[h2][center][color=brown]Kyle Foster[/color] and [color=lavender]Vertigo[/color][/center][/h2] [center][sub]Written with [@Skai][/sub][/center] [hr] 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. [i]First a franken-vamp and now a gunfight?[/i] 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. [color=lavender]”I thought you said there was only one more!”[/color] “One more [i]vampire[/i]. Couldn’t see the guards.” Eli nodded and rolled her eyes. [i]Of course not.[/i] 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. [color=lavender]”Take care of them. I can only hold this for a little bit.”[/color] 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. [i]Now[/i].” “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. [color=lavender]”I suppose now is the time for explanations.”[/color] 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. [color=lavender]”Nothing a day of rest can’t cure,”[/color] 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. [color=lavender]”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.”[/color] She furrowed her brows. [color=lavender]”Next thing I know I wake up on their couch.”[/color] “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. [color=lavender]”My name is Eli. It’s nice to meet you.”[/color] She glanced around at the truck, trying to figure out what this man was doing there. [color=lavender]”I’m assuming you aren’t a normal tourist?”[/color] 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… [i]know[/i]?” [color=lavender]”Today is my first day, really. I had no idea they existed until last night. Does that mean…?”[/color] “Yeah, it’s a… bit of a bombshell. Not just them either. Monsters, magic… all real. Although judging by what you… [i]did[/i], back in there, you’re at least somewhat aware of things that fall out of the… mundane variety. Right?” [color=lavender]”At least I’m human.”[/color] A brief pause. [color=lavender]”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 [i]before[/i] that.”[/color] “Yeah. I’m… well, me and one other person, my sister - another Tourist - we came here to… [i]basically[/i], to take care of all the problems involving anything supernatural. That includes the Blood Cult, and this string of murders we’ve heard about.” [color=lavender]”The string of murders aren’t related to the vampires?”[/color] “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.” [color=lavender]”I wish her luck… Did you find what you were looking for back there?”[/color] “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… [i]too[/i] 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?” [color=lavender]”Somewhere up the street will do fine.”[/color] Eli said with a laugh. [color=lavender]”Thank you.”[/color] 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. [color=lavender]”I’ll send you a message so you have my number.”[/color] She said, acknowledging that she accepted. She turned to open the door, stepping out onto the sidewalk before pausing. [color=lavender]”I wish you luck, Foster.”[/color] “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.