21. Hope in Death

F oxx's gaze flicked from one tablet screen to the next, trying to catch sight of any movement. He found himself pausing on a screen that showed Iggy and Oceana…

The two weren't in combat anymore, but they did appear to be arguing about something. "I think Oceana and Iggy are finished with the group they were with."

"I think Oceana's hurt," Harlow mused. The dhampir was standing to his right, and had been doing the same thing as him.

Foxx frowned, eyeing the woman. "She does…appear to be holding her side."

Unfortunately, that side of her body wasn't facing the camera.

Chief Somner, who was to the left of Foxx, brought his radio up to his mouth and pressed the button as he asked, "Team two, report in. Do you need medical attention?"

He watched Oceana pick up her radio, and seconds later, her voice came over the line. "Iggy fucking shot me!"

Right as Foxx unhooked his own radio and pressed the button to talk, Harlow burst into laughter.

"IS HE LAUGHING ?!" the woman screeched over the line.

"Ignore him, he's an idiot." Foxx huffed, glaring at the dhampir, who just kept laughing. "There are only two vampires left, we can handle it. They have an ambulance and a paramedic at the ready here, so why don't you come back and get looked at?"

"Look, I didn't mean to shoot her," Iggy chimed in, sounding distressed.

"It never is on purpose," Harlow snorted.

The Police Chief, now eyeing them with a frown, slowly said, "Come back, Oceana. The paramedics would be happy to check you out, and take you to the hospital, if needed. There will be no protesters to worry about either, we had them removed and even they wouldn't be stupid enough to sneak outside with the city protection order in place."

Foxx grimaced. The president had overturned the executive order…but just as he suspected, people were upset. Or rather, the bigoted and hateful humans were upset. So far, no challenges had stuck, so legally, paranormals were in the clear to go to whatever hospital they wanted to now…but that didn't keep the protestors away. Wherever hospital property ended and public sidewalks began, protestors had lined up in droves to throw out words of violence and threats.

"We're on our way back," Oceana grunted.

Chief Somner clipped his radio back onto his uniform and eyed them. "Remind me to not be anywhere near you all when you fire."

Harlow stiffened next to him. "Don't tie in his horrible skills with mine," the dhampir said, sounding very disgruntled that anyone would ever compare him to Iggy.

Foxx snickered, but then winced on catching the look on the human's face. He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, we can shoot just fine. It's more just an ongoing theme at this point… Iggy accidentally shooting people, that is…"

"Right…" the Police Chief said, his eyes slowly returning to the screens while Foxx continued to stare.

Great…one of the few officers they'd run into that seemed to not hate them, and now he thought they were a bunch of weirdos…which… Well, really, the problem was that Foxx couldn't even say he was wrong about that.

He glanced over at Harlow and found the man staring back blankly with zero emotions on his face. ‘What?' he mouthed. His eyes started to twitch when the dhampir's brow slowly raised in question.

Yep…not wrong at all.

"There!" Chief Somner snapped.

Foxx looked back at the screens, to where the Police Chief was now pointing. Frowning, he leaned in, Harlow doing the same next to him. The video feed showed some sort of park and two individuals, one staggering forward, while the other was moving along only a little faster.

The human slowly said, "Maybe whatever they took is taking its toll."

"We know it is."

"Do we know what they took? They're…slowing down at least…"

"They're not slowing…" Foxx said, straightening up to meet the man's eyes. "They're dying… And we don't think they took anything."

The man closed his eyes and cursed. "You think they were drugged." Rubbing at his face, when his eyes opened again, he looked tired. "These people don't have any control over what they are doing, do they?"

"Not that we can tell."

"You said they're dying… How are you sure whatever it is isn't just wearing off?" Chief Somner sounded so hopeful that the vampires could still live. As happy as it made him to know that there were humans out here like this…he had to dash that hope.

Foxx sighed. "I'm old enough that I can tell. They've been slowly dying since before we got here, probably since they first were drugged or poisoned, or whatever this is."

"I guess we should have known they weren't doing this willingly… The last glimpses of sanity we saw in some of these people, before they went on a rampage, told us that."

"One is down, and looks to be saying something. If we want to meet these people while they are still alive, we need to go now," Harlow said, his voice empty.

Foxx glanced back at the screen, frowning at what he saw. "Where is this?"

"Willow Park," Chief Somner said.

Pulling out his phone, Foxx quickly typed the name into his map. "Let's go, Harlow," he said as he took off, even though his phone was still calculating the distance.

He nodded at Iggy and Oceana as he passed them.

The park was only two miles away. Running at full speed, it took them at most a few minutes to get there…but by the time they arrived, both vampires were on the ground, and one was already dead.

As Foxx stumbled to a stop, he hesitated and eyed the young woman who was obviously in pain on the grass, lying just off the gravel path that wove through the park. His vision slipped into his Bloodline of Fates, and he stared on, horrified at the state of her threads. Only a few strands were still intact, the rest were completely black and lifeless.

Her eyes, still wholly brown, widened when she noticed him. With tears trailing down her blood-coated face, she sobbed, "Help me."

Foxx slowly drew closer. "I…I can't." His voice wavered as he saw her despair, while tears filled his own eyes.

"Please…please. It hurts… It hurts!" the woman cried, managing to crawl forward a few more feet…before she stopped and screamed out in what could only be described as agony. As the scream faded, she gasped desperately for air, each breath sounding labored and rough.

"I'm sorry…" he said, only a couple of feet away from her now. He wanted to go to her, yet…he still hesitated.

"Please…" she sobbed. "H-help me. I d-don't know what's going on. Please… It hurts…it hu—" Her desperate pleas cut off as she screamed again.

Cursing, Foxx started towards her, but a strong arm around his waist stopped him. The hold seeming unbreakable. "Let me go!" he hissed at Harlow.

"Foxx… It's not…" The dhampir grimaced, his gaze flicking from him to the young vampire and back.

"Please… She's…she's…" he trailed off, swallowing hard. He found he couldn't say it out loud. Speaking the truth now would be cruel. In moments like this…lies were kinder.

"Fuck…" Harlow huffed, but slowly, he let him go.

Foxx rushed to her side. He gently turned her over, before he pulled her into his lap, as she continued to sob. Grabbing hold of one of her hands, he gently ran his other through her hair. "I'm here. I'm not going to leave you."

With a pert nose, pink lips, and blue eyes, she was…really cute, and kind of innocent looking, if one could overlook the blood she was covered in. The lower half of her face was smeared with it, and even her short blonde pixie curls were splattered.

Her blood-covered hand squeezed his. As more tears fell down her face, her body seized twice, before the woman finally managed to whimper a small, "Thank you."

"I'm Foxx. What's your name?"

"Evy," she sobbed before letting out another scream, her hand clenching tightly on his. "Oh, Goddess, what's…happening?!"

"Don't think about it…" he said gently, brushing his hand over her curls. "Evy, do you remember what happened before this?"

"I…was…with a friend… A guy…I like…"

Harlow cursed behind him. Foxx realized the man must have recognized her from the file… Maybe…she was one of the few who they'd caught losing it on a security camera. They'd…have a timeline then. A timeline of how long it takes from the moment one loses their mind, before the poison, or whatever it was, would take its final toll.

"Did you happen…to take anything? Something you haven't taken before?"

"No—AH" she screamed, her body violently convulsing.

A tear broke free, dripping down Foxx's face as he watched a strand break away from the remaining center thread. "Hurts!" she cried. "It hurts so much!"

"I know, I know it does, Evy." He pulled her closer, curling around her. "It's okay, it'll be okay soon."

It wasn't a lie… She'd be going home to the Goddess, and she'd no longer be in pain. It was all he could hope for her right now. Death…was all he could hope for. And as crushing as that realization was…the reality was that sometimes…hope in death was all that could be offered.

Foxx kept holding on to her as the convulsing continued, as her screaming continued…until the last strand broke off, her center thread going dark. Tears falling one after another, he slowly laid her flat on the ground and gently closed her eyes, not wanting to see the fear that was seemingly locked in her gaze in death.