“I’m not pouting!”
He was definitely pouting. “Not a fan of the church?”
“I’ll be a fan when they, and their bunch of hypocrites, leave my people alone.”
“Fair enough.”
The various sects of Christianity used the damage they could cause with crosses, holy water, and so on, as proof that vampires were creations of the devil. Well, they also used it to try to say that their religions were the only real ones, as they saw it as the ultimate proof. Since vampires and the other paranormals had been revealed to the world, there had been an uptick of those flocking to religion. There had also been an uptick of good old Christians, Catholics, or whatever, committing some serious crimes. Harlow had probably arrested and tracked down more so-called goodie-goodie churchgoers than anyone else human-wise. Their shock at being treated like criminals always made him laugh.
“Let me pull a Foxx here. Tell me about your kind. I've never actually had the chance to ask a vampire about being a vampire.”
He was usually too busy trying to kill or capture them. Besides, if he kept Foxx talking about himself, Harlow wouldn’t have to answer as many questions. It was a win-win situation. Though, he supposed he didn’t mind Foxx talking as much as he had the first time. He was still irritating though…
Foxx raised a brow at him, looking skeptical. “You want to know about vampires, hunter? Surely you know most things already.”
“I know enough to survive, and I know you all aren’t demons. But it’s not like your kind were that talkative before. Or really even now.”
Foxx hummed. “Well, as I’m sure you know, besides not being demons, we are also not dead. We can survive a heck of a lot, but I do have a heart that I need to keep beating. Generally, I can survive it not being in my body for a few moments…along with being staked, but not permanently. Which again, you know. You also know that a quick chop to the neck and it’s over for us. I’m not sure what I can tell you that you don’t already know. We can have children like you humans do. But I’m gay, so…doing that would be a tad more difficult. No paranormal is approved to adopt in this country. Or really any country, as of yet. Though, there is a legal fight about that going on currently in multiple countries. Mainly because placing orphaned paranormals with humans is questionable at best.”
He had heard about that. And he agreed it was fucked up. Though that was his general opinion on foster care, and the mechanics of adopting in the States. There were too few regulations and little care for where children were placed. But in his mind, preventing paranormals from at least adopting other paranormals was a red flag. Ignoring the ones who’d want to cause these children harm, the fact was…some paranormals would need special care to survive. Care that humans wouldn’t likely know about.
“Do you want children?” Harlow asked.
“Goddess, no.” Foxx shuddered.
Harlow chuckled. “I’d have thought you would.”
In his mind, something about Foxx screamed that he’d want children… Then again, maybe it was just that he dressed like a kid sometimes.
“Most certainly not. Maybe fur babies. Which I have had before…but that gets too sad.”
He shrugged. “Even humans deal with the short lives of their animals.”
Harlow had never had any pets. Some of the families he’d ended up with had, but most of them had been mean as shit. Of course, it could have just been that they sensed something wrong with him.
“Yes, but a lot more can fit in our lifetime than a human’s,” Foxx reiterated. “Then again, so can a lot of humans. It’s why most of us try to avoid forming attachments to all of you. Unless we intend to change you, that is. Anyway, you asked about vampires. Well, we get cold easily. At least, I know I do. The mirror thing is absolute bullshit, as is being soulless. The sun is a bitch and a half, but we can be out in it for a few hours and not die. And unless the only thing wrong with us is lack of blood, no matter how much blood you pump into us, we do not heal instantly, even if we do heal many times faster than humans. Oh also, if we choose to stop drinking blood, vampires can go into a dormant state. It’s not a pleasant process.”
Harlow had come across a few vampires in such a state, usually in coffins. The last time was back before vampires had legal status. Most hunters killed the ones they found like that… He had, too. Mostly due to him not wanting to risk them waking up with his back turned.
“Do you get hunger pains when doing it?” Harlow asked.
“Not exactly. It’s similar to what you deal with due to your condition.”
He frowned. “My condition?”
“Your thirst. We are constantly thirsty, and feel dehydrated as we do it. Eventually, if we hold off long enough, we go to sleep. Mind you, it can only be accomplished if we are uninjured, as the process takes a few weeks. Bleeding out from an injury will just end with us passed out, neither asleep nor dead. Though if the injury is to our heart, that could end in death.”
“So, I’ve always wondered…why do you do that? Like, it’s done on purpose, right?”
“Some do it after a loss, others from boredom. The reasons are always personal.” Foxx shrugged.
“How does your body know when to wake up?”
“We don’t know. It’s one of those things that is in the hands of our Goddess. We must trust that we will wake up when the time is right. Those asleep can be easily woken up. All you have to do is give them blood. I will say, some hope to never wake up at all. I haven’t experienced it yet, so I don’t know what it’s like to sleep for so long. And those who do, they don’t speak on it.”
“I see. Interesting. What else can you tell me?”
“Well…there is our origin. Do you know of the six bloodlines?” Foxx asked.
