Where our demons hide

Prologue

Trigger warnings: Kidnapping mention, swearing and a mention of needles/ injections.

She'd been dead for nearly five years. Rick Sanchez, the Champion of the previous Ceremony had said it aloud.

"Five years since I killed the most people ever killed by a single contestant," Rick said proudly. Even from a distance, Rick was insufferable.

His sister stood by his side. Allowing her brother the glory that came from winning the Ceremony.

Kaiden despised everything about Rick Sanchez. He was everything a Champion was supposed to be. Self centred, proud and most importantly, a show off.

Rick was standing on a stage in front of the kingdom of Kyrah. One of six kingdoms which surrounded the Citadel. This year would be the 80th Ceremony. The people knew that they had little chance of being selected. There were thousands of people in Kyrah so the chances of actually being chosen were almost nothing.

"Now, let us select the contestants," Rick said from the stage.

Kaiden watched in anticipation. Hoping that he would know whoever was chosen. He knew who he'd want it to be if he could choose. Raven, Kaiden's brother, stood by his side. Kaiden knew that Raven didn't want either of them to be selected. Kaiden wasn't sure if he wanted to either. Not after what happened to his crush five years ago.

Rick now had the job of explaining how the Ceremony worked. Everyone knew of course, but it was required.

"The Ceremony was established by the Citadel to decrease the surplus population. Every five years, it was dictated that two sets of twins from each of the six kingdoms would be chosen to participate in a fight to the death. One twin, the weaker of the two, is held captive, while the other fights off eleven other contestants before having the glory of winning the Ceremony. The Champions receive gifts and rewards for their victory."

The method for choosing the contestants was rather anticlimactic. Rick simply had to press a button and numbers would flash on the screen behind him, then Rick would press it again when he felt like it. The number on the screen correlated to someone in Kyrah between the age of eleven to twenty one. This was a rather large spectrum, but it meant that every person had two chances to be selected for the Ceremony. You or your twin could be selected

Rick pressed the button.

Numbers began to flash on the screen in quick succession. As the screen flickered, everyone watched and waited for Rick to press the button. It felt like ages. So long, that Kaiden wanted to shout at him to press the button, but who knows what would happen if he did that. Maybe he'd be executed, or forced to be a contestant. Either option sounded like an omen of death.

At last, Rick pressed the button again, and the screen stopped flashing.

100780 was the number on the screen.

A scream could be heard from across the plain.

Kaiden and Raven turned to look at the owner of the scream. It was Finley Castel. He was in a few of Kaiden's classes at school, but they were anything but friends. Finley was practically invisible. No one paid him any attention.

Kaiden smirked which resulted in Raven slapping him on the arm.

"K, he's probably terrified," Raven scolded, using the nickname he'd had for Kaiden since they were kids. "You'd be scared if we got selected."

"Yeah but I wouldn't scream like a girl, Raven," Kaiden replied, bitterly.

Finley and his twin sister Cadence moved towards the stage.

Cadence was wearing a simple black dress, her blonde hair was tied back with a length of black ribbon.

Finley was wearing a white shirt with a black tie. It was rather clear that he didn't know how to tie the tie correctly.