GILES: This world is older than any of you know. Contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons demons walked the Earth. They made it their home, their... their Hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality. The way was made for mortal animals, for, for man. All that remains of the old ones are vestiges, certain magicks, certain creatures...

BUFFY: And vampires.

XANDER: Okay, this is where I have a problem. See, because we're talking about vampires. We're having a *talk* with vampires in it.

WILLOW: Isn't that what we saw last night?

BUFFY: No. No, th-those weren't vampires, those were just guys in thundering need of a facial. Or maybe they had rabies. It could have been rabies. A-and that guy turning to dust? Just a trick of light. That's exactly what I said the first time I saw a vampire. Well, after I was done with the screaming part.

WILLOW: Oh, I, I need to sit down.

BUFFY: You are sitting down.

WILLOW: Oh. Good for me.

XANDER: So vampires are demons?

GILES: The books tell the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed, infected by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another, and so they walk the Earth, feeding... Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out, and the old ones to return.

• Vampire Lore

written by: Joss Whedon; Transcribed by: AleXander Thompson. Full transcript at:
http://www.studiesinwords.de/02harvest.html