The superstitions about vampires are pretty much bunk, though from what I've learned it depends on one's particular lineage.  Anne Rice and the folks at White Wolf had a pretty accurate view when they created their respective works, but ehy were still way off in many ways.

     There is no bizarre wirship of some mysterious Progenitor Vampire, nor is there any real semblance of government within vampire society.  Vampire hold their own territory or they wander.  The oldest of us command respect through power and strength, but unless the vamps in a particular area are working together against the werewolves, they stick to their own agendas.  Covens exist, but only in the biggest cities and their almost all composed of newly created vampires who band together for strength of numbers against others who might encroach upon their territory

     It's a common practice, or so I hear.  I never had to worry about it myself.  other vampires have always avoided my territory like the plague, save for one old one who simply called himself Alejandro.  He's the one that taught me most of what I know; it's too bad he and I are at odds now.

     I don't know much about the vampire that spawned me, as she just made me a vampire and left me to fend for myself.  According to Alejandro, that's the trademark of my particular lineage; I believe there's a Mage or vampire somewhere in White Wolf's development team that's profiting off of this.  It turns out that all vampires have certain abilities, but each lineage has an affinity for different ones.  My particular strengths lie in mesmerization and telepathy; I can dominate weaker minds like nothing, animal or human.  I don't like doing it though.  Makes me feel dirty inside.  Telepathy I've found is much more fun and not nearly as damning a practice to me.  A little manipulation of someone's mental perceptions, and suddenly any incident is over before it begins.  Alejandro's lineage runs along the same lines, though where I can bend a small group of minds to my will he can instead exude an aura that affects the mood of everyone in his presence.  I can command someone to give me everything they own, but he, with the right applicationof his powers and some smooth talking, can get the same person to do it willingly.

     Same effect, different methods.

     There are supposed to be a few lineages that can shapeshift like the old Dracula legends, but they're referred to as the Exiled Ones by vampires and werewolves alike.  Apparently the vampires don't trust them because they can change forms like the werewolves, and the werewolves hate them because they're vampires.  Alejandro told me once he thought they first originated when a vampire managed to create an undead werewolf; now, I don't know about that, but being as I don't have a better explanation, his theory isn't going to be disputed offhand.

     Going back to me and my abnormal solitude for a moment now.

     Vampires gain power as they age, and the older a vampire is when it creates its progeny, the more powerful the new vampires are.  There are no rules regarding procreation among vampires, but apparently it's frowned upon for vampires to create progeny after their third century of life, as the new vampires often end up with more power than they have the sense to know how to use properly, so all sorts of trouble ensues.  Vampires can inherently sense the amount of power in another vampire, and other  vampires had avoided me because they sensed a whole lotta power.  By Alejandro's best guess, my crator was more than a thousand years old, putting me, a veritable baby in vampire terms, on the same level of power as Alejandro, a vampire who had been alive since the Spanish Inquisition.

     Go fig.

     Alejandro taught me everything I should have been taught about the world of the supernatural, and much more.  He taught me how to better control the powers I had been granted upon my death, and spent a great deal of effort to bring me into the fold.  Unfortunately he was of the mind that werewolves were a plague to be wiped from the face of the Earth, and he was none too pleased when he demanded I join him in his crusade and I told him to shove it.  He attacked me but found I was physically stronger; we're too evenly matched in mental strength for him to have tried his powers on me, so he fled.  Apparently he's been spreading rumors about me through vamp society, but I could care less.  Alejandro's the most powerful vampire in a three-hundred-mile radius, and if he couldn't take me down the rest of the vampires aren't going to rick their immortal lives to gang up on me.

     Life as a vampire went on much as it had as a human, though I admit I used my powers more than once for personal gain.  Mostly just to get a little extra cash; not enough to buy a mansion, but enough to make a decent living for myself and provide a nice supplement to my night-shift paycheck.  The crime rate in this city is high enough for me to feed on the scum of humanity every night if I want, and as long as I feed on criminals I don't feel guilty about it.  Vampires left me alone, werewolves stayed out of the city...

     Life was pretty much the same old same old until I met Jean.