I press myself hard against the brick wall of the alleyway, hoping to goodness that my black hair, black clothes and dark skin make me blend into the shadows.My heart beats a frantic tattoo on the inside of my rib cage, so loudly that I am sure it can be heard for miles. Every muscle in my body is tensed, ready to run like the wind if need be. My breath is coming fast, whistling through my teeth. My fingers seek the badge that I wear pinned to the inside of my shirt.The badge is adorned with the white letters CSA on a blue background surrounded by a golden chain. It is the symbol of CrimeScene Agents, the biggest undercover agents against crime establishment in the world. I am a secret agent, and I’m running for my life.

 I can hear the tramping feet of twenty or so men and women, heading my way. “Mariah Burke, we know you are out here.”A voice calls out of the darkness. I press closer against the wall and feel the rough stone leaving marks in my arms.

“Miss Burke, if we have to search the entire city and over turn every garbage can and loose stone, we will. We will find you, and we will make sure that nobody ever finds you or the information you carry again.”

I shiver. This is no empty threat. The voice belongs to Dirt Dog Thomas, the well-known leader of the most deadly gang of criminals in the city. My co-agent and I stumbled upon his hideout in the basement of a deli shop while followingthe tracks of a shoplifter who turned out to be part of the gang. We observed for about sixty seconds—long enough to see that Dirt Dog is a brutal,bloodthirsty leader who does not care how many of his rogues die as long as he gets what he wants—before we were discovered and had to run for our lives. We split up to make it harder for them to find us, and I lost track of my co-agent.

“Miss Burke, you are running out of time. Show yourself now, and you will find that we are much more accommodating than we will be later. You will help us very much, Miss Burke. We have need of you.”

“Mariah,don’t listen to them!” Another voice screams out of the darkness, and I give an involuntary start. The voice belongs to Adela Carron, the co-agent I’d been working with. I’d hoped and prayed she had gotten away.

A man swears at her. “Shut up!”

“Run,Mariah!” She sounds as if she’s struggling, then she squeals in pain. A hotrage courses through me. Save the information. Not yourself, not your friends. Save the information. TheCSA law runs through my head, the unchangeable, set-in-stone law that CSA agents live and die by. I ignore it.

Adelais my best friend. I’ve known her since childhood, when we used to pretend at being agents. We had the same dream and the same burning desire to accomplish it, to become real agents. Now we are, and we have to live by it.

And yet, Adela is everything to me, more than my dead mother, more than my loser of a dad. I can’t just let her go, leave her in the hands of Dirt Dog, who will kill her or worse.

“Mariah,remember the law! Go! Leave me, just leave me h—OW!” She yelps.

Adela, Adela, don’t you know that I can’t go without you? Don’t you know me well enough by now? We’ll live together or die together, but I can’t stay and let you go. I can’t, Adela, I can’t!

I shift into Agent mode, my mind racing as I look around, looking in the moonlight for something to help. There’s nothing in this alley but me and an empty trashcan that’s lid fell off. Looking at it, an idea springs to my mind.I grab the lid and literally climb up the wall. My Gecko-Tech® gloves and boots make this possible. The tiny hairs on the bottom surface adhere to any other surface—brick and stone, glass, linoleum, you name it. They are very handy.

I reach the top of the wall as the moon goes behind a cloud, climb out onto the roof. I crouch; hold the lid in Frisbee position, and throw it as far as I can. It clatters and bangs against a building some yards to the right. I press myself flat the roof, hoping that they fall for it. Dirt Dog, brave leader though he is, relies more on brute strength than wits. Sure enough, there is a commotion below. “Over there!” Dirt Dog roars. “Get her!”

The thieves scatter, yelling threats. I fumble behind my right ear, find the button embedded in my skin, and switch on my night vision. Everything shows up black and white, like an X-ray only I can’t see through things. Inky black figures dart through a shadowy gray background, surrounded by ghostly white buildings.The scene is fuzzy, as if I’m seeing through a slightly out-of-focus camera. I know from experience that the longer I leave my night vision on, the worse this effect will get. I have a little over five minutes to act before my vision goes too blurry to see.

Right .I scan the area, picking up any bits of information that might be helpful. The man short, heavyset man on the far right walks with a pronounced limp. The woman who moves like a bug seems to be the most important of the group; she keeps giving orders to some of the others. The boy over there is most likely the least important in the gang: he keeps getting shunted out of the way and yelled at. I can’t see Dirt Dog or Adela, they must be behind the building, outof my line of vision.

I tense, poised and ready, as a plan slowly forms in my mind.

@Mariah Burke: Are you Elizabeth M.?

No, I'm not Elizabeth M., Olive, or Oregano. I might continue my story later, though it will take a while to figure out what will happen next.

Nina sat quietly in the corner, listening to her little brother crying. A shot broke into the peaceful home and Nina's mother almost dropped the baby. "Nina?!" "Ma, I'm here." "Oh my god! Come here, baby." The mother held out her bare arms in an embrace. The small girl slowly got up and fell to around her mother's neck. "Is father...?" Her mother stroked the girl's dark hair. "Shh. Don't cry my dear." "But-" "Wait. Wait, my sweet." The mother tightly held onto her two children. 

The children were sleeping when they came. A heavy hand pounded on the door. The mother pushed a loose hair behind her ear and walked to the door. Grasping the handle, she opened the door and was brought down at once. "Traitor." A man muttered. "Search the house!" 

Nina woke in the other room, her brother sprawled out next to her. She heard the footsteps and knew what was coming. If they didn't get away soon... Voices came from down the hall. Deep voices from dangerous men. The door opened and a burly man walked in. "Kill them!" He ordered. Nina screamed as she heard the gun being loaded. She grabbed her small brother and flitted out of the bed and between the men's legs. They yelled and shot but missed. The girl ran out into the streets where poor families lay in the dirt and begged for food. She ignored the yells and whizzing bullets. Her whole life depended on getting away.

Mrs. Anony, are you Alexandra? 

Yes, I'm Alexandra. How did you guess? I have about five posts on the whole Chatterbox!

I am reviving this thread!!!!!!!!

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