SepticGentleman

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

A woman is in her car, driving through Árido Valley, late at night. Late twenties, caucasian, blond. She looks somewhat tired, though she keeps her focus on the road. There are few cars nearby, either falling back or passing her. For a while, she is alone.

She eyes the trees lining the right side of the road, if only briefly. Her mind wanders, thinking about what she’ll do when she gets to her parents’ home. It’d been quite a while since last she saw them. And she-

Clicking noise, outside of the car.

Something slams into the driver’s side.

The car swerves to the right, tires squealing. It slides off the road and onto the grass before the trees. The woman is far too panicked to attempt to regain control of the vehicle. The passenger’s side slams into a tree, and the car comes to a quick stop over shredded grass and dirt. The driver’s airbag is deployed. The woman is tossed around some, but still conscious. She breathes frantically, pushing the airbag down. Once she realizes what’s happened, she attempts to calm herself, but doesn’t quite succeed. After a moment, she wrestles her seatbelt off and slowly pushes the car door open, exiting the vehicle.

She stumbles outside, still somewhat panicked. She looks around, up the incline towards the road. No lights. No one passing by. She takes out her phone, luckily still intact. She attempts to call emergency services, but-

Loud noise.

Something hits the car.

She jumps, nearly dropping her phone. She turns around to look at her car. The first thing she notices is a pair of hands - large, gangly hands - wrapped around the top. She looks up, only seeing the faint outline of something perched on top of her vehicle, before that same outline lunges forth and wraps its enormous maw around her head.

She screams. But it is muffled, and no one is around to hear her. Her phone falls out of her hands as her arms struggle wildly. The creature’s neck stretches over her body, enveloping her completely in wrinkled flesh and red tendrils. She is swallowed whole in a manner of seconds.

The creature clicks and bellows lightly, dismounting itself from on top of the car, scurrying into the forest with its abdomen bloated and loose. The car is left as it was, headlights beaming into the dark.

No one saw.

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

Kyle and Kayla Foster

Written with @JunkMail

---

With Kyle a few vampires higher in his kill count and Kayla having unburdened a troubled man’s psyche, the Fosters moved to return to the motel and figure out what to do next, now that they had a solid grasp of the creature they were hunting - an aswang, specifically the vampiric manananggal.

Kyle arrived first, due in part to him already being in the truck and closer to the motel, though traffic did keep him a bit. Kayla arrived not too long after via Uber. Kyle waited beside the truck as Kayla approached.

“Hey.” They said to each other.

“How’d you get along?” Kyle asked his sister.

“Got what we needed out of Mr. Whittle.” She said, placing her hand on her hip and giving him a smile. “Name’s Jane Whittle now, by the way. Hopefully, he can start making a recovery from what he’s been through. Mentally, at least. What about you?”

“Raided a small Blood Cult den. Six dead vampires, not all of which were solely my doing.”

“Yeah, tell me about this new friend of yours?”

“Inside.” Kyle said, and the two made their way up to the second floor.

...

“Illusions?” Kayla asked.

“Seemed like it.” Kyle replied, “She was messing with their heads somehow. Fooling them into traps or just incapacitating them.”

“And it wasn’t magic?”

“My amulet went quiet as soon as the last vampire was dead. It was some form of natural mentalism.”

“Huh.”

“We have heard of a few cases of them before, at the Center. Never had any around though.” Kyle stated, “They’re a phenomenon, to put it plainly.”

“I see.” Kayla replied, “Well, this ‘Vertigo’ lady… how much did you tell her?”

“Just enough. She made herself sound like a novice but she was well composed during the raid.”

“So did you give her your info, or- heh, did she give you hers?” She said hopefully.

“Kayla.”

“Oh c’mon! Honest question!” she replied, throwing her arms in the air in self defense.

“That is not what we are here for.” Kyle retorted.

“I’m just saying, it would be a pleasant surprise if one of these days, you actually made an effort to get to know a nice girl.”

“I’m gonna put a stop, to this topic…” Kyle said, motioning his hand in a halting fashion, “And ask you, politely, to move on to the more important matter. This… ‘manananggal’ creature.”

“Okay so, you know chameleons right?” Kayla began, “They’re like… lizards that were tricked out by Q Branch in James Bond. Got that long ass tongue? Imagine that, but on a vampire.” she explained. “That’s their… proboscis of sorts. The teeth just make the wound. Likely human sized, or only slightly larger. Long claws, too. Whittle was carved up pretty bad.” she went quiet for a moment, but Kyle knew better than to speak. His sister always had at least one more thing to add in situations like this. Something about dramatic flair.

“Some folklore say that they have wings too, but that could be a subspecies or an undescribed species. Either way, hope you’ve been practicing your skeet shooting.”

“Alright.” Kyle replied, taking in all the info he was dealt. He then asked, “How do we go about finding it?”

Kayla sighed. “From what I saw of Oliver’s memory, this one seems to like playing helpless and picking unprepared or unarmed victims. I have an idea, but you’re not going to like it.”

“You want to set me up as bait for a trap.” Kyle replied, very plainly. Like he’d said those exact words many times before.

“Well, it likes men. But it gets worse. We have to replicate what happened to Oliver.” She explained, motioning with her hands. “Oliver was inebriated when he was attacked. I’m not going to ask you to get drunk, but a shot or two before taking to the streets may make you smell enough like alcohol to make it think you’re an easy target.”

Kyle just blew a puff of air out of his nose in mild annoyance. “Fine.” He replied, “And you’ll be doing what, exactly?”

“From what happened with Oliver, it didn’t take issue with attacking two people at once. I’ll be right behind you as backup. Likely also somewhat inebriated.” she said, looking down and then up at Kyle again with somewhat odd mixture that could only be a distraught smile. “So, at least it’s not just you as bait. It’s US as bait.”

Kyle just shook his head a bit.

“Only been here two days and I already hate this town.”

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

Kyle Foster and Vertigo

_{Written with @Skai}

---

The newfound duo of a gun toting Tourist and an illusionist vigilante made their way upstairs through the tenement. Five dead vampires behind them, only one left to go. They stopped at the top floor of the tenement, Kyle motioning for Eli to stay behind him. As they neared the top of the stairs, shots rang from the end of the hallway leading to the last vampire’s assumed-to-be office. Seems he had one more pair of human guards to serve as his last line of defense - in place of all his vampiric cohorts. Probably wouldn’t be his first choice in better circumstances.

The two ducked and moved to cover behind the hallway corner. The guards were keeping them pinned. Kyle looked down at his pistol for a brief moment, thinking of what proper course of action to take.

Eli had been wondering if their journey upstairs was a bit too easy, and as she ducked behind the hallway corner she realized that her thoughts had been answered. She pressed her back against the wall. First a franken-vamp and now a gunfight? She thought bitterly. She couldn’t tell which was worse between the two. It didn’t help that this was the first time she had faced both.

”I thought you said there was only one more!”

“One more vampire. Couldn’t see the guards.”

Eli nodded and rolled her eyes. Of course not. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled through her nose. Her eyes closed, and her mind focused on the remaining minds left in the building. It took her a few moments to push the limit of her ability, but as soon as she felt ready she took control of the situation. The two gunmens’ vision blurred, and a nauseous feeling overcame them as they lost the ability to distinguish up from down. They collapsed to their knees and as Eli heard the thumps she tapped her partner’s arm. ”Take care of them. I can only hold this for a little bit.”

Kyle acted without hesitation, exiting from cover and darting down the hallway. The moment he entered the office, he slammed his fist into the left guard’s nose, the right one’s, the left one’s throat, and then the right one’s. Both of them went down, dazed and incapacitated.

Surprisingly enough, the vampire seated in the leather swivel chair before him did naught but clap a few times. “Very nice,” he exclaimed, “very nice. Looks like Van Helsing and his honey have come to-”

Kyle, not one to put up with anymore nonsense than he preferred to, cut the vampire’s little speech short with a shot to one of his kneecaps. His arrogant grin was replaced with a pain-induced snarl as he grabbed his wounded leg, the silver lodged inside stinging something awful. Kyle didn’t stop there however, putting one more shot into the vampire’s hand - one of his fingers flying off and falling on the floor.

“You... fucker!” The vampire called out, falling out of his chair and onto the floor. He didn’t give the impression of being someone very experienced with his undead condition. He held his wounds as best he could, his hand not hurting quite so much with no bullet lodged inside. Kyle stepped forward and held the gun to the vampire’s forehead.

“Everything you have on the Blood Cult. Now.”

“Fuck you!”

Kyle’s response was whipping the vampire’s face with the blunt end of the pistol’s grip, and then aiming down at him once again once he was down on his side.

“You give me what I want and you get to limp out of here and tell your superiors what happened,” Kyle began, “or I can kill you now and ransack the place. It’s your choice.”

The vampire grunted in pain again, still holding his knee. He reached into his coat pocket and, after some fiddling, pulled out his phone, holding it up to Kyle. He took it with his free hand and eyed it for a moment, turning it on and seeing the passcode screen.

“Eveything I got’s… on there,” the vampire said, pained, “Happy?”

“Passcode,” Kyle said sternly.

“Five-five-nine-two…”

Kyle input the code on the phone, bringing it up to the home screen. He nodded, satisfied, and said to the vampire, “Thanks.” And he then proceeded to shoot him thrice in his brainpan. He went limp, slumping onto the floor, ichor pooling around his torn-up head.

In the doorway behind Kyle, Eli stood in silence. She had only reached the door by the time to hear the vampire receive an ultimatum. Since then, she had simply observed the two. She now looked from the bloody body and up at the man who, she realized, was still a stranger. She still didn’t feel threatened by him, although the man had just brutally murdered the vampire.

”I suppose now is the time for explanations.” She said, eyeing the phone in his hand.

“No,” Kyle responded, “Cops’ll be here soon. Need to leave. Follow me and we’ll talk outside.” He shut the phone off completely and then passed Eli, making his way back through the hallway, confident that he got everything he needed. Eli, not necessarily presented with any other options, followed suit.

…

They’d made their way out of the building through use of the fire escape ladder leading into the alleyway. Kyle led Eli to his truck parked a short ways away from the tenement. They heard sirens in the distance as they neared the vehicle, Kyle directing Eli to get in the passenger’s seat. Once they were both inside, Kyle put down his hood and did away with his mask and goggles, finally revealing his face to the stranger he’d been working with for the duration of the raid. He took his glasses out of his inner coat pocket and put them on. Once they were mobile, and confident no one was on their tail, Kyle spoke.

“You okay?”

Eli nodded, yet she felt odd riding through the city with a mask on in daylight. She reached up to remove her mask, calmly tucking it into her jacket before she zipped it up. Her eyes turned to face the now unmasked man before her and she briefly took in the face that had been completely covered minutes ago.

”Nothing a day of rest can’t cure,” she mused. It felt a little strange to reveal her face to someone who now knew what she could do.

“I’m… sorry, you got caught up in all that,” Kyle said to the best of his confidence, maintaining his focus on the road. He proceeded to ask her, “How did you end up in there in the first place?”

Eli watched him as he apologized, but as soon as he asked the second question she averted her eyes. Her gaze moved towards the traffic before them. She took a moment to think over exactly how she had gotten herself there. ”I was resting in the alley behind a club. The pile of ashes you saw near me were the remains of a vampire who lured a woman into it. He attacked her, and I tried to stop it.” She furrowed her brows. ”Next thing I know I wake up on their couch.”

“Well, you handled yourself very well afterwards,” Kyle said. After a moment’s hesitation, he decided to divulge a couple more important details.

“Kyle Foster. I’m a Tourist.”

Eli looked over at the man with a raised eyebrow. His concern amused her. She chuckled softly before she introduced herself. ”My name is Eli. It’s nice to meet you.” She glanced around at the truck, trying to figure out what this man was doing there. ”I’m assuming you aren’t a normal tourist?” His truck revealed no signs of corny tourist items.

Realizing the error in his wordplay, Kyle replied, “No, we’re… it’s… it’d take a while to explain fully. How much do you… know?”

”Today is my first day, really. I had no idea they existed until last night. Does that mean…?”

“Yeah, it’s a… bit of a bombshell. Not just them either. Monsters, magic… all real. Although judging by what you… did, back in there, you’re at least somewhat aware of things that fall out of the… mundane variety. Right?”

”At least I’m human.” A brief pause. ”I haven’t exactly met a human like me either. I know they’re out there, but I didn’t expect to meet a monster hunter before that.”

“Yeah. I’m… well, me and one other person, my sister - another Tourist - we came here to… basically, to take care of all the problems involving anything supernatural. That includes the Blood Cult, and this string of murders we’ve heard about.”

”The string of murders aren’t related to the vampires?”

“I don’t think they are. At least, I don’t think who or whatever’s behind them is involved with the Blood Cult. What we gathered on the last victim didn’t point to the work of a typical vampire. My sister is pursuing a lead to see if she can nail down what exactly it is.”

”I wish her luck… Did you find what you were looking for back there?”

“Hopefully. I’m trying to get a sense of just how serious the Blood Cult is as an overall threat. The phone could be a decent start to telling me what they have going on. Not gonna set my expectations… too high, though.”

A moment of silence passed between them.

“Is there somewhere I can drop you off? A… safehouse of yours? If you have one?”

”Somewhere up the street will do fine.” Eli said with a laugh. ”Thank you.”

Kyle nodded. After a bit, he pulled up to a fairly active sidewalk, parking the truck. He took a moment to grab a notebook and pen out of the middle compartment between the truck’s driver and passenger seats, writing down a phone number on it.

“I know this seems rather forward,” he said, handing the note to Eli, “but having some form of network helps in situations like this. My sister and I… we’ll be getting involved in some dangerous things here. And you’ve more than demonstrated you’re capable of handling stuff like that. So… would it be too bold of me to assume we can count on each other’s aid?”

Eli looked at the note, and after a short moment of hesitation she took it from his hand. ”I’ll send you a message so you have my number.” She said, acknowledging that she accepted. She turned to open the door, stepping out onto the sidewalk before pausing. ”I wish you luck, Foster.”

“Same to you, Eli,” Kyle replied with a nod, “Stay safe out there.”

With that, Eli closed the truck door and made her way away from the Tourist, as Kyle proceeded to rejoin the flow of traffic.

A strange circumstance to make acquaintances under.

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

Kyle Foster and Vertigo

_{Written with @Skai}

---

Kyle made his way up the first set of stairs, gun raised. He could see the red shapes of the vampires moving about now, alerted to the commotion. One floor above where he was, two were situated at the opposite end of the building. One appeared to be on the floor, writhing in pain - not Kyle’s doing. Did someone open a window? Who else in this building was fighting these things but him?

He stopped paying all the questions anymore of his mind and moved up to the second floor. Hearing footsteps, he took cover behind the hallway corner. Shots from two guards’ handguns rang through, splintering the walls. Kyle took a moment to reach into his coat pocket, fiddling a bit with whatever was inside. He took out a small pouch and-

No, no, wrong pouch. Explosives. Not right.

He put the pouch back quick and reached for the next pocket down, just as the the two guards had stopped firing. They began moving up. Kyle took out the correct pouch this time, taking out a small marble-like object. He tossed it down the hallway, the two guards reacting immediately, albeit with some confusion as to what the hell a marble was supposed to do.

Then, it gave off a faint, pale-blue glow, and detonated with extreme concussive force. As it was in-between the two guards, one was sent flying back, slamming into the wall at the end of the hallway, while the forward guard came flying towards Kyle, making an impact on the wooden staircase railing, neatly breaking right through it. Slumped on the ground but still moving a bit, Kyle proceeded to kick his nose, putting him out for the count.

Just then, another guard lunged forward from the stairs leading to the next floor, armed with a metal bat this time rather than a firearm. He brought the bat down on Kyle, the latter dodging right, now pinned on the broken wooden rail, dropping his pistol on the floor. The guard raised the bat again, with Kyle proceeding to push forward, slamming his own body against the guard’s. He grabbed his hands and attempted to wrestle the bat from him, the two quickly collapsing onto the floor. Kyle managed to free the bat from the guard’s grasp, tossing it aside. Now unarmed, the guard proceeded to repeatedly slam his fist against the side of Kyle’s head. Kyle, after taking two hits to the noggin, flung his right arm back and grabbed the guard’s arm, quickly and repeatedly elbowing his face with his free one. The guard was dazed, with Kyle throwing himself forward and twisting around. A kick to the guard’s face put him out of commission.

Kyle took a hurried moment to regain his composure and pick up his gun. He made his way upstairs, in the direction of the two vampires at the other end of the third floor. But before he could get a shot at the one at the end of the hall, someone grabbed him from behind - another female vampire - and threw him forward. Kyle sailed through the hall, landing at the feet of the male vampire across the way, who proceeded to turn around and look down at him. He exclaimed, “Who the fuck is this!?”

His received answer was Kyle proceeding to aim his gun upwards and shoot the vampire a total of five times, the silver bullets turning his head and upper torso into a bloody mess. Kyle attempted once more to regain his composure, only for the female vampire who jumped him to quickly rush forward and toss him against another wall. He landed on the wooden floor, fairly dazed, his vision filled a bright light - not from any serious concussive injury, but from the light from outside flooding into the room. There was heavily burned vampire lying on the sunlit section of the floor. And an unfamiliar female figure standing there, across from the attacking vampire.

Eli stood in shock as she looked over the man that had just obliterated her opponent. She lowered the rail a small distance, struggling to decide whether he was friend or foe. Who the hell is that? She thought. Before she could assume anything about the man, an infuriated hiss sounded in the hallway. Eli moved quickly towards the doorway, swinging the rail around into the hallway in time to connect with the head of a female vampire. Let’s hope this man is quick to draw. She thought, realizing that she wasn’t under the protection of the light anymore.

Upon this discovery, she decided that she wasn’t going to rely on the man’s help. Without another moment wasted, Eli stepped further into the hallway and faced the vamp. She’d retracted a few feet from the two humans and was pushing her wild hair out of her face. “You’ve messed with the wrong vamp, little girl!” She spat with a voice as eerie as the row of teeth in her mouth. She came at Eli with full force, but this time Eli was prepared to react quickly. She focused on the woman’s perception, altering the hallway to appear a foot or two longer than it was. It was a subtle enough distance that the vampire wouldn’t notice, but it gave Eli an advantage. The vampire quickened her pace to reach her faster, and the second she was in spitting distance Eli shoved the rail against the walls. It stuck in place, and Eli slipped underneath of it as the vampire ducked to miss it. The vampire spun around to face Eli again, baring her teeth in a snarl.

Kyle was slowly making his way back to an upright position. He had a better overall perception of the room now, the smell of the sunbaked vampire corpse just now piercing his nostrils. Wincing a bit under his mask, he quickly put it past him and stood upright, looking in the direction of the ongoing commotion. He stepped towards the hallway, gun raised. The moment he caught sight of the red shape of the female vampire, he opened fire. Within the two shots he got off before the vampire took action, he only managed to hit her shoulder. Still somewhat dazed, his aim was taking a hit. The vampire jumped upward, clinging to the ceiling with claws extending from both her hands and her bare feet. Kyle shot at her several more times, missing due to her rapidly skittering across the wooden surface. The vampire headed down the hall in Eli’s direction, lunging forward and disappearing down the staircase.

Kyle lowered his gun. The red shape quickly darted around the second floor, before moving down another, and then even further down again - out of the goggles’ perceivable range. He could be heard letting out labored breaths beneath his cloth mask. He turned his attention towards Eli, without saying anything.

Eli stood straight from her ducked position, looking rather shocked and disgusted after watching the vampire’s escape. She turned to face the man, at a loss for words. She began by removing the rail from the walls, gently letting it drop to the floor. She cleared her throat and looked towards the man. ”Are there any more up here?” She asked, deciding that it was best to ensure their safety before any small talk began.

Kyle paused for a moment before looking upward. He caught sight of another red shape, the vampire he’d followed in here, but only a faint trace. Just near the edge of the range limit.

“There’s one above us.” Kyle said, “Other two are below. Basement, most likely.” After a brief moment of silence between the two, Kyle proceeded to ask Eli, “Who are you?”

Eli nodded in response to his answers, glancing between the stairs that led down and the ones that led upwards. She raised an eyebrow beneath the mask as the man questioned her identity. ”I should ask you the same, but I suppose we can get to that later.” She gave the stranger a soft smile. ”They call me Vertigo, but there aren’t many that know me.” She observed the way the man stood, looking over the goggles he wore on his eyes and the gun within his hands. Her eyes soon returned to his masked face. ”Well, are we going up or down first?”

“I need the one above us alive, so-”

Kyle’s response cut off by a distant roar, emanating from several floors down. He looked down at the floor, as did Eli - though she couldn’t see what Kyle was seeing. A faint red shimmer came into view, away from the stairs, as if it burst through the floor entirely. It did so again, coming into clearer view - and its bulk becoming more apparent. Kyle immediately stepped back as the figure lunged upward once more, bursting through the floor between him and Eli. An absolutely massive vampire, riddled with musculature, acting more like a beast than a man, or even a proper vampire. The brute looked at Kyle, roaring with his jagged teeth bared.

A ways behind Eli, the female vampire from before crept up the staircase, eyeing her prey.

They were in for a fight - all four of them.

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

Kyle Foster

---

The following day…

Kyle had begun his reconnaissance fairly early in the day. While Kayla was handling leads on the murder victim, he was set about discerning the overall threat level of the 6^th Street Blood Cult. He’d taken the truck and started driving through town, covering whatever grounds he could. As he was looking for vampires, he needed a better way to pinpoint them. Hard to do when the sun was up, and especially without Kayla around, but he had a solution saved for times like this.

Kyle was wearing an old pair of welding goggles that had been enchanted to detect supernatural entities. Much like how his sister did, but far less subtle. Plus they didn’t last forever - needed to be recharged with arcane energy after about an hour of consecutive use. So he was being sparing with how often he had them activated.

They could see faint traces of supernatural beings through walls, but not from very far away. Kyle was driving from block to block, occasionally stopping and scanning various buildings around him. After about an hour and a half of work, he wasn’t coming up with anything. He didn’t expect the Blood Cult to be literally everywhere of course, but he was starting to figure he wasn’t going to get incredibly lucky with his findings.

He was scanning another building with the goggles activated - nothing, as per usual - and that’s when it happened.

From the seat of his truck, Kyle saw a smaller car head past him. Without deactivating the goggles, he gave the car a quick glance, doing a double-take. Inside was a red, shimmering clouds in the shape of a man, sitting in the back middle seat. A vampire having someone else drive him through town in the morning, probably all bundled up to avoid direct sunlight. Kyle obviously didn’t know for sure if he was Blood Cult but, this was the best lead he’d gotten so far.

He took to following them, taking care not to drive too closely behind, changing up routes every now and again. He almost lost track of them once or twice, but eventually followed them quite a few blocks down to a tenement building on a street corner. No windows were open. Absolutely none of them.

Parked a ways away, Kyle watched with a pair of binoculars as the two men exited the car - a guard who had been sitting in the passenger seat, and the vampire himself. Slick coat, gloves, wide brim hat, all fitting clothes to keep the sunlight at bay. He made a brisk walk towards the front door, heading inside with his cohort while the car went off to who-knows-where. Another guard was stationed outside, sitting on the stairs, looking out for trouble.

Either this vampire was Blood Cult, or he simply had his own little gang of thralls and confidants, but Kyle was confident in the former idea. He was set to get some information out of him - whatever he could, at least. He sat in the truck for a moment, pondering. There was probably a more subtle way to go about this, but he wasn’t about to sit around making plans and not taking direct action once again.

He had to prepare himself.

…

The guard was still seated, more focused on his phone than his surroundings. He was completely oblivious to the man approaching him along the sidewalk. Kyle, now dressed in a heavy brown coat with a gray padded mantle and hood. Black gloves, and a full black face mask covering all but his eyes - which were now shielded by the enchanted goggles. Once Kyle was standing directly in front of the seated guard, he looked up at the unfamiliar figure and began to speak.

“Who the fuck are y-”

Kyle interrupted the man by grabbing his phone out of his hands and tossing it onto the sidewalk, very visibly breaking it. The guard wasn’t given any time to react to the affront as Kyle proceeded to deliver a swift punch to his nose, and then grabbing him and slamming his head against the metal rails on the sides of the front stairs. The guard was out cold, and Kyle proceeded to lift him halfway up and toss him down the stairs on the side, leading into the basement section of the tenement. Out of sight, for the most part.

Kyle turned his attention upward, scanning the building. A few red human shapes stuck out thanks to the goggles. Vampires just lounging about on multiple floors, in the dark. Didn’t look to be no more than six in total. One was right inside past the front door, in a seated position. Kyle reached into his inner coat pocket and brandished an M1911, heavily engraved with a pearl grip. A flashlight, or similar device, was attached to the underside of the barrel, with a small rune etched on it. He took out the clip - a small rune was etched on its base, ‘stretching’ the interior and effectively quintupling its bullet capacity. Not as much reloading needed. He double checked to make sure he had silver bullets loaded in, and then put the clip back into the gun.

He didn’t bother scanning the area outside for any onlookers. He figured being quick would benefit him most. He readied the pistol, marching up to the front door. He proceeded to barge in, arm outstretched. The room was dimly lit by a ceiling lamp, with multiple couches claimed by loosely dressed women, dazed out of their minds or fully asleep. A mismatch of drugs lied on the table they all surrounded.

They all turned their attention to Kyle as he barged in - the ones who still had some sense in them, at least. Kyle aimed his pistol at the one girl who was fully awake. She immediately stood up, her eyes turning bloodshot and her mouth opening wide, teeth bared. Kyle immediately shot her head from across the room, her black blood splattering across the wall behind her as her body slumped back, falling to the feet of several drugged-up women.

The ones who didn’t immediately start screaming were either spurning themselves awake or making for the still-open door. Kyle let them pass, not wanting to bring harm to any human beings in the building, thrall or otherwise.

“We got trouble!” Kyle heard a man loudly shout, as down the hall from the room he was in, a guard proceeded to draw his own firearm. Kyle reacted immediately, aiming his gun but not firing. He pressed a button on the flashlight at the end, causing it to emit an extremely bright, flashing light. The guard immediately shielded his eyes and ducked behind the corner at the end of the wall. Kyle ran forward, darting to the guard’s side and grabbing his shirt collar. He threw him down and kicked the gun out of his hand, then proceeding to stomp his face twice, rendering him unconscious - and rather damaged. Kyle wasn’t gonna kill any humans, but he wasn’t above inflicting heavy bodily harm on them.

Make through the building. Kill all vampires, neutralize any hostile humans. Find the vampire from earlier and get some info on the Blood Cult out of him.

Kyle could hear movement and shouts above him on the upper floors of the building. He had to move, and fast.

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

Kyle and Kayla Foster

_{Written with @JunkMail}

---

They were back at the motel now, and they wasted no time going over what they’d found. Kyle was seated at a small desk, reviewing the footage that had been found on the drone’s SD card through use of a laptop. Meanwhile, Kayla was seated on one of the nearby beds, combing through the old grimoire she had borrowed forever from one Riley Sheridan.

“This doesn’t look like the work of an average vampire.” Kyle said, being the first to speak up. Still looking at a paused moment of the footage, with as close a view of the body as the drone had gotten, he continued to say, “Victim’s throat was completely torn open, then he was drained through the wound.”

“Could’ve been an especially sloppy vampire.” Kayla replied, “Or just incredibly hungry to the point of feral behavior.”

“Hmmm.” Was all Kyle returned.

“Strigoi, maybe?” Kayla asked, “They have those… tongues.”

“I’m not sure. Can’t be conclusive with just this footage.”

“Should’ve gone in for a closer look then.”

“Not with that many people watching, Kayla. This is the best we’ve got for now.”

“We probably wouldn’t know without a necropsy either way.” Kayla mused. She looked up from the book and leaned towards the screen. “Hold on a second, pause?” She asked. Kyle hit the spacebar of his laptop, and the video stopped rolling. The drone’s footage was directly above the victim. “Look at the neck again. You seeing what I’m seeing?”

“Just tell me what I missed.” Kyle said, almost sounding a little deflated.

“I mean, you didn’t miss anything obvious but his neck? That’s not a slash or a regular tear. That was made with teeth.” She said, placing her finger on the laptop screen and dragging her finger around the man’s neck area in a lazy circle. “It looks like a lateral bite, lengthways around the sides of the neck. Teeth were obviously thin.”

“Like… snake’s teeth?” Kyle said.

“Like snake’s teeth, yeah.” She commended, bringing her arm away from the computer so her brother could look more closely. “Most vampires go for the neck because, duh. But it looks like there’s postmortem swelling all around the sides of this man’s neck. Way more teeth than a normal vampire.”

“Anything in that book you picked up that points closer to what exactly it might be?” Kyle asked.

“Penangglan, maybe? They have the teeth. Depends on where it came from. Let me look again.” Kayla said, moving back to her book. “So, snakelike features, needle like teeth, prefers male victims. Could be a Lamia.” Kayla said, still obviously speaking from memory rather than the book.

Kyle exhaled through his nose. After a moment of silence, he said, “Y’know, regardless of what it is, that bartender you gave an… episode earlier, she was pretty liberal with details about this Sixth Street Blood Cult.”

“And?” Kayla asked.

“Organized crime with vampires involved is a problem in and of itself.” Kyle replied, “So whether or not they’re responsible for this particular murder, I think we oughta go about getting some information on them. Numbers, operations, whatever we can dig up. See what all it’s going to take to snuff them out.”

“I can always find that Oliver guy that the ex-cop told me about while you do that.” Kayla mused. “You tend to be a lot better at getting people to talk when they don't have interest in talking.” She cast a knowing gaze up at her brother but didn't say anything after. They have had a few disagreements on the… methods that were sometimes employed. Although, Kayla could not deny the effectiveness they had when Kyle used them.

She looked down again, and sighed. “We’ve hit a bit of a roadblock, here. And a lead. What do you want first, good news or bad news?”

“Bad.”

“What we’re dealing with is a very general term used to describe a variety of creatures called an Aswang. Good news is, Aswangs only have a few potential clarifications. No way to tell for sure, though. They’re all vampiric. ”

Kyle shook his head.

“Y’know, maybe we should just hit Parker with the update on the whole situation here.” Kayla said, “Figure out what to do tomorrow.”

“You go ahead and talk to him.” Kyle replied, “I’m gonna get dinner started.”

Kayla nodded. She stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder as she passed him in thanks. She never could cook well. She left Kyle’s quarters and stepped into her room, which was right next to his. She sat on the bed and grabbed the telephone that was on the motel nightstand. She sighed and dialed in a number she had long since memorized.

“Thank you for calling the New Alton Tourism Center, this is Meredith speaking, how may I help you?”

“Hi Meredith, this is Kayla speaking. I’m calling to ask about the weather in Greece this year. Do you know the highs and lows?”

“Let me put you through to our weather department. Please hold.”

The line went quiet for a moment before another voice replaced the woman’s. It was deep, with a gravelly southern drawl. “Kayla Foster, was wonderin’ when I’d hear from you two.”

Kayla smiled despite herself. “It hasn’t even been one day!”

“Doesnt take you two long to find yer way into trouble. So tell me, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Kayla sighed. “We’ve got trouble with vampires.”

“Blood suckin’ parasites. Was out the other day and found a tick crawlin’ up my leg. Squashed that sucker quick. Sucks that they come in human form, usually harder to get rid of.”

Kayla rolled her eyes. “Well, we have Grim Vampires that have formed some kind of coven. We also have a chain of murders as of late. Definitely vampiric, but different signatures than usual.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

“I’m led to believe it’s an Aswang of some sort.”

“You said it was vampiric, right?”

“Yes?”

“Aswang is an umbrella Filipino term. That means that it has to be a-”

“Penanggalan, Tiyanak, or a Manananggal.”

“Atta girl.” Parker said. There was chuckling on Parker’s side of the phone, from a woman who was no doubt listening in on their conversation. “Taught you and your brother well.”

“Yeah well you can pat yourself on the back later.” Kayla said, sighing. “I still don't know what I’m dealing with. Not entirely.”

“I have a feeling you know exactly who to talk to about that one, hun.” Parker said knowingly. Kayla was going to ask him how he knew about Oliver, but was cut off when Parker continued. “Speaking of talkin’, you ever find that Jäger I mentioned?”

“No. Just the vampires and a bartender that had a case of fugue mid conversation and started speaking a different language.”

This seemed to catch Parker’s attention. “What language?”

“What?”

“What language, Kayla.”

“It- I dunno, it sounded German, maybe?”

“You know several languages, Kayla. Try again.”

She sighed hard, having been sufficiently reminded that even in their more friendly moments Parker still decided to evaluate her. It was moments like these where she remembered why Kyle wasn’t exactly fond of the man and his expectations.

“It was German.”

“Sounds like you found your Jäger.”

“Wh-”

“Unactivated, until recently. Likely untrained, but this person might be worth revisiting if you plan to do something about that coven you mentioned. You and Kyle might also get some other unexpected help.” Parker said cryptically. Kayla opened her mouth to question him, but quickly remembered Parker’s aversion to straight answers and decided not to waste her breath.

“Was good to talk to you, Parker.”

“And to you, as always, Kayla. You have a good night, and tell your brother I said hello for me would you?”

Parker hung up before she could respond, and then Kayla was much more alone in her room.

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

Kyle and Kayla Foster

_{Written with @Junkmail and @Lord Wraith}

---

“Sorry sir, those have been on the floor.” Kyle said as he approached the vampire mid-counting, grabbing the bowl of peanuts and heading for the nearest door. “Let me toss them out and get you a new batch.”

“No!” The vampire snapped back, immediately getting up and chasing after Kyle, Kayla tailing behind the bloodsucker. As the three all went into the street one by one, Kayla stepped up behind the man and pressed her hand between his shoulder blades. She pushed him forwards, speaking words of power to exert her will upon the parasite. ”Natula naud, ar' bela.” Kyle, bowl of peanuts still in hand, followed the two into the alley.

She forced him aside and onto his knees, keeping him bound. Kyle approached the two, setting the bowl of nuts aside on the lid of a trash can for a moment. He retrieved a small, old leather satchel from his inner coat pocket, looking as if it had been worn and weathered by time. A ring of runes were embroidered into the fabric. Kyle opened the satchel up and from within, brandished a weapon larger than the satchel should have allowed - clearly space-affecting magic at work.

A mare’s leg, old yet well kept. Custom made, smaller than others would be. Faded iron for the metals, with an off-white foregrip, and what appeared to be the preserved upper end of a human humerus as the lever grip. Etched on the left side of the foregrip were a host of small, faded tally marks that had long stopped being added to. Etched on the right side was the sentence, ‘FOR THEE, I COMMIT TO GRAVE’.

Kayla winced somewhat at the sight of the weapon. As though she’d seen it before, and didn’t like what it represented. She did not say anything though, vampirism was incurable and this man belonged to a coven. They were problematic, and would need to be eliminated for the safety of both the mundane and the supernatural alike.

“6th street blood cult. Talk. Don't make this any harder than it has to be.”

Kayla winced as the vampire resisted her snare on his mind, no doubt trying to free itself from her grasp. “Kyle?” She questioned, shooting a sideways glance to her brother, stepping back quickly to let the man work.

Kyle stepped forward, raising the mare’s leg to the vampire’s neck, raising it under his chin to force him to look up at him. “This does not have to end with you dead.” He began, “It’s an ugly outcome that we prefer to avoid. In return for your cooperation.”

The vampire, seemed to forego its human facade and bared its teeth, all but confirming Kyle and Kayla’s suspicion. Kayla seemed to struggle for a moment, but held. “Kyle, strike him.”

And he did, with the blunt femur-grip of the mare’s leg, upon the creature’s forehead. Kayla herself, being somewhat connected to the vampire’s mind, saw stars momentarily from the force of the blow. She shook her head, returning her focus. All this activity was making her weary tonight. “I’ll ask again, all kind like, and you’ll answer. Just as kindly. Tell us about your coven. Word on the street’s that they’ve been causing a whole lot of trouble.”

“Fuck you, hexinbitch!” The vampire spat as it continued to fight against Kayla’s influence. “We’re just collecting what this asshole of a town fuckin’ owes us!” He snarled, continuing to squirm. “The fuckers take from us, so we take from ‘em. They just don’t know they’re lower on the fuckin’ food chain. Cycle of life ‘n all that, baby.”

“And what exactly do they take from you?” Kyle asked calmly, keeping the mare’s leg trained on the vampire’s neck.

“Pleasure, euphoria, highs they’ll never know anywhere else.” The vampire replied cooly, his eyes scanning both Kyle and Kayla from head to toe. “I could show you both, right here, right now.” He cooed, the vampire’s tongue snaking out his mouth and wrapping seductively around one of its elongated incisors.

Kyle and Kayla gave each other looks of severe disapproval towards the vampire. Kyle was close to hitting him again.

“Care to tell us just how strong your coven is?” Kyle asked, “Or are you just… garden variety?” Those last two words he voiced in as demeaning a tone he could muster.

“What’s a coven?” The vampire leered in response, “The 6^th Street Blood Cult is a new religion, a new doctrine and soon this whole city will be singing our hymns. My death will be meaningless, spill my blood if you must, the Father will show you mercy”

“And who is this ‘Father’?”

“Someone who in time, you’ll learn to love. The father has been in all of us, I can feel him in my veins right now. Would you like to receive him?”

Kyle gave Kayla a quick look. She nodded, bracing herself as her brother delivered another strike to the vampire’s head with the mare’s leg. “Are you responsible for that body in the alley downways from here?” Kyle asked, as the vampire recovered from the strike.

“What do you think?” The vampire smiled mischievously before spitting freshly spilled black ichor from its mouth. Nursing its fangs with its tongue, the vampire’s eyes stared back at Kyle, daring him to make a move, obviously gaining some sort of twisted enjoyment from each strike of the weapon in his hand.

The Fosters passed another look at each other. They didn’t seem all too confident in the idea that this vampire was the culprit, vague as his confession was. They figured they were done with him, for what little he spoke of. Kyle lowered the mare’s leg, turning to pick up the bowl of peanuts. He raised them above the vampire’s sight and spilled them all onto the ground, dropping the bowl afterwards.

“Count.” He said. Kayla grunted and proceeded to release the vampire from her grasp, allowing him to indulge in his weakness, which would be his undoing. As he lurched forward and began sorting the nuts into the bowl, Kyle took a step to the creature’s side. He nodded to his sister, who proceed to cast another of her spell. ”Natula dina vee' i' ba.” she spoke, and in the shape of a sphere, the air around them began to shimmer and undulate. Noise couldn’t escape it - they didn’t want the gunshot to be heard beyond just the two of them.

Kyle raised the mare’s leg to the back of the vampire’s head. Pull of the trigger, and the silver bullet ended the creature’s life in the midst of his counting. His body slumped onto the ground, motionless afterwards. The ichorous black blood blended well with the asphalt.

“Burn him.” Kyle calmly said to his sister. Kayla did as instructed and spoke once more. “Toor” She took a deep breath, and upon her release a high pressure jet of flame erupted from her mouth, incinerating the vampire’s corpse and turning it to ash. The repeated this a few times, stopping only to breath. When she was finished, she took a step back to catch her breath. In an instance where she was simply casting first she would have used her hands, but destroying a body oftentimes required a more powerful flame.

“You alright?” Kyle asked.

Kayla was bent over with her hands on her knees. She looked up at her brother and gave him a smile for his benefit. “Been busy tonight. Thanks for asking, though.” When she finally stood up properly again she looked around the alley they were in and sighed.

“So, two different types of vampire, two leads, and two problems.” She summarized.

“Let’s get back to the motel. Figure things out.”

“Yeah. Probably a good idea. We need to update Parker.”

Kyle nodded. Kayla turned and headed for the alley’s exit. Kyle, however, stopped and looked down at the mare’s leg in his hand, eyeing it intently. After a moment, Kayla turned around to catch him in the act.

“Kyle.” She said softly, “Put it away.”

And so he did, back into the small leather satchel and into his inner coat pocket. They both left the alley, no trace of their actions left behind.

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

Kyle, Kayla & Ellara

_{Written with @Junkmail and @Lord Wraith}

---

The Fosters… didn’t quite know how to respond to the bartender’s question, following her rather intense indulgence of the bottle of rye in her hand. The two of them sat there, with faces fixed in expressions combining both amazement and concern. Kyle was the first to snap out of it, when he realized his amulet was vibrating in the mere presence of the bartender. He tapped Kayla’s arm and, with her attention turned to him, lightly tapped his chest a few times - his long-used sign that their immediate company was not of the mundane variety.

Kayla straightened up, and whispered “Elea.” under her breath. Immediately her vision changed to a form of aura-sight. The people around her immediately lit up, and then returned to normal. People like Kyle, normal people, did not have any particularly strong aura that stuck out to her, but the supernatural were immediately apparent to her. The bartender, as well as a man at the other end of the bar were illuminated by a red hue. The man, who was feverishly counting peanuts, couldn’t have been anything other that a vampire. The waitress on the other hand didn’t seem to be acting or doing anything outside of the normal. That either meant she was extremely dangerous, or that she meant no harm to them at all. From experience Kayla had learned that there was no inbetween.

“Anything domestic that isn’t shiner bock.” Kayla replied evenly. The last thing she’d want to do is alert this being that they knew of her presence if they were in fact unfriendly. The bartender looked at Kyle, indicating she was awaiting his request of drink as well. Once he caught on, he simply replied, “Uh, nothing for me, thank you.” As Ellara moved away to get Kayla her drink, she took the opportunity to address her brother.

“Guy at the end, sucky sucky type. Waitress, dunno.”

“Why do you always say ‘sucky sucky’, it’s just… uncomfortable.” Kyle replied in a hushed tone.

“It’s supposed to be uncomfortable and make people not want to listen.” Kayla replied, elbowing her brother lightly. That was only half true. She did quite enjoy annoying her brother like this. It was harmless enough.

“Alright, fine, what to do then?”

“I didn’t exactly predict having a beer with those we service this fine evening.” Kayla sighed, her hand falling to her satchel and feeling the book she had stolen. “Maybe we can ask her if she knows anything. When it happened. You do it, she might be able to sense me.”

“Alright.”

The bartender returned to the two with Kayla’s drink in tow. As she took it, Kyle went on to ask Ellara, “Ma’am, do you know anything about what’s going on outside? With the police?”

“Ma’am? Ma’am!” Ellara raised an unamused eyebrow before deciding, “Dude, I’m definitely younger than your whiskered ass.” She retorted before continuing, “But uh, yeah I’ve heard some chatter from tonight’s crowd, mostly rapid speculation.” Ellara replied as she placed a dark lager filled glass in front of the woman, keeping her eyes averted least her face change again. Looking for somewhere else to direct her eyes, Ellara turned her head back towards the man counting the peanuts before looking at the pair again, keeping her gaze focused on the male.

“But uh, hey, you two called the douchenozzle down there a ‘sucky-sucky’,” Ellara stated, quoting the sibling’s previous conversation before motioning towards the man at the opposite end of the bar with a wave of her hair, “Do the two of you think he’s some kind of strung out hooker?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Gotta say the asshole has got that look going for him, the fucker’s even got the fuckin’ Cult’s colours wrapped ‘round his wrist.” She asked looking back at Kyle as she tried to figure out if the pair were some sort of cops. “They’re becoming a real problem ‘round here.”

Kyle’s only response was to look down, pinch the bridge of his nose, and mutter under his breath, _{“Oh for fuck’s sake…”} Kayla, meanwhile, just snickered in amusement. After a moment, Kyle raised his head back up and said, “Wait, cult? What cult?”

“Ellara!” Sullivan called from behind the bar as Ellara took a moment to look back at him.

“What?” She replied hollering over the din of the bar as she responded to Paddy.

“C’mon lass, I can hear ye from back here. Language! Especially with the customers. I only want positive reviews!” He called back as Ellara let a sharp breath out of her pursed lips, huffing as she blew a few strands of loose hair out of her face.

_{“Fuck off, Paddy.”} She muttered turning back to her guests.

“The fuckin’ 6^th Street Blood Cult,” Ellara replied dryly resuming their conversation, “‘Course they’re a cult in fuckin’ name only. They’re a damned gang of fuckin’ bloodsuckers.” She clarified before continuing.

“The Cult have a whole harem of janky-ass women who seduce the local barflies and general assholes. They get ‘em with a free hit of whatever designer drug they’ve got this damned week and then keep you fuckin’ hopped up until they bleed you dry, sometimes for real.” Ellara added ominously before continuing.

“Bodies show up along the beach that are little more than empty husks.” She explained, pausing as she took a moment to think before adding a final remark. “Really ain’t that different than the fucker currently leaving bodies on the streets, y’know?”

“Jesus Christ.” Kyle exclaimed in bewilderment of hearing about Santa Celia’s current conditions. He was amazed people weren’t leaving the town in droves if bodies were becoming this common. He was starting to think two Tourists weren’t going to be anywhere near enough to make a difference here.

“Out of the frying pan, into the fryer.” Kayla hummed, resting her chin on her free hand. “So, you heard us earlier. I hope I don’t have to be concerned, after all, you wouldn’t be trying to play us for a fool right?” Kayla said, a hint of animosity to her voice that was quickly reigned in. She leaned forward in Ellara’s direction. “So what’s going on under the hood there? You’re a bit more than what poor Paddy seems to know.”

“You’re one to fuckin’ talk.” Ellara replied cooly, still avoiding eye contact with the woman. “I’ve seen your true face, and it sure as hell ain’t as pretty as the facade you keep up.”

The look on Kayla’s face was one of inherent confusion. She had been called many things in her life: annoying, a brat, a spaz, but unattractive had never been on of them. She shot a questioning look to her brother. “...Right. Well, not sure what you’re talkin’ about there, but we’re looking for the Jäger that lives in this city. Figured that it’d be good to know someone else in the business.”

“Try the fuckin’ zoo, there are no wild jaguars in California,” Ellara quickly snapped back, her knuckles turning white as her nails dug into the hard oak bar.

Kyle hovered his hand near one of his coat pockets as subtly as he could manage. As if waiting to take some sort of retaliatory action in the event that the bartender became violent. Nails digging into hard surfaces wasn’t really a good sign, ever.

Kayla hummed and shook her head at Ellara’s desperate attempt at diversion. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Kyle moving his hand to his gun under the counter, but didn’t look down to check. Her brother had her back. “I think we both know I didn’t say anything about a big cat. I said Jäger. German for hunter, but a special type. Not for normal game. They’re like us, going for the more… monstrous type.”

You’re a Jäger, son. Just like your father, and his mother before him. You have a responsibility to not only your ancestors but to the world, to protect it. Only we can see the darkness in people, the monsters that hide within. This is our calling, our duty…

Faint voices echoed inside Ellara’s head as it began to pound again. Reaching a hand to her throbbing temple, she backed away from the bar as the woman continued to speak.

“Get the fuck out!” She called, stumbling as she tried to fight back the memory. “I don’t know what you’re fuckin’ talking about, just leave me alone, Ich spreche kein deutsch!” She screamed before disappearing into the kitchen as Ellara made a beeline for the backdoor.

The Fosters, as well as a good majority of the bar’s active patrons, watched Ellara’s act of escape with a look of astonishment. Multiple people murmured in surprise, one man calling out somewhat loudly, “The fuck was that?” Kyle turned his head to his sister, with an expression that had ‘confused’ etched all over it.

“I-” Kayla begin sitting back in her stool. “Honestly have no idea. I got nothin’.” She stroked her chin and looked over at the vampire, at the other end of the bar. She hummed and flicked her finger, telekinetically knocking over the bowl of peanuts that he was almost done counting. The man cursed aggressively, and dropped to the floor to pick up every piece again. That should keep him around for a while longer.

“What do we do about him?” Kyle said as covertly as he could, under the cover of the returning voices of the rest of the bar’s patrons.

“Same as we always do to his type. Interrogate and eliminate. Good ol’ one two.” She replied, taking a drink of her beer again. She was still confounded by the bartender’s reaction to her questions. She hadn’t cast anything, and didn’t think she had done anything to get that kind of response.

“Let’s just go over what we found at the crime scene.” She said, pulling the book she had stolen out and placing it on the bar. “This should be a good place to start.”

“Doesn’t that seem like something better done back in the privacy of the motel?” Kyle asked, a little wary.

“Suppose you’re right. Let’s grab our sucky sucky friend and step outside.” She said, slipping the book back into her satchel. “Would you do the honors, Kyle?”

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

Kyle and Kayla

---

Kyle removed a small bauble from his inner coat pocket and held it in his hand to observe. What looked like a small marble, a faint yellow glow encased within it. “Concussive but non-lethal.” He said, “Yet lacking a bit in subtlety.”

“It’ll be fine.” Kayla said, “Just toss it, take a look at the scene, get some pictures, and bail. In and out.”

“And what will you be doing with our friend the cameraman?” Kyle asked, turning his attention away from the marble, towards his sister.

“I’ll just get whatever I can out of him and book it. Then we’ll meet up in there.” She replied, pointing in the direction of what appeared to be a small bar - the Tír na nÓg. Pretty exotic name for a watering hole.

“Already planning on getting a drink?” Kyle asked.

“Just move it.”

The two moved away from each other, Kyle approaching the crime scene. He stopped behind the crowd and took a moment to scan the situation once more. His eyes wandered just a bit above their heads, and he caught sight of something hovering above the alley - a small drone. Kyle narrowed his brow at the sight of it, slightly wary. Someone else was trying to get their own read of the situation - probably the man with the camera whom Kayla was actively pursuing. He fiddled with the marble in his hand, in his pocket, as he attempted to formulate a proper plan.

Meanwhile, Kayla was following her person of interest closely. The man had slipped back into the crowd, but she had seen him do it, and thus he was easy enough to track. She caught up with and then passed Kyle, who was surveying the situation, and following the man across the street as he turned into a nearby alley. Kayla stopped short of the alley the man had slipped into, pressing herself against the wall of the building. She absentmindedly removed her gloves, and turned the corner into the alley after the man. Riley was leaning against one of the alley walls, and his attention firmly on his phone so he didn’t hear her approach until she was close. He looked up just in time to see Kayla press her right hand on his chest, where his heart was, and her left hand shoving his head back against the wall with her thumb between his eyes.

”Lle will khila, lle will naa amin ar' amin ereb.” Kayla spoke with an otherworldly hum to her voice, her eyes and Riley’s glazing over and going milky white. Riley’s hands flew up to her arms, trying to shove her away but found the appendages far too limp and weak. Kayla hummed, and her eyes returned to their normal blue-grey color, her will having successfully dominated Riley’s.

“I’m sorry, sir.” She began. “I need you to tell me-” Riley’s strength returned momentarily and he resisted, but Kayla forced him back once more. “Uma il- karna amin nwalka!” she said sternly. Riley’s grip slackened, and he released her arms. “Good. This is much easier if you go with it. For both of us.”

She took a deep breath again, regaining her focus. She closed her eyes and searched his mind. “You’re an ex-cop, so think of me as the same for matters like this. I need you I need you to tell me everything you know. Everything.”

There was a moment of silence as Riley’s mouth opened and closed, as if he was trying to speak, but he could not form words. Eventually though, he found the ability to speak. “My- my name is Riley Sheridan. There has been a string of murders, four bodies in a week. Their throats are torn open, and their bodies are drained of blood.” He said, almost frantically, his hands pressed against the wall of the building. Kayla saw this, and relaxed her grip on the man’s mind. When she was taught this spell, she was first forced to experience it. It was… uncomfortable to say in the least. Like an itch that couldn’t be scratched, or an eyelash in your eye that you couldn’t remove. “Three men, one woman.There is one witness named Oliver Whittle. He’s in-” Riley stagnated, then seized. Kayla winced and soothed his mind, bringing the man back from the edge. “Keep talking.” she instructed.

“He’s at the Murdoch Mental Hospital.”

“Anything else?”

“I think whatever’s doing this is in my journal.” He finished.

“Where is your journal?”

“On the ground, in my backpack. I have footage of the bodies using my phone and a drone and-”

“Quel kaima.” Kayla stated gently, and the man fell limp and asleep. Kayla cradled his head down, gently lowering his body to the floor. She knelt down, and went through Riley’s backpack, humming in satisfaction when she pulled out the journal he had told her about.

“Where oh where did you get this, Sheridan?” she said to herself, quickly flipping through some of the pages quickly. This was an old book. Likely worth a good deal to the right buyer, but it would be more useful in her hands for the time being. She moved the man’s backpack under his head to act as a makeshift pillow, and put her hand on his chest once again. “Thank you, Sheridan.” She looked over to the man’s phone, which displayed what the drone could see. She reached over and turned the phone off by pulling the battery out. The drone, having lost signal, would surely fall out of the sky too. She placed the device in the man’s pocket and stood up. She made her way to the entrance of the Tír na nÓg, but didn’t go inside. Instead, opting to wait for her brother to catch up to her.

Still coming up with a plan, Kyle continued to scan the scene. Beside the fact that he didn’t want to go using any of his tools in public, he was unsure if the flash bomb would even provide him with enough time or cover to set up a good picture of the crime scene. If he could instead get his hands on the drone, he wouldn’t have to risk stepping into the scene himself. He looked back up at the hovering device, wondering how he could…

And just as he started thinking on it - too much thinking and not enough acting, if he was being honest with himself - the drone suddenly began to plummet, veering towards the alley’s entrance. It landed near the edge of the crowd with an audible thud, a couple small pieces flying off the side. Damaged - but the SD card would likely be intact.

Screw it.

Kyle put the marble away, seeing no need for it now, and hurried over. He knelt down beside the drone, picking it up and looking over the SD card slot. He pushed it down to pop it out, grabbing and pocketing it while leaving the drone itself on the ground. He then fled the scene before anyone could come over to see what exactly he was doing, figuring they’d be more focused on the drone itself. The cameraman, Riley Sheridan, was probably going to have a bit of stolen - and slightly damaged - property, to deal with. Oh well.

Kyle approached his sister at the entrance to the bar. “You good?” He asked her.

“I’d say so.” She said, looking up from the journal she had taken. She closed the book, giving her brother her full attention. “Sheridan’s sleeping like a baby. Should wake up sometime soon. What’d you get?”

Kyle pulled out the drone’s SD card and held it up.

“Alright. Let’s head inside- we’ll talk about what we found in there.”

“Mind telling me how subtle you were with our friend first?”

“I hypnotized him, had him tell me what he’s gathered. When he wakes up, he won’t remember me. If he does, it won’t be for a long time.”

“Alright. Good enough.”

“Don’t worry so much.”

With that, the two slipped inside the bar and into the two barstools at the far end. The bartender would no doubt get to them soon.

@Lord Wraith

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

Kyle and Kayla

---

The drive to Santa Celia had been long and mostly boring. Kayla, being a person of little patience and even less attention span had clocked out after the first hour or so, much to Kyle’s eternal gratitude to whatever higher force was above. Kayla could be annoying.

So given that the sign for the city limit was coming into sight, with a long sigh Kyle decided it was finally time to wake his sister up.

“Hey, Kayla, wake up. We made it.”

Kayla stirred and groaned indignantly, finally waking up after sleeping soundly for several hours. She yawned and stretched, angling her arms as to not get in Kyle’s way. She cracked her neck, which had been resting at an odd angle for a while now. In typical Kayla fashion, she hadn’t really heard what Kyle had said and asked “Are we there yet?”

“Yeah. Take a look.” Her brother replied.

Kayla, following instruction for what was likely one of the first times in her life, cast her eyes out the window just in time to catch the city limit sign as they passed it. She hummed, and sat properly in the passenger seat for another minute or two, only to very suddenly tense up.

“Kyle, pull over.”

“Why?”

“I need to go to the bathroom.”

Kyle offered no response save a sigh. He wasn’t up for the ‘just hold it’ argument. He began looking for a safe spot to pull over, turning the blinker on. They pulled off on the nearest exit, which had been conveniently located not too far away. As Kyle pumped gasoline into the car, Kayla very quickly booked it into the building, coming out five minutes later with two candy bars. One Twix, the other Reeses.

“I told you not to drink that soda before the trip.”

Kayla seemed to choose not to reply to Kyle’s quip, instead offering him a choice of the two chocolate bars. “Take your pick.”

“I’m good.” Kyle replied. As Kayla shrugged and began unwrapping the twix, Kyle finished up pumping the gas. They both climbed into the car, Kyle pulling up to the exit. “So…” He began to say, “Now that we’re actually here, could you tell me what we’re doing?”

“Parker says-” Kayla said with a mouthful of Twix. Kyle winced at the sight of crumbs. Kayla, catching his sideways glance, swallowed and righted herself. “Sorry, Parker says that this city has been piquing everyone’s interest as of late.” She took another bite of her candy bar, finishing the last of it. She took a look at the Reese’s bar, but decided on saving it for later.

“Do you know what a Jäger is?”

Kyle sighed. He hadn’t brushed up on the term in a while. “They’re…” He began, “The ancestor-conduits, right?”

“Yeah, kinda. Our bloodlines have worked together before. They’re kinda like us, but more… specialized. Monster hunters, if I recall right. I mean, their name means ‘hunter’ in German and all.” Kayla laid back in their seat and crossed her arms. “He mentioned that there was one somewhere in the city. Didn’t say who or where though. Imagine that, Lance Parker admitting he doesn’t know something.”

“He’d never be that straightforward with me about anything.” Kyle responded, only half-jokingly. “So, what exactly is the plan then? After we find this Jäger?”

“You eventually learn that if he isn’t sayin’ it, he doesnt know it. Will never admit it though. You know him.” Kayla said, giving Kyle a smile that was all teeth. “I figured it’d be a good first step to know someone in the business, y’know? What’s the saying? Two’s company and three is… also company.”

“Crowd. Three’s a crowd.” Kyle responded bluntly.

“Not according to some of the videos I’ve watched.” Kayla countered quickly, moving on just as fast. “REgardless, they’re a local if anything. Might know where to look for trouble. Or at least where to get a bite to eat.”

Kyle nodded. “Good plan.” He said, in a not-at-all-confident manner. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but… Witch Blood is poisonous to Jägers, right?”

“If my readings are right, I think it’s only if my blood is exposed to her bare skin. I should be able to shake her hand just fine when introductions are made. Should.” Kayla fell quiet into thought for a moment. They were both experienced with the supernatural, and smart too. There was always a catch to things like this. “I suppose I might not be able to heal her, but that’ll require further testing. I’ll have to work out the methodology of the experiment if we get the opportunity.”

She was quiet again, then thought of something more. “Do we have anything in specific in mind for lodging? I love you and all bro, but I don't think either of us will enjoy living in a car for an unspecified amount of time and hoping it rains to bathe.”

“We pick a hotel and we stick with it.” Kyle responded, “Just like we’ve done… I forget how many times now. Been ages since we just stayed in one place. Doesn’t even feel like we have our own house anymore.”

Kayla hummed in response, “C’mon Kyle. You and I both know that we’d go stir-crazy if we stayed in one place for too long. You remember that gig in India we had a few years ago? I hated staying put for three months WAITING for the Naga to show itself.”

“Well, we’ve got a city to rummage through now. Shouldn’t leave you bored. That is, if we actually find something to work on.”

Kayla nodded, but for once didn’t say anything. Instead, she opted to look out the window as they rolled ever closer to the city. Her uncharacteristic silence was welcome to Kyle, but unnerving. Perhaps Kayla could feel something that he couldn’t. Perhaps this city would be interesting after all.

---

After finding a small but nice motel, Kyle and Kayla had decided that there was no time like the present to get a headstart on scouting out the city for potential problems that would benefit from their expertise. As they walked the sidewalk of Santa Celia, Kyle elbowed Kayla to get her attention.

“Hm? See something?” Kayla said, looking up to her brother, who simply pointed in the direction of a gathering of police officers up the road. They had the police tape, the cruisers, the manpower, the whole nine yards. Kayla furrowed her brow. “What about it?”

“Amulet’s humming.”

This caught Kayla’s attention. “How do you wanna go about it?”

“DICKS!” a man in civilian clothing yelled, catching both of the twin’s attention. An officer, who was no doubt the ‘Dicks’ in question, stepped forward to address the man. They seemed to get into a short spat, until the civilian blinded the officer with a high powered camera flash and tossed something into the alleyway, only to walk away thereafter.

“Him. That’s how we go about it.” Kayla said smugly.

“Off to a great start.” Kyle replied bluntly.

“Do you want to question him, or do you want me to?”

“You go ahead. I’ll see what I can gather about the situation from here.”

“I can do you one better-” Kayla said, then pursing her lips. She closed her eyes and spoke. “Cam'wethrin.” She said, an aetherial echo to her voice. She opened her eyes again, blinking a few times to remove any weariness she had given herself. “You’ll move silently for a few minutes. Do you have some kind of concussive but non lethal bomb? To blind them? I can do it myself, but if you have something…”

“You are… really starting off pretty crazy with this, you know that?” Kyle responded, somewhat irritated.

“C’mon, Kyle we’re Tourists. It’s what we do.” Kayla said, winking at him.

All she got from her brother in response was yet another sigh.