Chapter 28: Parenting 101

                                    

                                          
"Sir! Sir! Grimsby and his assistant have been murdered in Cluj-Napoca overnight!" XX exclaimed as he frantically ran up to his boss, who was already seated at the supercomputer. 
Frank almost fell out of his chair at the news. "XIV and XV?!" 
"Yes!"
"Darn it! This just got complicated. What do we know?!"
"Not much; crews are still at the scene of the crime. They've been at the gun shop for a while now, actually."
Frank facepalmed and shook his head. "Do they have any leads or clues? It took place at night.....it was one of those vampires, no doubt."
"Don't be so sure about that, sir....." XX countered. "The officers found bullet holes on their bodies, but there were no bite marks on their necks. Early theories suggest gunshots, not teeth. So.....no evidence of vampires here." 
"Wait.....what?!" the Dark Stake leader cried in bewilderment. "So you mean to tell me that there's a human out there who's hunting us down, too?!" 
"That seems to be the case. This, on top of our constant struggles with the Enclave.....quite the hardship indeed."
"Have they recovered the footage from the gun shop's cameras?!" 
"They've all gone dark," XX answered. "And no one nearby heard anything suspicious going on, either."
Frank clutched his head. "Ugh.....I don't think I can take much more of this.....it's only morning and I think I'm gonna have a headache. If one more thing goes wrong today—"
As if on cue, the doors to the hill bunker abruptly slammed open and Garson angrily stormed into the base, intently walking towards his father.
"Oh.....hello, son," Frank greeted wearily. "Shouldn't you be at The Butcher's by now?" 
"You lied to me. How could you?" Garson began.
The rest of the Dark Stake members became tense as father and son began trading words. "What are you talking about?" their leader asked.
"I already know everything. About the Dark Stake and the attack on Mavis's home. I know you only allowed me to return to her so you could use my relationship with her to try and get close to her father Balfort so you could assassinate him and conquer the Enclave. Your feelings on the vampires never changed at all. You lied to my face!" 
Despite learning that Garson was already aware of the entire plot, Frank surprisingly did not act impulsively. Instead, he still remained relatively calm. 
"All this for an upstart vampire princess you met only a few days ago....." he said almost mockingly, shaking his head in disappointment. "You've fallen in love with the enemy, Garson.....can't you see? There has never been any place for them among the humans, and there never will be. Vampires.....ferocious, murderous creatures with a taste for blood.....that's all they are." 
"No.....no, you're wrong!" Garson protested. "All of you are wrong! Do you know why they attack and drain the humans?"
"I don't have to know!" Frank barked. "None of us do! We've already seen portrayals of them in movies, TV shows, and video games, and that's all we really need! And if it's in the media, then it must be true, right?! They're ruthless savages and monsters who know nothing but death and destruction! You've seen them attack innocents several times before!"