He wasn't at the bar. He wasn't at the next she tried either, or the next. Kirya realized how terrible little she actually knew about Damon's life. She didn't even know where he lived.

Feeling the fatigue and pain growing in her as the hope of finding Damon slowly dissolved, Kirya let herself slide down on a bench. It had miraculously survived the destruction.

The afternoon had turned into evening, and the sun had disappeared completely behind the now smoking ruins which were Chicago... or used to be Chicago.

Kirya shivered and drew the leather jacket closer around her. The breeze was chilly, and her fingers were already going numb from the cold. For the first time she thought about what she should do, besides finding Damon. Her apartment had blown up, probably her office as well, if Stefan was right in his assumption about the attack being a hate act against vampires and those who associated with them.

The loss of her home and belongings didn't affect her as much as she would have thought. But then she had been homeless for so many years, that she'd somehow always had thought her nice living was only a temporary thing.

Kirya sighed, unconsciously playing with a lock of hair. She had to decide a course of action. As she saw it she had two options; either she had to find someplace to sleep, or she could try to find someone who knew what the hell was going on.

She quickly outruled the sleeping option. It was september, and even though she wouldn't freeze to death, it would not be comfortable to sleep on the streets. Besides it would only be a matter of time before the gangs started to organize.

No, if she wanted to stay relatively warm and safe, she would have to keep moving. The nap she'd had earlier would come in handy now.

She got to her feet. For a second she tried to decide whether she should head for the hospital or the police station. Her bruises and cuts had to be treated before too long, or they would get infected. She might have a concussion as well, if the throbbing pain in her head was an indicator. Still, with all the dead people on the streets, she could easily imagine the state of the nearby hospitals, if it was even still standing.

Police station it was.

She started walking.

The closer she got, the more people started crowding in the streets. She wasn't the only one it seemed who had gotten the idea. Beginning to pay more attention to he surroundings, she started picking up on conversations around her. Many were crying, or wailing about lost or dead people. She filtered those out, they only reminded her too much of Damon.

A thought emerged in her mind, and she nearly laughed out loud, mocking herself. How pathetic was it that the only friend she got, was a vampire whom she'd only really talked with for what... Three days?

Her attention was caught by two men walking right in front of her. Both of them had ragged clothes, ruined by the days events, and looked in their thirties. One had blonde hair, the other one brown. The one with the blonde hair had a makeshift bandage on his leg. He walked with a slight limb. The other one was speaking.

"...must be the worst day ever. They hit the Loop as well. I heard that a couple of trains sped right into the street." He finally got a reaction from the blonde guy, who stopped dead in his tracks.

Kirya bumped straight into one who had spoken first, loosing her balance completely. The guy turned around, and managed to catch her just before she toppled over.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

The guy smiled weakly at her. "No problem." before he turned his attention to his friend who had turned white as a sheet.

"Matt? What's wrong?"

Matt stood with empty eyes shaking his head like he wanted a thought to disappear from his mind. Then he spoke.

"Mia was there with Lucas. Something about picking out a schoolbag..." he trailed off.

Kirya felt sorry for Matt, as his friend helped him to sit down, trying to convince him that his wife and son was probably just fine. Even Kirya could hear how unsure he sounded of his own arguments.

She looked around, it seemed that the crowd had come to a stand still. She could barely move without bumping into someone. She tried to stand on her toes to see what had made people stop, they shouldn't be more than a couple of hundred meters from the police station. She couldn't see a thing.

The friend looked up at her.

"Can you see what's going on?"

She shook her head.

"No there's too many people in the way." Even before she finished the sentence she had an idea.

They were in the side of the street and right next to her was a street sign. It was bended a little, but when she pushed her weight against it, it seemed to be rooted firmly in the concrete still. She looked back at him.

"Can you give me a push? I'll have a better view from up there." He nodded in confirmation and got up. Matt didn't seem to notice.

"Are you sure you'll be able to get up there?" He looked from the sign and to her, clearly doubting her abilities as an acrobat.

"Don't you worry, just hold out your hands so I can jump." She showed him what she meant. "Ready?"

"Go ahead."

Kirya put her foot in his folded hands, counting down, she took a deep breath. When she reached 1, she jumped while the guy gave her a boost. She flew into the air and grabbed hold of the metal sign agile. She hang there dangling for a moment, her feet nearly two meters over the ground. Slowly she pulled herself up until she sat with a leg on each side of the sign.

Everything hurt and she felt like she´d strained several muscles.

I really need to work out more. Just five years ago a stunt like that wouldn't even have made her break a sweat.

She gathered her thoughts on the present and looked around. She gasped at how many people had gathered, there was at least 10.000 and more were still gathering further down the street. She looked in the direction of the police station and felt her hopes fall. Only ruins were left. The place had been completely destroyed. She sighed.

Just as quick as she'd gotten up there she let her self slide off her sitting place and holding on to the edge with her fingertips. The she let go, jumping down.

She was happy that he steadied her in her landing, she had miscalculated the distance, and nearly fell.

He looked at her questionly. "So?"

She shook her head. "So if it was the police you were trying to reach you'd better try to find someplace else - the building is gone."

His shoulders hunched as he took in her words.

"You sure?" But from his tone Kirya could tell that he believed her so she just nodded.

"Sorry." She stood for a moment unsure of what to do next.

There was absolutely no point in staying in this crowd. Kirya knew how dangerous it would be if hysteria suddenly broke out with so many people pressed together.

The guy cut in on her thoughts. "We never got ourselves introduced properly. This is Matt, and I'm Kyle. Kyle Tasinki." He reached out his hand and Kirya took it hesitantly.

"I'm Alice." Suddenly recognising the name he had told her, she narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't by any chance be a lawyer?"

"Why yes." Kirya couldn't hold back a small laugh. He looked at her questionably.

"We're in the same business," Kirya hinted. It took a minute before it dawned on him.

"Alice, as in Alice Black?"

"Yep that's me," she smiled.

It was actually quite funny that the only two human lawyers in town, who specialized in vampire law, had never met.

"I guess that's what you call a coincidence," Kyle said, shaking his head in wonder. He shot a glance down at Matt, who sat staring blankly into the thin air. His brow furrowed in worry.

In the direction of Kirya he said: "Did they hit your place as well?" while carefully helping his friend to his feet.

She nodded, but then realized he didn't look at her. "Yeah, fortunately I was out. Yours too?"

"Yeah, and it was just finished being renovated," he grumbled.

Finally he got Matt to his feet. "Come on man. They're probably fine, and just waiting for you to get back home." The words seemed to cut through to the guy, who's blue eyes suddenly seemed to snap into focus.

Matt started walking hastily, pushing himself through the crowd. Kyle looked at her and rolled his eyes. He started to go after his friend, but turned around when Kirya didn't follow.

"You comin'? You can crash at Matt's place, I'm sure he won't mind."

Kirya hesitated, she didn't know them, hell, she'd just met them. But on the other hand she really needed someplace to rest, and figure out what to do. Kyle might know more about what was going on as well. She shrugged.

"Okay."

"Perfect," Kyle flashed a bright smile already following his friend. Kirya tagged along.

I originally meant to but in a section from Damon's POV, but it thought I'd rather update faster and then do it in the next chapter...

How do you think he will act around Yuki? Will they pick up their bromance? Or will he hold a grudge at him for attacking Kirya? And what really happened that night several years ago when Yuki compelled Kirya to forget everything?

Thank you for your fantastic reviews, your follows and favourites. I've just topped 50 reviews and 40 follows... THANK YOU!

Untill next time.../over and out/