The Protection

Eight

 It was almost midnight, but I couldn't sleep. I eventually dragged myself from my wrinkled grey sheets and stumbled over to the small black plastic writing desk in the corner of my room. My historic Compaq laptop, that burned my thighs when it overheated, hummed slowly to life. Once the screen illuminated and the picture of Beth and I at the Saint Patrick's parade last year smiled back at me, I selected the internet icon from the bottom left corner. My fingers hovered above the keyboard unsure of what to search first. The silky black t-shirt loosely covered my shoulders. I finally typed "The Protection" into the Google search bar. Basic and to the point. I held my finger over the search button for a few seconds, hesitating, afraid of what I might discover. I finally gathered the courage and pressed the enter key. Immediately, hundreds of articles loaded, and I clicked the most recent. Five days ago from CNN:

'It has been one year since the implementation of The Protection in America. Prior to their utilization, studies show that one in five women on college campuses were being sexually assaulted, gang violence was at an all time high, white supremacy hate crimes went through the roof, and a record high in suicide cases were reported among young people. However, in the past year, not a single mass shooting, sexual assault, homicide, or suicide has taken place, indicating the task force has been an overwhelming success.

Despite the secret security force having worked in the shadows for decades, The Protection had only been serving the highest members of society worldwide, from presidents to kings and queens to top businessmen. Only most recently has the organization expanded their services to the masses.

In spite of the notoriously private nature of the organization, CNN has learned that in addition to technological surveillance,The Protectors, or members of The Protection, have their own specific "skill set". These skills are utilized to assist in preventing violent crimes. However, what these specific skills entail remains unclear.

It is widely believed The Protectors' sole purpose is to provide their services to The Protection. They do not exist outside of the organization. They do not have normal jobs or socialize in our society. We may never, in fact, come into contact with any of those who keep us safe.

A spokesperson for The Protection states, "Confidentiality is the key to us providing our services to the American people. Without it, we would not be able to operate as efficiently as we do."

As for those who attempt to break the law, their fate remains unclear. There have been no trials or comments of any kind from the government. However, our sources reveal those who attempt suicide are collected and sent to progressive therapy resorts, signing non-disclosure agreements along the way. They reportedly pledge their sanity and silence to the organization.

Inexplicably, the rate of missing persons cases across the US has tripled in the past year. Many loved ones of the missing raising concerns of The Protection's involvement in the matter. The Protection's spokesperson declined to comment, but did allow, "We never discuss our practices, yet I can assure you the rise in those missing is in no way our doing."

I snapped the laptop shut, a chill erupting down both of my arms. Peter was missing. What if The Protection took him?! I didn't know if I should be afraid for him or happy he would get what was coming. He deserved whatever punishment he was given, right? He attacked me and would have raped me had it not been for the man with the Brown Eyes. I squeezed my own eyes shut trying to breathe. No, I was overreacting. The Protection was working in the dark corners of the world, scrubbing them clean, and not in the picturesque landscape of my small christian university in Texas. They were not assigned to protect stupid little volleyball co-eds like me. I shook my head trying to shake out the man with the Brown Eyes right out of it.

There wasn't even solid proof The Protection existed at all. What if they were just a myth created by the government to keep people in line, to keep the sheep following as a herd. Hell, I could have even concocted all of this in my mind. I'm sure Peter was fine, on vacation somewhere fabulous and not even thinking about DCU. About me. I was not going to drive myself crazy and dwell on the situation any longer. I threw the black t-shirt into the dirty clothes hamper, flipped back onto my bed, and closed my eyes. As I finally relented to a turbulent sleep, I prayed I wouldn't dream of the way Peter had felt on top of me last Saturday night.