“I’m here too, Charity,” Foxx said with a giggle.
“Hello, my sunshine. Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“Just lunch,” Harlow grunted.
“Oh, well, feel free to keep eating while I talk. So, the new case is a weird one. We aren’t exactly sure what is going on. We know vampires are involved. However, both humans and paranormals have come up missing, and then later, they are found completely drained of their blood. The body count is high already. We aren’t even sure at this point how bad it is. It may be in the triple digits. It took a while for the locals to connect everything together because of how odd this case is. Took them even longer to report what was going on to the Hunters Guild. Which is likely due to some posturing bullshit, but you know how it is. We believe this group, or whatever they are, has been at it for at least three months.”
“They found dead bodies drained of their blood. Seems pretty normal. How is that odd?” Harlow asked.
“See, that isn’t the odd part. The odd part is that while our sources and the locals have captured a shit ton of images of individuals who we believe are connected to the disappearances and deaths…they have all been humans.”
Foxx frowned, setting his burger down and wiping his hands on a napkin. “Are you sure? The bite marks… Well, I’m assuming you found bite marks?”
“We did,” she confirmed.
“Then are you sure they aren’t artificial? There have been plenty of cases where a group tries to use a myth to cover up their actions and scare the public. Though now it would be more to try to blame a certain group for their actions, since you all know we are real.”
“They are real. We had them checked and verified. The saliva left behind confirmed it. It appears that these humans are working alongside the vampires. At least, that is the theory.”
Harlow sighed. “It…makes sense, yet it doesn’t.”
“Yeah, but it’s all we’ve got. We need you to go in and figure out what the fuck is going on. If there is a nest, and there is proof beyond any doubt of them murdering humans, you have to take it down. There are too many bodies for us to waste time on this. So, you’ve been given a broad reach elimination order. Which sucks because the paperwork for it will be a bitch and a half. But it is what it is. The higher-ups want this taken care of as fast as possible.”
“And if there are humans?” Foxx asked.
She let out an irritated huff. “I’d like to say take them down, but I can’t. If therearehumans involved, and theydidhelp murder all these people, bring them in. Actually, bring in any human you find associated with them.”
“I figured,” Foxx said without any emotions. It was just how things were. Humans got more benefit of the doubt, more chances, and more leniency, even if they didn’t deserve it.
Not saying he didn’t understand. His kind were stronger and harder to deal with. Confining vampires long term was a pain in the ass, without doing things that would be seen as torture in most eyes. Frankly, the way his species dealt with the worst of their kind was usually death, so he couldn’t really judge too harshly.
“Sorry, sugar, if it were up to me, you’d bring in the vampires as well, in fairness. Sadly, the laws don’t allow for that in this situation. But if you have any doubt that someone is guilty, bring them in. Some will bitch, but the whole reason you are here is to make things fairer for paranormals. All this being said, don’t die trying to capture anyone.”
“So, if we have no choice?”
“Kill the fuckers. Human, paranormal, put them down. You are worth more to the Hunters Guild, and more to me, than these random fucking assholes are. We’ll just have to suffer through the massive amount of paperwork together.”
Harlow snorted. “So where are we off to? Please tell me we won’t be driving.”
“Still no jet, but you’re in luck, sweet pea. It’s too far and too urgent. You’re headed to a city called Fortwest, Florida. Your flight is at 8am. It was the earliest we could get a flight. It will be during the day, so Foxx will need to wear a sunsuit.”
“I’m actually shocked you are giving us eight hours notice,” Harlow drawled.
“Miracles do happen every now and then, sweet pea. And another one is going to happen right…now!”
Foxx’s phone went off at that moment, telling him there was a notification. He quickly checked it. “Looks like we got the case info.”
“Yep! Have fun going over it early for once. All your flight info will be in the email too. Bye for now!”
* * *
Harlow squintedat the phone screen Foxx was showing him. Goddammit…it was too small. “Let me go get my laptop.” He stood.
“No!” Foxx cried. “Let me get mine. It will be faster.” The vampire jumped up and took off.
“There is nothing wrong with my laptop,” Harlow huffed. And there really wasn’t. It was older, so what? It still worked. It still loaded.
Foxx quickly returned with his laptop and opened it up. He tried to ignore how fast it turned on, and how he had the email up mere seconds after opening it. There was nothing wrong with his laptop!
