Vin Xander And The Inner Circle

Chapter 1: Recruitment

I was just still looking at them, even though they looked like they had not seen me, I knew that they had. I had brought them all from their respective cities to my hometown, Ada, a river town in Gold Coast, Ghana. There, they would be safe from the evil.

They all woke up at the same time. I thought they were going to freak but they did not. It seemed to me that they were feeling some sort of security being close to each other. That made me quite sure that I had found the right ones; the people who are supposed to save us all. I brought them from all parts of the world. Trust me, it is almost impossible to take a person you have kidnapped to another country on commercial airlines, but I guess this is truly the will of God.

I am not really a religious person. Yes, I believe in the existence of God and the Devil, angels and demons, good and evil, but I think that's because it was forced on me. I never really heard God's voice (well, I know now that I did, I just didn't know it was Him). I was a Catholic and I went for mass at least every Sunday until I turned fifteen. It was after that time that going to church felt like a chore.

Earlier in 2015, I found out that I had the power to control time. That power had been in my family for centuries but I gave it away because an angel told me to. I am now putting my life on hold to help a trio of aspiring criminals to save the world so I will not be the last timekeeper... or whatever we are.

They were all born on the same day. So was I. At an hour where it was 1st May 1996 in the whole world, the four of us were born in different parts of the world but destined to team up to stop a great evil. At least, thats what the voice in my head tells me.

Juan Francisco Perez was the first of the three I took. He lived on the island of Cozumel in Mexico. I watched him for three weeks before I was able to get him. He had gotten on the bad side of some dangerous people and they were going to kill him. They took him deep into the ocean and dropped him in it to drown. What they failed to acknowledge was that in Cozumel, everyone can swim. It is however unnatural how long Juan Francisco can hold his breath because he never surfaced until he was out of the water. I thought he was dead. I have no idea why he would go back to his house. The gang must have known he was still alive. He had made sure of that. Anyway, being at home at that time was what gave me the opportunity to take him without raising any suspicion. He was dead. It was only the gang that knew the opposite was what was true and I counted on them refusing to spill the beans in order to save face.

James St. James of Melbourne was easier to track and that had nothing to do with his name. He was actually a famous pick pocket in his side of the city. It was hard for me to keep up with him while he was being chased on the streets of Melbourne (not that I can't run at top speed, its just that I didn't want to be noticed). I recieved a text and when I looked down to check, James had fallen. He must have gotten distracted somehow. Oh, it was the little girl in the middle of the road. A car was heading for her, and when he rushed in to save her, the car hit him instead. He was unconscious and due to the fact that the people who were chasing him had not seen him yet, I was able to make my move.

Pierre Treville hated his life; that much I deduced during the 57 hours I spent watching him. He had the same routine everyday. He would wake up at seven and leaves home in his school uniform, but he would change into another uniform which was newer and neater. He is a brilliant chemist and his teachers are very fond of him. The only thing wrong in his life is his friends. He knows how they pressure him into doing things he doesn't want to do but he does it anyway because he wants to fit in. His step dad loves him and he tries to give him whatever he wants but he knows he asks for too much and that should stop. I'm no psychologist. He just keeps a very detailed journal like me. Anyway, the last time I saw him conscious in Paris, he was choking. He was killing himself by swallowing a ball of string. I barely saved his life using CPR and mouth-to-mouth therapy.

So, I had done it. After observing each of them for the time I did, I knew what I was going to tell them would change their lives forever. Seeing them relaxed gave me hope that all would be well. As i was about to enter the room, i said to myself... "At least they all speak English, I think."

*******

Three pairs of angry looking eyes were locked on my face. It was when I noticed that that I realised that I was nervous.  I wanted to walk out but the thought of leaving suddenly seemed so lame to me that I stopped. "My name is Vin Xander," left my mouth without warning. "and you're reincarnations of Peter, James and John."

The next thing I saw was three disturbed faces. "I know you all speak English." I said after what seemed like a lot of minutes of silence.
"We understand what you said." James said. "What we don't understand is... reincarnation?" He had taken a lot of steps while he was walking and was standing very close to my face.
"You are all reincarnations of Peter, James and John, disciples of Jesus Christ." It didn't feel so weird saying it out loud.
"Do you mean Jesus Christ of Nazareth?" Pierre asked.
"How many Jesus Christes have you heard of?" That was the reply I gave him.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Juan Francisco said in an obvious Mexican accent. He hand his hands on his head which showed he was in great distress. He wasn't the only one who's life had been turned around.
"I didn't realise it was going to be this difficult." I said and then exhaled deeply. "The point is, at the end of the day, you're going to have to trust me. So... do you trust me?"
"No!" They all said it at the same time. Well, Pierre said it before the others. It was after the the third word of my last sentence that he said that.

I was truly taken aback at what they had said at the tone they gave me. I noticed their expressions were true and the real fight would be to get them to believe. Okay, I wasn't totally surprised. It was to be expected. At tbe sight of them, the only way to get them to believe would be to touch their hearts.

"Look." I said in a voice that was so calm that I was even very surprised. "I have never been a true believer. I'm not even a true believer right now. But thinking about things; how lucky I've been bringing you all from your countries to mine."
Juan Francisco tried to say something but I gave him a gesture that meant 'Let me finish.'
"That makes me believe the vision I had. It makes me believe I was right to accept this mission from God. A great evil has risen, guys, and it is in this city, my city, and the only ones who can stop this is you guys... with my help, of course."

"We're not in Cozumel?" Juan Francisco asked.
"No, this is Gold Coast." I answered.
"Oh okay." He said. "I'm okay now. That's all I wanted to know. At least there is a playa in this city."
"Yeah, lovable beaches we have out here." I said, sarcastically. They must have known I was being sarcastic because smiles drew on their faces.

"You are all dead." I heard myself say without even realising it. After seeing their looks of confusion, I added, "You would all be dead if it wasn't for me. Well, Juan Francisco can hold his breath for as long as he wants and I don't know how or why, but the rest of you owe your lives to me. James, who saved you when you had been knocked down by a car and nobody cared?"
"I would have been fine." James said, but he knew that we knew that he knew that he didn't believe it.
"Pierre," I said. "I saved you too from choking." I didn't want the others to know that he had tried to kill himself. He gave me a look which I read as 'I wish you hadn't' and another one which was almost not there but I saw as 'Thanks for keeping my secret.'

"Okay, you've done a good job of changing people's lives forever." James said. "But you're not the only one who has. No one even asked you to do it. "
"I didn't do it for your appreciation." I said. "I did it for the greater good. In this new life you have, you can be new people."
"New life?" Pierre asked.
"You're dead." I answered. "In the lives you had before, you are all believed to have died. Also... no one will miss you."

There was silence for a good two minutes or so. Juan Francisco was facing the wall and he had his back to me. James seemed to be only interested in getting his phone to turn on but I knew he was thinking about what I had said. Pierre was just looking at me; trying to read me perhaps, see if he can trust me, but that only made me feel uncomfortable. I hate being watched but he had his eyes fixed on me. I would avert my eyes from his from time to time but everytime I looked at him, he was looking at me. He still looked sad. His hatred for his life was still in him.

I turned to leave the room for them to think about things. Okay, Pierre was really freaking me out with his long hair and perfect beard. His accent was also quite neat though. I wasn't so sure since he didn't talk very much.

"I believe you." I heard Pierre say in French when I opened the door.