I stepped out of my house into the greenish light of the Montana countryside. I felt a chill run down my spine, even though it was May and about 80 degrees out. I felt as if eyes were peering out from some hidden place, watching me. I whirled around. Nothing.
“You’re too paranoid. There’s no one here,” I murmured to myself. I got into my electric blue Mustang and tried to start the engine, but nothing happened. I tried again and again to start the motor, all in vain. I looked at the gas gauge, even though I knew that I had just filled the tank the day before. The needle was on the F. I got out of the car and opened the hood, and everything looked normal, so I leaned against the car and pulled out my cell phone.
“Maybe Haley will come help me. She knows more about cars than I do,” I thought. I dialed the number, and she quickly answered. I quickly filled her in on my situation, because I was going to be late for work if I didn’t get this problem solved pretty quickly.
“Yeah, I’ll be right out. Just don’t have a panic attack or anything,” she said with a laugh.”
“Fine, whatever,” I muttered in an irritated voice, but she’d already hung up. I looked around at the flower covered hills out in the distance. I’d just moved here three weeks prior, so I figured I should slow down and look at the scenery for a few minutes. I quickly grew bored of that, though, so I went back in the house to find something to occupy my short attention span. The farmhouse I’d bought was old and creaky, and a bit scary at night. I subconsciously wandered upstairs, to the vacant, dark, dusty room that I was yet to find use for. Even though there were two large windows in the spacious room, it was dark and…well, just plain creepy. I looked out of one of the windows, and below I saw, standing in the green light in front of the door, what looked like a person.
“Haley! Hi!” I shouted. She didn’t seem to hear me. I dashed down the stairs and out of the front door that was open. I thought nothing of it. I looked around. There was no one in sight. “Haleeeeey? Helloooo?” I called. “Nice prank, Haley. Come on, I’m going to be late for work! Where are you?” I looked past car, but I didn’t see Haley’s car. I felt my heart rate rise as I thought about the feeling that I had earlier that there was someone watching me. I looked about quickly, and I still saw nothing. I once again dismissed all of this as just paranoia. I walked back to the house, and then I noticed that the front door was closed. I knew it was open when I came outside…I just knew it. I went back into the house cautiously. I took the metal baseball bat beside my door and held it tightly, ready to swing. My eyes darted from one side of the room to the other as I surveyed the house for an intruder.
“I know you’re here! Come out! I’ll warn you, I’m not afraid to get violent!” I yelled. I tried not to let the fear show in my voice. I didn’t see or hear anything whatsoever. “Come on, Haley. Where are you?!” I took my phone out of my pocket, dialed her number, and put the phone up to my ear. All I heard was a shrill beep, no ringing. “What the…”I started, but I heard a car outside, so I slowly walked to the window and glanced out.
“Haley! You’re finally here!” I cried joyfully.
“Well you live out in the middle of nowhere, so it takes a while to get here,” she said, with her southern accent drawing the sentence out. She pulled her long fiery red hair over her shoulder and walked over to my car. “Let’s see what we got here,” she murmured. She opened the hood and chuckled. “Well, Skye, there ain’t a thing wrong with your car.” She got in and turned the key, and I heard the smooth purr of the motor. “See?” she said.
I walked over to the car, perplexed. “But I-it-I couldn’t-I-, “I didn’t finish my sentence; it was futile. Haley got out of the car and shut the door, and then it went dead. “I told you! See! It’s not...” I didn’t finish that sentence either, because Haley’s white hybrid car, which had been running, died, too. I wordlessly pointed at the car. My paranoia was becoming less like paranoia and more like real fear. Haley briskly walked over there and opened the hood. She had a bemused expression on her face.
“The motor and everything looks fine…” She trailed off and got into her car and turned the key. It wouldn’t start. I tried mine. It wouldn’t start, either. I took out my phone and called the number of the mechanic shop that was in my contacts. The same shrill beep came on again, and I looked at the screen, but it had full service.
“Haley, call the shop. My phone isn’t working.” I looked at my watch and saw that it was 9:30 AM. Yup, I was definitely late for work, by about an hour. She dialed and I heard the shrillness of the sound from where I was standing. “Not working?” I asked. She shook her head wordlessly. I heard something from inside the house, something that sounded like laughter. I looked at Haley, and she had an expression on her face that told me that she heard it also. I ran inside and once again picked up the bat. I heard the laughter again, this time from upstairs. I ran with a sudden burst of adrenaline and confidence. I stood in the hallway, and heard the laugh once more, and dashed to where it sounded like the source of the crazed laughter: the dusty, vacant room I was standing in earlier. Once in the room, my confidence quickly faded. I scanned the room, and there was nothing there. I heard the laughing again, even more crazed than before. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere this time. I looked out the window, and Haley was gone. It had suddenly gotten VERY dark outside. “How long have I been in here?!” I thought to myself. I looked at my watch again, and it was 12 AM. Midnight. I gasped, wondering how it was possible to lose track of time in that situation for about twelve and a half hours. A million questions filled my mind. Where could Haley have gone? Why was I in that room for so long? Where was that laughter coming from? Was that person I saw earlier real? Are they somehow connected with this? I walked down the stairs in a haze. I saw Haley sitting on the couch, her eyes wild with fear.
“Kayte! Where have you been?! I looked for you everywhere! We’re stranded here, and you thought it was funny to just disappear?!” she exclaimed.
“I was upstairs in that room with all the windows. I don’t know why I was there so long…it only felt like I was there for like three minutes…”
“I looked in that room. You weren’t there, “she said in a quiet voice.
I looked outside. Why was this happening? What was happening? I started walking toward the stairs, gesturing for Haley to follow me. We walked in synchronization to the room that I had been in before, and I started tapping the walls like I’d seen in movies.
“What are you doing?” Haley inquired.
“Looking for a secret passageway or something,” I replied quietly. I continued tapping on the walls, until I found a spot that sounded different from the other places. I pushed on the wall, and a door creaked open. “Hand me that flashlight over there,” I said. She placed the light in my hand, and I started carefully walking down the dark, damp, quiet hallway that was behind the wall. Haley noiselessly followed me. I looked at the walls, and I realized there was writing on them. They said things like, “Are you afraid of the dark?” “I would stop if I were you…” and as we kept walking forward, I saw one that said, “Too late to turn back now,” and then a metal door came down behind us. Haley whirled around and tried in vain to pull the door open. “It’s no use, Haley. Come on,” I said with determination. We walked forward, and then after turning a corner, I saw a man with piercing black eyes in a cloak standing there.
“Take her,” he said in an amused voice. I quickly turned to run, but I was instantly stopped by two tall, muscular guards. They placed handcuffs on my wrists and lead me to what looked like an interrogation room. I sat in the chair that they pointed to and I looked around. I’d been here many times before. Memories flooded into my mind.
The guards left and another man walked into the room. A man I recognized. A man I’d seen many times. I’d seen him as many times as I’d been in this room. He sat in the chair across the table from me, looked at me, and smiled courteously. “Kayte. Otherwise known as Ana Trunsk, Russian spy. It looks like our plan to lure you here worked.” He placed a badge on the edge of the table. “I’m sure you remember me.”
“Of course I remember you,” I said with a defiant smirk. “You are CIA Agent Chris Davis. My answer is still the same. I know nothing. I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“I know that,” he replied. “However, I think your answer will change when I show you this.” He laid a stack of files on the table. “These were found in your possession. These were stolen from the Pentagon three weeks ago. You lived in Crystal City up until about three weeks ago. That’s near the Pentagon. I’m sure you know that, though. These files have your fingerprints all over them. So if you want things to go alright for you, you’d better start talking. I’m sure your friend in the other room will be happy to testify against you for your absence at the times that all of this happens after she hears about what you’ve been doing. Breaking into the Pentagon, attempting to assassinate the President, and almost succeeding may I add, and even stealing classified files and information from the Oval Office, the Pentagon, and the CIA headquarters. She’ll be especially happy to help us after we tell her that if she withholds information about you, that that’s treason.”
I glared at him, keeping my smirk. I knew I’d trained Haley well. She’d keep her ground. I was with her the day that all these files were stolen, the day the President almost died from a gunshot wound to the chest, and the day that the security at the CIA headquarters had been breached. “Go ahead, Davis,” I said confidently. “Question her.” I slipped my hand into my pocket. My phone was still there. I knew that as soon as I pressed the right button, the bomb I had placed there would go off, and there would be an opening for Haley and me to escape. I smiled sweetly at Davis. He eyed me suspiciously, but left the room without a word. He returned after about ten minutes, his face filled with frustration.
“Your friend provided an alibi for you. How much did you pay her? We know you stole those files. We know that all of this is you. How much?” He asked.
“I have to go now, Davis,” I said with another smile. I rubbed by wrist, now free since I picked the lock. “See you around.” I pressed the button on my phone, and I heard an explosion, which I knew was in the other interrogation room. The wall behind me fell away, exposing the stairs leading to the surface. I ran like I had never run before. I met up with Haley outside. I looked back as I was running and I saw Davis, standing there, while his guards were running after us. I knew they wouldn’t catch us, because we were already too close to the underground base. We ran into the woods, and I quickly opened the door that was on the ground that only top agents had the combination to. Standing just inside the entrance waiting for me was Head Agent Link.
“Hello, Ana,” he said in Russian. He smiled.
I smiled back and handed him the files I’d managed to grab before fleeing the underground interrogation room. “I also have some information that may be helpful for you,” I replied, also in Russian. I told him everything I’d learned in the last three weeks about all of the hidden, unknown bases for the CIA and other government agencies, all hiding in plain sight in Montana. Haley, who didn’t speak Russian, stood there dutifully and quietly.
“Good work, Ana. This is your assistant you’ve told me about?” he said, this time in English, where Haley could understand.
“Yes.”
“Good, good. I have a new assignment for you, and it is very similar to this one, so I’m sure you will do wonderful as you always do. Follow me.”
I followed him to the room where all the files were hidden, another room I’d been in many times. He handed me a file that contained the information that I needed to do the job.
“This time, you assassinate the President and succeed. This is your last chance.”
I smiled. I knew I would succeed. My plan was already in place.