Wandering Child

Chapter 3- A Meeting

I crept down the darkened alley. The only sound I could hear was the distant noise of cars traveling on the perimeter highway a few blocks away. I heard a truck horn blare and I cringed. I seemed to be jumping at every little sound.

The message had said: Inner city. Runner's st. Warehouse 3. 1'o clock AM. Don't be late.Our definition of an Inner city was the warehouse district. Runner's street was the longest road in that area. I had just reached it.

I stood outside Warehouse three and looked around. There didn't seem to be anyone around, but I knew better than to trust appearances. The message hadn't said if I was supposed to wait outside or inside. It also said to not me late. I figured that the only way to make sure that I was on time, I had to go inside.

I shuddered. I wasn't afraid of the dark, but I disliked it. It made be feel uncomfortable. If there was to be someone lying in wait for me in the shadows, I would have no way of knowing. As well, I was deathly afraid of spiders. I wasn't afraid of mice, but that doesn't mean I liked them.

I paused briefly before entering the warehouse. It was pitch-black. I felt near the entrance for a light switch.

Suddenly, a light came on. I knew that I hadn't been the one to turn it on, but that didn't mean I wasn't glad to have it. It came from a bare lightbulb that was hanging from the ceiling. I walked forward until I was directly under it. Then I went forward a few more steps.

Suddenly, another light came on a few feet in front of me. I turned to see that the light behind me had gone out. I walked until I was just past this next light, and another one came on a few feet in front of me. I knew without looking that the previous light had gone out.

I continued one with lights turning on in front of me, and off behind me. The air was muggy and stifling. I longed to find a window and open it, but instead I kept going.

Finally, I reached a wall. Oh, great. I thought. A dead end. I pushed against the wall in case there was a possibility of there being another way out other than the way I came through. The wall didn't move. Either I had been set up, or there was some other way to find whoever it was that I was supposed to be meeting with.

Suddenly, a voice boomed overhead, "THAT'S THE WRONG WAY. IF YOU WANT TO FIND US, YOU HAVE TO TURN AROUND."

i turned and saw that a light had come on again from the direction to which I had come. What was the point of that? I thought as I walked towards the light. Funny, I didn't recall my first trip across being such a distance.

When I reached the light, I could see seven people sitting around a long, rectangular, wooden table. Each person sitting at the table was clad in black from head to toe. I didn't know how they could possibly have sat there under that light in the stifling summer heat. Every person sitting at the table was also wearing a face covering that revealed only their eyes. The table had no decorations except for a symbol painted in red across the top. I went to get a better look at the symbol. The head of the table was empty, and the one to the right of it beckoned me to sit down. I did, and was finally able to see clearly as to what the symbol was. It was a red rose with a dagger being stabbed through it. In the background there were flames. The hilt of the dagger was intricately painted with the picture of half of a silver mask.

"You're late." Said the person to my right. I could tell that he was male by his deep voice. He removed his face covering and I saw that he wore a half mask that was colored black. The others removed their mask and I saw that they were all wearing half masks. Some were on the right side of the face, some on the left.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"We do not have names. We did at one point, but we abandoned those names for designating numbers." Said the woman on my left. "I am AM1. This," she said, pointing to the man on my right. "Is AM2."

"What are you, some kind of cult?" I asked, skeptical that there was any real reason for my being there.

"Sort of." AM2 offered. "We're not a cult by definition. We're more of a..." His voice trailed away for a moment. "Fan club."

"You could call us an association of right." Ventured the woman sitting beside AM1. AM1 nodded and turned her face fully to me. I could tell that, behind the mask, her face was not what we would call normal.

"Okay..." I said, trying to understand what I was being told. "So, What are you fans of?" I asked.

AM2 looked at AM1 and AM1 nodded consent.

"Would you please open you bag?" AM2 asked politely.

"No." I said with almost no emotion at all. "The things I have brought with me are unimportant to you as of yet."

"Oh, but they are very important." AM1 said in a voice that reminded me of a child who has had to wait a long time to open his birthday presents.

Just then, someone from behind me grabbed the pack from my lap.

"Hey!" I cried and held on. The person had to step into the light to be able to get a better grip on the pack and, in my surprise, I let go of the pack. It was Mr. Johnson!

"You!" I growled in a deep-throated menacing voice.

"Never mind him." AM1 said. "He's just doing what he's been told. Burt here is a scientist, actually. He's one of the reason's why you're here."

"Oh, now that changes things." I said sarcastically. "Of course I'll let you snoop through my stuff and steal from me. NOT! Give it back!" And I stood up and grabbed the bag from him. The pack's flimsy fabric tore and it's contents spilled everywhere. Inside was a flashlight, some jerky, a juice box, and the manuscript. I had decided to bring it along in case my mother found it. At least, that was the reason I told myself.

Mr. Johnson picked up the manuscript before I could get it and handed it to AM2.

"At last." AM2 said, and stroked the leather binding lovingly. He then reluctantly handed it to the waiting hands of AM1.

"Good." She said in a satisfactory tone. Then she passed it to the woman sitting next to her. "The last piece slips into the puzzle." She said softly, and looked at me in a queer way.

I sat back down in the high-backed chair and shifted uncomfortably. I saw the last person in the row, the man directly across from me, take the manuscript and stand up.

"Hey!" I cried, standing up again. "That's mine!"

"Correction," AM2 said haughtily, looking at the spot where the other man had gone off. "It was yours. It's ours now."

"No it isn't!" I yelled, and came up to him. I leaned menacingly close to him and growled, "Give it back or you'll be sorry."

"Oh, my." He said sarcastically. I raised a fist. "Now." I hissed. AM2 wrapped his bony fingers around my fist and squeezed. It was like my hand was on fire.

"AAAAAH!" I screamed.

"ENOUGH!" AM1 thundered, and AM2 released my fist. "This is not getting us anywhere." She turned to me as I rubbed my hand. "Please sit down again." She said. "You'll get the manuscript back, don't worry."

I grudgingly sat down and glared at AM2 for a long moment before turning to AM1 and asking, "So why am I here anyway?"

"Well," AM1 began slowly. "I think I should explain who we are first."

A/N: Well, that was exhilarating! Let me know what you think! No flames, please.