Mirror Image (Under MAJOR editing)

Chapter 28

Nan tossed and turned in her bed. The nightmares were inhuman yet horrifically realistic. It had involved Marley; they always involved Marley. 

She was crumpled on the floor, rapidly bleeding out. Her eyes were glued to Nan's as she tried to call for help, the only sound emmiting from her throat was a gargle. Nan couldn't move. She was caught in Picasso's grip with a knife pressed against the small of her back.

"Don't make a move." Picasso whispered in Nan's ear. She could see the life draining out of her best friend and she felt useless. She couldn't help her anyhow. With the stab wounds she had as well as the shallowly slit throat, it would only be a matter of minutes now. 

"Marley.." Nan whimpered. She reached out towards Marley as she laid on the ground limply, her green eyes becoming dull and staring off. "Please come back."

Picasso leaned towards Nan's ear. "Don't worry. You'll meet her soon." The knife plunged into Nan's side, emitting white hot pain as...

Nan woke up suddenly, sitting upright in bed, breaking out in a cold sweat. "I gotta help her." Nan quickly swung her feet over the side of her bed and quickly got dressed. She fumbled around in her pants pocket for the universal key to all the doors as she ran into the hallway. She used to have the access to the key all the time but once Marley and Nan got caught, they took her keys away. Luckily she had copied and made a new one for reasons exactly like this. She quietly made her way down her hallway and to the elevator. "Please don't get caught. Please don't get caught," Nan whispered to herself as the doors slid open revealing an empty elevator. She ran in, slid her key card into the slot and jammed her finger onto the -2 button. The elevator ride took no time as the doors slid open again. Nan bolted down the dimly lit hallway towards Marley's 10 ft by 15 ft room. Nan quickly slid the key card into the door and waited for the lock to blink green indicating unlocked. "Bloody Hell. Unlock damn it!" Nan cursed as the door blinked green. She swung the door open and was met with emptiness. "Shite!" She quietly closed the door behind her and tried to think of where she would be at one o'clock in the morning. 

Nan got an idea and made her way towards Marley's office. "She has to be there. She needs the map." Nan started losing her breath but she persisted on. Within minutes, she was at Marley's office. She quietly creaked the door open and looked into the dark room. The only thing she could see was the desktop screensaver of INTEL 1 glowing in the darkness. Nan surveyed the room before advancing towards her computer. She clicked the enter key and the password bar opened up. Nan panicked. What the hell could the password be? Marley liked math and puzzles. Nan thought back to something Marley talked about during one of their dinners together.

"Binay code is just so interesting. How could a computer possibly translate everything we search, type, click on, ectetera, all from infinite combinations of zero and one? It's amazing!"

Nan smirked. That was it! She thought for a second and then pulled out a pen. She started writing down on one of Marley's notepads multiple combinations. After five minutes, she knew the password. "Very clever Marley. Very clever." Nan inputed the combination: 01000001011011100110111001100001. "Anna in binary. That smart arse." The computer came to life, opening up to the map she was looking for. Nan smirked and went to print it when the lights turned on. 

Shite. We are busted. 

Nan turned around and saw Picasso standing there, arms crossed, looking at her. "Anna love, what on earth are you doing here?" 

Nan froze. What could she do now? Marley was gone somewhere, perhaps dead, and now she didn't have the map. Picasso stalked closer to her as Nan leaned against the desk. 

Think quickly Nan. What was on the desk? Anything heavy?

Nan was taking deep breaths, raking her hand over the desk when she felt something heavy. A stapler! Picasso was only feet from her now. 

"I believe Moriarty wants to see you." Picasso chuckled as he took another step towards her.

Nan gulped and then grabbed the stapler, smashing it against Picasso's face, sending him to the ground. Nan jumped over him as she shot through the door. Nan skidded to a halt, turning left and then racing down that hallway. She needed to find Marley fast and she only knew of one other place she could be. 

She heard Picasso barge into the hallway, yelling her name. Nan pumped her arms faster and faster, turning another corner. It was now or never. Nan took a deep breath and screamed as loud as she possibly could, "Marley!"