On Her Majesty's Secret Service ~ H.S.

Chapter 1

"Yep- I've been training for years. Just came out of Cambridge." The girl admits. I sense that she carries herself with an air of superiority, but I don't blame her. I do, too.

"Wow! I just got out of Oxford." I let her know. It doesn't have to be a competition, but there's nothing wrong with a little friendly rivalry. After all, only one of us can be an agent at the end of this.

"That's amazing! I'm so glad to be here." Sarah tells me. I nod and agree with her.

"Yeah, so am I. Do you know why there's so many people in here?" I question, confused as more and more people file in. There must be at least 25 others, maybe even 30. The gray room is getting a little stuffy now.

"No clue- I thought there were only supposed to be 10 recruits." Sarah states what I was already thinking. That's what I had been told before arriving. Obviously, something has been miscommunicated.

I turn to Sarah to make another comment, but find as I do so the lights in the room go out completely. With no natural light to be found anywhere near, 30 other recruits and I are plunged into darkness.

My eyes are useless to me, but as I start to hear people scream I know there must be something wrong. Sarah and I dart in different directions. I feel around in the dark and pick up a chair stationed by the wall that's closest to me. I let my back rest against the hard surface and hold the chair in front of me, ready to defend myself from oncoming attackers.

I remain in this position, silent, for a few seconds. As my eyes begin to adjust I can just make out the figures of other recruits. There are significantly less people in the gray room with me now. I see some darting down the corridor we initially came through. Every couple seconds there's a new scream to be heard somewhere in the compound. What the hell is going on?

I inch along the wall, slowly enough as to keep any noise from sounding out. I see a figure by the door across from me. They are getting ready to run through it. However, instead of departing of their own accord, I see another figure with a glowing mask reach out, grab the first figure in it's arms, and quickly drag them down the hall and out of sight. I hear loud screams for a few seconds, before the sound is muffled and quickly dies out. Holy shit.

I glance around and as I hear more screams coming from various directions I know exactly what's happening. People are being taken, and it doesn't sound like they're leaving willingly.

I form a plan in my head. That's the first thing I learned in university: make a plan before you execute an action. That way you'll know what to do if something goes wrong. I decide that my best option is to backtrack my steps and try to find the entrance through which I first entered the building. That way I'll be able to escape. I could risk running through one of the 3 other doors, but I have no idea what lies beyond them. Becoming lost in a maze of dark hallways will not bring me closer to freedom.

I take a deep breath and find that only a few figures linger in this room with me. I'm assuming everybody else bolted or was taken upon the lights shutting off. A few more seconds and I determine there are no more glowing masks in the vicinity- no one ready to take me. With no protection for myself, I can't imagine I could put up a decent fight against an enemy I can't even see.

I keep the chair in front of me in case of oncoming attackers, but see nobody. I still hear screams from different hallways around me as more people are taken, but they seem to be getting farther away. Maybe the assailants are leaving.

As I reach the entrance I first walked through, I peer down the hallway beyond. I see no glowing masks, and only one other figure. I assume it's a recruit like me and deem the corridor safe for now. I set down my chair and make a run for it. Although hard in the dark, my eyes have adjusted enough now that I can just see the faint outline of each wall on my left and right.