Only A Shadow

Chapter Nine

I awoke the next morning not realizing where I was. I expected to find myself underneath my white covers in my own room with my dog Cocoa sleeping heavily next to me. To my surprise, I found myself in the lavish teal room in Akila HQ. I actually liked this room better than my last. I had everything I could possibly want at my finger tips except for two cherished things: sunlight, and my dear parents. Because the entire HQ was underground, I couldn't possibly find a source of natural light. I missed it a great deal, but what I missed even more were my parents. I decided to push those desires to the back of my mind and prepare myself for the upcoming day. 

I oozed out of my wonderfully comfortable white comforter onto the soft white carpet sprinkled with pillows from the night before. As I sat lazily on the floor, I saw someone shoot up through the transportation tube and into my room.

The door glided open revealing Rachel, the pristine woman from the lobby, holding a clipboard. "I just wanted to inform you that Mr. Julio wants to show you something in the lobby as soon as possible."

"Okay," I sighed, "But-" I halted as she appeared to be exiting, "I was wondering..."

"Yes?"

"When is breakfast?" I asked meekly.

She smiled softly, "It'll be here shortly. You'd best get dressed."

"Okay, thanks." I said groggily as she left.

I rose from the carpet and padded over to the bathroom and looked in the clean mirror. It felt different from the last time I looked into my dirty mirror at home. It seemed as if I had started on my journey to answer that question: Who are you Artemis?

After brushing my teeth, I put my hair in a bun while I entered the closet. I grabbed a long sleeved black shirt, a white t-shirt with a black graphic design to layer on top, a pair of jeans, a pair of black Converse, and a maroon beanie. I changed quickly and afterwards I braided my hair carefully into two loose french braids.

My mood instantly changed from groggy to excited when I heard the wonderful 'ding' of the food deliverer. Inside was fluffy scrambled eggs, toast with butter and honey, a small bowl of fruit and a glass of milk. I grabbed the tray and sat down at the television to eat. I grabbed the remote control and started flipping channels. There were the usual, cartoons, news, really cheap movies, but soon I realized I had skipped to channels that weren't on cable. As I kept moving on, I saw pictures. Pictures of agents and thier background. Why do they not have a password? Did I accidentally hack into it? I was about to shut the T.V. off, but I halted immediately when I saw a picture of my mom.

The screen read, "Cassidy Kokonis (Agent 456, intelligent) : Age- 31, Relationship: Married, Spouse: Ramon Kokonis (Agent 295, protector), Child(ren): Artemis Kokonis (Student, strong)-" I shut the T.V. off angrily. How did they know I was strong? My eyes filled with tears, but I then remembered Lajos' words, "It's a gift. We simply must learn how to use it."

I held back the tears and slowly finished my breakfast. I grabbed a cold water bottle from a mini fridge in my room and approached the transportation tube. On the outer casing of the tube there was the pad of keys. One read: lobby. I pressed it, and the glass door glided open as it had done before. Somehow, I felt as if today was going to be a big day.

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I entered the huge lobby to the sound of fingers typing away quickly at the computers. As I took a drink of water I noticed the short Mr. Lajos standing next to the huge screens which displayed enormous pictures. While pointing to a huge picture of a metal necklace with a ring attached to it, he was explaining something to two agents. One was a brown haired stocky man, and the other was a dark haired woman in black boots. "Mom?" I questioned quietly.