PROJECT 12/21: CHAPTER FOUR PART ONE The first thing I saw…was nothing. There was no sign that a man had been there. The gym was completely silent that you could hear a pin drop. Everything was the same as it usually was. Confused, I walked farther into the gym. Soon I was standing right in the middle of the gym, on top of the circle that had a picture of a blue and yellow wolf symbolizing our school mascot and colors. Suddenly, I heard a rustling. I quickly turned around and saw a man standing there. He had green eyes and brown hair cut in a way that made him look like a business man. He was wearing all black including a long black coat. I couldn’t tell if it had inside pockets which made me feel uneasy. It wasn’t the same guy that came to dinner! What if he had some sort of weapon hidden behind his coat? As if reading my mind, he said, “Don’t worry I won’t hurt you,” in a business-like voice. “Who are you?” I demanded my voice squeaking from fear. At least he seemed friendly enough. Maybe I should be less paranoid. “Who are you?” I asked again, this time with no squeaks. “Well, to you I’m known as the mysterious person. But I know who you are. You’re Hope Crandall.” “How do you know my name?” I asked getting more worried by the second. I could almost feel my heart beating. “There’s always a way to find out.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, completely confused. “Does it really matter?” “Yes.” “Then figure it out.” I was starting to get annoyed. Why can’t he just give me straight forward answers? “Why did you ask me to come here?” I demanded once again. “I wanted to talk to you about…gym.” “What do you mean?” I was wondering how he’d know anything about the incident in my gym class. The only people that saw it were my classmates and teachers. They even acted like it never happened which was even weirder. Even if a student or teacher talked about it, probably no one would believe them. “You know what I mean.” “How did you…,” I said stunned. “I have contacts,” he answered once again not revealing exactly how. “So, what about gym?” “I have many answers on what you want to know.” That surprised me even more. He went on. “I know how you have these powers. I can give you more detailed answers if you agree to join me, but for now I’ll tell you the basics. I am the person who left you at your house.” That was definitely a shocker. My mouth fell open. He must be a friend if he knew my real actual parents. Noticing my surprise he went on. “I also knew your birth father. He and I work for an important organization which needs your help right now and it has something to do with those powers you have. It is called project 12/21.” He said it like you would say the date, twelve-twenty first. “Why would you need me?” I asked still completely surprised. “They need help for a very important task. Also, we knew you probably would want to meet your father. Finally, the fact of what you did in gym led us to be one hundred percent sure that we needed you.” “What would I have to do?” “We need you to lead us in something,” he said still not giving the full answer. “And what is that?” “First, I must tell you something.” “And that is,” I said getting a bit impatient. “Your father and I know you’re special. You are not a lot like other humans in this age.” Once again I said, “What?” “You will find out soon. But I made you special. Sure, you were born normal, but I changed you so that you were more than human.” “So what exactly am I?” I asked, freaking out. I didn’t want to be a freaky vampire or something. “You’ll find out sooner or later like I said.” “I have a question. Why didn’t you make the guy that came over our house just tell me all this?” “Wouldn’t your parents get suspicious?” “Not if it was my dad’s friend.” “Are you sure he is your dad’s friend?” “I guess.” “See you really don’t know. Do you know exactly what your parents do at work or who their friends are?” I wanted to defend myself, but I knew I was wrong. “MY dad’s a real estate agent and my mom’s a volunteer librarian,” I simply answered. “Are you sure? Have they ever brought you to bring-your-kids-to-work day or anything like that?” he asked. I hated how he made me question all this about my #life, and the answer to his last question, although I didn’t say it, was no. “Do you know about your parent’s childhoods?” “No,” I answered once again. “Do you know if your parents are against any specific laws or are in a group fighting against the government? Do you even know whether they are democrat or republican?” “No,” I said starting to get annoyed. “You really don’t know a lot about your parent’s true lives, but I do know and I can tell you. I know exactly who they work for and everything else.” “But I know where they work, too,” I said trying to show that I did know some things. “Are you sure that’s where they work. Have they ever really brought you to work? Have you followed them when they drove off every morning to see where they really do go?” That made me realize he was right. I have never really seen my mom and dad’s work. They always skipped the family days, and all we ever talked about at home was how my school was. Then I remembered how my mom had been on my computer the other night. I tried thinking back to the last time I went on it to see if I could remember anything being different. Then a thought occurred to me. All the information that included Adrianna was gone. My mom erased it. Maybe she just noticed me talking to a stranger and got worried. Somehow I knew this wasn’t the case. “My mom erased all information about Adrianna.” I noticed that the man would probably have no idea who Adrianna was. “She’s-,” I started off, but he quickly cut me off. “I know who she is.” “So you sent her a letter, too.” “Yes,” he admitted. “Is she like me?” “Yes, her parents work with us, too, and she is needed to lead us just like you.” “You said you’d meet her tonight then, too.” “Yes again, a colleague of mine is with her now.” “Can I see her?” “No, she is somewhere in Chicago, but you will meet up eventually.” “Wait, what is this task you need help with?” “The task? From before?” “Yeah,” I replied, not being formal because this occasion didn’t seem too formal in the first place anyway. “It might be a bit hard for you. You would probably have to leave a lot of things behind to help us with it.” “So, what is it?” I asked almost worried about the response. Especially since he said I’d have to leave a lot behind. “You must help us end this world,” he said really casually like he was just talking about the weather over a cup of coffee at Starbuck’s. “You were created especially for this purpose, you and the other six. The destruction of this new world will lead to the rebirth of something much better that you will rule!” “What?!” I screamed. My mouth opening and closing like some sort of weird fish. “It’s for the better of mankind.” “No it’s not!” I argued this time softer remembering that I really wasn’t supposed to be here. Before he could answer back though, I heard a muffled scream and a crash.