#AtoZChallenge - This is a Week Catch Up

I am super behind on this challenge, but unlike last year where I just gave up, I am going to CATCH UP instead. Don't really care if its allowed or not, but I'm just gonna do I post and catch it all up. I have been writing daily for Camp NaNo, really into the story I'm writing, so that's where I've been instead...

Okay, so here we go. My theme is vampires and I did do a post for A already....

B is for BloodLust:

BloodLust happens to be the title of my novel, about a vampire (Jake) who falls for a human woman (Karlea) and promises to protect her against one of the first and oldest vampires, who wants her for his own evil reasons. Jake must also protect her from himself, the ravenous creature dying to be let out inside him, as they embark on a passionate romance.

BloodLust refers to a vampire's severe craving of blood, to the point they have lost control over themselves for it (if they even had any control to begin with). For some vampires, just feeding from a human is enough, for others it also involves sex as they feed. Usually their victims end up completely drained and dead. This is also sometimes called frenzy (See below)

B is also for BloodBond:

A bloodbond is between a human and a vampire. The vampire either forces the human to drink large quantities of their blood a few times, or a human does so willingly. After, they are bonded for life, there is no way out for the human, other than dying. Usually the vampire bloodbonds because they plan to turn the human into a vampire and the bloodbond will make the Sire - Progeny bond even stronger. Sometimes vampires don't sire their bloodbonds and leave them human. The bloodbound human will need to drink a bit of their future sire's blood every day or every other day to avoid the effects of withdrawal which can have devastating effects, including going crazy and on a killing spree, much like a vampire going into Bloodlust or Frenzy. If the vampire dies, the human is also as good as dead, as no other vampire can satiate the human's need for vampire blood. Therefore, an unwilling bloodbond cannot kill the vampire that bonded them unless they want to die too. A bloodbond makes their relationship stronger, even if the human is fighting it. It makes the vampire very in control of their human and very closely connected to the human's body. It is extremely intimate, like sex and having a child, and is almost considered a marriage of sorts.

In my story BloodLust, Jake is too afraid to bloodbond Karlea, which constantly causes them issues. In the second story, BloodLust: Armani, Armani bloodbonds Karlea to him and they are both surprised to find just how deep their bond is. 

B is also for BloodBending:
Vampires can naturally read the blood of humans once they drink from them. The more times they drink from the same human, the more they can read of their blood. However, once bloodbound, a vampire can not only read the human's blood, but also control it. It is similar to a vampire using mind control on a human by looking them in the eye and making the human do whatever it is the vampire wants, only bloodbending is much more serious. 

Armani has not employed this technique on Karlea yet, so she does not know this can happen. She has experienced, with their deep bonding, a slight ability to read Armani's blood, however, she is nowhere near strong enough as a human to bloodbend. 

C is for Caine:

In WhiteWolf Games, Vampire: The Masquerade, Caine is the first and most powerful vampire in The Book of Nod. He did kill his brother Abel and was outcasted by his father, Adam. He came upon a woman, named Lilith, who took him in. It was revealed that Lilith was Adam's first wife and she now had immortal powers. Caine and Lilith became lovers and Caine begged her for the dark gift. Lilith prepares an Awakening ceremony for him, cutting herself and giving Caine her blood to drink. He is then visited by three angels to try to get him to repent for Abel's death. He refuses and each angel bestows a curse upon him: he and any of his children will have a weakness to fire, a vulnerability to sunlight, and the beast within that hungers for blood. Thus, vampires are born.

Cain also happens to be my first child's name :)

D is of course for Dracula:

The most famous vampire in all literature, based off of historical information about Vlad the Impaler, or Vlad Dracul, who defended Transylvania against the Ottoman Turks and uphold Christianity. In the movie version, Vlad returns to Transylvania to find his wife, Elisabeta, has committed suicide over hearing a false report of his death. Enraged that she is now damned, he desecrates his chapel. He stabs the stone cross and drinks the blood pouring out of it, saying he will avenge her death by rising from the grave with all the powers of darkness. 

E is for the Embrace: 

The embrace is where a vampire shares their dark gift with a human, turning them into a vampire. First the vampire has to drain the mortal of all their human blood - drinking their blood creates a tighter bond between them and is more intimate, like sex and childbirth. It is usually the way, even if the mortal is injured in some way where there is blood loss, the vampire will still usually drink what is left. The vampire then feeds their blood to the mortal, turning them vampire and into their progeny.

F is for Frenzy:

Frenzy is when a vampire is out of control (again, if they had any to begin with) and the animalistic beast inside takes over. Usually they will drain and kill any human in sight without knowing what they are doing. 

F is also for Fangs:
A vampire's teeth that allow them to bite humans and drink their blood. Can be on either on the upper teeth or on the upper and lower together. Some fangs are retractable, others are not. My vampires tend to have smaller, more natural fangs that most people wouldn't even notice, unless they were staring intently.  And yes, I do own fangs for myself that I do wear out in public a lot. I was known as the vampire girl in the Bay Area. :) I was proud of that. 

G is for Gangrel: 

Is a clan from Vampire: The Masquerade. They are vagabond and drifter vampires.They have an animalistic instinct and rage. They are great fighters when they need to be. They also turn more animal looking as they give into the beast within during a frenzy and feed. 

Alright, did we make it to the end? This is pretty cool, I'm creating my own vampire encyclopedia of sorts. :)

Thanks for reading!

Bleeding Hearts & Fangs,
~Siren X