Talk:Bella Swan/@comment-6965439-20130308115434/@comment-7600752-20130911164622

The vampires are NOT dead. They have changed from human into something else. But they are still alive...but alive diferently how the normal human is alive. They still have to drink blood to function properly. Although the heart stops beating...the blood they drink still circulates in their veins where their own blood used to flow. But the ARE different from normal living things...this is because they are supernatural beings.

I think that Vampire Bill said it best when talking to Sookie in TrueBlood:

'I"m alive. But what animates me is different from what animates you."

Bill was speaking of Sookie's natural life force. Vampires (from both series) do not possess a natural life force. But something supernatural is keeping them alive.