The Actors Guild

Revelations And (kind of, but not really) Resolutions

    I, Dr. Wilhelmina Schmidt, led the six chosen young adults down the long and winding hallways of HQ.  I could see their different reactions, and I could tell who was paying close attention in case we turned out to be kidnappers, so they would know the way out to escape.  I could also hear snippets of many different conversations going on behind me.

    For instance, the RIVETING discussion, or perhaps, more accurately, argument, between Miss Yvonne DeMarcus and Mr Noah Vukovic about which film franchise Keanu Reeves was better in: The Matrix (Yvonne) or John Wick (Noah).  I personally was on the side of Miss DeMarcus, although John Wick did have a certain... gory charm to him.

    On the other hand, the more common conversation between Miss Asha Garrido and Miss Scarlet Tierney involving a range of subjects and and fair amount of sarcasm.  Mr Eliyah Haswari and Mr William Johnson were staying silent and simply observing.  I could hardly say I blamed them.

    After a fair bit of walking, we arrived at our destination.  The training room.  I could see everyone's eyes widen and heads swivel as we entered.  I will admit, it was a sight to behold.  The climbing gym, the weights, the stacks of assorted weapons, the sparring mat.  It was a fitness junkie's wet dream.  I was a bit worried that Miss DeMarcus might faint or that Mr Vukovic, Miss Garrido, or Miss Tierney might openly drool over our recently finished hardwood floor.

    At the back of the room, Miss Leah Norton and Mr Thomas Jenkins stood with a computer hooked up to a projector.  I guess they'd decided to turn the extremely complex reasons why these young adults were here into a power-point presentation.  I wasn't surprised- not one bit.

    "Sit." Leah said to the group, gesturing to where some chairs had been set out for them.  Leah and Tom had really thought of everything.  Tom looked extremely nervous and jittery and I longed to tell him that he was most definitely the least nervous person in the room.

    "Thank you." Miss Garrido smiled and began tapping her foot rapidly.  Miss Tierney took a seat next to her and dug her fingernails into her palms.  Miss DeMarcus looked as though she was going to be sick, and Mr Vukovic leaned against a wall and was glaring at everyone, as though being the angriest person in the room would let him be the first to leave.  Mr Johnson opted to stand and pace behind all of the chairs, driving Tom crazy, I could tell, but Mr Haswari simply sat and stared at Tom and Leah, waiting to see what would happen next.  I admired his soothing sense of calm.

    Leah started the presentation.  The first slide tugged at my heartstrings as I stared at a photo.  The photo showed a middle aged man smiling with one arm around his brother and the other around Leah.  I looked over at Leah and her eyes looked misty, but she cleared her throat and began.

    "So... what you see here is a photo of three people.  Me, and my two uncles.  The one on the right is Gerald Everett, the owner of the Peacock Music chain." She paused, waiting for the words to sink in.

    The realization dawned on the group as they all took out their necklaces.

    "Wait," began Mr Vukovic, "I got this necklace from Peacock Music."

    Miss Tierney's eyes widened.  "That wasn't just you?"

    "Nope." Mr Vukovic shook his head.  Mr Johnson and Mr Haswari exchanged glances, each of them fingering their own necklaces.

    Miss DeMarcus got even paler as she examined her own necklace, wrapped tightly around her fingers like a rosary.

    Miss Garrido decided to get us back on track.  "Hold on.  There's another person in that picture.  What about that guy in the middle?  Is he important?"