Chapter One
"Hey Drinn." I (Alinara) flopped into the chair next to the ex-marine and dumped my bookbag unceremoniously beside me. "Can I get a hot c?" I asked Milanna, the woman behind the counter who had been both mother and friend to me since a few years after my parents died in a disease outbreak at their science lab. I had been through probably 30 or more state facilities and foster homes when I had finally ran away from a particularly frightening couple who kept me in their basement in a moldy, closet-like room. I lived successfully on the streets of Ohio in a gang, until I ticked off the leader, Freidan.
He kicked me out and threatened to kill me if I ever came back so I wandered around until Drinn found me, half frozen and starving, under the Licking River Bridge. He carried me to the diner where Milanna lived in an apartment upstairs and she took care of me. Milanna filed for custody of me, and here I stay.
"Sure hon. Long day?" She asked as she pulled out a cup and filled it with the cinnamon papaya blend she knows I like best.
"The longest." I sighed, and accepted the cup she offered. "How has yours been?" She smiled. "Oh, not too bad. You know, there was something odd in the hellicraft drop today. It's the strangest thing, because I thought you didn't get mail." Her smile grew to mischievous proportions.
"Where? Where is it?" I jumped out of my chair. Drinn grabbed my arm and pulled me back down.
"If you sit here, and breathe normally, I'll go get it." I concentrated on taking deep even breaths until he broke his intense gaze and strode into the back hallway. I heard his boots thumping up the stairs, and when I heard the telltale creak of Milanna's apartment door opening,
I allowed myself to jump up and down squealing. Milanna shushed me with a "Here he comes!"
I plunked back down in my chair and hurriedly smoothed my hair and clothes. Drinn emerged from the hallway and in his hands was a slim envelope. My future was in that envelope. Why did it suddenly look so small? I took one deep breath and held it as Drinn slid the envelope in front of me on the table, interrogation style. Would my story be chosen? "One way to find out."
Drinn told me, as if he could hear what I was thinking. I ripped into the envelope and began reading aloud. “Dear Miss Trey. Thank you for your interest in our Young Authors Program. Though your application was to be admired, we cannot accept you at this time. Thank you.” I set the letter down in disbelief. “Not accepted. I wasn’t accepted.” I blinked hard to keep the tears from flowing and shook my head to clear it. I ran down the back hall and up the stairs, leaving the letter, along with an astonished Drinn and Milanna, behind me.
Chapter Two
It had gotten dark, and I wasn’t sure what time it was, but I figured Milanna would be about to close the diner, so I stood to go down and help her. As I was sliding on my shoes and emerging from my bedroom, I heard the creak of the door opening. “Sorry Milanna, I was just coming down to help you close the-” I stopped as I came around the corner and into the living room and realized that the person who had entered the apartment wasn’t Milanna.
“Who are you?” I questioned the intruder. No response. “Why are you in my house?” I asked him, louder this time.
“Someone who knows all about you, Alinara Trey. My employer is VERY interested in you.” His voice was deep and gravelly.
“Why are you here?” I repeated. “What do you want with me?” I wasn’t scared, just confused.
“Just come with me, and I won’t have to hurt you.” He told me calmly, his blue eyes emotionless and his deep voice soft, but demanding.
He reached out for me, and I yanked myself away. “No! Not until you tell me what I want to know!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, I’m under strict orders to keep you in the dark until my employer meets with you. She wishes to inform you of everything herself.” The man pulled a large sponge-like cloth from his pocket, along with a bottle half-full of an amber liquid and poured some onto the cloth. As he pressed the cloth over my nose and mouth, my vision darkened, and my last thought was that the bottle wasn’t full, and that whoever he was, he had done this many times before…..
