Hello everyone, well here is the next chapter. Enjoy. And don't forget to read and review.

Disclamer: I don't own Collateral(duh). I only own the characters you don't recognize(like Mkenzie)

Chapter 2. Boredom

Drip. Drip. Drip. The quiet noise of the leaky faucet was the only sound that broke the still silence in the dark apartment. The lone occupant slouched back in an old armchair that had been placed in the middle of the room, mere inches away from the black screen of the broken television set. The figure in the chair stirred a bit when the dripping started, her dark eyes flicking towards the direction of the sound. She watched the water drip from the faucet for about a minute then turned her eyes back to the blank television. At first glance one might have thought, with her slouched position and lazy demeanor, that perhaps she was simply too lazy to get up and turn the television on. A second glance however, would show that she was anything but lazy and relaxed. Her entire body was completely tense, as if she were going to spring from the chair at any moment. Her slender hands gripped the armrests so hard that the knuckles had turned white and a cold enraged fire smoldered within her dark eyes. Her jaw was clenched tightly as if she was struggling to prevent herself from flying into a verbal rage. The broken television, however was not the object of her anger. It was the silence.

The silence was going to drive her insane, of that Mkenzie was certain.

It was a good thing that whoever had coined the phrase "silence is golden" was dead because, if he hadn't been, she would have made sure that his life didn't last too much longer. She cocked her head to one side and listened, straining her ears, even though she had no clue what she was listening for in the first place. There was no noise save for the dripping of the leaky faucet and the whistling of the wind outside. Unfortunately these few sounds only seemed to make the silence more profound. With an irritated growl she leapt up from the armchair and headed for the door. She paused with her hand on the doorknob. Did she dare go outside? She let her hand slide off the knob and then simply stood there, staring at the door. Mkenzie let out a frustrated sigh and placed her forehead on the door and then closed her eyes. Ever since she had entered the Witness Protection Program three weeks ago she had only been outside her new apartment twice and each time she had always been on her guard. She had wanted to go out more but Mkenzie was not stupid. She knew that someday someone would be looking for her and that it would be someone she didn't want to meet.

"Well I guess that's what you get for pissing off the Mafia," she thought bitterly to herself. If only Armys hadn't been such a fool.

"Why are you being so childish?" she scolded herself. "Open the damn door and walk out." With that said she grabbed the knob and yanked the door open . . .. And leapt back with a startled yelp.

"Did I scare you?" A high-pitched childish voice squeaked with glee. Mkenzie took a deep breath to prevent her from lashing out in anger at the child.

"No, Sarah you didn't."

Sarah, who was only 8, giggled delightedly, her soft sky- blue eyes sparkling. "Yes I did." She said. "I scared you Carol."

Mkenzie inwardly cringed at the name the FBI had given her to protect her identity. "No, you didn't.

"Yes, I did."

"NO, you didn't."

"Yes I did."

"No . . ." Mkenzie stopped herself. "Why am I arguing with an eight- year- old?" She thought. She shook her head. She wasn't going to bother answering that question now. "What do you want Sarah?"

Sarah grinned. "I have something for you."

Mkenzie rolled her eyes. "What do you have for me?" She said trying not to sound impatient.

"Guess."

"I despise guessing games."

If you don't guess then I won't tell you and you will never know what it is." Sarah stated gravely, as if not knowing was something Mkenzie couldn't live with.

Mkenzie couldn't help but smile at this statement. Sarah was hiding her "something" behind her back, but since Mkenzie was almost twice her height she could clearly see what Sarah was hiding.

"Are you going to guess?" Sarah asked impatiently. She wanted to show her friend what she had brought her. "Please Carol?" she begged.

"Ok, Ok I'll guess." Mkenzie said quickly. She had seen Sarah's eyes start to tear up and Mkenzie was not in the mood to comfort a crying child. "Hmmm . . ." she said, pretending to think really hard about it. "Bugs." She said finally.

Sarah made a face. "Ewww…"

Mkenzie smiled. "Well what is it then?"

Sarah smiled triumphantly and brought her gift forward.

Mkenzie cringed inwardly. Sarah had brought her a plate of homemade cookies.

"I made them myself." Sarah said proudly.

"I see, well thank you very much." Mkenzie said as she took the plate, which was piled high with what looked like chocolate chip cookies.

"Are you gonna eat one now?" Sarah asked.

"Umm…. Not right now. I just ate. I'll save them for later." Mkenzie lied, not wanting to hurt the little girl's feelings.

"Ok. I have to go now. Mamma said I have to come right back after I give them to you."

"Alright then, you had better get going then."

"Bye now Carol. When you're done with those ones I'll make you some more."

Mkenzie waited till the girl had disappeared down the hall then turning quickly placed the plate of cookies on a shelf next to the door. She would get rid of them later. Chances were, Sarah would stop by later to see how many were left.

Now, the problem was not that Mkenzie was ungrateful, the real problem was the fact that Sarah always put too much salt and not enough sugar into her "special" cookies.

"Poor Sarah." Mkenzie thought. The little girl had veryfew friends and considered Mkenzie to be her best friend. Unfortunately Sarah was a very hyper little girl who loved to talk about everything. Mkenzie was an anti- social young woman who liked being alone. Besides with the situation she was in now Mkenzie wanted to keep everybody, especially Sarah, as far away from her as possible.

Mkenzie trudged quickly down the stairs towards the front end of the building. Marcus, the landlord, greeted her as she stepped towards the front door. She nodded a hasty greeting and stepped outside. A strong blast of cold wind nearly knocked her over and she had to struggle just to keep her balance.
"I hope there's a cab nearby." She thought as a she stood near the curb. As if on cue a yellow cab pulled up and stopped. Mkenzie was about to open the door and hop in when the door swung open and a man stepped out. From the moment she laid eyes on him Mkenzie knew there was something odd about him. She studied him intensely as he paid the driver then turned to go. He was a tall man and obviously well to do. His expensive looking gray business suit and leather briefcase seemed testimony to that. She couldn't even begin to guess at his age. His silver hair and stubble seemed to make him look older but the sharpness in his blue eyes seemed to tell of someone who was younger. At that moment however, it didn't matter to her how old he was because as he turned to go he seemed to see her for the first time. He didn't miss a beat as he stepped back and held the cab door open for her. For a brief moment their eyes locked. A cold shiver ran up her spine as he stared at her. The look in his eyes was like that of a predator who is stalking his prey. Quick as a flash she slid into the now vacant cab and pulled the door shut behind her. Too preoccupied with her own thoughts Mkenzie didn't notice that the man never left the curb till the cab was out of sight.

"Don't stay out too long my dear." Vincent whispered softly at he watched the cab leave. "I look forward to our meeting." He smiled thinly as he thought of the future. This was going to be fun. She would never see it coming.

Vripter: Hi. Thank you for your wonderful comments. I was very excited when I saw my story in your "Favorite Stories List." I'm glad you're enjoying the fic.I hope you liked this chapter too. Until next time, Namarie(Farewell)

Winged Seraph: Hi. I'm happy you're enjoying the story so far. And I;m glad to know that I got Vincent down right, because I wasn'tsure if I had it right. Well I hope you like the way it plays out. If all goes according to plan there should be a few surprises. Anyways thank you for you're kind review. Namarie(Farewell)