24. Humanitys Last Stand

T he hotel TV was turned on, the news playing, as Foxx sat in Harlow's lap on the bed. Snuggling against the man's chest, with a blood bag in hand, he stabbed it with a metal straw and started drinking it down while the dhampir wrapped an arm around his waist. Behind him, Harlow was draining the last of the three blood bags he'd filled for him.

His nose wrinkled. Maybe once this all was over…and Harlow was registered…he could get Alastair to donate some blood.

Though, now that he thought about it, maybe the government had a place where dhampirs could order some? The better question was…could he even convince Harlow to drink bagged blood that wasn't Foxx's? Surely the man would at least be okay with Alastair's blood? The vampire was a very clean individual…

"As of yet, there is no explanation—" The news anchor cut off, frowning, before suddenly saying, "We have a breaking news update. We have just received word that the vehicles containing the bodies of the vampires, who attacked innocent people under suspicious circumstances, have…all exploded."

His eyes widened… Exploded…? "What…?" Foxx gasped. Harlow's arm around him tightened as Foxx slowly lowered the almost empty blood bag in his hand.

"It is unclear as of yet what caused the explosion, but the drivers and passengers in the fleet of trucks are assumed dead. The trucks themselves, as well as the remains inside, were unrecoverable."

A live video appeared on the lower right of the screen. Eyeing the multiple twisted metal pieces that were engulfed in flames… Foxx had to say…calling them unrecoverable had been an understatement. But then…deceased vampires were highly flammable… Even if the destruction hadn't been so absolute, once they caught fire, putting them out would be almost impossible.

"Fucking hell…" Harlow cursed as he tossed the last empty blood bag he'd been draining aside.

"What an unusual turn of events, Sherral," the male news anchor said. "I suppose time will tell if the…" he trailed off, his eyes widening slightly. "We have another related update. A group that calls themselves Humanity's Last Stand has released a notice and a video claiming responsibility for both the tragedies that happened last night, and the truck explosions. Warning: the following video contains language that is not suitable for all ages."

After another brief warning of inappropriate language and violence, a grainy recording took over the screen. Half the video was cast in darkness, but what could be seen was that the room seemed to be made of cement. A large man stood in the shadows, all one could make out was his shape.

Harlow tensed behind him when the person began to speak.

"You must be asking yourselves, why…? Why now? Why now are these creatures attacking? But the real question you should be asking is why did we make such animals our equals?!

"We were the dominant race! The masters of this planet! Until the bastard betrayers of our species, betrayers of God, our leaders , forced us to yield to our lessers! ‘They're intelligent beings', they cried, but all they really did was force us to yield to monsters! They made us bow down to evil! They allowed these things to enter our society, to live among us, to change us, to thrive! Meanwhile, they continued to KILL and FEED OFF US!

"What you saw last night was nothing more than what these vampires, and all paranormals, truly are—DEMONS, BEASTS! You may think we did something to those things that caused them to attack, but the only thing Humanity's Last Stand did was strip away the lie of humanity that they have managed to hide behind! And this is only the beginning!

"One by one, we will tear down their masks, tear down their false walls, and expose their evil. When humanity sees the true violence of these monstrous creatures, that will be the moment when we all must step forward and put these crimes against God down, like we should have in the first place! Humans wait and watch. You'll see the truth!"

The video cut, and the news anchors returned. The woman looked pale and grim, and it was at that moment, Foxx realized she was a vampire. The older human next to her was staring at her with concern. Foxx just wasn't sure if it was concern for her, or…about what she was…

He flinched when the screen went black, looking over his shoulder at Harlow.

The dhampir's face was blank as he tossed the remote aside onto the bed. "That was Maverick."

"Are you…sure?"

Staring into the vampire's pale and worried face, Harlow pulled the man more firmly against him.

"It was his voice. He didn't bother to change it. I'm not sure why though."

Did the fucker think those not on his side would stay quiet about who he is? Harlow was certainly not the only hunter the bastard had pissed off.

"The bodies are gone…" Foxx rasped.

"They…" Harlow trailed off as Foxx's phone started to ring.

They both looked over at the man's phone that was lying on the bed next to them. Charity's name was on the display.

"Probably should answer that," Harlow said slowly when Foxx continued to stare.

"Why does there have to be another crisis when we haven't even finished the first one?" Foxx sighed and picked it up, answering.

Just like the last time she called, Charity's voice lacked her usual pep. "If you haven't seen the latest news, you should check it as you are packing up. Tony wants you both back home, now. I know you are likely tired, but he is adamant you return straight away, and that you call him when you reach your apartment. We both will be there as soon as you arrive."

"We've…seen it…" Foxx said hesitantly.

"We'll check out and head back," Harlow finished for him.

"Stay safe, you two," Charity sighed.

Foxx ended the call and remained silent for a moment…but his heartbeat told Harlow enough. The vampire's heart was racing. "Harlow…we have to get that blood to Doc… It's all that is left. It's the only hope we have of figuring out what this is. If Maverick releases whatever this is country wide…"

Harlow didn't finish for him, and Foxx didn't go on… They both knew what would happen… A bloodbath. A literal and figurative one. The ones who already hated paranormals would be loud…but it wouldn't take long before fear turned the rest.

Harlow wasn't sure why Foxx trusted Doc, but it wasn't his species on the line, and if Foxx thought they needed to get the sample to Doc, they'd get it to him.