Kai's back! Ok, seriously. I changed Kai's character a little in this chapter, but I'm still warming up to him. (I used to not like him) So cut my some slack.
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The plan worked like this; Mariah and Steven were the only ones allowed to remain by the door. The others grouped down by the elevator, watching tensely. Mariah stood right up near the door, while Steven had his back to the wall of the opposite side of the hallway.
When the door opened, Mariah would slip through and help get Kevin out. Steven would take Kevin back to the others and Mariah would be locked in the room alone with the nameless woman. Everyone was frightened. If this went wrong, someone could die. Mariah looked back towards the others, with a weak smile. She knew fully well that this could be the last time she saw them, but she didn't let the thought consume her. She wanted to get a good look of Rei, Lee, and Gary's faces before she went through with this.
The three boys looked back at her with weak smiles, trying to be encouraging. Of course, when all of their hearts were discouraged and frozen with fear, it was a hard thing to do.
There was a click, and Mariah turned around. The door pushed open about a foot, and as instructed, Mariah pressed her back up against the wall, put her hands on her head, and slid through. Rei watched her go, and filled up with regret. He shouldn't have done that. Something was wrong.
Mariah expected to turn around and find Kevin. Instead, she found a gun pointing at her. Kevin was on the other side of the room, lying on the floor surrounded by a blood stained carpet. He looked awful, and Mariah faltered. This gave the woman enough time to close the door behind Mariah and lock it – which was not part of the plan.
From the hallway, Mariah could hear Steven jiggling the handle and calling out to her, trying to make sure she was okay. The woman, with silky black hair and a small mole above her upper lip, sighed and pointed the gun towards Kevin. Mariah inhaled sharply and turned towards the door. "Steven, it's ok!" She called. The knocking stopped, and the woman smiled at Mariah. "Good job, hun." She said, before Mariah raced over to Kevin.
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Kevin was back in the park again, standing alone surrounded by a sea of blood. Everything was dripping with the bodily fluid, and there wasn't a pidgin in sight. The path out of the park was covered in it, and Kevin could find it through the gore. He looked down at himself, but he wasn't there. Or at least, he was transparent. When he looked up again, Max was standing there. He was looked all over the place, calling Kevin's name. The neko-jin could not, unfortunately, get Max's attention, because he was invisible.
Before his dream could progress, however, Kevin felt something wrap around him, like he was being hugged, or constricted. Slowly, his eyes opened. Someone was hugging him, and from the bracelet on the person's wrist, Kevin knew it was Mariah.
"Mar?" He asked weakly, turning his head to face her. His best friend nodded numbly. Tears were pouring down her face, and her lower lip was quivering.
"It's me, Kevin. I'm here." She sounded more relieved then she did worried, but Kevin couldn't understand why. Behind her, and leaning over her shoulder, was the woman that shot him. She was giving him a look that he could quite decode, but was sure she meant to inform him that any wrong moves would be bad for the two captives.
"So, sweetie, did Mr. Dickinson agree to my price?" She asked non-saliently. Kevin nodded numbly.
"Y-yeah." He mumbled, watching as the woman smiled. "Lee has some last words for you, by the way. Just incase you die; If you pull through this, he'll take you to a Panic and the disco concert."
She turned towards Mariah and pointed at the table leg next to Mariah. Mariah quietly sat down with her back against it and let the woman tie her wrists and ankles together. At least she was next to Kevin. Once the woman was done, she left the room and closed the door behind her. The smaller room off to the side must have been her planning area.
"Kevin..." The younger teen moaned slightly, but didn't move. "Kevin?" The same reaction, without the moaning. Then, after a moment, Kevin stirred.
"Kev, come here..." Mariah's heart ached at the sight of Kevin struggling to sit upright. Once he managed to, he leaned heavily against Mariah.
"Mar... I'm sorry." He breathed. Mariah was shocked. Did he really think any of this was his fault? "No, Kevin, don't be. I came in here on my own volition." She tried to sound comforting, but she wanted to cry. That woman had reduced Kevin to this small, helpless victim, who could barely support himself when he sat up.
"Don't let me fall asleep again." He mumbled, obviously just about to loose consciousness. Mariah didn't really understand why, but she nudged him a bit with her shoulder in attempt to do what he asked. "Ok... What's your favorite band?"
Kevin smiled slightly. "Good Charlotte." At the very least, Kevin wasn't delusional.
"Movie?"
"Ocean's eleven."
"Number?"
"You can do so much better then this, Mar." Kevin said, with a slight hint of laughter. Very weak, distant laughter. "Ok, where did you find your iPod?"
Kevin frowned. "Oddly enough, it was in the potted plant over there." The wounded neko-jin nodded in the direction of an exotic looking plant. Mariah narrowed her eyes. "And you think Gary put it there?" She asked, looked across at Kevin, who was leaning his head on her shoulder. "I haven't actually thought about it."
The scrap of news that meant nothing to Kevin seemed to fit in like a large puzzle piece in Mariah's point of view. Someone had put it there, during the meeting. So they got it away from Gary, but everyone at the meeting was sitting and listening. No one had left their seats. Who had been up? Mariah tried to remember the entire two hour gathering, and after several minutes of thinking, she remembered.
A catering business worked for the BBA. During the meeting, a woman had come in to refill the glasses of water that each attendant had. But Mariah hadn't paid much attention to her, and never really saw her leave.
"Kevin, I think I know who shot you."
"Really? Well, I'd love to know the name of the person who keeps shooting me. That way I'll die in peace." Mariah ignored the sarcasm. At least Kevin was being himself. "Kev, do you remember when that lady came in? During the meeting?"
A pause. "Well, to make progress on my quest to befriend everyone, I'll acknowledge that I did see h-her." Kevin ended his short little speech by coughing into the back of his hand. His long sleeved shirt had long enough sleeves that they fell half way over his hands, and one of the sleeves was torn and bloody where the second bullet had scared his body.
Mariah cringed as she felt Kevin's small frame shake with every cough. He was getting worse by the moment.
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Rei lifted his face from his hands. He knew something was going to go horribly wrong. Now Mariah was a hostage too, and Kevin was still in the hands of the enemy. Rei felt cheated and stupid, but most of all, lost. Completely and utterly lost, like he was trapped in a maze and he continually made the wrong turn.
Robert put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault, Rei. I know how you feel, but-"
Rei grunted. "No you don't! Your crush isn't a hostage and your childhood friend isn't bleeding to death! You have no idea how I feel!" Rei practically yelled at Robert, who shrank back, startled.
Rei put his face back in his hands, and everything stayed silent for a moment. Then he lifted his face back up, the anger gone.
"I'm sorry. You're right." He said quietly, not making eye contact with the European. "So are you." Max said from the other side of the hallway. Rei looked up at him with a slightly confused expression on his face. "You, Lee, and Gary are the only ones in your position. But they're our friends as well, Rei." The American looked down at his knees awkwardly. Rei nodded slowly. "I know." He whispered.
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Kai slid over the ice in an old ally until he came to a stop, turned around and lifted his arms just in time to stop Kenny and Hilary before they slid into the brick wall at the end of the gap between the buildings. From their hiding spot, Kai had a good view of a large flat screen panel on the side of a building in the center of the city, and on it was the news report. The sound from the large television was being broadcasted through megaphones, like it always was when something important was going on.
Though it wasn't his first choice of a covered secret area, Kai would make due. Kenny leaned forward and put his hands on his knees to support himself, while Hilary placed her hands on her hips and looked up at the clouds that would eventually start showing snow on them.
'The identity of the hostage has just been discovered, but we were unable to get the information out of police and officials. Our reporters are working to bring the news out into the open as we speak.'
The anchorman seemed to be very positive that everything would work out fine, but Kai knew otherwise. He turned towards Kenny suddenly.
"Call the least likely person who could be a hostage; someone that could help us, but not be a big part of what's going on." He said quickly, and then turned to Hilary. She exhaled sharply, her breath becoming a cloud of foggy warmth that drifted up until it vanished. "Hilary, you know everyone's number?"
"Almost... Who should we call?" She asked. Her stomach was weak and shaky, and the fears that one of her friends may be dead sent shivers down her spine.
Kai stopped to think about it. The Majestics all came from rich, well known family, so any of them could be the hostage. The All Stars were widely renowned in the states, and were each worth a large sum of money as it was, so they had to be discounted as well. That left Kai's team, and the White tigers. Anyone that tried to kidnap a member of the world champion beyblading team would be famous in a heart beat, so to play it safe, the last remaining people were the White tigers. Who on that team would be the least likely target?
"Kevin or Gary." Kai said slowly, still thinking.
"I only know Kevin's number." Hilary said wearily, thinking back to when Mariah had mentioned it in a conversation.
"Then Kevin it is. Call him know." Kai turned back to Kenny, who was fumbling through his backpack. "Could you?" He asked numbly after pulling the phone out. Kai paused a moment, then nodded. He would have a better shot of getting information out of someone then the chief. Hilary repeated the number from memory and Kai waited for the neko-jin to answer. The flaw to his plan was likely; Whoever was doing this had confiscated the phones. But that wasn't the answer.
"You lied."
The voice on the other end wasn't Kevin, but Lee's. Kai raised a single eyebrow in confusion.
"I did?" He asked, rather baffled. He hadn't even had time to say who he was, and he doubted he was in Kevin's five. There was obviously some general shock on the other end, because the reply sounded equally bewildered as Kai's had.
"...Kai?!"
"Lee? If you have Kevin's phone, then where is..." Kai felt his heart turn to stone. Was Kevin the hostage?
"Yes it's me! Where the hell are you?!" Kai stared off into space for a moment, before shaking his head slightly and bluntly asked the question that was on the tip of his tongue.
"Where is Kevin?" Something seemed to shift in the air. Like someone had just been slapped and the room had fallen quiet in shock.
"Bleeding to death in the other room."
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xChewy; Man, I'm good at cliff hangers.
Kai; Well, at least I was in this chapter.
xChewy; At least?! By simply calling them, you're putting their lives in danger!
Kai; Eh, so what?
xChewy; I hate you again.