Feet thump from behind me. I dodge back and forth through the trees. My heart is racing and head is throbbing. I can feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I haven't felt this scared in a long time.
I skid to a halt behind a large tree and lean up against it, trying to blend in with it as people run past. I can see their guns, ready to shoot me on sight.
I try to control my breathing, but nothing that I do seems to help.
Finally, all of the men after me have disappeared farther into the forest, so I push myself up off the trunk of the tree.
"Ella!" I hear my assailant shout behind me.
I whip my head around just as I hear the bang of the gun.
I jolt awake panting and I notice that my hand rests on my stomach where I had been shot. I hear my alarm going off. I silence it and get up.
I change out of my pajamas and into one of the training outfits. I was assigned a couple when I first came to Ashvale. It consists of a grey sports bra and flexible grey capri leggings. I pull on black ankle socks and tie on my black tennis shoes. I tie my straight brown hair up into a ponytail. I look at my reflection in the mirror, and my brown eyes stare back at me.
I look around my room, which consists of while panels on the walls, the floor, and the ceiling, and dim light is provided through them. My bed is tucked into a corner with army regulation blankets on it, messed up from my nightmare last night. There's a nightstand next to my bed, and on the opposite side of the small room is a dresser with clothes that the outfit coordinator Fran picked out for me when training and for regular wearing.
Fran is twenty-five years old and she gets all the outfits for the undercover missions picked out, along with all of the clothes for everyone to have when they first come to Ashvale. She does everyone's hair and makeup for missions. We are allowed to do our own hair for when we're simply training. We also get a say in what hairdo we have for each mission.
Undercover missions are all types of events, and you always have a certain alias for every mission. They all require special outfits, and everyone at Ashvale is sent to Fran to acquire their outfit.
Fran and all the recruits at Ashvale are acquainted since she is the one who introduces Ashvale and shows everyone around individually when they first arrive. She's the only one who knows everyone's background. The only thing that everyone here has in common, is that we were all in the system before we ended up here. No one ever gets a relationship big enough with any of the other kids in Ashvale to tell them about their past. No one wants to relive what they've gone through. Ashvale was a second chance for all of us, and what was the point of it if we couldn't get away from our pasts?
Today is the graduation testing day. You take all of the tests, and you need to pass two of the three in order to graduate. If you don't pass, you're no use to Ashvale. Since they erase any past that you had, you don't exist and you don't have a life to go back to; so they kill you.
You have no foresight into what challenges you will face. They simply give you a time and place to be in order to start the first test. There's only one test that the whole class is in the room for. This is all I know.
I open the door to my room and leave, making sure to lock it behind me. I walk through the corridors to the training room, which is where we were all informed to go for the first test. I have to walk through a lot of grey cement hallways with doors to get to the training room. I get there after five minutes and I see all of the other students are already there.
"Thank you for finally joining us, Ella," Evelyn, the woman who runs Ashvale says to me.
I notice two guys next to her, both who are staring at me. The first one is a previous student, Adam, who has already graduated and became our trainer in fighting.
The guy next to him is different though. He wear a suit and has brown eyes and brown hair. He look curiously at me, and I can tell I have the same expression. I've never seen him around Ashvale before.
Finally, I look back to Evelyn and give a slight nod before going and joining the rest of my classmates who are next to a mat. They are standing opposite on the mat to Evelyn and the two men next to her.
Evelyn begins speaking. "As you all know, this is the first test. You will all be taking a turn fighting Adam. You have to pin him to pass the test. Any questions?"
We all glance around at each other, almost daring someone to have a question. When no one's hand raises, Evelyn continues.
"Great. Then we'll start the testing."
Evelyn nods to the first student, a girl, and I watch as she glides onto the mat with Adam.
She has a smirk, letting everyone know how cocky she is.
"Begin," Evelyn says calmly.
She rushes at Adam at full speed. Adam dodges just before she runs into him. She swings at him, aiming for his jaw, but he quickly grabs her elbow and twists it behind her back. She no longer has her smirk as she tries squirming out of the grip Adam has on her. Instead, Adam quickly slams her into the mat and pins her arms and legs to the ground.
"End," Evelyn says.
Adam hops off and back up next to Evelyn. The girl slowly pushes herself up off of the mat, and I can already see bruises forming on her pale skin.
"Nate," Evelyn says.
Nate steps onto the mat and quickly he and Adam begin. They both get in good hits to the face and ribs. Everyone stares intently, waiting for someone to pin the other. I look at my other classmates, trying to find any emotion on their faces. They mostly look scared, while others just look calm. I notice the girl who had just lost has a scowl etched into her face. I look over at Evelyn and see that she too is staring intently at the fight. I look at the guy a few feet away from her, and I see that he is once again staring curiously at me. I feel my face go red and I quickly look away and back to the fight.
Nate now has Adam in a headlock, and is in the process of pinning him. He succeeds, and the challenge ends.
Two more students fail after that, and finally I'm the only one left to take their test.
"Ella, please step onto the mat," Evelyn says calmly.
I feel my heart racing so fast in my chest that it feels like it's going to pop right out. Adam steps onto the mat across from me. I can feel everyone's eyes on me as I get into a stance and put up my fists, prepared.
"Begin," Evelyn says.
Adam starts circling and I copy him. We go in a complete circle before Adam comes charging at me. I dodge his first punch, but his second punch hits me straight in the stomach. As I steady myself, I throw a punch and hit him square in the jaw. As he comes back from that throw, I punch again and hit him right next to his right eye. Before I see it coming, he punches me square on my cheekbone, and I dodge his next punch that was aimed at my throat. Adrenaline increases even more inside of me, and bad memories flash before my eyes. I'm no longer in Ashvale. I'm in my old house, being attacked. I quickly start beating him as he balls himself up, trying to protect himself from my blows. I don't let up.
"That is enough!" I hear Evelyn shout, but my body refuses to stop, still remembering the attacks I suffered.
I feel someone wrap their arms around me and drag me away a few feet as I scream bloody murder.
The adrenaline slowly goes, and I calm down a bit and realize everyone is staring at me. It was the man that was standing next to Evelyn that dragged me away from Adam. He releases me and backs away towards Evelyn.
I feel my face become hot.
"Adam, go to the medical center. Everyone else, go to your personal bunkers and wait to be brought to the next test center. This one will be done individually. Once you have been sent for and brought to the next test, you will be alerted to what the test consists of. Ella, please stay for a minute," Evelyn says, sending everyone else away. Everyone except the mysterious man that continues to stand next to Evelyn.
I stare down at the mat, waiting for Evelyn to punish me.
"Ella, what happened?" Evelyn asks in a calm manner.
I refuse to speak or even to look up.
Evelyn continues. "Fine. Go to the medical center quickly to get patched up. Clean all of the blood off, change clothes, and wait in your room to be sent for in order to take the next test. You have passed this test with flying colors. Next time though, try to contain yourself or I might not be able to be so gracious."
Evelyn walks straight past me, leaving me and the man alone in the room. I still continue to stare at the mat. When he doesn't move, I start to turn to leave.
"Well, that was intense," he finally speaks.
I turn to look at him curiously. He has a soothing voice, and I can't help but notice his bright blue eyes.
"Would you like some company to the medical center?" he asks me.
"That's okay. I think I can manage alone," I try to evade him. I start walking away again, but I find that he's following me anyway. I angrily spin to look at him. "Can I help you with something?"
"I'm just trying to get to Evelyn's office," he defensively holds up his hands in surrender.
I try to relax a little before asking, "Do you know how to get there?"
"Not really."
"Come with me. I'll take you there after I go to the medical center."
We continue walking, but it's only about ten seconds before he speaks again.
"So your name's Ella?"
I don't respond, and that gives him all the confirmation he needs.
"That's a nice name. Makes you sound innocent," a smile plays on his lips.
"It's not really fair that you know my name, yet I don't know yours," I tell him.
"So why don't you just ask me what my name is?"
"I thought I just did."
"No you didn't. But that's okay. My name is Casey."
"Why are you here?" I ask him.
"Why are you here?"
"Since you're clearly here willingly, shouldn't you know why I'm here?"
"I meant what happened in your past. I've seen most of your class fighting, and there was something completely different in the way you fought. But to be honest, yes, I am here willingly. I'm not an orphan."
"I'm not either," I say defensively as we round a corner in the corridor, getting closer to the medical center.
"Then how did you end up here? That's the only way for most people."
"I said I'm not an orphan. They choose those who are in the system and have no chance of getting out. I was in the system. I'm not an orphan," I tell him bitterly, and we turn the last corner and find ourselves in front of the medical center.
Casey stays quiet as he processes everything that I've said. We enter the medical center and I'm led to an examination chair as Casey tags along. I hop onto the chair, and I sit there waiting for a doctor to get to me. Casey stands beside where I'm sitting with his arms crossed and biceps showing, and he looks deep in thought.
The medical center is a large white room with examination chairs. Cupboards and drawers line one white wall, containing medical supplies for all kinds of injuries. The wall that connects to the corridor is all plexiglass. The other three walls are all cement - like most of Ashvale is.
A doctor strides across the room to Casey and me after five minutes of waiting. I saw that he was just taking care of Adam, who now looks horribly bruised, but his cuts have been bandaged.
"So I hear you're the one who beat up Adam," the doctor says to me. "I see you got a couple of scratches and bruises yourself."
"Can you just clean up my cuts, please?" I ask him.
He pulls out bandages and cleaning supplies. He dips a q-tip in an alcoholic solution.
"This is going to sting a bit," the doctor tells me.
He presses the q-tip to the cut on my cheekbone and I clutch the examination chair tightly as I let out a hiss of pain. Casey takes an uneasy step towards me, arms crossed, and the doctor takes the q-tip away. Casey opens the bandage and gently puts it in place, covering the cut on my face as the doctor quickly checks all of my bruises for any serious damage.
He gives me the okay to leave, and I hop off of the chair. Casey and I leave the medical center and I start leading him down a different corridor towards Evelyn's office. We start off in silence, but after going halfway down the corridor Casey speaks up.
"Did you know your parents?"
"Yes," I answer, trying to convey to him that one word that the conversation was over. He didn't get the message.
"Then why were you in the adoption system?"
I come to an abrupt stop in the middle of the seemingly abandoned hallway. "No offense or anything, but I don't know a single thing about who you are or why you're here. You look older than me, so I don't know if you were a previous student here. Either way, my past is in the past. I see no reason in bringing the past to my present and future," I tell him.
"Just because your past is in the past doesn't mean that you won't have to face it in the present or future. In fact, I think that you're still dealing with your past. What you did to Adam in there, it didn't feel like you were fighting to pass a test. It seemed like you were fighting because you were angry, or like you were fighting for your life," Casey stated.
"You don't know anything. If you want to know so badly, go take it up with Fran," I tell him, and I turn to continue walking.
"Who's Fran?"
I turn to look at him. "So you weren't a previous student. Who are you?"
"I told you. My name is Casey."
"That's not what I mean," I tell him, shaking my head. "Why are you here?"
Casey looks at the ground without saying anything for a minute.
"Fine then," I say, and I continue walking in silence.
We finally arrive at Evelyn's office, and I point out the door to Casey before heading back to my own room.