1 Lynn

I look out the window of my house as I anxiously wait for the car they said would come to pick me up. My mom fusses over my long blond hair, brushing it for the 5th time this hour. I smile and look at her, "Mom, my hair is fine- it's not like I am going to some royal ball with a prince, its just an experiment." it's quite strange that they didn't give me much information, but in the end I think it will be useful.

My mom shakes her head, "Baby, you have to look at least presentable!" I shake my head and laugh, its pointless, she's always been like this, she was so happy to have a blue-eyed baby with blond hair, and the freckles are a plus. I hear tires crunch on the gravel of our driveway. I jump up and grab my bags; they said we would be gone for a long time, so I packed everything I could need. I'm pretty sure the only reason she's letting me do this is because we need the money. Its 1 million dollars for letting the test happen, 1 million more if we go to the military. My mom said no military but I can do the test, after all they said there were no side effects.

I walk outside and look at the car, and my jaw falls open slightly. It's a shiny red Lamborghini, and as it slowly creeps towards the house, its red color vibrant against the dull house, I notice the brand on the bottom right corner near the tire. These people must be very rich. I wave bye to my mom and slowly climb into the back seat, I set my bags beside me and look at the driver. He is a big man, he's white but tan, with dusty blond hair, and I guess kind of cute. He doesn't say anything and simply drives, which is a little suspicious.

By the time we get to the mansion, it is already dark and I look at the beautiful rocky landscape surrounded by trees. I watch in awe as we pull up to the mansion. It is the biggest place I have ever seen. There are several other expensive cars lined up against the modern looking mansion and I take it all in, the cars are all in bright colors and look strange in the darkness. A butler opens the car door and grabs my bags. "Oh- I can get them..." I say, feeling bad that he has to carry my things.

" Ma'am, its quite alright, I will bring them to your room" he says doing a small bow. I nod dazedly as he walks away with my bags. I notice another butler at the huge, crystal looking, double doors in the front of the mansion.

He looks at me and says, "Right this way madam." And walks inside the mansion. I follow him and look around the huge place; we walk through about 3 hallways, and up 2 flights of stairs that are decked in classic decorations, gold and glass. I see a few people also being led by butlers. I pass a pale, red haired girl. She has a name tag on the left side of her chest and I read it, it says Ruby. I take the name tag that the butler gives me and put it on. It states my name, Lynn, in bold black letters.

When I get to my room I open the door and look inside. I gasp and look around, it uses neutral colors like gray, but is huge. I look around and make sure to take in every detail, just in case. A small woman with graying hair introduces herself as Piper.

"I am going to be your maid for the duration of your stay here, if you would like you can request more maids to help out as well" Piper says. she has a somewhat... British accent.

I look at her and say, "I don't need more than one, i'm not helpless you know." I immediately regret saying it and start to apologize but she quickly, but kindly interrupts me.

She bows, "As you wish madam."

"You really don't have to bow... its very unnecessary." She raises back up and looks me in the eyes, offering a small dip of her pointed chin,

"As you wish madam." I sigh, there is obviously no getting her to be less polite its kind of un-nerving. I look her up and down and nod approvingly when I see she has no weapons, of course, the two body guards outside my room are a different story... they were both armed with a sniper and a pistol, not to mention a variety of knives. I think I might be able to pickpocket them for a small weapon...but for now I don't want to risk getting caught.

I wake up to the sound of someone knocking on my door. I immediately jump up and open it a crack, its a very, very tall boy, he's muscular, and is white, he has close cut, and slightly wavy black hair and vibrant green eyes. I read his name tag and see his name, Ace. I can see tattoo's peeking out from the collar of his shirt and notice a tattoo of a snake going up his arm. He chuckles and looks down at me,"you done observing me?" I can tell he is checking me out to by the way his eyes are flickering over my body.

I look him dead in the eyes, "Are you?"

He shrugs, "Just making sure you don't have any weapons."

"Okay, but, why'd you come here? Do you need something?" I say, crossing my arms. Im not in the mood for visitors.

He looks at me, "Just want to get to know my competition, and see if I can make allies that will be useful to me later on if I make it to the military... can I come in?" I look him up and down and see he has no weapons, and, it could be useful to size him up, and maybe even use him as an ally, he looks strong.

I shrug, "I don't see why not..." he smiles and I move away from the door, letting him in against my instincts. I go to the bed and quickly zip my gray suitcase, for one, he doesn't need to see my clothes, for two, I have a knife in there, just in case. He walks in and looks around.

"Nice digs" he says, "Looks just like mine, and Ruby's, and Roman's and everyone else i've talked too"

I laugh a little, "Well, either the designer was very lazy, or they didn't want people to fight over rooms"

Ace chuckles, "I wouldn't say no to a little action."

I look at him, trying to control my anger at that comment, "Sometimes "action" isn't always a good thing, especially fighting, it just leads to people getting hurt."

Ace sits on a chair and looks at me, "You seem like you have had some not to good experiences." I stop and think. If I tell him my life story he could use it against me... but there is something about him, maybe the way he looks, or the way he talks to me, that makes me want to trust him.

I hesitate and then say, "My older brother got murdered by someone because he got in a fight with the wrong group of people." Ace looks at me and nods understandingly,

"I can see how that would make you think that way...but sometimes fighting is the only way you can fix something, you have to fight back if someone does something, or they will never stop."

I sit on the floor by my bed and look up at him, "I can see that" he nods and looks at me.

"My name's Ace, how bout you?" his eyes flicker to my name tag that is sitting on the dresser

"I'm Lynn"

"well, Lynn, you just sabotaged my plans of meeting everyone"

I look at him, confused, "How?"

He gives me a lop-sided grin, "I don't think I can leave... not until you make me anyways"

I laugh quietly and look at him,

"Well, I suppose you can stay for a while" Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I am not here to make friends, I'm not even going to the military. I don't have time for distractions, but... one night cant hurt- right?

Before I know it I look over at my clock and see its 4 am, and Ace came over at about 12 pm. I laugh and look over at Ace, who's sitting on the floor across from me leaning on the wall. Ace raises an eyebrow and looks at me, "What's so funny?"

I chuckle and point at the clock, "its 4 am"

"And?" he smiles at me, faking innocence

"aaaaaand, I have to get my beauty sleep so I can make a decent impression."

Ace smirks, "why? tryin' to impress someone?"

I laugh, "I'm not here for love, I'm here for money." I walk over to him and stick my arm out, "up up!"Ace hooks his foot behind mine and trips me, and catches me before I fall. I gasp in surprise and look at him. His bright green eyes look into mine and he chuckles.

"We will see about that." he says smiling. I chuckle and push him to the door. He turns and looks at me, "Stay safe my princess."

I scoff and smirk, "I'm not your princess."

He shrugs, "yet." I shake my head and he leaves shutting the door quietly behind him. I collapse on my bed and smile. I've never met anyone quite like him... but I can't. I don't have time for love... I sigh and lay on my bed and wait for the empty blackness of sleep to succumb.

* * *

I groan and peek an eye open to see my maid, Piper, hanging a gradient blue dress on a hanger. Piper notices I'm awake and smiles, "Good morning madam."

"Morning Piper, whats that dress for?" Im pleased with myself for remembering her name and I silently congratulate myself on that minor success.

"This dress is for breakfast, you have your breakfast assigned with Ruby, Ace, Cameron, and Ivy" she notices me perk up when she says Ace's name and smiles knowingly. I shake my head and walk into the large bathroom, which has two sinks, a diamond chandelier, a toilet, a huge bathtub, and a classy stand up shower made of glass.

I quickly shower and brush my teeth, and then walk behind a changing thing, and piper hands me a light blue sundress, that starts with light blue spaghetti straps and then slowly fades to white at my knees. I smile, "Piper, its beautiful!"

Piper smiles, " I'm glad you like it" she hands me a pair of simple white flats and I slip them on, she motions for me to sit on a chair and I comply, she twists my thick blond hair into a messy bun and secures it with a ponytail. She applies light blush and gives me a touch of lip gloss. I look at myself in the full body mirror and smile.

A while later I find myself sitting in a large dining area, An older looking black man with long dreads and the name tag reading CAMERON is sitting across from me, wearing a casual tux, next to a girl with long, dark red curls that reach to her waist, and a long sleeve black dress, her name tag says Ruby and I recognize her from when I passed her in the hall. At the end of the table is Ace, wearing ripped jeans and a black sweater, which hides his tattoos. He's leaning back in his chair and I hope he falls. On my other side is a pale girl with naturally curly bright red hair that is cut just below her ears, her name-tag says Ivy. Ace kicks my leg from under the table and I look at him. "What?"

He fakes a confused look, "hmm?" I roll my eyes and talk politely with Ivy, I find out she's from the country, I mean, I could kinda tell from the accent. she has 6 siblings and Is the youngest. I pretend like I'm listening to her but I actually listen to Ace and Ruby talk.

Ruby blushes and looks at Ace, "Shut up." Ace muffles his laughter with a cough and rolls his eyes at Ruby.

"yes ma'am" Ace replies looking at Ruby. Ruby chuckles and starts talking to Cameron. Cameron sips some white wine in what looks like a glass made of crystal and talks back to her. food is served to us. it's bacon, eggs, and toast. Ace ignores the food and talks to me, "I think they are going to explain the situation to us as we are eating-" He gets interrupted by the heavy wood doors slamming shut. A man with a receding hairline and a very noticeable butt chin walks towards us. He has white hair from age and laugh lines on his face. He has to be at least 60.

He smiles at us, "Hello, I am Johnny, but you can call me John. I am here to explain the process of receiving your powers." His voice is higher than I imagined and I swallow a laugh.

Ace nudges my leg with his foot, "I feel like I'm back in kindergarten."

I chuckle, "Seem's like you could use the review." he rolls his eyes and turns his attention back to Johnny.

Johnny clears his throat and continues, "As you know you are here for a small experiment. with the chance of one million dollars if you make it through the procedure," If we make it through? does he mean there is a risk of dying? "You will take a personality test~ based on the questions on the test your power you receive will be decided. it is ViTAL that you answer the questions 100 percent honestly, otherwise the power will not merge with your DNA and you will die."

Ivy gets up, her wooden chair scraping harshly on the tile floor, "Excuse me? the letter said there were only minor risks."

Johnny looks at her, "Death is a minor risk. You are one life in a world of billions." Ruby coughs to muffle her laughter and Ivy's face turns red with anger. Johnny motions for her to sit back down. Ivy scoffs and walks towards the door

"I'm goin' home~ I hope ya'll do the same." A big body guard points a gun at her head. Ivy freezes and glares at Johnny. "Let. Me. Go. Home." She is practically growling at them, her eyes crazed like a wild animal.

"I'm afraid I can't do that miss. All of you will be staying, if you make it through the procedure then you will be tested for battle and if you pass, you go to the military... if you fail, well, you die." I look around at everyone's reactions. Ruby is laughing, Ace has his eyebrows raised but otherwise shows no emotion, Cameron is sipping wine, Ivy's face is red and she looks so mad she's gonna pass out. I look at Ace and panic. I'll never get to see my mom again... Ace looks at me and nods understandingly

He whispers, "I'll come by later." I nod shakily and Ace looks at me and smiles reassuringly.

Johnny smiles, "You are all dismissed." Ivy storms out, Cameron follows, I get up and start walking out, Ace follows me. Ruby is the last out and she bows dramatically at Johnny,

"Tell him I said hello." she smiles, but it isn't a nice smile. I walk silently to my room and Ace follows. I sigh and sit on my bed, Ace sits on a chair across from me and crosses his legs.

"Are you okay?" He looks at me worriedly

I snap, "Of course i'm not!" I sigh, "I'm never going to see my mom again. How are you not affected by this?"

Ace looks at me, "I swear on my life I will get you through this, you will see you mom again. and its not that i'm not affected, I just don't miss anyone from home..."

I look at him, curiosity temporarily blocking my fear, "Why not?"

He shrugs, "mom's abusive, dad left whenI i was four, siblings all in jail or dead."

I look at the floor, "oh... i'm so sorry."

He smiles at me, "it's not your fault~ and plus, not everyone has the best home life, there are others who have worse than me." I look at him.

"I guess."

He walks to me and crouches in front of me and looks into my eyes, "I will get you back to your family." I look at his green eyes and something tells me I can believe him... but I just met him, this is ridiculous. But then again, my life's ridiculous.

I smile, "okay" he hugs me and I hug him back. We talk for a little while and then he leaves so I can get some alone time to process this...

Okay, so, we know that we have to choose the answers wisely, or We'll die. That's easy enough, after that we have to go through rigorous training, that will hopefully not be to hard... I hope I get a useful power at least. After that we will be off to the military to fight in the war that has been raging for about 4 months, as far as I know its not looking so good for us right now and they are hoping this will turn the tides...

But i'll never be able to see my mom again... if I die she'd be heartbroken... I won't die. I am going to survive this. and i'd like to see anyone try and stop me from getting home to my Mom.