Blackout Crime Squad
By: Judy Mahgoub
Prologue
Should I steal it? Well, I have no other choice. I go into the store and act like I’m looking at the bracelet, I stay in front of it until no one is around, and I quickly slip the bracelet into my sleeve. I walk out the store like nothing happened. A black car is waiting for me in front of the store, I got in, it smelled like coffee, the car was pitch black; I could just make out the shape of my single driver. I gave him the bracelet, the only thing glittering in the darkness. He shoves in my hand four crisped but wrinkled $50 bills.
I walked to my house feeling nervous and weird inside. I don’t know how I should feel, nervous that I have just stolen something, or happy because of the money. I really don’t know. It’s the second time that I have stolen something for these people that blackmail me every month, asking me to steal something. When I walked in the door, my mom looked up from her crossword puzzle. She always does the one in the newspaper every night before she goes to sleep.
“Where have you been?” she demanded.
“Anna needed help with her project at school so I had to stay with her. And, I had to finish my math class work since I had a dentist appointment yesterday.” I said it calmly. I had planned out exactly what I’d say since the beginning of the month, except for the last part with the dentist.
My mom stared at me for a few seconds and then looked back down at her newspaper. “Just make sure to be down here by dinnertime, alright?”
“Okay,” I said calmly as I climbed up the stairs.
I went to my room, sat on my bed and thought about the crime that I have just committed.
Chapter 1
I received a text from the blackmailers a week after my second “mission” for them. Apparently, they call a crime, a “mission”. The text said:
You have passed our test. Meet us at 12 pm sharp in Grams Road, Building 601 TOMORROW. The first floor, open the emergency door, exit through the stairs and we will be there to pick you up. Black car will be waiting.
I sighed, I had to do another “mission” for them. But the thing that surprised me is that they asked me to meet with them in the most deserted place in the city, they usually just tell me what to do. Now, I was feeling even worse than after my second mission. I had to sneak out the house at midnight and follow strangers to somewhere I don’t even know. But it’s not like I can refuse. They really are forcing me. The first text they sent to me ended with a threat, which no one would dare refuse:
… if you refuse our request or tell someone about our text, live at your own risk. We know everything about you. And we know how to kill you.
Of course, I didn’t want to be killed, so I decided to do what they said. The surprising thing is that they pay me every time I do a “mission” for them.
It’s 11:30 pm, I got out of bed, ready to go. I snuck out from my window, sliding down the rope I had placed after school. I called a taxi and told him to drop me off at McDonald's, which was the closest civilized place to my destination. I’ll have to walk the rest. I paid the driver with my pocket money, and walked, trying to look normal while I wasn’t actually feeling normal. Finally, I was there. I walked to the building, it was old, the type no one bothers to look at. I walked down the cracked and creaking walkway leading to where the front door is supposed to be.
To my surprise, it isn’t. I walked a couple of steps until I saw a big door at the far end of the hallway. Trying not to get dirty from all the mud and dirt around me, I reached the door. All I could see left of the sticker labeling the Emergency door was the red E. I pushed it open, and I went down the stairs. I checked my watch it was 11:59. I just kept staring at my watch, having nothing else to do. Exactly when my watch was at 12:00, I saw the black car arriving, making no sound at all. The driver signaled me to come in and I got in the car, wondering what would happen next...
Chapter 2
We drove until we reached a building that looked old and abandoned, much like the one they told me to wait in. I wouldn’t have noticed if we didn’t happen to stop in front of it. The driver told me to get out of the car and follow him. I did as I was told. We got inside the building and, surprisingly, the building had the latest luxury inside. It looked like a 5 billion dollar hotel. He told me to lift my arms up and walk through, I walked through the system flashed green lights all around me. He pressed his thumb on a security screen next to me, and he told me to follow. I walked behind him, still holding in the millions of questions I wanted to ask. “I’ve got her,” says the driver to another man. The man nodded and the driver left. This man was dressed professionally and had a serious face, the one that you wouldn’t like to make mad.
He waved his hand for me to follow him. Does everyone here signal? Do they ever talk? I thought. Finally, the man introduced himself and told me that his name was Mr. Clark (didn’t tell me his first name, nor did I volunteer to ask.) He then asked me how I was
“I am very well thank you.” I replied as I started thinking about how weird the name “Clark” was. Anyways, that thought vanished away when he led me into a room that was all white, everything inside it was white. He told me to wait in this room until he comes back. I stayed there for about 5 minutes until he came back with four unfamiliar people behind him. He waited until they all sat down and then he said “Hello” in a cold and unemotional voice.
“We are here to introduce you to our newest training agent, Julie”.
Everyone nodded at me like it was normal to see a 15-year-old girl part of a crime organization, but... I didn’t know that yet.
“We are the Blackout Crime Squad or the BCS for short. We steal, blackmail, sabotage, and murder.” That last word struck me like a sword in my body.
“ You have passed our first test, and you have been accepted to our school, ‘Blackout Academy.’”
“Wait—what? What’s the Blackout Academy? And why did you choose me?”
“Silence.” The man is short, maybe 5’4, with a bald spot growing in the middle of his head. He has the kind of face I know won’t easily forget. He had a thin face, with a few freckles and brown eyes that matched his hair. “You will start next week at the school, right after the last week in your other school. This is a boarding school, so you will have to leave your family and live here. You will, if you pass our school tests, become an agent and work for us. Do you accept our invitation?”
I stared at him like he was crazy. “And if I don’t?”
He shrugged. “We’ll just kill you.”
Now, I couldn’t refuse, I know, he clearly showed that if I didn’t accept his offer, he would kill me. So I decided to accept.
“Yes, I accept,” I said. With that, our meeting concluded. They drove me back to my house, and I instantly fell asleep in my bed.
That night, I had a dream, well, to be honest, it was much more of a nightmare than a dream. I was at the boarding school when I saw two graves opening and two bodies going in, in the background, I heard Mr.Clark’s voice laughing hard and saying “Ah Julie. You shouldn’t have done that. Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk. You shouldn’t have done that at all”.
I woke up with a start. My alarm clock is blaring and beaming, red light showing 6:30 am. 15 more minutes, I thought. I lay still until 6:45. Then, I got dressed and went to school. On the bus, I was so distracted by my thoughts that I didn’t even notice that my best friend, Eliza, was absent today. Oh well, I have other things to think about. I thought. I got off the bus, went into the decorated classroom that had “It’s the LAST week of school!!!” hanging proudly on the door. I was so tired that I literally fell asleep while the teacher was explaining the rules for field day.
It felt like the longest day ever. Actually, it was the longest week ever. I felt the same for the rest of the week until Saturday. I didn’t even feel like it was a normal first day of summer. No, it felt as if I had been taken out from the normal world and implanted into another. Mr.Clark had sent me the material list; all I needed was my toothbrush (apparently, they don’t give you one there), and about a hundred hair ties.
Chapter 3
On Monday, a black car came to take me to Blackout Academy at midnight. I slept in a room they gave me and woke up at 7, I ate their delicious breakfast and then went to my first class. My first class taught us how to properly shoot a gun, escape from a closed room and policeman. Afterwards, we had lunch. (all of their meals are delicious), we learned how to pass metal things through x-ray security, which I failed at doing, a number of times. Now, in my room, despite all the great things they have here, I’m still thinking about going back and forgetting about all of this. I began thinking of an escape plan. (I don’t think my lie of a boarding Art summer camp will last long with my parents, even with the fake papers Mr. Clark gave them.)
Two weeks later, I am still here. I like this school, but I miss my family and my normal life. So, I am planning to escape tonight. Just as I was about to review the plan in my head once again, I heard a knock at my door. “Come in,” I said, wondering who it was. Mr.Clark came in.
“Julie,” said Mr.Clark
“Yes?” I replied
“We have bad news for you, your family has died. There was a fire in your apartment.” He said.
I had my mouth open, my face full of fear and sadness. My eyes filling with tears. At that moment, I began sobbing. “I will leave you.” Was the last thing I heard Mr. Clark say, as he left the room. I had been planning an escape just to see my parents, but now, the plan is useless. They were gone and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.... I began to sob once more. This time, I couldn't stop. No matter how hard I tried.
I slept without realizing it, and when I woke up, it was morning. I went through my classes, trying to forget about my parents, I focused on my classes. It was pretty fun, but thinking about the real people you are going to kill, is another thought altogether.
Chapter 4
That night, I had nightmares that resembled the ones I had at the beginning of the summer. But to my relief, I felt much better in the morning. I woke up, got dressed, and then just as I was about to open the door, I noticed a small black paper on the floor near the door. I think someone might have shoved it from under my door. I opened it and read:
I was so surprised! I had a million of question forming into my head. How could my parents still be alive? And how on earth did they deliver this letter to me? Why did Mr. Clark lie to me?
Then, a thought came to me. It was more of a memory. I had read once that evil organizations get people to work for them by making them think that they have no one on earth except for this organization. Now, I know for sure that Mr. Clark doesn’t trust me. So, I’ll have to be more careful.
I decided that escaping tonight might be a good idea. Since now I know my parents are alive. I don’t know why my parents chose a very weird place to meet me. I think that means that someone is looking for them. And I’m a 100% sure that it’s Mr. Clark.
A few minutes later, I was ready to leave. I’m not staying in a criminal’s place any longer. I slowly and very gracefully opened the door to the hallway. I checked to see if anyone was in the hallway. No one, coast clear I told myself. I tiptoed down the hallway until I saw the front office. Behind it, was the front door. It looked much like an escape door to me.
I was so excited to leave, I didn’t check if the coast was clear behind the front office. I burst through the security checks, forgetting all about my plan of how to pass through the security. I flew passed everything, red lights flashed all around me, and two seconds later… I bumped into someone. That, someone, was Mr.Clark, and next to him was one of the people I had met before on my first visit here…
“Ira….” That’s what I heard before being knocked out. I felt someone pick me up and put me on a bed. I couldn’t move nor could I talk.
The next morning, I woke up and I found myself in an empty room. I thought of sneaking out but decided against it. I waited for about 5 minutes when I heard a knock on my door. “Come in,” I said not knowing what else I should do. Mr.Clark came in and he gave me a piece of paper, he put it on my bed, then left without a word. I felt a tiny bit of hope that it will be a letter to expel me from this school. But it wasn’t. It was a letter that said:
I threw the paper in the trash.
I wasn’t really nervous, or scared, all my mind was about was to survive until June 6th, which, if God wills, my escape will be successful.
Chapter 5
A week passed, and though tomorrow is not June 6th, I can’t bear waiting any longer. They will have to give me my first mission in two weeks and I’m not ready to kill. I have prepared my suitcase. I’ll have to leave tomorrow before breakfast since the classes start at nine, so most people would be asleep.
The following morning, I woke up at three. It was still dark outside. I dressed quickly, put the letter in my pocket, and tiptoed all the way to the front office, I used my training to pass through the security cameras. Now I was in front of the exit door. I quietly passed through all the security making sure I made no mistakes. Two minutes later, I was outside! I had made it! I started running and running until I was out of breath. I looked around me, and I felt like I was being watched, I looked behind and saw a black figure standing there. The figure looked at me for a moment.
“Who are you?” I finally muster up the courage to say. The figure took off the mask and revealed itself to be a woman, about 4 or 5 years older than myself. She had pitch black hair, that matched the sky behind her.
“Sorry for frightening you,” she said with a calm soothing voice. “My name is Ira. I am Mr.Clark’s daughter, I am supposed to be following you and telling my dad where you went.” She looked down for a second. “You escaped from Blackout right?”
There was no point in lying so I nodded. She carried on.
“Well, I think that it is unfair the way they treated you, so I decided to give myself away. Just so you know, there are cameras everywhere, even in your room, so my dad saw the letter you got.” I looked at her, I had a feeling she was lying, but I kept silent while she carried on.
“About your parents, my dad imprisoned them, and surprisingly, they got away. My dad had been looking for them for a week now.” I smiled, I guess we had a great talent of escaping. She carried on. “But now that he found the note they gave you...” I knew what she was going to say next. They will be where I’m supposed to meet my parents.
I thanked Ira for telling me this and walked away. Not knowing where to go or what to do. How did my parents know about this? Where are they? And most of all: What should I do now? These were among the hundreds of thoughts circling in my head.
I forged onwards, not knowing where I was headed. All I knew, was that I wanted to get as far away from B.C.S as possible. Then, suddenly, I saw a shadow of a person standing about five feet away from me. I looked at him, he looked at me and right when I felt like he was about to move, I started running away from him. Running as fast as my legs could carry me. I did not know where I was going. I just ran. I ran until I was panting from exhaustion.
Chapter 6
I looked around me, I was in front of an apartment building. It seemed familiar. I just remembered! This is where Eliza lived. She is probably now wondering where on Earth I am. We were supposed to go to the summer camp together, but I had insisted on going to the ‘Art Camp’ which was B.C.S. It was still nighttime, and I didn’t want to knock on her door now, but this is an emergency. And I figured that I could make up something, she might let me sleep there until morning. I headed to the door of the apartment building and opened it. It took me a few seconds to realize who was standing there. The same exact man that was standing in front of me 30 minutes ago. My heart nearly beat out my chest as I stood there, paralyzed with fear.
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