• Goose bumps rose on my arms as the cold wind whipped around my body and sent chills down my spine. I stayed in my place on the bench and waited for the mysterious person that had told so little of himself in the note. Gray clouds blanketed the sky as the time dragged on, heightening my nerves in anticipation of the unknown. Pedestrians emptied out of Central Park and I was left alone in the approaching darkness. The crumpled note weighed heavily in my pocket and I took it out once again for yet another close inspection. I had to squint at the lopsided handwriting to read its message. It read,
    Dear Helen,
    You may not be aware of my existence, but I have been tracking your progress for many months now. I cannot give too much information on myself at the moment but I shall explain when we finally meet. What I may say is that my fate lies in your hands. You alone hold the key to a secret that has plagued my life for many years. Please wait for me at Central Park today from noon to 10. I must go now but I will come for you.
    -J. P.
    My close reading turned out to be useless and I shoved the note back into my jean pocket in frustration. Signing up to volunteer with the FBI’s minor unit, Junior Intelligence Forces (J.I.F), was proving to be a big pain in the neck.
    Our latest mission had been to go to Afghanistan and work to release captives in hostage situations. A recent phenomenon of disappearances of J.I.F operatives caused the senior coordinators of the group to pull several operatives out of the Afghan deserts and I just happened to be one of them. J.I.F had me swear not to get my cover blown but I was desperate to find the reason for the disappearance of my fellow comrades. They were the cause of my constant anxiety and vivid nightmares in the middle of the night. During the day, I spent most of my time researching the issue and working with scientists of shady backgrounds to uncover the truth.
    The only thing I’ve been able to conclude is that the missing people all had a pattern. Whoever was planning this must have some sort of system, wiping out all the smaller pieces to grasp the prize. Each site where the victims were last seen had mounds of-
    A sudden rustling noise arose from the swaying bush several feet in front of me, braking my train of thought. My body quickly stiffened and I shivered as I arranged myself into a defensive crouched position. Something bolted from the bush, leaving a trail of raining dust particles in it’s path. Cold, hard fingers suddenly gripped my shoulder and I turned to find a tall, pale faced man probing my face with his dark brown eyes and his light crimson lips parted as he spoke,
    “I’m sorry to have frightened you, Helen, but at last we finally meet. You may refer to me as Jay rather than Julius. You must climb my back and I will take us to the ideal location to speak,”
    My instincts told me climbing a stranger’s back was probably the dumbest thing I could ever do but my situation was urgent so I hesitantly hoisted myself to his back and followed the man’s instructions to brace myself and close my eyes. Wind began viciously slapping my face and my heart leapt into my throat as I got the feeling of being hurled into the windshield of a car at a hundred miles per hour. Gradually, the wind speed decreased and we came to a complete stop with my head throbbing with pain and Jay smiled knowingly as he dismounted me of his back and supported me as I swayed back and forth from motion sickness.
    We eventually found our seat on moss covered rocks by a flowing stream and a list of questions came tumbling into my mind like a pile of bricks. Who was this stranger? What did he want? Above all, how was I supposed to help him when I was the one in need of desperate help? One question that seemed to sum up all the little ones popped into my mind,
    “Why am I here?”
    “A simple question with yet not such a simple answer. I believe all the disappearances are linked to one group of scientists with evil motives. By taking all the significant people out of one individual’s life, they are looking to trap that one person. The victims are merely pawns in their grand plan, of which I now little. Though their prize is closer,” He looked down at me sadly
    “You don’t mean I –“
    “Why else would the victims be significant J.I.F operatives and those whom are closest to you? With mounds of rocks and Afghan gravel that show no trace of shed blood? If you choose to rescue your friends you could potentially lose your life. Do you accept the challenge?
    “I suppose I--“
    “Good. Now that we have that settled, I must tell you my role in this. My mother donated me to research when I was but a small embryo and by some experimental mistake, the scientists accidently created me and my three brothers with twenty-nine chromosomes instead of the normal twenty-seven. My three brothers and I grew at an unnaturally rapid rate as test tube babies shocking our creators. We began communicating with each other through speech within a month but kept that fact from the scientists. One day, at about six months, the men took my three brothers and I never saw them again. I quickly escaped a few hours later using my intellectual capacity and speed,”
    Jay’s eyes had a faraway and forlorn look as he stared into the glassy surface of the stream and continued with his story. Apparently, the same scientists that had created him and his brothers were still out there and were probably the cause of the disappearances. Somehow, the men were trying to get to me or probably Jay. He proposed that we fly to Afghanistan to free the operatives and possibly his three brothers. How we would do this, I did not know. As if in answer to my silent question Jay replied,
    “Have you ever wondered what the P in my note stood for? I have self proclaimed myself as a Protector. It’s clear to me now that the only way I can possibly avenge my brother’s kidnappings is to do good instead of the evil that was intended through my creation,”
    I slowly nodded as we both tread through the night to a waiting two person aircraft ahead. All my worries were dulled as I drowned in an endless sea of sleep.
    * * *
    Rough terrain and scorching heat met us ahead as we walked to the location where the victims were last seen. The mirage of bare Afghan desert finally disappeared and a gaping hole opened below our feet as we were both hurled into a black hole at several miles an hour before landing on our feet.
    Several men advanced towards us, teeth bared and clothed in white lab coats before running headfirst into Jay’s force field. Realization suddenly hit them and their expression turned frantic until they pressed a button on the wall and a wide smirk spread over their lips.
    Three muscle toned, pale skinned men appeared from the deep shadows and the veins on their arms rippled as they parted their light crimson lips to snarl. Each looked about the same except for their hair but their coal black eyes each carried the same malicious motive. Jay gasped in horror and his arms shook as he stared at the three figures.
    “My brothers…they’re going to make me kill my brothers to get to the prisoners,”
    The choice was to join the scientists or kill the brothers and free the captives. Time hung in the balance as everyone waited for the decision that would determine all our fates.
    THE END