How Can We

Chapter Five

Artemis woke up with a jolt and a thin layer of sweat across her forehead. She checked her phone by her bed for the time. 3:18 AM. She still had almost 3 hours before having to wake up for school, but she knew she couldn't go back to sleep, at least not with her dream still fresh in her mind.

The blonde walked to the kitchen quietly, going out of her way to make sure not to step on any of the creaky floorboards. She drank a cup of water, leaning against the sink and tried to calm her erratically beating heart.

It was just a dream she told herself. Yet, not matter how many times she assured herself it was not real, she still felt like she was still trapped. Trapped in her room with her sister she hadn't heard from in years, as their father came at their with a javelin in his hand. He came after Jade first, and Artemis felt helpless as he beat up her sister in front of her and once she was lying in a pool of her own blood, then turned to her menacingly.

That was when she woke up.

Artemis hasn't seen her sister in almost 10 years, and she wondered what made her think of her that night. But something about that dream gave her the determination to seek her out. And for the first time in 10 years, she wanted to reach out to Jade.

That is why Artemis confronted her mother as soon as she opened her eyes.

"Have you heard from Jade recently?"

"Your sister Jade?" Her mother asked confused and slightly disoriented from waking up.

"When did you last hear from her? I know you've been keeping tabs on her." Yet she could never find herself to do the same.

Her mother leaned back against her pillows and sighed. "The last I heard from her was a year ago, she was living in Central City."

"Thanks mom." She kissed her cheek and rushed to the door.

"Artemis!" Her mother called out. "What brought this on?"

"Just a feeling I guess." A really bad feeling.

***

Artemis' first stop at school was finding Dick. She figured he could use his computer skills to find any record of her. She didn't know the logistics of it, but assumed he could find some electronic trace of her, a cell phone number, a credit card, anything.

"Dick, I need a favor." Was the first thing she said upon seeing him.

"Hello to you too Artemis." He answered back.

"I need a favor-"

"I got that already."

"Listen! This is important, I need you to search for Jade. I want to find her."

"Jade as in-"

"Yes, that same Jade. Now can you help me find her or not?" She interrupted him, getting impatient.

"What do you need me to do?" He asked her confused.

"Hack the police records, search through phone records, just find something!"

"I can't hack into the police system, that's illegal." He told her frankly.

"But the school system is completely different?" She asked sarcastically. She then looked a this hesitant expression and sighed. "Please Dick, I need you to do this." She pleaded with him.

"Before I do something illegal, I need to know if this is what you want. Are you ready to see her?"

"Please just let me find her." She seemed desperate, and it struck a chord in her best friend.