Prologue

It was nearly dawn when the Snatchers came through Sector 8A.  Families were still asleep in their rickety beds.  Few were awake, preparing for the coming day of work.  It was not unusual to spot the Snatchers as they came in to reap the souls chosen for the Trials.  six children between the ages of fourteen and eighteen would be Snatched from their homes by dusk today all across every Sector, from 1A to 10C.  Making a total of one hundred - and - eighty kids that would be entered in the Trials as it always was each year for the past one hundred years.  

Captain Manson pulled out his tablet to review the names of those that had been chosen from this Sector.  He motioned for his team to circle up around him and pulled up the names.  "One, two, three" he pointed to three soldiers in front of him.  "Aaron Stone.  Go that way.  I'm sending you the picture of him now."  He pointed to his right and the soldiers jogged off.  The captain continued to separate the soldiers out to get all six children.  Once they'd gotten them, they'd take them back to the hovercraft that was coming, which would then take them all to the Ministry.  From there, they'd face the Trials.  

* * * * *

The soldiers arrived at Aaron Stone's home, picking the lock on the front door to enter quietly.  They stepped carefully across the wooden kitchen floor, their combat boots making soft clunking sounds on the boards.  The house was well cleaned.  Of course, there was little decoration around the house to begin with - at least - not formal decoration.  Worn sheets had been nailed over windows to become makeshift curtains.  That was the most decoration around the house.  There were no bookshelves, pictures, or personal items of any kind.  Just plain white walls, potted plants, and tools against the walls in neat piles.  

The three soldiers split up.  One headed out into the sprawling fields around the house, going for the barn.  Another began walking up the squeaky stairs.  The third started searching the first floor and basement.  

The second floor of the house was just as plain as the first.   All of the doors were closed.  The house was silent.  No one was awake yet.  The Snatcher tried the first door on his left.  It was just a bathroom.  No one there.  He closed the door and tried the next, only to find that it was the parents' room, seeing that there was a man and a women asleep together.  Closing that door, he tried the next.  A young girl and a little boy were asleep in a small bed.  He tried the last room and found two boys sleeping together.  One was much larger than the other and he knew he'd found his target.  The Snatcher tapped out a quick message to his partners on his tablet before entering the room carefully.  

Both boys were dark-haired with hard faces and tanned skin that spoke of hours working in fields.  The smaller boy wore a white tank top and black shorts while the larger boy was shirtless, wearing only a pair of shorts.  His muscular arms were wrapped around his brother as they slept soundly.   The Snatcher checked the black and white picture of the boy on his tablet, matching it with the sleeping face before him.  The lines of the boy's face were softer as he slept, but the hair and body were right.  Short, black, spiky hair with a tan, and well-built body.  He was likely the oldest in his family.  

The Snatcher took another step forward, coming within a foot of the boy's bed.  The floorboard creaked and Aaron's eyes opened, darting to where the Snatcher stood in his black gear.  The boy sprung up in bed, trying to shield his brother.  The Snatcher noticed something then that he hadn't been able to see in the photo of the boy.  Aaron was pye-eyed.  One eye was gold, the other bright blue.  For one moment, as the Snatcher felt the imbalance of looking at the boy's strange eyes, Aaron took the chance to protect himself as well as his brother from the Snatcher.  He kicked the soldier square in the gut and grabbed his brother who was barely even awake yet, hauling him over his shoulders.  He ran for his family, calling out, "EVERYONE OUT!! GET UP AND GET OUT!!! WE HAVE A SNATCHER IN THE HOUSE!!" at the top of his deep voice.  The family didn't even hesitate more than a few seconds before they came running out of their rooms, following Aaron down the stairs.  

But it was too late.  The Snatchers were already there.  When Aaron came face to face with them at the bottom of the stairs, he put his brother down and glared at them.  

"We only want Aaron Stone.  He has been selected." One Snatcher said.  

Aaron's parents looked at him and he just continued to look at the Snatchers as though they hadn't said a word.  

His sister held their youngest brother in her arms and looked at Aaron nervously, the little boy snuggled up against her chest.  "He can't go.  We need him here.  He's the strongest boy we have to do work around the farm."

"You have no choice.  He's been selected for the Trials - "

The Snatcher didn't finish his sentence.  Aaron threw a punch, catching him in the face, and threw another at the Snatcher next to him.  Both soldiers stumbled back from the impact and Aaron kept going.  "Get out of here!  All of you!" he shouted to his family.  They followed his order and ran out of the open front door after edging by Aaron.  

An all-out fight started up between Aaron and the two soldiers.  He knew little about fighting.  Only instinct and improvising.  He just knew that if you kept hitting them hard enough, they'd either go down and eventually stay down or they'd give up.  But, the soldiers were trained by both the Trials and being in the Ministry's training programs for Snatchers and soldiers.   They weaved in and out under Aaron's guard, making small jabs.  They couldn't hurt him too bad.  The Captain would be furious if they brought in a damaged contestant before the Trials.  Aaron didn't care though.  He would rather be injured than to head into the Trials.  These men had invaded his home to take him.  He wouldn't let them take him without a fight.   

Aaron moved in to throw another punch, only to have his wrist grabbed by someone behind him.  He looked back to see that the Snatcher he'd found in his room had come up behind him.  The Snatcher's cold eyes met Aaron's mismatched ones.  Aaron yanked his hand free and punched the Snatcher.  Warm blood spread under Aaron's knuckles.  The Snatcher stumbled back.  He turned to the other two Snatchers and kicked one in the side.  The other ducked under Aaron's incoming kick, grabbed his leg, and twisted.  Aaron fell to the ground.  His head thunked against the hardwood, sending pain shooting to the front of his head.  

"Tranquilize him." said the Snatcher that had taken him down.
Aaron's heart thundered in his chest and a surge of adrenaline went through him.  He couldn't let them do this.  The Snatcher whose nose he'd broken mere seconds ago came towards him with a small syringe in his fist.  Aaron grabbed the Snatcher's leg to pull himself free from the other who held his leg.  The Snatcher with the syringe moved to make the injection and Aaron punched him in the face yet again, scrambling free from the other as he did.  The Snatchers growled in frustration and Aaron threw a punch at the one who'd taken him down.  The Snatcher grabbed his fist midway and jammed a needle in his arm, pressing the plunger down.  Aaron felt as though his arm had gone limp and the feeling spread through him until his head was spinning and his vision was going blurry.  Then, he fell to the floor, but felt no pain only that his brain was shutting down....