The wind had made it hard for me to stay balanced, its powerful force almost tilting me to the side on several occasions. The night was cold and I could feel the goosebumps on my legs, rising with every strong breeze that came in my direction.

This wasn't a good idea. I knew that somewhere in the back of my mind but was refusing to acknowledge it. The other part of me, the more curious part, was taking control of the situation.

With my hands firmly gripping the handles of my bike, I pedaled on as fast as my legs would allow me. A quick glance at the watch on my wrist let me know that I'd arrived a few minutes early as I pulled up at the park.

The entire area was completely deserted. The only movement came from the rustling of leaves in the trees after another strong breeze swept past. I released my grip on the bicycle, eyeing my surroundings with caution.

It was hard to make out the entire perimeter with my only light source coming from a nearby dim, flickering street lamp. I'd stopped in front of a wooden bench that resided under a large oak tree. Tilting the bike to the side, I hopped off it carefully to get a better look.

I squinted my eyes, trying to identify anyone that could be nearby. I'd planned on simply riding past earlier but the area seemed safe and open, the only mess coming from a flyer that had been blown away by the wind.

I noticed a nearby rose bush, with dark pink flowers that were in full bloom. Aside from that, most of the greenery resided on the ground with freshly mowed grass that stretched across the entire area. I could smell dirt, mixed in with the occasional floral scent that was being blown around by the strong wind. As I peered around, I was lost for answers. There were no buildings, cars, or people in sight.

There was no one here.

Regret and foolishness began to overcome me. If I hadn't been riddled with doubt earlier, now I just felt plain stupid for making the effort to come out here. 

I must have translated the message incorrectly. Either that or I was the target of someone's idea of a prank. Though I couldn't understand what would be so funny about luring me out of my house in the middle of the night, aside from just wasting my time.

I wondered if the message had been from someone I knew. Kevin and Debby were the only ones who came to mind as they were the only people I really talked to. But they were back at my house, seemingly clueless to this whole ordeal.

Exhaling a deep breath, I felt completely befuddled. My mind was racing, searching for a solution to how this had happened. There must have been some kind of mix-up or misunderstanding. Whatever it was, I doubted I would receive an answer.

With another cool breeze blown in my direction, I tucked my elbows in, rubbing my cold hands together to warm them. This had been a mistake. The cold night and windy bike ride had been a struggle, and now I was just standing alone, practically freezing to death in an empty park. Deciding not to give it a second thought, I placed my hands back on the handles as I prepared to mount the bike again.

"You made it."

The deep voice startled me and a loud gasp escaped my mouth. I turned around in a flash but froze at the sight of the dark shadow of a male figure in front of me.

Leave. Get on the bike and leave right now.

I wanted to obey the voice of caution in my head that was reminding me of the danger of the situation. But I couldn't move a muscle. I was in a state of shock from the sudden appearance of the stranger. I silently cursed myself for not even noticing or hearing him approach. I'd only turned my back for a second...

"A few minutes early, though," he noted. "I'm glad you followed the computer instructions. I was completely against the idea of contacting someone so vaguely, but it wasn't really up to me how it was done."

I didn't respond.

I could only stare in an attempt to determine the man's features better. However, the dark of the night prevented me from getting a closer look. I at least knew he wasn't someone I recognized.

When I finally managed to regain control of my voice, the words tumbled out with no disguise of my fear. "Who are you?"

He took a step forward, causing me to tense in reaction. The streetlight hit his face and I finally caught glimpse of what he looked like. Dark brown hair, tanned skin, and a sharp jawline were the first things that caught my attention. But other than that, I was still too caught up in the moment to pay attention. At least from what I could tell, he looked younger than I'd expected - possibly even around my age.

"Rebecca Winters?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

My heart stopped at the mention of my name. I was overcome with a creeping sensation of dread. This was no mix-up. Whatever this was, it involved me.

"How do you know my name?" I pressed, ignoring the rock hard feeling in my stomach.

He paused for a moment, not helping the suspenseful dread I was feeling. "I work for an agency, we gather intel," he explained cautiously.

"An agency?" I repeated. "What kind?"

"An undercover investigative agency. We're a private organization that apprehends dangerous criminals. Usually by infiltration."

"Private organization?" I queried, knowing by that point I probably sounded like a parrot echoing everything he was saying.

"We try to avoid media attention and the public eye. It makes it harder for us to get our jobs done," he explained. "Think of us like the FBI or CIA, just more...under the radar."

I glanced at him with caution, blinking several times. I felt like I was in a weird dream or someone had drugged me unknowingly. None of this was making any sense in my head. 

"What does any of that have to do with me?" I asked, my eyes narrowing slowly. "Have I done something wrong?"

As soon as the thought had crossed me, I began racking my mind for any indication or activity I could have done to set an intelligence agency after me. I, of course, knew that was ridiculous since I'd never done anything bad. But in a moment that left me with such unease, I couldn't help but question my actions.

He seemed amused by my question, shaking his head at my obvious lack of knowledge. Though it was dark, it was like I could see the glimmer twinkling in his dark eyes. "No, you haven't done anything wrong. Quite the contrary, actually."

I waited for him to continue, no idea what else I could say without receiving an actual answer as to why I was here. My eyes shifted downward for a moment, remembering the phone I had in my pocket. I peered around, struck by worry when I realized just how dark the night sky had grown since I'd left the house. But I tried to reassure myself that I would be fine as long as I kept my distance from this stranger. I had my phone and could always use it if needed.

"We're in the process of recruiting an agent to work undercover for us," he informed me. His voice was deep but quiet enough that no one close by would likely be able to hear him. "We require someone for one of the cases we're working on."

Still in complete disbelief, I refused to the words coming out of his mouth. For all I knew, this guy was insane or this was some weird attempt at an abduction. Folding my arms together tightly, I took a step back away from him. "You're kidding, right?"

Rather than looking angry or taken back by my response, the man simply sighed. His shoulders slumped forward, giving me the assumption he was tired. 

"No. This isn't a joke," he muttered in annoyance. "Our organization... We've been keeping a close eye on you these past few months." he paused, looking like he was struggling to find the words to explain. 

Every moment this stranger spent in silence was another moment of panic and worry for me as I watched on in confusion. When he finally did speak again, I was left completely stunned.

"We're interested in recruiting you for one of our high school cases."

The muscles in my arms tensed and my breath caught in my throat.

 "What?" I withdrew from him further, this time scanning his face with wide eyes. My voice had gotten loud and defensive within that split second. 

"Trust me, I know how this sounds," he muttered absently. "We essentially work on taking down criminals or corrupt organizations. Though sometimes it's not that simple. In order to lock up a criminal," his eyes met mine as his head moved to the side. "you need to actually know who they are."

His eyes stayed on mine and I noticed their dark brown color as the moonlight reflected on them. I stayed silent, unsure of how to reply to what he'd just told me. Instead, I waited for him to continue speaking.

"In order to go undercover and earn the trust of suspects, you need to look the part. Unfortunately, not all our agents do. We're in need of someone who looks young enough to pass for a teenager so they can blend in as a high school student." He paused for a moment, his jaw clenching. "Though that's not exactly achievable when none of our agents look young enough to pass for one. The next best option for us was to get an actual teenager so no suspicion would be raised by the other students."

A cold breeze blew past and while it hit me strongly, I did my best not to shiver. What he was saying finally clicked in my mind, yet still didn't put me at ease. In fact, it left me with more questions than answers.

"And that's where I come in?" I prompted, glancing toward him for approval.

His silent nod confirmed my thoughts.

I felt my stomach drop. This didn't make any sense. I was looking for a logical reason for all of this but my thoughts were a jumbled mess. It was hard to think clearly when I was completely on edge and overwhelmed with the situation. I began awkwardly fiddling with my hands as a restless feeling took over me.

"Why me? I don't..." I trailed off, my voice growing softer. "I haven't got any skills of use to you. I'm not even sure what any of this really is."

"We'd give you all the necessary training needed." He answered confidently. "You'll be well equipped and they'll be people to help walk you through it. We have the latest in technology and resources. In fact, we have practically everything we'd need to start this case except for...well, you."

"But you still didn't just pick my name from a hat or anything," I pointed out. "You said you'd been keeping an eye on me for a while. Why are you after me specifically?"

"We know what you're capable of. Without trying to sound alarming, we actually know quite a bit about you. You're a gymnast. A pretty good one, in fact. You've broken many state records and still managed to maintain a good GPA at school." He informed me carefully. "If we were going to recruit someone young for a case, it only made sense to get someone who at least had physical skill and would be smart enough to handle this. It's a requirement that our agents are in the best physical shape and of some amount of decent strength. You fall into that category."

I blinked several times, completely taken back by his words. There was something disturbingly violating about knowing that people had been watching you for a while. Discussing you and evaluating your skills. I was torn between being completely horrified and yelling at him in anger, or keeping calm to find out more information. Slowly, I tried to piece together everything he had told me. 

"So you want me...to join your agency...and go undercover at a high school?"

God, it sounded even crazier saying it out loud.

He nodded his head, treating this whole interaction like it was completely normal. "Just for one case. That's it."

If he had meant that to be reassuring, it certainly didn't work. The prospect of one case was already too much to wrap my head around, and then there was the fact that I was in a park with a stranger in the middle of the night with no proof to his words whatsoever.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" I squinted at him as I scanned his figure. It was like I was looking at him for some sign of a lie. Like something in his expression would give away that this entire thing was a joke. Part of me was expecting someone to jump out of a bush with a camera and laugh while they filmed my reaction. That seemed like a more likely scenario to me than any of this actually being real.

"What, you don't believe me?" he asked, a slightly annoyed expression appearing on his face.

"Don't act surprised. It's not like you've given me any proof that what you're saying is true," I reminded, keeping my voice firm. I was doing my best not to come off as completely clueless. If he thought for one second that I would be gullible to any of his words, I was about to prove him wrong.

He glanced at me, giving him a look that I couldn't read. "Very well," he turned slightly, reaching into the side pocket of his pants.

I immediately tensed at the sudden movement, unaware of what he was doing. Once again I was reminded of how dangerous this situation was and how much I had put myself at risk by being by myself to meet a stranger at night.

He pulled out what looked like a black pouch, holding it up to me for inspection. I peered forward cautiously, trying to examine it. The only light to help me read it came from the dim street light above us. I could see a shiny gold emblem attached to the pouch, and realized it was a badge. The leather pouch looked slightly worn out but I had no problem reading from the writing engraved on the badge. 

"The Regal Undercover Agency?" I read out loud as I squinted my eyes to distinguish the words.

"RUA." He confirmed as I continued to study the badge's detail. "The name of our agency."

I leaned away from it, making eye contact with him again. "You could have just made that or something," I argued weakly. I wasn't sure what a real-life police badge was supposed to look like, but the one he showed me did look pretty realistic to me, though I wasn't willing to admit that. I wasn't going to let that alone be enough to convince me that any of this was true.

The man frowned as he retracted his arm, placing the badge back in his pocket swiftly. "Why would you think that?"

By this point, I was in complete disbelief. I eyed the man, giving him a cautious look to let him know that I was questioning his sanity.

"Why would I think that?" I repeated, my voice getting louder with anger. "Why wouldn't I think that? You seriously thought you could hack my laptop to leave me some vague message, manage to get me to listen to it and then turn up in a park in the middle of the night so you could tell me that I was needed for a spy mission and I would just say 'sure, that sounds about right. I can't wait to start'?"

"Look," he began, a more impatient tone in his voice. "I understand how this looks, but there really wasn't a better way to do this - not if we want to stay a secret organization, anyway. We're not forcing you to be a part of anything, we're just asking."

I blinked, slightly taken back by his sudden annoyance with me. If anyone had reason to flip out, it was definitely me, not him. Yet part of me seemed sympathetic to his urgency. If I didn't know any better, I would have said he didn't want to be in this park any more than me. I wondered if maybe someone had ordered him to do so and none of it had been his idea. If it had been, he was doing a terrible job of trying to convince me to join him. 

"So what happens if I say no?"

I watched the slow rise and fall of his chest, as his breathing helped remove his tense demeanor. "We move on to another candidate. You can forget this entire encounter and go on with your life." His response was calmer than before with a more lowered tone. "It would, however, make things a little easier on our end if you agreed to this."

I continued to battle with my thoughts, unsure of what to believe. Part of me was screaming at myself to just hop back on that bike and go home. The longer I took, the more worried Debby and Kevin would likely grow - and I'd already left the house without even telling them where I was going. My anger had left me at this point, replaced by a dazed feeling from everything that had been dumped on me in the past few minutes.

"It just...doesn't make sense," I sighed. I grabbed a piece of my blonde hair, twisting it through my fingers in distraction. 

He was silent for a moment and I wondered if he would grow more impatient with me or even yell. But to my surprise, I was met with a look that almost seemed empathetic.

"I know," he replied, actually sounding sincere. His voice was monotone and I watched as his jaw tensed. His eyes wandered for a moment but met mine again once his sternness returned. "But I can promise you, if you do this, you'll be helping a lot of people. We remove criminals from the street every day. People that have the potential to harm others. The work we do saves lives. There's something rewarding in knowing that."

I brought my eyes to meet his, taking in his seriousness for a few seconds before quickly looking away, once again scanning the empty park with caution. Saving lives? That sounded a little too dramatic to believe. But it had struck a part of me that wanted to know more about what he was proposing.

"How would any of this even work?" I asked after a moment, surprised at how quiet my own voice had grown. "I have my own school to attend too." I stopped for a moment, thinking further. "Plus, I really don't think this is something my mother would approve of."

As more thoughts crossed my mind of how hard it would be to do an undercover mission, I was faced with more doubt than ever. I had gymnastics. I was a senior. I was lucky if I found spare time for anything else on a good day. 

"It would only be for a few weeks, at most. You wouldn't be attending your normal school during this time. The plan would be for you to tell your classmates that you're ill while we changed your school records to remove any absences from your record. That way, it won't reflect badly on you and there'd be no phone calls home." He paused for a moment, inhaling a deep breath. "As for your mother," he sighed. "You'd be better off not telling her about this. The more people that are involved, the messier it becomes for us."

For some reason, I laughed at this. I didn't find it at all funny but couldn't hold together my astonishment of what he'd just said. "Don't tell my mother," I repeated with sarcasm in my tone. "That doesn't sound suspicious in the slightest."

"Of course, we'd reach out to her if needed." He tried to reassure, noting the reluctance on my face. "But we wouldn't need to unless it was about something concerning your safety. That wouldn't be an issue with a case like this."

For a moment, his words brought me comfort. Then I remembered how ridiculous this all was in the first place. I reminded myself that this all could have still been some elaborate lie with no truth behind it. 

"This is ridiculous," I shook my head in refusal. "I can't believe something I've never heard of before. A spy agency? Undercover high school case? All of this sounds crazy." 

"It's not," he responded, keeping his tone calm. "Just because you've never heard of something, doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

He had me stumped. I thought longer about his words as another silence fell upon us. My eyes drifted to the ground as they chose to focus on my shoes and the grass surrounding them. 

"But even if it does," I began slowly, "that doesn't mean I can be a part of it."

From the distance, I could hear the sound of insects, likely coming from the rose bushes nearby. The only other sound was the occasional rustling of leaves from the tree above us that blew with the wind. 

He didn't seem phased by my reply, showing no sign of disappointment. Instead, he remained as calm and unreadable as ever.  I wondered what he was thinking.

"I'm just asking you to consider the offer. You don't need to make a decision right now." He finally responded. His gaze drifted over me for a moment as he parted his lips. 

"We can meet back here. On Monday at 4 pm or, you know," he titled his head slightly to the side with a light shrug. "just don't show. Either way, I'll have my answer."

My teeth grazed against my bottom lip as I battled with my thoughts, trying to come up with an appropriate answer. Though part of me wasn't sure if I should even warrant him with a response. 

"Okay?" I finally managed to say. I'd meant it as a firm statement, but the uncertainty in my voice was still very evident. My plan of trying to appear tough and not intimidated wasn't working out the way I'd hoped. 

"I didn't quite catch your name," I added as the realization hit me. I'd spent all this time talking with someone about something so ridiculously unbelievable and I hadn't even known their name. Yet he seemed to know quite a lot about me. 

He stared at me for a moment, and I drifted my eyes away briefly before forcing myself to look back at him. I could feel my pulse racing under my skin unexpectedly.  

"Eric," was all he said in response. He ran a hand through his hair, as he took a step away from me. I watched him intently, finding it hard to look away. "Two days. I'll meet you back here then."

With that, he had begun walking off, his back turned to me while I simply stood in the exact same spot. Whatever that conversation had been, I felt like it had ended too abruptly. I still had many questions and doubts but he was already so far away from me that I knew there wasn't going to be an opportunity to ask them. 

I guess he wasn't one for goodbyes. 

I watched as his figure became more distant from his urgent walk and sighed. A heavy breeze blew past, catching my attention as the tree I stood under began shaking with force, the leaves rustling loudly with ferocity. It was too dark to see them individually, but the loud noise they made above me blocked out all other sounds. By the time I looked back to where Eric had walked off, he was completely gone.