Bloodstream

Introduction

What would you say if I told you vampires are real? Would you believe Me? Never mind. It doesn't really matter what you believe.

Allow me to tell you a story. Indulge me if you will? Vampires, they are real. Very real and you would never know if you met one unless he or she intended for you to know.

Vampires are real, and they live and breathe in cities just like this one all over the world. Yes, live and breathe. You see, vampires are not like what you have been led to believe. Not all of them, anyhow. They walk among the peoples of the world. There isn't a continent, a country, a city, a state, that is free of them. They live everywhere that humans live and are just as diverse in culture and varied in ethnicity as humans are.

Allow me first to set the record straight regarding vampires. They are not all blood-sucking creatures of the night. No. No, they are not. Like I said. Most, all true vampires, if you ever met one, and chances are you have met several in your young life thus far, you wouldn't know you met one. They look just like you, they walk, they breathe, they eat, they drink. Their hearts, they beat and their blood, it flows through their veins. They are just like you and me. Hell, for all you know, you could be talking to one right now.

Now, there are a few that are exactly like the monsters your grandmother, if she loved you, warned you about. They are dark creatures of the night and only the night. There is no magic ring that allows them to walk in daylight. The sun can kill them. They do not sparkle in the sun. They do not turn into a thousand bats, or mist to slide under your bedroom door so they can seduce you. They will not seduce you, cannot even begin to try. No! They are true terrors of the night. They will stalk you and they WILL kill you.

They will kill you without hesitation or thought because they do not breathe, they do not eat. Their hearts, they do not beat and their blood, it does not flow. They do not think, they are not capable of it. They are dead, just dead and hungry. The force that drives them, the only force, is the need to feed, feed on human blood. They are like your modern imaginings of zombies, only their food source is blood not brains. But, there are only a few of them left in existence in this world. There have only been a few throughout the centuries that vampires have existed. Most vampires are peaceful, well peaceful is not the right word, —reclusive in nature, better describes them. Most but not all.

Yes, they do require food to keep living, they depend upon it for survival, but that food, that energy, just like the energy humans get from the different types of food they must consume, can come from a variety of sources. Vampires, like humans, cannot produce it on their own. It's not just the blood that sustains them, though its consumption is the most coveted and prized of all sources, there are other ways for vampires to feed. You will see.

The history of vampires extends well beyond Dracula and that story of old, but that is a tale for another day. Today, today I want to tell you another story. So, settle in, get comfortable. Do you need to use the restroom? I will be here when you return. Then we can get started.

*'It was the best of times. It was the worst of times...' Just kidding, here sit a while and listen.

*Charles Dickens "A Tale of Two Cities"