Young Writers Society

Monday: the most pointless day of the week. There should be and award for that. Really. It’s what everyone talks about in the morning every Monday and how much people hate it. I don’t blame them. I’m not a big fan of Monday’s either. It determines whether your week will be a good one…or a bad one. Everyone is just so tired from the weekend and no one wants it to end. No one wants to go back to work on Monday and go on with the week.

I went into work as usual. I actually liked my work. They paid real well. With all the money I make here, I could have my own house and car, but I’m saving as much money as I can. I want to wait until I’m ready and sure that I want to settle down. And when I settle down, I want to settle down and only do that. So I want to have the house of my dreams, the car of my dreams, and (maybe) the family of my dreams. Yeah, I’m a perfectionist…kind of. But whatever. Cry me a river, go to Home Depot, buy a bunch of wood, build yourself a bridge and get over it.

“Hey, Emily!” I heard Demetrai’s call. She was at the end of the hall, just before the sliding door into the female changing room. It was very modern and we have to wear uniforms. I don’t mind those either. They’re reasonable. You need to be able to move around very flexibly as if it was your own skin. It was important otherwise you and other people could get potentially hurt. I took my time because I was still replaying the night in my head.

“Morning.” I greeted sleepily.

“You’re such a loser. I can’t believe you just blew us off like that last night.” She grumpily said. I knew what she was doing. We fell into a pattern where Demetria would tell me what I missed out on. It would get me annoyed so I would brag about my night with Ash so she can get all the details she wanted. But I wasn’t stupid anymore. I sometimes act stupid so I can get away with a lot more and get more information, but I hate the side effects where people underestimate me and take me for granted.

“I don’t care. You’re a bigger loser.” Okay, I’ll admit it. Yes, we really are that mature. Cry me a river, go to Home Depot, buy a bunch of wood, build yourself a bridge and get over it. I learned a long time ago never care about what people said ‘cause you can’t ever change it. And it doesn’t matter what they think anymore. You can shut them out. I do, and you should too.

Demetria rolled her eyes, a sign of annoyance at my response. We strolled into the changing room, which is basically a very modern locker room. Like a locker/changing room you would find in Tron. Domo and I love Tron. Just in case you’d like to know.

Many different females of many shapes, sizes, races, and you could say species. This is a human organization. So, they’re humans here. Except for Demetria and I. We’re the Epic Dynamic Duo. No, that’s just what Demetria and I call it. It’s really called the Double Axis Unit. It sounds like something about fancy figure skating, don’t you think? But, they have to call us something. The organization knows we aren’t human, nor do they have plans to exploit us. They’re probably the most secretive organization you’ll ever find.

Demetria’s and my compartments are right next to each other, in a pretty cool, modern-looking alcove for the “specialists” like us. It was cool and private and had almost everything we needed. Like, we had a tablet built into the wall so we could receive our assignments. We had extra suits and a fridge to keep our amazingly delicious (and healthy! Can you believe it?) meals. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so good to have our compartments right next to each other. You know when you have a big fight with your close friend and you both end up avoiding each other, but you really can’t because you’re stuck in the same class with them? It’s like that, but at work. Demetria would ignore me, plotting her “lecture” for me. And then she’d let it all out, trying to be calm and the adult. But it was just sometimes too awkward for us. I learned to just nod and smile and agree with her so she wouldn’t get anymore mad.

We both changed into our…jumpsuits, you could call it. It was black and even though it went all the way down to our ankles, we were boots. My boots went a little past the knee and they had a built in armor. You couldn’t tell if it was armor though. They just looked like regular black leather boots. Demetria had the same kind of boots, but they barely touched her shins. She thinks the armor weighs more and it does, only slightly. I can still move faster than her. It was sleeveless and there was two small diamond-shaped cut in the upper back and the lower back that lets air through the whole suit. It lets magic through the whole suit and into me. In fact, I’ve never had a problem with it because the diamonds were small and were spread out so they couldn’t get that easily stabbed. But the diamonds combine into one giant one in the middle of my back when I open my wings so I can extend them. I wore black fingerless gloves and had black armbands going up my arms. Yeah, I loved my suit.

“I hope we don’t have to train today. Maybe a criminal pushed itself onto the top of our list and we can go get him…” Demetria explained, finishing putting on her suit. I never minded training. I just did it. Mom said I always excelled in sports every since I was little and continued throughout high school. Again, I don’t remember that either…

“In broad daylight?” I asked.

“We’ve done it before in broad daylight. We did it in secret and any witnesses were brought in. We just “take care of” the criminal, and the organization covers it up.”

“That’s true, but no one knows I’m in this. My dad will kill me. He thinks I’m working at an internship in Marbleloch with Domo making artwork. The organization fixed his cameras. But if he catches me doing what I’m doing, I’ll have to quit. And Ash will find out. And Ash and I will get in a fight. It’ll be bad.” I explained.

“But didn’t you save up some money? Like, your entire salary since you started here?” Demetria asked and went on, “And besides, the organization won’t let you go so easily. And you know the consequences for leaving…” I sighed, knowing how right she was. My stomach and throat twisted in knots. I was always afraid of going after someone in broad daylight. I wasn’t a vampire. But I was always afraid my mom or dad or someone who knew me would spot me and tell everyone what dangerous job I was doing…

“I don’t know. I’ll just…” I turned from her and put my hand on the wall. With my free hand, and I rubbed my face, trying to remain calm like Haley always is. “I’ll figure something out. I always do, right?”

“It’s always something stupid. You’re the biggest dumbass ever.” I knew she was complimenting me. It was her way of showing her big-sister affection. She looked down on me, yes, but I just ignored her. Her opinion does sometimes affect my decisions, but again, I listen to myself most of the time. I mostly listen to Haley out of everyone. Well, let me correct that. Out of all my friends, I rant out on Domo or Ash (if he’s closer). Haley and Antonio give their advice, but Haley’s is more useful to me because of the way she applies it to me. She doesn’t yell it at me, only if I really piss her off. That happens a lot. I don’t do anything wrong, but people still get mad…There’s something wrong with me, isn’t there?

I giggled at her remark, but I said nothing more. I waited for her to finish putting on her uniform, but then left afterwards as I pulled my hair back. My hair wasn’t that long even. It was barely past my shoulders. It was a rule though that our hair doesn’t go past our shoulders. It’s not enforced well, but if it does, we have to pull it back and if it’s still past our shoulders pulled back, it needs to get cut. I’m not a big fan of short hair, unlike Domo who hates long hair. She hates her long hair she had years back because she said she looked like an Indian. She needs more than the hair to look Indian.

Our unit is supposed to report to directly the main office. There, we are taken back to the head hocho’s office. We called him Frankie. Now don’t expect that he is a nice guy. Well, his is a nice guy and likes first names better than last names, but he’s a lot stricter than his name tells us. He really cares about this organization as much as his dad did and his grandfather. Yeah, apparently The Protectors have been around for a long time. I just found that out this year. Sad, isn’t it?

When I walked into the main lobby, I thought about Ash. I thought about the night before and how wonderful it had been in such a short time. It really couldn’t have been more perfect. Just me lying in his arms forever was fine with me. It was meant to happen. Sure, I’m keeping pretty much everything from him, but he’ll never know. It pains me everyday, believe it or not. It pains me that I lie, but I just…can’t…help it…

Dememtria and I went to Frankie’s office. It was in a heavily guarded secret door through a maze we begin as a warm up. The maze changes every time, but I got used to it. It’s become too easy for us now. Your objective is to get out and to get out fast. There’s always a consequence if you don’t get out. You either die or nearly die. If they want you around, they’ll heal you. But if you completely failed, they’ll let you die. Last time someone froze to death.

The place is filled with traps. Demetria and I have to enter in different entrances. We have to find the end, but you’ll never know what exactly is the end. I drop into the maze and it begins. It was hot already in the maze and the first traces of perspiration appear on my face. They were going to have me sweat to death. Gross… But as I make my way through all the traps of the maze, all of which I studied and know how to dismantle with my bare hands, I noticed that the walls were…sweating… I had little time, but as I began to examine it, the smell told me what it was. Lighter fluid and a little bit of gasoline drenched the walls. Demetria probably already found the way out, but I still haven’t discovered the secret to get to Frankie’s office.

I knew my time was running out as soon as the first breath of smoke entered my lungs.

The maze will be in flames in minutes. I had to get out before it took me with it. But I just froze there as I watched the first flames above me. I was like a deer in headlights as the flames surrounded me. I wasn’t sure what to do and my mind blanked out. When the flames danced around me and delicately touched me, it went further. I realized that I was about to get burned alive. So I ran. I didn’t know where I am running, but I ran through the flames to get away from them. The heat and smoke burned my eyes and I was forced to close them. It didn’t make much of a difference… I just plowed my way through as the flames slid over my body. Yeah, it burned but not as much as it was supposed to. I found that very strange because of my pasty skin, I burn easily. Not sun-wise (but that is also very true) but also because mom always said I’d go play with fire and I’d be burning in seconds. How did I live? I don’t have a clue.

My eyes opened themselves, even though they were burning, because my body had felt the heat wash over me. Cool air—correction. Cool, fresh air replaced the hot, smoky air that I thought filled the room. No, I was in Frankie’s luxurious office with Demetria standing in front of it, watching the door. Frankie’s hands were folded across his beer belly as he leaned back and waited. He glanced at Demetria.

“Time,” he said.

“Twelve minutes and three seconds.” Demetria responded automatically. She watched me take a deep breath and take my place behind her. We faced Frankie and he leaned forward and pushed a paper towards us.

“Your assignment.” It was as simple as that. I plowed through fire for a piece of paper. But as I looked at it closely, it was the wanted list. Someone moved to the top, and he goes by the name of Lenny Lee. Lee was such a common name, but it definitely narrowed down to see that Lee wasn’t Asian. No offense to Asians. There were no distinguishing features about him. He looked like an average man. His hair was short; his eyes were the same brown as his hair. His eyebrows were thick and his lips were full, but his nose was small.

“Now tell me your plan.” Frankie rested his chin in the palms of his hands, propped up by his elbows on his desk. I opened my mouth to speak, but Demetria beat me to it. So much for my impression for the day…

“He has a scar just under his eyebrow. It’s small, but now we can recognize him. Based off this information, we’ll go around town until we find him and bait him. When he runs, we’ll chase him into a dead end and arrest him. If he resists, we’ll shoot him.” Demetria explained. It was the typical way to go after someone. Nothing new, but she wants us to go into broad daylight…dammit.

“This time though, we’ll be undercover. Last time, we remained hidden and it didn’t help much so we’re going to put on disguises and go through the crowd, even ask some clues without giving away our cover. But to be safe, we’ll even erase their memory of us.” I added. I knew Demetria was trying to make her look better than I, but Frankie always has had a special interest in me. It was viewed as a good thing, but it could be used against me at the same time. My cards had to be played just right. Demetria tried to make me look stupid, but she only gave an introduction and I elaborated on it. I even made her look bad a little, but I wasn’t proud of it. I hate it when people do it to me (even though I’m pretty much used to it) and I hate it even more when I accidentally do it to others.

“But I’m not saying last time we did a project in daylight was a failure. In fact, Demetria’s idea was brilliant, but we just didn’t carry it out as we expected. The job was done, and this time we’ll try approaching it differently and see which one works best for us to get the criminal and have no one know about it.” I quickly covered for Demetria. Well, it all zoomed through my head but my tongue paced itself as I explained calmly and clearly. Demetria couldn’t keep her mouth from dropping. It dropped a little that I just showed her up and covered for her.

“I see. You understand the consequences if you do not succeed at this task?” He didn’t wait for an answer from us. “He’s number one on the list right now for a reason.” Lenny was top on the list because of the recent events of serial killing. He was a serial killer out there and on the list showed he lived, where he worked, where he frequently went, and all the people who know him. This was very convenient for Demetria and I, and we’ve always wondered how they got this information.

As I reviewed the list, I noticed a new name was added. It wasn’t a real name. There wasn’t even a picture. But it intrigued me as I read the description. “He” (assuming it’s a he) is called the “Shadow Thief.” He was moved onto the bottom of the list because of a recent crime he committed…last night. It occurred right after I left the club and it was only a few blocks away. I could’ve stopped him! I was right there and it was in the museum I drove past as I neared the gate. I mentally kicked myself for being so stupid. I could’ve stopped him and brought him in. This place never sleeps…
My heart was pounding faster. I didn’t want it to pound so loudly and hard. It was hard for me to breathe like this. I have nothing to worry about. We’ll be in disguises and we’ll always be on the move. Now that can be held against me. I could always run into someone I know, but they won’t recognize me, right? My stomach felt like it was going to just fly up like a balloon and out my mouth with all the butterflies in it. And with my throat so dry and closing up, it didn’t seem possible. The pounds from my heart probably will push it down.

To calm my nerves, I imagined Ash and our night before. I smiled at the thought and wanted to ditch and go see Ash again. He had to work today. He’s a trainer. He trains all kinds of animals for everything. Shows, movies, the circus, whoever calls. He goes to the aquarium a lot, but also the zoo to train the new animals about how life in captivity works. He’s amazing at it and makes so much money. He doesn’t have a college degree, just experience. He’s been working with animals all his life. His dad taught him everything he knows because his dad was a vet. He often brought Ash with him on calls when Ash was little so he can help. But if it were all blood and gore and really cool guts, he wouldn’t bring Ash, for he was afraid to scar him.

The Protectors often provided disguises, but we had to get out there quick to stop him before he finds another victim. Demetria and I left quickly. We were back in the main lobby and took a glass elevator up to the third floor, entirely dedicated for disguises and such. We went to one of the stations. There, we had our hair dyed with special instant dye. In a matter of minutes, I was a redhead and Demetria was a platinum blonde. I really worked the whole redhead thing because of my faint freckles I’ve had since a kid. Or so mom told me…

It would last and look like regular dye, but it’ll wash out when I wash it later. I was, after all, Scottish so I’ll try talking in a Scottish accent. Demetria was going for the rich girl look. Perfect hair, perfect face, perfect teeth, and perfect clothes. It all reminded me of Haley. Demetria’s hair was so blonde, it was almost white. She could pass for Haley’s shorter sister.
I, on the other hand, will be acting as a foreigner. We washed our faces and they made us look like high school students, which, again, will wash off like make-up. I was her foreign exchange-student…from Scotland. I looked as though I borrowed clothes from Demetria. I was the bait. The serial killer was noted that all his victims were foreigners.
In a matter of minutes, Demetria and I emerged from a garage into the broad daylight in a blue Beetle Bug. The sun looked like headlights from a car that shone directly in my eyes like a deer.