Prologue

Cold, dark winds howled in the night, covering the sound of footsteps tiptoeing under the trees. He had one mission and one mission only: bring her outside and leave no trace in her house. The rest would be their responsibility. The girl was only eight years old, and he was the same. But he had been training for this mission. He was way stronger, way faster. No one suspected a kid. That’s why they sent him to do the job. They knew that if he got caught, he wouldn’t get in trouble.

He came to the back door of the one story house. He knew it was the right one because he could see her inside, sleeping peacefully with her long brown hair flowing over the edge of the bed as she slept facing the wall. The girl’s parents were working late, as they always did on Tuesday nights, so she was home with her four year old brother. Things were so different here than where he lived. Everything was so much safer, so no one cared about leaving a four and an eight year old home alone. Help was just one switch away, if anything were to happen. That is, if the other person were to know something was going on, and he didn’t intend on letting that happen.

He opened the small locking system next to the back door and quickly rewired it using the special transmitter that they gave him. It opened right away, without a sound. He walked to her room and placed the silencing chip in her left wrist. Now even if she wanted to scream, no one would hear her. The prick from the silencer awoke her with a jolt, her brown eyes staring in shock as she realized that no one could help her now. The boy grabbed her by the waist and swung her over his shoulder in such a way that it restrained her arms and pressed them tightly into him. The door was still open to the backyard and he carried her though it as she silently fought back. After removing the small transmitter he threw her down onto the ground at the edge of the forest, and waited for the help to arrive.

 

The next thing she remembered was lying on a cold hard table in a dark room, all limbs tied, silencer still in her arm. She had to remove that wretched chip and call for help, but she was too restrained to reach for it. There was an icy touch to the side of her head just behind her ear, causing her to panic. She shook her head back and forth to throw them off guard, but the hand just encircled her throat and held her in place.

All her muscles instantly tightened as the door opened. She could just barely see from the angle she was lying at, but she recognized the person. It was the boy who broke into her house. He looked older than he should have been with a young face but a strong body. He glared down at her with menacing blue eyes, something no one in the Federation had. That was a City trait. The City must be behind this. But there was also something else. Every time she learned about the evil City, she learned that they all had blond hair, but this boy was a brunette just like her. She had never seen anyone with that pair of traits before. Everyone in the Federation had brown hair and brown eyes. So he was almost a mixture of both.

Someone finally slammed the door shut and limited the light once again. The young boy stood over her and looked down behind her right ear. “That’s the chip? What does it do?” He asked, still with the high pitched voice that all young boys have. They were referring to her Federation Chip. She knew that. She was told by her parents to never tell anyone in the City what it was for. That must be what they were trying to find out.

“Patience child, we will know in time what it is used for, and she will help us,” the man added, tightening his grip on her throat. The boy slumped back in disappointment, then reached out and touched the chip himself. His hands were surprisingly warm as he ran his fingers over the slight indent she had since birth, but that didn’t stop a chill from running down her spine.

The door opened again, this time with familiar faces instead: her parents. The man released her throat and cleared his. “She’s not leaving her without a fight. You’re on my property now,” he growled, lunging towards her mom. Her dad untied her quickly from the table and removed the silencer just as the reinforcements came in, appearing from the shadows. When she stood up, her dad was already fighting his way back towards the door, and she was caught in the middle.

“Run, Anya, get out of here!” her mom screamed from behind six armed City soldiers. So she ran, only to be clotheslined by the young boy who kidnapped her. She grabbed him as she tumbled down and heard the clattering of a knife right beside her. It must have fallen from his pocket. She took the knife and jabbed it, hard, into his shoulder blade and he cried out in pain. She pushed him off and heard her mom scream. She grabbed her daughter’s arm and bolted out the door into the helicopter that was waiting for them outside.

“But mom what about-”

“He’s gone, Anya,” she interrupted, wiping away the single tear the fell down her cheek. “They killed him, those damn City soldiers,” she wailed, starting to fully cry now. “Why did they have to target our little girl? Why do they need to know about these chips so badly?” She didn’t know how to comfort her mother because she needed comforting too. She nestled into her mom’s shoulder and cried, cried for her father that died protecting her. Her father was the military leader in the Federation, but now someone else would have to take his place.

Back at the military headquarters she clung to her mother’s hand tightly as she talked to the next-in-line military leader.

“They’ve asked for it now,” he said through clenched teeth. The man took out an official looking document for a large file cabinet. “If they want our land, they’ll have to fight us for it. I declare war on the City and all of the City people.”

Anya felt a small shock behind her ear, and instantly she forgot why she was crying.