Ok, so that first chapter did really well. Which I hoped it would, but it still came as a shock to me. Thank you all so much for the reviews, and I'd be more then happy to update often!
Disclaimer; Your face.
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Kevin's breathing rate had doubled, and was growing uneven. Twenty minutes of lying on the floor of a BBA meeting room and bleeding badly was starting to catch up to the neko-jin. His leg was falling numb, and every time he tried to look down at it, he felt his stomach lurch. The bullet had torn through the side of his leg, and stopped about a half inch before it would have ripped out the other side of his leg.
He tried to pry his fingers off the leg of the table, but couldn't. They were already locked in a death grip, which didn't hit Kevin as good news, and anything to be relieved by. He bit his lip until he tasted blood, and closed his eyes. The figure that emerged from behind the bookshelf was walking up to him, though he couldn't see who it was because the person never got in the right angle for Kevin to get a view.
The person – whoever it was – had been talking on a cell phone with Rei or Lee for a while now, and refused to talk to anyone else. Now the figure knelt down besides Kevin and leaned over him. Carefully, Kevin looked up to find, much to his surprise, a beautiful young woman. In between her mouth and her cell phone was what must have been a voice translator, because when she spoke it came out sounding like a croaking old man.
"-But I've been doing all the talking. How about you chat with or friend a little while? He seems to be able to talk." Kevin looked up at her weakly and let out a frail groan. This of course only caused her to smile, and shove the phone into his free hand.
"Don't run up my minutes, ok?" She asked sweetly, as if they were having a day at the beach. With a last sweet smile, she left the main meeting room and made her way into the other, closing the door behind her.
"Kevin? Kevin is that you?"
The neko-jin tried to steady his breath, but couldn't help breathing quickly. "Y-yeah... It is..." Kevin gasped, trying not to sound too scared, but at the same time wondering why he was even trying.
"Are you alright?"
"N-no... No Rei, I'm not."
Outside in the hallways, Rei smacked his forehead up against the wall and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Right, right. I know Kev, we're going to get you out of there."
"I... don't think she's a-afraid to sh-shoot me again, Rei."
"She won't if- Wait, she?"
Kevin swallowed the lump in his throat. "Yeah... She..."
There was a pause on the other end, so Kevin used the time to catch his breath. The puddle of blood that was soaking through the carpet was getting bigger.
"Kevin, what's that noise?"
Noise? Kevin looked around and found his iPod on the floor next to him. The ear buds were around his neck, and the music was playing. How had he not noticed that?
"It's... I think its Mr. Brightside."
"Kevin, where did 'she' go?"
A wave of pain passed through Kevin's leg, and he moaned without thinking. This made Rei even more nervous.
"Kevin, where is she?!"
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"Right here, Rei!" A female voice came on the other end. "But I'm afraid I want you to save the power on your cell phone. It's low by now, right?"
Rei quickly checked his phone. Yeah, it had to be charged. "But Lee has one. We'll be fine."
"Oh no, I don't want to talk to Lee. Or you, for that matter. Goodbye!"
The line went dead, and Rei felt his stomach churn. This wasn't going well, in terms of saving Kevin. Mariah clung to his arm. She had heard the entire conversation between Kevin and Rei because she was so close to the phone.
"Rei... He's dying." She breathed, her eyes fixed on the door.
Rei sighed, and tried to think of a positive way to say what he was thinking. "Not dying, Mar. Just... Uh... Bleeding badly."
This didn't seem to make Mariah feel any better, for she sunk back to the wall and slid down into a huddle. She must be so scared, Rei thought. They all were. Not only was Kevin in trouble, but they were as well. What is there were more of them, and the shot more people? What is this women wasn't working alone?
There was no way of telling because she was obviously very careful. Did that mean she had planned it? And with who else? Every single person in that hallway was on edge, ready to jump at the slightest sound.
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An hour and a half passed before Lee's phone rang. Everyone who wasn't already silent fell still, as they waited to hear one side of the conversation.
Lee checked the caller ID and found that it once again said 'Unknown'.
"It's her." He said without looking up. Then he answered. Before Lee could even open his mouth to speak, the sound of a velvety female voice filled his left ear.
"Sorry for the wait, hun. I was busy with your friend."
Lee felt his stomach turn to stone. "By doing what?" He asked, more sternly then he thought safe.
"Oh, I was getting the bullet out of his leg. I want him to last a while, and infection is an enemy of time."
Last a while. The words stuck in Lee's head like a gnat on fly paper. The way she said it made Kevin sound like a glass of soda that was about to loose its fizz and it made Lee visibly shake with anger.
"Which reminds me. I was thinking about it, and I decided that there's honestly no way of me telling whether or not all of your little friends are there, so I would like to speak to the captain of all three teams. You first. All there?"
"All but the one you shot." Lee said through clenched teeth. He could feel Rei shudder next to him.
"Great!" The voice said cheerily. "And I hope your not lying, because I'll shoot him again if you are. Next!"
Lee thrust the razor in Robert's direction, and the European looked at him blankly. Lee glared at him, and he took it.
"Hello?" His accent sounded shaken and quiet.
"Robert, wonderful. I want you to tell me who is in the hallway. If not everyone, Kevin will once again be shot."
Her voice seemed to sigh as she spoke over the other end. Robert could almost imagine her sitting at the meeting table and looking at her nails with boredom.
"Alright. Mariah, Lee, Rei, Gary, Michael, Emily, Eddie, Steven, Tyson, Max, Oliver, Jonathan, Enrique..." He paused as he noticed for the first time that Kai, Kenny, and Hilary were absent. As if realizing this as well, both Rei and Lee paled. Neither as badly as Robert, however, who felt his stomach lurch.
"... And Kai, Kenny and Hilary, of course." He added quickly, hoping his pause didn't hint anything to the women on the other end.
"Are you certain?" The voice asked.
Robert looked over at Lee for support, and in return got a nod.
"Yes, certain."
"In that case, I have something to say to Kai."
The phone slipped half way out of Robert's hand before he caught it. "He... Uh... Can't."
"... Because?"
"... Because he refuses." Robert said cautiously. It sounded like Kai, didn't it?
"Well tell him he'll be responsible for another's death if he doesn't talk to me."
That was it. The three teams in the hallway were flat out of options. A long silence followed, and no one knew what to say. Perhaps it was the position that they were in, but the rational part of their minds seemed to be as frozen as the lake outside of BBA worldwide.
"No? Alright then." The line went dead before Robert could say anything. He just let the phone slip from his fingers. This seemed to be enough of a sign to Tyson, who jumped up and slammed his fist on the door of the room.
"Stop! You can't do thi-" The sound of his shouting was drowned out by the quick loud boom of a gun. Mariah screamed, and both Lee and Rei dove forwards at the door, ramming into it at the same time. It rattled the lock, but not enough to do much damage.
"KEVIN!!" Lee yelled, his voice cracking. His heart rate picked up and he felt himself grow dizzy. What the hell had just happened? Where was Kevin, the youngest of any of his child hood friends and probably the least deserving of anything remotely related to what had just happened.
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Mariah slid down against the wall back into a sitting position. Everything was moving so slowly. The steady thump of her heart was the only thing she could hear, and as her limbs began to tremble, she had the fleeting thought that Kevin was actually dead. Her best friend, the person who always been there when Rei, Lee, and even Gary had better things to do. He was gone. She'd never hear his voice again, or she those violet eyes.
It took her at least a full minute to realize that her phone was vibrating in her pocket. Her first impulse was to ignore it. She didn't want to talk to the murderer of her best friend.
But then, what if it was about Kevin being alive? She couldn't turn that gamble down. Shakily, and without alerting the others who were all now in an upset, she answered the phone.
"... M... M-mar?"
Mariah froze. "Kevin?" Her voice was so small that she barely heard it. He was... alive?
"Mm-hmm." It hadn't even fully dawned on Mariah before Lee was standing over her.
"Who is that?!" He demanded. He looked flustered, angry, and almost like he was going to cry. Almost.
In a shocked, quiet voice, Mariah replied "Kevin." And Lee's expression changed entirely. He looked down at his sister with shock and even a glimmer of hope.
"Mar... It's ok." Mariah looked down at the floor.
"No Kevin, it's not. Where were you shot?" She was gaining confidence with each breath of Kevin's that she could hear over the phone. He was breathing slowly, now, but she decided to accept that as a good thing. He was breathing far to quickly earlier, or at least that's what Rei had said.
The arm. It only skinned me though. Mariah... You need to give her..."
The neko-jin on the other end paused, and Mariah stiffened more then she already was. "I need you give her what?"
"... About eighty million dollars." Mariah swallowed. That kind of money could put the BBA in the pour house fast, not to mention everyone that would be suing them; and she planned too.
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xChewy; Well, this is one hell of a position to be in, huh?
Kai; Where do I fit into this?
xChewy; Oh, you'll show up and save the day eventually.
Kai; I'm in enough fics like that. Make it original.
xChewy; Bite me.
Kai; Five bucks says you'll end up doing it.
xChewy; Your on, emo.