Never Stop Trying

Chapter 1

'Blood. It's everywhere. Running down the walls of my old house, puddles of it on the floor. I'm being chased in a hallway but I don't know who's chasing me. My 10-year old self can't keep going. I'm about to round a corner when I accidentally slip on blood. My head connects with the floor and I hear a sickening crack. Black dots start spotting my vision as my chaser finally catches up to me. It's him. His eyes black as coal, his teeth razor sharp, and my parents' blood smeared all over him.

"You think you could get away that easily," he smirks. "You can't escape," he says, pulling out a bloody knife. "NOW YOU CAN JOIN YOUR PARENTS!" he yells, thrusting the knife down...'

I let out a blood curdling scream as I'm jolted awake. I search the room frantically, looking for any signs of him. Nothing. It must have been a nightmare. Ever since that night, I've been having these horrible nightmares every week.

"Emily! Are you ok?!" Katie asks.

"Huh, w-what's going on?" asks Abbie who's still half-asleep.

"Yea I'm ok. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you guys up. I had another nightmare."

"Again? What are they even about anyway?" Katie asks.

"I, uh, don't know. I can never remember." Actually, I remember everything clearly. I feel bad for lying to them but I've never told them what happened to me and I don't plan on ever doing so. It's too personal and I don't want them feeling sorry for me every time my parents are mentioned. It's been six years. I've already put them out of my mind.

"What time is it anyway?" Katie asks.

"Uh... three am," I say taking a glance at our digital clock.

"THREE AM!" Abbie shouts. "We have to get up in three hours for school! I'll never be able to fall back asleep!"

"Oh please, I bet you'll fall asleep in a couple minutes," Katie teases.

"Whatever. Goodnight," Abbie mumbles. She tries to sound mad but I can tell that she's smiling.

"Goodnight," I say. A couple minutes later I hear snoring coming from Abbie's bunk. "Never be able to go back to sleep, huh?"

"Told you," Katie snickers.

"Yea, yea. See you in the morning."

An hour later...

Ugh, I can't sleep! My mind's racing. All I can think about is what happened after that night.

6 Years Ago

"We're here," said Christy. I looked out the window to see what the heck she was talking about.

"Woah," I whispered. That place was huge. It was at least three stories tall and it was covered in glass. When I got out, I saw that there were cameras EVERYWHERE.

"This is the HQ for the FDC," she said as we walked in. It was really busy. Men and woman were rushing around everywhere in business suits and the constant ringing of telephones was driving me nuts.

"FDC?"

"The Federal Department of Confidentiality. We protect the United States' intelligence and make sure it's secrets stay secret." We took an elevator up to the third floor where it was less crowded. "Here, let's talk in my office," she said as she opened a door to a small room. It looked about the size of a cubicle. In the middle was a brown, wooden desk stacked with papers. She had a couple of framed certificates hanging on the wall and an ugly, fake, green plant in the corner.

"It's small."

"I prefer to think of it as cozy," she said as she smiled at me, a twinkle in her eyes. "Come sit," she said when she saw me standing awkwardly.