SINGERS:
There is another factor that can complicate this process for the vampire. The smell of each human is different, and certain humans can smell more appetizing than is usual to vampires.
The more appealing any human‘s scent (and taste) is to a vampire, the more difficult it will be for that vampire to bite the human and still leave him alive.
Infrequently, a specific human will smell nearly irresistible to a specific vampire. That human is known as a ―singer‖ among vampires, because his or her blood ―sings‖ for the vampire in question. Singers are individual phenomena; a person whose blood sings for one vampire will not have the same effect on all vampires. While there are some humans whose scents are more appealing to vampires in general, that appeal does not reach the level of a singer. Singers are considered by most vampires to be a great find, the drinking of whose blood is an experience to be savored.
VAMPIRE HISTORY
The oldest known vampire history is that of the Romanian coven (named for the location in which they originated, which would later be known as Romania), the most powerful coven during the time before 400 A.D. Their power resulted from their numbers; the Romanians were the first to expand their single coven beyond the normal two or three vampires. They had to cooperate in a way unusual to vampires to accomplish this (see ―The Transformation Process‖ for information about feeding frenzies), but their self-control extended only to their fellow vampires. The Romanian coven made no secret of its existence and both preyed on and enslaved humans indiscriminately. The Romanians were overthrown by the Volturi coven between 400 and 500 A.D.
The Volturi coven originated in Greece during the Mycenaean Era. It began with three original members — Aro, Caius, and Marcus — and then grew to a core of six as the members found romantic partners: Sulpicia, Athenodora, and Didyme. Ambition was their bonding element, much the same as with the Romanians. The Volturi actively recruited gifted humans into their coven. Eventually, using the basic argument that vampires should conform to simple laws of mutual convenience, the Volturi launched a successful war against the Romanians, who would not conform to these laws. The Volturi hunted the Romanians until there were only two survivors of the original coven, Stefan and Vladimir.
The Volturi coven is both the largest and easily the most talented group of vampires in existence.
The Volturi preserved ruling status over the years through coven strength and a policy of general noninterference. The Volturi coven is both the largest and easily the most talented group of vampires in existence, but they could still be overthrown if they gave the other vampires of the world a reason to unite against them. For this reason, the Volturi do not get involved with other vampires frequently, and act against other covens only when there is a complaint that could negatively affect other vampires. Consequently, they are commonly perceived by vampirekind as a positive force.
There are very few vampires alive who predate the Volturi. Most have been born into a world where the laws constructed by the Volturi are an accepted fact of life. This protects the Volturi from the realization that their laws are merely an excuse to exert control over the vampire world.
THE SOUTHERN WARS:
One notable event during the modern rule of the Volturi was the war that engulfed most of the southern part of North America during the early 1800s. Precipitated by a vampire known as Benito, the conflict began when Benito created a small army of newborns in order to conquer the older covens that controlled the majority of what is now Mexico and Texas. His tactic was so successful that most covens in the area created their own armies of newborns to defend against him and the other covens that were also reacting. The resulting disappearance and death toll was so alarming to the humans in the area that supernatural causes were suspected and reported (though the epidemic was later blamed on cholera). The Volturi eventually descended in force on the area and exterminated every coven that had experimented in the creation of newborn armies.
VAMPIRE LAW
The basic law of the vampire world is that all vampires must protect the secret of their existence. This affects vampire life in a variety of ways. Vampires must be circumspect enough in their hunting and behavior that humans do not become aware of them. Or, if a human were to become aware, the vampire at fault would be responsible for silencing that human. Neither of these is a particularly difficult task.
As long as a vampire‘s interaction with humans does not garner wide attention, there is no consequence to the vampire. Many vampires have relationships with humans to varying degrees, and as long as these stay within boundaries, the Volturi are not aware. However, if something suspicious — something that might indicate the existence of vampires — was known widely enough to appear in the human news, or even in human fiction, the Volturi would hunt the rumor to its source.
TEACHING THE LAW:
Vampire laws are not written down; to write them would in itself be an infraction.
Vampire laws are passed by word of mouth from creator to newborn, and each creator is responsible for the behavior of his creation. If a newborn is abandoned by his creator (a rare occurrence, given the difficulty of creating a new vampire), the newborn, though ignorant of the law, is still punishable for any rash acts.
IMMORTAL CHILDREN:
Sometimes group behavior will bring on a stronger response from the Volturi. The Southern Wars are one example. Another example would be the outlawing of immortal children.
Immortal children were humans who had been transformed into vampires at a very early age. There was no absolute age limit set as to what constituted an immortal child; it was a subjective definition, based on the child‘s ability to behave himself in a way consistent with vampire law.
Like all vampires, immortal children were frozen at the mental and physical age at which they were transformed. Post-transformation, these small children continued to exhibit childish behaviors, including impulsive acts, tantrums, irresponsible activities, and a general lack of circumspection. These behaviors were incompatible with the law of secrecy, and immortal children often attracted the notice of humans.
Another aspect of immortal children was their appeal; they were both beautiful and endearing. Covens were utterly devoted to their immortal children, and would protect them at all costs.
The Volturi found themselves punishing individual covens for the behavior of their immortal children with a much greater frequency than other occurrences of lawlessness. Because of the devotion inspired by immortal children, the Volturi were forced to destroy full covens in order to destroy an immortal child. After some study into the matter, the Volturi decreed that immortal children were not capable of following the law, and therefore it was no longer legal to create an immortal child. Anyone responsible for creating such a child would be destroyed whether that child had broken the law or not.
The Volturi continued to experiment with and study immortal children for centuries, but has never reversed its decision.
―The only time I really did any research on vampires was when the character Bella did research on vampires. Because I was creating my own world, I didn‘t want to find out just how many rules I was breaking.‖ —Stephenie