Chapter 9
Dreams vs. Nightmares
I headed back up to my bedroom. I listened to Scandalous by Mystique. I paced. I washed my face. I laid down. I paced back and forth again.
He knows.
He knows! How could I have let my cover fall…? Does Butler, or Dom (?), know? If so…I would probably be on the road by daybreak. THEN where would I go?? Miss Magnoliana would never take me back. And another thing. When he had touched me, I felt this…thing. I don't know.
Do I have…FEELINGS…for…FOWL??!
This could NOT be happening. I wouldn't let it. No. No, no, NO! I'm the assassin here, the undercover agent from C19 7. I had to do something about this.
But could I??
What had I felt back there? Did I feel something for him? I couldn't. Never did. Never would. I HAD to do something. DING! It hit me. Maybe…maybe…if Artemis and Butler DID know what I was up to…maybe if I ACTED like I was a maid, and a friend, other people who heard about my real identity might be fooled into thinking it was a rumor or something. Yes! That was what I'd do, yes indeed. The fools.
Oh, sometimes I LOVE how evil I am!!
Now that my mind was all sorted out (well, mostly sorted out, I guess), I decided in order to carry out my plan fully, I should probably get some rest. I fluffed up the starched white pillow on the bed (I had thrown all the other tasseled and hemmed ones off) and lay down to sleep. Soon I drifted into a dreamland. The dreams were quite odd, as a matter of fact. It was sort of like a flashback.
Flashback
A young girl of about the age of 11 rode about on a large black mare. The forests of the mountains surrounded the pair, engulfing them in the fresh, plush leafiness. The girl rounded the top of a hill and came across a meadow. She urged the mare into a canter, parting the white wildflowers as the pair sailed by. Up ahead stood a large white-washed stable. Behind it towered the farmhouse.
The pair trotted into the pasture and the young girl dismounted. She took a piece of a leafy plant out of her pocket and took off the reins and bit on the horse. The majestic mare bit the leaf, pulling it gently but firmly out of the girl's hand. She giggled and petted the horse's white star on its forehead.
She hooked the horse to the metal fence rail and walked toward the house. Just then, a woman came running out of it. She was screaming and crying out the young girl's name.
"Head for the woods! Go!! GO!! BEFORE THEY FIND YOU! SAVE YOURS—" A gunshot rang out.
The young girl ran for her mare and hopped on. She grabbed the lead line and yanked it off of the iron fence rail. "Go, HURRY!!" she yelled. The horse took off at top speed. A man ran out and knelt by his wife's limp form. He sobbed and his shoulders shook violently. A person in a black mask walked up behind him and hit him in the head with the butt of their rifle. The woman's husband fell over, landing on top of his wife's body. The killer gestured to several other masked murderers and slinked off into the opposite end of the forest.
The young girl was watching the whole scene, horrified, at the fringe of the woods. She had dismounted from her horse and hidden behind a large bush. Something touched her back. She whirled around, barely holding back a scream. There, in front of her, stood another masked person. Only, this person had on a white and red mask, and was smaller and less frightening. The person leaned down and told the young girl, "Don't worry. I'm not here to harm you. Not at all. Just don't struggle and everything will be fine. I promise." The person took out a tranquilizer gun.
"No!! NO MORE GUNS!!" the young girl shouted. The masked person covered her mouth and injected the tranquilizer into the girl's body. The girl gasped.
Then everything went black.