Vampires can enter buildings without invitation, but are weakened; invite a vampire in and he/she is at fulls strength
Vampires are able to mesmerize the weak-willed
Vampires have supernaturally sharp senses
Vampires can be pinned to the ground with a wooden stake, but must be decapitated to be killed; they heal rapidly from all other injuries and cannot suffocate or drown. They stop aging when they become vampires
Vampires can turn humans into vampires if the humans ingest the vampire’s blood, but not just by being bitten by the vampire
Vampires detest garlic
Vampires can have sex, but are sterile (turning a human is the only way to reproduce)
If I were turned into a vampire as per the above rules, I would quit working and obtain money by robbing my victims (or stealing from wherever I can find money or resources) and I would likely move around a lot from town to town. I would wait a while before turning anyone to see just how good or bad it is to be a vampire; if it’s a major boon or at least has some good perks, I would seek to find a soulmate to turn, preferably a hot young woman who would be willing to consent to the conversion. No going public for me, nothing good would come of it. And I would avoid cheerleaders and guys driving black Chevy Impalas.
So…I’m effectively immortal/invulnerable, aside from direct sunlight, and I only need a cup of blood per week to sustain me? And I can make more like me?
If I decide to “come out of the coffin,” I might try to talk to someone at NASA…looks like manned space missions just got a LOT easier to set up!
“Direct sunlight” was specified—the question becomes if a vampire can stand the amount of sunlight you’d get through shielding you could still see through, and how much sun you could tolerate before it’s effects are no longer harmful. (Moonlight—reflected sunlight—for instance, doesn’t harm vampires. Nor does starlight. And the OP’s vampire’s can withstand indirect sunlight, though with injury.)
The effects of staking differ from verse to verse.
Buffyverse: They instantly turn into dust. It’s like popping giant bubble wrap.
Mystic Fallsverse:They shrivel and give off smoke, and then collapse into a heap of dust.
Supernaturalverse: Nothing kills them except decapitation. Preferably in gory detail. And then the corpses just stay there all gory and dead and everything.
True Bloodverse: Buckets of blood and gore spurting all over the place.
Stephen Kingverse: Blood and gore all over the place, then gradually shrivel into dust.
Draculaverse: You have to include garlic.
But what happens to them when you revoke permission to be in the house and they’re already in the house?
Answer to the OP: Go into business as a private investigator and work at night. The obvious answer.
Head to a major city like NYC or San Francisco. I’d be tempted to head for the wilds, but vampire 101 is to keep the food close. The sheer number of humans in a major metropolitan area helps your anonymity. An immortal with (probably) super strength won’t have a hard time making money off the grid/ under the table.
Being able to mesmerize humans is a huge advantage. I would take a scientific approach to testing my powers and weaknesses. I would really cross my fingers that I could still enjoy sex, booze, and tobacco, but morphing into a bat, wolf, or fog would kind of take some sting away if I lost out on human pleasures. I’d be hedging my bets on crosses doing squat, and I’d concentrate mostly on increasing the powers I have.
I would not seek out other vampires. I can’t think of a single instance in all of fiction where that worked out for the better.
I would also prefer that merely biting does not turn a human. It should be more of a blood exchange or some other conscious ritual.
Oh, I just remembered one! I’d fashion some sort of stab-proof vest and perhaps an inconspicuous leather collar.
I guess. I don’t know about that stuff. I remember hearing once that bullet proof vests can be stabbed through surprisingly easily. though I suppose some, like the ones won by prison guards, are built to stop stabbing.
If this is meant to describe how a vampire would go about dealing with the mundanities of life, then the traits need to be ground more in real life. Once you get into fear of crosses, no reflection, shape-changing, flying, etc., it’s automatically relegated to the realm of fantasy.
The only difference I see from an ordinary human is fewer things can kill you, and you now have a VERY restricted diet. You might be immortal, but you’re not invulnerable. That’s how I see it.
