1. They are recruited
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Be what you want to be, I read the poster on the telephone pole out loud. The bright yellow words made me think. My life was pretty boring; I desperately needed a change. I could easily see in the yearbook: Mike Rampart — Most likely to be bored for life.' I sighed, looking at the poster again.

That's not too far away, I said to myself, looking at the address. Meeting time is one in the afternoon, meaning I have I looked at my watch, about half an hour to get there. Plenty of time. I started walking in the direction of the building, putting my sunglasses back over my green eyes. I ran a hand quickly through my short, brown hair before I decided to run the rest of the way to the building.

I was the first one there, at quarter to one. The white building had a grate, which appeared to be the only entrance, and next to it a blackened window. I looked in the window and saw my reflection staring back, with the same gray T-shirt and baggy blue jeans. I went back to walking around.

At ten minutes to one, I saw a girl I knew from school, Selena Hart, walking over. She was a grade lower than me. She looked like she had been crying recently, but I couldn't figure out quite what was wrong. She brushed her dirty-blond hair behind her ears and looked at me darkly with her black eyes (probably a really dark brown) before turning away. Her clothes greatly contrasted her hair, eyes, and attitude, being a bright orange tank top with light blue jeans. Unfortunately, she always seems so sad or upset, no matter what anyone tries to do.

Two others showed up just on time, both girls from my grade. The first I recognized as Autumn Foxx, mostly because of her long blond hair. Most other guys would recognize her, sadly, by her breasts and legs. She was currently wearing a short white skirt and black boots with a fire image on them that reached almost to her knees. She also wore a leather vest over a red sleeveless shirt which, because of her large bust, barely went down to her navel. I couldn't really see what other guys saw in her; I guess I just wasn't as cool' as them. Then again, I had a feeling I didn't want to be, either.

The other girl, Mara Jade, was the opposite of Autumn, in terms of appearance. She was smaller in almost every respect, save the length of her clothes (although her shoes were smaller). Her hair was chin length and brown, matching her eyes. She was also a good half-foot shorter than Autumn, or about a foot shorter than me (I was around 6 feet tall). She wore jeans, a Growlithe T-shirt with short sleeves, and white sneakers with red stripes. Her shirt also reached the top of her pants, unlike Autumn's shirt; I'll let you guess as to the reason. Both Mara and Autumn, though were outgoing and, for the most part, friendly, quite unlike Selena.

My watch beeped twice, indicating one o'clock was here. As if on cue with my watch, the grate started to rise slowly. When it was all the way up, a man walked out. He was dressed all in black, even though it was pretty hot outside. He beckoned us inside. Slowly we went, unsure of what to do otherwise. he said dramatically once we were all inside, to the end of your ordinary lives. He continued forward, towards a regular door. I heard the grate slam behind us, and we all jumped.

The man in black took no notice, however, and simply opened the door in front of us. We were practically thrown into a room that looked like the waiting room of a doctor's or a dentist's office. The man closed the door behind us and went slowly to the door on the other side. He turned around and said, I will let you through one at a time into the Initiation Room' where you will have a simple test done to see if you qualify.

He looked around, and for the first time I noticed his facial details. He had short dark brown hair, although it wasn't as short as mine, and his eyes were bright blue. He looked straight at me and smiled. he said, you can be first, if you like.

I shuddered. There was something about his smile that wasn't quite genuine. I'm not sure why, but for some reason I overlooked it. Maybe because he had given me the choice; if you like,' he had said. Slowly I walked to the door that he was by. He opened it as I got closer, and quickly shut it after I had gone through.

I muttered to myself. I was standing in a plain white cylindrical room. The ceiling went fairly high, and I saw a glass dome at the top. Of course, the most unusual point of the room was the white dentist-style chair in the middle. I noticed another man in black standing next to the chair; I don't know why I didn't see him sooner.

he said without emotion.

What's the dome for? I asked.

he replied automatically. Now sit.

Since there was nothing else to do, I sat in the chair. Almost immediately the man moved, far faster than I could have thought. Within seconds, I found myself strapped onto the chair and unable to move anything but my head. Before I could struggle, I felt a prick in my arm. I looked and saw the man was now sticking a needle in it.

What's going on? I yelled, but I was getting extremely drowsy. The needle must have had some kind of anesthetic or something. My eyes slid out of focus as I felt another needle stuck in me.

Pain! Despite the heavy dose of anesthetic that prevented me from keeping my eyes open, I could clearly feel the second needle's contents. It felt like my body was on fire, burning up and melting away into nothing. First I couldn't feel my fingers, then my toes, then I lost feeling completely to all of my limbs. I screamed for the longest time.

Then I fell unconscious.