Young Writers Society

“What the hell?” I throw a pillow at him, which he simply catches and sets on the edge of my bed. “Did Merith let you in? I’m gonna kill her.”

He doesn't answer, only reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. He throws it onto the bed and it bounces a few times before coming to a rest face down. The message alert rings and the sheets shake slightly.

“Why are you giving me this?” I ask.

“It’s yours.” He stuffs his hands in his pockets and shrugs. “Figured you’d want it back since it’s been going off for the past half hour. Might be important.”

I gape at him as I grab the device. When I flip it over, the screen is completely blue, a tiny black dot flashing in the upper right corner. My heart sinks; it's a message from a professor. Colton might’ve just screwed up everything.

“Wait,” I say, looking up at him. I can’t really see much because of the dark, but his silhouette is enough that I can tell where his face is. “When did you steal this?”

“In the dining room. You were so focused on getting out that you didn’t notice me reaching into your jacket pocket. Easy pickup, really. For someone who’s top of the class, you’re not very observant.”

I want to beat his face in, but something more important is sitting in front of me right now. I rub my eyes again and stare at the screen. It’s too bright, too demanding, too important. How long have I been asleep? It hasn't been long enough for me to be dealing with this right now.

Looking up, I realize Colton is gone. I start to wonder if I had just imagined all of that. No, that wouldn’t be possible. It was too real to be all in my imagination.

Suddenly, the lights above me flicker on. Tearing my gaze away from the screen, I see Will sitting on the edge of my bed. I groan. “What is up with everyone tonight?”

“It’s not that hard to pick a lock actually,” Will admits. “Kellar probably taught Colton how to do it. I passed him on my way in. Anyway, are you ready to go?” He’s flipping his phone in his hand, his fingers shaking slightly. I sit up straighter. It’s not like him to get fidgety.

“Welcome, come right in. Glad to see you,” Merith says sarcastically as she wanders into the room and collapses face down on her bed. “Colton woke me up when he plodded in. Have anything to tell me, Bryn?”

I ignore her. “What are you talking about, Will?”

His face pales. “You… you didn’t get the message?”

I glance at my phone, the black dot still flashing at me. I unlock the phone, scanning my fingerprint. A video pops up immediately with Professor Clemet’s face frozen in the middle, those blue eyes glaring at me already. My heart races. This can’t be good. Clemet is Caddarick’s right hand man – or woman, whatever. If this message is from her, it mine as well be from him as well.

I reach to press play, but Will grabs my hand. “Are you crazy? Not in front of Merith!” he hisses. I look from him to my roommate. What could be so bad that Merith can’t hear it?

“Whatever this is, she can hear it too.” I reply.

“Hear what?” Merith mumbles into the sheets.

I look at Will, my eyes pleading with him. He sighs. “Fine. Get over here, Mer.”

She pushes herself up and joins us. We sit on my bed, the phone laid out in front of me. I’m suddenly nervous. Will isn’t telling me anything. Is it really that important? I look at my friends once more before pressing play.

“Ms. Bryn Patterson,” Clemet says in her raspy voice. “You are to report to the headmaster in room 47C at the conclusion of this message. You are not to bring any personal belongings or materials of any kind. Not even the device in your hand. You will be missing many of your classes, therefore you are excused from them all. The other professors have already been notified.

“I assume that you are with Mr. William Anchelle. Please pass along that he should meet Professor Stauver in room 83F. He is also asked to not bring any personal items or materials of any kind. However, if he chooses, he may bring the red handbook.” I don’t understand what that means, but judging by the look on Will’s face, he does. I turn my attention back to the message.

“Do not tell anyone where you are going or what you are doing. You will learn more of your mission upon arrival. Report to room 47C to meet Headmaster Caddarick. Mr. Anchelle to room 83F to meet Professor Stauver. Immediately after this message, Ms. Patterson. That is now.”

The screen goes blank and the file disappears. I search the phone, looking through every folder it might’ve gone into, but I don’t see it anywhere. I run over the details in my head. No personal items, no devices, 47C and 83F. That’s all I need to remember, right?

“Whoa,” Merith says, voicing my exact reaction.

Despite the order to report immediately, I don’t move. Clemet called it a mission. I’ve never been on a mission before. I’ve shadowed an agent and participated in training exercises, but have never headlined a mission. That’s a whole other monster in itself.

Why do they even want me? The candidates are the ones who go on missions. Not that I’m complaining, really. I’m ecstatic to be assigned one! But my confusion outweighs any excitement I might have. Why are they giving me this opportunity so early? The faculty doesn’t stray from the norm; ever. Candidates get the first pick of mission and then they land on the fifth levels, but only after they’ve completed five or more months of that school year. It’s only been two. I haven’t even gotten to take a weapons class. What am I supposed to do if I face someone with a weapon? How do I fight them off without dying? Where would I even start?

I look at Will and see the same anxiety written on his face. In an odd way, it relaxes me. He’s just as realistic as I am and realizes the seriousness of the situation, but he seems to understand why it’s so odd as well.

“What are you guys waiting for?” Merith asks as she tries to push me off of the bed. “Get going! She said go now!”

I turn to face her. “She also said not to tell anyone. Can you keep a secret? I don’t want the whole school knowing.”

Merith gives me a look so serious that I’m not sure if it’s really her. “I promise. No one will know.” I nod, not even hesitating in believing her.

Suddenly Will’s expression changes and he grins. “Think I have time to change?” I take in his outfit for the first time. He’s still in his pajamas, a red striped shirt and matching pants. I can’t help but laugh.

“That’s what you’re worried about?”

“Well if I’m going to help you defeat some crazy guy or murder a mayor, I need to look my best.”

“I’m not going to murder any mayors.”

He ignores me and continues. “Clemet said to report immediately. Doesn’t give us much time to do anything.”

“True,” I respond and take a deep breath. "Aren’t you just a bit worried about why this is happening to us?”

His jovial expression vanishes in an instant. “Of course. We haven’t even taken the VQ yet. They shouldn’t be trusting us with any mission. But the only way we're going to find out is by going.”

"I wasn't thinking of not going," I grumble.

“So just leave already,” Merith chips in. “They’ll test you soon enough. Besides, not every fifth level that has ever been sent on a mission has passed the VQ.” She’s right.

Gathering every bit of courage I have, I get off the bed, pulling Will with me. “We’ll fill you in when we get back.” I promise.

“Fill me in on what?” she asks, but winks shortly after. I shake my head.

Turning back to Will I ask, “Do you have that book she was talking about?”

The corners of his lips turn up and he flashes his phone. “I downloaded it all last week. Everything I need is on this thing.”

“But Clemet said you couldn’t bring that.”

“She won’t know. Especially if I turn off any frequency it might give off to make it traceable.”

“Oh right, techie stuff. You would be that guy.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “Are you making fun of my genius?”

“No, never,” I respond, not able to hide my laughter. “Now come on. Let’s go see what kind of hell Vido got himself into now.” I drag him out of the dorm and into the dark hallway. A few of the lights are turned on so we can at least see where we’re going.

We make sure to walk silently past the dorms. Any noise could make one of our classmates stir and investigate. I’m not about to let some idiot mess this up for me. Everything has to go perfect. And I’m going to make sure it does.