Kyle stood on the edge of the crowd, not ten feet away from Simon, just staring at him. His breathing was deep and on the verge of gasping for air. Kyle's legs felt like jelly and his entire body shook with adrenaline. Slowly, he took a step back when Simon took two forward, searching the crowd.
Kyle closed his eyes, waiting for Simon to grab him. He was so close he could see the individual flecks of gold and green in his brown eyes. Why was he this close, Kyle screamed in his head? Licking his lips, he opened his eyes again and watched perplexed as Simon turned and walked away. Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, Kyle took a step back and turned, pushing into the crowd. Startled screams and gruff cursing followed in his wake, but Kyle kept making his way through the crowd before he lost his nerve. Having his back turned toward a vampire was a feeling that crept up into your soul and just fucked with you. Finally he reached the edge of the convention center, a good fucking football sized length, and felt the pain in his left arm. Twisting, he looked at it.
He had pulled his black hoodie over his suit jacket back at DI. Pulling at the sleeve, he saw the horizontal rip and he poked his fingers through his hoodie, and sadly, through his suit jacket and shirt.
"Two hundred fucking dollar shirt and the jacket. That's perfect," he mumbled unhappily. Pulling the hoodie and jacket off, he walked down the corridor leading away from the center stage and found a bathroom. Setting his jackets on the counter, he turned his back on the mirror and unbuttoned his shirt, looking at his arm.
The spot was red now, but the blood said it all. The one gunshot he heard did not whiz harmlessly by him. He had, in fact, been shot. The Eternity in him took care of the open wound, making it look like a puckered mess of a scar that was slowly healing. Like a good month out from an actual gunshot wound. Still, his clothes were ruined. Focusing on that one crappy part of his day made dealing with the fact that his Starburst scheme was now fucked seem not so bad.
Forgoing a quick look in the mirrors, Kyle slipped on his hoodie, discarded his jacket and shirt, after pocketing his three prescription bottles of Starburst, and made his way out of the convention center. He could not help but wonder why the gunman had only taken the time to graze him instead of putting that bullet in his back. You don't take a shot like that and miss.
Using the alley to put distance between DI and himself, Kyle hailed a cab about ten blocks down, unconsciously scratching at the quickly healing wound.
((OOC - Kyle, Viv, Brig, LT, Pipers, Simon out))
You're not you.
"Where did you see him?"
Simon listened as one of his Mercs reported seeing Kyle while on detail with the District Attorney. In a nondescript Motel 6 down by the bus station, Sullivan recounted the events leading up to Miss Yuukuka requesting a few minutes alone with the reporter.
"What did they talk about?"
"Mostly asking about you. Also what happened to him, where he had been...those types of questions? The tone changed toward the end."
"How so?"
Sullivan shrugged uncomfortably. "Became more intimate. Not like before at the courthouse."
Simon knew what Sullivan was referring to; they had both been there when Yuu punched Kyle in the face after Simon had bailed him out of jail for his arrest. Intimate was not the word he'd use for any type of conversation between Yuu and Kyle, but then misery made strange bed fellows.
"You have a man on him?"
"He was in the wind by the time I got someone to the motel. I had to escort Miss Yuukuka home, but by the smell of it, I didn't think Evans could manage walking. Packed up and was gone."
Rolling his eyes, Simon nodded and dismissed Sullivan. Evans was staying one step of them, how though was the question. The reporter did not seem clever enough to elude men trained for these types of searches. Either he was getting help or Kyle wasn't as stupid as Simon thought.
Kyle Evans
13 years ago