It Is Well With The Van

Chapter 19: Disappoint You

Stage One of going undercover was about to begin.

DaVan stood outside of Erik Reinhart's office, unsure of what to do next. Should he just walk in, or wait for B. Wells? One part of him wanted to protect his friend from the danger Reinhart could cause, but the other part told him that he shouldn't risk the mission. He wasn't just doing this for Brandon. He wanted to stop The Emergency as much as everyone else in the crew. Furthermore, Mr. Benedict and his team would be in danger too, since his brother already had it out for them. And if he found out Evan was with them, he'd be in deep trouble.

Luckily, he didn't have to think for long, because Brandon walked up beside him and stood in front of the door with a sigh.

"We really gotta do this, don't we?"

Evan stared at the plaque with the forbidden name on it helplessly. "Yup."

B. Wells' lip quivered. "I hate this." He said, his voice shaking.

DaVan looked at his friend who was visibly nervous. He put his hand on his shoulder to stop him from moving. "Hey. You need to keep it under control. If you break in his presence, we're all toast. Keep your fear inside. You might need it later."

This made Brandon smile. "Is DaVan spitting bars?"

"I'm spitting facts." He replied with a chuckle.

The rapper cheered up a bit, taking deep breaths and using the calming techniques Aidan had taught him all those years ago. He used to be unstable. But now with his friends' help, he could stay calm in any situation... he thought... he hoped.

"Alright, you ready?" The boy asked.

Evan took a deep breath, then nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."

The two rappers pushed open the door and walked into the room that appeared to be... strangely minimal. It didn't exactly look like Reinhart's office back at Churchville, aside from the multiple Superman figurines. The walls had framed pictures of past chorus events (that DaVan theorized could have been photoshopped) instead of his family. And surprisingly, there was no piano in the room. That must have been reserved for the chorus room.

"Brandon, Evan. Welcome. Sit down, make yourselves at home."

Make yourselves at home? What kind of school principal would start off by saying that? Only Reinhart.

But the boys sat down anyway, in the abnormally comfortable chairs, which the kids could only assume was a part of his manipulation.

"So... I expect you know why you're here?"

"We're the new Messengers." DaVan jumped in quick, trying to seem eager.

"Yes! Exactly. You're the new Messengers. And I just wanted to personally greet you and tell you how proud I am of how well you've been doing in your classes."

B. Wells hesitated a bit, but kept his cool as DaVan had reminded. "T-Thanks."

"You're welcome." Mr. Reinhart said with his creepy smile.

"So," Evan started. "When do we start?"

"As a matter of fact... you start right now."

Jackson and Jillson entered the room with blue sashes, just like the ones Reynie had mentioned.

"You'll be wearing these during your times as Messengers."

"And you won't want to take them off."

The boys were handed the sashes, which they put on quickly due to intimidation and just the fact that they wanted to get this over with.