He stared at the pictures of the humans. There were a lot.
“How did they even connect all these people?” Foxx asked with a frown, before snagging his burger and taking a few big bites.
“I can only guess they were in the same place one too many times. Or they saw them interacting with each other more than once. It’s possible some may not even be involved.”
The vampire frowned. “This is going to be a mess. I can just feel it.”
“I’m going to have to agree with that assessment. There is a lot off about this case, and we barely know anything. It’s odd for humans to work with vampires to kill other humans.”
Harlow dragged his salad closer and started to eat again.
Foxx finished his burger and took a big drink from his homemade milkshake, because apparently, the burgers and fries had not been enough calories. “It’s reading like a bad vampire movie. These humans must be doing it on their own. For what purpose though? As much as so many would still like to claim, vampires can’t control someone long-term. Sure, we can hypnotize humans briefly. But only the weak-minded, and even then, the max amount of time, no matter what age the vampire is or how simple the human is, will always be thirty minutes. That is the max a vampire’s mind can handle holding onto someone else’s. Even if one human was to be controlled by one vampire after another…it would get to the point where it wouldn’t work anymore. Even the simple-minded would build up a tolerance. And there are no such things as Renfields. We can’t change humans into forever living beings that live off bugs.”
Harlow chuckled. “That is all true. But what if the vampires promised to change them in exchange for their efforts?”
Foxx grimaced. “That is a possibility. Yet, in today’s age, it’s a lot easier to get someone to change you than in the past. And it wouldn’t require murder. Though, there are still laws on how many people a vampire can change in a certain time period. Most older vampires will hesitate in case they need that turn for someone they care about over a random stranger.”
“There are laws against that?”
The vampire nodded. “Council laws. It wouldn’t be good to outgrow our food source. I think, in general, the council keeps a close eye on our population. I have heard that there is research being done on creating synthetic blood. So that could end up changing things. But who knows how far off that is. For now, vampires have to be careful that there are not more of us than our blood supply can handle.”
“Blood supply, as in humans,” Harlow stated.
Foxx shrugged. “Technically, we can drink from other paranormals too…but there can be some strange side effects.”
“Huh…you can explain the side effect thing later. For now, if you are done eating, get packed, get your travel documents ready, and take a nap. Meet me back here in five hours in your sunsuit. Might as well put it on. The local airport does not have its windows coated, the last time I checked. Not sure how they have gotten away with that as long as they have, but they have.”
“Pack, nap, and suit up. Message received, old man,” Foxx said cheekily.
Harlow rolled his eyes and took another bite of his salad, which just had the vampire wrinkling his freckled nose.
Foxx slipped his bookbag on, and then snatched the handle of his largest suitcase. He carried it down the stairs and rolled it to the kitchen, where he saw Harlow waiting for him. As he approached, the man looked up.
The human’s jaw dropped, his eyes getting wider the longer he stared.
Foxx blinked in confusion. “What? What’s wrong?”
Harlow’s mouth moved, but nothing came out, as if his brain was malfunctioning, before he blurted out, sounding slightly hysterical, “What isthat?!”
“What is what?”
“What in the ever-loving fuck are you wearing?!” the human growled.
Foxx looked down at his outfit. He was dressed in his sunsuit, which was an adorable pink teddy bear onesie with a UV-protected glass face shield that could be zipped and unzipped into a teddy bear hood. There was even a fuzzball tail on the back, and buttons on the front. The matching pink gloves, with toe beans on the palms, buttoned onto the cuffed wrists. The onesie at the bottom was also cuffed around his ankles, keeping it nice and secure. Though that part did sag a little bit to create a cute little bunch near his ankles.
“It’s my sunsuit. See?” He grabbed the thick glass face shield that had been hanging against his chest and brought it up, zipping it into place.
“Absolutely not!”
He frowned, starting to get majorly confused by this conversation. “Absolutely not, what?”
“I am not walking around with you dressed as a fucking pink teddy bear!” Harlow raged.
“I could change into the brown one, if you don’t like the pink?” Foxx offered.
See, he could compromise. He didn’t have to wear the pink one, even if it was cuter than the brown one.
“WHY DO YOU HAVE IT IN MORE COLORS?! I am not walking around with you dressed as a bear!”
