Have you ever noticed those energy vampires around you? They can be beautiful, intelligent, interesting, and charming. In fact, they usually are. Because if they weren’t, we wouldn’t get caught in their enchanting webs. How we get caught isn’t the point: it’s easier to capture an unprepared person than to keep them. Then, the most interesting part begins.
These vampires lull your vigilance, diverting your attention from their depths to the shiny pebbles on the surface, stroking and buttering you up where necessary. Alongside this process, they study and identify your weak (and strong!) spots to understand where they can drink from safely. Meanwhile, the vampire is already sipping energy—attention, admiration, praise, and high esteem. But these are just the first drops. The main course is still ahead. The victim feels great because they are charmed and given the privilege to touch the enchanting [illusory] world that our vampire friend creates. It’s worth mentioning that they are quite the illusionists. They need illusions to lure the victim into their web, from which there is no escape, but where the bloodthirsty creatures can painlessly latch onto their prey completely, paralyzing their will.
As the victim gets stuck in the sticky vampire web, they begin to feel less enchanted and more uncomfortable. It’s understandable—the life force is dwindling, and the pressure is increasing. The interaction subtly transforms into continuous pressure on the weak spots, where the vital energy—the vampire’s food—seeps out. Occasionally, the victim gets a chance to catch a breath of fresh air, only to realize they are voluntarily sitting in the sticky web and don’t want to leave it. Flying away is no longer an option, as there’s no strength left.
Who Becomes a Vampire?
These “web” schemes are typically used by individuals with low self-esteem, unable to create, possessing just enough intellectual abilities to find a way to drag the victim into the web and locate the sore spots to extract food. Often, the vampire’s face is hidden under the mask of a charming person, seemingly loved and respected by all. Even if not, they know how to instill such an opinion about themselves. Usually, those who suffer from vampirism are those who are not ready to give because they have nothing to give—beings on the lower rungs of spiritual development, pimply teenagers seeking self-affirmation, and adults bitter at the world due to their own inadequacies.
These creatures look for a trusting, open, and unprotected victim or someone who has lost control over their life situation for some reason—someone who is easy prey. They can’t handle strong people—their guts aren’t thick enough. But they need to feed somehow. They don’t want to create anything; they want to lie belly up and demand that everything be brought to them. The most they are capable of, and the reason they bother to get up, is to catch a new victim.
What Happens Once You’re Caught
The development of events in such relationships can follow three paths.
1. The Unaware Victim
The victim is so weak that they don’t understand what’s happening. They think they are getting attached—sticking to the web—perceiving the painful relationship as a consequence of their own imperfections, trying their best to change to please the bloodthirsty “master.” This symbiosis can last quite a long time, even a lifetime. If the vampire is a gourmet and demands fresh blood, they leave the victim half-dead as soon as they have drained the tastiest parts and lost interest. Recovery after such relationships can take from several weeks to decades.
2. The Semi-Aware Victim
The victim senses that something is off but still doesn’t fully understand what’s happening. They analyze their attachment and participation in the process, as well as the role of their “consumer.” Without fully grasping the situation, they are wise enough to listen to their feelings and reject the exhausting relationship. During these periods, the vampire loses their grip and, feeling the food slipping away, desperately tries to bring the victim back through sensuality, logic, and their usual illusions. The outcome depends on the vampire’s craftiness and the victim’s resolve. If the victim escapes and resists being reattached, they may build enough strength not to return. In other cases, they may keep breaking free and returning—rarely of their own will, more often at the vampire’s pull. Power is addictive. “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” as they say. And some victims may even enjoy belonging to a charming bloodsucker. Anything can happen.
3. The Strong, Creative Victim
Sometimes, the vampire catches a strong, intelligent, creative person—someone with radiant energy, but also sentimentality, softness, or a blind spot. These are the favorites. It’s like a spider catching a sparrow instead of a fly. The blood is exquisite, nourishing, alive. This is a free bird, a singing bird… Such mistakes are usually made by immature vampires because, eventually, a bird can eat a spider. It may not be tasty, and the spider may be slippery—but the bird can devour it nonetheless.
For a while, the bird listens to the vampire’s sweet melody, until it realizes its energy is being drained. It tries to fly, but the web holds. The spider falls and starts praising the bird again. Anything to keep it near. “Vanity is definitely one of my favorite sins,” as they say.
This continues until the bird finally sees through it. Then what? It tears through the web and rises into the sky. The wounds are real, but the bites aren’t fatal. There are far greater dangers in the sky—and far greater joys. The vampire, left behind, is bewildered and starving. Nothing tastes the same anymore. They long for that bird, chase new ones, but luck is gone. The taste of freedom cannot be unlearned.
They return to feeding on flies. But they’ll always remember the silver bird. They’ll try to lure it back, asking for nothing this time, pretending to just want a friend. But the bird has learned. It won’t come back.
How to Deal with a Vampire
The key is recognition. Notice them early. And then? Transform. Don’t be a fly. Don’t even be a sparrow, caught in their web. Be an elephant—too grounded, too whole, too massive to ever be entangled in illusions again.
