1.3
With a gym bag over your shoulder, concealing your blade, you walk out into the rain and bustle of the city's central business district. Even nearing midnight, people still walk the streets freely; without care. Neon glares down from stately stone facades, and it doesn't take you long to find a tram. You take shelter under the shitty plastic covering, and take out Henry's phone.
You slip in his earbuds and take advantage of his numerous subscriptions to music streaming services, trying to avoid the notice of the transport cops loitering around. You also swipe Henry's public transport card - you hope all the other vampires in the city are this loaded and willing to part with their stuff.
Once out of the rain, you start to flick through Henry's emails and internet history. His story does seem to check out, you realise. He starts a new job, googles a hell of a lot about vampires, and starts keeping a sunrise and sundown alert. You keep a mental note of some of the more interesting addresses and emails, then shut the phone off.
You step out of the tram into the nearly deserted streets. Out here, away from the high rise buildings in the city centre, the streets are well lit but deserted. Henry might officially work in some office tower, but he spends his nights in this quiet suburban street. It's only a little ways off from the bustle of Lygon street, but the only business insight here is a poorly-lit 7-11. Kirk's house is both his operations centre and residence. It's this big, McMansion style thing, all gaudy stonework and bizarre windows. In other words, exactly the type of house you'd expect a vampire to own.
You come at it from the back, not wanting to draw the attention of the two men standing guard out front. They wore cheap suits, expensive sunglasses, and just screamed armed security. You scale a laneway wall with ease, and you know that you could simply run straight up it with but a little power. Your abilities are solid and distinct in your mind, but you also know you're capable of so much more.
Nothing much seems to stick out about the estate, though you spot a few more guards. They smell off to you, but there's still a little light in their eyes. The curtains are closed, and nothing interesting appears about to happen. That's a big contrast with the alley. Four vampires, dressed in black and camouflage are standing around nervously. Like something's about to go down. One, who's dressed a little better, carries what's clearly a shotgun. The other three carry various melee weapons - a fire axe, a cheap looking katana, and a cricket bat.
"Hey, kid! Stop skulking on rooftops and come down 'ere. We're gonna fuck these Camarilla assholes up real soon. What'd you bring to the party, anyway?" the shotgun totting one says. You take a moment to realise that he thinks you're one of them, hop down, and take your katana out of the gym bag. He looks at you a little closer, and his eyes narrow. You can see his fangs and the lack of colour in his flesh. "...You ain't one of us. Boys, take this bitch out," he says, and the three minion vampires move a little closer. They finger their weapons, tension and excitement dancing across their faces.
The one with the axe strikes first, rushing at you with a huge overhead swing. You simply lean out of the way, time seeming to slow as you feel liquid sunlight rush throughout your body. You draw your blade with a simple, smooth motion whilst the vampire is still in the middle of his swing. With inhuman speed, you slice cleanly through him. Golden light dances along your blade as it cuts him from shoulder to pelvis, and his flesh sizzles and burns along the path of your cut.
Both halves of the vampire fall towards the ground, turning to dust before they hit, and the other two rush at you. The one with the katana rushes forward, his swipe amateurish at best, and you simply nudge his blade out of the way. The vampire with the cricket bat tries to land a blow against you, but you simply slice through his weapon, leaving him holding a most of a handle. The one in charge cocks his shotgun, and you feel the urge to move, to get out the way. Something deep inside you tells you otherwise, and you draw your sword once more.
Time seems to slow, and you see fire erupt from the barrel of the gun. The slug moves towards you, as all the other combatants are frozen in time. Not you. Your katana moves with deliberate purpose and strikes the slug with just enough force to deflect it. Time ramps up again, there's a tremendous bang as the shotgun is fired and somehow deflected. You grin, the vampire desperately tries to fire at you once more, screaming in terror. You don't allow him to.
You move forwards, leap to the side to avoid the vampire's second shot, and jump off the wall towards him. Your blade glows brightly with sunlight, and you cleanly behead the vampire before rolling into a three-point landing. You look back up at the two remaining vampires and rush forward. The one wielding the katana tries to meet you blade to blade, but your strike simply continues unheeded by his weapon, slicing it in two just as easily as him. The last remaining one tries to run but runs into two figures that have rounded the alley. Two of the dark-suited figures stand there, guns drawn. One grabs the other vampire and drives a piece of wood through his heart, whilst the other raises his pistol at you and fires.
Your blade slices each bullet from the air, and you hear approaching footsteps even through the din of gunfire. Deciding that you've found enough intel for the moment, you run up the building opposite Kirk's compound, deflecting a few more shots with your katana as you go. You sprint across the rooftops, dropping down to street level, putting your sword back into your gym bag, and enter into a more populated street. You catch the closest tram, and you're soon heading away from Kirk's compound.
That was some crazy shit, you think. This clearly is a more complex situation than you imagined it to be, especially if you've just accidentally stumbled into a vampire civil war or something. You need to know more about what's been happening in the city, so you take out your own phone. You think, and decide to call...
[x] One of your contacts from your misspent youth. He's pretty dialled in too all the criminal activity that goes on around here. Spend your last point of backgrounds raising Contacts to 2 dots.
[x] Your good friend Detective Riely, who you've known since childhood. He might be able to help you make sense of all this. You know he's seen some strange shit. Spend your last point of backgrounds raising Allies to 2 dots.
the second story post says:
