James strode down the narrow corridor which led towards his room on the left and Jenny's on the right. He'd walked across that bit of carpet so many times before now, it was starting to feel a little like home.

He open the wooden door which lead into his small room. The walls were bare apart from a few pictures and posters he had stuck up to decorate them a bit. His bed was in the middle of the floor. It was small, with a hard mattress and an equally hard pillow. The only thing comfy about his bed was his cover. He would wrap himself in it to keep warm during the bitterly cold nights. Next to his bed was a desk where he kept his alarm clock. He walked across the stale green carpet and slide his school bag next to it. And finally, to finish of the dullness of the room, in the corner was a large cupboard with a mirror attached to the door. James sulked over to it and stared at himself. He was starting to change quite a lot. He had grown about 2 inches since he had arrived 3 months ago, his hair was starting to get a little too long, and…

…OH MY GOD!

"Is that a spot on my chin!" He gasped, as he stepped nearer the mirror to inspect it closely. After a few seconds of observation, he came to the conclusion that its was just a scratch.
"Phew...That was a very close one. I've been a teen for 3 years and still no spots. I must be immune or something."
He laughed quietly to himself, but he had to get on with the mission. He had a job to do, and John was counting on him.

BEEP BEEP…BEEP BEEP

James turned around to see his mobile light up and start to vibrate. He had a text. He picked up his phone and flopped down onto his bed as he opened up the message. It was from Dana, his new girlfriend.

HEYA GORGOUS
NOT HERD FRM U IN A WHILE
MISSIN U SOO MUCH…WHEN U COMIN HOME?
THERES A MASSIVE KISS WAITIN 4 U WEN U GET BACK
LUV U…DANA XXX

James grinned as he read the message, it was really nice to be missed, and Dana was really cool too, but he didn't have time to text her back just then. So, instead, he made a mental note to do it later. He slid the mobile into his jean pocket and headed for the door.

James stepped out into the corridor and casually looked around as he crept towards Jenny's bedroom door.
"Hello, anyone in here?" He asked as he knocked on Jenny's door. After waiting a few seconds, he heard what he wanted to hear. Silence. So, he pushed open the door a crack and peered inside. Empty. Wow, this was going rather well up to now. He glanced once more down the corridor to check no-one was lurking about, and stepped inside the room.

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3 months earlier, John Jones had offered James a place on a mission. This would be the first mission for James after the Aerocity disaster in Russia. And of course, because he hadn't had one in 5 months, he accepted it straight away.

"So, what's this mission all about then?" James asked John as he sat down on the red sofa next to the wall, in the mission preparation room.

"I'll give you just a general idea, there's more information in the briefing," he replied as he handed James a thick plastic folder, full to bursting with sheets of paper and photographs.

"Well, long story short, a woman called Helen Hughes is believed to be responsible for a series of children going missing. Most of them have disappeared while they were out with friends during the evening, but some went missing on the way home from school…they never turned up at home. We think she is running some sort of criminal organisation, but we're not quite sure what it is at the moment. But, what we do know is that she needs the children for it to work smoothly. But, kid-napping isn't the only serious crime going on here. It gets worse. Some of the children who have been reported missing have been found, but dead. This must be a security reason, but 7 kids have been brutally murdered by this organisation. We can't let any more die. So this is where you come in. As you have already accepted, you will be travelling out to the less popular part of Blackpool sometime during the next month. You will be put into Blackpool Children's Corner (BCC), as there is a girl there who's friend has been abducted. So, I need you to study that briefing and know you background story back-to-front." He took a deep breath as he tapped the huge folder. "You still absolutely sure you want to go ahead with this mission?"

"John…" James grinned cheekily, "…You know me better than any other Mission Controller at CHERUB. I've never turned a mission down yet, and I'm definitely not going to start now. And after 5 months of no missions, it's like music to my ears. You can count me in for sure."

He paused for a second to get his breath back, and thought about all of the things John had told him about his mission.

"You know what, I can't believe this Heather person. Who could kid-nap a bunch of kids and then kill them!? That's just…sick. I mean, I've been on some really hard missions, like, for example, that one with KNG and the drugs and stuff, and also that one when I got put in Arizona Max. But this one just tops them all. Well, apart from the Aerocity one."

"OK, first of all, it's Helen. Second, yes, I know it's terrible. This mission may not be hard physically, but mentally and emotionally, it will be quite tough. The nerve of some people and the things they do is just…wrong. And third, I know you're still saw about the Aerocity disaster, but I'm sure you'll get over it soon."

"Yeah, I know. It's just hard you know. But, I'm sure getting back out there and starting a new mission will probably take my mind off it," he sighed, "I can't wait to go."