Designation X5-458

Chapter 1

Ashley woke up in a pool of sweat. Her covers were on the floor and she was writhing around in her bed. She had been having her usual nightmare of men in black catching her, and taking her back to Manticore. When her heartbeats finally started to even out she remembered why she hated to sleep. If it wasn’t necessary she swore she would forgo the whole thing.

Yeah well if you did that you’d be an even bigger bitch. And you defiantly can’t afford that. Then you’d have no friends. She thought to herself.

Well she couldn’t argue with that, but honestly Aiden and Madison are all the friends I really need. She smiles as she looks at picture of the three of them taped to her mirror. It was taken the day Aiden got his new job, and it was a legitimate deal. It was a real office job with nice pay and a chance to move up. Ashley was so proud of him. She was glad to see him not having to go with her to be extra muscle, even though she didn’t need it, on her dangerous jobs. Ashley hated working for criminals but she didn’t have many useful life skills, and kicking ass seemed to be what she excelled at.

Oh well, she pulled herself out of her thoughts to see what time it was. “Oh shit. I gotta get my ass ready.” It was 9:30 p.m. and she had to meet Aiden and Mads at Rick’s Bar in an hour. They all met up on Saturday night at Rick’s every week. It was kinda the routine they got into after Aiden and Mads moved out into there own place. It was a way to make sure they saw each other every week no matter what.

After Ashley had done her hair (which consisted of her brushing it and shaking it out, but magically it always looked nice and curly but not to curly. She didn’t need to have Gene Simons hair channeling through her.) she found the perfect outfit. She had on a vintage tee with The Clash written on it. A pair of baggy black slacks, her combat boots, and her leather jacket. Her style screamed “If you look at me wrong I will hurt you!!!”