K.I.A. 1: Chapter 1

Alright people, this is my pride and joy, the first chapter of my "novel". I want it to be the best it can be, so make sure you critique it REALLY HARD!! Anything you find amiss, grammar, phrasing, anything, point it out. But also remember that I'm taking all this advise with a grain of salt, so If I don't follow your idea, its nothing personal. Okay? Alright, attack at will...

(Oh, warning. It's pretty long. Like 11 pages...)

Kia wished that it would stop raining. It wasn’t that Kia didn’t like the rain. She really did love it, for more reasons than one.

Rain was great cover, especially on a dark night like this. The rain could hide her perfectly in the city’s gray backdrop. Good for the job; good for her.

A car horn blared nearby, startinly her. Taking deep breaths, she settled into her thoughts again, but not as deeply as before.

The rain kept the people inside and off the streets. No people meant no noise, or very little noise at least. The remaining din could be muffled by the calming pounding of the rain.

People passed by the alleyway where she was stationed, but they took no notice of her. It wasn’t uncommon for teenagers to roam the streets at night, at least not for these streets. With dark clothing, pale skin, and light brown hair, Kia looked like just another teen, hiding from the world in a dry alley on a rainy night.

Standing in the rain was both cleansing and calming. Sometimes she thought about dancing in it, but always decided against it. It was a frivolous idea, seeing as she couldn’t dance.

She fidgeted, checking her watch once again. She hadn’t realized it would take this long, and wished she’d brought her ipod.

Rain reminded her of…things. Pleasant things, pleasant days. Far away days, gone and done long ago.

However, at the moment, Kia wished the rain would let up, if only for a bit. She was completely soaked and felt as if she were about to freeze to death. She whipped the rain away from her eyes and pulled the hood of her navy blue raincoat farther over her head. She also wished she had thought to bring a scarf to keep out the chill. It was far too cold for this time of the year. It was March, true, but it was colder than any other March she’d seen, at least in America. She glanced about the streets again, keeping a sharp eye out for Candy.

Seattle was awfully gray tonight, she thought, as she stood silently waiting in the alley. And quiet, although there wasn’t anything wrong with that. She closed her eyes, enjoying the silence.

Suddenly there was a buzz in her ear. She quickly pressed the button on her ear phone and opened up the link.

“Kia here,” She said quietly, glancing about the alley again. No one was there.

“Hey, is Candy there yet?” The voice on the other end asked. Kia pushed the phone into her ear and clapped her hand over the other one to block out the sound of the rain.

“No.”

“You’re sure?” He asked. “She should be there soon-”

“Hey Kia!” A hand pried away Kia’s hand from her ear and whispered excitedly. Kia glanced to her left, where a young girl had appeared.

“Hello Candy,” She whispered back, moving over and making room for the other girl in the alley.

“Oh, so she’s there now?” The voice asked.

“Is that Kent?” Candy asked, scooting into the alleyway with Kia and beginning to wring out her wet, purple hair. “Tell him I said hi.”

“Candy says hi.” Kia informed Kent. “Has Franzi left yet?”

“Wait, I just got a call from Frank…” Kent paused, then continued. “Yeah, he just left. He’s heading toward his flat.”

“Alright, we’ll see you there,” Kia confirmed. There was a click as Kent cut the call off; Kia followed suit and turned to Candy. “Come on, we’re moving out.”

“Moving out? Where’d you learn that?” Candy asked, rubbing her hands together and then jamming them in her pockets. “Have you been watching old war movies with Kent again?”

Kia glanced away and coughed into her ungloved hand. “…Maybe…”

Candy laughed. “Come on, let’s get going,” She said as she stepped out of the alleyway and into the full force of the rain. “Dang, it’s really coming down now…” Kia scooted past her and began to lead the way. Candy coughed and mumbled something under her breath about people always being in a hurry. Kia pretended not to hear.

They hurried down the sidewalk, sidestepping puddles and pulling their hoods higher every time a car seemed to slow down, but no one gave them any trouble.

“God, I hate walking around here at night without a group,” Candy sped up again to keep up with Kia’s brisk pace. “You see the newspaper this morning? Another murder down on 4th. And a rape just a few blocks away from that!”

“A bank got robbed on Pike St. They still haven’t found the robbers. They were armed too,” Kia added, moving into the light of the street lamp.

“Oh, I feel so secure now,” Candy whined, accompanied by a sneeze.

“You’ve got a gun, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but it’s not like it’s got real bullets or anything.”

“Thieves are cowards,” Kia assured her. “It’ll scare them off.”

“I don’t know, wouldn’t it take a ton of guts to rob a bank? I’d be whoa!” Candy was cut off as Kia ducked into an alleyway suddenly and pulled Candy after her. “What was

that-”

“Shhhh…” Kia held a finger to her lips, signaling for silence. Candy, for once, obliged. Kia glanced passed Candy and then pointed. “Turn around slowly. See that man, the one in the brown suit?”

“The fat one, right?” Candy asked. Kia nodded. “That’s him? Franzi?”

“Right, without a doubt. Look, his got the birth mark on his right cheek. See?”

“Man, he looked a lot skinnier in the pic! I thought cameras were supposed to add ten pounds!” Candy made a face that made Kia give out of her rare smirks.

“Well it was taken a few months ago…”

“He gained that much in just a few months!? Grossness!” Candy stuck out her tounge.

“Yeah, he’s definitely living it up since he made it big, hasn’t he? Eating out at fancy schmancy restaurants every night, right? Yeah, fair business man my-”

“He’s moving again,” Kia informed her, grabbing Candy’s hand and tugging her back onto the nearly empty side walk. Franzi, an overweight, balding man in his late forties, made his way to the corner and began to attempt to hail a taxi.

“Shouldn’t a rich guy like him have, I don’t know, a personal limo and driver or something?” Candy asked, doing her best to keep up with Kia, who continued to drag the other teen down the street.

“His driver just quit,” Kia informed her. Candy grinned.

“Bet he’s a real jack to work for,” she snickered. Kia pulled Candy into the street as soon as the light turned green. A driver that had been attempting to gun it to make the light screeched to a halt sending up a spray of water in doing so. The driver slammed a hand down on the horn –hard– and began cussing at the two as they crossed the street. Candy calmly flipped him the bird before Kia dragged her after Franzi again.

Franzi seemed to have quite some trouble getting a cab that wasn’t already packed full of rain-shy passengers. Of course, Kia thought, his temper has nothing to do with that. After throwing a fit he huffed off, deciding to walk the two blocks to his flat instead of sharing a cab. Kia led Candy down each block, keeping about twelve feet behind Franzi at all times.

“If he turns around, won’t he think we’re trying to mug him or something?” Candy asked, pulling her hood farther up.

“Candy, we’re two 16-year-old girls. Two fairly small 16-year-old girls,”Kia reminded her. “Do you really think he’s going to worry about us?”

“Who’re you calling small?” Candy pouted. Kia didn’t answer. Just sped up as Franzi entered a parking garage. Out of the corner of her eyes, Kia saw a shadow move, near the lines of cars, but then it was gone. She yanked Candy forward and followed in after Franzi.

The parking garage was full of cars and empty of people, save for Franzi and themselves. Kia let go of Candy’s hand and hid behind a red hybrid. Candy nodded to her, and then moved on towards Franzi.

“Sir?” She called. “Hey Sir?” Franzi jumped and looked around, obviously not quite sober yet. Candy came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to spin around so fast that he landed up on the floor. He let out a string of swear words only a drunk could muster. “Sorry.” Candy lied, not helping him up.

“Wadda ya want?!” Franzi demanded, attempting and failing to get up twice before finally glaring at Candy. “Well, wadda ya waitin’ for?” He spat, slurring his words together. “Help me up!” Candy grimaced, but offered him one small, delicate hand. Franzi grabbed it with his big, fat, sausage fingers and almost pulled Candy down with him trying to get up. Once he was up Candy gracefully pulled her hand back and wiped his sweat off on her jeans.

“You’re welcome,” She said, failing to hide her disgust.

“Wadda ya want? Huh?” He asked, pulling out a white handkerchief out of his pocket and wiping off his forehead. The sweat seemed to pool out faster than he could wipe it away. Kia wondered hom someone could be so out of shape that a walk of five blocks could cause them to sweat like a they were in a sauna.

“I’m lost,” Candy said matter-of-factly. She shifted he feet a bit, glancing around the garage, trying to appear lost.

“Well wadda ya want me to do about it?” Franzi demanded, swaying slightly side-to-side.

“Well, if you were any type of decent man,” Candy said, her voice not hiding exactly what type of man she thought he was, “You could give me directions,” Candy said, putting her hands behind her back and beginning to rock back and forth.

“Huh, why should I?” Franzi slurred, then coughed and stuffed the handkerchief back in his pocket, giving up on whipping his brow. “What’s in it for me?”

“Um, a warm, fuzzy feeling from knowing you helped a fellow human being?” Candy offered, cocking her head to the side innocently. Behind her back, she signaled for Kia to make her move. Kia moved to the other end of the car and, making sure that Franzi didn’t see her, moved a little in front of him on his left side. When she reached her destination she studied the row of cars parallel to hers. Finally she caught a glance of a bit of blue hair up ahead, behind Franzi. She pressed the button on her ear phone, muffling the beep with her hand. Franzi was too busy with Candy’s chatter to notice.

“Kent?” She whispered, keeping her voice as low as she could manage. “You’re behind the blue cooper right? Scoot down a bit, I can see a few strands of your hair.” Instantly the hair disappeared.

“Good now?” Kent asked, his voice almost as soft as Kia’s.

“Yeah.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m behind the silver van now, two cars in front of yours, on the other side of course,” She said. She saw a slight shuffle and a pair of blue eyes from the cooper. She waved just a bit and they disappeared again.

“I saw you. Okay, you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said. Kia reached into her coat pocket, pulling out a small pistol. With one finger on the trigger, she scooted as far out as she dared, waiting for Kent. Without a sound Kent rose from his hiding spot and began walking toward Franzi and Candy.

“Listen, for the last time, there is no circus it town!” Franzi yelled, red in the face and about ready to hit Candy for keeping him out of his nice, warm apartment.

“You sure?” Candy said, yet again cocking her head to the side. “‘Cause I saw it in the newspaper and you know the newspaper’s trustworthy and stuff. You know what else I saw in the newspaper?” Without waiting for an answer she shot off on her newly chosen tangent. “Well there was this guy, you know? He was this older guy, and he used to own a business right here in Seattle right? Real old guy, like 90-years-old right? So he’s been working here for since he was like 20 or something, right? And that’s a really long time. And you know, he could’ve retired, like, a really long time ago, right? But he kept working and stuff ‘cause he had, like, three grand kids, right? And like he wanted them to college and stuff right?”

“Listen, you little…” Franzi started to sweat even more, despite the obvious chill of early Spring. He tried to back away, but Candy just followed him. Mean while Kent had made his way to just a few feet right behind Franzi.

“No, listen, this is really sad, right? Okay, so this guy works and works till he’s like, dead, and then you know what happens? Well some jackass goes and ruins his business,” Candy dropped her fake, valley-girl voice without warning. “That’s real mean isn’t it Mr. Franzi?” Kia had heard about coloring draining from people’s faces, but she had never truly seen it before. Franzi continued to back up, fast.

“H-how…W-who are you?!” He stuttered, the fear in his voice ruining the demanding tone he was going for. Kent reached out a grabbed out of his shoulders, causing him to stop dead.

“Mr. Franzi,” Kent said in his calm voice. “I’m going to ask you to raise your hands above your head so I can empty your pockets. I’m telling you right now that we’re both armed, so don’t try anything.” Franzi’s slowly turned towards Kent, his whole body shaking.

“Y-your both j-just kids!” He managed to spit out. Kent smiled.

“The better to trick you, huh?” He laughed, but his grip on Franzi’s shoulder tightened, causing Franzi to flinch slightly. “Hands above your head.” He repeated Franzi glanced about franticly, looking for help. The rain continued to fall outside the garage and no one within the apartment building was leaving anytime soon.

“Now listen here, you both seem like eager kids,” Franzi started, looking to Kent pleadingly. “$50 bucks says we forget all about this…” Kent squeezed his shoulder again.

“Unlikely,” Kent said, his normally sweet voice growing colder by the second.

“Come now, how much is Johnson paying you?” Franzi pleaded, turning to Candy. “I’ll double it! I swear I will!” Candy just smiled and shrugged.

“Sorry buddy,” She said. “You ruined your partner and now we’re gonna ruin you. It’s called karma,” She giggled.

“C-come on, let’s be reasonable now!” Franzi said, desperately trying to gain control of the situation. “You have no proof of anything! You can’t do anything!”

“That’s what you think!” Candy sang, pulling a large brown envelope out of her purse and waving it mockingly in Franzi’s face. “Everything’s right in here!”

“T-that’s…t-that means…” Franzi’s face became even paler, if that was possible.

“Yep,” Candy said with a smile. “You’re screwed!” Franzi began to shake.

“Listen, Mr. Franzi, if you turn yourself into the police they’ll be much more-” Kent cut himself off as Franzi grabbed a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at Candy’s head. Kent’s calm face fell away, replaced by a snarl. “Get. Away. From. Her.” He ordered, his voice filled with steel. Franzi forced a frightened laugh.

“I think not!” Franzi said, hand shaking as it pressed the gun to Candy’s temple. “Now you’re going to let me go ya hear? And we’ll forget all about this, hear?” Candy tried to duck out of the way but Franzi grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him, catching her in a sweaty chokehold. “No funny stuff, got it?” Kent gritted his teeth and growled, Candy whimpered softly.

Kia, on the other hand, was making her way behind Franzi. Without a sound she was behind him in a second, with a gun at his head.

“Don’t worry Mr. Franzi,” Kia said, finger ready on the trigger. “No funny stuff. None of us have a sense of humor, anyways.” Franzi gulped.

“I-I’ve got your friend here!” He cried, waving the gun a bit. “A-aren’t you worried about her?!” Kia’s eyes narrowed.

“Let her go, and then we’ll talk,” Kia said.

“N-no!” Franzi cried, his finger tightening on the trigger. Kia heard the slight click and knocked his arms away. Candy ducked out. He fired. The shot hit the ceiling and Franzi fell on the ground with a loud thump. Kia was sure a coward like him would give up now, but she didn’t lower her gun. Franzi still had his.

“Drop the gun,” Kia hissed, aiming her gun straight for his head. Franzi continued to shake, but he didn’t let go of the gun. “Drop the gun!” She shouted.

Franzi’s hand lowered, for a second. Then, in the next second, the gun was pointed at Kia. She saw his finger tighten on the trigger, ready to pull. So did Kent.

“NO!”

BANG!

Kia was pushed back on the ground, a weight upon her chest. She heard Candy scream. She opened her eyes and her heart stopped. There was blood. It wasn’t hers. There, atop her, was Kent. She shifted out from under him and gently shook him.

“Kent…?” She whispered, her voice tight and high. “Kent…wake up…Kent?” For what seemed like an eternity, she sat there, his unmoving body in her hands. Everything seemed to fade and blur around her, her thoughts grew foggy and muddled. The only thing she could hear was her own heartbeat, the only thing she could feel was Kent’s blood. Everything else faded and left her world.

A sudden pain hit her and ran through her whole body, as if she’d been electrocuted. The sharp, electrical pain threaded its way through her body, spreading out in her and taking over. Her mind seemed to switch off and give itself over to the painful darkness.

Kia rose with painful slowness, letting each second take a millennium to pass. Her body seemed to move on its own, as if some large, invisible being had grabbed her by the nape of her neck and was dragging her upward. Candy said something to her, but her words feel on deaf ears. Franzi let out a small terror-filled sound. The air around them pulsed out from Kia, pushing them all away from her by at least a foot.

“KIA!” Candy cried out, trying to run to her. Kia’s head turned sharply to her and Candy stopped dead in her tracks. “K-Kia…?” Candy stepped back, eyes wide with fear and disbelief. Kia’s eyes were no longer human, nor were they the eyes of any other creature Candy had ever heard of, let alone seen. Her iris and pupil had disappeared, completely taken over by a light blue shine over her whole eye. They glowed, flashing dangerously at every outside noise or movement.

The air around them seemed to be pulled upward as if by a vacuum, making loose clothes and hair float in the air. Kia’s own hair danced lightly around her head, as if in a breeze no one could feel. Candy also felt herself being pulled up. She gasped and the air was torn swiftly from her. She grasped her throat and fell to the ground, bracing herself against the pull.

“S-she’s a m-monster!” Franzi cried out. He tried to get up, but continued to slip and fall back down, his legs failing him. His whole body was shaking violently. At the sound of his voice Kia pulsed again, her eyes narrowed and flashed. She turned herself towards him.

She dragged her arm slowly upward, as if she were a marionette being controlled by an unseen being. Her wrist was limp, falling forward, fingers weak and pointed downward. Franzi screamed as her hand became level with his head. Blue ghost eyes flashed again. A spark of blue-white electricity danced over Kia’s arm. Her hand shot out, the whole thing tense and spread wide. A haze of blue gathered at her fingertips, wrapping and twisting itself around each of her fingers separately, like a small, lazy noose.

Franzi cried out again and Kia stepped forward, thrusting her hand foward. The blue energy was thrown off and took on a life of its own. It shaped itself to vaguely resemble a hand, reaching out through the air and swiftly taking hold of Franzi. He screeched once more before the monstrous hand covered his mouth and began to lift him roughly off the ground roughly. Kia’s eyes flashed brutally as he struggled in vain. Kia snarled and began to close her hand into a fist, tightening the phantom hand’s grip on Franzi, slowly cutting him off from air, crushing him…

“Kia!” A hand grabbed her own and the blue energy suddenly sparked and died, dropping Franzi two feet to the ground. He let out a cry, curled up into a ball and began to shake. Candy gasped and coughed, taking deep gulps of air greedily. Kia’s eyes quickly faded back to her normal hazel, the blue glaze disappearing completely. “Kia, Kia, look! I’m fine, look!” A voice whispered, the hand pulling her to her knees. She felt herself pulled around to look into deep blue eyes. Kent placed a hand on her face and forced a smile.

“K-Kent?” She whispered, her voice horse. “B-but…”

“Look, look,” he pointed to his shoulder, where his shirt was torn and blood was coming out steadily, but thin. “It’s not serious, it just grazed me. See? I’m fine.” He ran his hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face. His gently began to massaged her shoulders, easing her rapid and rugged breathing back to normal. She bit her lip and swallowed down her oncoming tears.

“God…” Candy groaned from her spot, having recovered her voice. Both turned towards her. She was pale and wide-eyed, but otherwise appeared to be fine.

“Candy!” Kent cried, rushing to her, with Kia following behind him. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, just had to catch my breath…” She closed her eyes again and took two deep breaths. She forced a laugh and shook her head. “The two of you…you’re gonna be the death of me, right?” She laughed again, more naturally now, and began to get up. Kent grabbed her hand and gently helped her up. Kia brushed her other hand and looked away. Candy glanced at the down cast girl, then grabbed her hand.

“Good job Kia, you scared that ass halfway to hell and back,” She grinned, squeezing Kia’s hand reassuringly. Kia’s lips twitched into a smile for split second, before returning to their normal straight line.

“Y-you’re all monsters! Crazy monsters!” Their attention jumped back to the shivering conman who’d finally recovered enough to stand. He looked for a second like he would faint, but then turned and ran. They yelled together. Candy tried to step forward but she fell down and brought Kent down with her.

“Kia!” Candy yelled. Without a moments hesitation Kia took off after him. He was racing out of the garage, into the open. Kia gritted her teeth, knowing that if he made it out she wouldn’t be able to grab him. She sped up.

Thump! Franzi fell back on his rump and looked up as Kia skid to a halt., her voice catching in her throat.

“Now, what do we have here?” A pleasant, male voice asked. The man was tall; his hair mixed blonde and his eye an odd watercolor combination between brown and blue. He scratched his head and looked over the garage. Kia’s breathing slowed. “What indeed…” he said softer.

“S-sir!” Franzi grabbed the edge of the man’s shirt. “You, you’ve got to help me! They’re…They’re trying to kill me!” The man raised one eyebrow in doubt.

“These…kids?” He laughed. “Not likely.”

“B-but…that girl!” He pointed a shaking finger at Kia. “She…she’s a monster!” This time the man look genuinely interested.

“A monster…?” He looked Kia over. She looked away, downcast.

“She…she picked me off the ground without touching me! She almost crushed me to death! She…” The blonde man picked Franzi up and took a firm hold of his shoulder.

“I see …” He sighed and turned to Kent. “So, Kent, what do I do with loco here?” Franzi’s face blanched.

“Y-you…” His shoulders drooped in defeat. “You…you’re with them…” He crumbled to the ground, a broken man.

“Sorry buddy,” He snapped out a pair of handcuffs and winked to Kia. “Guy at the bar gave ‘em to me as gift. Pretty nice, huh Angel?” Kia nodded and helped him handcuff Franzi to a railing near the elevators. Franzi put up no fight, letting them move his limp body like a doll. After being fully chained he turned his head to the side and threw up. The others moved away and averted their eyes.

“Alright, who’s gonna call the police?”

“I got it,” Candy offered, pulling out her phone from the back pocket of her jeans. She quickly dialed 9-1-1 and held the phone up to her mouth. After a few seconds, in a disguised voice, she rattled off their location and then hung up. “They’ll be here soon, we should get.” Kent nodded, then pulled out a small bottle of pills and headed for Franzi.

“Sorry,” he told him. “But this is going to give you a bit of a head ache.” He gave Franzi the pill, which he swallowed, totally resigned to his fate at this point. He’d probably curse them all in the morning, if he could remember them. Which he wouldn’t, thanks to the pills. Kent slowly got up, babying his wounded shoulder. He joined the other three at the entrance to the garage. “You’ve got amazing timing Frank,” he informed the late-comer with a smile.

“Eh, I’ve got to be good at somethin’,” Frank joked, his eye alive with his smile. Then he spotted Kent’s shoulder and the laughter faded. “What happened to you?!”

“I’m fine,” Kent said. “It’s just a scratch.”

“Yeah, ‘just a scratch’, my ass. Let me see it,” Frank examined the wound, taking care not to touch it. “Well…you’re not gushing blood, so I don’t think you’re going to be dropping anytime soon,” Kent rolled his eyes, something only Frank seemed to be able to make him do. Frank ignored him and continued. “But we should get Mariah to check it anyways.”

“Of course,” Kent agreed. With one last check around the garage, they headed out into the night as the rain finally began to let up.