Ahem ... now we get into touchy realms. Real feeding is mostly by bite, but not in the neck. With the nerves, muscles and veins it is really dangerous if you do not know what you are doing. The reason for the fictional biting of the neck originated with the true belief that the carotid artery in the neck, where the pulse is normally taken (as opposed to the radial pulse, in the wrist) is the direct arterial link to the heart. It is not a vein, but an artery.
The main difference being, when an artery is severed, it will continue to spurt the blood out of the wound with each heartbeat and is very difficult to stop. A vein is smaller in nature, does not spurt with each heartbeat, but flows steadily and will in most cases, stop bleeding on it's own. If direct pressure is applied, or a tourniquet used, it will stop the bleeding fairly quickly (However, it would not be advised, nor practical, to attempt to apply a tourniquet around someone�s neck) ... NOT so for an artery, which will pump the blood out of the body with every beat of the heart. This is a much more effective scene for a film, or a play, and easier to access if you want to kill someone quickly.
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Some real Vampires, such as Classicals, and many Inheritors, feel protective toward human friends, mates and feeding sources -- known as 'Sources', 'Donors' or 'Victims'. Most Vampires do not kill their Sources, but do become very territorial about them. They feel possessive, as if they have pure and simple ownership. However, to be fair, many Inheritors do not feel ownership, but perhaps protective and territorial about their human friends and charges.
MOST real Vampires consider humans to be food, period. You do not play with, befriend, or have sex with, your food. My husband has said ... 'Having sex with your human Source is like a human having sex with a cow before eating a hamburger.' It is simply not done. However, I know of many who disagree. Today there are rarely real victims. But indeed there are a few. A victim is said to be anyone who is used as a food source without their consent.
Donors, or as we call them -- feeding partners -- come out of the woodwork if they know a Vampire or bloodist wants a donor. There is no reason to kill donors. There are alternate ways of feeding, such as, getting your blood from blood banks, by buying it, or stopping people waiting to go in and asking them if they will sell it to you instead. It is not against the law in this country to buy, sell, or ingest blood. But this way you risk AIDS and other nasty things if you are NOT an actual vampire.
Animal blood is easily gotten. Any butcher will sell you animal blood; Pig, cow, chicken, sheep, horse, etc. You have to take steps to sterilize it if you are not a true vampire, as you could become ill by contamination. But it is available.
If you eat meat, even very well done, you ingest animal blood. A sizzling steak, roast or hamburger -- the sizzle comes from body fat, body fluid, water, and animal blood. Plain and simple. Even if it is cooked to 'leather' the blood is in the cells of the flesh.
You eat it, no big deal ... get over it.
