I gasped so loud that the thing which owned the shadow took a couple steps back, and tumbled down a couple steps. It was actually a man, dressed in all black, by what I could tell from the little light that shown from underneath his sleeve. I couldn't discern anything about him yet, although he was really tall and one of his legs was wooden, like a pirate's.
'What are you?' I asked suddenly not afraid of an intruder in my room at 2:00 a.m.
'A human being. Hummanus being the Latin verb, conjugated it means...' He was cut short by his cell phone ringing. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary getting a call in the middle of the night until his voice changed and it became a growl, nipping and snarling at the person on the other end. Finally the man tucked the phone into a brief case I hadn't noticed before and looked at me smiling apologetically, 'Sorry, didn't mean to scare you there, just some boss-and-employer conflict going on.'
'Who is your employer?' I asked the stupidest questions sometimes. Here I was, a strange man standing in my room who could talk dog and had a wooden leg, and I asked who his boss was?!? Well, I'm 13 and not much if a brainiac.
'I think his name is Bart Reagal Omen, but he insists that we call him "Your Majesty",' He added a flourishing bow.
'I wouldn't like a boss like that,' I stated.
'Neither would I, neither would I...'
'So... Why are you in my room?' I finally asked a sensible question.
'It's a very long story.' He started orienting himself with my room, turning in circles and nodding at little things he liked. 'Very good color scheme, maroon and grey. Quite nice.'
'I'm here till 7:30 a.m.'
'Mind if I do?' The man gestured to the couch and I nodded.
'Well,' he began, 'it was a dark and stormy night and I got called for a mission. The End.' Quicker than I though was possible, the man grabbed my wrist, pulled me out of bed and headed down the stairs with me dragging behind. He didn't try to muffle our thumping down the stairs. I twisted and tried to pry my arm out if his, but his handgrip was stronger then steel. I screamed and yelled, attempting to alert my parents. Nothing. No light went on, no "Is everyone alright?". No bleary eyed siblings with bed-head staring wide-eyed. Nobody to help.
'Where are you taking me?' I yelled at the man, but he kept silent.
He reached our front door and pulled me out into the cobblestone road. A single car with the lights dimmed hummed quietly, waiting. A chauffeur jumped out a ran over to open the door. He had a name tag that said 'Hi, my name is Chutney'. I glared at him when he looked down, but he quickly looked at his watch and slammed the door after I had been shoved in. The motor started and we drove away from my house and everything I had taken for granted.
The inside of the car was completely black. There were two sets of seats, each facing each other and a little coffee table in the center. Pictures of old 1970's celebrities hung on the walls. A thin piece of plexiglass separated the driver from us. The man sat opposite me, sipping a mug if a dark black liquid and whipping his mouth on some sort of hankie. He smiled and I glared. No one had tried to tie or gag me so I was free to move, but I stayed put. A small flat-screen tv was mounted behind my kidnapper with a stupid reality show on. I bet hey hadn't been kidnapped ever. I really wanted to punch someone, but I knew if I did that I would probably end roped up.
'Would you like something to drink?' The man in black asked.
I glared.
'How about some breakfast? It's nearly 7a.m, you'll be hungry soon.'
I kept silent, but he was smart. I was already starving and I didn't think I could last any longer without eating.
'Well, you asked for the story and I rudely interrupted and brought you here. So the least I could do is finish it,' he said. The man knocked on the glass and it slid down. 'One bowl of Fruit Loops and a small hot chocolate,' he told the driver. Chutney then turned to the passenger seat, hands off the wheel, and started pouring and stirring. There was no one on the road so it wasn't that which scared me. It was that you could see the road. Cliff and road were one and the same, nothing to stop an unlucky car from tumbling over the edge, especially a car with no steering.
The glass went up and the man handed me fruit loops and hot chocolate. Possibly the best food I have ever tasted. But anyways, the man watched me as I chugged down the drink and started in on the cereal.
'Quite an appetite you worked up there,' he announced.
I glared at him again, but said nothing.
'Well, to begin the story for the third time, I work for a secret agency called the FENCE. You will soon figure out what the acronym stands for, but my boss has instructed me not to tell you. The agency helps kids like you figure out the full capacity of your abilities. For example, have you ever been able to hack a school computer or make things blow up?'
I thought about it and replied, 'No.'
That stumped him, 'Well we get calls from our DPs reporting that kind of behavior and then me, the head of the agency, is called to go and pick them up. You though were not assigned a DP, my boss just started getting an interest in you I guess. But whatever, not my problem. I bring the kids to a school called the School for Reasonable Doubt, where we have hand picked teachers to help you control what you can do. We usually send out a letter to the parents first, and if that doesn't work I have to come out. But my boss didn't want to take any chances with you. So here we both are," he ended with a happy smile and twirl of his mustache.
