30. Level Ten

H e didn't want to admit it, but…Foxx may have been right. Harlow shot the alien that jumped out on instinct, just barely stopping himself from actually attacking. The pulsing lights seemed to keep fucking with his vision, and meanwhile, his head continued to pound in time with the reverberating alien's screams, as its ‘death' wail rang out obnoxiously.

His fake plastic gun still pointed outwards, Harlow covered one ear, wincing as a different scream seemed to start inside his head. And then, like some sort of fucked up movie, the scene in front of him disappeared, another one taking its place.

Harlow jerked back, watching in sick fascination as hands that looked like his own tore someone in half, one scream cutting off, even as the others continued. And then those same hands…latched on to a man and started squeezing. Even if it was just a memory…he felt it… The flesh between his fingers…

But then just as quickly as it came, the feeling and the vision snapped away. He hissed loudly as he stepped back, baring his fangs at the person who had just touched him.

Harlow cut off the sound when he realized what he was looking at, just eyeing the terrified teen standing in front of him. "Ah…shit…"

The ‘alien' went down. Foxx went to say something to Harlow, but found the dhampir staring, one hand covering his left ear as his gun remained pointed out. The dhampir's muscles were twitching a bit. Foxx frowned on realizing that Harlow's heart was starting to race.

"Harlow?" he asked in confusion.

The man didn't respond, and Foxx didn't say more because someone walked into the room. He eyed the tall, lanky, blond-haired teen who was drawing nearer to them. Laser gun by his side, the kid eyed them back with clear interest…or rather, he eyed Harlow with interest.

"You two…aren't human, are you?" the teen asked, his gaze still on Harlow.

Foxx snorted. "And?"

He didn't like children…and to be honest, on his dislike scale…teens were higher than babies and toddlers.

The kid sneered. "What's wrong with the big one? Head broken or something? Has he got PTSD ?"

Foxx wrinkled his nose. "Excuse me?"

The little shit didn't even glance over at him. "I didn't know you vampires could get old. Is that why he has PTSD? He's too old to function?"

If the questions weren't stupid, and frankly disgusting, enough, the little bastard decided to top it all off by poking Harlow in the chest. At the touch, the dhampir reared back, and with his fangs flashing, Harlow hissed threateningly. A sound the dhampir cut off when the man must have finally snapped out of whatever trance he'd been in.

"Ah…shit…" Harlow sighed.

Eyeing the terrified teen, Foxx aimed and fired, setting off the sensor strapped to the kid's chest.

Harlow looked over at him, as the human brat finally snapped out of his stupor and took off. "Really, Foxx?"

"Well…he shouldn't have touched you," Foxx drawled. "You were obviously not doing well, and he decided to be twat and poke at you with a dumbass sneer. He even had the audacity to ask if you had PTSD for being old, or some nonsense. Disrespectful little wanker." Frowning, he asked, "Are you okay, Harlow?"

The dhampir grimaced. "I had a weird flashback to that damn house…"

"Flashback, as in?"

"I was there, and I was seeing what I did. Or rather, watching what I did. This happened a few times when I first woke up."

"Do you still not remember everything that happened that night?"

Harlow shrugged. "I remember the beginning parts of it, before my change. But…after that…just bits and pieces."

Well, he supposed that fit with the state Harlow had been in. The man had been out of his mind, and out of control, working on pure instinct, fully submerged in blood burn. But even then, it had still been him , so his mind trying to remember wasn't too strange…

"Maybe the combination of the lights and the noise brought the memories to the surface?"

"Yeah, I'm guessing."

"Welp," Foxx hummed. "Now that you've thoroughly scared the shit out of some snot-nosed brat, we should probably get out of here."

Harlow grimaced. "Sorry."

"Eh…it's fine. It wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be… In such an enclosed space, it's hard to ignore all the noises enough to make it surprising when things and people pop out."

That and…they hadn't bothered adding soundproofing between this building and the restaurant. Or the outside. Which was odd, as the restaurant itself had always seemed pretty insulated, even if the noise in there could be on the louder side, atmospheric wise. Hell, had they removed the soundproofing when building this new addition?

Shaking the thoughts away, Foxx smiled and looped his arm through Harlow's as he started tugging him through the maze-like fake spaceship towards the weapon return desk. "You know, maybe we should try paintball, but like, find a paranormal team or something! There will be less lights, less noise, likely in a wooded area, and real competition."

Harlow eyed him. "When exactly could we even do that?" The dhampir was wincing a bit, the noises were obviously bothering him more now. Or, more likely, the man had just been trying to hide how affected he was before.

"Well…after…everything has settled, that is," he mused. "Why don't we head to the diner instead of eating here?"

Because, unfortunately, depending on the section they were seated in, The End Zone could be just as loud as the laser tag was currently. And if they had removed a wall somewhere…it's likely the noise inside would be worse than before.

"Probably a good idea." Harlow sighed as they reached the desk.

Smiling, Foxx sat his laser gun on the table. Harlow did the same. "We're team two. Something's come up and we need to leave early."

The worker smiled back and nodded. Grabbing their guns, the woman typed on the computer, and a few seconds later, the board above, which listed the teams currently in the lead, changed. Team two, which had been on top, disappeared.

"Have a safe journey home, travelers," the woman said.

Foxx nodded, but as they turned to leave, they found themselves looking at an irritated woman and the blond teen, who appeared just as smug as he had when he'd first pranced his dumbass over to Foxx.

"Move," Foxx said, shoving past the woman and the brat, as he dragged Harlow along behind. Which was one of the nice things about Harlow. While the man liked to manhandle him, something he very much enjoyed himself, the dhampir also let Foxx pull him around without complaining…much.

"WAIT!" the woman shrieked.

He snorted. "No, I don't think I will." Ignoring her, he headed towards the door.

Foxx sighed when the human rushed her ass in front of him, and with her brat by her side, they blocked his way.

"You will wait when I tell you to! You hear me! You creatures dared to scare my son, so now you have to deal with me!" she snapped indignantly, her chest puffed out, nose turned up at him. It was interesting how she managed that…considering she was taller than him. Probably a lot of fucking practice.

"I'll…leave this to you," Harlow said with a soft chuckle from beside him.

He glared at the man, before looking back at the she-bitch and her hell-spawn. She had short blonde hair that was definitely dyed, and the woman would have been pretty, if her face wasn't screwed up in a fucking prune-ish scowl.

Violence is not the answer. Be good, Foxx , he told himself… Would it be a lot more fun than throwing shade? Yes! But it was NOT the answer! It would be easier though…

Ugh—this date was not turning out how he'd imagined. Then again…when he'd imagined it, Harlow had still been presumed human… Though…they had assumed that they may scar some children… Soo…maybe it had turned out like he'd thought it would.

Wait…he didn't have to throw shade. There was more than one way to get someone to move that didn't involve violence and insults! A slow smile slipped onto his face.

How had Harlow…described that…level ten toddler meltdown again? Foxx cleared the smile off his face and started whimpering. Looking at Harlow, he let out a sob that had the man's eyes widening. The dhampir looked down at him with a raised brow as he flopped onto his back on the ground and became the best bloody toddler he could be.

Foxx had a complete meltdown, screaming and wailing as he flailed about on the floor like the insane person that he was.

"W-what is wrong with him?!" he heard the woman ask in a shrill tone.

"Nothing. My boyfriend just missed his nap," Harlow said way too seriously, but the man apparently couldn't keep it up because seconds later, he burst into laughter.

"Ew, you're one of those!"

At the teen's disgusted sneer, Foxx stopped his act and sat up, glaring daggers at the kid.

The human took a step back, hiding a bit behind his mother.

"Don't you dare glare at my child, you freak!" she screamed. "People like you shouldn't even be allowed in public, let alone around children! Do you even know how disgusting it is that we have to face people like you?! I have a fair mind to call the police!"

"I was going to just scare you away by acting crazy." Foxx pushed up off the ground and brushed himself off. "But since you are such a horrible fucking twat of a mother, I guess I have to do your bloody parenting for you. Parenting tip number one, don't be ‘a dumb' by placing yourself and your child in harm's way because of something stupid they did that led to consequences. Because you don't know either of us, and there are people out there with zero morals who would not hesitate to either clock you in the face, or just outright kill you for the audacity.

"Tip number two; as a parent, you really should be less interested in policing others, when your little shit-stain over there, no less than fifteen minutes ago, made ignorant and disparaging comments about people who suffer from PTSD, along with then touching a random stranger, who at the time, he thought was suffering from PTSD.

"Tip three; just so you know, for future reference, preventing someone from leaving can actually lead to false imprisonment charges. Though, you calling the police would be hilarious, considering we are hunters. I'd really like to see them try to arrest us, it could be entertaining.

"Anyway, number four, and this is less of a tip and more a question of your ability to generate rational conclusions, because if you really think ANYONE gives a flying fuck what a bleached blonde bobble-head thinks about their existence, then I think it's time you seek professional help for your delusions of grandeur. Because, believe me when I say, my gay ass couldn't care less what someone who is less than a fraction of my age, and the cum she should have swallowed, thinks about me liking dick in my ass."

The woman stared, eyes wide, her mouth hanging open in shock now. Her son looked about the same.

"Move the fuck out of my way." Foxx rolled his eyes when they remained standing there. "MOVE!" he hissed, flashing both of his fangs. The woman's eyes widened in fright, and she quickly ushered her child out of the way.

"Fucking right, you move," he grumbled. Tossing his head back, he hmphed as he hooked his arm with Harlow's again, before pushing the door open and tugging the man along.

Halfway back to the car, Harlow chuckled and pulled him to a stop. He slipped his arm free and pulled Foxx to his chest, his arms coming around his waist. "You're completely deranged, you know that, right?"

Foxx giggled. "And?"

"Nothing, just thought I'd point it out," Harlow said with a smirk, before pressing a kiss to his forehead and then one to his lips. "Glad you are mine, brat."

"That's right, old man. You bloody well should claim me. And you also better not forget that first part, as if you ever dare to cheat on me, derangement will be the mildest thing you'll face."

Harlow's smirk widened. "I'd never." Chuckling again, the man sighed. "Come on, let's go eat. And then…solve my phone issue."