Ryder's POV

Sticking my hands in my hoodie pocket, I approached the two vehicles. As I neared them, I could hear parts of their conversation.

"Shut up Blake, we'll do it as many times as we need to. Maybe they're running late or something," the lady said, aggressively. She had white hair but she looked young.

"Right, okay, I'm not sure if you're aware, but we probably look very suspicious to the public right now. Plus, they've stood us up, they were supposed to leave the package here an hour ago." a man with blonde hair replied.

"If you two keep arguing, we'll never get anywhere." Another man said. He was facing away from me, and he had a sword in a sheath on his back.

"Tex's right. They said they would leave the package here, when we're absent. Staying here isn't doing us any-"

"Yeah, remember what I said about the public? Look at that," the blonde man interrupted the man with the long hair tied up, and pointed at me, making the other three turn around..

"What do you want kid? you shouldn't be around here alone." 'Tex' said.

"I-I don't mean to bother you. I was just curious as t-to what you're doing. If you don't want to tell me I c-can leave right now, I was just w-wondering." Nervousness settled in. What the hell was I even thinking?

The woman smiled and came closer to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay love, relax. What made you curious? What did you see that made you want to come over?"

I lost a bit of the fear an felt a bit more comfortable. The lady seemed nice. "I was waiting in the car for my dad, and I saw you guys come in and out of this place multiple times. I was just wondering what you guys are doing,"

"How old are you? What's your name? It's so brave of you to come over to us and ask." she asked.

"My name is Ryder Lyndley, and I'm 12," I said. 

She nodded. "I see. I hope you don't mind, I'm just gonna talk to my friends a second," she said, before dragging her friends a couple of meters away from me. 

They returned shortly after. "So um, we talked, and we can offer you a deal," I nodded slowly. "We can tell you what we do, if you come with us."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's 100% your choice, but if you want to know what we do, then you have to come with us, and start a new life," the guy with the long hair said.

"We'll give you a new identity, and you can become a part of what we do," the guy who was earlier referred to as 'Tex' said.

"We'll give you a life with a purpose," The blonde guy said. 

There was a pause while they waited for me to consider it. It was almost obvious for me, what I would choose. My parents abused me, my sister was on her death bed, I was constantly bullied at school. My life was sad. This had to be my turning point.

"So, are you in?" The woman asked.

"I'm in," I said, confidently.