I close my eyes, and walk to the man hosting the simulation.
"Well done April." He says.
I snap open my eyes, and put a large, glowing smile on across my face.
"Thank you." I say, never looking down.
I shuffle through the crowd, and stand next to Rush. I close my eyes and try to relax. Images of the boy, beat and scared, flash before my eyes, even when they are open. I hold back tears as I watch fight after fight, person after person beat to a bloody pulp.
I stand still, my eyes trained on the white wall across the room. I don't say a word, and I don't respond to anything Rush asks or says. I want to be in my own little world, away from this, all of this.
My eyes slowly shift to something else. I look next to me, only to see nothing but a stranger.
"Rush?!" I yell, my voice slightly strained.
My eyes flash to the stage, where Rush and another boy, around his size, stands. Rush looks my way when he hears my yell. He looks away for two seconds. Two seconds. The boy, slowly creeps up from behind him, and punches Rush. A scream climbs my throat, and I barely hold back tears.
Rush turns around quickly, and drops the boy to the ground. Although, I see the pain in his eyes as he does so. Rush, continuously hits the boy, sending him sailing across the mat. The boy manages to throw a couple of punches in, but overall, Rush has the upper hand.
After a long fight, the boy gives up. Rush walks away as soon as he can, his face twisted with pain. I close my eyes, to try and find a happy memory, one of home, but manage to find nothing.
A few fights later, we are dismissed to our own quarters. I leave the room quickly, and exit into the hall. I sprint to my room, and quickly lock the door behind me.
The first thing I do is shower. I take my braid out, and scrub my scalp clean of dried blood. I turn the off the shower, and grab a towel off the counter. I quickly dry off and get dressed.
I look in the mirror for the first time in at least a week. What I find is not myself. I gasp when I see my face. It's cut up, scratchs coving every inch, a black a blue cheek, and a crooked nose. I can't even reconize myself.
I glance down at my arms and legs, bruised badly, and a few scratches here and there. I leave the bathroom quickly, and collapse on my bed, my head swirling.
---(DREAM)---
I open the door, and young Hazel and Jax are sitting at my mom's bed. Hazel was probably around 2, and Jax, 11.
"April, she isn't any better." Jax says, concerned.
"It's ok." I say and hug the both of them.
- (p.s the dashes are new parts of the dream.)
"Mom get up! Mom we need you. Were starving!" I yell, crying into her lap.
"Mom please." I sob.
"April I'm hungry." Jax says from the doorway, frail and thin.
"So am I Jax." I say, "Mom will be better soon."
-
I'm in a room, completely white, and a woman walks in.
"April." Her voice billows through the room.
"Yes?" I say.
"Good luck. Your gonna need it." She says.
The fear test repeats itself, over and over. The dogs, take Callie. Never to be seen again. Me hanging carelessly from a net. Rush dying in as many ways possible. My family killed in front of me, and I can't save them. The monster killing my brother, it all repeats itself in my mind.
---(DREAM OVER)---
YOU ARE READING
City Lights (Book 1)
Science Fiction***COMPLETED*** "Well done April. You have survived the first test" ••• April has always loved the city. Even from a distance, the luminous lights would draw her in. She alway wondered about it, and the people there. April enters the city on her si...
