Raven was dreaming.

She was dreaming that she was crouched in an alleyway, cleaning her blood-spattered knife with an already bloody rag. A dead man lay behind her, his roll of cash safely in her pocket. Her first mission had been a success. The Commander would be pleased.

She poked her head around the corner. The mindless crowds would not notice a small, slim girl with long black hair slipping into their midst. It amused her that she could be so close to them without anyone realising she was even there.

She had taken no more than a single step forward when pain exploded through her body. She fell to the ground, her body jerking unevenly. She had been electrocuted before, but this was a thousand times worse and she felt as if she was on fire.

But no one noticed.

Something at the back of Raven's neck was vibrating, just below her skull. Each movement sent new waves of pain along her limbs until it felt as if flames were flickering from her fingers and toes. But how is that possible? she thought, dazed. I thought you couldn't feel anything in dreams...

Then the flashback hit her like a train.

***

Raven is sitting on her bed, reading a book. The doorbell rings and, as her mum answers it, she hears a woman's voice.

She pads downstairs and catches a glimpse of a tall, lean figure seated at the kitchen table. There is a document in front of her.

Raven's mum looks up as her daughter enters the kitchen. "Hello sweetie," she says cheerfully, too cheerfully. "I was just about to call you down. There's someone here to talk to you about the job you applied for."

The woman looks up. Her pale skin is stretched tight over her hollow face, and her eyes are sunken behind her cheekbones. She smiles and it looks like a twisted grimace, just her mouth extending, without any real feeling.

The next hour goes by in a tedious blur of discussing, page turning and name signing. Raven is glad to be free of it as the woman leads her to a waiting car, promising to drive her straight to her new job.

Her mother kisses her goodbye and wishes her luck, but there is a tinge of sadness in her eyes. Then she closes the door.

The woman opens the back door of a sleek, shiny black car and Raven steps inside. All of a sudden there is a sharp sting on the side of her neck and she loses all control of her limbs, falling onto the pale leather seats. The last thing she hears is the woman's voice, cold and calculating. "Sweet dreams," she whispers.

***

In the alleyway, Raven jerked into motion and staggered to her feet, leaning heavily against the wall as she retched. The flashback had brought up other memories that she had forgotten, memories of who she really was. Her name was not Raven. It was Autumn. She was not a killer. She was a fifteen-year-old girl who would never hurt a fly.

The thing beneath her skin had stilled and she knew that it had showed her the flashback. But who had put it there? The mysterious woman?

Raven staggered out of the alleyway on stiff legs, blending into the oblivious crowd as she put as much distance as she could between herself and the alleyway.

But, outside her dream, in the real world, there were sounds downstairs from her bedroom. There was a knock on the door. Her mum answered it and there was a woman's voice.

Raven woke up.

She had already forgotten her dream.