(no subject)
August 2, 2007
People don't usually hire Kev to do protective surveillance. And really, that's not what he's been hired for now -- it's been emphasized that the job here is entirely as an observer. Watch the girl, make sure nobody else is watching the girl, call the boss immediately if anything looks hinky, otherwise check in at sunrise and sunset to report all's-well. Don't be seen, and do not intervene under any circumstances.
Just as well, that last. Covert observation is kind of a specialty of his, but getting involved? Bad idea. He's a half-successful halfbreed, viable but not what you'd call an exemplar of hybrid vigor; scrawny, barely four feet tall, arm spines softer than human fingernails. A baseline human could probably break him in half, and a vampire like the one who hired him could do it with one hand.
But he can watch, and he's good at not being seen, and he's also good at knowing when he should run. And right now the vestigial tendrils on the back of his neck are curling down tight in the unconscious reflex that means danger nearby.
He probably shouldn't call the boss with just a feeling, especially since it's only about an hour till sunset check-in time, but ... it's a really strong feeling. Someone else is here, someone as good at hiding as he is.
The front door opens and the girl comes out, moving easily, relaxed; if there's anything here, she's not aware of it. Which means precisely jack, as she's been blithely unaware of his own presence for months on end. He watches as she turns down toward the subway entrance two blocks away, and starts making his way after her, at a safe distance. His nerves are screaming now, and in sudden decision he reaches for his cellphone to call the boss, and that's when the two armed women slip out of a fenced-in yard and fall into step a few yards behind the girl.
Slayers. Oh, shit --
His fingers scrabble on the keypad, trying to dial without looking and not making it, and he almost misses the sight of three more Slayers coming around the corner of the subway entrance, one carrying a battle-axe roughly the size of him, bright red and vicious.
The girl stops, turns to run, finds herself facing the two rearguard Slayers, freezes for a fleeting second, and then breaks for the mouth of an alley. The Slayer with the axe shouts something and goes after her, followed by the two rearguard -- and abruptly Kev can't breathe, because the remaining two Slayers are coming for him.
When to run: now.
Making a cellphone call while running is not as easy as it looks. But he's going to have to, because if he doesn't manage to get word to the boss, he might as well not bother trying to survive this.
It might interest him to know that the girl he's supposed to be watching is currently trying to do the same thing.
People don't usually hire Kev to do protective surveillance. And really, that's not what he's been hired for now -- it's been emphasized that the job here is entirely as an observer. Watch the girl, make sure nobody else is watching the girl, call the boss immediately if anything looks hinky, otherwise check in at sunrise and sunset to report all's-well. Don't be seen, and do not intervene under any circumstances.
Just as well, that last. Covert observation is kind of a specialty of his, but getting involved? Bad idea. He's a half-successful halfbreed, viable but not what you'd call an exemplar of hybrid vigor; scrawny, barely four feet tall, arm spines softer than human fingernails. A baseline human could probably break him in half, and a vampire like the one who hired him could do it with one hand.
But he can watch, and he's good at not being seen, and he's also good at knowing when he should run. And right now the vestigial tendrils on the back of his neck are curling down tight in the unconscious reflex that means danger nearby.
He probably shouldn't call the boss with just a feeling, especially since it's only about an hour till sunset check-in time, but ... it's a really strong feeling. Someone else is here, someone as good at hiding as he is.
The front door opens and the girl comes out, moving easily, relaxed; if there's anything here, she's not aware of it. Which means precisely jack, as she's been blithely unaware of his own presence for months on end. He watches as she turns down toward the subway entrance two blocks away, and starts making his way after her, at a safe distance. His nerves are screaming now, and in sudden decision he reaches for his cellphone to call the boss, and that's when the two armed women slip out of a fenced-in yard and fall into step a few yards behind the girl.
Slayers. Oh, shit --
His fingers scrabble on the keypad, trying to dial without looking and not making it, and he almost misses the sight of three more Slayers coming around the corner of the subway entrance, one carrying a battle-axe roughly the size of him, bright red and vicious.
The girl stops, turns to run, finds herself facing the two rearguard Slayers, freezes for a fleeting second, and then breaks for the mouth of an alley. The Slayer with the axe shouts something and goes after her, followed by the two rearguard -- and abruptly Kev can't breathe, because the remaining two Slayers are coming for him.
When to run: now.
Making a cellphone call while running is not as easy as it looks. But he's going to have to, because if he doesn't manage to get word to the boss, he might as well not bother trying to survive this.
It might interest him to know that the girl he's supposed to be watching is currently trying to do the same thing.