Shadow Faith series: The Vampire

Every story involving supernatural creatures has its own mythos. The Shadow Faith series is no different. In this post I will break down their anatomy, bloodlines and what it takes to kill the blood thirsty monsters.

Let us start with how one becomes a vampire. This is fairly similar to most mythos. A vampire drinks most of the blood from a human. Once they are knocking on Heaven’s door the vampire, now referred to as a sire, slices up a vein and feeds the mortal their blood. The immortal blood mutates the human body, killing it only to make a stronger, faster vessel. Every vampire fan knows the creation steps, but what none can fully answer, not even the undead themselves, is do they retain their soul? Or is there something else empowering their blood, a darker essence? When some hold onto their humanity with all their might while others embrace the newfound darkness who can say?

Physically speaking the changes a vampire undergoes is an enlightening experience. As aforementioned above they become stronger and faster, but there other heightened attributes. Their vision is sharper than the most dominant feline. Canines are jealous of their senses of hearing and smell. Mind you, their senses are not as powerful as a werewolf’s, but still impressive.

Vampires are some of the most beautiful beings on the planet and the most hideous. Depending on the bloodline or House their features morph to draw in prey or entice fear. Most Houses the effects are minimal. However, if one descends from the Cemalian House they would be drop dead gorgeous. Yet a vampire hailing from the Gancheru House will have mass deformities. Think of the old school Nosferatu movie without the elf ears. Well, a few might have elf ears. It’s a crapshoot.

When it comes to Houses, or bloodlines, I’m only going to go over only a few of them now. Wouldn’t want to spoil any surprises. The most important House to know is the heroine’s. Angela Vista is a member of the Vadimas House. Due to their ability to manipulate emotions they are few and far between. The younger vampires are scary powerful, but their manipulations need a subtle hand. With the right touch and at the right moment they can make their victims fall head of heels in love or hate anyone they want them to despise. This fact is why many of this bloodline does not live long. Unless they are unusually gifted their immortal light is snuffed out quick. To survive a Vadimasian will latch on to a powerful ally. Should they live to full potential elder vampires are able to insight mass hysteria to blind loyalty to suicidal ideations. The downside is not being able to trust what is real. Does a significant other truly care or is it a manufactured love? One never really knows how someone will act when they feel a certain way.

Other Houses include the Artyoms, the plastic surgeons of the vampire world. They mold flesh, hair and bones better than any Hollywood makeup artist and without the tools. The Ravana House make shadows tangible. Those with more control can use shadows as portals and transport to where they want to go. The Maartens are the strongest of the vampire Houses. If a Gancheru can bench-press a sedan the Maartens can lift a semi-truck. They are the definitive badasses. Though there are many others the last ones I will talk about in this post are the Viveks. The Vivek House is a magical bloodline. Witches and wizards with vampire blood coursing through their veins. No one outside of the House fully knows what they are capable of accomplishing. In truth neither do they. When you have an eternity to study and make up new spells there is no telling what a pagan vampire can conjure up.

What some of you have been waiting for, how do you kill one of the little buggers? I am a firm believer that if you do enough damage to anything it will be go boom. So the list goes as follows:

Beheadings: check

Flame thrower: very possibly

Chopped in half: good luck and yes

Riddled with bullets so fast they couldn’t heal: why not

Run over by an RV: If the head and heart goes squish, then check

Holy items (aka crosses, holy water, blessed objects): only if the person wielding the weapon has faith. Not in their abilities. Not in their actions. But like a Joan of Arc level of faith.

Wooden stake through the heart: No. I love the saying ashes to ashes, dust to dust. When my vampires are staked they return to Mother Earth. Like the blood that pumps through their veins when wood enters their hearts the tree takes root and petrifies the undead. Skin becomes bark. Lungs change into hollow knots. Hair to leaves. So forth and so on. The process is reversible, but it takes a lot to return to normal.

I hope you enjoy this little Shadow Faith series FYI. Birth of a Vixen is due to hit Amazon in November/early December. Unfortunately, my recent illness pushed back the release date. But I promise it will be out before winter comes.