1 Chapter 1

A shrill horn sounded in the distance.

All of us jolted awake and started our daily routine. That was what it was. Just a routine, a normal day. If any day was normal with people like us.

We were ushered to a large hall by a few guards equipped with rifles, a soft shade of white covering the majority of the weapon's body. The neon lights in the shade of cyan adjourned the beautiful piece of weapon. We had seen it in action before, seeming to light up every time a bullet was released from its barrel, every time it was used to kill, to put someone down. It was the source of our constant fear - there was no running from it, no hiding from it, and we all knew the cold truth... one hit and you'd be gone forever.

As we were led down a brightly lit hallway, I could see the looks of apprehension on the faces of the other children. The stomping noise from our heavy boots echoed down the seemingly never-ending hallway. There were puddles of water, most likely the recent leaks of the pipes that stretched above and forward for God knew how many metres, each pipe monstrously huge, eerily reminding me of snakes. Like the pictures they showed us, or the stories one of the guards would occasionally tell when he wasn't so cranky. The guards beside didn't seem swayed at all. Just blank, the expressions on their faces.

Like something bad was going to happen, but they wanted to grant us the bliss of not knowing.

After a bit more walking, a tall steel door loomed into view. It was at least a metre thick, a safety precaution implemented to remove any chance of escape. Of course, there was always the option to just turn around and run, but that just doesn't work here. They made sure that even if there was an escape, it would be because they let them walk, and not because they could.

As we walked into the room, our surroundings changed completely, like one of those movie cuts. One moment, we were surrounded by steel walls, and the next moment, we were standing on a giant grassland, the Sun shining down on us gently like a warm embrace. A dream to the eyes, softening, relaxing. Surprisingly, no breeze came with the swaying grass, but who cared? It was a haven compared to what was back there.

I looked up and saw the clear blue sky, something that I had not seen for months. Even though we were surrounded by tall stone walls, it was still much better than being locked in a small room.

It gave us a sense of freedom, something that we longed for. But something that, for the time being, was just out of reach.

All of a sudden, the thick metal doors shut behind us with a grinding grumble, and through mere seconds they were fully shut, locking us inside the room.

I was scared, many thoughts racing through my head in a rushed marathon. What was going to happen next? Was this the end for me? Or was this another test, arranged for us? Another time to see how much we could stand before we cracked open?

Many, many other thoughts, but none more I could spare. I prepared myself for what was going to come next.

I had seen so many of my friends die at the hands of him, and I was determined not to be the next one. Any second now, my life would be in danger.

Any second now.

It never came.

No matter how long I waited, there did not seem to be any sign of danger.

I looked at the other children, and they were equally perplexed.

"This has to be a trick", I thought to myself as I scanned my surroundings.

"Look! There's a ladder there!" I heard a shout come from one of the boys.

Subsequently, they all started to run excitedly towards a ladder in the distance. The ladder seemed to reach the top of the walls that trapped us.

"It can't be that easy. Nothing has ever been this easy". I mumbled as I ran to stop them.

"Guys! It's a trap! Don't climb up!" I yelled in a futile attempt. None of them were stopping. But you couldn't blame them. Being trapped, it changes people in some ways. Some just become animals, addicts for freedom.

In a last ditch effort, I threw a pebble up with all my strength, to test for any danger.

Just as I predicted, right before the pebble went above the wall, a bright beam of red light shot out from a corner and the pebble disintegrated into dust.

The children looked at the remains of the pebble, shocked. The atmosphere froze, they froze, and no one, no one dared to move. After a few frozen moments like that, one of the kids regained his senses, started to climb down, and the others followed.

I would not be proud. And I definitely wasn't going to tell them "I told you so." But one thing for sure, I had successfully saved them, and they were grateful for it. The boy that would have been killed first, the first to escalate the ladder, came to thank me, and I learnt that his name was Frey. Frey, the god of summer. And yet when I shook his hand, it felt so cold.

I introduced myself as Rae.

"So what next?" he asked.

I thought. "What next?"

"We have a while before they'll realise we didn't die back there", I mused. "Before then, there should be enough time for us to plan our escape."

Frey thought about that, and nodded. "That should work." The others didn't seem to object, so...we got to work.

Tick tock. Clock's running, we had to hurry.