Morph

Prologue

     They came on my tenth birthday. They introduced themselves as Ted and Mick. The moment I saw them I knew what they were. Takers. Snatchers. Grabbers. They had different names, but only one purpose.

     My family and I lived in Devlon, a tiny country near what was once (almost sixty years ago) North America. Devlon's government was mean and strict, and they always enforced Practice One. Practice One was perhaps Devlon's most important practice, and it was entirely up to the doctors here to make sure it always happened. It said that whenever someone was born in Devlon, their blood had to be checked before anything else. Why? Because of Morphs.

     "Morph" was a term made up by the government to describe people born with a specific characteristic allowing them to transform into an animal. Morphs not only had that characteristic, but they had something in their blood that would cause them to eventually change into an animal. The government always had a baby's blood checked to see if they were a Morph. But they didn't tell. They kept the results confidential, locked away somewhere only they knew. But somehow, they always remembered whether or not you had tested positive.

     If you tested negative, then your life stayed the same. Not if you tested positive, though. If you did, the government sent snatchers to your house on your tenth birthday. They took you away from your friends, your family, and from your home. From your life, basically. And your life would never be normal again.

     Apparently the government sent snatchers after you on your tenth birthday because that was when you began to show extreme animal-like tendencies. No one new for sure where the snatchers took you, mostly because Morphs never talked to 'regular people' and the government sure wasn't going to tell. But there were rumors. Rumors that they took you to a mad house and left you there to rot and die. Rumors that they put you out in the wild to see what animal you were and then they just left you there. There was also a rumor that they took every morph to the same place and they trained them. Trained them to be ferocious and act like true wild animals, and that they did this because they were preparing for a 'Morph war'. There was also the most likely rumor. The rumor that they trained you a little bit and got you used to this new life, and then they put you in a house with a few other Morphs and some people to care for you.

     There was also a rumor that the government had an entirely different list of rules for Morphs. No one knew whether or not this was true. But it seemed pretty likely that they would have it, considering they thought of morphs as basically an entirely different civilization. It also seemed likely that the rules would be things like "no contact with regular people" or "no love" or "no children". It was no secret that the government didn't want any other Morphs, and they didn't want the risk of more if two Morphs were to reproduce. But that never happened, so they really didn't have anything to worry about.

     When the snatchers came in, my mom froze. My younger sister, Tyla, dropped her toys and stared. My dad was the only one who moved. He immediately jumped in front of me and threw out his arms.

     "No!" He screamed. "I won't let you take her!" He tried his best to fight them off, but he was no match for them. They pushed him to the side and each snatcher took hold of my arms. I kicked and cried and screamed and punched, but it was pointless. I looked back to see my mom and dad crying. Tyla was shouting,

     "No! Evie, please come back! Evie!" As the snatchers carried me out of the house, I started to cry. That was the last time I ever saw my family.