Von Bayern sat down across the table from the two men. “I was an associate professor, working at the University at Alexandria. An Imperial official, a magistrate… well, she seduced me first. Or I allowed myself to be seduced. Or… There is not much blood involved, actually, not at one time, unless the person is driven to gorge. And infection is not inevitable. That is what a young man says to a young woman he desires, is it not? There is not so much blood, not so much pain, as she has heard, and no consequence is inevitable. Until one morning one wakes up, and is sick.” He smiled, absolutely without humor. “Hungering for strange things….”

–John Ford, The Dragon Waiting, in a description of vampirism