Ashen Gates

Prologue

Prologue

A single bead of sweat slides down my cheek in the dark. Left jab, right hook, strike. The velcro straps graze my forehead as I rub away a thick layer of grease.

I swim in a brittle chill, my shoes bouncing on cement.

My grunts echo into the darkness, mind consuming itself with thoughts, buzzing back and forth between both school and strength.

Wheels make up the only other fraction of sound in the room, but I don't know where it's coming from. The building quiets down and I start again, doing flurries into the air and pulling the end off with a round house kick.

A loud snap catches me off guard, blinding light filling my small stage. I land the kick perfectly on the imaginary target, but my eyes burn and water.

There is a quiet laughter as I turn and blink away the pain. "Hello?" I call out.

Another giggle flutters through the room, feminine sounding, soft even. "Are you Miss Foster?" she asks, my suspicions confirmed.

I nod, stumbling around in an attempt to find the source. "What do you want?"

I hear something slide across the ground, the light clicking off again. Blinking away fuzzy lights, I feel my way to the ground, getting on my hands and knees.

When my eyes focus, I find a white manila envelope, euphoric cursive twisting endlessly on the cover.

Save me a seat ~ Cecily Graves

I slump on the ground, tucking my legs sideways beside me. My fingers flick open the flap and pull out a bunch of papers with contract deals and offers all over it.

A smirk tugs at my lips and against my better judgement, I take out my phone.

Hi. I'm new here. But I wanted to try and write a good story so, hope you like it.