For the purposes of this interview, our interviewee will go by the name
Born. It is to protect his identity, and the identity of others.

Interviewer: When did you become a vampire?

Born: I awakened just over a year ago, but it was many months before I
realized what the intense cravings I had to endure actually were.

Interviewer:  How were you changed, and what do you call the process?

Born: I call it awakening. I was not changed; this condition has been in my
genetic make up since the day I was conceived. It just naturally developed.

Interviewer:  The old myths say vampires are dependant on blood. Are you, and
are you dependant on anything else?

Born: Well, since I started feeding, I have had to continue, otherwise my
immune system weakens, and I get ill very easily. As for dependence on other
substances, I smoke and used to drink heavily, but that is mostly as a
result of trying to satisfy the cravings before I understood them.

Interviewer:  Do objects such as crucifixes and garlic have any effect on
you?

Born: Crucifixes heavily offend me, because of the hypocratic, genocidal
regime they represent. I do actually like a little bit of garlic on
occasion, so I have to say that religious symbols such as Talismans and
crucifixes don't affect me, if I have no belief in their power.

Interviewer:  Hollywood is notorious for going too far. You don't sleep in a
coffin, do you?

Born: Nope, I am actually a little claustrophobic. The Americanization of
the vampire legend has blown it even more out of proportion than the
Catholic Church did in the middle ages.

Interviewer:  I'd have to agree.

Born: It’s more dangerous because there are people who want to become like
me without knowing what it is really like.

Interviewer:  Have you had many people ask to be awakened?

Born: This guy I once slept with and fed from kinda hinted he wanted to be
'turned', but even if it were possible, I wouldn't do it.

Interviewer:  Is it possible to awaken human beings, or does it have to be a
part of their system naturally?

Born:  Blood is a strong substance, highly addictive. The closest I could
get to turning you, is letting you drink my blood immediately I have fed, so
my energy is stronger. And it would only get you addicted, not transform
you.

Interviewer:  If people feed off your blood when your energy is highest, do
they tend to follow you around, become attached to you, that sort of thing?

Born: I’ve never let anyone except one other vampire feed from me.

Interviewer:  How do you find people to feed from?

Born: Close friends who know of my condition. I ask nicely.

Interviewer:  So, never anyone by force?

Born: No, to get the positive energy you need, it has to be from a willing
donor.

Interviewer:  Is feeding a sexual thing, as countless vampire novel proclaim?

Born: It is an intimate thing, and it has led to sex with the donor before,
but to say that I do it for sexual arousal is incorrect, I do it because it
makes me feel better, not like I’m dying inside.

Interviewer:  Does feeding follow a certain pattern; a certain process?

Born: You mean, when I feed, what do I actually do?

Interviewer:  Yes.

Born: I make the donor comfortable, normally lie down together, or sit close
together on a sofa or something. Then, one of us makes a cross-shaped cut on
the ball of his or her hand. I then feed from there, using my teeth to
squeeze the blood to the surface, and my tongue to draw it in to my mouth.

Interviewer:  How long does the process usually take, on average?

Born: Five to ten minutes. I lose track of time when doing it though.

Interviewer:  Is there a specific place that you like to feed, like your
home, or a club, or is it just spontaneous?

Born: It is wherever I can. I’m not fussy. As long as it is private and
comfortable.

Interviewer:  Do you consider vampirism a medical condition?

Born: I am not sure. It is certainly a mix of physical and mental, but until
scientists open their minds and actually locate what's causing it, then it
cannot be called a medical condition.

Interviewer:  Would a real vampire ever be caught dead, no pun intended, in a
cape?

Born: It depends.

Interviewer:  On what?

Born: If they are performing a play or something.

Interviewer:  *laughs*

Born: I wear a trench coat. That’s as close I get to a cape.

Interviewer:  Do you have fangs? Or is that another thing Hollywood made up?

Born: Well, my canine teeth have grown longer since I awakened, but I know
vampires who don't have them, and non-vampires that do. I think it might be
a coincidence.

Interviewer:  Do you read vampire novels, or watch vampire films?

Born: yeah, I do. They fascinate me, all the mythology that has grown up
around it

Interviewer:  Do you have a favorite one, or one that has been close to the
truth?

Born: I enjoyed 'Interview with the Vampire' and 'Bram Stoker's Dracula',
although they are not realistic. There's also a more realistic British film,
called ‘Razor Blade Smile’.

Interviewer:  So, does the sunlight have a negative affect on you, like
vampires from movies and television?

Born: The UV rays cause migraines, but we don't burst in to flames

Interviewer:  Do you get really bad sunburns?

Born: I do. I hate the sunlight. My body temperature is also slightly lower
than normal, so the heat raises it to an uncomfortable temperature

Interviewer:  So it's just uncomfortable then?

Born: Yes.

Interviewer:  Is your life other wise "normal" (i.e., college, friends,
girlfriends) other than the vampirism?

Born: It can affect those other aspects of life, if I cannot get to feed
when I am craving, then it takes over, but I try to keep the different sides
to my life as separate things.

Interviewer:  Do you and others like you have gatherings, or do you prefer to
be alone?

Born: I like to be with other vampires, but I feel I would rather be alone
sometimes

Interviewer:  Can you eat and drink items other than blood?

Born: Yeah, Indeed I do. My physiology is human, and has all the needs of a
human body, I just have more needs than the average human.

Interviewer:  Are you “immortal”, or will you die like everything else?

Born:I believe my soul is, but when this body wears out or is damaged
enough, it will die.

Interviewer:  So again, Hollywood was wrong.

Born: I have a stronger immune system when I’m fed, so I can fight disease
and heal faster. But, enough damage will still kill me.

Interviewer:  are you still subject to blood diseases, like AIDS and HIV?

Born: Yep, indeed we are, which is why we have to be very careful.

Interviewer:  Again, why you are careful donor wise?

Born: Yes. It has to be someone you can trust.

Interviewer:  Do you know any other vampires who aren't as careful, or are
the ones you know pretty careful?

Born: The ones I know are very careful. They actually remind me to be
careful a bit, because some of them deem me as a little reckless.

Interviewer:  you mentioned a sexual encounter earlier. It's true then, that
vampires can have sex?

Born: well, yeah. Like I said pretty much human.

Interviewer: Do you ever get sick of the lifestyle?

Born: Well, I’m usually so thirsty. I never get enough of the lifestyle to
get sick of it. I do get fed up with the constant cravings though.

Interviewer: how long after feeding does the craving usually hit?

Born: A week at most.

Interviewer:  How long is the longest you've gone without feeding?

Born: two months. Two months. It’s been the past two months. I’m working on
a new donor though.

Interviewer:  Can you feed off people's emotions?

Born: I can feel them, but not feed from them. Not effectively anyway.

Interviewer:  Can others feed off them?

Born: I doubt I am the only one in the world who can. It is {psychic} vamps
that feed that way. {Blood drinkers} only do it as a backup, to take the
edge off of their cravings.

Interviewer: So we're talking about a whole other spectrum here?

Born: Indeed we are.

Interviewer:  Are there many sanguinary vampires? Or is the number fairly
small?

Born: in comparison to what? {Psychic} Vamps or Non-vamps?

Interviewer: Non-vampires.

Born: The number is pretty small. There is less than (Psychic} vamps, but
then {psychic} Vamps can feed without people realizing it. Sometimes the
{psychic) doesn't even know they are a vampire, they just get a good feeling
from being around people. People only think of {blood drinkers} when they
hear the word “Vampire”.

Interviewer:  Do you ever become sick of social stereotypes? I remember you
mentioned it annoyed you when people asked to be awakened.

Born: yeah, they think I am a psychotic, merciless killer when they find out
I’m a vampire; either that or a mental case.

Interviewer:  So, have you had several people fear that you were insane?

Born: Oh, plenty of people.

Interviewer:  Have you ever undergone an evaluation?

Born: What do you mean?

Interviewer:  Like for your mental state?

Born: I stay away from Psychiatrists and Doctors because I feel disgusted by
the closed minded. They would laugh at me, and classify me insane without
hearing me out because they are afraid that what they have been taught is
wrong.

Interviewer:  So, do people fear you right out? The word “vampire” is
intimidating to some.

Born: People are more afraid of what is inside their own minds then what is
outside of it. If something they see resembles something in their mind that
scares them, it is then that they become hysterical without even realizing
what they are really afraid of

Interviewer:  Have you ever had an encounter with a "vampire hunter", or been
threatened for being what you are?

Born: People make idle threats all the time, but I tend to keep my vampirism
away from all but those who I know and think can handle it.

Interviewer:  The open minded. So no one has ever come at you waving a huge
piece of wood?

Born: If I ever met a hunter, and they tried to kill me, I would have an
excuse for self-defense. There is no way I’m going to die for one sad
loser's personal crusade to get in god's pants.

Interviewer:  Thank you for your time. Would you like to add anything in
closing?

Born: We are a threat to everything that people have been told. We are one
of the biggest taboos in the world, because we cannot be easily understood.
The church denounced us as evil because they couldn't control us. We are too
open to the real world, not the happy little fantasy bubble they created to
keep their lower orders in line. They claim we are to be feared? The church
rules through fear. Fear of hell and damnation if its bidding is not done in
life. We just chose to ignore it because we see them for who they are, and
what they are doing to the closed minded.