Reborn?

         “It was a dark and stormy night… when I bought this piece of crap game….”  It was another nameless day in the middle of the hazy month known as July to some; but to Ken it had all run together into one giant holiday known only as summer vacation. Normally he would spend all day locked in his room filling up his blog with reviews of whatever unfortunate game wound up in his hands; today was not a normal day however. Ken had been called into the school about some questions on his last report card. With a quick push away from his desk Ken reached his bed and started to pull on his shirt and shoes. “Did they catch me picking the lock?” he wondered silently as he finished getting ready.

         The school was by no means impressive; it was built in the late 50s and consisted of supposedly lead painted bricks and some “refurbished” trailers so that they would have room for the “Booming” population of this dinky little town. Ken couldn’t help taking one last deep breath as he approached what was surely to be the end of his somewhat enjoyable and profitable summer. Confidently Ken strolled past the trailer until he reached the office; they only had the basic level lock on these temporary buildings, easy to crack and no cameras or prying eyes on the weekends. It had been an easy job, with the help of the computer club; he went from a C- average to a B student which kept him out of trouble with his parents.

         As Ken reached the office doors he found a little surprise; they were locked. He gave a hard knock and waited 5 minutes, 10, as the 15 minute mark approached he started to become curious. Was this a trick? Were they trying to catch him in the act? The lights were off and the room was dark. “Well they can’t bust me for keeping my appointment can they?” with a sly grin Ken started around the back of the building to check the rest of the offices for signs of life. After finding the building sufficiently empty Ken started to scale the side of the building; this model has a skylight built in near the back, next to an exit, just in case the building wasn’t as empty as it seemed. With a quick jerk and a soft pop that sounded more like a gunshot to Ken’s adrenaline spiked senses the skylight came free. Ken hopped down the hole into the always inviting darkness.

         It didn’t stay dark for long though, with a quick snap the entire building burst into light. “Welcome Ken Barabosu, you’ve kept us waiting.” The voice was deep, and rather unfamiliar to Ken, it was definitely not the principal or dean; two voices he knew very well. “Well boy do you have anything to say?” The second voice was a bit more rugged but still as unfamiliar. “Who are you?” Ken asked cautiously; while he looked up at the two men he saw before him. The first man was in no way a small man, he was about 6’ 5” with a muscular build and several rings on each hand; he had a slightly awkward lean which told Ken that his left knee was still injured. The second man was thin but still muscular, his hair was heavily peppered with gray and his stance was sturdy, hinting at a hidden knowledge of some pretty advanced martial arts. The first man would be easy to drop; hopefully age had slowed the second down a little bit.

         “Calm down boy, we aren’t here to hurt you,” said the second man in a voice as soothing as he could muster. “Are you sure he is the right one? He seems awfully pitiful to me,” commented the big one, smoothly he shifted his weight to his good leg to get ready for a lunge. Ken let his lips twist up into a cruel smile “Pitiful? Haven’t heard that one in a while” he said, and with a sharp hook and spin he snapped the big man’s knee like a twig. Quickly Ken spun to catch the second man before he could react, but the older man was already in action; the man caught Ken with an agility that didn’t quite match is aged appearance. With a flick of his wrist the older man threw Ken across the Trailer and into the metal siding. “Pain, son of a bitch that hurt; nothing broken, I’ve got to get up” thought Ken, unfortunately his limbs didn’t quite seem to cooperate. 

“Get up boy, we have much to discuss and you have an apology to make to my acquaintance,” proclaimed the older man.

Around the desk Ken could see that the larger man was still on the ground cradling his recently shattered knee; “What do you want from me!?” Ken managed to shout at the older man

“We want you to come with us; we have a problem that you can help us fix.”

With a groan Ken rolled over and started to stand shakily, “Yeah  well you can shove your problem somewhere the sun don’t shine  ‘cuz I got a business to run and homework to do.”

The older man chuckled softly “Oh please, we both know you have no intention of doing that summer reading, and that little blog of yours is business, although it did make it easier to track you down.”

“Hah, what do you know, maybe I was gonna turn myself around and start doin’ my homework,” totally not true, but Ken couldn’t just let these guys think they knew everything about him.

“Sigh, I don’t have time for this; you can either come with us or enjoy a pleasant ride and a nice warm place to stay or you can continue to be difficult and we can make life very uncomfortable, choose wisely,”

“I still can barely stand… What is that guy made of” Ken thought as he swayed shakily from side to side “Do I have a real choice in the matter?  I can’t fight him if I can barely stand.”

“Alright” Ken said “If you can tell me where we are going, and you can get me home before dinner tonight,” not that it would really be much of dinner since his parents were rarely home and never cooked.

“I’m certain that can be arranged, although you may want to stay with us once you see what we have in store for you, as for where we are going… That will have to remain a secret.” Replied the older man, his face had loosened slightly and his partner was getting back on his feet.

“Fine, but what about the wall?” Ken asked as he looked back at the human sized indent on the metal siding.

“It will be taken care of,” said the older man “Now please come with me the car is waiting around back. Oh and please no more funny business we would hate to have to cause any harm to your dear friend Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth? Who is that?” The name did sound familiar to Ken but he wasn’t really sure where he had heard it before. “Besides I already said I’d come with you, so there is no reason to involve strangers in your creepy operation.”

“Very true, now this way please. What is your jacket size if I might ask? The establishments we tend to utilize frown on attire such as yours.”

Ken looked down at his sagging jeans and loose fitting t-shirt, “What’s wrong with my clothes? I worked hard for these!”

“Don’t worry we won’t make you dispose of them, we would just like to get you something more… appropriate for the atmosphere we will be in.”

Ken hesitated for a moment, “What in the world is going?” he wondered to himself “Sigh, fine. But nothing to stuffy ok? I want to be able to take you jerks out if you try anything funny.”

The older man chuckled softly “Of course, we wouldn’t want you to feel threatened. “

The walk to the car was a short one, although the silence that filled the air made Ken jittery with an odd anticipation. The anxiety slowly filled him, making every minute into five, time seemed to lose meaning. “I shouldn’t be doing this, it’s stupid. What if I disappear? How long will it take my parents to figure out I’m gone? A day? Two? A full week?” These thoughts ran through Ken’s mind as he trailed behind the big limping man who was obviously in pain.

Finally they rounded the corner and entered the back parking lot and Ken stopped. In front of him was a Rolls Royce stretch limo. No creepy paneled van, no old broken down truck, a fresh off the line limo, two black Chevy Suburbans were parked nearby, no doubt they were here to escort this expensive car.

“Who exactly do you work for again?” Ken asked.

“You will find that out soon enough, but first we need to take care of your attire.” Replied the older man.

That was when Ken realized that he still didn’t know these guys names. “Who are you? I mean what is your name? You never told me.”

“Where I come from names have power, but that was a place far away. My name in this nation is Garret, and the man whose leg you broke is known as Anton.”

“Do you have last names? Or should I call you ‘Agent Garret’?”

“Call me what you like, I have no family name for I have no family, Anton does not like to be reminded of his family.”

“Uh… Ok… I’ll just call you G-man; since I’ve obviously messed up big time.” Ken said gesturing to the shiny black cars parked only a few feet away. “What kind of charges am I facing?”

“You face no charges Ken. Your country needs your help.”

“My country? You mean America?”

“I am not to discuss details with you here.” Garret said as he opened the door to the limo and waved Ken in. “Come now, we have much to do and not much time to do it if you want to get home by dinner.”

Carefully Ken slid into the limo, trying not to scratch the authentic leather interior. Silence, again, “Come on! Haven’t you ever heard of small talk? Making your kidnappee feel like you actually care about him?” Ken thought to himself with a huff. Anxiously Ken stared out of the window as the limo started to move; the Suburbans took their places, one in front one in back. “Why did I do this?” Ken thought “Why?” Secretly he knew why, something about the Garret intrigued him, his unnoticeable power, the confidence he exuded, something about him was just trustworthy. There was no cold dead stare in Garrets eyes like there was in the FBI Agents in the movies, the ones who are forced to take a kid away, make him disappear, or the ones who take the kid to a court where the rest of his life could hang in the balance. Garrets eyes seemed to have an excitement behind them; they hinted that something was going on behind that well-trained exterior, maybe Garret had grandkids, someone who looks up at him and asks why the sky is blue or begs for a story. Garret was clearly a true man, not a government robot like in the movies.

“Would you like something to drink?” Garret asked suddenly, causing Ken to jump.

“Ah, um no that’s alright, I have some water in here somewhere.” Ken replied lamely as he shuffled through his backpack, which he was almost certain didn’t contain a water bottle.

“Here,” Garret said as he handed Ken an unopened water bottle, Garret then dug through the minifridge and pulled out a second bottle. “Or would you rather have me take a sip so you know it’s not poison?” Garret said with a chuckle.

“No, no that’s ok, um thanks.” Ken looked at the bottle awkwardly for a minute “Well here goes,” he thought to himself as he took a sip.