Vampires, or homo chiroptera are an undead species that rely on a diet of blood to survive. They don't feast often, an average of once a month and it's important to note that they have solitary living habits. This, in addition to inaccurate myths surrounding the species, result in them being relatively easy targets for those who choose to deem themselves vampire hunters. Just a reminder that vampires are noted to have enough capable communication skills to not be considered a beast, hence the hunting of vampires is illegal.
All vampires are pale from the lack of blood pumping in their veins. When it comes to feeding, they take as much blood as they need, and it isn't much (usually 500 ml). Another debunked myth is that they don't actually bite the neck of their food source because that's one of the easiest ways to kill someone and vampires have no desire to kill. The ones that do, similarly to our culture, are simple treated like serial killers. It's considered murder in their society to show how serious of an offense this is. Their target is not food, but rather the food source. They usually feed on their target's wrist.
Vampires may have a preference in what food source they want based on taste. Different species have different tasting blood, according to them. I had also learned that killing had caused some kind of a drug effect where their powers enhanced for a certain amount of time--that some vampires get addicted to this feeling and that is a cause for becoming a murderer. If you see a vampire with a dead food source, do not approach them and alert the authorities immediately.
Though vampires are considered lower than us in our hierarchy, they have a self-sustaining system and similarly to us, hold pride in being from a pure lineage. There are many of these individuals left (we'll get to why later), one of them being the Volkovs, known for being the only vampires that have stuck together as a family. This is an incredible feat, since vampires as a species are very self-motivated and their immortality causes them to grow bored of those around them easily. Vampires are also naturally territorial, a natural enemy to the were-wolves but also among themselves.
Turned vampires are weaker than the origin vampire that turned them. If we're to explain the decline of powers a chain of turned vampires possess, it's akin to a pyramid scheme, where the recruits from the 4th wave are too weak to fend for themselves and have a higher chance of death. A vampire can't turn someone on accident. The turning process requires a specific ritual to be performed that I have not yet witnessed because it is no light choice to make. According to vampire law, turning someone causes them to be your responsibility until they're recognized as proper citizens of society and accepted. If they even get accepted, which hardly ever happens. Even if they are formally accepted, turned vampires usually face heavy discrimination for being former humans. This is why I can't just ask to witness a ritual. Another danger to turning is that the process might be rejected by the target's body. Since turning is such a heavy responsibility, if it's done it's usually to someone the vampire feels a connection to. If the process is rejected, the target is poisoned and dies a violent death.
When it comes to offspring, vampires experience a lot of stillbirth. Therefore, it is common to have between only one or two children if lucky. Their children are still technically born undead, so no one's quite sure how procreation logically functions in vampiric couples. Because the chances of a healthy pregnancy is lower for vampires to reproduce with any other species, it is common that they pair up within their own species. They are a species that takes great pride in themselves and consider themselves nobles, which is logical since they have been on this planet longer than we have.
You must be polite when you meet one. To insult a vampire is a grave offense.
-Henry Paige