Shaped By Fire

The Journey Begins

     Nervous. I'm nervous as I wait in line. This isn't anything new, everyone is nervous at this time of day.

     The blonde girl in front of me anxiously sways on her heels, staring at the floor. She wore a red, zip-up jacket that hung limply past her fingers, obviously to big for her. Her fingers fiddled rapidly with her ID card as she waited.

     I knew her name. I knew everyone's name here. Rainy Young. She lived only a few quarters down from mine, with her mother and two younger sisters. She was relatively good at school, a good listener and friendly. I knew she always tried to stay positive and nice when things turned sour. She has never gotten in trouble, I'm not even sure she's ever done anything worth punishing.

     She stepped up to the counter, sliding her ID under the wire plated transaction window and stuttered out her name. The women behind the window slid her card through a scanner and asked the girl for her code number. Rainy once again tumbled over her words to tell her her code before the scanner buzzed and the light turned green. The worker told her to walk through the tester, which looked almost like a metal detector.

     The tester was like a small hallway, bright blazing lights on each side of the hall. It was part of every citizen of Ocalony's daily schedule to go through the tester. It tested various things, diseases mostly. If the red lights came on, it meant that a sickness was detected. Usually, if it ever happened, the person would be taken to quarantine and kept there until they could be healed.

     Rainy did as she was told, taking one shaky step at a time. As she came out the other side, red lights flared throughout the Testing room. Rainy's face twisted into terror as she watch two men in masks rushed towards her and grabbed her arms. She was dragged out of the room, screaming as tears streamed down her face.

     I couldn't help but watch her being dragged out. Chills ran down my spine as I watched her being dragged into the hall. The Testing room had fallen eerily silent, everyone shaken from what just happened. Soon, Rainy's screams fell quiet, the room filled with the sound of heavy breathing.

     "Next!" The lady behind the window barked. I swallowed hard, shakily stepping up to the counter and placing my ID under the window slot.

     "A-Aria Hunter." I choked out. The worker repeated the steps she did earlier, the green light popping up on the scanner. I was handed back my ID, fiddling with it slightly. She once again told me to walk through the tester, glancing at me over the brim of her glasses.

     I walked through the tester, holding my breath until I had reached the end. Clenching my hands in fists, I waited for the light to go off.

     Green.

     The light was green.

     I sighed with relief as I heard the worker call for the next person in line. Heading towards the exit, I slipped my ID back into pocket. Another day down, the rest of my life to go.

     I sighed as I stumbled into my quarters that I shared with my mother, running up to my room, flinging my bag onto a chair and collapsing onto my bed. My heart still hammered from only minutes ago in the Testing room. My hands were still sweaty and my stomach was in knots.

     I hid in my room for the rest of the night, not having the energy to go any where else. Skipping dinner, I stared out my window for most of the time.

     I closed my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. Everything from early crashing down on top of me. It wasn't the first time someone was taken away from the Testing room, and certainly not the last. But every time it happened, it shook me to the bone.

     A loud bang from outside my window rattled me out of my thoughts, making me sit up and look out towards the night sky. My windows rattled once more, but it was to dark to see anything outside.

     I know it was stupid to do, I know it was so don't tell me. But I wanted to see what was outside, I had to.

     I carefully unlocked my window, pushing it outward and letting the warm night air hit my face. Leaning against the fire escape, in the dead of night, was a boy. He wore an old hoodie and blue jeans, worn out sneakers and a sly smirk plastered on his face. He smiled at me, giving me a cheeky two fingered salute.

     "Why hello beautiful stranger. Would you like to go on an adventure with me?" The boy said with his smirk while holding out his hand.

     I smiled at the boy, instantly recognizing my best friends voice.

     "Spade!" I laughed as I grabbed his hand, pulling him inside my room. "What are you doing here? You could've been caught!"

     He gave me yet another sly smirk, something that fit his features nicely, along with his dimples. "Sorry." He chuckled. "But you've got to come with me."

     "Why?" I asked as he grabbed my hand and headed for the bedroom door.

     "Remember what I told you last week?" He asked. "About that secret place?" He quickly rushed down the stairs of my quarters, taking the steps two at a time as he dragged me behind me.

     "Spade, no."

     "Spade, yes." He replied with a smirk. "And Bronze called some sort of meeting with the guards." 'Bronze' is the male admiral in Ocalony. He's basically in control of everything that has to do with the boys. And no, his name is not really Bronze. Everyone only calls him that's because he's the third male admiral that's actually kept people in line. "So if we hurry, we can slip past the gates. Get your jacket 'cause we don't have much t-"

     We reached the bottom of the stairs, running into the kitchen. Standing behind the counter, with her hands on her hips and her tired face pinched in a disapproving scowl, stood my mother. Her hair was messily thrown into a bun, strains falling in her face and a dirty rag clenched in her hand.

     "-Hello Mrs. Hunter." Spade said as he skidded to a stop in front of my mother. He quickly brushed the messy dark strains of hair from his eyes, tucked his hands behind his back and straightened his posture.

     "Don't have much time for what, Noah?" My mother asked as she cleaned her hands with the rag and placed it on the counter. "Shouldn't you both be in bed?" She asked, already knowing the answer as she eyed Spade.

     Spade's eyes flickered down to mine. He was fairly taller than me, even taller when he straightened his back. He once again tried fixing his messy hair, which didn't help much, and swallowed hard. "Yes, ma'am." He replied before spinning on his heel and heading for the stairs again.

     I rolled my eyes, grabbing his arm before he could go back to the window. My mother gave me a look.

     "Be back before morning. Don't go past the gates and don't get caught." She said, a smile playing at the corner of her lips.

     "I promise. Stay inside the walls and don't get caught by any one." I recited, pulling Spade back up to my room.

     "And be back before morning!" My mother called from downstairs. I smiled and quickly grabbed my jacket and bag, climbing out of the window and joining Spade on the fire escape.

     "You ready?" He asked me, nudging my side with his elbow.

     "Oh, hell yes."

Okay, so that's the beginning of my story and I hoped you guys enjoyed. Then next chapter will be published soon. That's were everything starts to pick up. Thanks you guys!

-Shadow