Chapter 6: Welcome to the Peace Keepers

~ When you are thrown into the unknown, the first thing you do is find the things you know. It is easier to delve deeper with the knowledge that something is still the same.~

As I came back to consciousness for the second time today, I was immediately blinded by the harsh change of light. As I was squinting away the spots that showed up and getting used to the lights, I heard a voice to my right.

"Thomas?"

I looked over; it was the kid I had met earlier.

"Liam? What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

As I looked around trying to see if I could recognize anything, I realized that Liam and I weren't the only ones here. I couldn't remember all their names, but all these people around me were also from my school. I tried getting the attention of the man I saw earlier.

"Hey what's going on? Why are we all here? Listen, if this is an elaborate prank in preparation for the game Friday, I think you guys have gone a little bit overboard. Seriously let us out."

As I tried finding a way out of the room, a voice answered back.

"I can assure you this is no prank, and while you aren't free to go, I did make sure that you all were at least somewhat comfortable, I mean you didn't even notice the lack of restraints."

He was right. The adrenaline of finding a way out had caused me to overlook the basic things, we were all fine. No restraints, no bruises, nothing.

"Okay, but still, what do you want with us?" I asked, looking around the room.

As I was looking, a door seemingly appeared out of nowhere and a man in the finest suit walked in. He seemed in his 40's as there was a touch of gray in his hair, but everything about him from his glasses to his shoes to even the watch that peaked through the cuffs of his suit; it all seemed to give off the indication that this was the person that could answer our questions.

"Well, that is the question of the day isn't it. If you all take a seat, I'll do my best to explain everything to you. You can call me Mr. Moreau. I am the one in charge of this facility. As to what we want with you all, it's simple really. We want you all to work for us."

"Who is – "

"Ah! No interrupting. Questions, if there are any, will be at the end. Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, we want you to work for us. Specifically, I want all of you to become the new team for the Peace Keepers. Now that all that is out of the way, any questions"

I heard a girl behind me ask, "Okay, but why do you want us, why not somebody else? Was it just a random grab of whoever was available?"

"Random? Goodness no. Do you really not understand why we want all of you? Oh, this is going to be much harder to explain then, but I'll do my best. All of you were chosen for your Heirlooms. Specifically, all of you seem to have awoken your respective Heirlooms in some way shape or form, and that is exactly what we need here. I'm assuming you all are completely lost at this point, but I really am not the one to best give all the information of Heirlooms, so I will let somebody else take care of that. Give me one moment as we prepare everything for you. And don't worry, everything is going to make sense soon, trust me."

As Moreau left, I turned and looked at everyone else.

"So, this isn't really the time for introductions, but who are all of you? I know Liam, and I recognize you all from school, but other than that, I don't really know anything."

"Why should we tell you?" A voice in the back called out.

"Well since apparently, we are going to be working together, or whatever it is they want; I would like to at least know the names of the people around me."

"It's Akira."

As I craned my neck up, I could see the person who spoke. Akira was slightly shorter, black hair in a shorter cut, with torn jeans, and a classic tee with some band name I haven't heard of. I could tell that they definitely didn't want to talk more so I left it at that.

"Alright, and I'm Thomas. I know you are Liam." As I pointed to him on my right.

"What about the rest of you?"

"I'm Evelynn."

"Oh yeah, you're the class president, right?" I heard Liam ask.

"That's right." I could see her try to force a smile, even though you could see her hands shaking. It made sense, I was scared, I'm pretty sure everyone was. We had no idea where we were, and we still didn't really know what these people wanted. As I was thinking I heard a quiet voice to my left.

"I'm Beatriz." I turned to get a better look. She seemed to be surprisingly calm compared to everyone else. As she said her name she came up to Evelynn.

"So much for taking time to yourself."

"Well, you didn't really do it either, so I guess we both lied didn't we." They both smiled and gave each other a comforting hug.

As I got ready to speak, Moreau's voice leaked through some type of hidden speaker system.

"Well now that we have gotten all those introductions out of the way, let's move onward shall we, it's time to meet the rest of the team." A door I didn't notice before opened as he finished speaking.

I took a deep breath, trying to relax the muscles in my shoulders. Even though my entire body wanted to run, it didn't look like that was an option. As everyone began moving towards the exit, we heard Moreau say again, "Welcome to the Peace Keepers." Somehow, it felt much more unsettling than it had before.