Vampires. The stories and legends surrounding us are vast. Sunlight, garlic, crosses, caskets, etc… Some of them are true and some of them aren't. But I'm not going to go into detail about any of that. There is one myth that I wish to address. Well, it's not so much a myth as a common belief. You see, whenever humans consider us, we're thought of as soulless, or having no feelings. Some would say that we do feel, but only for the purpose of power. As creatures of the night, we should be incapable of all but the darkest of emotions.
This is where you are all wrong. Vampires have more capacity for emotions than most humans. You are all just so limited in what you allow yourself to experience. Most of you are so consumed with your day to day lives that you never let yourselves go and just feel. For instance, when someone close to you dies, you mourn, but eventually move on, saying that it’s good enough that you carry their memory with you. The pain you feel is momentary. For us, we mourn them for as long as we continue to walk on this world. It is a pain that lives with us, that remains with us forever. The pain of their passing is a lesson, and a gift to them.
The same goes for love. You fall into love, and you fall out of it so easily. It seems, almost meaningless to you, like you say it to make each other feel better without really knowing the true strength of it. They’re just words, it seems. For us, we love with our entire beings. And when we fall in love, it is like the sun lives within our bodies for that person. Every touch, every glance, every word spoken shows our devotion. We are incomplete without our loved one, and just like the pain of mourning, our love lasts until we are no more.
*Chuckle* I think I insulted a few of you. I can already see you saying “that’s not true” and “of course I love my partner with everything that I have.” Maybe you do, and if so, I do apologize. There are a few humans capable of the feelings that we have, especially when you are inebriated in some fashion. I think it’s because it’s easier for you to let go. There are several stories written about such love, and devotion through death. So, obviously there is an understanding of the concept. But do you really feel that strongly about your loved one? Does your night become day whenever they walk into the room? Do you feel acute pain whenever you are away from them, and the purest joy imaginable when you are together? Every time you look at them, do you get down on your knees and thank whatever higher power there is that you have them in your life? This is the love that I talk about.
Maybe it’s the difference between life and death. You are still alive, and therefore have so many things to do that you can’t stop and simply feel. Work, kids, shopping, cooking, sleeping, etc… Only so many hours in a day, right? Since we are already dead, and therefore have eternity on our hands, maybe it’s just easier for us. In truth, I don’t know. I guess I really never thought about it.
But I digress. It’s because of our powerful emotions that we keep in the dark and to the shadows. In all honesty, we love the sunlight, but that’s not part of this story. We work to control our feelings around humans, for if we were to feel pain while feeding from you, we would starve. There are even some of us who have such powerful emotions that we can affect those of you who are around at the time. Have you ever walked by someone and all of the sudden felt like it’s the best day of your life, or maybe sunk into the deepest depression that you’ve ever felt? That’s us. So, as you can see, it makes it difficult for us to interact with you, unless you are somehow inebriated, once again. Hence, the darkness, and the clubs. Plus, if you fear us, you’re less likely to come looking for us.
So, it is because of our powerful emotions that there is one rule, that must never be broken. Never fall in love with a human. To do so means the death for us both. If we left our loved one human, then we would have to deal with death of that person, since they are mortal and it is part of their destiny. This would cause us to become a shell of ourselves, with the only option of complete death, which is quite a long and difficult process. If we were to try and change our significant other after falling in love, the pain of the process would live between us for as long as we were together, causing bitterness and hatred that could start wars (trust me, it’s happened.) Remember, love and hate are not mutually exclusive, just different sides of the same coin. There’s also the issue that since they are merely human and therefore prone to erratic emotions, they may simply leave. In which case, they might as well have died, as far as we’re concerned.
This rule became an enforced law after the 60’s. Yes, we got caught up in all the love, same as you. Actually, many of us felt that it was the perfect way to finally come out of the dark, and we not only embraced the culture, but fed into it as much as we could, those of us that could, that is. It wasn’t long though until strife and unrest started occurring in all of the covens. The numbers seeking complete death rose astronomically, and wars started all over the world. Eventually, the elders brought their families under control, and it became enforced that if any vampire was to fall in love with a human, both would be killed automatically.
So now, I’m sure you’re asking, what’s the point in me telling you all of this? You have stuff to do, and you don’t have time for me to ramble on about inane vampire issues. I do apologize for the long introduction, but it was, necessary, for you to understand the depth of the story to come. For you see, I broke the rule and fell in love with a human female. So, this is the story of our forbidden love, and perchance our death, as well.