Chapter 1: A New Mission

I quietly strode to my small apartement, on the outskirts of Paris. Pushing the door open, I trudged to my bedroom, gazing out of the window overlooking the city. After I had moved back a few empty boxes from my closet, I pushed a black handle on one of the little room's walls. A secret passageway appeared, and, after closing the closet door tighly and turned on my flashlight, I slowly crawled through the narrow, empty tunnel. Darkness and humidity enveloped me, but I continued on, occasionnaly looking at my watch, to make sure I'd get to the meeting at the spy HQ in time. A dim light, faintly glowing in the tunnel, shined brighter as I crawled forward. The light was shinining on a large, gray, locked steel door.

Quickly typing in the password at the code box, I finally got up as the door opened. I was greeted by a stern-faced security guard, showed him my ID card, and he gruffly waved towards a door on the left side of the wall. As I pushed the door open, all the conversations stopped,  and the spies stared at me.

“Hi!” I waved nervously, grinning sheepishly.

An older woman, the leader, nicknamed “Mrs. Smith”-what everyone called her-stood up and stated solemnly,

“You’re late.”

I sighed silently, and headed over to the table where everyone was seated. Sitting down quietly, next to Gloria, my good friend, I studied the wall, with a map of Paris, little pinpoints here and there-showing where some of our fellow spies from the 23 Group, a secret community of highly-trained spies, not even known by the government, were.

All of the agents here had code names-mine was Emily- and agent numbers-2365 was my number. So, I, Elise Laurent, was Emily, Agent 2365.

No one, not even our family members or closests friends, could know we were apart of the 23 Group. It was top-secret. If any of the members were found out, and, or, captured, a group of spies would find their location-always known because of a small disc every agent had under his or her skin. Some agents would never come back from their missions-very sadly-, reason why we weren’t allowed and were highly recommended to not make friends with our fellow spies, as we might not see them again. The 23 Group was like the army, we had to rely on our intense training-lasting a few years- and skills, not our friends, or only very rarely.

“Emily!” “Mrs. Smith” called.

I stopped thinking and raised my head.

“Ye?” I questioned.

“Stay concentrated.”

“Yes, ma’am!” I quickly said.

“So,” the leader resumed, “as you probably all know, a massive, complex counterfeit ring is going around Paris right now. This operation-planned to the fullest extent-threatens Paris’s financial world. If we don’t work together to stop this, it will have devastating results.”

We all listened intently, fully aware of what now laid on our shoulders.

“Your goal is to stop this counterfeit ring before it goes national-to cities all over France-, or worse, global. The whole world’s financial system would then be, well…” she stopped, knowing we had gotten her point.

Clearing her throat, “Mrs. Smith” continued.

“You will each be assigned to a partner. That spy will work with you during the whole mission, until, we home, it closes down completely. 

Evelyn, you’re with Asher. Annie, Sabrina. Marigold, Hunter. Raymond and Jeremiah, you’re together. Jewel with Edward. Clive and Emi. Aurora with Emily. Caleb and Henry.”

I stood up as soon as I heard my code name, and looked around the large room. A shy girl, in her early twenties-like me- quietly approached me, her dark brown eyes smiling.

“Hi! I’m Aurora.” She grinned, her ponytail moving slightly as she looked at me.

“Hello, I’m Emily.” I smiled back.

We all used our code names, even at HQ. It got us used to using them, until it was as natural as saying our real names.

“Guess we’re partners.” She said shyly.

“Yes!” I answered happily.

Aurora motioned for me to come and follow her to a table across the room.

As I crossed it, I spotted Caleb-aka Joshua, his real name- chatting with Henry, his partner. I smiled and waved. He caught my eye and we both grinned at each other. Then, I quickly ran to catch up with Aurora. I rapidly told myself; there’s no romance allowed in the spy business. Spy Rules 101. I sighed, knowing I wouldn’t probably have the chance to be on a mission with Joshua. Sighing again, I sat down in front of Aurora, who was already getting out pen and paper, ready to write. Write what, exactly? I had no idea whatsoever.

“I just talked with ‘Mrs. Smith’, and she said we’re gonna be undercover agents! Or double agents, if you prefer. Isn’t that grand?”

“Yeah! Just like in the movies! But,” I lowered my voice, and leaning closer to my partner, I said softly, “they’re the ones that are in the most danger. I once knew one, her name was Sadie, and she…” I gulped, “didn’t come back.”

Aurora gasped in horror. Her brown eyes stared into mine.

“Y-you mean, we’re gonna get killed or something?” she asked, visibly very nervous.

I looked at her seriously.

“We’ll have to be very careful, not take any risks, and trust no one, besides each other, of course.” I added quickly.

“Why did they choose us?” Aurora inquired pushing back a strand of hair that had escaped from her ponytail.

“I’m guessing they chose us because we’re the most trained agents for undercover operations. Not everyone here, “I showed the spy group with a hand motion, “could go undercover.”

“Or be a double agent.” She blurted out, and I guessed  she loved the term.

“Mrs. Smith” approached our table.

“Aurora, Emily,” she started seriously, “this is probably the most dangerous and

and risky mission you’ve ever done. You’ll need every part of your training to finish this mission.” She paused and placed her hands on our shoulders. “Be careful. One wrong move, and it could all be over. The mission, as well as your lives. I know you both have what it takes, but there are ears and eyes everywhere, so watch out what you do and say. We’re all counting on you.” She smiled.

“We will.” Aurora and I nodded solemnly.

My partner and I stood up, she walked over to a lonely guy-probably her friend, I guessed- and I strode over to Joshua.

We strolled with me to a table, alone from the others, and both sat down.

“So, I hear you’re going undercover. We both know those all the most dangerous ones.” He suddenly clasped my hands and looked seriously into my eyes. “Emily, please be careful. Those counterfeiters are ruthless, stopping at nothing 

to achieve their goal. Please come back, please. All in one piece!” he added, grinning despite his worry.

I gazed at him for a second. His deep green eyes were staring into mine; his palms were sweaty-with worry and stress-and he had that same look, that serious yet sometimes funny attitude that I loved.

“I will, I promise.” I declared somberly.”

“Emily, Aurora, time to get ready.” The leader announced.

A few spies waved, smiled, or whispered words of encouragement.

Joshua-as I always called him, even though he was supposed to be “Caleb”-held on to my hand, like a scared child the first day of school, clinging on their parent’s hand, until we reached the door.

“I love you, Emily. Please come back.” He pleaded.

“Mrs. Smith” gently pushed Aurora and I out of the room.

 I caught one last glance at Joshua, and then, he was gone. I suddenly felt like Han Solo, from Star Wars, the last time he saw Princess Leia in episode five. Leaving the person he loved. I was doing the exact same thing.

Chapter 2: In the Lion’s Den

I scanned the piece of paper in front of me. Aurora was also staring at it, memorizing its content.

“Charlie Wayne. Ross Reys. Karen Myles. Audra Oaksley. Alexander Durns.” I repeated very softly.

“So,” I lifted my head and looked at “Mrs. Smith”, who was in the driver’s seat of the truck we were in, “those people are all apart of the counterfeit ring, right?”

She nodded, then added, “There are more, of course, but the main people are there. Some people also might have an alias, working as counterfeiters with one name, doing another crime-supposing the counterfeit ring is run by criminals-with another. It’s a real mess of lies, Emily. I need you two to be very careful.” After that, she gave 

us a long list of instructions.

As we approached the building where the counterfeit ring supposedly was, “Mrs. Smith” slowed down.

“Now, remember,” she said as she turned to face us, in the back seats, “your names are now Molly Winters” she pointed to Aurora, “and Ashlyn Sand.” She motioned to me.

“Yes, ma’am.” We both chorused.

“Run along now, and,” she called after us-leaping out of the truck, “remember to call every night!”

I chuckled as I heard those last instructions. They sounded more like something an anxious parent saying goodbye to their now grown-up kid, moving away, than a spy leader.

Aurora-or Molly, as she was now called- and I I opened the rusty 

gate, blocking the entry to the building. 

I glanced over at Aurora. She didn’t seem that impressed with the structure, as if she’d seen it before. Weird, I thought.

“Sure doesn’t look like a counterfeiting operation’s going around here. It looks more like…a factory!” My partner exclaimed.

“Exactly.” I replied calmly. That’s what it is, on the outside. But on the inside, a lot of illegal things are going around. And, we’re here to stop it.”

“Stop what, exactly?” A loud voice made Aurora and I jump.

We both turned around,  and faced a very stern man, in his late forties. His eyes stared down at us, eyebrows frowned menacingly, arms crossed across his chest.

Looks like a security guard. Oh, what did we get ourselves into? 

Ugh, we should’ve been more careful.

“So,” the man asked, “what exactly do you plan to stop?”

“Um, we plan to stop the economic difficulties that this city has.” “Molly” blurted out.

“That’s right!” I exclaimed enthusiastically, seeming overjoyed, when I really wasn’t. I was overjoyed by the fact of taking down the operation, not helping it. I mean, who wants to be on the bad side, anyway? Well, besides the people that are? I had to wonder why people didn’t do good, but chose to do bad instead.

The counterfeiters were a very good example. They were ruthless, Joshua said, so they could easily use force, threats, and worse to continue on their scheme.

We’ll have to be very careful. We’re literally walking into the lion’s den.

I tried to relax, and I knew Aurora-slash Molly-was too. But it was hard, being accompanied by a man who was obviously a security guard, with serious  

expression, muscles, and all,  plus with all the armed men around every single entrance, ready to use their guns if necessary. I gulped. This was definitely the most dangerous mission I’d ever done.

My thoughts raced back to the days where Sadie-the spy I knew who had never come back-was still with the 23 Group, a few years ago. Her last mission was also a counterfeit one, only in a different country. I remembered the day we hadn’t received any news of any kind. After that stressful day, we never heard from her.

The same thing might happen to us. I pondered, suddenly scared at what we were doing. I took a deep breath. 

Calm down, Elise, everything will be fine.

“Name!” a barking voice brought me back to the present.

“Em…” I stopped myself just in time. “Ashlyn Sand.” I replied 

casually.

“Molly Winter.” Aurora nearly whispered, shaking in fright.

“Here.” The man, standing in front of us at his desk, gave us a work registration form.

It can’t be as easy as that.

Then, I looked down at the page.

“Work experience, usual hours, etc.”

Just like a normal job. These people are careless. Except if it’s a trap. They sure don’t look like they care who they let in to work. Then again, there are armed guards everywhere. I stopped thinking and started writing. Glancing over at Aurora, I saw she was also answering the questions. The serious man, his face frowning at us, and fine, delicate suit, was an addition to the already tense and 

weird atmosphere. We handed over our forms, after signing them with our fake names.

“Thanks,” grumbled the man. “A security guard will show you to your rooms.”

So, the counterfeiter job also included lodging. It was strange. But then I realized they-the managers-probably wanted to keep their employees inside the factory at all times-aha! I suddenly knew why this place had so many security guards and other people of the sort! It was to keep people, the employees, inside, so they couldn’t tattle about the counterfeiting job! Might as well call this place a prison. It certainly was as heavily guarded as one.

It’s gonna make this mission harder. 

We couldn’t just leave if things ever got out of hand. Which makes things riskier than any other mission I’ve done. I sighed. I had to rely on my training and co-agent, Aurora, to stop this. I trudged after Aurora and the security guard, memorizing the labyrinth of hallways. After about ten minutes of strolling around, the security guard unlocked two doors and motioned with a hand gesture that these were our rooms. I had a question trotting around in my mind: were they going to lock us in? I decided to ask.

“You going to lock us in once we get in our rooms?” I questioned.

The security guard answered, laughing a loud, hearty laugh-surprising me for a security guard. “Of course not!” He stopped and chuckled. “Here!” He handed us the keys and strode off, still roaring. There was something with that laugh, I thought I’d heard it before.  But I couldn’t remember exactly where and when.

“Weird guy.” Aurora commented, lugging in her large suitcase in the small room 

adjoining mine. Chuckling, I carried my moderately-sized bag in my room. I pulled my clothes out, placed them in the dresser, and sat down on the bed, scanning the room. I had a feeling the managers got a lot of money from the whole scam, so they could easily afford rooms for their employees. Which was a good thing for Aurora and I, we could look around the factory easier under the cover of darkness-by being there 27/7, instead of having to go in and out of the building-leaving my co-agent and I less time to investigate. Standing up, I stared out the window. The overgrown trees and grass made the surroundings shabby, but with what I could see inside the factory, everything was in perfect shape: rooms, hallways, and everything else. After going down on my knees, I studied the walls carefully. I needed to find a place to hide some of the items-night vision goggles, walkie-talkies, and an assortment of high-tech spy gear-that I couldn’t possibly leave out in plain sight. I tapped on the walls, hoping to find a hollow 

place to hide the spy equipment. Ten minutes later, my hard and very annoying work was over. I found a small hollow part in the wall behind my bed and rapidly concealed the spy gear.  Someone knocked on the door, two rapid knocks. A 23 Group signal. I got up, scrambled over to the door, opened it, and faced Aurora, face shining. 

"Hi! Supper’s ready. We have to go down to eat.” She hastily informed me. Quickly grabbing a sweater on my dresser, I walked out of the room with Aurora, remembering to lock the door as I left.

“This place is huge! It’s full of secret rooms, passageways, a real maze!” My co-agent casually announced.

“How do you know?” I questioned, frowning.

“Oh, I just studied the maps really well.” Aurora answered, shrugging.

“Yeah, ok…” Sure, it was possible, but I also had studied the maps of this place really well, and I didn’t know every nook and cranny of this place!

We continued strolling, our steps echoing in the mostly-silent factory.

“This place gives me the creeps.” I admitted, shivering.

Instead of a normal “Me too,” Aurora said something totally different. “It should. This factory is supposed to look empty, abandoned, but the counterfeiting business is underneath.”

My partner pointed to a little door in the wall.

“This way.” She whispered.

I followed Aurora down a narrow staircase leading to a hallway. Loud, joyous voices were coming from a large open door, bathing 

the whole dark hallway in light coming from the room. Aurora and I strode in. I nearly gasped in surprise. I saw the rows of people seated along the long table. There were so many people! It surprised me, because normally, counterfeiters worked in small groups to avoid being caught. A big group would be noticed more easily. But then, I realized this counterfeiting operation was totally underground. The old factory was only a cover. The lengthy meal was ordinary, boring. I tried to pay attention to what the counterfeiters were saying, hoping to pick up any valuable information I could tell “Mrs. Smith” in the evening.  Besides the fact that a delivery of paper-to, I guessed, make the counterfeit money- was coming at midnight, there wasn’t any other information worth mentioning to the spy leader.

“Let’s go.” I muttered to Aurora.

My partner nodded, and we both quietly slipped out of the loud, busy room. We quickly walked back to our rooms, and I immediately took the spy equipment out of its hiding place. I turned on a special phone-with a massive amount of spy apps on it-and called “Mrs. Smith”.

She hastily picked up.

“Yes?”

“A delivery truck with the paper to make the counterfeit money is coming at midnight. I’ll go, and get the license plate, and, possibly, a piece of paper.” 

“Okay. But, be careful, Emily.” Hearing her voice reassured me, having someone I knew and trusted nearby.

“I will.”

“Bye!” Then she hung up.

I sighed, placed the phone back in the hollow part of the wall, and sat down on my bed. After turning off the light, I curled up in the covers, trying to get some shut-eye before getting up at midnight. The alarm I had set rang exactly at 11:55 pm.I jumped out of bed, readjusted my bed-ridden clothes and hair, and after I grabbed my phone, silently went out of my room. Aurora was waiting for me, and led the way to the stairway leading underground. Some workers were also heading to the unloading dock, a place completely unknown to me, despite having studied the maps intently. I was silent, staying hidden in the shadows, as the truck backed up. The men rushed out, and quickly took the boxes out. Staying behind, I took a picture of the truck, and rushed out to help-hoping I could get a piece of the paper. After carrying a box of paper to an obscure warehouse, I quietly opened it. 

“What are you doing, Sand?”

I tried to not sound scared as I replied, “I’m making sure the paper is alright.” I half-lied.

“Uh-huh.” The security guard didn’t believe me. Great. Then, just as he was about to leave, he whispered,

“Be careful, Sand.”

I blinked. “Yes, sir.” Those words, be careful, didn’t not sound like words a security guard would say. I brushed the thought aside and focused on the task at hand.

After silently and secretly slipping a fragment of paper in my pocket, I closed the box shut and went back to help unload the rest of the boxes. Then, after everything was neatly placed in the warehouse, everyone went back to bed. I hid the bit of paper with the spy gear. Afterward, I went to bed, completely exhausted.

I was awakened the next morning by Aurora, knocking on my door, already awake at 7 am.

“I’m coming!” I grumbled, only half-awake.

“Come on,” Aurora yelled, “Breakfast’s in fifteen minutes!”

As soon as she said that, I leaped out of bed and got dressed. After a quick peak in the mirror to make sure my hair was alright, I opened the door.

“You’re awake early. Did you do a little spying this morning?”

“Shh.” She quieted me. “Would you like me to bring you a loud speaker so you can announce the news to the world? Emily, this mission is secret.” 

I ignored her sarcastic remark. “I know.” I retorted with a note of annoyance in my tone.

“Good. Let’s go eat.”

As I strode next to her, I realized she had avoided replying to my question.