Young Writers Society

I stared at the ceiling from my bed. Today was the day, the day that changed everything, the day where you could be exiled or you could stay here; the day that changed everything. Today was the day where I had to take the test, and I was not ready.

“Alice!” my mom shouted. “Get down here right now!”

I rolled over my bed and to my feet with a sigh. I was taller than most girls, not too tall, but wasn't super skinny like most tall girls my age, with brown hair and gray eyes that sometimes almost looked silver. In the city that I lived in (we just call it the city) the people had old beliefs that when you turned fifteen, you could be ‘cursed’ with odd abilities, but I thought that was just dumb. Last year, two girls had been exiled because they were ‘cursed’, but yet they never showed odd traits.

One of the girls was my friend, and she was perfectly fine.

I wouldn’t be ‘cursed’, not a chance, and I was sure of that. Even if you were from a family that everyone liked, and you were popular, you could still be pronounced ‘cursed’. I pulled on jeans and t-shirt then went downstairs.

My mom, a red haired and fair skinned woman, smiled at me. “You nervous?” she asked.

“No,” I said as I got out cereal, “it is all fake. Remember Mia? She was ‘cursed’,” I made quotation marks in the air, “and she was normal, wasn’t she?”

My mom shrugged. “I guess not. She was always a little weird.”

I looked at my mom, confused. “She wasn’t, but, anyways, what do you do in the test?”

My mom stopped washing dishes. “I… can’t say.”

“Have you seen Andy?”

Andy was my 12 year old brother. “He left thirty minuets ago; he has school.”

I smiled; there was one good thing about the test, no school. “Yep, can’t say I’m sorry about not having school.”

The doorbell rang.

“Oh, shoot!” I exclaimed, and then ran to the bathroom.

“What?”

“I forgot that I am walking to the community center with Jane!” I shouted through my toothbrush.

“And you want me to clean up after you?” my mom teased.

“Thank you!”

I heard my mom laugh and I pulled on my tennis shoes. The doorbell rang out again and I yelled, “Coming!”

“Bye!”

“Bye!” I called over my shoulder as I stepped out of my door.

A cool fall breeze blew across me and I smiled at my friend who was waiting.

“Sorry,” I apologized.

“It’s ok, I would have waited; its not like I have nothing else to do.”

I laughed and we started walking down the street in silence. After awhile, Jane said, “I’ve always wondered what was out there,” she said absently. “You know, outside the fence.”

I followed her gaze and saw a glance of the electric barbed wire fence that surrounded the city to keep the ‘cursed’ out. “Wilderness, other cities, and people that aren’t paranoid about people being ‘cursed’,” I guessed.

“Being cursed is real.”

I stared at her. “And so are flying pigs.”

“I saw one of them, the cursed. She went crazy and had wind blowing all around her, almost a tornado.” Jane shivered and met my eyes. “Normal people can’t do that.”

“Really? Because everyone is normal! My friend, Mia, she was normal, and she was exiled! You call that normal! Normal is not sending innocent people to their deaths just because of some rigged tests! Normal is not having superstitions!” I shouted and Jane stared at me, eyes wide. “I’m sorry. I was just really good friends with Mia, and now she is dead most likely dead.”

“You know, my uncle was one, except, he didn’t call it a curse. He knew he had it, but he somehow got past the tests,” Jane said quietly. “He called it The Gift. One day he said that one of my friends would leave, and come back changed. After that, he was found, arrested, and I haven’t seen him since. He could see into the future, and the thing is, he said it would be one of my friends, and you are my only true friend.” Jane stopped and grabbed my shoulders, staring at me. “You are that friend, you will come back changed, and you will have a gift.”

“But I-”

“It is time for you to find it and escape, before they kill you. They do not exile, but they kill the gifted. Only five have escaped alive, that I know of, and Mia was one of them.”

I stared at her, gaping, and said, “I’m not cursed, no, no I’m not.”

“Alice-”

I shook my head and backed away. “You are, but not me.”

“Alice! Shut up and listen if you want to live!” Jane exclaimed and grabbed my shoulders again. “My uncle saw you, so listen to me if you want to get out alive! You will test as one of the gifted, so you must go along with it until the rest are there, and then break out together, understand!”

“Yes, but how do you know this?”

“My uncle. He was kind of half-gifted, so it didn't show up."

“Wait, why do you keep saying gifted now?”

“It isn’t a curse! If it were a curse, then everyone here would have it! It is a gift that few have, so use it!”

I realized that we had started walking a little ago, so we were almost at the community center. We walk in silence, until we were feet away from the door, where Jane said, “Remember what I said. Act innocent and escape. Good bye”

I took a deep breath. “Bye,” I said, and then joined the crowd of fifteen year olds. We were separated into groups of twenty and then ushered into the community center.

I looked around to see if I knew anyone, but I didn’t; I only talked to certain people, and the city was huge. My group was showed to a big room, where a woman and a man walked in. The woman looked strict and harsh, where as the man looked laid back and almost a little bit crazy.

“Okay, children,” the woman practically spit the word children, “We are here to test you and to see if you are cursed, as you all know.

We-”

“You are going to be tested separately, by either Ms. Kimmerman or I,” the man interrupted, earning his a harsh glare.

He looked down at a clipboard he had and called out, “Tyler Coop?”

A short boy with black hair stepped forward. “Yes?”

“You are going to be coming with me. As for the rest of you, sit down and wait for your name to be called.”

The man walked off with the boy and Ms. Kimmerman called out another name. “Rosa Wood, come with me.”

The remaining eighteen of us sat down nervously and waited, not daring to speak. I swung my legs back and forth as five other names were called.

Finally, the man called out, “Alice Rea?”

I got up and the man motioned for me to follow him as he stepped out the door. He led me to another small room, where there were two chairs in front of a desk and bookshelves lining the walls.

“Sit down,” the man said kindly.

I sat down in the chair, but stayed on the edge of it, just in case. I looked behind me and blinked in surprise; there were two guards in the room.

“Don’t worry; they are only here for precautions.”

I slowly turned back to the man, who was now seated behind the desk, and offered a small smile. “So, what do I need to do?”

“Well, Alice, it seems like you are in the average IQ level, have had no out bursts, and haven’t done anything to offend the government, which is good, but it doesn’t guarantee that you are not cursed.” The man looked down and took something out of his drawer. “First, we need to inject something into you.”

I tensed. “What?”

The man stood up and smiled, brushing off my question. Now he didn’t seem so laid back and crazy. Maybe it was just an act to catch us off guard. “Where are my manners? I am Mr. Hawthorne, a private police officer, but I shouldn’t be saying that, should I?”

I wasn’t sure how to react, so I just watched him slowly walk towards me, one hand behind his back and the other on the syringe. Hawthorne stopped in front of me and I scooted back in the chair. “This will only hurt a bit.”

I went to get up, but one of the guards pressed me back down and Hawthorne pressed the needle into my right arm. I tried to move, but a slight prick stopped me. My head got all fuzzy and my vision blurred some. I blinked rapidly to clear it, and saw Hawthorne smiling at me.

“See, it didn’t even hurt,” he said.

I nodded and asked, “What was in it.”

“Something that will react in a certain way later along the road if you are cursed.”

I tilted my head. “So how do you know if I am gifted?”

“If you are what?”

Shoot. “Umm, cursed.”

“You said gifted.”

“People in the room were saying it.” Hawthorne shook his head and walked back over to his desk. “Alice, just say that you are cursed, we all know.”

I faked acting confused. “What do you mean? I’m not cursed.”

“People who are cursed call themselves gifted.”

“I never called myself gifted.” Hawthorne walked back over to me and leaned down. “Tell me that you are, or I will have to find out by force.”

“If you think I am so much, then why not just throw me in jail? Only an idiot would admit that they are cursed.”

“Fine, but this one will hurt.”

Hawthorne reached out with his hands and I jumped out of the chair. He growled, yes, growled at me and my eyes widened. A strong pair of hands grabbed me from behind and wrenched my hands behind my back. I cried out as the guard twisted my arm to far back and forced me to my knees.

I looked up as Hawthorne kneeled in front of me, a wicked gleam in his eyes. He reached out again, but this time I couldn’t escape. His fingers touched my temple on either side of my head and immediately I was swept into memories.

I looked around and saw that I was in one of the city’s parks. I saw a younger version of my self running around, laughing, and then I was swept into another memory. This one was of my family eating at a restaurant, but it was gone just as quick as the first one.

Next, I was in my room, and a younger version of me was asleep. How could I remember this if I was asleep? I stepped towards my sleeping self and she rolled over. A trail of silver snaked down her arm, and then was gone. I frowned and reached out, so my other self sat up, eyes wide. She looked at me, her iris’ of her eyes completely light silver.

“One of silver shall lead them all,” my younger self whispered, staring at me.

I gasped and was back in Hawthorne’s office. The two guards quickly dragged me up and handcuffed my wrists behind me. Hawthorne was once again at his desk looking confused, and almost a little surprised.

“Take her down and put her in with one of those girls,” he commanded.

“Yes sir,” the guards answered in union.

I dug in my heels as the guards dragged me out of the room.

“Stop struggling or this bullet will go through your skull,” one of the guards threatened, pressing a gun to my head.

I frowned, but obliged to the guard’s order. I was still trying to figure out my curse, no, gift, but I didn’t know how to figure out what it was. I had heard of people teleporting, but I couldn’t do that; I already tried when Jane was talking to me. I tried to see if I could see or feel anything different, but nothing was different. As normal, I could feel certain things around me, but I didn’t think that was anything special.

The guards unlocked heavy metal doors that lead to a hallway with doors on either side. They unlocked one and pushed me in, leaving my hands cuffed behind my back, and then slammed the door. I looked around the room and saw that it was a small room with two bunks, and a single light bulb in the middle.

“Hello!” said a girl, popping up in front of me. “I’m Linnea, who are you?”

“I’m Alice,” I said. “What can you do?”

“Read people’s minds. How do you not know your gift yet? It’s really obvious. You can feel things all around you, have you realized what they always have in them?”

I stared at her and opened my mouth, but she kept talking.

“You can’t feel wood, can you? Or water, or fire?”

“No-”

“What is surrounding us?”

I looked around and saw metal walls. I could feel them.

“Ah ha, see?” Linnea said with a pleased look on her face

I smiled and put my hand to the metal.

“No! not now. Wait until the lights go off to test it out.”

“What?”

“A boy is coming, one of the curs-gifted,” she corrected, reading my thoughts. “He is going to another room though.”

“What is his power?”

“He can… control light. You know, like shooting it out of his palms, or just making everything dark like now.”

The lights went out and they were thrown into darkness.

“He isn’t the last one, but get you know what on the go now, and remove our handcuffs!” Linnea exclaimed.

I moved my fingers to where they touched the cuffs and they melted, not hot, and then wrapped up my arm. I reached over to where Linnea stood, now back facing me, and did the same. Metal curled around my left arm now. I put my palms to the wall and liquid metal curled up my arms until I had enough. I removed my palms and the metal solidified, cold and wrapped around my wrists as bracelets.

The lights came on and I heard a thud. “What was that?”

“I don’t know: I can’t hear him.” Linnea said, clutching her head. “Oh, ok, they just knocked him out, but he almost escaped.”

“Good.”

“It’s so cool that you can control… that.”

I smiled slyly. “Just wait.”

“That will be so cool, oh, sorry,” Linnea apologized as I glared at her. “I may be able to block your thoughts, but I don’t know.”

“Well, you should be able to soon with some training.”

“There is going to be no time for training,” Linnea said solemnly. “We are being ‘exiled’, aka, disposed of, tomorrow morning.”

“Remember?”

Linnea stared at me and I thought about escaping. “Oh! Got it!

For now, let’s sleep; tomorrow is going to be long.”

“It’s-”

“They skipped lunch, and aren’t going to give us diner. It’s already six.”

“How is it already six? I left at eight, maybe nine.”

Linnea shrugged. "None of the guards know how.”

I frowned. No one could manipulate time; it’s impossible, yet controlling metal is impossible, and I could.

“Nothing is impossible anymore,” Linnea said.

I glared at her, now laying down on the top bunk. “Nothing can stop me from shutting your mouth.”

Linnea turned and stuck her tongue out at me. “Not my fault your thoughts are so loud.”

“Tune them out, or ignore them!”

“If only I could.”

“I think I need the sleep.”

Linnea grunted and I went over to the bunk. The mattress was hard, and the pillow was thin. I looked over the top and saw Linnea passed out. Sighing, I reached and clicked off the light and then climbed on the stiff bed. I closed my eyes, now heavy, and instantly fell asleep.

This is my first story, so please give me your feedback