Spies, Volume 1: Hurricane

Chapter 3 - Fever Dream

Nick stared up at the ceiling in his room while getting lost in his thoughts. It's still nuts how Raven is so good at self defense. I wonder... nah. She can't be an ISA agent, he thought as he got off of his bed. He made his way over to his laptop and turned it on before sitting down in the black office-style chair.

He logged onto his laptop and inputted his agent code into the American Spy Organization network and began reading the different articles in the archives, all tailored to the rivalry his agency shared with the ISA. One particular article caught his attention; It was an article about the ISA's attack on ASO headquarters a couple months ago and how they lost their top-secret weapons files and other important details.

Meanwhile, at the Gonzales' residence next door, Raven was digging through her backpack and pulled out a purple and black flash drive with a label that said, I.S.A. personnel use only. She plugged it into her laptop's USB port and opened up the files that she had stolen from the American Spy Organization a year ago while she was just a freshman in high school.

Raven clicked on the file that said AGENT PROFILE: Striker and began to read it:

Height: 5'10;
Weight: 120 lbs;
From: San Diego, California;
Weapon of Choice: polycarbonate escrima sticks;
Bio: The son of two deceased secret agents, Agent Striker was raised to become a fighter, just like his parents. However, the ASO saw hidden potential in him. Who knows what they have planned for their top agent.

Raven exited the file, removed the flash drive from her laptop, turned it off and sat in her seat quietly. Maybe my hunch is right. What if Nick and Striker are the same person? But then again... no. I'm probably getting ahead of myself again, she thought, walking out of the room. She looked over at the clock on the wall before heading to the restroom. She started getting ready for bed.

Back at the Santiago's residence, Nick was still reading the article about the ISA attack. "One unidentified ISA agent managed to escape with a group of rendezvoused agents along with the top secret weapons files. Little did they know, the ASO had one final trick up their sleeve." Maybe I'm getting new weapons, Nick thought, smiling to himself softly. He turned on his Apple Watch and saw an alert flashing onto the screen:

REMINDER: Training Session tomorrow at 3:45 pm, followed by meeting at 5:00 pm.

Nick took the watch off and charged it on his bedside before laying down on the tan bedsheet that covered the mattress as he looked up at the ceiling. He suddenly started thinking about Raven and kept her locked in his mind as he slowly closed his eyes and drifted into a dream:

Nick reopened his eyes and found himself in the familiar hallway of the ASO's headquarters. At one end, a single red door. At the other, a dead end. Feeling the need to press forward, he walked towards the door.

Overhead, the lights illuminating the hallway flickered, sequentially changing from their default white to a deep red.

Upon reaching it and opening the door, he felt around for the light switch on the wall and flicked it upwards.

The overhead lamp flickered to life to reveal a standing mirror in the center of the room.

As Nick approached the mirror, he became confused. The reflection wasn't him. Physically, yes. It was him.

But visually? It looked evil and sported an all-black ASO uniform with red trim. The reflection stared back with a pair of glowing red eyes, as if someone surgically inserted LED diodes into them.

The lights quickly turned off with a loud pop. And when they turned on again, Nick's own reflection was staring back at him.

"What was that?" He wondered aloud. He cautiously backed up towards the door, trying to find some sort of way out of the room. He jiggled the doorknob to no success.

But then something was wrong. He could hear screaming coming from the other side of the door. It quickly stopped as the door slid open by itself.

The hallway was gone, replaced by a dimly lit room with a thick fog covering the floor.

"Nick..." a girl's voice called out to him. It sounded scared.

Raven appeared out of the fog, clutching her side as she rushed over to him.

"Raven, wh- what happened?" Nick asked.

Blood trickled down the girl's torso. Her uniform had been badly damaged and torn beyond repair. Bruises and gashes covered her arms and face.

"I tried to stop him, but—" without warning, Raven fell forward into the mist, disappearing without a trace.

"Raven?" Nick quickly knelt down to search for her, but it was too late.

His dark reflection from earlier stood before him now, brandishing a pair of black and red batons. "You're next," it said in a low tone.

Nick reached for the weapons on his own belt and stood up to face the shadowy figure.

A squad of agents appeared at their sides.

"Orders, sir?" One of the agents asked Nick.

He uttered a simple word: "Attack."

Both squads walked toward each other, rapidly gaining speed as they brandished their weapons.

Nick quickly leapt into the air, bringing his weapons down to meet his opponent.

He then woke up screaming, shivering in his bed as he looked down at his wrist. No microchip. That's not really gonna happen to me. That can't happen to me, he thought, looking around his dark room. He then turned onto his right side towards his alarm clock, which flashed the time in a brilliant green LED light. 1:00 am.

Raven gasped and woke up, nearly drenched in sweat from her own fever dream of Striker dying, destroyed by the darkness that consumed him. That's not real. Striker can't die. Sure, we're enemies, but he can't die yet, she thought, slowly turning onto her side as she looked at the slightly open door. The light from the hallway was visible through the crack.

The girl slowly closed her eyes and went back to sleep.