Stanley woke up with a gasp and clutched his leg as ghost pain hit him. Images flashed in his mind…the dog...his uncle standing over him...the pain. His eyes flickered open and tried to adjust to the darkness but could not. He reached out with his hands tentatively upwards and around him. Feeling the concrete wall on his left he ran his hand over the smoothish surface until it hit the metal bunk above him. He felt the underside of the bunk until his hand reached the edge of the bunk and went into the air.
He twisted so he was lying on his stomach and felt around until his hand touched the ground. Stanley tried to remember...remember anything. He knew he had gone to school and... The principals office! He went there and...nothing. He spun himself back onto his back and tried to think of a plan. Thoughts kept whizzing in his head and wouldn’t leave. Thoughts like ‘who brought me here?’ and ‘how did I get here?’ and ‘how long has it been since I’ve been taken?’
“GAHH” Stanley cried out with pain and shut his eyes as the lights flooded his eyes. Squinting with one eye Stanley looked around the room seeing bunks with other bodies squirming as well.
“What I am about to tell you, you cannot tell anyone else. If you do, there will be severe consequences. My name is Flynn James, a.k.a. Ghost. Don’t worry. You’ll figure out why they call me Ghost later. You have been chosen for your skills, brains, and personality to be a part of the U. M. F., also known as the Underground Mission Force. We are not CIA, or FBI. We are not related to the government. We have called you here today for you to accept and begin your training with us. If you choose not to accept, your memory will be wiped and you will be sent home to live a normal, happy, dull life. But, if you do accept, you will leave your family, friends, and life behind and you will begin an entirely new life here. Are you willing to leave everything you know for the betterment of humanity? Each one of you must step up to the window and deliver your answer. There will be no questions, no explanations of who we are, what we do, and what your role is until we have gotten acceptance from those who want to be one of us. The door will not open until everyone has given their answer. Understood? Good. Now, one at a time, step up to the window to deliver your answer.”
Stanley had thought his head had been awhirl with thoughts before but now many different questions were vying for his attention. ‘Why am I here?’, ‘Who is the U.M.F.?’ and the most prominent question he spoke quietly, “I’ll have to leave my family?”
With this, Stanley rolled out of his bed and ended up sprawled on the floor. He pushed himself off the ground and turned quickly to face the mirror. He looked down and saw that he was still in his trouser, shirt, tie and shoes. Tucking his shirt back in and straightening his tie, he walked up to the mirror and glared at it for a couple of seconds. “I wont have to see my family?......I accept.” He then walked over to the wall and leaned on it, folded his arm and waited to see if anybody else was going to accept.