Agent Benjamin Ripley

Chapter 10

"So... You're telling me that I'm a... secret agent for the Central Intelligence agency named Ben Ripley, my nickname is 'smokescreen', I'm a math prodigy, I've taken out an evil organization called... BEETLE, and I'm dating that girl over there, who's named Erica and is also a spy?!" I asked the guy, who said his name was Mike, incredulous, pointing at Erica in the corner. She looked up, saw my hand, looked at my face and then stared back at the window, tears flowing down her face.

"SPYDER. Yeah. It sounds kinda weird when you say it all like that." He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"Is this some kind of prank show? 'Cause I don't remember anything, and that seems fake. There's no way I'm a... spy." I looked down at my arm, seeing a scar that I hadn't seen before. I fell back into the bed, a blinding pain overcoming my senses. 

All of a sudden, I saw a man in a clowns mask. He seemed to be taunting me with a knife. It felt like an out of body experience. 

"I'll ask you one more time." The man had his knife positioned near my heart. "Where are Erica Hale and Project Raincoat." Dream me screamed out as he pushed the knife into my heart, further and further. The flashback faded to white, and I woke up in the hospital bed. 

"Ben? BEN!" Mike was shaking my shoulders. I jolted out of my bed, feeling dizzy for a second. 

"You just started screaming after you passed out, dude." The other woman, who I had learned from Mike's stories was named Zoe, rushed into the room.

"Is everything okay? I was checking with the doctors. Ben, they want to run some tests before you can be discharged." I nodded, and Zoe and Mike walked out of the room. 

"Are you okay?" I asked Erica tentatively.

"If it makes you feel better, I'm sorry." I said, hoping to placate her. She turned to me in shock, her blue eyes wild.

"Why are you sorry?" She replied quietly. 

"I don't remember you, and it's making you sad. I don't know why, but that makes me upset, and I kinda want to stop it." I stated simply. She chuckled silently. I cocked my head, as if asking what was so funny.

"I just realized that we've sort of... switched places." She told me with a small smile. She wasn't crying anymore, so that was a start. 

"What do you mean?"

"You used to have a crush on me. It started when you were twelve. I thought that emotions distracted people from doing the right thing, and I didn't like your little crush on me, as I thought it distracted you. Eventually, you showed me that having friends can be a good thing, and little by little. I fell in love with you. We've switched places because now I'm the one in love with you, who will do anything in her power to get you back."

What she described sounded like a crazy romantic love story, like the ones you see in the movies, not like something that would happen to me, but I could sense the truth behind her words. A flashback hit me again, and I passed out.

A ninja in a catsuit dropped from the ceiling, knocking out the three bad guys. She then landed on my chest. 

"Don't kill me!" I said. "it's only my first day!"

"ugh... Newbies..." was all she muttered.