âOooh-oooh, here she comes⌠sheâs a-â
âYou two sound like youâre having fun!â
The Fosters both turned their heads to look behind them, stopping there repeated singing of the songâs refrain. A young Filipino woman had approached them, smiling as she greeted the duo by calling attention to their inebriated merriment. Kyleâs amulet began to vibrate, and thankfully, he was not too drunk to notice. He tapped Kaylaâs shoulder, and then waved his hand about lightly for a moment before tapping his chest twice. Kayla responded by smiling, and laughing a little bit, patting her brotherâs arm with both her hands repeatedly.
âWeâre justâŚâ Kyle said to the woman, âWeâre⌠yeah! FunâŚâ
âItâs been a-uh- a great night.â Kayla said, allowing herself to slur her speech a tad.
âMay I ask where you were going?â The woman said.
âOh, weâre on our way h-â Kyle began, pausing to slur a bit. âH-home. Had a... ffffun night. Thatâs all.â
âMaybe you could use some company?â The woman responded, stepping towards the two, doing her best to make herself look as unassuming as possible. âI was out looking to do something fun and, here you two are.â She said, passing her gaze to Kayla. âEspecially youâŚâ Her last two words were especiallyâŚ
intent.
âSure! The more the merrier!â Kayla replied, playing into the womanâs game. âWe were uh, trying to get back home to get my wallet. We both flew in recently.â Kayla said, leaning against Kyle as if to stop herself from swaying. âDo you know where the closest bus stop is? Probably can't drive or afford a cab right now.â
âYes, I know where one is nearby.â The woman replied, âWe can get there quicker if we cut through a few alleys.â
âPeeeerfect.â Kyle said, nodding and giving a very wry smile. As the woman took the lead towards the nearest alley entrance, Kayla following, Kyle turned his attention towards Eli in the distance. He raised his hand and waved it back in this direction, signalling her to follow behind them. Eli, already cautious of the stranger, crossed the street and continued towards the alleyway. She quickened her pace so that she could keep an eye on them.
As the Fosters and the woman began their trek through the alley, she put herself closer to Kaylaâs side, almost brushing shoulders.
âSoâŚâ She said, in a rather low voice, âIs he your boyfriend? Husband?â It was clear she was trying to keep Kyle out of the conversation.
âBrother, ând best friend. We haven't been able to see each other inna while.â Kayla answered, only half truthfully. The two of them had been together from the beginning of their supernatural journey.
âThink he wouldnât mind you and me going on once we get back to your house?â The woman said, âI know a great place nearby. You and I could have so much fun there, I promise!â
As the two spoke Kyle turned his head back around to check on Eli, still following along at a safe distance. They both nodded to each other, and Kyle began creeping his hand closer towards the pocket he was keeping his weapon concealed.
âWhat kind of fun are ya thinkinâ?â
âDance a little, get a drink or twoâŚâ The woman replied, âGet a bite to eat?â
âSounds I could use a bite to eat.â Kayla commented offhandedly. She was being serious, too. She hadnât eaten in a few hours today. Once this was done, sheâd probably ask Kyle if they could get some fast food.
âLovely!â The woman replied, âActually, do you think your brother can handle himself from here? If you and I leave now, everything will be my treat, I promise.â
Kayla hesitated. âIâd prefer to stick with my brother. Heâs the reason why Iâm visiting town.â
âCâmooonâŚâ The woman said, sidling up to Kayla and placing her hand on her arm. The skin began to morph, and her claws became ever so lightly detectable. âItâll be worth it, I promise. Just tell him to leave, and-â
Click.The womanâs deceitful smile dropped immediately as she turned her head, only looking at Kyle - now brandishing his gun - for half a second, before ducking low to the ground, mouth stretching into an abominable maw full of needle-teeth, tongue extending outward. She screeched, and as Kyle fired twice, both shots missing thanks to his light stupor and her freakish agility, the aswang leapt high above him, clinging to a nearby fire escape ladder.
âNow!â Kyle yelled, turned his head back towards Eli for a moment before attempting to retrain his gaze on the aswang.
A few seconds later, their inebriation no longer affected the two as Eli ducked behind a pile of trash cans. She crouched low, keeping her focus more on the Tourists than the position of the aswang. She kept her eyes open, but they glazed over as her ability affected her own vision. Her hand was tucked into the pouch, firmly grasping the grip.
â
Neuma!â Kayla shouted, flexing her hands and throwing them down towards the ground, ripping the fire escape that the Aswang was clinging to clear off the building wall to prevent her from escaping. â
Natua dina!â she commanded, sealing the sounds of the alleyway off from the rest of the world to prevent unwanted attention.
The aswang turned her head towards her assailants, leaping off of the fire escape ladder and onto the opposing wall. Clinging to the side of the building, she flourished her whip-tongue and swiped at Kayla.
As the sounds of the fight reached Eli, something within her convinced herself that more could be done. She inhaled, preparing herself for a moment before she stepped out from her hiding place. Standing directly behind the horrifying creature, Eli felt dazed momentarily as she tried to get a grip on the monsterâs senses. She gasped as she felt the connection, an eerie feeling passing over her. Without thinking too much about it, she immediately removed itâs sight while overwhelming her remaining senses. Kayla made a split second decision to allow the tongue to land an indirect strike on her arm instead of her chest or neck. The needle like tip of the tongue dug into her forearm, but before the paralytic agent could fully take effect, she wrapped the creatureâs tongue around her arm once and pulled it close to her chest with her good arm as she lost feeling in the injured limb, preventing the creature from moving without dragging a hundred or so pounds of weight. With the creature immobilized in a multitude of ways, Kyle took it as a clear opportunity to aim at the creature and begin firing.
Quickly following Kyleâs lead, Eli pulled the glock from the magic pouch and stepped to the side of the aswang. She cocked the gun and proceeded to unload it into the creatureâs side. Both of them riddled the creature with silver bullets, audible screeches of pain sounding out from its mouth. The aswang quickly lost its grip on the building wall, stumbling, and then falling. It slammed into a pair of garbage cans, and immediately scrambled to crawl away from the trio, knowing this was a losing battle. Her blindness, however, caused her to make several poor choices in which direction to escape in. Several trails of black sludge followed behind her as her wounds bled into the alley.
âEntula sinome!â Kayla shouted, her good hand flexing and dragging the Aswangâs body back to them kicking and screaming with an unseen force- her telekinesis. Kyle and Eli both approached the creature on each side as she madly attempted to crawl away, her claws scratching the stained ground beneath her. The duo aimed their weapons down at the aswang, and began firing repeatedly. Bullets riddled her upper back and her head, bits of her flying off along with small shreds of clothes. Within a moment, she became still, the only indicator of her still being the slightest bit alive, a few pained breaths escaping through her teeth. Kyle made his way around the fallen creature and placed two more shots into her head, making certain she was good and gone.
âThis is probably going to be painful tomorrow.â Kayla muttered, working the creatureâs now limp tongue out of her arm and dropping the appendage with distaste. âDisgusting. Eli, could you help me wrap up my arm?â
Eli turned her attention towards Kayla, preferring not to witness what remained of the creatures head. She nodded, taking a moment to release her effects on the two Tourists. Sheâd felt the connection to the aswang disappear the moment she heard the bullets enter its head. She quickly made her way towards Kayla, pocketing the gun and helping to bandage the painful looking wound.
âKyle, could you do the honors this time? I usually need both hands to⌠dispose of the evidence.â she commented, conveniently ignoring the part of the fire escape that she had pulled off the building wall. âThank you, Eli.â she followed, giving her friend a smile for her effort.
âYeah.â Kyle replied, reaching into his inner coat pockets. After a moment of fumbling, he pulled out a small crimson marble, with a light glow to it. âYou should stand back.â He said to both Kayla and Eli. As they did so, Kyle raised the marble into the air, and then struck the aswang corpse with it. It burst into a small explosion of flames, quickly enveloping the corpse whole.
The light from the fire illuminated the alley greatly.