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(Also... Profiles can go here... http://www.arwen-undomiel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=583139#583139 )

The back door to the club opened and closed as a pretty brunette stepped out. She had big brown eyes and her thick brown hair fell a little past her shoulders, curling ar the ends. She held her jacket close to her body as she walks down the few steps and headed for the street.

The shadow cast by the pale light of the moon hid a tall man who, thereby aided by his dark clothes, remained out of sight. When the woman he was looking for finally stepped out of the club, he moved. He moved out of the shadows, the way a predator approaches its prey, and he was right behind her in no time. Without a word, he pushed the brunette against the wall and took a gun out of his pocket.

Between the pain of hitting the wall and the fear of having no idea what was going on, Jasmine cried out. "What are you doing?! Who are you?!"

The man wasn't going to answer that question. Instead, he held her head against the cold wall and, with his free hand, pushed the gun against her head. "It's quite simple," he said, "You scream, I pull the trigger, you die."

Jasmine squeezed her eyes shut. A chill went through her spine as she felt the cold metal pressed against her head. "Please, I only have a couple dollars in my pocket, but you can have it." She whispered, tears slipping from her eyes.

"Maybe it's best if you just shut up," the man said and pressed the gun harder against the side of her head. "It will be over shortly. You will not suffer."

Jasmine tried to think quickly. All hopes and dreams of living a better life seemed to fade away. She knew this man would kill her anyways so she slammed the spike of her 4-inch heel down over the man's foot as hard as she could, hoping he wouldn't pull the trigger.

He let go of her, for a split second, due to the pain in his foot, and that same moment, the gun slipped out of his hand and landed on the dirty stone of the street. He quickly picked it up again, paying no attention to the burning pain in his foot and aimed at her again. "Hmm, so maybe you will suffer for that."

The second he dropped his gun, she ran, but was forced to stop dead when he pointed the gun at her back. "Please don't."

He breathed heavily, but smiled wickedly when slowly coming closer to her again. "Those won't be some famous last words," he mumbled grimly, and closed one eye, the tip of his tongue slipping out as he aimed carefully.

Jasmine chewed her bottom lip and stood there silently for a moment. She tried to concentrate on what this man would be doing. Quickly, she jumped away, hoping it would be enough time.

What was this woman thinking? the man wondered when she jumped away. This wasn't according to plan at all. He tried to follow her jump with his gun, and fired.

Jasmine yelled out in pain as her side felt as it was on fire. She fell to the ground, holding her side. As she fell, her head hit the brick wall.

He had hit her, that was obvious. The man approached her again, watching her intently while keeping his gun pointed at her head. He bend over to see if she was still breathing.

Jasmine moaned in pain. The gunshot had brought some attention to the alley. "Hey!" A man yelled as he peeked around the corner.

His gun still hanging loosely in his hand, the man looked up, his eyes showing a blind fear. He couldn't possibly kill that other man as well, and there was no time to check if this girl was dead or not. He got up and started running, away from this cursed place.

Jasmine lay there in pain and her sight blurry as the man approached. "The police are on their way." He said before walking away.

The lights of the police cars and the solitary ambulance bounced off the wet asphalt, shining down the filthy alleyway and illuminating the shapes of the first responders. Several police officers in their black plastic raincoats, labeled 'police' in all bold white letters, searched around the crime scene. Rain drizzled down, pelting the street; making it hard for those that had the ominous duty of photographing and collecting the bits of evidence that were left behind.

Nick sighed, his black baseball cap sheilding his head from the onslaught of rain. He stopped for a moment to have a word with the police chief, glancing to the young woman who was seated in the back of the ambulance.
"You think it's the same guy?" he asked, looking to the ground with both hands propped on his hips.
"Looks that way," the police officer answered, "but that's what you're here for." He smiled, slapping Nick along the back.
"Right.." Nick nodded, wiping his face with the side of his hand.
"He got sloppy this time.."
Nick turned his attention back to the shorter, balding man...
"He left a survivor.." the police chief nodded to the pretty woman, "Jasmine Kosner, 26, she's took a good beating."
"Yeah.." Nick replied, "I'll go talk to her..."
"Good luck, Stokes."

Nick waved it off, walking toward the ambulance, smiling amist the rain that began to hit him in the face. He climbed up beside her, allowing himself a moment of shelter from the wetness in the air. The paramedics, busied themselves with paperwork as they noticed his arrival...

"Hey," he paused, "Jasmine, Im Nick Stokes..." he held up his crime lab badge. "You feel like talking?"

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It was not long before Jasmine was being fussed over by cops and paramedics. She was cold and wet from the rain and just wanted to go home. She sat quietly and watched everything that went on among the cops with a blank expression on her face.

People always have a feeling of being invisible, even if they knew something bad could happen. They figure that their lives are too boring for anything like that to happen to them...that it was the people with exciting lives that get all of it.

She barely noticed when the paramedics finished looking over her tattered and shivering form, nor did she notice the man who approached her until he said something.

She looked up at him with big brown eyes as she ran her fingers through blood-matted hair. "What is there to talk about? Things like this happen all the time here, don't they?"

"This is Vegas, guess they think the city has a reputation to uphold," he offered her a smile, "can you remember anything?"

He glanced at her swollen face, deep purple bruises forming along her jawline. Frowning he pulled out the small notepad he kept in his back pocket, "you're lucky.." he breathed, "if this is the guy we think it is, he should have killed you."

He sat down on the opposite side of Jasmine, "have they taken care of you?" he asked, eyeing the blood along her crown.

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Jasmine didn't smile in return, she saw no reason to. His comment about the possibility of her being dead caused her to tense noticeably.

Her eyes followed him as he pulled out his notepad from his back pocket. "I don't remember anything." She said quickly, her tone cold. She would not talk, if this man was as dangerous as this Nick guy made him out to be, then she was not going to go against his words.

Her eyes looked away from him as she hugged her knees to her chest to provide some warmth. "They took care of me well enough, I suppose. Nothing they can really do about the bumps and bruises. I twisyed my ankle, which hurts like crazy." She sighed in frustration. "That will put me out of work for a while." Jasmine clearly did not look pleased about that in the slightest.

"Alright.." Nick said, a bit disappointed, he was used to witnesses not wanting to give information right after an attack. He was sympathetic. "Well, I'm sure they'll take care of you.." he added, "they'll have to take you into the hospital just for precautions."

He stood to his feet, "here.." handed her his card, "if you remember anything...or need to talk, just call okay?"

Stepping from the back of the vehicle he nodded to her, pulling down the bib of his cap and walking away back toward the bulk of the investigators..

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Jasmine watched him leave and looked down at his card. The thought of being in a hospital made her uneasy. She turned her head slowly to avoid too much neck pain in the process.

It wasn't long before the paramedics had their backs turned towards her. By the time they turned around, there was nothing sitting in the place of the victim but a card that Nick gave her.

"What? Where did she go?" One asked, drawing the attention of the other.

As for Jasmine, she had slipped from her place in the back of the ambulence and snuck around the side. Glancing towards the other investigators, she walked away, hoping they would not notice. As much as she wanted to run, she forced herself to keep a casual pace so as not to draw any attention.

"Hey!" cried several voices as the news of their witness's disappearance came to their attention. Everyone was busy searching around the vehicles and dumpsters, as Nick managed to spy her walking in a rigid pace along the sidewalk.

Daybreak was coming, and traffic was beginning to pick up as he quietly chased after her. Hands in his pockets, his stride quickened...

"Jasmine!" he said, reaching out as he neared her, taking her wrist within his hand. "You can't run...you're our only lead..." he said as he pulled her to a halt, "and you're hurt...you have to get yourself seen to."

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Jasmine was beginning to relax, the idea that she had gotten away without being followed was setting in. That was until she felt a strong hand grab her wrist. She spun around and tried to pull her hand away until she saw that it was Nick.

"I told you that I don't remember, I'm no use to you, so please let me go." She pleaded. "I don't need to go to the hospital, I just want to go home."

She was scared, she didn't want to be in a place that she was not familiar with and the hospital was just that place.

Nick heard the voices of the paramedics as they followed up the street. He still held onto Jasmines arm as he noticed the blood on her side. His eyes flew to hers, silently indicating that he'd seen the blood and he wasn't letting her go.

The medics arrived, thanking Nick as they took hold of Jasmine.
"She's got a gunshot wound..." Nick added as they began to walk away..."I don't think she was banking on someone finding it."

The two men nodded, taking her slowly back to the ambulance. Making sure she was safely inside, Nick watched from a few feet away. He'd check on her in a few hours...he determined to himself as they shut the doors...

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Jasmine lowered her gaze when their eyes met. Her side had numbed a bit from the wound...in fact the entire left side of her body felt numb. She looked back up at him with pleading eyes, but was disappointed as the medics came for her. "It is just a graze, it's not a big deal, I swear."

She hated hospitals, why she did not know. Maybe because she knew a few doctors in her days here and she felt uncomfortable around them.

As the paramedics led her to the ambulence, she wished that she had her normal strength, she wished that she could run. Watching as the doors closed, she closed her eyes, wishing more and more that she was back in her house and that she had taken her boss up on staying an hour later so they could all walk out. The sound of the engine and the sirens brought her back to the present.

She winced in pain as one of them moved her torn shirt away from the graze and began cleaning it to stop any infection before it began. "Watch it, will you?!" She snapped as the shooting pain of the hydrogen peroxide shot through her side.

The man ignored her and continued until it was clean. He bandaged it and moved away. When they finally reached the hospital, they brought her out on the stretcher and rushed her to a room where they tended the wound with more care than she wanted.

Jasmine was more than grateful when they were finally gone.