Member
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.
