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The worse thing about nightmares is not the images that go through your mind that seem unreal, no, mine are just flashbacks. I rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and washed my face. It was then that I finally saw myself in the mirror: my eyes had black circles under them and my hair was matted to my head. Well s**t, this was going to take forever to fix.

                “Hey Rose, you awake?” I asked. I heard a few shuffling sounds and moan, and then I saw her.

                “Yeah, I’m up what’s up?” asked my best friend. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and let out a huge yawn. She finally looked at me.             

                “Ami, are you okay? You look terrible.”

                “I’m fine, really. Just you know the nightmares are coming back.”

                “Is there anything you want me to do? Should I sleep in here with you? Do you think that would help?”

                “Rose, chill, it is okay. They’ll stop eventually. Plus it wouldn’t help either of us if neither of us sleeps.”

                “I just hate seeing you like this.”

                “I know, but this isn’t why I called you in here. Have you found anything new about the Swanton?” I asked. Rose had been researching Swanton for the past three months. He’d been convicted of hate crimes, and had escaped prison.

            “No, I’ve been trying to locate him, but I haven’t found sqwat. I’ll keep trying.”

            “That’s my girl.”

            “Rose?”

            “Yes Ami?”

            “You’re the best, you know that?”

            She laughed, “Let’s go get breakfast. Anything sound particularly good?”

            “Chocolate chip pancakes!”

            “With peanut butter?”

            “I wouldn’t have it any other way!”

            This is what I loved most about my best friend. In the mist of chaos and everything bad that has happened she can still make me smile. We were such dorks when it came right down to it.

            Rose and I had met in grade school. A boy had been pulling on her ponytail and I wasn’t going to have that. I pushed him out of the way and we went to play in the swing set the rest of the day. We have been inseparable ever since. When my parents died five died five years ago, I moved in with her for the rest of my senior year. After that we moved out of her parent’s house and we’ve been roomies ever since. Sometimes, I feel as if I have led her down a path she wasn’t suppose to cross, but she assures me she wouldn’t have done anything different.

            “Earth to Ami, hello?”

            “Sorry Rose, I was spacing out. What were you saying?”

            “How many pancakes do you want?”

            “Four please,” the smile stretching across my face. I loved her cooking.    

            “So what are we doing today? I kinda want to go shopping. I need to get this dress I saw in at the mall. You know the one with the lace trim?”

            “Hahahaha Rose you really don’t need the dress,” I said.

            “That’s because you haven’t seen it. I’m telling you this dress is gorgeous. You’d fall in love with it if you saw it.”

            “Fine we can go the mall, but you can only buy one thing. Okay?”

            “Deal.”

            “And I get to hold your credit cards.”

            “I...ugh, fine.”

            “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

            We walked to her car, and headed down town. The road way was nearly empty and that was the best. It meant no traffic. I really hated traffic. It honestly was the worst thing ever.

            The car beside us sped up as we did.

            “Hey Rose, you up for a little race?” I asked, not trying to hide the excitement in my voice.

            “Aren’t I always?” she replied equally enthusiastic.

            “Ready.”         

            “Set.”

            “GO!!!!” I pressed on the accelerator and the car sped foreword. Nothing like race to make the adrenaline start pumping. 

            “Okay Ami, let’s stop messing around. Let’s get to the mall,” she said.

            “Fine,” I replied reluctantly.

            “It’s the next turn.”

            “’Kay.” I parked the car and we made our entrance to the mall. The Philadelphia City mall was by far the biggest mall I’d ever been in. It was no wonder Rose had trouble controlling her spending, I honestly couldn’t blame her.

            “This way, I know exactly where it is.”

            “I know you do. Hey Rose? Do feel like something is about to happen?”

            “No, Ami, should we leave?”

            “I think we should be okay, but my senses are sparked. I have that feeling. Stay close okay?”      

            “Always,” she agreed easily.

            We walked in silence the rest of the way to the store. I couldn’t shake away the bad feeling. Maybe my imagination was running wild again. Damn nightmares were getting to me.

            “See? Isn’t it cute? I even have the perfect shoes to match. Oh I can wear to that party we got invited to last week.”

            “Yeah sure. Let’s get outta here soon okay?” I didn’t like feeling like Rose was in danger. I wouldn’t risk her life with mine. It wouldn’t be worth it.

            “Let me just pay.”

            “Okay, just hurry.”

            It was then that I saw him. There wasn’t anything remarkable about him that made me notice him. No, it was just my experience that made me realize there was something wrong about him. He went behind the counter and started to ring up people. I caught a glimpse of his name tag, it read Mickey. Weird I would picture him a Michael not Mickey.

            My legs processed it before I did. I was running down the wooden floors full speed.

            “Rose get outta there!!” I yelled, but I couldn’t see her. “Rose?! Where are you?”

            She was already tied up. Damn it! I forgot she always tried on her clothes. Why had I left alone?

            “Ami, help!!!!!”

            I ran out the door she had been carried out of. I looked down the stairs to see she was already on the third floor there wasn’t any way I could run down two flights of stairs fast enough. I put one leg over the railing and then the other. I dropped. I landed in loud bang and then continued running towards Rose. I wouldn’t give up, I never would.

            I couldn’t find them anywhere. Not in the crowds and not outside. After an hour of vigorous searching I know they had to be gone. I didn’t want to admit that I had failed Rose in the darkest of hours, but I knew I had. There was nothing to do now except go back home.

            Somehow, from the drive home to actually getting home, I unconsciously decided to go into Rose’s room. I don’t know why I thought being in her room would help, I just did. I looked through her stuff wondering if I could get a clue as to where her tracking stuff was. I’d always avoided it, but right now I really wish I didn’t. I turned on her television set, hoping for a distraction. The DVD player was on, or so I thought, it was like being on a camcorder.

            “Hello?”

            “Rose? Wait you’re not Rose.”

            “No, I’m not. Rose was taken today. Who are you?”

            “I’m a member of the F.B.I., what do you mean taken?”
            “I mean like taken taken, like she’s not with me anymore and I can’t find her.”

            “Where was she last seen?”

            “Philadelphia City Mall.”

            “Okay let me see. Ah yes, her track device is still enact. I can help you locate her.”

            “Tracking device?”

            “Yes, we give all the people working for us one.”

            “Okay, I’ve got a proposition for you.”

            “I need to find Rose and bring her home safely, but I know for a fact that she hasn’t told you everything about Swanton. You help find her, I’ll give you the information.”

            “That’s sneaky, cunning, and I could get in huge trouble for it. I’m in.”

            “Alright, come by around seven on Main Street and Fourth Street. I’ll be the one in Red.”

            “I’ll be in white shirt in jeans. Make sure you don’t attract attention to yourself or this will never work.”

            “Deal. Do you need me to bring anything?”

            “No, I’ll bring everything.”

_____

            “Did you bring the stuff?” I asked, wondering what kinds of the things the F.B.I. thought was necessary for missions.

            “Yes. Here,” he said as he handed me a watch.

            “A watch?”

            “Not just a watch. Though it does tell time, it’s a locator. In our case, it’s Rose we’re looking for as well as Swanton. It will also help us find each other in the off chance we lose each other.”

            “Okay, sounds good to me. How does it work?”

            “It’s mind activated.”

            “Are you ready?”

            “Yes. Let’s go,” he said.

            “Where are we going exactly?”

            “Just get in the car. I have a hunch.”

            We sat silently in the car for awhile. The silence got a little awkward, but I didn’t mind quiet. I could tell he couldn’t.

            “Can I ask you a question?” he asked suddenly.

            “Sure I guess.”

            “How did you and Rose get involved in the Swanton case?”

            “I don’t think that’s the question you should be asking. I think the right one is why are you a spy.”

            He smiled, “Okay, why are you a spy?”

            “It started awhile ago. My mom and dad were in the C.I.A. and they were on a mission together they were like the best team ever, but one day they just disappeared. I vowed I would find out what happened someday.”

            “I’m so sorry, I coul...”

            “Don’t be. I like being a spy. It’s thrilling sometimes, except when you lose the ones you love.”   

            “We’ll find her, I promise.”

            “Can I ask you a question?” I asked him.

            “Sure.”

            “Why are you helping us?”

            “Because Rose is a nice girl, and I know what it’s like to lose people like this. It sucks.”

            “Thank you.”

            “You’re welcome. Hey, get some sleep. We’re not going to get there until about ten, and I need you in full gear.”

            “Okay,” I agreed easily. He grabbed a blanket from the back seat of the car and handed it to me. I fell asleep almost instantly in a stranger’s car on the way to save my best friend. My life was strange. I should ask him what his name is.

            I got up my own. Though I know he sensed me moving.

            “Feeling better?” he asked.

            “Loads. Are we almost there?”

            “Five more minutes or so. Are you ready?”

            “Yeah, but what are we doing in D.C.?”

            “Swanton is after the president.”

            “He’s using Rose as bait,” I chimed in.

            “Exactly.”

            He parked the car on the side of the street.

            “Where are we going exactly?” I asked.

            “The dance studio across the street.”

            “What’s at the dance studio?” I asked.

            “Swanton hopefully.” I followed him across the street and into an abandoned hallway. The dance studio looked like it hadn’t held classes in years. Dust covered the counter in a layer of gray. The paint on the wall pealing in some places and the windows were covered in wet streaks.

            “This place is a dump,” I said.

            “I know. Let’s split up, we’ll cover more ground that way.”

            “’Kay; I’ll take the left wing, you take the right.”

            I walked down the hallway of the dance studio. The wooden floors creaked slightly even as I walked feather light. I heard nothing. The dance studio was completely silent with the exception of rat running past me.

            “Black, come in black,” I called into my watch.

            “Go for black,” he replied.

            “Anything?” I asked.

            “Nothing, wait, what’s this?”He opened what sounded to be a door. “It’s an entrance to a tunnel or something.”

            “I’m coming in with you.”

            “Copy.”

            I ran to the other side full speed. Hopefully Rose was on the other side of the wall. I was going to find her, even if it was the last thing I did. All the lights turned on then.

            “S**t, black come in black!!” I yelled.

            A guy in his late twenties was running towards. I saw the look in his eyes. He was blood thirsty. I knew that if I gave him the chance he would kill me. Well, I wasn’t going down without a fight.

            “Ha-ha! I get to fight a girl? This should be easy,” the guy said.

            “Hasn’t anyone ever told you not to count your eggs before they hatch?”

            “A girl with attitude, that’s original,” he said with a menacing look.

            We circled around each other. He was a big guy, but I was trained with big guys. He threw a punch at me, and I avoided it easily. He was fast. I needed to get him on the floor and quick.

            “Are you afraid little girl?” he asked.

            “I am not a little girl!” I grabbed one of the only chairs and threw it at him. It missed, but it cracked the glass in the ballet room. Glass came down by our side. Perfect! What was it my instructor had said? Oh yeah, anything can be used as a weapon. I used the opportunity to hurl the pieces of glass at his face.

            “You b***h,” he yelled at me.

            “Come get me,” I yelled back.

            What happened next, I’m not really sure? I knew I had him close on my tracks, but after that I have no clue. The world started getting blurry and my world went black.