London's School for Wanted Children by Caleb Baker (best fiction books of all time .TXT) 📕

a runaway!"
"So what?! What does that have to do with my being here?!" Alfred countered.
"Nothing!" Deca intervened.
"Of course it does!" Iliad spat, "he's not one of us, he doesn't know what it's like to be deserted!"
"And you don't know what it's like to leave your family!" Alfred retorted.
"It's not like your family left you," Iliad's voice went soft, "you had a choice, and it didn't seem like you had a hard time deciding."
An chill ran through the room like an icy frost. Deca's eyes were on a swivel, moving back and forth so fast he had to sit back down. Iliad wore a stone-like glower, his eyes, onyx black. Alfred looked dumbfounded. Iliad was right, Alfred was so keen on joining the Guild that he never stopped to think of what he would miss, what he may never see again.
The door swung open, destroying the intense moment. Code stood under the threshold, one hand upon the door handle.
"Scarecrow would like to see you again, it's about your third test," she said urgently.
Alfred was still in a stalemate of the eyes with Iliad, who broke it as soon as Foxe said "third test."
"Third test?" Deca repeated, "Scarecrow never put any of us through a third test."
"He's probably inadequate," Iliad said, looking at Foxe.
Alfred was starting to get annoyed with Iliad, so far they hadn't had the best first impression, but as Alfred saw it, he did nothing to deserve the cold shoulder from him. Alfred started to walk to the door, making sure to ignore Iliad's glare. Foxe led the way out of the corridor, and into the circular room with the ring in the middle of it.
"This is the sparring room by the way," she said, as they took a right and started to head down another long and deserted hallway.
"What's down here," Alfred asked, his anger lowering from his last discussion.
"Down here is the main Foyer," she said.
"So what exactly is this place? I know it's a school but--" she cut him off.
"We call this place The Catacombs. We operate in the underground sewer systems of London. We have headquarters all over the city, some of them being above ground, and some being under, like this one."
"Do you have any idea what this test is going to be," Alfred's uncertainty was very evident.
"It's like Iliad said, none of us have been put through a third test," she answered.
Foxe opened another door, and soon they were standing in the same room that Alfred was first brought to and nearly killed.
"This is it," she said, allowing Alfred to walk in first.
The room wasn't dark this time, instead it was lit brightly, the pillars all completely illuminated. The carpeted stairs this time harbored a tall man with oil colored hair, slicked back into a ponytail; Scarecrow.
"Why do they call him Scarecrow?" Alfred blurted to Foxe.
"Nobody knows," she whispered back.
A silence bestowed upon the three people, Scarecrow stared deep into Alfred with his blind and unseeing eyes. Alfred knew that somehow, Scarecrow was looking directly at him. He couldn't shake the notion that the man who now stood before him was going to put him through a very strenuous trial.
"Alfred, did you sleep well?" Scarecrow asked, his voice was deep and booming.
"Yessir," Alfred lied.
"Good, so, are you ready for the last test?"
"Yes, I am," Alfred lied again.
"You sound unsure, is there something wrong?"
"No sir, I'm just nervous..."
"That is good, that means your emotions are working, that is what my last test requires... mind work," Scarecrow said, jogging down the last steps of the staircase, "Foxe, if you could take your leave."
"Of course, sir," Foxe said blankly.
After Foxe left, Scarecrow grabbed Alfred by the arm and brought him behind the staircase. It was hollow, and a door jutted out of the side of it, which he opened.
"Down here is where your test awaits," he said, "it's a simple one."
Alfred followed the man under the threshold and down long stairwell. The place smelled horrid, much like the sewer beyond the walls of The Catacombs.
"If you don't mind me asking... what exactly do you need me to do, sir?" Alfred asked hesitantly.
"Your questions never cease, but alas, I will answer... I need your help with a bit of... Detective work."
"But, I'm not a detective," Alfred was getting tired of saying that.
"You are more than you think, Alfred, or how else would you have gotten here," Scarecrow explained, "Foxe had asked you how to get across the street without being seen, did she not," Alfred nodded, "you came up with a way, but she had already figured out another way, different from yours."
This was all unknown to Alfred, had Foxe been leading him on the whole time, perhaps that's where her code name came from.
"Here we are."
They now stood in a small encompassed room with many televisions in it. They were small and hung up on the walls like the drapes of the bedrooms, and they all seemed to be showing the same thing. Two people were in the TV and they looked like they were stalking something, they were keeping close to the walls and moving smoothly.
"This is a video of Deca and Iliad," Scarecrow said, his hand on his chin, "I understand that they were caught on tape by the museum they were stealing from."
"Wait! This is the crime that happened a couple of nights ago!" Alfred exclaimed, "I was investigating this with my father!"
"Yes, that is why I need you," Scarecrow said, frowning, "I need you to tell me something."
"What is it?" Alfred asked looking intently at the video.
"What will the police do next?"
Alfred looked at Scarecrow, his eyebrows arched.
"Is that all I'm here for, this is the test, this is why you need me?" Alfred asked.
"To be honest... yes, we need someone on the inside, like I told you the day you left here to return topside."
Alfred nodded, it wasn't that he was easily swayed, it was just that Scarecrow had a certain way about him, he could explain things very well.
"Okay..." Alfred said returning back to the monitor, "I think the police will keep on this for a couple more weeks, or at least until something bigger comes up."
"Please boy, I could have said that," Scarecrow complained.
He looked harder at the screen, the crime didn't look too bad, they hadn't even succeeded.
"What happened that day," Alfred asked, he would need the whole story before he could determine anything.
"Well, Deca and Iliad set out on a mission, it seemed pretty run of the mill, but something messed them up. They said something about a masked vigilante, he stopped them in their tracks. They had to flee, and they were chased through the city, that was why there were fires and such that night. Eventually, the police got involved, and that slowed down the vigilante, so they outran him. You can guess the rest."
"So someone stopped them from stealing, whatever it was they were trying to get, then that's news to the police. There have been no reports of a masked vigilante," Alfred said, turning to face Scarecrow.
"Really," Scarecrow breathed.
"So, if nothing was stolen, then the whole police operation should shut down on it, they'll throw the case away in some file cabinet."
"Are you sure?"
"Yessir, this should blow over in a couple of weeks," Alfred confirmed.
"Then I have one final question," Scarecrow said, turning off the TVs.
"What's that?"
"Do you want to join us?"
Alfred's heart skipped a beat, he felt over joyed. The he thought back to what Iliad had said, and then all of the things he would be missing out on, his family. His thoughts then went to all the things he could be missing out on here, at the guild. He wouldn't really be leaving his family anyways, Scarecrow had told him that they needed someone on the inside, and that he was to go to work with his father at every opportunity.
"Yes, sir, I want to join," Alfred said, his mind finally made up.
"Great, you start training tomorrow."
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Publication Date: 08-08-2012

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