"It's human nature to be that way." Eric shrugged lightly. "In vampires, most of the so called better human traits fade away. It leaves us ruthless. A vampire who is not ruthless will not live very long at all."
He thought of Bill Compton. He thought of how soon he'd like to see Bill dead. There were many ways to do it, he knew. But since Bill wasn't here, it wasn't likely to happen in the near future. But if he got back to Louisiana, Eric wasn't going to hesitate.
"But I do pride myself on being honest. I've found more benefit in it. It also tends to throw my enemies off." He smiled then. His fangs were not out, his teeth appeared human.
"I'm going to share this information with you, on the agreement that you're going to share yours as well." He moved to a stool beside Lestat and sat down. Not that he needed to, but he was going to treat this vampire as an equal for now. "As to origin, none of us know. I don't think we even particularly care. I know that there are very old vampires in the world. My maker was a thousand years old when he made me. But nobody talks of our origins. We've always chalked it up to evolution. We are the next step."
He thought about the other things. "I think of it as different breeds, a virus makes it sound like a bad thing. Not all vampires where I come from can use flight, I can. I can withstand the sun for a few minutes at a time before it becomes dangerous."
Eric decided that he would not be talking about Baba Yaga to Lestat.
"I am the oldest vampire in Louisiana. As we age we become more powerful. Faster. Stronger. Able to heal quicker. Physically speaking, I know of only two vampires that could stand up to me. There are likely more out there, but I have yet to meet them." Eric looked Lestat over for a moment. "I'd like you to be more specific about your question 'what can we do'. And please, tell me of these other vampires you met."