Spy School Hero's Journey

Chapter 1

NEAR WASHINGTON DC

COTSWELD HOUSE

"Ben, wakey wakey!" Uncle Albert's voice rang throughout the entire house.

"Come on, 5 more minutes!'' Ben groaned.

"You're already late for school, hurry up."

"Ok, ok, I'm coming."

Ben went to the dining room groggily and ate his breakfast. He rushed out the door just managing a goodbye Uncle Albert, before boarding the school bus. He hoped he could make it in time before the bus left. He saw a faint yellow vehicle in the distance. He sighed in relief and sprinted to the bus.

However, he felt that the bus felt strange. It wasn't the ordinary school bus, it was much more fashionable with cool gadgets and buttons hanging on the ceiling of the bus. Someone shoved him inside, and before he could protest, he was gagged. Ben looked up and saw a middle-aged man, who was extremely lean and muscular. He was a man who radiated authority and power, and he fixed a cold disdainful glare on Ben who was half freaking out, half perplexed.

The middle-aged man said: "Questions later. We have to get out of this place first. Oh, and hand me your phone."

Ben tried to speak, but as he was gagged, his words were inaudible. The man relieved him of the cloth, to allow Ben to speak. He had a million questions hovering in his mind, but eventually managed to stammer out: "Who are you and why do you need my phone? Are you kidnapping me?"

The man responded: " Call me Agent X for now. You are not kidnapped, we are here to recruit you to the finest and most clandestine institution in America. You in or out?"

Ben was in shock. He stuttered: " Wh-aat? What institution? Does my uncle know, I, uh, can't go without his um, approval you know."

Agent X replied: " Alright, dimwit. Your Uncle received an email about this moments ago, so don't worry about him. The chances are that he'll be extremely pleased and will be more than willing to let you go. To clear the fog in your brain, you are hereby accepted to the CIA Academy of Espionage for junior spies in-training."

TIME SKIP

Ben woke up to the sudden halt of the vehicle. He realized he had been chloroformed the entire ride after his hasty conversation with the mysterious Agent X. Several men in black outfits ordered him to alight the bus, but Agent X was nowhere in sight. Ben strapped his backpack over his shoulder and saw a huge building in front of him. It read - Nathan Hale Administration Building. He realized there was an imposing white metal gate separating him from the outside world. A huge forest clearing was on his right, and it dawned on him that he couldn't escape. He was trapped in this unknown place.

Suddenly, someone screamed: " Help! Help! There are enemy agents on the campus! They are shooting, someone help!"

Ben heard gunshots and instinctively ducked and sprinted to find cover. The bullets grazed past him and the sound was ringing in his ears. As if on cue, a figure dressed in black came out from the doors and told Ben: " Here's a Taser. Gotta hurry, they're catching on to us. Go past the library which is on the left side on those doors. There's a safe spot, the office, it's on the far end of the library, past some corridors. Go now!"

Ben was confused about the entire situation, but since he didn't want to die on the first day in the academy, he followed the instructions and ran to the library. Several agents shouted and pointed at him, grabbing knives out of their pockets and some pointing guns at Ben, aiming carefully at him. He didn't dare look back and kept on running. Once he reached the far end of the library, there was a long corridor leading to a few rooms. He gathered that the said office was one of those rooms, and pumped with adrenaline, sprinted there with an occasional cautious dodge here and there. He made it to the office without getting hurt, except for a flying book that nailed him on the shoulder. Ben shrugged off the pain, knowing that his life was on the line and reached the door. The door was locked and it was very solid, so it was improbable to break. There was an electronic keypad next to the doorknob, and he desperately thought of a solution and remembered the taser that person had given to him.

When he was about to taser it, one of the enemy agents who looked like a ruffian, grabbed him on the collar. Ben was panicking and did one thing he knew - Screaming for mercy, hoping the man would let him go free. The man just snickered in response, punched him in the face a couple of times and kicked him in the abdominals for good measure. Ben was wincing in pain, as he had never experienced this kind of pain before. It was much worse than your ordinary school bully. With all his might, he gathered enough strength to stand and tasered the keypad on the door. It worked a treat and he barged the door open. What he saw next was totally unprecedented.