Tears running down her face, she took a step back towards Foxx, shaking her head.
Ah shit… how does one talk to a traumatized child? Maybe…he should have waited for the vampires. He took a step forward and she backed up, her gaze flickering from his face to the ground and back.
Harlow glanced down, catching sight of the puddle forming under his boots and then to her bare, severely burned feet. They scrunched under his stare. He also noticed then that there was scripture on the ground, realizing it was no doubt burning her further just by standing on it… yet she still had…in an attempt to protect Foxx.
He grimaced and took a calming breath. “Look, kid…” He slipped his gun back into his holster and held his hands up. “I'm unarmed. I just want to check on my partner. I don’t want to hurt you, or him.”
“Harlow?” she gasped, before her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
He blinked. “Uh…yes, I’m Harlow.” Slowly, he reached back into his jacket. She flinched, watching his every move. Under her watchful stare, Harlow pulled out his badge and showed it to her.
Her shoulders sagged and she let out a soft sob, before swaying a bit and stepping out of the way.
The girl no longer blocking him, Harlow carefully crouched down near Foxx, doing his best to not drip on him. He finally got a good look at the vampire.
Hand shaking, Harlow gently caressed Foxx’s cheek with the tip of his finger, anger boiling at the sight of the large cross burn on his cheek. Even in sleep, Foxx’s face was pinched in pain. Splattered in dry blood, with more coating his mouth and chin, there were oddly small oblong burn marks everywhere. Despite the marks and the blood…Foxx’s face looked pale. And though Harlow could see that his neck, hands, and feet were red and burned, he wasn’t sure if it was from the water, the air, or the ground. Strangely, Foxx was wearing the exact same thing as the child…though his was blood stained.
“Foxx,” he called his name gently. “Come on, brat, wake up.”
He glanced over as the little girl scooted closer. Harlow couldn’t help but flinch under her wide glassy stare. “Is he…going to be okay?”
Harlow cleared his throat. “Foxx will be fine.”
He turned at the sound of people rushing over, noticing that the water was finally drained. Most ran to help the downed vampires, but one hunter approached them. Iggy’s partner, Oceana.
“Some are already dead, or they're so near that no heartbeat or life force is detectable. We will try to get them back. But whether we succeed or not will depend on how long they have been like this.”
Harlow grimaced and simply said, “Do what you can.”
This was the problem with being in charge of shit, he would now need to oversee everything… What a pain. The others had just gotten across, but already there were cries of vampires who were waking in pain and fear.
When Oceana started to reach out towards Foxx, he snagged her wrist in a tight grasp. “What are you doing?” He glared suspiciously.
“I just wanted to give him a little energy, that is all. He is very drained. If I were to guess, by the look of his threads, he helped keep them all alive longer.”
“The pain,” the little girl squeaked. “The pain was less when he came.” She sobbed. “Mommy and Daddy didn’t come back…Foxx said he wouldn’t leave me. But then he went quiet…and wouldn’t wake up. I thought he was going to leave me too!”
The woman gasped, her gaze on Foxx. The way she stared, it was as if she was seeing more than he was. “Please, let me help him. He is…very weak. And he has done something that I did not know was possible. His energy is somehow linked with the girl’s… He will die if I don’t sever the connection soon.”
Harlow released his hold, as if touching her burned.
Without hesitation, she brushed the tips of her fingers through Foxx’s hair. From one second to the next, the paleness of Foxx’s cheeks lessened. Harlow sighed in relief when the vampire’s eyes fluttered open.
His partner stared hazily up at him. “Harlow?” he rasped, sounding unsure.
“Fuck, Foxx.” He bent over him, lightly resting his forehead against his, before whispering, “You are really testing my patience lately, you know that? First, the whole getting impaled thing, and now, kidnapped. You are going to turn more of my hair gray.”
A soft laugh slipped past Foxx’s lips, but it ended in a painful wince. “It hurts.”
Harlow straightened up away from him, eyeing his mostly covered body. “Where?”
Foxx frowned, blinking before he gasped, eyes lighting with fear. “Where’s Melody? Is she okay?!”
“Foxx!” the little girl sobbed. “I’m okay!” She kneeled down, grabbing Foxx’s hand.
Harlow eyed her, not exactly sure what was going on. But he wasn’t sure how they could stand touching each other with their burns looking as bad as they did.
Foxx smiled. “See, I told you Harlow would come.” Suddenly the vampire spasmed, his body contorting as a scream of pain slipped out.
