Vampires

Vampires are immortal. The sun burns them and they will turn into ash upon prolonged sun exposure. These dark creatures came from a virus, the first vampire infected by a demon. For the most part, when infected, those bitten will either die or turn into a vampire themselves. However, on the rare, rare occasion, a Shifter can be turned into a Hellhound, infected by the vampire virus, but not changed to a vampire.

Contracting Vampirism
Vampirism comes from a virus that generally affects bats and other vampires; once contracted, it takes three to twelve days till the four stages are passed and the victim dies and is reborn as a vampire. Till then, one can prevent vampirism by curing it and killing the virus.
 * Stage 1 - In this stage, the virus destroys the immune system and replaces it with its own. Victims may feel a bit weak.
 * Stage 2 - This stage occurs about 30 hours after contraction: in this stage, the body is changed and prepared for a vampiric life. It is followed by dilated pupils, irregular heartbeat, coughs, and chills, high fever, body ache, headaches, weakened sight and stomach ache.
 * Stage 3 - This stage occurs about two to three days after contraction. It is followed by weakness to sunlight and an insatiable blood-thirst.
 * Stage 4 - This stage occurs about five days after the contraction. The patient enters a coma and wakes up about 16 to 48 hours later. Upon waking up, the patient is a vampire.

Abilities
Vampires possess a number of powers that make them deadly creatures. The supernatural forces that sustain vampires beyond mortal death also endow them with immortality, heightened senses, and enhanced superhuman physical abilities as well as powers of mind control and mental abilities which make them physically superior to humans. These powers and abilities grow stronger with time, age, and the consumption of human blood. Most, if not all of the following abilities work better if the vampire has drunk human blood from a living source - if they are cut off from it for a long period of time, they become weaker and unable to use their powers.
 * Coercion - Vampires have the ability to coerce other creatures into doing their bidding. It only works on one person at a time, and often, anyone with a strong enough will can break the coercion once they know about it, especially if they're asked to do something that is highly against their moral code.
 * Superhuman Senses - Vampire’s senses of sight, smell, hearing, and touch are of supernatural keenness. The vampire can see with perfect clarity in the darkness of the night, to the point of being able to detect the bodily heat emanations from its victims. The creature’s hearing is comparable to a bat or an owl. The Vampire’s sense of smell is as acute as that of a wolf or a dog’s, enabling the creature to track its prey for miles by the scent of the victim’s blood alone, a sensation that the vampire relishes. The Vampire is also able to tell individual people apart by the scent of their blood coursing through their veins or bodily odors. The Vampire’s sense of touch is amazingly acute, as the creature can feel the heartbeat of a potential victim through thick walls, or it can detect the vibrations of a vampire hunter’s footsteps and the direction of the footsteps, enabling the Vampire to either escape or prepare an ambush for the would-be hunter.
 * Superhuman Strength - The superior physical strength of a vampire compared to that of a human is a prominent theme. Vampires possess strength equivalent to that of 20 or more strong men, sufficient to single-handedly lift heavy boulders with ease. Newborn vampires generally have the advantage of superior strength when in direct physical combat with a human; they can single-handedly lift a grown man off the ground and throw him across a room with enough speed and force to send him through a wall or across an alley, they can also knock them unconscious with a single chop, snap their necks with one hand, and crush their bones, all with little to no effort. Their strength increases to a degree as they age; older vampires of a significant age are stronger than younger, weaker vampires.
 * Superhuman Speed - Vampires are extremely quick, moving faster than the human eye can possibly see. The creature’s sheer speed, combined with its unnatural stealth, makes it impossible for the vampire’s prey to detect or escape from the vampire until it is too late. Vampires are able to dodge bullets easily and react with unnatural quickness to any threat, due to the creature’s superhuman reflexes.

Weaknesses
In spite of their superhuman powers of strength, resilience, and virtual immortality, vampires possess weaknesses and limitations that threaten their very being and give humans advantages over them.
 * Sunlight - Vampires do indeed burn in sunlight but do not ‘burst into flames’. Vampire skins contain vampire chemical which reacts with sunlight, upon touch to UV rays vampires lose their skin and crumble to dust and ash.
 * Vervain - A mystic herb called vervain is poisonous to vampires. It burns their skin on contact. If a human is holding, wearing, or has vervain in their system, a vampire cannot hypnotize them. Vervain can be mixed with a vampire's drink which, if drunk, will severely weaken them.
 * Decapitation - A vampire can be killed completely if its head is cut out and body burned.
 * Holy Objects - Objects that are considered to be holy can be used to deter vampires, and even burn them should they come in contact with the Vampire's skin. Contrary to popular belief, the effects that the objects have on the creatures isn't from the object itself but from the meaning they have and the belief the users hold in the objects. For example: if a Catholic person attempted to use a Star of David against a vampire, the item would be completely useless as the holder didn't have belief in that particular symbol.

Lairs
While there are lone vampires, a majority of vampires live within Lairs, the Vampire equivalent to a Shifter Pack or Witch Coven. Lairs are often connected by bloodline, which vampire sired them and their siblings. But, Lairs do take in stray vampires as it's easier to hunt together and stay alive when there are hunters and other supernatural forces out there.

Unaligned Vampires
Not all vampires crave the community that a Lair offers. Some prefer to wander by themselves and live among humans.

Lucas deCondé
Luca de bourbon was born in 1773, seventeen years after his cousin Louis Henri, the last Prince of Condé. much of his family lived and worked in France, but the once proud branch of the Bourbon family was slowly dwindling, fading away into nothing.

When he was twenty-one, Luca met Andre, a tall, strong, almost cold man who took an intense interest in Luca. It seemed Luca was the only one who could melt the cold exterior around him, make Andre seem approachable, almost kind, even. It took Luca a while to figure out why the man was so cold, so distant and detached from everyone else.

Andre was a vampire and when they'd been together for a year, he offered to change Luca. With his parents abandoning him for causing too much 'trouble' for them, and with the court nobility turning against him for staying with a man, he had nothing keeping him from accepting and he was turned the next week after some preparation by Andre to ensure it was an easy transition for him.