“What if it was your mother?!” Foxx blurted. “Oh! I told you! They didn’t want to let you go, but they had to! Oh! You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you, Wes? Well, see, the whole dhampirs being illegal thing… Which we fixed, by the way. The council’s law should be rescinded soon enough.
“Anyway, as I was saying, as dhampirs were illegal, his parents, on knowing he would be killed if they kept him, or were discovered to have him, they left him for humans to find so he could live his life! SO really, they didn’t abandon him. They left him as it was the only choice, and it was done out of love!”
He stared blankly at Wes as the human’s eyes widened slightly at Foxx’s babbling. To be honest, Harlow was surprised the vampire had held back long enough to let Wes even ask his single vague question.
“I see… Well, it certainly does open up the possibilities.” Wes eyed him. “I know from the files Tony gave me, you were found by a fireman when you were an infant, correct?”
“Yes.”
“This voice you heard, do you think you heard it before or after that?”
Harlow shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“Okay, what is the next memory you have?”
“I’m not positive if this is something I actually remember or if my mind made it up, because by my calculations, I couldn’t have been older than two, if that. Yet, it’s pretty clear, and I feel I understood too much for that age.
“A couple who had intended to adopt me were returning me to the group home. I’d assume they discussed it with the director, and hadn’t just shown up with me, but apparently,dropping me off wasn’t enough and they decided they needed to warn the state against trying to adopt me out to anyone else. Their conversation with the director was loud and ended with shouting.”
“To be fair,” Foxx drawled. “Vampires tend to develop faster. I believe that young humans who were changed have been noted to demonstrate boosted mental capacity beyond their years. It usually slows and evens out by middle school age, but you understanding them at that age wouldn’t be beyond the normal for us. I mean, I know you aren’t a vampire, but you are close enough that I imagine the developmental stages are similar.”
“That is true,” Wes hummed. “It’s also not specific to vampires, or in this case, dhampirs. With the few species we have had a chance to study, it does seem that brain development for paranormals happens at a much faster rate. As for this argument, do you remember specifics?”
Harlow smirked. “I remember enough. They talked about my constant staring. How quiet I was. They told the director something was wrong with me, and that putting me with another couple would likely kill their desire for children like it had theirs.”
“Wow, that’s fucked up. What horrible people,” Foxx huffed.
Wes’ head tilted. “I’d imagine most parents only wished they could describe their child as quiet at that age.”
Harlow chuckled. “See, there’s quiet and then there was me. I was with them…” He frowned. “Ah…six months, they said. I don’t remember my time with them. I think I did at one point, but with how many years it’s been, the memories are gone now. This was one clear statement they made, and it was something that was in part repeated by others later in various ways.”
He cleared his throat before repeating the words he heard over forty years ago. “‘There’s quiet and then there’s this child. Never cries, never makes a sound, always staring. One wouldthink it would be a blessing, but he’s a nightmare come to life, to the point we lost all sense of safety in our home, as our thoughts are filled with the possibility of us being murdered in our sleep. That child is not normal, and he certainly is not a child of God. And if you have any sort of moral obligation, it is your duty to make sure no loving couple ever has their dreams crushed like we did’.”
Foxx slipped his arm through his, the vampire rubbing his face against his shoulder. “You little demon, you. I’m so proud. Terrorizing thoseGod-fearing people.”
Harlow chuckled. “Brat.”
“You never cried?” Wes pressed.
“Not once, as far as I know. Not even as a baby. Which is probably why I was returned five times before that. Based on the records I saw, the last time I took a peek, they tried the longest. The ones before that hadn’t made it past a month. To be clear…I’m pretty sure by that point I could talk, but I didn’t. So not making a sound was a choice.”
“You don’t remember your time with them. But on hearing such harsh, and most would say, cruel words, did it bring about any sort of reaction from you?”
“You really tried to get around asking out right ‘how did that make you feel’, huh?” Harlow snorted.
Wes smiled. “Any time I asked it in the past, it seemed to irritate you, so I did try.”
“Well, that’s your answer. I was irritated. Not by the words, but because they were talking loudly. I was still asleep when they brought me there, and woke up due to their shouting match. So while I didn’t give a flying fuck that they were leaving me there, or about what they were saying, I was irritated that my sleep had been interrupted.”
Wes stiffened, his next words sounding oddly accusing and harsh for the normally gentle man. “They planned to drop youoff without even waking you up?! And they questioned someone else’s moral obligations?!” The man scoffed.
Harlow shrugged. “It wasn’t like I was normal.”
“Yes, but you also did nothing wrong. Just because you aren’t what is considered ‘normal’, doesn’t mean you deserve any less of a safe, loving home. For them to advocate that you didn’t deserve one…” The man took a shuddered breath. “People like that aren’t loving, they are cruel, and absolutely should be nowhere near children. You, in fact, did the world a favor making sure they became parents to no one. They likely would have reacted the same way to ANY nonverbal child, any child who was different, that would have been placed in their care.”
“Yeah, fuck those people!” Foxx chimed in.
Ah…the human was offended for him. Did that mean he had to collect him too? He supposed he should. He had already told Wes more than he had told most. Harlow supposed he had somewhat come to trust him, even in the short amount of time it had been. Well…it was more that his developing emotions due to Foxx had forced him to reveal more than he likely would have normally. And because he had no one else to talk to aside from Wes, he had confided in him…mainly to avoid going more insane. Well, to avoid killing someone. Which he thought was good development for him. Avoiding killing, that is.
