Amee curled up in her bed, knees tucked to her chest.

“This can’t be happening…It’s a bad dream…this can’t be happening…it’s a bad dream”

She chanted quietly. She felt the back of her neck again, it was there the smooth curves of metal. She held her hand in front of her eyes, she couldn’t stop it from shaking.

“What am I going to do, my eyes, my hair, mom will be home.”

Amee held her knees to her chest and rocked back and forth. It made no sense, what was happening.

Amee contracted, she felt like every single muscle in her body was collapsing on itself. She screamed in pain. Suddenly it was gone. She felt a wave of nausea.

“I’m gonna throw up.”

She tried to stand but she felt her legs wobble underneath, the world began to spin. The world went black. She woke to someone pounding on her door.

“Amee! Amee!” It was Agent Johnson’s voice.

“I’m –“ Amee threw up mid-sentence. She sniffled, and wiped her face with her sleeve.

“I’m coming in!” She heard him start to turn the knob.

Amee coughed, and sniffled again, “It’s just the flu.”

It was barely a harsh whisper. She felt her stomach start to twist again, the pain was like fire eating her up from the inside.

“Can’t let him see me like this, too many questions.” She said to herself.

“I’m not decent!” she called out with all the voice she had left, it was a harsh guttural sound.

The door knob stopped turning. Amee heard people speaking in low tones outside. Their voices raised a bit, she couldn’t make it out. The pain intensified, she clawed at the floor with her left hand, her other arm was clutched around her stomach. She screamed again.

“Amee, It’s Amber I’m coming in.”

Amber said through the door.

“You back off, she said she wasn’t decent. I’ll take care of it” Amee saw the door knob start to turn again.

She tried to crawl but her arms fell out from under her. She had no strength between the horrible bouts of pain. Amee tried to get up again, but her hands slipped on the puddle of sweat dripping off her.

“Oh my god Amee, we need to call a doctor, you look like you’re dying.” Amber closed the door behind her, then rushed to Amee’s side. Amber kneeled down.

Amee grabbed the front of Amber’s shirt with all the strength she could muster. Her breathing was labored, she could barely get the words out. But there could be no doctors she knew that for sure.

“No doctors, please, sis.”

She curled in pain again. Her muscles contracted uncontrollably again, she felt the shreds of Amber’s shirt in her hand. She couldn’t stop shivering, she looked up at Amber. “No doctors please.”

Amber wasn’t responding, she was staring at Amee’s eyes. “Your eyes…they’re purple.”

“Contacts.” Amee coughed weakly, she turned her face away from Amber.

Amee heard Amber gasp. She immediately realized her mistake, the metal opening was on the back of her neck. She slapped her hand over it.

“What’s going on Amee?” Amee felt Amber’s finger’s touching her hand.

“You have a metal hole on the back of your neck.”

“I don’t know Amber, but we can’t let anyone find out.” Amee pleaded.

“Is everything okay in there?” Agent Johnson knocked on the door again.

Amee was still breathing heavily she waved Amber towards the door.

“Everything’s fine, she’s just got the flu.” Amber gave Amee shrug.

“Okay, if you need me just holler.” Agent Johnson’s footsteps echoed in the hall as he walked away.

“Amee, we have to tell someone, this isn’t normal.” Amber put her arm around Amee’s shoulders.

“We can’t tell anyone, mom will freak. And they might try to dissect me!” Amee leaned against Amber.

“Who are they?” Amber looked confused.

“You know, They, them, the Them…” Amee whispered.

“Okay apparently you are watching too many movies, and you are drenched with sweat.” Amber rubbed her hand on her pants to dry it off.

“I donno what’s wrong Amber, I’m really worried.” Amee leaned her face into Amber’s shoulder and started to cry softly.

Amber stroked her hair. “Shh, we’ll sort it out.”

Amee hugged Amber tightly, and sobbed quietly for quite some time. Amee pulled herself away after several minutes.

“Sorry about your top.” Amee sniffled and wiped her nose with her sleeve.

“That’s okay you can work it off by cleaning my room for the next month.” Amber laughed softly. Amee smiled in-spite of herself.

“First things first, those purple eyes are not contacts are they?” Amee shook her head.

“And I’m guessing you didn’t dye your hair recently, so the black is your natural color now?” Amee nodded in response.

“Okay, we can get brown contacts, no problem. And your hair could be dyed, or we could say it has been dyed.” Amee nodded again.

“The metal thing, I donno what we can do besides keep your hair over it, no putting it up, or ponytails. High collars! That will help too, or turtle necks on colder days.” Amee nodded again.

“Can I take a closer look at it?” Amee shrugged and leaned her head forward moving her hair out of the way. She felt Amber’s fingers slide around it’s edge, and strangely enough she even felt it when she touched the metal, as if it were just more skin.

“Feels weird, it’s warm to the touch like skin, looks like a flash card reader or something. Has a plug and wire.” Amee shivered as she felt something get pulled out of the device.

“Freaky, you felt that?” Amee nodded.

“Know what this might plug into to?” Amber held the connecter in front of Amee.

“I donno, It’s not any kinda plug I recognize.” Amee took it in her hands and looked more closely.

“Okay, well let's get this cleaned up, cause that’s disgusting” Amber pointed remains of Amee’s lunch that was now on the floor. Amee tried to stand but was wobbly, she started to lose her balance. Amber reached out and helped her sit on the bed.

“Stay there, I’ll take care of it, but that’s another one you owe me.” Amber made her way into the bathroom an picked up a cloth.

“What do you think is going on Amber?” Amee watched Amber clean the mess off the floor.

“Weird flesh-eating version of the ebola?” Amber said absently. Amee felt her heart fall. She’d suspected something to that effect.

“You don’t think it’s contagious do you?” Amee asked in earnest.

“I really don’t think so, if this is why you’ve been calling in sick to school I’m sure someone else around the house would have shown symptoms.” Amber stood up holding the soiled cloth between two fingers.

“Do you think I’ll be okay?” Amee bit her lip nervously. Truth be told she at her heart really didn’t think so.

“You’ll be fine.” Amber smiled, Amee sensed the lie in her voice. Her sister was just as worried as she was. Amee noticed Amber straighten up.

“Now, it’s four pm, mom will be home in five hours then, we should be able to get you contacts by them if we don’t care how much it costs.”

“What about the Secret Service?” Amee stood slowly, the world wasn’t spinning quite so much. Her feet touched the floor.

She grasped onto the side of the bed. “Well that went better than I expected”

“Easy, we’ll say you broke your glasses and we need to get you another pair.” Amber glanced at her watch again. “Union Station, I know a place we can get your examination done, especially considering who’s daughters we are. Grab your glasses.”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Umm, I don’t really need glasses anymore.” Amee experimentally moved one foot forward. She stepped down placing some weight on it. She balanced. “It’s like I need to learn to walk again.”

“Well you better pick it up quick, because we need to get those contacts. And get a shower you need it.” Amber wrinkled her nose. “I’ll go get changed and tell Agent Johnson what’s up, don’t leave your room till I get back, got it?”

Amee nodded, and made another experimental step towards the bathroom. “One foot in front of the other Amee.” Amee made another step, then another, then another. She found herself holding onto the door frame of her bathroom. Soon she was in the shower letting the hot water wash over her.

“Amee are you done yet?” Amber called into the bathroom.

Amee opened her eyes, “Just about. This shower feels so good.”

“Mom’s going to be getting here in just over four and a half hours. Agent Johnson wasn’t happy about this, but I showed him your broken glasses.” Amber closed the door.

Amee dried herself off. The warmth had loosened up her muscles considerably it was much easier to move afterwards. “Hey sis, I wonder if I can rust now.”

Amber laughed. Amee pulled her top on, and dragged a hoodie overtop. She opened the bathroom door.

Then Amber’s sentence sunk in, “What broken glasses?” Amber held out Amee’s glasses they looked like they’d been sat on.

“Here, wear these.” Amber handed Amee a pair of her sunglasses. “If you lose them you won’t have to worry about mom finding out your secret, because I will have killed you first.” Amee slipped the sunglasses on.

Amee blinked a few times, “I shouldn’t be able to see in here with sunglasses on, but I can, they don’t seem to make a difference.” She lifted the sunglasses off her nose a few times.

“I always said you’re the freak of the family.” Amber slipped her jacket on. Amee stuck her tongue out.

“Okay poker faces on, we are going to the mall to get you new glasses because you sat on your old ones. One problem is that the eye doctor will need to measure your eyes.”

Amee winced. “Can’t we just guess?”

“Only if you want to risk going blind.” Amber shrugged.

“Point taken.” Amee sighed.

“Ready?” Amber started to open the door.

“As I’m ever going to be.” Amee nodded. The pair made their way out of the door, Agent Johnson was waiting for them in the hallway.

“I must say again, I disagree with this, you need to give us time to survey the area before you arrive.” Agent Johnson said.

“Do you really want my sister to get grounded because she sat on her glasses when she was throwing up?” Amber looked up at Agent Johnson. He opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again.

“Well then, my car is this way.” Agent Johnson held his arm out as if inviting them.

“I’m going to take my car, you can follow us right?” Amber smiled at Agent Johnson.

Amee rolled her eyes and said in a harsh whisper as they walked. “Don’t push it.”

“Alright, if a light turns yellow you will stop at it, and you will obey all traffic laws, is that clear?” Agent Johnson fixed his tie. Amee shook her head. She hated the effect her sister could have on men.

Amber got in her Porsche. Amee opened the door and slipped into the passenger side. “I can’t believe you convinced Mom and Dad to get you a Porsche for your birthday.” Amee pouted. She was jealous of Amber’s pink sports car. Not that she wasn’t jealous about everything else Amber had.

“You could ask for one you know?” Amber started the car.

“Not if she becomes President.” Amee pulled her seat belt on.

“Don’t worry about it, six years and you can buy your own when grandpa’s trust kicks in for you.” Amber shifted the car into gear and pulled out of the garage. She paused to wait for Agent Johnson to catch up.

Amber looked in the rear view mirror. “Damn spooks can’t do anything quick can they?”

Amee shrugged, “We should give him a break, has to be a crappy job protecting a teenager. He could be protecting the president.”

“You’re way too soft Amee, Finally.” Amber shifted the car into gear again and sped out of the drive way.

Amee looked out the window, watching the world pass again. Her mind wandered back to the night she ran into her twin. She focused on the memory. Something was pricked at her mind. What was she missing? She lifted her sunglasses looking at her reflection. Magenta eyes, dark hair, just like the girl. She gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Amber glanced over.

“My eyes, they are the same color as that girl.” Amee pointed at her reflection.

“Are you sure? It was dark.” Amber signaled a turn.

“I’m sure.” Amee pulled her sunglasses back down. “What does it mean?”

“I donno.” Amber glanced in her rearview mirror. “You having any strange memories or anything?”

Amee shook her head, “No but I know what Vector Calculus is, It was weird, Mr. Thomas accused me of cheating, I finished a five page algebra review in twenty minutes, without a calculator.”

“But, you suck at math.” Amber glanced at Amee.

“I just knew it, It felt natural, kinda like it’s automatic, like breathing.” Amee fixed her sunglasses.

“Sounds like whatever is doing this is messing with your brain as much as your body.” Amber turned into a parking lot.

“But I still remember everything about me.” Amee shrugged. Amber pulled into a parking spot. Amee took her seat belt off and opened the door.

“You should keep a journal, so you can make sure.” Amber opened her own door and slipped out, closing it behind her. Amee closed her door. Agent Johnson parked his car beside theirs. He got out fixed his jacket, and looked around the parking lot.

“Stick close, and if we lose each other, I want you to go to mall security immediately.” Agent Johnson took another glance around the parking lot. “Are we clear?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll behave.” Amber answered with a nudge to Amee, who nodded.

“Good.” Agent Johnson adjusted his ear piece.

Amber leaned close to Amee, “This is worse than when dad used to take us shopping when we were kids.”

Amee giggled. She remembered their father doing giving a briefing on every shopping trip. “Dad would freak if he knew we were doing this.” Amee whispered back. Amee glanced back at Agent Johnson, he was eyeing them suspiciously. She put her hand over her mouth, and looked back at Amber, their eyes met, and the pair dissolved into giggles.

Agent Johnson looked down at his suit, fixed his jacket self-consciously, “Please, keep it down, I would prefer we keep a low profile.”

Amee bit her lip in an attempt to stop laughing. She looked up at Amber, she noticed Amber’s eyes were bright with laughter. Amber gave a small cough and took a deep breath, “Of course, Agent Johnson.”

The trio walked through the mall. Amee glanced back at Agent Johnson. He looked nervous. It was pretty awful of them to do this to him. Amee resolved to do something nice for him. Problem was she had no clue what he did when he wasn’t being her guardian angel.

Amber leaned close to Amee again, “Okay let me do the talking, you are about as charming as your average cockroach.” Amee shot Amber a dirty look as soon as she turned to talk to the receptionist.

Amee crossed her arms. She watched her sisters face light up as she leaned down to talk to the receptionist. He was male. Amee scowled. Of course it was lucky for them, but she still despised her sister for the way she could manipulate men. Amee watched the receptionist’s eyes look right down Amber’s top.

“Take a picture why don’t ya.” Amee muttered to herself.

“We need your help, my sister broke her glasses, and lost all her contact lenses.” Amee watched Amber put on her upset face. Amee rolled her eyes.

Amber pointed at Amee, “And she has her driving exam tomorrow, and I was responsible for her. My parents are going to kill me, can you get us in? I know it’s almost closing. But it won’t take long.”

The receptionist ran his hand through his hair, “Well, it’s usually by appointment only, but seeing as it’s an emergency, I’ll see if the doctor will take a look.

“Oh thank you!” Amber said excitedly.

The receptionist stood up and went into the back. Amee looked at her sister then Agent Johnson. The latter was facing the entrance watching the people passing by. Amber winked at her. A few minutes later the receptionist walked out.

“You’re in luck, the doctor said he’d take a look.”

“You’re a miracle worker-“ Amber reached down and lifted the receptionist’s name tag, “Andy.” She winked at him.

Andy looking quite pleased with himself turned to Amee, “Examination room one.” Andy looked back at Amber and smiled. “So…” Amee missed the rest of the conversation as she entered examination room one.

“Hello there.” An older man with a shock of white hair, and glasses, sat in a chair waiting for Amee.

“Hi.” Amee said shyly.

“I hear you broke your glasses, please have a seat.” The older man motioned to a chair. “I’m Doctor Hunter.”

“Well, not…quite, they did get broken, but mostly they aren’t working for me anymore.” Amee blushed.

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed by young lady. If I had a dollar bill for every time one of my children broke their glasses, well, I’d be a rich man.” The doctor chuckled. “What’s your name?”

“Amee.” she smiled, the doctor didn’t seem like a bad sort, Amee took off her sunglasses.

“Well, Amee, let’s take a look.” He leaned forward and started examining her eyes.

“You’re eyes have a strange pigment to them. But they look healthy enough.” He leaned back. “Do you have your glasses with you?” Amee offered her broken glasses to the doctor.

He looked the over. “The lenses are too broken, I guess we’ll do it from scratch then, please look at the letters on the screen and read off the last row of letters that is clear to you.” Amee looked at the chart and read off the entire bottom row with ease, and looked at the doctor, who gave her a stern look.

“Well either you memorized the chart, or you are here under false pretenses young lady. Either way it’s rude to waste people’s time.”

Amee sunk into her chair putting her hand over her face. My god that was so stupid. She wouldn’t’ get her contacts, her mom would see her real eye color. She’ll freak I’ll end up in a hospital, they’ll dissect me! Think fast Amee. She felt tears forming on her cheeks. She tried to stop it, but it all came flowing out in a rambling incoherent waterfall of words.

“I need brown contacts, my eyes changed colors, My mom is going to freak, and she’ll send me to a hospital, I can’t go, I can’t go to a hospital, I just need contacts, I donno how my eyes got better but I swear those were my glasses up till two days ago I was blind without them! My sister came up with this plan, she’d break my glasses to get me in if we needed an appointment then she said to ask for the contacts but I swear I didn’t mean to waste your time, I’m not that sort of kid.” Amee gasped for breath, tears were streaming down her face.

“Okay slow down, Amee.” The doctor put a reassuring hand on Amee’s shoulder. “Start at the beginning.”

“I woke up one morning and I put my glasses on, everything was blurry, like when I put them on and forgot I had contacts in, and then I saw my eyes were purple when I looked in the mirror. It didn’t bug me much I just told everything they were contacts. But well then I realized my mom would tell me to take them out when we had to do photos, and how she’d freak if she found out it was real. So I asked my sister to help me.” Amee tried to speak more slowly, but it was so hard, she had so much bottled inside.

“That is very strange, eye pigments are known to change over a lifetime, but our eyes never heal themselves that quickly.” He smiled. “You must be a very special girl to have such miraculous recovery.”

Amee sniffled, she started to wipe her face with her sleeves. “I’m sorry for lying to you Doctor Hunter.”

“It’s alright, we all have trying days, and make mistakes. I will size you for contacts and we’ll see if we have any in stock, if not I have trial ones you can use for a few days until your order comes in. But you need to promise me that if you notice your eyes get worse again you will tell your parents right away.” The doctor looked into Amee’s eyes.

She met is gaze, “I promise.”

“It’s a done deal then, let’s get you measured.” He leaned forward again and started writing a stream of numbers down on a piece of paper. “Wait here.”

The doctor stood up and left. Amee watched him leave, she sighed with relief, she had to admit that could have gone worse.

“You’re in luck, we have a 3 month supply in stock, you’re sister is taking care of them now. Now it’s time for me to get home.”

Amee stood up, “Thank you for helping Doctor.”

“You have a good night, and remember your promise, you only get one set of eyes.” The doctor waved.

Amee walked out of the examination room. Amber handed her a bag, “You owe me one.”

Amee took the bag and put it in her purse. “Thanks sis.”

The trio made their way home.