The Violet Gene

Chapter 1

I awoke, blinking my eyes, saw nothing, and instantly realized I was bound to something rough and itchy, it felt tough pulling against my skin, it was ... the word was on the tip of my tongue but I couldn't remember what it was. Why did I feel so fuzzy? There was nothing visible to me but darkness. I did what any rational person would do in this situation: Something extremely irrational. I started screaming and thrashing in whatever this place was, it seemed like a container of some sort, whatever it is is tough and ridged. For the next couple of minutes this continued. Then, I heard a sound. Something was loudly ripped from the box, I stayed still. I was disoriented when the light hit my eyes but I did my best to look at the room around me, there was a boy with black hair and neon yellow bangs standing right next to me with a large wooden rectangle board in his hands, I saw a singular opening in the room so I dashed through it and found a very long hallway with no end that I could see.

"GET HIM!" a deep voice boomed.

"Yeah, what he said!" a high voice called out, presumably a girl.

I ignored them and kept on running until I realized someone was following me, "Hey, stop, running, or I'll have to-to hurt you!" an irritating voice called, wheezing between each word. I stopped dead and in my tracks and turned, partially facing my pursuer. He crashed into my side which sent us both to the floor. I quickly scrambled up to my feet analyzing my situation, it was just him and I, and I'd never been in a real fight before. I started to kick him in the stomach while he was on the ground. He struggled trying to get up, coughing blood. I kicked into his face pushing him back down, where he stayed.

I was still shaking but started to think more logically, In an unknown place I should stay with the power right? And in this case, the only power is power in numbers.

I carefully jogged back to the place I started. When I finally made it back I saw ten other people in the room. Everyone was wearing the same black sweatpants, sneakers, and near-identical shirts (Besides their differing colors, with a name and number accompanying the back). In the room with us were roughly fifty wooden coffins. How eerie. The walls that surrounded us looked like they were dusty, ancient. Above was a seemingly endless void of white light.

"What were you thinking?" Someone yelled at me, another questioned; "Where's the boy who followed you?"

"EVERYONE, CALM DOWN! I, for one, think we should all introduce ourselves," the person with a booming voice announced, "I am Axis, Number one." Axis had olive-toned skin, shiny light hair, and bore a red shirt.

"I'm Lizzy," she hesitated for a moment. "Number two," She had a ditsy voice and lengthy golden hair. She had dimmed hazel eyes, and a dark green shirt. She had surprisingly lively skin for how pale she appeared.

"Ha, number two!" the kid I'd punched earlier remarked

Axis scolded him, "Shut up dipstick, we're introducing ourselves."

"Alright, Alright. I'm number three, Daniel," Daniel continued. He had sandy blonde hair, a slight tan, and bright blue eyes. He had a teal shirt. I'd begun to find a correlation between their shirt's color, and their eyes?

"I'm Jennifer, five" She was the girl who had called out to me earlier. She had chestnut hair and earthy brown eyes while she sported a light pink T-Shirt. Maybe the previous colors were just a coincidence.

"I'm Evie, number six and I believe that this place sucks," She was shorter, with dark irises, and long silky black hair. Matching, a black shirt.

Someone called out "That we can agree on!" I cringed at the obvious observation but nodded.

"I'm Number seven, Athena," she had a sassy tone, a short brown bob haircut, and an orange shirt.

"Uh, I-I'm Jac-c-ob, Nu-number eight." he spat out anxiously. He wore a yellow shirt and had tawny brown hair. His long bangs nearly covered his eyes.

The next four people (Numbers nine through twelve) all wore the same clothes, a yellow shirt with a smiley face on it. Except, the eyes were x's. Their names were Stephanie, Charles, Christy, and James.

"Bein' honest, I have no idea who I am," I tell them

"Then turn around!" Axis remarked. After I'd turned around they told me I was number 13, and my name. My name was-

LEONIDAS

I was wearing a purple shirt. Nice.

"So that's all fine and dandy, but we missed number 4," I point out.

I feel an arm wrap around my neck, "How perceptive! I'm Atlas, your missing number." he said smoothly. He had a white shirt and black hair that faded to a bright yellow near his bangs. Atlas also had a strange but soothing shimmer in his eyes, despite the fact that they were a deep black. Everyone then proceeded to chat and mingle for a bit. This helped me split the group into 2 factions. The people who had working brain cells (Atlas, Evie, Athena, Jacob, and I), and the people who had 3 barely-functioning brain cells (Everyone else: Axis, Jennifer, Lizzy, Daniel, Stephanie, Charles, Christy, and James).

"I think that we should leave this room and explore this place, seeing as no one's probably coming to help us," I announce.

"That's a great idea, Lizzy and I should leave since we are the highest numbers." Axis declared.

I respond "Now, normally, that probably would have been a 'great' idea, but I feel this weird urge to not to die in the first 5 minutes we walk down that hall. I am going to leave. You can follow, or eventually die, the choice is yours." I start to walk down the hall with Atlas trailing behind instantaneously with great eagerness, while Evie, Athena, and Jacob soon after.

"Hey wait for us!" Axis cried.

"May God help us all."

Chapter 1 End