Chapter One: The Men in Black
I will never forget the day the men in black visited our school.
They had black suits, wore dark sunglasses and came in a venomous black limousine. I watched from my perch on top of the monkey bars as I saw black shoes hit the pavement as the men in black piled out of the limo. One of them stared intently at me, shielding his eyes from the sun with one of his black gloves. I knew from school that black clothing attracts sunlight, and the first thing that I thought of was that they must be SWELTERING in those suits.
The doors of the limousine slammed shut as the men in black stepped onto the playground. One of them pulled out a rifle and shot a hole through the tire swing, which deflated as quickly as ice cream melts on a sunny day.
Children ran screaming in every direction. It occurred to me that perhaps I should join them. I scurried across the monkey bars and started to slide down the slide. The men in black started shooting rapidly in every direction. Suddenly, one of them looked at me again. I couldn't see his eyes through his sunglasses, but I was fairly certain he wasn't blinking.
Quickly, I tore across the blacktop, but one of my shoes hit a rock and I tripped and fell to the ground. Dizzy, I started to stand, but one of the men in black cried, "STAY DOWN!" He pointed his rifle straight at me.
"What are you doing here?" I cried. "This school is a sanctuary!"
"BE QUIET!" one of the men commanded. I looked around to see that I was surrounded. Men in black were in every direction. I considered my possibility of survival. Not very high. What did they want from me?
"PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" a man yelled, face flushed. I kept my hands down. Putting your hands up was a form of surrender, so they would surely kill me if I put up my hands. "PUT YOUR HANDS UP, OR WE KILL YOU!" Well, so much for that idea. I put up my hands. "WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"
I kept my mouth shut.
"YOU CAN STOP BEING QUIET NOW, YOU KNOW!" the man yelled, and he removed his sunglasses. He had dark brown eyes and hazel skin. His hair was short and black as night. I noticed that he wasn't blinking.
"WHAT'S YOUR NAME?" the man repeated. He pulled the trigger on the rifle. "TELL ME, OR I SHOOT!" Thoughts raced through my head. Should I tell them who I was? Should I stay quiet? I wanted desperately to stay alive, but—and then, three of the men in black grabbed me by the arms and hoisted me into the air. I thrashed about, trying to break free of their grasp, but then I realized that being taken was a whole lot better than being killed.
"Master wants him to stay alive," hissed one of the men who was carrying me to the man that had pulled the trigger. "Therefore, he stays alive. We bring him to the master for questioning." He said this with great authority in his voice.
"Who's the master?" I just couldn't help it. The words came out of my mouth like a bullet from a gun. "Who is the man that told you to kidnap me and terrorize this school? I would like to know the name of my captor."
"His name is Ashira," said one of the men in black, "And he is a good man."
"What kind of a good man would drag a child from his school and threaten to have him killed?" I demanded.
"Threatening to kill you was not part of the plan," the man explained. "Sharut was acting irrationally, and we apologize for his actions. I'm sure, deep down, he is sorry too."
"I DO NOT FEEL THE NEED TO APOLOGIZE TO OUR PRISONER!" Sharut roared. "WE SHOULD'VE KILLED HER WHEN WE HAD THE CHANCE! I DO NOT FEEL GUILTY FOR WHAT I DID! I FEEL LIKE I'M THE ONLY RATIONAL ONE IN THIS ENTIRE GROUP! THEREFORE, BE QUIET AND MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, THORUN!"
The other men stared at Sharut, shocked that he would say such things. I took this moment to break free of Thorun's grasp and make a wild dash for the school. "He's getting away!" one of the men yelled. "Quick, after him!"
The men snapped out of it and piled into the limo. "FOLLOW THAT BOY!" commanded Sharut. "AND STEP ON IT!" Sharut rolled down the window and called out, "IDIOT BOY! YOU KNOW WE'LL FIND YOU EVENTUALLY, AND OUR WRATH SHALL BE WORSE THAN THAT OF A THOUSAND SNAKES!"
I stood there for a moment, wondering what that meant, but then realized that I should probably run. I tore towards Cairo Elementary and pounded on the door. "LET ME IN!" I yelled. "IT'S ME, ARN-MIAMI OF SOUTHERN CAIRO!" Relentlessly, I pounded on the doors and windows, but they would let no one in. They were having a lock down, and they knew that impostors could be holding me captive and forcing me to say this against my will.
The limo parked outside the school. Once more, the men in black got out their rifles and ran towards where I was, shooting randomly in all directions. One of the bullets shattered the glass from one of the windows. I heard screams from inside of the school as shards flew everywhere. I took this opportunity to squeeze through the hole in the window and inside of the school. In horror, I realized that three of the larger shards had pierced Mrs. Winkowski through the skull, and bones were protruding out of her head. It was a repulsive sight. I also saw that one of the shards had fractured my best friend Amun-Lee's thigh bone, and yet another had dislocated someone's spine. One had flew straight through Minumma-Ra's neck, stopping her heart. Maimed and dead people lay everywhere. The school nurse was in a frenzy, running out of bandages fast, tending to the wounded. She was working hard, but she couldn't save everyone. Amun-Lee and Minumma-Ra were dead within the hour. Still outside, I heard the men in black shooting at the school. I wondered if they were terrorists. I'd heard of terrorists before...strange men who destroy for a purpose that they believe is right, but might not be. That would explain why they thought that their leader, Ashira, was a good man. But still, did terrorists kidnap people? I had learned that terrorists kill, not take captive. So who were these men in black, and why were they attacking my school...and me?
Eventually, the sounds of bullets bouncing off the walls faded, and we heard the limo pull out. The men in black had left, for now. But we knew that they would return, with stronger men or better rifles or a means of breaking down our steel doors.
Nurse Lipslow was in despair. "These men had better not come back," she growled, "Because we'll be ready for 'em!"
"How is that even possible?" I asked her. It seemed fairly unlikely that Cairo Elementary, this flimsy little school in Middle of Nowhere, Southern Cairo, could possibly prepare themselves for an attack from the men in black.
"That's a good point," said Nurse Lipslow, and she started to cry. Amidst her sobs, I heard her murmur, "WHY sixth grade? It always has to be sixth grade..." and then she continued her incessant wailing, and said no more.
One hour later, she was stony silent. Her face was flushed with tears, yet she looked extremely determined, like she was set on her goal, and nobody was about to stop her from achieving it...whatever that goal was. Finally, she spoke.
"We have to get you to Seattle."
Like it? Have you guessed who the men in black are? Here's a hint: EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. Well, he does live in Cairo...Yes, I know, in Rick Riordan's books, it's Brooklyn, but I'm trying to make this story a LITTLE bit different.
Please review! This time, I honestly will update...summer vacation has come at last!