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twispiteficTitle: Bloodlust
Author: Me, your murloc truly
Fandom(s): Twilight
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,665
Inspiration: Twilight, Chapter 16, as well as the fact that SMeyer's "scientific" explanation of vampires makes no sense
Warnings: Talk of disease effects; some discussion of human sexuality; potential brain damage from technobabble by a laymurloc
Summary: Carlisle explains the origins of vampirism to Bella--and shows her that it's not what she thinks.
"Come in," Carlisle said.
Edward opened the door to Carlisle's study and we did just that. The room was like a library, with shelves full to bursting with books of all kinds; sheafs of loose paper jutted from between books here and there. Every wall that wasn't covered with bookshelves had scrolls and posters hanging from it, always of medical things that Bella couldn't understand. A large chalkboard on wheels stood in the corner, its surface thick with more medical things.
Carlisle looked up from his computer, his pale marble face looking almost ghastly in the light from the monitor. He was wearing a large pair of glasses that would make anyone else look like a raging nerd, but Bella thought they made him look serious and dignified. Carlisle powered down the monitor, and Bella's breath caught in her throat at how gorgeous he was in more forgiving light.
"Hello, Bella," he said with a welcoming smile. "How are you enjoying our home?"
"It's...It's so wonderful!" Bella stammered out. "You're all just...wonderful!"
Carlisle and Edward exchanged a look. "I take it Edward hasn't told you about his condition?"
"What, that he's a vampire?" Bella said, tossing out the v-word as carelessly as she could. That would prove that she was worthy to join them. "Sure, he told me about it."
"And did he tell you what that meant?"
"He meant that I would look young forever, and that I'd be super-strong and fast, and that I'd want to drink blood." Bella shrugged.
Carlisle gave Edward a look of exasperation over his glasses. "All in poetic, dramatic terms, I take it?" he asked the younger man.
"Um..." Edward's feet made a shuffling sound, and he looked away. Was he embarrassed about something? Bella was confused.
Carlisle sighed. "Edward, may I have your permission to explain it in more mundane detail?"
Edward nodded; then Carlisle looked at Bella. "I'm going to ask you to leave, Edward," he went on. "I think it would be easier for me to do this without the added distraction."
"But--!" Bella began to object, but Edward patted her on the shoulder and smiled. What a beautiful smile. It arrested her thoughts and words, and Edward slipped out of the study without saying anything.
"Have a seat, Bella," Carlisle said in one of those "beginning of a long talk" tones. He took off his glasses and laid them aside, folding his hands on the desk before him.
"Well, I'm sure Edward tried to explain things to you, but he's addicted to hyperbole. I'll be more technical. Do you know about our family here?"
Bella nodded. "You're all vampires. You're not related by blood--" She paused, smiling at the accidental pun. "--but you adopted all of the others. And you live as one big happy family. A vampire family."
Carlisle shook his head. "Well, first of all, Bella, I need to ask you to stop calling us that. Some people use it as a derogatory term for people with our condition. It has a lot of negative history and connotation attached to it."
Bella was startled. "You mean, it's like a racial slur?"
"Something like it. And that, in turn, has caused people who have 'embraced' it also to embrace the horrors that it brings. Bella, what is commonly referred to as 'vampirism' is actually Lyssavirus sanguinophage. Edward, Esme, Alice, Jasper, and I are all infected."
"Wait, but what about--" Bella trailed off, trying to remember the names of the other two: the big scary guy and the snooty-looking woman.
"Emmett and Rosalie? They're my assistants. They joined my project during their internships, and felt such sympathy for people with the Sanguinophage virus that they stayed on. They do the 'grunt work' for me, particularly restraining patients when the medications fail."
Bella stared at him, unable to believe what he had just said. "I don't...understand. Your project?"
"Yes. Because of the social stigma of our condition, we disguise ourselves as a family. We are actually test subjects for antivirals--cures for the virus, Bella."
"But, why would you want to be cured? You're stronger, faster, more beautiful, you live longer...Why would you ever want to go back?"
Carlisle gave her a rather sad look now. "Bella, this virus has those effects, but it comes at a heavy cost. It rewires your brain so that when you encounter something that stimulates, excuse the term, 'lust', it triggers a strange form of pica instead of arousal."
"Pica? What's that?"
"A craving for non-foods. Most people who have pica crave ice, or dirt--it's why some children will eat paint chips--but in our case, we suddenly get a craving for human blood." Carlisle smiled. "Thus, the folklore connection between vampires and sexuality."
Bella got an ugly, sinking feeling in her stomach. "So, that first day when I met Edward..."
"Feel flattered, Bella. Even though it made him want to hurt you instead of date you, he found you unusually attractive." The smile now turned to amusement.
"But he hasn't tried to attack me since," Bella objected. "He's been friendlier, when he hasn't been telling me that he's no good for me."
"I changed his medications," Carlisle said. "We're all on strict regimens of drugs that...have side effects. One of the predominant ones is an extract of Vitus agnus-castus--an herbal remedy meant to dampen the libido, so that the violent reaction is less frequent."
"So...um...Edward wouldn't be interested in me physically?" Bella asked. This was disappointing.
"While you probably could evoke a response from him with some effort, I strongly advise against it. You'll find the outcome very unsexy indeed, and you might even contract the virus yourself."
"How would that work?"
"The virus is transmitted through saliva only, and it can only penetrate open wounds. That's another thing that's puzzling about it; it doesn't behave like other viruses. You can only contract it if you're actually bitten by a sufferer." The scientist paused now, idly toying with the stem of his glasses. "It makes no sense on a biological level. It improves performance on many levels, including an anti-agathic, but makes marital relationships and reproduction impossible."
"What's an anti-agathic?"
"Eternal youth," Carlisle said almost absently, but then returned to the present. "How old would you say I am, Bella?"
Bella studied his beautiful, youthful face for a long moment, trying hard not to lapse into awe-struck contemplation. "Twenty-five?" she guessed at last.
"I'm almost ninety," Carlisle said, his voice hard and cold. "And I haven't aged a day since I was infected."
"But that's a good thing, isn't it?" Bella asked.
"Not really."
"But who wouldn't want to be young and beautiful forever?" It made no sense. He had been offered eternal life, superpowers, and incredible looks, and he wanted to cure it?
"Someone who doesn't like the cost. Imagine never being able to have a normal, healthy marriage. Imagine never being able to watch certain movies, read certain books, think certain thoughts because you have to police yourself so as not to maim or kill the people around you. Imagine not being able to take in other things because it breaks your heart too much to see what you can't have.
"Of course, to some people, none of that matters. They're living for themselves, and they enjoy the symptoms. It doesn't help that their attitudes and triggers are becoming increasingly acceptable in society: the de-emphasis of family, increasing sexualization of everything, the move toward 'emotional honesty', violent 'kinks' in bedroom behavior, the Cult of Youth...
"There are societies for 'vampire acceptance', Bella, some of which are even promoting the idea that Sanguinophage sufferers are some sort of ubermensch. They've done little but interfere with my work, particularly this one group when we spent time in Italy. They've tried to coax my patients out of the program with talk of how it's 'normal' and 'natural' to have our symptoms."
"But what if you could control the bloodlust?" Bella said desperately. "What if you could...I don't know, fix the wiring?"
Carlisle shook his head. "It doesn't work like that, Bella. Believe me, we've already tried, and it just doesn't work like that."
That was frustrating. From what Bella could tell, this issue with the violent reaction was the only real downside. Why would anyone turn down eternal youth, super-strength, beauty, and being overall better just because you might occasionally try to bite someone? Surely it must be controllable--and even if not, what difference would it make? The person you bit would also become beautiful and strong and immortal. They'd want to thank you for infecting them, wouldn't they? It would be the exact opposite of a crime.
Carlisle was talking again, in a tone of pondering. "Not natural at all; it makes no sense. If this weren't such an ancient disease, I'd almost believe it was some kind of genetically-engineered virus. The symptoms are too diverse, too unusual. It's almost like it was meant to make people into weapons--but for whom?"
Bella stared at him, unable to make heads or tails of what he was mumbling about now, and then lapsed back into her reverie about how great it would be to be a vampire. After a while, he must have noticed Bella's glazed look, because he snapped back to reality. "I'm sorry. Did you have any other questions for me, Bella?"
"What? Oh, no. None." She flashed him a smile. "Thank you, Dr. Cullen. That was all really interesting."
"I'm glad I could help you." He peered closely at her. "Are you still planning to pursue a relationship with Edward?"
"Well...maybe. I mean, if he wants to."
"Then I'd recommend you be careful, and don't expect it to become physical. For that matter, try not to tempt him. He might get violent again, and if there's a next time, who knows whether he'd be able to hold back?"
Bella gave him another, brighter smile. Now that was a very interesting idea indeed...
Author: Me, your murloc truly
Fandom(s): Twilight
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,665
Inspiration: Twilight, Chapter 16, as well as the fact that SMeyer's "scientific" explanation of vampires makes no sense
Warnings: Talk of disease effects; some discussion of human sexuality; potential brain damage from technobabble by a laymurloc
Summary: Carlisle explains the origins of vampirism to Bella--and shows her that it's not what she thinks.
"Come in," Carlisle said.
Edward opened the door to Carlisle's study and we did just that. The room was like a library, with shelves full to bursting with books of all kinds; sheafs of loose paper jutted from between books here and there. Every wall that wasn't covered with bookshelves had scrolls and posters hanging from it, always of medical things that Bella couldn't understand. A large chalkboard on wheels stood in the corner, its surface thick with more medical things.
Carlisle looked up from his computer, his pale marble face looking almost ghastly in the light from the monitor. He was wearing a large pair of glasses that would make anyone else look like a raging nerd, but Bella thought they made him look serious and dignified. Carlisle powered down the monitor, and Bella's breath caught in her throat at how gorgeous he was in more forgiving light.
"Hello, Bella," he said with a welcoming smile. "How are you enjoying our home?"
"It's...It's so wonderful!" Bella stammered out. "You're all just...wonderful!"
Carlisle and Edward exchanged a look. "I take it Edward hasn't told you about his condition?"
"What, that he's a vampire?" Bella said, tossing out the v-word as carelessly as she could. That would prove that she was worthy to join them. "Sure, he told me about it."
"And did he tell you what that meant?"
"He meant that I would look young forever, and that I'd be super-strong and fast, and that I'd want to drink blood." Bella shrugged.
Carlisle gave Edward a look of exasperation over his glasses. "All in poetic, dramatic terms, I take it?" he asked the younger man.
"Um..." Edward's feet made a shuffling sound, and he looked away. Was he embarrassed about something? Bella was confused.
Carlisle sighed. "Edward, may I have your permission to explain it in more mundane detail?"
Edward nodded; then Carlisle looked at Bella. "I'm going to ask you to leave, Edward," he went on. "I think it would be easier for me to do this without the added distraction."
"But--!" Bella began to object, but Edward patted her on the shoulder and smiled. What a beautiful smile. It arrested her thoughts and words, and Edward slipped out of the study without saying anything.
"Have a seat, Bella," Carlisle said in one of those "beginning of a long talk" tones. He took off his glasses and laid them aside, folding his hands on the desk before him.
"Well, I'm sure Edward tried to explain things to you, but he's addicted to hyperbole. I'll be more technical. Do you know about our family here?"
Bella nodded. "You're all vampires. You're not related by blood--" She paused, smiling at the accidental pun. "--but you adopted all of the others. And you live as one big happy family. A vampire family."
Carlisle shook his head. "Well, first of all, Bella, I need to ask you to stop calling us that. Some people use it as a derogatory term for people with our condition. It has a lot of negative history and connotation attached to it."
Bella was startled. "You mean, it's like a racial slur?"
"Something like it. And that, in turn, has caused people who have 'embraced' it also to embrace the horrors that it brings. Bella, what is commonly referred to as 'vampirism' is actually Lyssavirus sanguinophage. Edward, Esme, Alice, Jasper, and I are all infected."
"Wait, but what about--" Bella trailed off, trying to remember the names of the other two: the big scary guy and the snooty-looking woman.
"Emmett and Rosalie? They're my assistants. They joined my project during their internships, and felt such sympathy for people with the Sanguinophage virus that they stayed on. They do the 'grunt work' for me, particularly restraining patients when the medications fail."
Bella stared at him, unable to believe what he had just said. "I don't...understand. Your project?"
"Yes. Because of the social stigma of our condition, we disguise ourselves as a family. We are actually test subjects for antivirals--cures for the virus, Bella."
"But, why would you want to be cured? You're stronger, faster, more beautiful, you live longer...Why would you ever want to go back?"
Carlisle gave her a rather sad look now. "Bella, this virus has those effects, but it comes at a heavy cost. It rewires your brain so that when you encounter something that stimulates, excuse the term, 'lust', it triggers a strange form of pica instead of arousal."
"Pica? What's that?"
"A craving for non-foods. Most people who have pica crave ice, or dirt--it's why some children will eat paint chips--but in our case, we suddenly get a craving for human blood." Carlisle smiled. "Thus, the folklore connection between vampires and sexuality."
Bella got an ugly, sinking feeling in her stomach. "So, that first day when I met Edward..."
"Feel flattered, Bella. Even though it made him want to hurt you instead of date you, he found you unusually attractive." The smile now turned to amusement.
"But he hasn't tried to attack me since," Bella objected. "He's been friendlier, when he hasn't been telling me that he's no good for me."
"I changed his medications," Carlisle said. "We're all on strict regimens of drugs that...have side effects. One of the predominant ones is an extract of Vitus agnus-castus--an herbal remedy meant to dampen the libido, so that the violent reaction is less frequent."
"So...um...Edward wouldn't be interested in me physically?" Bella asked. This was disappointing.
"While you probably could evoke a response from him with some effort, I strongly advise against it. You'll find the outcome very unsexy indeed, and you might even contract the virus yourself."
"How would that work?"
"The virus is transmitted through saliva only, and it can only penetrate open wounds. That's another thing that's puzzling about it; it doesn't behave like other viruses. You can only contract it if you're actually bitten by a sufferer." The scientist paused now, idly toying with the stem of his glasses. "It makes no sense on a biological level. It improves performance on many levels, including an anti-agathic, but makes marital relationships and reproduction impossible."
"What's an anti-agathic?"
"Eternal youth," Carlisle said almost absently, but then returned to the present. "How old would you say I am, Bella?"
Bella studied his beautiful, youthful face for a long moment, trying hard not to lapse into awe-struck contemplation. "Twenty-five?" she guessed at last.
"I'm almost ninety," Carlisle said, his voice hard and cold. "And I haven't aged a day since I was infected."
"But that's a good thing, isn't it?" Bella asked.
"Not really."
"But who wouldn't want to be young and beautiful forever?" It made no sense. He had been offered eternal life, superpowers, and incredible looks, and he wanted to cure it?
"Someone who doesn't like the cost. Imagine never being able to have a normal, healthy marriage. Imagine never being able to watch certain movies, read certain books, think certain thoughts because you have to police yourself so as not to maim or kill the people around you. Imagine not being able to take in other things because it breaks your heart too much to see what you can't have.
"Of course, to some people, none of that matters. They're living for themselves, and they enjoy the symptoms. It doesn't help that their attitudes and triggers are becoming increasingly acceptable in society: the de-emphasis of family, increasing sexualization of everything, the move toward 'emotional honesty', violent 'kinks' in bedroom behavior, the Cult of Youth...
"There are societies for 'vampire acceptance', Bella, some of which are even promoting the idea that Sanguinophage sufferers are some sort of ubermensch. They've done little but interfere with my work, particularly this one group when we spent time in Italy. They've tried to coax my patients out of the program with talk of how it's 'normal' and 'natural' to have our symptoms."
"But what if you could control the bloodlust?" Bella said desperately. "What if you could...I don't know, fix the wiring?"
Carlisle shook his head. "It doesn't work like that, Bella. Believe me, we've already tried, and it just doesn't work like that."
That was frustrating. From what Bella could tell, this issue with the violent reaction was the only real downside. Why would anyone turn down eternal youth, super-strength, beauty, and being overall better just because you might occasionally try to bite someone? Surely it must be controllable--and even if not, what difference would it make? The person you bit would also become beautiful and strong and immortal. They'd want to thank you for infecting them, wouldn't they? It would be the exact opposite of a crime.
Carlisle was talking again, in a tone of pondering. "Not natural at all; it makes no sense. If this weren't such an ancient disease, I'd almost believe it was some kind of genetically-engineered virus. The symptoms are too diverse, too unusual. It's almost like it was meant to make people into weapons--but for whom?"
Bella stared at him, unable to make heads or tails of what he was mumbling about now, and then lapsed back into her reverie about how great it would be to be a vampire. After a while, he must have noticed Bella's glazed look, because he snapped back to reality. "I'm sorry. Did you have any other questions for me, Bella?"
"What? Oh, no. None." She flashed him a smile. "Thank you, Dr. Cullen. That was all really interesting."
"I'm glad I could help you." He peered closely at her. "Are you still planning to pursue a relationship with Edward?"
"Well...maybe. I mean, if he wants to."
"Then I'd recommend you be careful, and don't expect it to become physical. For that matter, try not to tempt him. He might get violent again, and if there's a next time, who knows whether he'd be able to hold back?"
Bella gave him another, brighter smile. Now that was a very interesting idea indeed...
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no subject
Date: 2011-02-01 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-01 07:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-01 09:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-02 02:31 pm (UTC)In this AU, Bella is infected when James bites her--but she welcomes it. "New Moon" is replaced with the story of the Volturi trying to coax Bella out from under treatment, and "Eclipse"...gets scary.
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Date: 2013-03-20 01:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 08:51 am (UTC)