Chapter 1

 I have two days left. Two. I’m not sure whether I should be sad or relieved. In two days, I’ll be somewhere better. Hell couldn’t possibly be worse.

I wish I could say goodbye. I’m trapped in this metal chamber until the day comes. There are so many people I wish I could say goodbye to. Anna who cared for me when no others would, including my mother. Georgia, my best friend. Sam who had kissed me before the Trial. He said it was worth the risk; he just had to kiss me once in case one of us chosen.

Sam. I still feel his lips on mine as we kissed in that secret part of the Wood we had found years before. He had seen me cry for the first time then. As we parted knowing that we may never see each other again. And this kiss may be the first and the last. I wish he had kissed me much sooner. We would have time to be together. But he didn’t, and it doesn’t matter now. The best I can wish for is that he will forget me and find someone who will make him happy. And maybe he will be a little quicker that time. Because he was right. I was picked.

Maybe, the hopeful voice chimes in my head, just maybe, you will get out of this mess and you will be together like you always wanted.  But the rational side of me new that there wasn’t any use hoping. In two days, on my sixteenth birthday, I will be dead.

 

 

The metal door opened with a piercing whine from its rusty hinges. I have memorized the earsplitting sound. I will probably play in my head as I die. That would be cruel. So it will probably happen.

Life has dealt me one unfair situation after another. My mother left me to die after I was born. A girl who had just turned fifteen had found me in the Wood. Alone. She had found who my mother was, of course. But she had refused to take me back. The girl had then tried to get one of the of age women to raise me. None would take on the burden of someone else’s baby. Not when the probably had children of their own to feed or had no husband. Then Fate decided to be kind and changed the heart of one of the unmarried girls. Anna. She took me, and raised me. And she had loved me as if I were her own. But I had to live in the same village as my biological mother, seeing her everyday without speaking to her. It is very hard to forgive when you are constantly reminded of the harm done. I tried to forgive her, and failed.

Situation number dose. We were living on the brink of starvation. This forced me to go to the wood for food and things to barter. Anna’s cripple. An now I’m not there to take care of her.

I  have been picked. Two days before my sixteenth birthday. Two days more and I would have been safe. If only I was born two days earlier...

I have been waiting for Sam to kiss me for years. Now, he finally has and it’s too late for us. The chance is gone.

Gone like the rest of my life. In a few minutes, I will be led down the road that goes to the Wood. I am familiar with the Wood. It has become a bit like a second home. But they weren’t going to the crisscrossing, faded paths that I know like the back of my hand. No, they were bringing me to the step hill that lead right into the heart of the Wood. I will be the sacrifice to the Beast. Great birthday present, right? Though I doubt they even know that it is my birthday. The bigwigs that have it all never bother to remember us little people do they?

“Get out,” a deep voice commands. I do as I’m told. They tie my hands together and point their weapons at me as if I am a criminal being lead to the courtroom for trial. I guess some have tried to escape. Maybe some have even succeeded at escaping. But no they guard me with their live because if they don’t it’ll mean everyone they care about’s lives.

And so, I walk to my death.

Author's Note

Should I keep going with the plot?

Reviews

[Sophie]

yes! Why is that a question?