Chapter two
Twenty one year old Dominic Sunder sat in the corner of the pub booth. The pub was quite quiet as if it was illegal to talk. Around him, seven other police officers sipped on their drinks. Dominic studied them. There were four females in the booth. The first was a dark skinned woman. Her straight black hair was long, and her brown eyes seemed to skim over the bar and her expression gave a look of nervousness. The second woman had curly red hair and her cheeks were pink from the coldness of the bar. The third woman looked slightly bored. She was gazing at her perfectly filed fingernails and blew her chestnut brown hair away from her green eyes. The last looked around eighteen. She stared at her clasped hands, her marble blue eyes shone. Her blonde hair was tucked behind her ears, giving her a vulnerable air.
The rest of the table's inhabitants were men. Apart from himself, Dominic counted two other males. One had short, spiky brown hair and hazel eyes; he stared up at the ceiling as if it was highly interesting. The other man was what Dominic would call a dork. He wore black spectacles covering dark blue eyes; his sandy hair was parted in the middle with gel. He was reading a book, unaware of the silence around him.
Dominic cleared his throat, receiving everyone's attention. 'So,' he said. 'Is everyone here?'
'No,' said the red haired girl, 'there is only seven here, one hasn't arrived yet.'
Just at that moment, the pub doors swung open. A young boy stumbled in. He was the final member of the party. Dominic could tell by the recognisable badge on the boy's front. It read 'STARS' in bold letters beside an image of an eagle.
The boy spotted the table and tried to look acceptable before calmly walking over. He sat down awkwardly. He looked the youngest at the table at only seventeen. He had black hair almost covering his brown eyes. He smiled at the others, receiving it back. Dominic didn't smile. Instead, he decided to criticize.
'Your late,' he said flatly.
'I know,' said the boy. 'I lost track of time.'
'I don't like people who are late,' Dominic growled.
The boy narrowed his eyes on him and said, 'better late than never, sir.'
Dominic scowled. 'On your case, I beg to differ.'
The red haired girl rolled her eyes. 'Can you two please shut up; we need to discuss the mission arrangements.'
'What's there to discuss?' said the brown haired boy. 'We go in tonight and investigate, what's so big about that?'
'Well I for one would like to know who I'm working with, lets introduce ourselves'
The officers nodded and turned to Dominic. Dominic noticed everyone looking at him.
'Oh please let me go first!' he cried sarcastically. He sighed. 'Ok, my name is Dominic Sunder, I'm twenty one and I've been in the police force for two years now.' He stopped but no-one was satisfied. 'And I have a brother called Billy.'
'Oh, me next,' said the red haired girl. 'My name is Amber Jones, I'm twenty three, and I've been in the force a year. I was originally born in Germany but my parents moved to England when I was three.'
'I'm Tiffany,' the dark skinned girl said. 'Tiffany Dhami. I'm twenty one and would like more than anything to leave right now and go home.' She went back to gazing over the bar.
The others looked at her oddly before turning to the brown haired girl who, by this time, seemed to have had a speech ready.
'well, I'm Rebecca. Call me Becky, and I come from the south. I have no big details although when I was in school I pretended I arrested all the boys and kissed them. I guess that's why I had an interest in the police force in the first place. I only took this mission since it had a lot of money in the pay.'
Everyone nodded. It seemed Rebecca wasn't the only one who saw the job as part of a good-money game.
The blonde girl was next, and she didn't seem to want to talk.
'Um,' she started. 'I'm Katy. I'm eighteen and I come from up north and…that's about it…'
Glances were exchanged as she stared at her hands.
'I'm Kevin from a place far, far away called…Dundee.' The boy with the glasses joked. 'I was highest in my classes throughout my school education and I am qualified to teach biology in most secondary schools. I, as far as it seems, am looking forward to this mission for I do not believe in ghosts or goblins that make human beings die or disappear, its utter rubbish to me.'
Dominic raised his eyebrows in an 'impressed' kind of way. Maybe I'm not the only one who has more half a brain on this mission, he thought.
'Names Gavin, Gav for short.' Began the brown haired boy, 'been in Stars since I was twenty four, three years ago. My dad is Raymond Clark.'
Eyes widened. His father was head of STARS?
'Yeah…' Gavin went on, noticing the unbelievable stares. 'I have a five year old son and a three year old daughter, Jack and Holly, who I have raised alone since their mother died...' All the girls gave a sigh of admiration and sympathy. 'And that's pretty much it, that and myself being one of the coolest in the group,' he ended lightly.
Most smiled, at least one of them had the ability to change something sad into another subject; they may need some humour later on.
The last in the group, who was also, last to attend, was the black haired boy.
'I don't like talking to myself very much,' he said, 'so all I'll say is my names Harry.'
Dominic glared at him. Trust him to take the easy way out.
'Is that enough for you?' Gavin asked Amber, 'do you know enough about us yet and can we go? I promised Jack I'd be as quick as possible he doesn't like staying with his uncle.'
Amber sighed, 'fine, let's go.'
One by one the filed out. Harry and Dominic last. Dominic noticed the boy face as they exited the pub. The black haired boy was giving his feet a cold, evil smirk as if enjoying watching a bug being squashed…
'Hurry up you two!' one of the girls shouted.
Harry looked up, a soft smile and a friendly look took over his face, 'we're coming!'
This boy is weird, Dominic thought…
AN. Ok, you've met the squad, how do you like them? Tell me what you think, please! I always consider suggestions, they help the story. Thank you to sych77 and Tinkies, my reviewers.